The Online Prosperity Experience: Recent Episodes

Prosper Taruvinga

Prosper Taruvinga’s powerful Digital Marketing Strategies and actionable tactics, that you can use right now have helped more than 50 000 people from over 10 countries to create meaningful businesses that are profitable and enjoyable.

Are you looking for more customers? Are you looking to take your business to the next level, develop stronger relationships with your employees, clients or suppliers, improve your finances or get people liking you before you try to sell them something?

The Online Prosperity Experience gives you access to Prosper’s proven Online Prosperity Blueprint. This is a 4 Step Marketing Strategy designed to help you accomplish your goals.

Whether you’re looking for insight into how to build a bigger business or position yourself as the go-to person in your category, you have access to all the tactics used by celebrities like David Hughes as well as (literally) over 450 small businesses and counting.

With an extensive selection of episodes featuring insightful lessons from Prosper, interviews with some of the most successful people in the world and never-before-released audio content from deep within the archives, you’ll find you can learn a great deal while listening during your morning commute or daily workout.

As Prosper says, “I am the guy you call when you are tired of thinking small”

Get started today by choosing an episode that resonates with where you are right now and enables you to take your business to the next level.

The benefits of setting boundaries in business

Setting boundaries in your business benefits both you and your clients

If you run a service-based business with the main goal of helping others, you know how important it is to be functioning at your best. (I’m looking at you, coaches, consultants, and small business owners!)

When you’re in a “helping” profession, you’re your greatest asset. You rely on your special skillset to show up and do your work.

Using your intuition, listening skills, and ability to guide others through difficult life transitions all require that you show up centred and present..

When you show up as your highest self, you and your clients benefit

You can make a bigger difference in the lives of your clients and in the world when you show up as your most powerful self. And boundaries can help you do that.

As your own boss, it’s up to you to ensure you’re taking care of yourself and that you’re serving clients from a place of energy and power, not a place of burnout and resentment.

When you communicate clear guidelines with clients, you manage expectations, create clarity and trust in the relationship, and build stronger relationships.

Ready to set boundaries in your business, so that you can show up as your best self?

When should you hire a business coach? Here’s how to know.

If you’re a business owner, you might be wondering, “When is the right time to hire a business coach?”

Hiring a business coach can help you make strides forward in your business. After all, not everyone who starts a business is an expert in business!

In many cases, hiring the right coach can help propel you forward in your business — with everything from improving your mindset, creating a clear strategy, and knowing exactly what actions to take to achieve your goals.

How do you know if it’s the right time to hire a business coach? Consider these 7 signs it’s time to hire a coach.

You are just starting your business and you’ve never done this before.
You’re struggling to find clarity.
You’re missing key parts of your business foundation.
You’re struggling to reach or convert your ideal clients.
You keep having limiting beliefs
You’re tired of people giving you advice, yet you can’t seem to find your direction.
You want support along the life-changing journey of starting a business.

When to hire a business coach? It’s all up to you

If any of the above scenarios ring true for you, it might be time to consider hiring a business coach.

Whether it’s mindset support, strategic support, marketing and sales support or all three, the right business coach can be a wise investment so that you can achieve your business goals.

The first step in hiring the right business coach for is knowing what questions to ask.

What’s the difference between a business coach and a consultant? And who should you hire?

So you want to start or grow your business? Congratulations! Whether you're just starting out or you're already on your way, one of the best things you can do for your business is to hire a business coach or consultant.

But what's the difference between the two? And more importantly, who should you hire? In this podcast, I'll break down the key differences between business coaches and consultants, and share with you who will be the best fit for YOUR business.

As a business owner looking for help, you may not be sure who you need to hire. Do you need a business coach, consultant, or mentor? You want to hire the right fit for your needs and get the results you want!

In this podcast, I’ll outline the differences between a business coach, consultant or mentor — so can you choose which one is the best fit for you.

Hire a business coach when you want true coaching

Business coaching, and coaching in general, is where the coach guides the client to figure out their own answers vs. providing the answers.

A true coaching agenda is guided by the client. The coach is there to provide a sounding board and be a guide to helping the client figure out their next steps.

Business coaching can be more helpful than consulting or mentoring for the following things:

Getting clarity and figuring out what you want
Setting and achieving meaningful goals
Finding the right path and starting the right business for you
Creating a business that aligns with and supports your values
Breaking through blocks and challenges, especially “internal” blocks such as fear and impostor syndrome
Finding and sustaining motivation
Enhancing your productivity
Developing a more focused mindset
Thriving in times of uncertainty
Managing stress, anxiety, and overwhelm
Staying accountable to yourself and your goals

In business coaching, we take a look at what’s working and not working for you in your business, paying special attention to those areas that seem out of alignment. We get to the bottom of the issue, you define what success looks like to you, and we go from there. Changes in one area have a direct effect on the other.

Note: As business coaching has risen in popularity and given the fact that anyone (even non-accredited coaches), can claim to be one, you want to be very clear about what credentials your coach has, as well as what their approach is. (Many coaches are actually mentors in disguise!)

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We live in a time when extroverts seem to get all the glory and attention.

Why Are You So Quiet?

Have you ever been asked this before? As an introvert, I’ve been asked this numerous times in my life.

First off, that’s a horrible question to ever ask someone. It comes off as degrading and you feel like you’re better or above the other person.

Growing up in school and college I was always told that you need to be an extrovert to succeed. Or that on average extroverts were more successful or made the most money.

Extroverts are always the focal point of group conversations and because of that, they stand out.

In fact, even the education system and our workplaces put a premium on people who are gregarious, outgoing, and comfortable working in large groups. Certainly, the media likes extroverts.

Those of us who are more introverted and like to spend time alone, or in smaller gatherings, have become outsiders.

If you are a coach, consultant or small business owner, and also an introvert, you might feel you are at something of a disadvantage.

After all, the limelight seems to shine on those coaches, consultants or small business owners who have websites filled with their photos and video clips. They hold court at conferences and do well in large client meetings.

But what about the rest of us, who are more quietly spoken, and are happy spending hours at a time reading alone, thinking alone, and coming up with our own ideas?

“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” - Susan Cain

Extroverted coaches, consultants or small business owners may make the most noise, but introverted freelancers can be better thinkers, have better ideas, and do better work for their clients.

Ultimately, it’s that quality of work that builds your reputation and brings you success.

Get in the driver’s seat of your coaching, consulting or small business, or fail

Most coaches, consultants or small businesses fail to achieve the level of success they deserve simply because they haven't adopted the Business owner Mindset.

They follow the old model of being in the “service” of their clients. They take a subservient role, feeling grateful for every crumb of work that comes their way. In fee negotiations, they cede power to their clients and buckle under when pressured to charge less.

The new and better model is to be the coach, consultant or small business owner who sits firmly in the driver’s seat.

This coach, consultant or small business owner has a plan for his or her business.
She sets goals and chooses her clients carefully.
She markets herself in a way that associates a high level of value with her business.
She spends very little time looking for work, because work comes to her, mainly through word of mouth and referrals.
She is in control and negotiates fees from a position of strength.
She also watches carefully for opportunities to leverage her knowledge and expertise in ways that enable her to create new and profitable streams of income.

If you want to get into the driver’s seat of your own coaching, consultant or small business, learn more about how we help others create a business that's profitable and enjoyable.

Perform at a higher level by connecting with other coaches, consultants and small business owners.

As a Digital Marketer, I often feel like I work in a vacuum. Generally, I work alone, which means I don’t have a team around me to celebrate with. It also means I don’t have as many opportunities to network, which makes it challenging to grow my business.

But I’ve learnt how to overcome that challenge. Here in this podcast are some of the steps and actions you can take to use networking to grow your freelance business.

This isolation can be tough on us. If we have a bad day, it can sometimes be hard to drag ourselves up out of the fog. If we feel lost, we can’t push our chairs back and chat with the person in the cubicle next to us.

Beyond our daily challenges, we also face longer-term struggles when we work alone. For example, at the beginning of the year, we might have set some ambitious goals and created a plan to help us achieve them. But, being alone, there is nobody around to keep us accountable.

In other words, building your coaching, consulting and small business can be hard when you work alone.

That’s why the people that network have an advantage. They are getting to know each other. They are finding out that others share the exact same challenges.

When everyone goes home, some of them will keep in touch with the people they have met while networking. Maybe they’ll form a private group on Facebook, so they can keep the conversation going.

And if they create small groups and keep in touch, they’ll be giving themselves a big advantage.

They won’t be isolated anymore.

They will have people they can reach out to when they are having a bad week or bad day.

They will have people they can celebrate with when they have a really good day. And they will have people around them who can help them stick to their most ambitious plans for the future.

My advice?

Get out to a conference at least once a year and make friends with a few other Coaches, consultants or small businesses. If you can’t do that, then make friends online and create a small group of fellow freelancers.

Either way, you’ll perform at a higher level if you are not alone.

The Importance of Being Truly Authentic in Business

Being the true and authentic version of yourself is the only way to really create a business that is profitable and enjoyable

Authenticity is the quality of being the true you.

It’s about being real,
being true,
standing forth with confidence and conviction,
and showing up every day as the person that you truly are.

Some people struggle with being authentic as they are led to believe that they have to put on an act or show up as the person that someone else wants them to be rather than just being themselves.

To run a business that truly serves your ideal client, however, you have to be authentic in everything that you do.

If you’re putting something out there that is not truly aligned with you, the results you get will not be aligned either. This includes the clients that you get to work with.

You may even find that you struggle to get any clients to buy into your offering as you may be being inconsistent in your approaches to business, for example in your marketing strategies

To be really successful not just as a business owner but as an individual, be the person that succeeds in originality.

The one that everyone knows as being authentic because they can see how passionate and truthful you are being in everything that you do. ⁠

In this Podcast, I share 5 pieces of advice to help you with letting your true and authentic self shine through in everything that you do in business:

There's no such thing as an overnight success.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is likely trying to scam you. Anyone who promises a proven process or an easy success formula is probably trying to take advantage of you.

The only way to succeed in business is to learn the rules and find a Mentor who can help you navigate the system.

There's no magic formula for success: just hard work, dedication, and a willingness to learn.

It’s easy to sit in a meeting room on a Friday afternoon and say, “I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel here”.

It’s much harder to say, “It’s going to involve working through the weekend, but let’s step back and see if we can be genuinely creative, and come up with an idea that really is new and interesting.”

In other words, the decision not to reinvent the wheel is the easy way out. It’s the lazy way out. It means you can stop thinking, stop worrying about making a mistake, and grab a “proven process” off the shelf.

It’s also a first-class ticket to mediocrity.

Beware anyone who tempts you with a “proven process” or an easy “success formula”.

I’m not saying you should totally ignore what you see and learn. Not at all. Find out what has worked well for other people. Learn from their successes.

But if you simply sit back and copy what others have done, you’ll be very unlikely to achieve any real results for yourself.

As a coach, consultant or small business owner, you can take the same road.

Read less about what others have done to market their businesses, and spend more time thinking of something original, and hopefully a little crazy.

That’s what gets you noticed.

3 Tips For How To Focus on and Enjoy The Process of Success

Do you know what the expression, “The journey is more important than the destination” really means?

If you want to be successful, listen up!

Life is a series of small moments. The goal of life isn’t to acquire things. Rather, it’s about learning how to focus on and enjoy the process of success.

If you obsess about the final outcome, you end up missing out on all the amazing things that happen along the way.

Are you ready to learn 3 tips on how to focus on and enjoy the process of success?

If you are constantly looking for ways that you can get from start to finish with a hop, skip and a jump, keep reading. I’ve got 3 tips for how you can enjoy the process, while still working towards the achievement of your goals.

Enjoy The Present Moment
Celebrate Your Progress
Live Your Life Purpose

You should also spend less time trying to focus on “where the money is at”, and more time identifying the kind of work you are best at and enjoy the most.

Enjoy your work more, and you’ll feel happier. And the happier you feel, you more successful you will become.

The fewer choices you offer, the more you will sell.

If you've ever wondered why more choice doesn't actually lead to increased sales or conversions, this Podcast is for you. In this podcast, marketing expert Prosper Taruvinga explains the paradox of choice and how it can actually lead to paralysis and decreased sales.

He also shares some tips on how you can overcome this challenge in your own business.

Whether you're a coach, consultant or small business owner, this podcast episode will give you some valuable insights into the psychology of choice and how you can use it to your advantage.

Find some challenging and interesting problems to solve.

In this podcast, Business Coach and Consultant Prosper Taruvinga talks about how seeking out challenging, interesting work can help prevent burnout.

He shares his own experience of burnout and how he was able to overcome it by making a change in his attitude and approach to work.

If you're feeling burned out, this podcast is a must-listen!

Never try to change your prospects’ minds.

Have you ever tried to change someone's mind? And failed miserably? You're not alone. In this podcast, we'll explore why it's so difficult to change someone's mind, and what you can do instead to better persuade them.

After listening to this podcast, you'll know how to better identify your target market, what cognitive biases to avoid, and what methods of persuasion are most effective.

I always try to be in concert with my audience’s beliefs and absolutely avoid disagreeing with or challenging those beliefs.

This may sound obvious, but all too many coaches, consultants and small business owners interpret “persuasive” selling as meaning that one persuades a reader, listener or prospect to change his or her mind.

Not going to happen.

Your job is to persuade the reader, listener or prospect to do something they are already inclined to do.

What have you done to promote your freelance business today?

We all know that online marketing is important. But what are the two words that will open the most doors for you when it comes to getting results?

Push marketing and pull marketing.

In this video, you'll learn what each of these terms means and how you can use them to get more traffic, leads, and sales for your business.

Push marketing is all about getting your message out there in front of as many people as possible. This can be done through paid advertising, PR, and other forms of outreach.

Pull marketing, on the other hand, is all about getting people to come to you. This can be done through SEO, content marketing, and social media.

Too many coaches, consultants and small business owners, particularly those who have just started out, think that promoting their business is something that needs to be done occasionally.

Not so.

Promoting and marketing your business is something you should be doing on a daily basis.

Every day? Yes, even if it’s something small.

If you are wondering what you could do on a daily basis, I have compiled a suggestion list for you.

It is divided into 2 sections – Push and Pull.

In other words, it isn’t hard to do something every day.

My list certainly isn’t complete. But there is enough there for you to compile your own calendar of marketing activities, and do SOMETHING each day of the week.

Don’t always do the same, easy thing. Mix it up.

Help your customers decide.

Are you struggling to get people to take action on your website? If so, then you need to check out this podcast on 8 rules for writing high-converting calls to action.

These tips will help you write CTAs that actually get people to take action, whether it's subscribing to your email list, buying your product, or anything else.

So if you're ready to start writing better CTAs and boosting your conversion rates, then listen to this podcast now!

People come to the internet to get information, are they finding yours?

What is curated content?

In a nutshell, it’s sharing original content you didn’t create yourself.

It’ll still be high-quality, relevant content for your industry. It should also be entertaining, inspiring, and educational.

By the end of this podcast, your social media platforms will include a mix of original and curated content. And it’ll be a huge part of your content marketing strategy from now on.

As I explain in this podcast, I think the days are past when you can get away with asking, “Is this content good enough?”

Smart coaches, consultants and small business owners now need to raise the bar considerably, and ask themselves a much tougher question, “Is this content good enough to be curated?”

Aim to achieve the same level of quality content for your own websites, podcasts or blogs.

This makes good sense because if your content is chosen by a quality curator, who is familiar with your topic, then you can be absolutely certain that it’s more than good enough to satisfy Google and the other major search engines.

In other words, don’t try to stay just ahead of what Google wants – and you can never be sure of what that is anyway – but move way ahead of “good enough” and blow your competition out of the water.

We're past the time for content for content's sake.

We need you, we need more outliers!

We have all heard of those people that are so insanely great at something that we categorize them as flukes or outliers. We describe them with phrases like:

“Well, yeah she can do that but she is the exception”

“Yeah he did it, but he is crazy”

“Well everyone except for her, she doesn’t count”

People that come to mind include:

Thomas Edison
Oprah Winfrey
Steve Jobs

Somehow these people have attained outlier status and as such don’t follow the same rules that everyone else does. The popular perception of them becomes less that of a real person and more that of an idea.

Most of us set the bar way too low when it comes to believing what we are capable of.

We do good work. We are productive. We put energy into our work.

But how often do you do CRAZILY good work?

How often are you CRAZILY productive?

How often do you put a CRAZY amount of energy into what you do?

We can all do it. It's just that we don’t reach up that high very often.

This brings me to you.

You have all of the raw ingredients necessary to become a changing force in the world. Bursting out of the league that the rest of us occupy is a possibility. It is just a possibility to require an uncommon amount of work and dedication. It requires moving forward when your brain screams for you to stop, taking risks that will scare your loved ones and putting yourself in dangerous situations. Even still, the potential is there.

You have a chance to change the world for the better. Take it. We need you, we need more outliers!

Humans crave certainty, take advantage of this.

I’m not suggesting you be dishonest. Far from it. Instead, create for and relate to your audience so that they are certain you are a trusted adviser for them.

In order to be truly certain that you have the best solutions for your clients, you will need to do some work to determine who you’re selling to.

You need to create a relationship with your prospect that allows you to understand the challenges and pressures that they’re facing, and to sell to their deeper needs.

If you are a coach, consultant or small business owner, use the same approach when marketing your services. Find a way to promote yourself that offers certainty.

Will my advice make a difference to the results you achieve? Yes, it will. It’s money in the bank. No ifs, buts or maybes.

Be ambitious, and plan to create a memorable body of work

We can be so consumed with achieving right now. Instant gratification is the driving ambition of our generation, but how do you create to leave a powerful legacy?

Find your why. Ask yourself the big question, why you are writing? Be honest with yourself and dig deep. If your goal is for immediate success, then give it your everything. You will be able to achieve that goal if you apply yourself, get some mentoring, and keep at it, just don’t give up. Create without the pressure of performance, develop your work and stay true to your vision.

If you are going to leave something that stands the test of time, you will need to have the courage within yourself to disregard the critics. Not everyone will understand what you are trying to achieve. Great artists show us what is possible; they inspire us to become more and reach further with our creativity.

Only you can decide what you want to achieve, know who you are, and give us your honest and authentic self. It’s ok if you are not driven to make money with your writing, create great art, and allow the world to enjoy it, your grandkids just might be glad that you did.

You can achieve anything you want in your life.

You can build the career you want, you can write and publish a book, you can become a yoga instructor, you can travel the world, you can learn how to play the guitar and you can learn how to speak Italian.

You can do all those things in your lifetime — but you can’t do them all at once. And, more importantly, you can’t excel in any of those fields, if you’re not willing to invest consistent hours into mastering them.

Too often though, this is the trap we fall into. We spread our energy too thin by going after too many things at the same time. As a result, we don’t end up achieving much.

Personally, I’ve fallen victim to this kind of thinking a few times. I wanted to travel the world and launch a project from scratch. I wanted to write a book and build a company. I tried to do them at the same time, but of course, that wasn’t possible.

But all that changed when I came across this Russian proverb that transformed my understanding of what it takes to succeed:

“If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.”

If you want to create sustainable change in your life, you must choose “one thing” and you must go deep in that thing. You must choose—and chase—one rabbit .

And that’s the secret to mastery: You do one thing, you do it every day, and you did it for years.

You’ll feel better as a coach, consultant or small business owner when you see the difference you can make.

I was asked on a podcast recently to identify my most memorable job from the last 10 years as a Digital Marketer and entrepreneur.

The interviewer was probably expecting me to come up with a job I did for one of my big-name clients from the past, like Office works, Myer! or Jim's Cleaning franchise.

But I didn’t. My most memorable job is one I did for a friend about 5 years ago. I helped her start a Chutney business and to help her grow her one-man business.

And it worked gangbusters. In fact, she now has her products in her local IGA and has published a recipe book.

Why was that job more satisfying than some huge project I did for a much bigger company?

It was satisfying because I could clearly see the results. I could see how much I had helped my friend and her company.

In other words, I had made a difference and could see it.

With much of our work, we never really get to know if our contribution made any significant difference… The Digital marketing work I did for Office works may have been good, but it certainly didn’t change the trajectory of the company. I couldn’t see the difference I had made.

This is important because as humans we find it deeply satisfying when we can see that our skills and hard work are actually worth something.

Working for money is one thing. But making money is not as meaningful to us as the knowledge that what we do has meaning, and that our work can change lives.

I’m not suggesting you stop working for larger companies, but you might want to consider an occasional job for some very small companies or causes. It doesn’t matter what they pay you, or whether they pay you at all. I never took a penny from my friend.

What matters is that from time to time you get to see and feel that the work you do is important.

Do more work that matters, more for the selfish reason of the satisfaction it gives you...

There are few things more wonderful than being able to earn a living by writing and speaking. It's a remarkable gift that allows us to share our thoughts and ideas with the world, and to connect with others in a meaningful way.

If you're lucky enough to be a speaker or writer, then you know how precious this gift is.

But it's also a gift that comes with a lot of responsibility. Because when you're a writer, you're not just writing for yourself.

You're writing for your audience.

And that means that you have to be constantly aware of what your audience wants and needs. You have to be able to give them what they're looking for, whether it's information, entertainment, or both.

First, you will have found a way to express yourself, your feelings and your opinions beyond simply writing one more Facebook entry or a Tik Tok Tweet.
Second…you will have developed a craft that allows you to make a living, or some supplemental income, in a variety of different ways.

Myself, I have made a living by writing for the last 10 years.

One of my brothers-in-law is a journalist. One of my nephews is a feature writer. I know someone who makes a living as a travel writer, and a couple of people who are nonfiction writers. Not to mention all the people I know professionally, most of whom make an excellent living as copywriters or business communications writers.

Writing or speaking is not simply one more way to make a living. It is a unique way to make a living.

As a writer and a digital marketer, I have some huge advantages over friends and colleagues who have traditional jobs.

– My work skill is evergreen. I don’t have to relearn how to write as the world and technology change around me.

– My work skill is hugely flexible. I can write sales copy, editorial content, books and ebooks, programs and courses, and so on.

– My work skill is totally portable. Give me a small laptop and you can drop me off anywhere in the world, so long as I can find internet access. In other words, I can work as a writer from wherever I want.

– I can’t be fired. I work for myself and am light on my feet. If I lose a client, or some project comes to an end, I can just find another. In effect, I can never “lose” my job.

– It doesn’t matter how young or old I am. Most employees start to get pretty nervous when they hit the age of 50. If they lose their job, they know they’ll have a tough time finding another. That isn’t the case for me, or for anyone else who writes for a living. For as long as my writing and speaking have value, I’ll never be penalised for my age.

And so on. In a world where everything is changing fast, and where jobs are disappearing faster than they are being created, it’s wonderful to have a skill that is so resilient.

Can you follow the same path? Of course, you can.

Remember the very best work you have done.

As coaches, consultants and small business owners we suffer from self-doubt from time to time. We have good days and not-so-good days. Days when we think we can do anything, and days when we feel we’re not even worthy to get paid for the work we do.

Welcome to the life of an entrepreneur!

Hopefully, you have more up days than down days.

When you do have the occasional down day, here is something I do to snap myself out of it.

I think back to some work I did that was really good.

Maybe it performed incredibly well.
Maybe I was just particularly proud of what I created.
Either way…it is proof that I can create good work.

Sometimes I’ll just think back to that moment, or when that project was completed. Other times, I’ll look at a sample or an image on the portfolio page of my site.

The trick here is to remind yourself of what you did and reaffirm your ability to do good work.

Another way to do it is simply to think back and remember times at work when you really enjoyed what you were doing.

That memory could be related to a project you worked on or a great team of people you worked with.

The idea here is to get your mind thinking about a very positive moment in your work life.

Why?

Because the brain works with a rather peculiar cocktail of chemicals. And you can often get out of a funk simply by adding a splash of good memories. If your memory makes you smile – and by that, I mean physically smile – that’s even better.

The act of smiling also adjusts that chemical cocktail.

It may seem odd that you can change your frame of mind in this way, but you really can.

So even if you are feeling on top of the world right now, you may want to think about those positive moments from the past – make a mental list of them — so you have all the ingredients you need at hand, ready to help you handle one of those bad days.

Rename your “To-Do” list to your “Opportunities” list

To give yourself a daily lift in self-esteem, get into the habit of using to-do lists.

I have an ongoing list of things I need to get done and the days by which they are due.

When I get up in the morning, I can immediately see my tasks for the day.

As each item is completed, I check a box next to the article.

As the day progresses, more and more items get checked off.

At the end of the day, I can look at my list – at all the items with check marks against them – and I feel good.

I feel good because I can see what I have done with my day. I can see I have had a productive day. I can see that I have made progress and am moving forward.

The funny thing – I used to simply delete items from the list as I progressed through each day. But…that didn’t make me feel as good, because at the end of the day I could no longer see the complete list of what I had done.

So now I use a system where I can just check that box. I still delete the items at the end of the day, but I like to look at the day’s list, all with their check marks before I do that.

This is one of those weird mind games one has to play with oneself. It shouldn’t make any difference to us whether or not we can “see” what we have achieved each day, but somehow it does.

What program or service do I use for my to-do list? I have tried numerous services, a few of which I paid for. But now I just use the tasks function within Google Calendar. I have the calendar open to see my various appointments for the week, and on the same screen can see my task items for the day.

If you are not doing this already, try it. It will make you feel good.

The Great Outdoors Can Teach Us Entrepreneurship Lessons

If you've listened to a few of my podcasts, you know I find business inspiration in the oddest places: the dentist's office; kid's shows, and Mr Bean; heck, even learning Italian has given me some lessons about running a business.

So it should be no surprise that on a recent hike in Plenty Gorge, Mernda's urban outdoors setting, inspiration struck once again. Even if you don't get outside much, you can take these lessons to heart.

The feeling of awe is a powerful thing. We can feel it when watching a gymnast performing some incredible feat, or at the birth of a child, or in nature.

That moment of awe has a profound effect on us. It’s a little like a reset button, allowing us to view everything afresh. All the jumbled-up worries and thoughts in our minds are swept away.

For myself – perhaps because I don’t have easy access to gymnasts, and have just the right number of children already – I find awe in nature.

Is your content created simply to market your podcast or site, or to actually inform your listeners and readers?

A lot of coaches, consultants and small businesses create content simply for the purpose of marketing their websites, blogs or podcasts.

We are driven by the knowledge that content is king and the creation of content is a powerful means to attract new visitors.

In other words, we use the content as bait. We end up just creating content for content's sake

But when we do this, are we really giving our readers or listeners what they really want?

Another way to look at it would be to view your website, podcast or blog as a library.

For a moment, imagine your site as a physical library, built with bricks and mortar, and stocked with research books and old texts.

Now think about what kinds of books you would buy for your library.

In the real world of bricks and mortar, you would buy and display books according to what the public wanted to find there.

You would cater to their tastes and have a few reference books on the shelves that might be rather mundane in their subject matter, but are nevertheless what your readers want to find.

Now imagine a physical library where the librarian thought more like a website creator or editor. He or she would probably buy books that are new, exciting and provocative.

The reference books would give way to bestsellers. In fact, the librarian would be driven to choose books that attract the most attention and ignore the useful, information-packed books that people really wanted to find.

Such a library might attract some attention at first but would soon lose favour.

People come to the internet to get information. And if they get this from our websites, they get to know, like and trust us. And we all know, people do business with those they know, like and trust.

Readers might be excited by what they first find there. But they would stop coming back as soon as they discovered that the library no longer offered the full range of useful, informative reference materials they really wanted.

We can fall into the same trap with our websites and blogs as coaches, consultants or small businesses.

We create content that grabs attention, hooks readers and hopefully, is shared far and wide through social media. To put it another way, we use the content as a means to market our site or business.

But all too often we forget to create content that is actually useful. We don’t like publishing what we consider to be boring content, even if it is what our readers are really looking for.

The best sites – the ones that get it right – are those that find the right balance.

Yes, they create fresh, exciting content as a means to market their sites. But at the same time, they also create content that is deep, useful and helpful.

Going back to the library analogy, by all means, create an entrance area that is filled with bestsellers and other exciting, provocative and eye-catching books. But behind that entrance area, be sure to stock the shelves with the deep body of reference materials your readers are looking for.

Check out your own website or blog now. Do an audit.

Do you have the right balance? Or do you offer too much brain candy and too little serious reference material?

Grow your blog post audience by always writing from the customer’s perspective.

The problem is that, for coaches, consultants and small business owners to create great blog content that keeps people engaged (and returning for more), you have to know why people read blog posts. Your blogs, specifically.

What led them to your brand?
What are they trying to accomplish when they read your blog?

In short: you should be writing content that’s valuable from the customer’s perspective, not yours. Blog posts about your product features and company events? They’re okay to include in your larger content library, but they’re not what’s going to drive organic traffic to your site.

In this podcast, I’m going to cover why people read blogs and how you can use that information to grow your blog post audience.

Your new subscribers, site visitors and audience don’t know who you are, yet.

Do people even really understand what you do these days?

What’s the watered down, back-to-basics story of what you do, what you stand for, and who you are?

How would you tell that story to your audience?
How do you tell it on your blog?
And what does it look like in under 140 characters?

Starting fresh is somewhat harder than it seems sometimes, but the effort is really important.

If you are a coach, consultant or small business owner, what story would you tell anew for people who have forgotten who you are and what you mean for for those who already know of you? If you’re a solo business selling some service, how do you tell your story in such a way that it resonates with your prospective audience?

As you move forward with your career, many of your readers have stepped in half way through the narrative. They may not know where you “came from” or how and why you do what you are doing today.

The challenge we all face, certainly as coaches, consultants and small business owners, is to speak to all of our readers and customers effectively, whether they have known us for 10 years or just 10 days.

We not only need to communicate where we are today but also how we got here.

The internet is driven by, community, conversations and content.

Think about how often you see businesses shouting their messages at their audience. No engagement, no context, no conversation.

Those brands look spammy and self-centred, not exactly trustworthy.

Brands that foster community on the other hand clearly care about their customers. They converse with their customers, sometimes even one-on-one.

They want to learn more about their interests, needs, and behaviours. They want to solve their customer’s problems.

As a result, their customers care about them and what they have to say in return. They become loyal to these brands.

Tip your hat to those companies. They knew how to build an online community.

What Does It Mean to Be an Affable Person?

I was talking to a client the other day and came across a discovery about how people choose their doctors, coaches or consultants.

And this is where the 3 A’s come in.

Affability,
Availability and
Ability.

When a doctor is affable, that means he or she is friendly, empathetic and appears genuinely caring.

Availability is about how long the patient will have to wait to get an appointment.

And ability speaks to the patient’s sense of just how good or bad the doctor is at his or her job.

What interested me was that the client I was talking to, was just expecting the social media, funnels and website we had created for them to do all the heavy lifting.

I had to let the client know these 3 A’s are listed according to their importance to the patient.

In other words, patients care most about their doctor being affable, then about their availability, and finally about their ability.

Yes, thier ability was listed last.

Of course, this doesn’t mean people don’t care about how good or bad their doctors are. And maybe people place it last in part because it is very hard for us to make a judgement as to how good a doctor might be.

That’s how it works with doctors and patients. And maybe we can learn from this when figuring out what a client is looking for when he or she mulls over whether or not to hire us.

I think many of us coaches, consultants and small business owners assume that clients are most interested in determining our abilities.

How good are we?
Are we good enough to do the job?

So as coaches, consultants and small business owners we put a lot of effort into providing proof of our ability, using testimonials, case studies and the like.

I think what we do less well when prospecting for clients is displaying our affability and our availability.

Making it clear that we are available and ready to start work on their project today is easily done. You can simply put an online booking system on your website or social media.

To demonstrate our affability is a little harder, and takes more time.

Let’s look at the topic of affability in this podcast in a little more detail.

Why? Because I suspect it is a lot more important than we think when it comes to securing a client.

Because the hard things ultimately build you up and change your life.

Many people often take the easy way out of, well, everything. They take shortcuts in life and often times they end up living a life that is less than fulfilling. A new idea – probably the best idea – is to do the hard things in life instead.

This means making decisions to do the things that other people aren’t willing to do, or the things that you’ve always avoided doing.

In this podcast, we discuss some valid reasons why doing the hard things is the best way to live your life.

The ‘hard things’ in life can be whatever you think they are.

Like getting up before sunrise to exercise even when you want to sleep in. Mowing your elderly neighbour’s lawn after mowing yours for three hours.

All these things make a difference, help others, and essentially make you a better, healthier, happier, and fulfilled individual.

Your services can be generic, but your message can’t be

In the early stages of their business, coaches, consultants and small business owners often struggle to come up with really strong messaging to describe what they are selling, and this has a huge impact on their ability to raise money, find customers, and attract employees.

This is not that surprising, as it can be really hard to arrive at great messaging that is simple and appealing.

This focuses on how to get messaging and positioning right so you can have a business that's profitable and enjoyable.

There are two reasons why you need to have a clear message about what you are offering:

You need it to connect with customers, investors, potential employees, the press, etc. and if you don’t have a simple, compelling message, they won’t bother to learn more. They won’t take the time to learn about, and ultimately love and share your product. More so, if you don’t steer how people think about your product, the market will make up its own version which may not match your vision.
Every touch point a customer or potential customer has with your product or company will shape their view of you. It’s critical that each of those touchpoints send the same message. When you create a clear brand message, it ensures your team is fully aligned. This gets everyone moving in the same direction, telling the same story and creating consistent touch points for your customers.

Your services can be generic, but your message can’t be.

Your primary message, as viewed on the home page of your website, or in that elevator, has to be exciting to both yourself and your readers.

It has to convey value, and it has to make your prospect want to work with you, and nobody else.

Today, all your content headlines have to do double duty:

Making headlines shareable through social media?

What’s that about?

Well, if your content page headlines aren’t gaining significant traction through social media, you’re missing the boat.

Today, all your content headlines have to do double duty:

First, they have to work on the content page itself. The page headline has to compel attention, hook the reader, and drive readers into the body of the content.

Second…your headlines have to be shareable through social media.

They have to be able to stand alone, away from your page, and jump out the crowd in Twitter streams, on Facebook pages, on Reddit, in RSS feeds and elsewhere. In other words, your headline alone should make people want to share both the headline and a link to your full page or post.

You want to maximize shareability because social media exposure can bring you a ton of immediate traffic, extend your reach to a larger audience, and maybe generate some new inbound links as well.

So how to you do this?

How do you write a content headline that works on your page or post, but also works well in isolation…on Facebook, Google+ or elsewhere?

Shareability Tip #1: Write your headlines to a maximum length of 80 characters.
Shareability Tip #2: Mention multimedia.
Shareability Tip #3: Get NEW into the headline.

These are just three of many ways to make your content headlines more shareable.

Above all, it’s important to recognize that the craft of headline writing is changing fast. The proliferation of site pages and blog posts have a lot to do with this. As does the explosion of social media, and the massive adoption of content via smartphones.

The bottom line is that you now have to write better headlines in order to get noticed, compel attention, drive readership, and build loyalty among your readers.

You don’t want to seek out any old clients. You want to pursue the very best clients.

One of the most important things you can do as a business owner is to get ruthlessly honest about who you work best with, and for whom you are the best fit.

What this means:

You need to know your criteria for an excellent client fit.

And that won’t be the same as mine, or as any other business owner.

It also means that you have to be willing to often say no. Which can be really. damn. hard.

And initially, this can seem impossible if you’re in a position where cash flow is an issue.

Everything in your business will change when you commit to letting go of clients/projects that cause you to feel resentful.

You have a lot more control over your business than you think you do.

It all starts with the clients you work with. Without clients (or customers), you don’t have a business.

So what kind of customers do you want to have?

What matters to you in your business? How do you want to feel during and after your projects? And how do you want others to feel when they work with you?

Get clear on who aligns best with what you’ve got to offer, and start saying NO to anything less. You owe it to your business and to your clients. This is you moving into a bigger leadership role, and making space for great.

So, who is a perfect fit for you?

Imagine you’re getting dressed for a client meeting. Would you scan your wardrobe and choose the perfectly pressed outfit or the wrinkled shirt and pants that’s been soaking in your dirty hamper?

You’d likely choose clean clothes because you want to make the best impression possible.

And while we don’t judge – other people do.

The same rule applies in the digital realm: you want to represent your brand in a way that is modern and clean.

Let’s look at the benefits of regularly updating a website and how it could impact how people perceive your brand!

Your business is important to you – and you probably want it to be important to other people too. An outdated or hard-to-navigate website can turn clients off before they even know who you are.

If your website looks or feels outdated, your prospects will turn away and not look back. So, how do you instantly captivate potential customers?

Easy: keep your website up-to-date by using safe web practices and custom web design!

The top 6 things to focus on when updating a website are:

Updating Your Website Security
Boosting Your SEO
Keeping Up with Technology
Keeping Your Content Fresh
Improving Loading Speed
Updating Your Website Design

Ultimately, there are two reasons to keep updating your coaching consulting or small business website.

First, you need to look current. You can’t afford for your site to look old. It’s bad branding.

Secondly, you need to build on a platform that allows you to connect seamlessly with your audience.

You can achieve success if you really WANT it.

There's no magic pill or secret comes down to hard work and dedication. But if you're willing to put in the effort, success is within reach.

In this podcast, learn about people who have achieved success in their field and what it takes to reach the top.

I'll share their stories of struggle and perseverance, and offer advice on what it takes to achieve your goals.

So if you're ready to succeed, listen to this podcast and find out how.

The Real You is Hiding Underneath the Vanity Persona You Use to Get Validation and Approval.

Let me preface this by saying I am a big fan of social media as a business tool for coaches, consultants and small business owners, or for any other kind of solopreneur.

The smart use of social media can be a great way to connect with people in your industry and reach out to potential customers, clients or partners.

However…

The smart use of social media involves achieving absolute clarity over how you use it when you use it and how much time you spend using it.

To take an extreme example, you can quite easily spend hundreds of hours on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, build up a list of 10,000 followers, friends and connections, and then derive zero benefits from your efforts.

As I watch my Instagram feed, and see some people posting dozens of times a day, I sometimes ask myself, “Why? Why is he posting so much? What’s his strategy? What benefit is he deriving from all this time spent on Insta? What is his ROI?”

That’s the first thing. Create a social media strategy for yourself.

Decide on why you are using it. Set some goals. Then spend your time achieving those goals. Also, keep track of the time you spend on social media, and make sure you are getting a good ROI.

Now let’s talk about lunch.

Imagine having lunch with a supplier, peer or old client. Or an existing client. Or a possible, future client. You spend a couple of hours over your meal. That’s 160 minutes of face time and talk time.

A little talk about family stuff. A little moaning about the economy. A then some talk about what you are doing, the clients you have, the kind of work you are picking up, the kind of work you hope to be doing soon.

Maybe at about minute 89, your lunch guest says something like, “Hey, I should hook you up with my pal Frank. He’s the marketing manager over at Xyz busines, and I know he’s looking for the kind of expertise you offer. I’ll get you guys together.”

That took 89 minutes.

How long would it take you on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin?

Regardless of the time spent, consider the power of the referral. An introduction through LinkedIn is very nice. But it has nothing like the power of someone saying, “Frank, you should talk to Prosper. I have known him for years and the other day we were having lunch, and he was talking about this new SEO service he is offering.”

Put simply, a real-world referral is infinitely more powerful and effective than a virtual referral through social media.

How come? Because of the relative power or the connections you make.

You may well have 10,000 connections through social media. But these are vague, misty, fleeting, ethereal and essentially very weak connections. These people don’t really know you. They have no reason to go out of their way to help you. They’re not your real friends. They don’t care about you.

But when you get to know someone over the years, and have lunch each month, and hear about how their kids are doing at school, that creates a very strong connection.

Make a note of how much time you spend on social media each week.

6 hours, maybe?

That’s three lunches.

Which would be the better use of your time?

For most of us I think the answer is to do both. Just don’t get so tied up with social media that you forget the power of real-life, personal relationships.

Do coaches, consultants and small business owners really have to become local celebrities?

Don’t Focus on Being Momentarily Popular. Focus on Being Missed When You’re Gone.

Not being you will destroy you. and you will never be satisfied.

The way to have a successful business is to focus on being of value to your clients, not on being momentarily popular. In this video, I talk about how social media can be a trap of vanity metrics and how you can avoid it by creating content that is actually valuable to your target audience.

The reason most people are unhappy is that their priorities are wrong.

See, most people prize gadgets, appearances, and the attention of others over what makes them feel truly alive.

Their lives revolve around other people and the validations/affirmations other people give.

Unfortunately, these people are usually the least qualified to pass judgement on your life.

If you want stop focusing on popularity, you can finally focus on creating good, true, noble work that truly helps people.

You can evolve from an insecure “influencer” to someone people will actually miss when you’re gone.

I received a really nice email from a reader of mine:

“Do you know you come across as such a warm person? Is that what you are really like? I love getting e-mails from you.”

I’ve fought hard — against myself, the world, and even the people around me — to become a warm, kind person. The kind of person people actually miss when I’m gone, who look forward to seeing me.

I’ve been able to build a business that's profitable and enjoyable doing this, but more importantly, I’m able to wake up each day happy to be me — something I could not have honestly said for most of my life.

Don’t focus on being popular. Focus on helping others, and being missed when you’re gone.

The ingredients for success are different for each and every person.

What motivates you? Understanding that is key

Does it really matter what motivates you to be an entrepreneur?

Actually, it does.

Entrepreneurship is a grind, so whatever you can hold onto to give you motivation is key for getting through difficult times.

If time is what you value, think about the extra hours each day you could have with your family doing activities that are meaningful if you are able to succeed as an entrepreneur.
If making the world a better place is of chief importance to you, think about all the people you’ll help if you’re successful.
If you just want to love what you do, think about enjoying your workday for once as a motivation to keep going.

In the meantime, check out some tips for entrepreneurs, and don’t forget that your journey will not be an overnight one.

Keep your eyes on the prize and remember why you took this path, to begin with.

Persistence will pay off eventually, as long as you remember what you’re fighting for.

Stop handing in second rate work!

When I’m busy with other work, I sometimes outsource copywriting work to other , coaches or consultants in that field.

Working with project partners, I often have to read the copy submitted to my partners by their freelance copywriters.

Here’s the shocker…

More often than not, most freelance copywriters, coaches or consultants hand in garbage.

These are good, professional copywriters, all capable of producing outstanding work.

But the work they submit is rubbish.

Maybe the opening is weak. Maybe the flow just doesn’t work. Maybe there are factual errors, or spelling errors. Maybe part of the offer description from the brief is missing. Maybe the headline is just plain wrong.

Or maybe it’s not terrible, but clearly in need of some more polish, with a second or third draft required.

Do you think I’m joking? I’m not. I see this again and again. In fact, I see unfinished, unpolished copy more often than I see well-crafted, error-free copy.

The bottom line is – most freelance copywriters fail to hand in their best work.

This is insane, because you will be judged by what you send in to your clients. And it is immensely frustrating for your clients, because they often know what you are capable of, and don’t understand why you would send in anything less than your best.

Maybe you think, “Hey Prosper, sometimes we send in a draft just to get feedback before we move on to the final draft.”

That may sound like a reasonable excuse, but I think it’s just that – an excuse.

If you have questions you need to ask your client, ask them. But don’t send them a weak draft, in the hope that they’ll help you make it better. You are meant to be the expert.

That’s what they are paying you for.

Work for fewer clients and spend longer on each job, so you can hand in your best work every time. And as you build your reputation as a coach, consultant or small business owner who always submits great work, you’ll be able to charge higher fees.

Fewer clients. Better quality. Higher fees.

Doesn’t that make more sense?

And believe me, with so many entrepreneurs submitting second-rate, unfinished copy, there is a huge opportunity to brand yourself as the freelancer who always delivers his or her best work.

First, figure out what you love to do. Then figure out how to make money doing it.

Coaches, consultants, and small business owners, receive all kinds of good advice about how to make a decent living.

Goal setting.
Finding a niche.
Marketing.
Commitment.
Mental toughness.
Organization.

This is all good stuff.

But it won’t help you much if you don’t love what you’re doing.

And if you do love what you are doing, all those other elements will fall into place more easily.

So, before you leap into your next venture, ask yourself the question,

“Do I love doing this?”

If you don’t, pause for a moment and ask yourself this question:

“If I had followed the path of what I loved to do back when I was 22, what would I be doing now?”

Whatever the answer, perhaps you could start doing that now.

When you love what you do for a living, everything changes.

There is a need for a strong strategy and clear limits.

One of the great challenges of Digital marketing is to make sure your time and resources are being used effectively.

It’s all too easy to put a huge amount of energy into social media, across multiple sites, and then scratch your head and wonder whether your hard work actually made a significant difference.

Social media activity is always open-ended. There are always more sites you could become active on, and there is no limit to the time you can spend on the sites where you are already engaged.

Hence the need for a strong strategy and clear limits.

If you work for B2C companies, it can be tough to set those limits. And that’s why, even if you don’t have B2B clients, I suggest you create a social media strategy for an imaginary B2B client. Just as an exercise.

For B2B it is somehow easier to set limits.

Let’s imagine you are working for a company in the food services industry that specialises in selling frozen goods to independent restaurants and bars.

How might you help them with social media?

Here are some options I might explore:

– Look for vertical social media sites which serve restaurant and bar owners etc.

– Search for and join relevant groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.

– Create an account on Twitter and engage prospects, thought leaders, food journalists and other influencers.

– Create a geolocation based campaign to implement at hospitality services trade shows and other relevant events.

– Reach out to restaurants and offer to sponsor local, geolocation based deals and offers.

That will do for now.

Each option is fairly clearly defined. Each has a specific purpose. Each is looking to engage with a specific group of people.

It’s this kind of clarity you want to apply to any social media work, especially for B2C clients.

What you want to avoid is goals that sound like this: “Reach out to as many new prospects as possible.” Or, “Use social media to better establish our brand.”

These are very open-ended goals. There are no boundaries or limits. You could spend forever on them, and probably with a very poor ROI.

One way or another, whether you do my B2B exercise or not, create social media strategies and campaigns that address a specific audience, for a particular purpose, within a specified time frame.

Do that, and you’ll be able to apply resources where they matter most, and measure the results you achieve.

Above all, avoid vague, open-ended strategies and campaigns that will be a drain on your time and unlikely to achieve tangible results.

Always put aside an emergency cash

There is a ton of advice I can give, and have given to coaches, consultants and small business owners.

But I think the best advice I can give is this:

Always put aside an emergency cash fund equivalent to about two months of earnings.

Why? Because there are always ups and downs in the life of a coach, consultant and small business owner, whether you are just starting out, or have been an entrepreneur for years.

It doesn’t matter whether you are just doing OK as a coach, consultant and small business owner., or superstar. You will always have an occasional month that doesn’t deliver the money you need to cover the bills. Or maybe one month you have an unexpected expense. Or maybe you are sick and can’t work.

You need to have a cash reserve to make up for those months. This is a simple business practice. It’s called cash flow management. Every company, large or small, has to manage its cash flow.

You need to creatediverse, recurring revenue streams to skyrocket your profitability and ensure your business remains 100% bulletproof even during market downturns, global pandemics and sweeping

No pictures of happy, leaping people required.

We all know that how your website looks is a key part of getting prospective clients to contact you. However, the combination of what the eye sees and what you read is critical. Your site can look amazing, but if it’s full of spelling and grammar errors people will form unflattering conclusions about the products and services you offer.

Proofreading your text is essential. Make sure you get other people to read through it as they are far more likely to spot errors that you’ve missed.

In addition to being typo-free, your website copy needs to reflect you and your brand.

The tone of voice and vocabulary should be consistent across all your promotional formats, whether in print or online. Your customers need to feel that their experience with you is seamless, no matter where they are seeing your brand.

Graphics and user interface design can encourage visitors to your site to visit specific pages or draw attention to important pieces of information. What gets them clicking is a clear Call To Action (CTA).

Have your customers’ journey through your website in mind and steer them towards the action you want them to take – like using your contact form or buying online from you.

BTW – Before you respond, I do know that images, infographics and videos can add enormous value when done well, and used in the right circumstances.

And I do know that adding other elements to a text-only page can give you some SEO brownie points. And I do know that multimedia can be a big draw when promoting your pages through social media. I know that stuff.

But even so, I resent having to search far and wide to find a quality writer who has taken the trouble to write a high-quality page.

As with that first book without pictures, a well-written text-only web page can stimulate your brain into making all the necessary connections without any extra help.

No pictures of happy, leaping people are required.

How marketing changes based on the current level of maturity of your business.

Marketing changes as your business grows and develops.

In the early stages, your marketing efforts will be focused on outreach and building awareness. As you establish your business and gain more authority, your marketing will shift to inbound strategies like content marketing and SEO.

And finally, as you become a well-known and trusted brand, your marketing will focus on outbound strategies like advertising and PR.

Let’s talk about how marketing changes based on the current level of maturity of your coaching, consulting or small business.

The first thing that’s really important to understand here is that it’s your marketing will change not just based on the maturity of your business, but really on the maturity of the marketing in your business.

What I mean by that is you may be in business for 10 years already, but you’ve received all your business from your own network and referrals and so forth.

And so that really means that the maturity of your marketing is almost zero because you haven’t done very much in the marketing department.

In the early days of your outreach, you should be very focused on getting in front of ideal clients.

Want To Advance To The Next Stage In Your Coaching, Consulting or Small Business?

This is how the marketing maturity mix should be or how you should allocate your time and focus as your business grows from early to mid-stage, and mid-stage to kind of late and more developed.

It’ll shift from outreach to more inbound.

If you’re looking for help with your own marketing and advancing to the next stage so you can attract more clients consistently, just reach out to us at Livelong Digital

Successful people ask for help.

“Everybody should have a Coach,” says Google CEO Eric Schmidt

The definition of a Coach is “someone whose job is to teach and help improve at something”

Every successful person in Sports, Politics, Business, Entertainment, Religion and Life has or has had coaches.

Cristiano Ronaldo has a coach. Barack Obama has a coach. Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, and Tony Robbins have coaches. Even Buddha had a coach.

None of these people got to where they are on their own. They realised early on that they would get more out of themselves if they had the support, advice and accountability of a coach, even multiple coaches.

We have all had coaches in life…

Who taught you to speak, play football, do maths, or learn a musical instrument? A parent/teacher/instructor. These are all types of coaches who not only taught you something but helped you improve.

Yet, since leaving school or graduating from university, how many coaches have you had in your life?

At 31, Cristiano Ronaldo still sees the benefit of a coach to continue playing world-class football.
At 55, Barack Obama still needed coaches to continue to be the President of the United States until last year.
And at 62, Oprah Winfrey still relies on coaches to stay one of the most respected people in the Entertainment industry.

It was these coaches that have helped educate, empower, advise, hold accountable and supported them in their successes.

Paul Dolan, a behavioural scientist at London School of Economics and the author of the bestselling book Happiness By Design, says:

“Just as people have for years been employing personal trainers to help them get fit and lose weight, so too achieving goals can be accelerated by using an advisor or coach to apply similar principles to success in life.”

Now, very few of us have the means to employ a team of people. We do, however, have more of a team than we think. Remember “no man is an island”. Rely on your friends and family for support in reaching your goal.

“Successful people ask for help” Camille Preston, Fortune

Along with your family and friends, there are countless support networks on and offline.

If you are learning a new skill, find a course at a local educational institute or online.

If your goal is to get fit, look for local classes or a personal trainer. Alternatively, there are countless online exercise videos, free and paid.

If you are looking to start your own business, look for a local business person to be a mentor or alternatively find an online mentor or coaching course.

Here are a few ideas to help you go out and win your first consulting client.

Your challenge is getting to be visible so that your ideal clients know that you exist — so that they’re then able to hire you.

Many coaches, consultants and small business owners have trouble finding their first client.

In this podcast, I want to offer you a few ideas to help you go out and win your first coaching or consulting client.

Here are 4 ways to get your first consulting client.

First-Degree Connections
Second-degree Connections
Direct Outreach
Sell What They Want To Buy

When you follow these four steps and work them consistently, you’re going to be able to land that first client much faster and make a lot more progress and feel a lot more momentum in the early days of your business.

I wish you great success with this, and as always, feel free to reach out through Livelong Digital where you’ll find many resources to help you grow your consulting business.

Whether you’re at the earliest stages or you’ve been a consultant for 10 or 15 years, looking to get to the next level, we have resources for you.

Avoid saying YES before you know the scope.

It’s easy to say YES

When the client asks for something – new keyword research, some ad-hoc Google or Social media analysis, an extra workshop for their staff member who was not present on the scheduled one – it usually seems like a reasonable request.

After all, they pay the bills and shouldn’t they get the most out of their coach, consultant or small business service provider?

When the consultant says YES to a new request, it may feel comfortable and collaborative.

The consultant feels like she is doing a good job listening, and the client is happy that his idea was accepted. There is no stress or pregnant pauses. It is the path of the least resistance like water running downhill.

Experienced consultants and lawyers will tell you there are many reasons why being overly agreeable can create problems. Here are four of them that I speak about in this podcast:

False promise

It is easy to say YES in the heat of the moment, then completely forget about it. It is the equivalent to a husband telling his wife “sure, honey”, when he was not listening (and definitely not writing things down).

Overpromise

It’s a crude graph, but it visualises what all consultants know to be true: “under-promise, and over-deliver”. When the client asks for 100, promise less (red bar) and deliver more (blue bar). Sad, but true. By lowering client expectations, we have a better chance of exceeding. Call it cynical, call it sandbagging, but it works.

Waste of time

Don’t get me wrong. Clients often give good feedback – especially when explaining the organizational context (read: politics). I have learned something from every client. That said, every client request is not valid. Sometimes, they are a waste of time. Remember: we are paid for our expertise and often paid by the hour. No reason to waste the client’s money, waste our time, or worse – put the project timing at risk.

Poor alignment

In my mind, this is the greatest danger. If the client keeps bringing up new ideas and ad-hoc requests. . . AND the consultant keeps agreeing to them . . Something is wrong. It is a symptom of a deeper problem:

Well, you have to tune in to hear what this is, and that's the reason why most consultants go out of business.

Do you want to grow your business?

If so, you should start by listening to what your customers, suppliers and interested parties have to say.

Feedback from the people who visit your website can help you make smart decisions about creating content, promoting your products and growing your brand.

When you look at how people feel when they visit your business, you can identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Use your strengths to keep customer satisfaction soaring and find ways to build on your weaknesses to aid in retention.

In this podcast, we take a look at several ways you can use feedback to grow your company. But first, let’s look at some of the most common types of feedback and show you where to gather this valuable data.

I read a story about a Boston University professor who asks for student feedback in every class. Most professors might be satisfied with a student evaluation once a semester, but not this professor. Dr. Muhammad Zaman gets feedback daily from his biomedical engineering students. He publishes the results, emails the students to tell them about “any fine-tuning he plans in response to their comments”. This is teaching rigor.

As your business grows, you’ll have to gather more feedback to continue expanding.

Listening to your audience will naturally draw more users to your site as you accumulate positive written reviews and word-of-mouth praise.

Get crystal clear on your ideal client so you never doubt who it is you should be going after.

Any coach, consultant or small business owner who is creating a business that's profitable and enjoyable understands an important truth:

You’re not just in the business of coaching or consulting. You’re in the business of marketing.

Without marketing — generating conversations with buyers (leads) — you cannot generate revenue. And without revenue, you don’t have a business.

But marketing is much deeper than generating conversations with buyers.

Generating leads is an important part of your marketing.

But unless you build a foundation on which to generate said leads, your leads won’t develop into new business.

In this podcast, you’ll learn how to build that foundation.

You’ll learn what you should do before you generate leads — so that when you do start your marketing efforts, your leads will develop into new business.

Effective lead generation for coaches, consultants and small businesses is built on top of these 5 fundamentals:

Identifying your ideal client
Crafting a compelling message
Creating a strategic offer
Understanding the meaningful sales conversation
Mapping out your proposal process

Once you have these pieces in place, your lead-generation strategy will be 10x more effective.

Without these, your lead generation (and business) will sink.

Are you a coach or consultant who is struggling to keep your business afloat during these uncertain times? If so, then this podcast is for you!

In it, I'll be sharing 3 simple but powerful strategies that you can use to not only survive but thrive during these tough times.

The first strategy is to focus on consistency. No matter what's going on in the world, the one thing you can control is your own consistency. When you show up consistently for your business, you send a powerful message to the Universe that you're serious about your success.
The second strategy is to shift your focus from quantity to quality. It's natural to want to attract as many clients as possible during tough times, but the best way is to be the most valuable person in your client's life.
The third thing we go into is your health and well-being. Yes, you can do well if you are not feeling well.

What strategy resonates with you most? Let me know in the comments below…

And if you have some best practices of your own that you’d to add to the list type those in the comments below as well.

So, if you’d like our help taking advantage of these challenging times, ourOnline Prosperity Program is for you.

We’ll work hands-on with you to develop a strategic plan and then dive deep and work through your ideal client clarity, strategic messaging, consulting offers, fees and pricing, business model optimisation, and help you to set up your marketing engine and lead generation system to consistently attract ideal clients.

Schedulea FREE growth session today to apply for our limited capacity Online Prosperity Program by clicking here.

Your clients raving about you is far more impactful than you raving about yourself.

Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to undertake behaviour in a given situation.

The principle of social proof says, "The greater the number of people who find any idea correct, the more the idea will be correct.”

Which is more persuasive:

A friend recommending you buy their favourite product…
Or, an unknown coach, consultant or small business recommending you buy their product?

It’s natural to be sceptical about people promoting themselves. But when their customers promote them, it feels more organic, trustworthy, and safe. That’s how social proof works.

Social proof is incredibly powerful in business. And testimonials are another example of social proof.

By showing praise from former clients who’ve benefited from your service, you show potential clients that your service will benefit them.

To get testimonials from your consulting clients, you’ll have to do three things:

Do great work
Ask for them
Make it easy

Once you’ve received your testimonials, start using them to market your consulting business:

Turn them into case studies
Add them to your landing pages
Ask those clients for referrals

Consulting is a relationship business, and social proof helps you leverage your relationships to win new business.

Aim to make every project you complete worthy of a glowing testimonial. The more testimonials you gather, the easier it will be to attract new clients.

Become Better At Virtual Meetings To Build Long-Lasting Connections and Grow Your Business

Do you groan when you think of having yet another virtual meeting?

Do you feel burn-out sitting in front of your camera all day?

What if virtual meetings didn’t leave you with “Zoom fatigue” — but instead, you left your meetings feeling energised and excited?

You don’t have to groan at the thought of another virtual meeting.

Using these principles, tactics, and tools, you’ll make your virtual meetings more engaging, more productive — and even more fun.

Your action step for this podcast is to ask 4 of these questions during your next virtual meetings — and take notes for it.

Above all else, remember this: executives — your clients — are surrounded by “yes-men” and “yes-women.”

You’ll position yourself as their trusted advisor by taking the opposite approach.

Don’t sugarcoat things and tell them when they’re wrong.

They’ll trust you even more because they know they can count on you for more objective advice.

How has the pandemic affected your virtual meetings?

What have you seen work well for your virtual meetings?

Strategy VS Tactics: How To Determine Your Strategy

Do you ever feel like you’re running around in circles in your coaching, consulting or small business?

Like everything you’re doing doesn’t really connect — and you aren’t making the progress you want towards your goal to create a profitable and enjoyable business?

It can feel like you’re turning around like the Tasmanian Devil (remember those cartoons back in the day?)

Believe it or not, many coaches and consultants run their businesses this way.

They’re chasing the next shiny object, the latest marketing tool or drinking the social media cool-aid without wondering how it fits into their long-term strategy and goals.

And that’s if they have a specific long-term goal in the first place.

Your long-term goals and strategy should come first.

Your tactics — tools, channels, technology, etc. — come second.

By the end of this podcast, you’ll understand the critical difference between strategy and tactics — and determine your own strategy (and tactics) so you can get clear on your next steps to grow your coaching, consulting or small business.

My response to RFPs is a polite “no thank you.”

What’s your response to requests for proposals or Tenders?

More importantly — what should your response be?

Before large companies hire a consulting, coaching or small business for a large-scale project, they’ll often put out a request for proposal (RFP) to receive several proposals and pricing options from different suppliers.

In this podcast, I’ll help you navigate the world of requests for proposals, and you’ll learn how to effectively respond to RFPs.

In theory, RFPs provide you with an opportunity to win a big project and gain a new client.

However, there are many drawbacks you need to be on the lookout for.

It’s not rare for the awarding company or organisation to have already chosen a consulting or coaching firm in their mind before they send out the RFP. But government entities and public organisations are usually required to send out RFPs so that they can ‘consider’ all options.

The firm they already have in mind might be a consultant who helped create the RFP in the first place. Or it’s a consultant they have worked with before and want to use again.

This scenario is more common than you think.

As a consultant responding to RFPs, you might find yourself spending many hours working on your proposal only to find that you are helping the client comply with internal procedures.

And then, they award the project to your competitor.

In reality, your competitor was selected before the awarding company even sent out the RFP.

You never stood a chance anyway.

It’s for this reason that most consultants should not build their business around RFPs.

You don’t have control over the process.
You’re competing against others.
And often, it’s a rigged game.

If you want to build a consulting business that's profitable and enjoyable on your terms, then your response to RFPs should be a polite “no, thank you.”

Winning consulting business using effective marketing and sales strategies is almost always a much better approach.

You have control over the process. You don’t have to compete against others for the same piece of business.

But it does require you to learn and master marketing and sales — the top 2 challenges for coaches and consultants.

Let’s dive in.

Create more leverage, earn a higher income, and build a real business.

If you’re a freelancer, and you’re already providing advice for your clients (and not just your skills), then you’re 80% of the way to becoming a consultant.

You can create more leverage, earn a higher income, and build a real business.

However, making the transition is not easy.
You’ll have to learn how to price based on the value you create and not just trade your time for money.
You’ll have to learn how to market your expertise and attract the interest of your ideal clients instead of relying on networking and referrals.
You’ll have to learn how to create (and sell) real offers — not just apply for work on job boards.

I teach all of these invaluable skills (and many more) in my consulting programs.

I’ve helped hundreds of freelancers build profitable, scalable, and strategic consulting businesses.

If you want our personal help to evolve from a freelancer to a consultant and build a thriving consulting business, our Online Prosperity Blueprint is for you.

We’ll work hands-on with you to develop a strategic plan and then dive deep and work through your ideal client clarity, strategic messaging, consulting offers, fees, and pricing, business model optimisation, and help you to set up your marketing engine and lead generation system to consistently attract ideal clients.

Schedule a FREE growth session today to apply for our limited capacity Online Prosperity Blueprint by clicking here.

If you show interest in the client’s life, they’ll trust you to have their best interests at heart.

Ever noticed that other coaches, consultants and service providers make the most impact when they’re friends with their clients?

Whether it be insurance reps, financial advisors or sales account managers, stronger ties yield greater results.

You see, by spending time with your clients, you get to know them better: their aspirations, motivations and what they truly value.

You care about what they care about.

As coaches and consultants, we have a unique position to make the lives of those we serve enjoyable.

A lot of executives struggle not so much with general business practices or methods, but with their ways: their style or mindset.

Some of their behaviours, responses or decisions are detrimental to their organisation, and few of them see this.

Coaches help leaders develop greater self-awareness and skilfulness, enhancing relationships and improving operations.

But it requires real knowledge and understanding of the client.

This in turn helps them create custom products and services which mean more revenue.

Being known for caring will ensure you have a business that's profitable and enjoyable.

What Doesn't Work When Selling To Executives

Company executives fit a different profile than end users. They have different needs, wants, and challenges.

They run businesses and organisations;
They are focused on return on investment;
They are much, much more difficult to reach;
They need to know you, like you, trust you — and a need for your services must arise — before they are willing to invest in working with you

Selling to executives doesn’t have to be difficult.

It just requires a more refined strategy.

Forget about fancy funnels and shiny new tools.

As long as you focus on…

Being specific about the executive you’re selling to
Creating messaging that speaks to them (the problems they want to be solved and the results that they want)
Systematic outreach to a list of your ideal executive clients
Publishing content that demonstrates your expertise and provides value
Having meaningful conversations about their wants, needs, and challenges

…you’ll have no problem selling your consulting services to executives.

Learn what doesn’t work for selling to executives.

Are you a B2B coach, consultant or small business who is selling to company executives?

You’ve probably discovered that most marketing and sales advice out there doesn’t help you at all.

That’s because most marketing and sales advice you read is aimed toward businesses selling to consumers - the end users of products and services.

But, as a coach, consultant or small service provider, your business depends on your ability to sell to these company executives, not consumers.

And selling to executives is an entirely different ball game.

Unlike B2C selling…

You’re selling your expertise, not an off-the-shelf product.
You’re selling expensive, custom, high-touch consulting services.
What you’re selling requires far more trust — and executives want to see a return on their investment.

If your target market is company executives, you’ll need a custom consulting offer delivered with a custom marketing and sales approach.

By the end of this podcast series - as we have part 2, you’ll learn what doesn’t work for selling to executives — and most importantly, what DOES work: including specific strategies you can use today to get in front of your ideal senior-level and executive clients.

Let’s dive in…

Experts in client development don’t seem to have this same problem.

Client development is what you do to develop clients — one of the most important practices of any coaching, consulting or small business.

Right now, in the middle of a pandemic, client development can be tough.

You need to bring in new business to keep your business running — but a lot of clients have minimised their budgets.

In this podcast, you’ll understand how to become an expert in client development — and how to keep your sales pipeline full.

Here’s your client development goal: to get 10-20% more leads than you can handle.

None of us can do this alone.

We need people to help, support, encourage, and teach us.

This is a massive opportunity that few coaches, consultants and small businesses are taking advantage of.

By community, I’m talking about those in your market with whom you’ve developed relationships: your past clients, existing clients, colleagues, partners, etc.

It also includes the individuals and communities that support you, people who hold you accountable, and will help you grow your business in uncertainty.

If you want to go far, go alone. If you want to go further - go together.

In times of economic challenges or when there is uncertainty in the marketplace, a lot of organisations start cutting recklessly.

The stronger the relationships you have with your clients, the more bonded they will feel to you and your community the less likely they will be to cancel their engagements with you.

Join Our Community here:- https://livelongbusinesscommunity.com.au/

Even during market downturns, global pandemics and sweeping lockdowns.

There is a lot of talk right now about us being in a recession or the likelihood of us entering one soon.

Regardless of when this happens (it’s not a question of IF, but WHEN) there are steps you can take to prepare and prosper as a result.

Your coaching or consulting business should be a recession-proof business.

Why?

Coaching or Consulting businesses are one of the most recession-proof businesses you can build.

Unlike most other businesses, consulting businesses…

Have minimal costs/overhead
Don’t have any inventory
Allow you to be flexible and make changes quickly

By the end of this podcast, you’ll learn 6 actionable steps for how to turn your consulting business into a recession-proof business — and be prepared to not only survive a recession but to thrive and grow during it.

So, if you’d like our help taking advantage of these challenging times, our customised Clarity Coaching session is for you.

We’ll work hands-on with you to develop a strategic plan and then dive deep and work through your ideal client clarity, strategic messaging, consulting offers, fees and pricing, business model optimisation, and help you to set up your marketing engine and lead generation system to consistently attract ideal clients.

Schedule a FREE growth session today to apply for our limited capacity Clarity Coaching Session by clicking here.

Do you know how much money you are leaving on the table?

If you’re like most coaches, consultants and small business owners, you’re leaving tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands — or even millionsof dollars — on the table over the span of your career.

Why?

Because you lack an effective pricing strategy.

Based on the value you’re creating for clients, you’re not capturing the maximum amount of that value for yourself.

Here’s the truth about coaching or consulting fees…

Most coaches and consultants are undercharging for their services.

Especially if you’re still charging hourly or daily rates.

In this podcast, we’re going to break down the 4 steps to increasing your coaching or consulting fees.

The use of video has become a necessity to stay connected.

Video is intimately attached to everything we do. Especially post the pandemic, it’s how we see our relatives, attend school, meet up with friends, and conduct business meetings, acting as a portal to other people, places, and things.

Videos might seem hard at first, but like any new skill, there will be a learning curve until you find your rhythm.

In this podcast, we look at a few tips to help you create a video you are proud of.

Keep it simple
Write out a loose script.
Make a plan.
Apply consistency.
Forget about being perfect.

With 92% of marketers claiming video played an integral role in their content strategy, it’s safe to say that videos are here to stay. Do you want to learn more about how video marketing can impact your brand? Schedule a time to meet with our team today.

If there is anything that life has taught me, it’s this,

Change is inevitable. But it’s not actually about the change itself, but rather what you do with it that impacts you.

Amid the global pandemic, many coaches, consultants and business owners began thinking about how their organisations would need to change to support their team's health and safety.

That meant altering entire infrastructures and instituting new policies and procedures while still finding a way to press on and adjust to what we call the new normal.

This idea really got me thinking about how change operates and functions in our lives, especially in business.

Aren’t some of the most wonderful things that happen in life due to unexpected changes?

Some might not think so, but for me, it has proven to be true.

I didn’t expect to be sitting here, addressing you all from my home office in Melbourne, Australia and yet, it is one of the best changes that could have happened in my life.

I’d like to ask you something about how change has impacted your own life, and more importantly, your business.

What moment of change forced you to adapt, alter, and create new solutions that ultimately proved to be instrumental in getting you where you are now?

So much of the time we are resistant to change and the power it brings, but today I wanted to talk about a few things to help coaches, consultants and small business owners embrace the change that is coming and feel empowered and confident as you move through it to find out what you are to become.

Is Your Website Bringing In As Much Revenue As It Could?

Data and analytics can help you make smarter business decisions and get your website running like a well-oiled, money-making machine!

What you measure usually gets paid attention to, and what you pay attention to, usually gets better.

But are we measuring the right things?

Many coaches, consultants and small to medium businesses know it’s wise to track their website analytics.

However, if you’ve ever looked at a Google Analytics console, you know that it can be incredibly confusing!

With so many different Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track, it’s a challenge to know exactly what components are important to track, and how they impact your business’s marketing efforts.

At Livelong Digital, we encourage our clients to simplify their marketing whenever possible.

The more in the weeds you get with analytics tracking, the less likely you are to:

Follow through with continuous tracking.
Take actionable steps to respond to your data in a positive, impactful way.

Let’s dig into a handful of KPIs that I believe are worthwhile to pay attention to when it comes to your website and blog analytics, and what to do with the information you’re gathering.

As a small business owner, you know that content marketing is a great way to attract new leads and nurture current relationships.

But what you may not know is how to use content marketing to positively impact all of your relationships - both current and prospective.

In this Podcast, Digital marketing expert and content marketing strategist, Prosper Taruvinga, will show you how to use content marketing to build trust, establish credibility, and create a deeper connection with your clients, customers, and referral sources.

You'll learn how to create content that not only educates and informs but also inspires and motivates your audience to take action.

And you'll see how content marketing can be used to create relationships that last - ones that are based on trust, respect, and referrals.

In this podcast, we're talking about marketing funnels.

You've probably heard of the term before, but what is a marketing funnel, and how can you use one to build a sustainable business?

We'll walk you through the basics of what a marketing funnel is and how to create one that will work for your service-based business.
We'll also touch on some common touch points that you'll find in a marketing funnel, as well as how to create content that will nurture your leads and move them through your funnel.

Focusing on ways to raise awareness, and nurture prospective clients before they express commitment, is the key to expanding your prospective client pool and ultimately increasing revenue.

Need help creating a funnel and the content to engage with your clients at the top of your funnel?

Schedule a call with us today!

Our team would love to walk you through how to raise awareness.

Embrace content collaboration and leverage other audiences

Learn how to collaborate with other professionals to scale your content creation.

In this podcast, I'll teach you

How to identify opportunities to collaborate,
how to approach potential collaborators, and
how to negotiate terms that work for both parties.

I'll also share some of my own experiences collaborating with other content creators, and offer some tips for making the most of a collaborative relationship.

By the end of this podcast, you'll have a better understanding of how to collaborate with other professionals to scale your content creation.

New coaches, consultants and business owners should try to DIY their marketing

If you're just getting started as a coach or consultant, you may be wondering if you should do your own marketing or hire someone to do it for you.

In this podcast, I explain why I believe that newbie coaches and consultants should do their own marketing, at least at first.

It's all about authenticity and learning your target market.

I have a big opinion that’s not always a popular one:

I viscerally believe that new coaches, consultants and business owners should try to DIY their marketing – at least through their first year.

Already, I hear audience members scoffing. I told you – it’s not a popular opinion!

There seems to be an overwhelming amount of talks available that insist that new business owners should start outsourcing things that aren’t client-facing, or sales, ASAP.

And, as an outsourced digital marketing provider, I totally get it. I see the benefit in outsourcing your marketing, and any number of other tasks in your business.

I’m the first person to grab the megaphone to tell overwhelmed and burnt-out business owners to start figuring out what tasks can be outsourced – and to start hiring professionals to handle those services right away.

That being said, I think there are huge benefits to new coaches, consultants and small business owners to DIY-ing their marketing.

Let’s talk about the top three reasons I think that new business owners should DIY their marketing, and how it could positively impact your business.

Create interactions that drive results.

Too often coaches, consultants and small businesses today think about customers in terms of their segment – are they B2B or B2C?

But is this really the way forward if we want to create interactions that drive results?

Human-to-human marketing (H2H) is the best way to stand out in the competitive market today.

Modern marketing can sometimes feel like a big contradiction; people want the latest tech and experiences that marketing automation can create, but they also crave personalisation and human interaction.

How are you supposed to meet both these demands?

To create strong relationships with your audience it’s vital you remember your audience is human first and a customer second.

People want to interact with people.
People will engage with real people.

Especially when you’re operating within the B2B sector, never forget that companies are made up of humans.

Yes, you want to fulfil the business need, but the buying and selling process is human.

What is human-to-human marketing?

Human-to-human (H2H) marketing is a human-centric approach to marketing. This is the model on which responsible marketing is based.

It’s about meeting the customer’s needs while demonstrating that you’re human and trustworthy.

Relationships between businesses, customers, and prospects should be based on long-term trust and respect.

The benefit of this marketing tactic is clear: it ensures that your marketing strategy delivers the best possible results.

What to Do Alongside Digital Marketing for Faster Results

Digital marketing is amazing for many reasons, and as a coach, consultant and small business owner it’s especially useful to you.

Building an honest brand with bold content, email and social media marketing strategies helps you to solidify who you are, who you serve, and the incredible value you have to offer.

Whether you’re blogging, writing ebooks, building email marketing funnels, or engaging with prospects on social media, content marketing helps you to:

Tell your story.
Connect with clients who you genuinely want to work with.
Immediately add value to the lives of your clients with educational content.
Improve your SEO.
Solidify your brand.
Build your credibility as a coach, consultant or small business owner.

As useful as digital marketing is, I in no way think that it’s the only marketing solution.

In fact, I think the more you can create a cohesive strategy using multiple marketing methods, the more success you’ll have.

And you know what? I firmly believe it’s possible to shake things up without spending a ton of time or money on a strategy.

Let’s talk about what you can do to break out of your marketing rut (and take a break from creating content for content's sake).

Beware of the Overnight Success Story

Want to know which digital marketing metrics actually matter (and which ones are just vanity metrics)?

In this podcast, I'm going to show you the 3 digital marketing metrics that you should be measuring (and why), as well as the 3 digital marketing metrics that you shouldn't waste your time on.

By the end of this podcast, you'll know exactly which digital marketing metrics you should be tracking in order to get real results from your digital marketing efforts.

Keep in mind – blogging, podcasting and content creation is a long-term marketing strategy.

I know that it’s tempting to look for overnight success results, but you’re better off staying consistent, and watching for positive data trends over time while watching your metrics change. In today’s world, it’s so easy to get caught up in the possibility of having tens of thousands of followers or seeing a blog post go viral.

But true success is defined by doing good work, and a successful business blog is defined by putting out valuable content that will resonate with your audience.

Continue to focus on doing the good work you’re already doing so much of, and track these KPIs to check that you’re on the right course!

Why Bother?

As a coach or consultant, one of the best ways you can serve your audience and grow your business is by creating consistent content.

But what's the point of creating content if no one will see it?

In this podcast, I'll share with you the three main reasons why you need to be creating consistent content, even if you're just starting out.

Blogging, podcasting and content marketing have a lot of benefits. It helps with your site’s SEO, frames you as an expert, gives you space to educate, and gives you content to use when marketing and growing a pipeline of prospects.

Those things are all critical. But the truth is that you get to decide what the point of blogging is for your business.

Stay focused on your why, and let excellent content fall into place.

Let's dig in.

You only really need two productivity tools on your side: batching and scheduling.

Being busy as a business owner is glorified, but it's actually a sign of lack of organisation.

If you want to be successful, learn to batch your work and schedule your time.

This will help you be more productive and organised, and will prevent you from burning out.

Dear Internet Explorer, If you're reading this, chances are you're familiar with the feeling of being constantly busy.

As a business owner, you wear many hats and are responsible for a lot of different things. It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of running a business and to feel like you have to be busy all the time in order to be successful.

But I'm here to tell you that it's okay to slow down.

It's okay to take a break.

In fact, it might even be good for business.

Glorifying being busy sends the message that burnout is acceptable, even desirable. But it's not. Burnout is real and it's detrimental.

Stop glorifying being “busy” as a business owner.

The goal shouldn’t be to do busy work because as a business owner you have to “wear all the hats.”

With time batching and scheduling tools, you can automate many of your processes, freeing up some time to be “busy” with things that matter – like reaching out to prospective clients and completing more income-earning assignments.

Letting go of the need to micromanage in-the-moment posting and realising that you’ll work faster if you block out time for specific tasks is life-changing!

Why Engagement Matters

If you're a coach, consultant or small business owner, engagement should be a key component of your marketing plan.

Why?

Because online engagement creates social proof, which can help you attract more clients and grow your business.

In this podcast, you'll learn how to respond to comments and build a community around your brand.

Putting engagement and content marketing response on the back burner is a mistake because people respond better to you when they see you’re engaging.

And that doesn’t just go for the person who initiated the interaction. If 20 people have commented on an article you shared on Facebook and you haven’t liked or replied to any of their comments, the person who is just exploring your page will make note of that.

They’ll see that you don’t respond to your following – that you aren’t regularly engaged with them.

This doesn’t reflect positively on you or your business.

Press play and find out Why People Respond to Engagement

Repeat After Me: I Am My Brand

Being yourself sets you apart from the competition. When you're authentic, you build trust with potential clients and create a strong personal brand.

In this Podcast, I'll share why it's so important to be yourself in business and how to find your authentic voice.

As a coach, consultant or small business owner, there is a temptation to over-professionalise yourself and your business. But that isn’t really what people are looking for in a service provider anymore.

Of course, professionalism will always be important. Nobody is going to want to pay someone to help steer their life, health, financial decisions or manage their investments if that someone shows up to their initial meeting in basketball shorts and a ball cap.

However, with so many apps on the market today, people will turn to you because of who you are. They’re actively seeking to personally connect with their advisor. If they weren’t, they’d hunt down a chat-bot to sign on with and call it a day.

So, what are the benefits of embracing your personality as a professional? And how can you let it shine through your work to attract clients?

Press play.

Creating Intentional Content

I'm seeing a lot of content marketing panic these days.

And it's not helping anyone.

If you're a coach, consultant, or small business owner who wants to use content marketing to generate leads, you need to be intentional about the content you create.

In this Podcast, I'm sharing why content marketing is important and how you can create content that is relevant and needed by your ideal clients.

I'm also sharing one type of content that is guaranteed to produce results.

So, let’s ditch the content marketing panic that doesn’t produce results. Instead, let’s get intentional.

Press play to learn more!

Why are your competitors blogging?

In this podcast, I'm talking about why you should blog if you're a coach, consultant, or small business owner.

As a business owner, you always need to be thinking about lead generation and content marketing, and a blog is a great way to do both.

A blog gives you a platform to share your expertise and build trust with potential clients, and it also allows you to rank in Google and get found by people who are looking for what you do.

If you're not sure where to start, or if you're just looking for some tips on how to blog effectively, be sure to check out this podcast.

I’m always here to help. If you have any questions about blogging, or know you want to get started but need help getting the ball rolling, reach out to me! I’d love to hear from you.

Are you Linked in?

As a business owner, you know that promotion is key to success. And LinkedIn is a great platform to promote yourself and your business.

But how do you get started?

In this podcast, we'll show you how to promote yourself on LinkedIn, so you can start generating leads, sales, and thought leadership.

I get really excited when I start talking to people about promoting themselves on LinkedIn, and for good reason.

Why?

While all social media channels are excellent tools to help define your personal brand and promote your professional self, LinkedIn is the godfather platform you need to be using.

By maximising your LinkedIn use, you’re effectively building a personal site, blog, professional network, portfolio, list of references, and so much more.

LinkedIn’s platform is set up to automatically act as your own professional billboard, which is what you want if you’re going to invest your time and energy into growing your social media presence for professional growth.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn is often underused by business professionals who could reap the most rewards from its endless list of benefits.

It’s a tough fact to face, but if you’re busy with your job, career, side hustle, or whatever you’re passionately investing your time in, you often don’t have the kind of time required to create the ideal LinkedIn presence.

Luckily, I’ve put together a quick list of ways to immediately upgrade your profile from “meh, it exists” to “this business professional is clearly the influencer in their field.”

Let’s Talk About Your Branding.

There’s a time for a change. Maybe it’s right now, perhaps it’s in five years.

The beautiful thing about branding is that it doesn’t have to stay static or grow stale.

Your brand can change as you do, so don’t fear embracing those times when you feel like your business brand no longer matches who you are and what you do.

Change isn’t a bad thing, sometimes a new take on your brand can completely rejuvenate your business and your passion for what you do.

Business branding.

It’s a hot topic now that seems to have about a thousand definitions.

Developing your personal brand can feel intimidating if you don’t know where to start (or if you think you know where to start but become overwhelmed with the options).

Don’t worry, I’m here to clarify some things and show you how to make branding work for you.

Let’s jump in!

You’re Inevitably Going to Lose Leads.

If you're a coach, consultant, or small business owner, there's a good chance you have holes in your marketing funnel. In this podcast, I'm going to show you how to find them and how to fix them.

First, let's define what a marketing funnel is.

A marketing funnel is the process that you take a potential customer through from the time they first hear about you until they become a paying customer.

There are a few different ways to look at marketing funnels, but for our purposes, we're going to use the AIDA model.

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

The Attention phase is when a potential customer first becomes aware of you and develops interest in your services.

The goal of fixing your funnel should not be to convert every single person who enters it. Instead, it should be to provide opportunities for qualified leads to stay in your funnel long enough so that they eventually convert.

Ready to start fixing the holes in your funnel?

Let’s dig in.

Why do entrepreneurs often forego creating a marketing budget?

Coaches, consultants, and small business owners need to think carefully about how they're going to invest their limited resources, and a budget is a helpful way to keep track of where those resources are going.

However, many entrepreneurs don't create a budget for their marketing efforts, instead opting to wing it and hope for the best.

There are a few reasons why this might be the case.

First, marketing can be a complex and overwhelming endeavour, particularly for those who are just starting out. It can be difficult to know where to allocate your resources when you're not sure what's going to work, and what's a waste of time.
Second, budgets can be constraining.

Do you have a defined marketing budget for your small business?

Difference Between Sales and Marketing

If you're in sales or marketing, or if you're a small business owner, it's important to understand the difference between sales and marketing. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but they are two very different things.

Sales is the process of convincing someone to buy a product or service, while marketing is the process of creating awareness and interest in a product or service.

Marketing is what you do to get people interested in your product or service, and sales is what you do to close the deal.

I hope this tip helps you to plan out what you’re going to do with your marketing and where you’re going to invest your time and money to grow your business.

Come back in the next episode where I’m going to talk about not having a budget.

That’s another common mistake that entrepreneurs make!

Customer Experience is everything today.

So many coaches, consultants and small business owners are focused on the changes in marketing and all the new things we have to master and pay attention to.

The fact is the most significant driver of change today isn’t the way marketing is changing, it’s the way buying is changing.

If the customer is indeed now in charge of their buying journey, and I believe this is true, then the most important marketing element still left in our control is the customer experience (Cx) – the way in which prospects and customers experience every aspect of our business.

May I be as bold as to suggest that Customer Experience is everything today?

Now, I realise if I’m going to suggest something so far-reaching and universal, I’m also going to have to help you expand your vision of what customer experience is.

See, for any business, the customer is experiencing your business long before you are even aware of their need or interest. The question is, have you considered the impact of every marketing decision in this light?

Even Google rewards you

Many people ask me how to get better rankings on Google, and while I may give more technical answers at times, the simple answer is to create a better customer experience.

Google’s objective, when it comes to search is and always has been to reward businesses that create the best, most relevant, and most useful content and make it easy for people to find and consume that content.

The only thing that’s changed is Google’s ability to understand what content does just that.

Let's explore the customer experience...

What you need is a client generation system.

If you have not been lying under a rock, you will notice that a lot of marketing is set on complex automated lead funnels. Go on Facebook, and you’ll likely be hit with ads offering to show you how to make it rain thousands of leads on autopilot.

While I’m not opposed to teaching lead generation techniques, I do think there is an issue with just thinking about the lead funnel as a standalone. After all, you don’t just want leads—you want new and returning customers on a consistent basis.

What you need is a client generation system.

I work with a lot of coaches, independent marketing consultants and service professionals, and most of them simply want to work with about ten of the right clients at any given time.

So let’s do some maths. Let’s say you have four clients right now, and you would like to get six more. The typical consultant acquires new clients by attracting a lead that wants to meet and learn about how you might help them.

Let’s say one in four of those meetings turns into a client. (That’s terribly low for the approach we teach, but I’ll use it to be conservative.)

With the math above it will take you 24 sales meetings to get the additional six clients needed to fill your practice and meet your revenue objectives.

So, in building a lead generation and conversion system, there are two primary questions.

What does it take to get a consistent flow of appointments and
how can you convert more appointments to clients?

Build a system that does that, and you won’t need to worry about all the lever-pulling elements and moving parts in most lead funnels today.

Best Use of Content to Generate a Steady Flow of Leads

Are you just creating content for content's sake?

If you're constantly churning out blog posts, ebooks, and other pieces of content but not seeing any results, then it's time to take a step back and re-evaluate your strategy.

In this podcast, learn why creating content for content's sake is a recipe for disaster, and how you can create content that actually provides value to your audience.

If you are tired of hearing you must produce content to compete in your industry today, I have good news and bad news.

As content continues to grow in importance in the marketing mix, it must take on an elevated place in your strategy and planning. The use of high-quality, education-based content has become an essential ingredient in creating awareness, building trust, converting leads, serving customers and generating referrals.

I’ve said this many times over the last few years, but marketers these days have a lot in common with publishers and it’s time to embrace this reality fully – content is air

Now for the good news – you don’t need as much content as you think.

The days of pumping out thin blog posts day after day are over.

If you are a coach, consultant or small business owner, here’s all you need to do.

Consider writing just six blog posts for the rest of this year, but put a month’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears into each one. Deal?

Below is the complete system that I talk about in this podcast for turning content into leads.

Here’s the system in 3 steps

Create a list of just 6 of the most useful content ideas for your ideal customer
Build a lead-generating content upgrade for each piece
Start promoting each piece in advertising and social media

That’s it – execute on this over the next six months, and you’ll start generating leads.

7 Non-Negotiable Elements of Every Small Business Website

Get these “must-have elements” on your website.

Do you know the purpose of your website?

Before I can talk about the necessary elements of your website specifically, I need to address the purpose of a website.

Gone are the days of your websites just being a glorified digital brochure for your coaching, consulting or small business. A website now has many jobs including :

Getting found on Search Engines – The website should be optimised for search to help you get found online.
Build trust – Your website is a key element to building trust. Once a prospect arrives at your website, it needs to validate the problems that they are looking to solve. Your website needs to function the way your customers need it to and expect it to.
Educate Your Audience – Your website should teach people how to recognise their problems and challenges that are keeping them up at night.
Inform – Once a prospect has found you and trusts you, you need to inform them on how you can solve their problems.
Nurture – Often people need to come back to your website numerous times before making a purchase. Capture their email address and continue to create valuable content that is relevant to their stage in the customer journey to nurture them through to the sale.
Convert – A conversion can be many things from subscribing to a newsletter, to calling you, to making a purchase on your website. Conversion opportunities need to be an element of the design of your homepage to help guide the journey.

In today’s world, your customer’s journey starts by researching online. People come to a conclusion on their own whether they are interested in buying from you far before you even realise you are being looked at.

You need to make sure you have a presence in these early research stages, and completing each of the jobs above will help you do that.

There you have it, my comprehensive list of website must-haves.

Today’s assignment: Use this to make an assessment of the missing elements on your homepage right now and create a plan to fix this!

Tomorrow we tackle your content plan – it’s how you generate leads today, but don’t worry, I’m going to make it super easy for you!

Need more tips on how to grow your business?

Check out our entire Guide to Marketing Professional Services.

Refocus your message

Matching your message to your ideal client is pretty much everything when it comes to marketing these days.

Think about you – you’ve got about five seconds to get and keep someone’s attention, and you can’t waste that precious time with a message that doesn’t connect.

A message that connects is one that clearly talks about what your ideal client wants more than anything else in the world – and what is that?

They want to solve their problems.

In many ways, they will never care about your awesome plan to do XY and Z if you don’t first and foremost let them know that you understand what they really, really want.

Hint: Nobody really, really wants what you sell – they want their problems solved – period.

So, for today, here’s your assignment.

Make a list of the problems you solve for the clients you help the most.

If you’re having trouble thinking about your client’s problems, think a bit about the things they tell you. (Some might call it the things they whine about – I would never, but some might.)

For example, a lot of my prospective clients might say things like – I just want the phone to ring more.

So I don’t sell marketing services or SEO or even consulting – all you need to know about what I do is that I make the phone ring – end of story.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s (episode 4) podcast where we will take the “must-have” elements for every website (Hint: You’re going to want to know the answers to the two questions just above in your assignment.)

Are you on track to reach your content marketing goals this year?

If not, don't worry - you're not alone. In this podcast, we'll share some of the most common content marketing mistakes that can derail your success, and how to avoid them.

We'll also give you some actionable tips that you can use to get back on track and reach your goals.

So if you're struggling to meet your content marketing goals, this podcast is for you.

Together we’ll “Restart, Recharge and Revive” your marketing right now instead of waiting until another year rolls around.

You in? If so, just make it a point to come back to The Online Prosperity Experience Podcast and take in the new lesson.

I believe there’s still plenty of time to make this year your best year yet and what better time to start than right now.

6 Tips for Creating a Powerful Brand Experience

Your customer’s experience with your brand determines the actions they’ll take—whether they’ll become lifelong customers, loyalists or a lost sale.

A world-class brand experience, from start to finish, is essential when it comes to accelerating the growth of your brand.

What is brand experience?

In general terms, brand experience is the overall impression your audience receives when interacting with your brand.

The way your brand looks, smells, sounds, tastes and feels plays a role in every experience, whether your audience is interacting with your brand on the web or in person.

Every customer touchpoint is an opportunity to create a more meaningful, authentic and consistent brand experience.

Whether you’re looking to increase brand awareness or perceived value, or you need to increase sales or customer loyalty, it all comes down to creating an effective brand experience for your customers.

Creating a compelling brand experience is the most effective way to generate customer loyalty and promote ongoing growth for your brand.

Whether you’re actively rebranding or you’re looking to improve your brand experience across several touchpoints, it helps to have a branding partner on your side.

Say hello to Livelong Digital! We’ll help you form a positive brand experience for every customer, every time.

Everything is figuroutable.

If you’ve been listening to my podcast or reading my blog for a while, you know I’m a huge advocate of investing in yourself.

That means training.

That means hiring coaches, getting programs, reading books, going to conferences, and doing all of those things.

Continually investing in yourself, so you can grow yourself and ultimately grow your business.

Let me ask you a question.

Are you growing your business from what you’re learning?

I have a couple more questions.

Number one: Do you have books sitting on a shelf that you’ve never read? That you’ve paid for? People give me books all the time. I read them when I can, but there are books or audiobooks that I paid for that I’ve never listened to.

Why?

Because we haven’t prioritised those. I’ll get to that.

The second question is: Do you have training programs or courses, or anything that you purchased that is sitting on your hard drive gathering digital dust, that you’ve never opened? Same question:

Why?

Because you haven’t prioritised it.

I love this quote from Marie Forleo – “It’s all Figuroutable.”

Mastery requires a mindset that knows and embraces this.

It’s a growth mindset that says – I have the ability to learn, grow in my understanding, and troubleshoot.

I am resourceful, and I can figure stuff out.

What have you been telling yourself that you’re BAD at, and therefore you CAN'T do? What’s ONE step you can take to begin mastering that thing? How can you make it FUN?

Celebrating your Figuroutableness.

It’s a truth universally known that you have to cultivate your personal brand, particularly if you are a coach, consultant or Internet Explorer.

But because everyone has a brand nowadays (Tom Peters describes it as “your promise to the marketplace and the world”) simply having one is insufficient if you want to advance.

You can’t just be known as “the guy who makes websites” or “the programmer who can explain things well” or “that woman in legal who gets things done fast.” That’s nice — but there are a million of you, and in a globalised world, your industry can find an alternative to you fast.

That’s why you need to establish yourself as a thought leader.

Courses and good keynotes are nice to have. Thought leaders are irreplaceable — and indispensable.

So how do you build a reputation as a singular expert — someone who doesn’t just participate in the conversation, but drives it?

In a word: leverage.

No matter how brilliant and talented you are, you won’t be sufficiently appreciated within your industry or by your customers until the broader public recognises you.

This outside reinforcement becomes an echo chamber that brings money and respect.

How to get it?

Follow these six steps to jump-start your thought leadership.

Not all avenues will be open to you at the start, but most will in time.

How To Deal With Negative Reviews

Online reviews have become an increasingly important concern for coaches, consultants and small businesses.

No matter how dedicated you are to providing great service, you're eventually going to get some negative reviews.

How you handle them can have a big impact on your business. Keep in mind that your responses are seen by the public just as reviews are. That's why it's essential to respond to all reviews, even critical ones, in a responsible and professional manner.

Why Reviews Are So Important To Small Businesses

Reputation is vital for all businesses. In some ways, however, online reviews are more critical for small businesses than larger ones.

Why is this?

Companies that are household names certainly prefer positive publicity to negative. It's certainly a concern if they see too many negative reviews.

However, they have so many loyal customers already that they can afford to absorb some bad reviews.

Smaller businesses don't get a huge number of reviews. Therefore, even a few negative comments can have a significant effect on public perception.

Unfortunately, many customers are more likely to write a review when they have a complaint than when they're satisfied.

So, a small business that mostly satisfies its customers may find itself getting harmed by a few disgruntled customers.

Are you ready to grow your business on social media or on the internet?

Dealing with online interactions means that you should be prepared for customers who express their unhappiness in a public way.

However, such events are opportunities for growth if you know how to deal with them well. I’ve shared several ways you can deal with negative feedback.

So, the next time you have an unhappy customer, look for ways to apply these tips and change things for the better.

Grabbing And Keeping Your Audience’s Attention

Today, I want to highlight a very real problem that’s costing Internet Explorers (That’s our new name btw) like you millions, if not billions of dollars. The problem is this: your audience’s available attention capacity isn’t growing; the amount of online content available to them is. It’s growing exponentially!

Not only is the amount of available content growing at a lightning-fast pace, but your audience is also bombarded with other distractions, both on and offline, as well.

So as a coach, consultant or Internet Explorer, your potential audience members, whom you want to become your customers, are getting harder and harder to reach.

It’s becoming more and more challenging to win their attention and to keep it. And keep it you must, if you are going to convert them.

Think about this: you can win the “attention-getting” battle and drive large amounts of traffic to your site in a number of different ways that are all very useful, including email marketing, social media, SEO/SEM, etc.

But what does it matter how much attention you get initially for your online marketing if you don’t keep it until your reader converts into your buyer?

Today, let’s talk abouthow you can grab and keep your potential customer’s attention.

Both are critical to your online marketing success.

The Secret of the Yellow Cars.

In this episode, I give us a name : The Internet Explorers!!!

This is because we are always searching for ways, methods and systems to make our lives exciting and worth living.

So to get the name some air time. I shall introduce you to this episode.

Dear Internet Explorer: Today I bring you a rare gem, a secret so powerful, it can work a profound change in every area of your life, including marketing.

Big claim, I know.

That's what you get when you become an Internet Explorer, living the best life possible.

The secret is effortless. In just 60 seconds, it will empower you to open your eyes and see the world in a new way. It will let you uncover many of life’s treasures hiding in plain sight, and can be used to obtain anything you desire far more quickly.

I call it…

The Secret of the Yellow Cars.

You do so and suddenly notice more cars than you can count.

Instantly, you have just experienced a quantum leap in your ability to perceive yellow cars.

That’s cool, you think. But why is this such a powerful secret for mastering marketing … or anything else in life?

Simple.

Listen to this podcast and learn the secret of the Yellow cars.

Ask this simple 5-word question, stand back and watch your profits roll in.

In this episode, you will learn a simple five-word sentence that gives you an almost unfair advantage in boosting your marketing, outselling your competition and triggering an ongoing stream of endless referrals.

Asking this simple question is the easiest way I know to get yourself and your team to think outside the box.

It can literally make you wealthy and establish your reputation as a coach, consultant or small business visionary in your industry with a Midas touch.

This is true whether you’re an entrepreneur, solopreneur, copywriter, marketing manager, CEO—anyone with anything to do with marketing.

Shameless over-promising?

Not at all, as you’ll now see.

Here’s the question:

What are we really selling?

While a good product obviously has to be your starting point, it absolutely cannot be your final destination, because it is not truly what you’re selling.

You’re selling a brand experience and service and a company mission and perspective, but you’re more than anything selling the outcome of someone doing business with you.

If you have a clear idea of what that outcome ideally is, and of how your offerings improve customers lives one way or another, you can hold onto that and use it to inform your entire marketing approach.

How are you adding to your customers’ lives?

Answer that, and the rest will follow because that is what you’re selling.

Have an example of a company that deeply understands how to add value?

listen to this podcast, and use that as inspiration!

No, they’re not FREE and NEW.

In this podcast, you’ll discover the two most powerful words in Digital marketing and how to use them to explode your response fairly easily and consistently.

The Conventional Wisdom We Have Around Marketing And Sales, IS Wrong.

First, you must understand why some of what you have been taught about direct marketing is wrong, or at least outdated and incomplete.

Most of the great books on sales and marketing were written more than a generation ago by legends such as John Caples, David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins and one or two others.

Most of their response-boosting secrets remain valid, as we will see in future episodes of the Online prosperity Experience, but since the pandemic, a lot has changed.

Their main teaching: benefits, big benefits, are the key to high response to their marketing messages.

Makes sense. But there’s a problem. These giants wrote this advice long ago when, compared with today, prospects were under-marketed.

So, yes, back then, flat-out big benefits and words like FREE and NEW got people excited.

But today, more often than not, these same words and super-sized claims instantly trigger rejection.

The problem is, words like FREE and NEW and the big-claim style of advertising they reflect, have been so overused, that they have become bright red flags that instantly scream to your prospects, throw me away!

As proof, if I were to email you with the words “new” and “free,” I must misspell them, or your spam filter may bounce my message.

Best proof: just ask yourself, do you get overly excited when you encounter an email or direct mail package trumpeting free or new or some fantastic claim to make you rich, change your life overnight or grow body parts bigger than you ever dreamed?

Of course not.

You have heard such claims too many times.

Your own exquisitely sensitive mental spam filter rejects all such messages instantly, as you think to yourself, YEAH, SURE.

And those, my friend, are the two most powerful and influential words in marketing today. Yeah, sure.

They are the near-universal response of a too-busy world awash in marketing.

Press play and find out more.

I Bet You Don’t Put This On Your Balance Sheet (But You Should)

If you had to list all the assets of your business in their order of cash value, including buildings, your equipment, your inventory, your account receivables, your patents and trademarks, which are more valuable than the others.

If you are like most business people, you left out the number one most valuable asset off the list, YOUR CUSTOMERS.

Your clients are important, essential, & valuable.

Take the time to understand them. Know who your clients are, and they will make your business more successful.

Knowing them puts you in a terrific position to get their attention. When you are introducing new products and services, your clients should be notified first.

Understanding your demographics allows you to better market your business. This will establish a strong business/client relationship and create an environment of trust and comfort.

The relationship is worth its weight in gold.

The key to keeping customers long enough to derive maximum return on investment is a marketing concept called the top of the consciousness principle.

Using it to your advantage relies heavily on Digital marketing.

Here are the 3 keys to growing your customer list, and your initial outreach to them.

Business Success is Based on Standing For Something

If you stand for something that others believe in, then you’ll be head and shoulders above the competition, by becoming a trusted source.

If you share your beliefs and values, then immediately you’ve chosen your side of the road to stick to. If you keep to the middle, you’ll eventually you’ll get run over and then forgotten about.

People want to follow a leader.

They want to follow someone who is going somewhere. But that means

They need to know where you’re going.
They need to know what you stand for.
What is your unique Point Of View,
your unique message,
the unique value you bring?
What is your perfect client’s Point A and Point B, and what are your unique steps to help them get there?
How do you package your message differently than anyone else?
Why would your perfect client choose to work with you vs someone else?

It needs to be as clear as the difference between Apple and Samsang phones (there’s a reason I went out and bought a new Apple – when I could have bought a Samsang for a fifth of the price – I identify with their mission, their commitment to excellence, to user-friendliness, and to beauty).

What is that thing that you bring that no one else does that causes your perfect client (not just anyone) – causes your perfect client to say

– I want what she’s having!

I LOVE everything she/he does! I can’t wait to sign up for her next program!

This only happens when we clearly stand for something.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, yet some people achieve so much more than others.

What are their secrets?

I’ve studied some of the best minds in the world on personal development, including experts in psychology, productivity, goal setting, time management, and even personal happiness (which has a lot to do with how well you use your time).

I’ve found a wealth of amazing tips, way too many for one episode of the Online Prosperity Experience, so I’ll save some for future issues.

Today I’ll focus on three of my favourites and how to leverage them to double your productivity if you’re a coach, consultant or small business owner.

Apply the 80/20 Rule
The one statement you should memorise.
Amplify your strengths and outsource your weaknesses.

This remarkably reliable shift holds that roughly 20 per cent of your daily activities are responsible for 80 per cent of your success, income, and personal happiness.

These are your “big-payoff” activities.

Imagine just doing the things that pay you, every hour of your day?

Jump into this one, it's packing heat!

7 ways to win friends and influence people.

Naturally, coaches, consultants and small business people want to get the attention of people with power and influence--and that can mean being assertive.

I frequently reach out to busy people who should not have time for me and succeed in connecting nonetheless--because as in so much of business, execution is everything.

When you ask someone for help, advice or an opportunity, keep these seven tips in mind.

Don't go straight to the top
Find out how this organisation works
What value can you provide?
Offer to do any legwork required.
Clarity on the ask.
Offer a long rope.
Know what a self-serving request is.

High-level executives and other successful people with a lot of demands on their schedules need to be selective about who gets their attention.

Seeking a connection that's all about you and your goals is a recipe for failure.

If you want to get ahead, do your research, think about the other person's time and needs, and make a great first impression.

If You Want More Business – Simply Ask For It.

If you have been listening, reading or watching our content, you will agree with this. I’ve said it here often enough that people are probably thinking I sound like a broken record, but one of the easiest ways to grow your business as a coach, consultant or small business owner is to do more business with your existing clients.

Once you have become a trusted advisor for your clients, it is much easier to increase your wallet share with them than to go out and find new clients.

A lot of business owners get this notion, but they constantly come back to me and ask – How. I mean we only install air conditioners and heating systems. How do we do more business with our existing clients?

I tell them that your relationship with your customers must not end at the bottom of the order form.

You can set up subscription services.
Create courses,
Look for profitable avenues to help your customers.

Go to your current clients and ask them what you should add to what they are buying from you right now.

Find out what they can’t get right now or what they would prefer to buy from you.

Find out how you could serve them better, keep an open mind to some seemingly odd suggestions, and you may find yourself going in entirely new and profitable directions.

How to sell to the elusive small-business owner…

If you are a coach, consultant or small business owner in the business (or thinking of getting into the business) of selling to small-business owners, beware.

It’s a tough market to reach and tougher even to sell.

Small-business owners are very busy people.

They may need your product or service, but they don’t have the time to think about it.

They are up early and deep into their work by the time that first cup of coffee hits their lips. Although they sometimes fantasise about kicking back in their chairs and casually reading through the marketing material in their inboxes, they seldom can.

When the time comes to make buying decisions, small-business owners are impatient shoppers, demanding buyers, and tight with their wallets. (The average small business has a net income of only 6.3 percent of revenues, so owners tend to pinch pennies.)

But if you get their loyalty – earn it and keep earning it – they will stay with you for life.

Marketing to small-business owners is a tough game. But if you have a good product, can sell it at a competitive price, and have the tenacity to work hard for that first sale, you’ll be rewarded with a loyal, profitable customer for life.

Design your daily checklist for high performance and success.

The quality of your life, business or relationships is the reflection of your standards.

You could make millions and still stay poor in your mind. Being poor is not about making less money.

Being poor is a mentality. It’s a choice to live a low standard of life. You have an opportunity to change this daily

When I say low standard, I don’t mean the luxuries and pleasures that rich people can afford.

You can raise your standards regardless of how much money you make. It’s not about money, it’s about mindset.

Different people have different values. We can have high standards in some areas of our lives while we may avoid the other areas.

Here are the five major areas of life where you can raise your standards :

Health
Wealth
Relationships
Self-discipline
Mindset

Your thoughts determine your actions. If you want to put quality thoughts in your mind, you must craft your environment in a way that most thoughts in your mind are useful or helpful.

Destructive thought patterns lead to depression, worry or anxiety. Your internal self-talk is the way to speak with your subconscious. Make sure you talk to yourself from a higher perspective.

Become your own life coach. Use the power of self-affirmation to feel powerful and inspired to become great.

What beliefs do you hold for yourself?

Chronic Takers – How to Get Them Out of Your Life

I am in a service business, and I get a lot of requests for advice—sometimes for free.

I know that many of my clients in various advisory roles (e.g., a career like me, financial planning, life coaching, etc.) also get asked for free advice.

The natural inclination is to say Yes because many of us got into a service role in the first place because we like to serve and help.

Furthermore, a free, no-obligation conversation sometimes leads to paid work, either directly with that person or with someone they refer to you.

On the other hand, as your business grows, and you get more well-known, these requests for help also grow.

Unchecked, people who ask for free advice can consume your calendar and overwhelm your energy. Therefore, you need a process for deciding what to do for free, how you structure your freebies and when it’s a better move to decline. Ideally, you outline when to say No (or Yes) in advance, so you can be thoughtful when you respond to requests.

Done right, you can say No and still be helpful.

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love.

I am here to say, You CAN Have Both. Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

Listen Now.

There's no surefire formula for instant success, but you can boost your business's growth with these tips from other coaches, consultants and small business owners we work with.

When you first launch your business, your main goal is to establish your brand and start growing.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen overnight.

Growth is an ongoing process that requires hard work, patience and dedication. There’s no special step or secret way to surpass other businesses in the industry or achieve immediate success.

There are, however, proven ways to reach growth milestones that can catapult a business to success.

In this podcast, I share some tips for accelerating growth.

Don’t gamble. Just invest smarter.

Have you ever been to a casino? I know you have, but maybe the best question is, have you ever gambled at a casino?

I don't gamble. And that's a strange thing, really, because other than gambling, I've never met a bad habit I didn't like. I don't gamble because I get no pleasure from it and because it's so clear to me that I’d lose money.

If you believe you can beat the system, I’m not going to try to talk to you about it. Just ask yourself this:

How are these billion-dollar properties being paid for?
How is it that the Crown Casino can have a garden so opulent that it takes 70 full-time employees just to maintain it?

It ain't charitable contributions.

If you stick with Online Prosperity Experience Podcast, you'll learn dozens of ways to get a piece of the action and, just as importantly, you’ll be encouraged and motivated to do so.

Then you’ll be on your way.

You'll be getting richer every day. But to become wealthy, you'll have to learn to keep the wealth you earn. And that means saying no to gambling.

Gambling is a sucker's game.

The odds are stacked against you. The compensation, well, the comps are about as useful as a bouquet of flowers from your wife’s boyfriend.

I don't gamble. Not in Vegas, Melbourne or on a cruise ship at least. But every once in a while I run into a business deal that sings, Play me!

Don't gamble. Not in Vegas. Not in the stock market. Not in your own business.

Next time the sirens sing to you, tighten up the ropes of self-restraint and wait till you sail on by.

A good coach, consultant or small businessman owns a piece of the casino. He doesn't gamble there.

Five ways to better connect with your customers.

Your customers drive your business, which is why it’s so important to note how they interact with your brand. Don’t just reach out to them when you want their business; find ways to continuously show them you care.

This podcast is for coaches, consultants and small business owners who want to find ways to better connect with their customers.

We understand you’re outsourcing some of your marketing, social media or sales processes, but when our money goes to your business, our customer service is coming through your social media and the product says "your Brand" on the box - it’s all your responsibility.

Customers don’t see funnels - and all points of contact with your business are part of your brand.

Don’t say “policy” as an excuse for what you feel like doing at the time and then backpedal immediately when asked.

Few things anger an already frustrated customer, like the word “policy”. There is always something you can do, at the very least listen to and be empathetic.

Don’t act as if you’ve been put out when a customer wants to make sure they’re getting what they paid for.

Service is part of the job description in business - every job description.

If your market is humans, you’re eventually going to need to speak to one of them.

Branding doesn't end with the sale, its ends when the customer decides it’s over.

Customising your user interactions improves relevance and authenticity.

The Value of Loose Referrals

We all know that referrals are the number one way to grow our businesses.

The most effective way, the most desired way, and the cheapest way to gain new business is to have happy current customers who let others know how awesome you are.

A lot of coaches, consultants and small businesses may not have a lot of money in their marketing budget, but a strong network of business relationships can be their biggest asset.
You can build and nurture business relationships through cold calling, giving away something for free, using social media, and settling disputes quickly.
This Podcast is for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to develop and benefit from strong business relationships.

It’s common for business startups to be short on cash and supplies. However, their most valuable resource doesn’t appear on the balance sheet: quality business relationships.

Depending on the business, a strong network may include

customers,
clients,
suppliers,
buyers,
outsourced service providers,
the government,
media and even
competitors.

While the context may vary, every element in a business’s network requires a foundation of amicability and trust.

Social media has allowed me to get to know people in countless industries whose services and products I have yet to use myself — but whom I would still give a loose referral.

The more people you know, and more importantly, the more people who know you (even before they have been your customer), the greater your social network.

The old idea of focusing on talking only to leads, or even referring to people as leads, is dying.

People on social media don’t leads; they are people.

They are connections.

And when these connections grow, others get to know, like, and trust us, even without ever having used our products or services.

What is the value to you in building a community where you can ask advice of people you trust—both personally and professionally?
What is the value in not wasting your time and money on a product or service because you asked first and were given recommendations online?

I think loose referrals alone are worth all the time and energy spent engaging online.

Improve your sales and reduce your marketing costs

Customer loyalty can help your business become profitable and enjoyable in the best of times, but it can also help you survive in tough or challenging times.

Customer loyalty is especially important during the pandemic, as consumers are extremely conscious of their budgets.
Repeat customers tend to spend more money on your brand than new customers because they trust your business.
Retaining customers is about five times cheaper than recruiting new customers.

This podcast is for coaches, consultants and small business owners who want to increase their brands’ customer loyalty in the pandemic era.

As a business owner, you know your customers are the reason for your business.

That’s why it’s important to consider your customers in everything you do. Your customers’ needs should be at the forefront of your business. This will not only drive more sales but also build customer loyalty for the long haul.

Here’s why cultivating customer loyalty is important and tips on building it.

Make your marketing work more for you and your business.

The internet has come a long way since it was open to the public about 32 years ago. Now it allows us to look at photos of other people’s food, watch animals do silly things on TikTok, keep up with our friends and family, and order things from the comfort of the sofa.

By changing the way people buy, the internet has changed marketing.

As a result, coaches, consultants and small businesses have had to change the way they market themselves and sell to take advantage of the latest technology and consumers' shopping habits.

In this episode, we look at:

How the internet has changed marketing with websites.
How the internet has changed marketing using advertising
How the internet has changed marketing using social media

The internet has changed marketing, the way businesses sell, and the way people buy hugely, and it’s still continuing to do so.

Successful coaches, consultants and small businesses will be the ones who keep up with the way that consumers are buying.

It’s interesting to think about how this podcast might sound in another 20 years' time?

How do you think the internet may change marketing in the future?

Video is The Fastest Way to Build Your Personal Brand!

Personal video branding is the latest and greatest new marketing trend online.

People are embracing this movement regardless of whether they are coaches, consultants or small business owners.

The video aspect of online marketing is a crucial piece of your personal branding efforts. It allows you to connect with your audience, and tell them who and what your business is all about, using your own voice and image to share this message.

People like to connect with real people!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth thousands of views.

Today’s busy "Internet explorers" are much more likely to view a short video than they are to read a page full of text.

The use of video branding is one of the quickest means of introducing a business to the public, especially for new or small businesses that lack a large advertising budget.

Videos can be serious or humorous and should be memorable, but care must be exercised – inaccurate branding can lead viewers to wonder what the business does or what industry it occupies.

Video branding will build brand loyalty, increase your customer relations and retention, reduce advertising costs, qualify sales leads and increase response rates.

Bottom line…videos can bring a lot of traffic to your business!

Content That Converts Online Traffic Into Paying Customers

There’s a common saying in SEO – content is King. That’s because content drives more traffic to your website, strengthens your brand, and connects with your customers.

That’s precisely what our SEO copywriting services offer.

Everyone knows that the way to good rankings is paved with original content.

Mention writing, however, and most coaches, consultants and small business owners start shivering in their shoes.

The fear of writing is widespread, and many business owners would do anything to avoid writing even a single sentence. In fact, they don’t have to if they choose to utilise “canned content”.

In my opinion, the best solution to great content is to write your own content!

Be authentic and share your passion with your readers.

It works!

You do not have to be an English major or a professional copywriter to connect with people where they are.

This approach is much better than canned copy ANY DAY!

With great content, you can inform your visitors and engage them to purchase or demonstrate how your product or service can make their lives better or easier in some way, save them time or money, or offer ways that they can use your product or service that will provide some incentive to make a purchase.

A good website is the key to all online marketing.

Many coaches, consultants and small business owners do not realise that the first place to place their focus is on their website.

Your website is your hub and all marketing efforts should expand and come back to this one location.

You need a website that you can manage yourself! I have seen so many people over the years pay thousands of dollars for a website that has never produced the first dime in revenue for them.
You need a site that will generate quick rankings in Google and other search engines. In today’s market, Google is often the first place Internet users go to conduct searches, find information and learn about a person, brand or company. Once you have identified what market niche you want to occupy, attention should be focused on your website and building your niche keyword strategy for optimal search engine rankings.
You need to know how to achieve these results YOURSELF so that you are not reliant on someone else to get your business in front of your target market.

The Internet opens a variety of ways that can be utilised to bring your business to the attention of potential customers locally and worldwide, but your website must be in order first.

It requires attention to detail, offering what customers want and a willingness to seek help if and when you need it.

Check here to see if your website measures up.

Your personal brand is all about who you are and how you are perceived within your target market.

Everything about you, from the way you present your online business, “the look”, your message consistency and the value you bring; all speaks about your business.

In marketing, personal branding is about working on your personal style, positioning and being unique to create a valued brand. This can help you to build your reputation as an expert in your field and to develop trusting relationships with your target market.

Whether it is a personal brand or that of a product or service, the value of a brand is in the promise that it makes. A brand can help a client recall positive or negative experiences and emotions that influence how people behave towards your brand. For the individual, this means that it is imperative to create a personal brand that will deliver on the expectations of the client.

If you do not take control of your own professional brand, then somebody else will. It is time for you to start thinking about personal branding. Branding YOU has never been more important in today’s online marketplace.

Personal branding is a huge and emerging issue for anyone who intends to do business online or offline.

What do you say?

How important do you believe personal branding is?
Have you invested in your own personal brand?
What tips do you have for others?

Bottom line you can never go wrong by investing in both internal and external communities and the human beings within them!

You Deserve A Life Of Freedom, While Your Income Continues To Grow.

You're probably going to listen to this podcast for the same reasons why I recorded it.

And that is because of a powerful, innate desire to turn your vision into reality, to experience greater freedom and life, and because you really want to figure out how the heck to make this whole online business thing more successful. (With “success” here meaning your definition(s) and measure(s) of the word.)

In my 10+ years as an entrepreneur, the methods you have in your hands are the most powerful amplifier of success, freedom, abundance and impact I have ever seen. They have reliably grown so many businesses that have learnt and implemented them, that I've lost count, and because of that, I do believe sharing them with more Business owners like you through writing eBooks and doing podcasts will satisfy that innate desire for me (and will help you satisfy yours if you make a serious commitment) to making the concepts taught here work for your business)

Life has been wild recently, hasn’t it? The pandemic, crazy governments, millionaires being made overnight... In this sort of environment, it takes smart operators to gain an edge, so you can scale your business to the next level.

As a Coach, Consultant, or Service Based Business owner, it has become more difficult than ever to stand out from the crowd.

How do you attract new leads on a regular basis?
How do you turn those leads into paying clients?
And how do you get maximum bang for your advertising buck?

These questions can be difficult to answer, especially if you’re not tech-savvy or have a team that can help you.

I'm excited to contribute to your success in an entirely new life. And I'm excited to have that potential you have inside you to have a business that is profitable and enjoyable in the next 90 days, and do something truly great, important and valuable for yourself, others, and the world as a whole.

Let's get started....

Social media is not a bandaid.

Whenever there is a new type of technology, media or fad of any kind, every coach, consultant or small business owner hops on the new wagon. The foolish think just because it's new, the seat on the new wagon must be better. They think it will cost less, be easier, and bring more customers.

It is normal to look for a solution. To hope that something will fix the issues that keep you up at night. It is normal to hope and dream of the day you can go to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night to solve a problem.

Many do the same thing with social media. They think once they are on Twitter, have a Facebook page, and get everything automated, their business problems will be solved.

Sorry to break the news to you folks, but that is simply not how it works.

The reality is that social media will probably highlight these issues even further. It may even shine like a strobe light on the very broken areas of your business. It may put departments, people and even individuals under pressure.

Why?

Because you will be forced to talk about these things.

Why?

Because it is now more out in the open.

The communications can not so easily be hidden between a quiet email string between your sales department and strategic partners. Your partners will soon be tweeting you and Facebooking you.

Social media will not fix your broken marketing engine. It will not fix your broken sales department. It will not provide business processes that you don't have. It will not provide you with the glue that ties it all together.

What are your thoughts?

Have you leveraged social media to have some hard discussions, to make needed changes in your business?

Or are you avoiding social media as you're afraid of skeletons in the closet?

If you're a coach or consultant are you also seeing clients who expect social media to solve their business problems?

Do not use social media as duct tape to hide a problem even longer. Instead, leverage it to your advantage. Be bold. Be brave and you will see results.

Content marketing is a powerful strategy that can help you attract and retain customers.

Content marketing is all about attracting leads, educating your customers and encouraging them to take action on the information you provide. It must be a vital part of every coach, consultant and small business owner’s digital marketing strategy. The process of creating content may vary, depending on the stage of the marketing funnel where it falls.

This is where marketing requires some knowledge of social psychology because you must leverage the ‘forces of attraction’ to gain people’s attention.

Varying your content marketing tactics according to the different stages of the marketing funnel: where does this idea come from?

It is a fact that people’s expectations vary according to the level of their interaction with the other party, which may be a person, brand, or product. An intelligent coach, consultant or small business owner knows how to monitor audience patterns and fulfil the expectations of their prospects and leads.

This podcast does not establish any hard and fast rules concerning choosing formats, channels, and methods for relating with your leads as a content marketer. Instead, it encourages you to pay attention to the changing needs of your audience as they pass through the marketing funnel. Consider the tactics here as valuable suggestions to connect with your audience better.

Finally, don’t forget: content marketing is a powerful strategy that can help you attract and retain customers. A well-executed content marketing campaign can help you increase brand awareness and build a strong reputation among your target audience.

Looking for content inspiration? Check out this Podcast to learn how to turn everyday situations into content ideas that you can use for your blog, social media, or even your next video!

If you're a creative person, chances are you've had the experience of being in a conversation and suddenly having a great idea for a blog, or a story, or a podcast, or whatever it is you create. And then, of course, you forget all about it by the time you get home.

Turning everyday situations into content inspiration is a great way to avoid writer's block, or artist's block, or any other kind of creative block.

By being open to inspiration from the world around you, you'll never be short on ideas.

Here are some tips for turning everyday situations into content inspiration:

Pay attention to your surroundings. Whether you're on a bus, in a coffee shop,
Talk to strangers.
Meditate.

Sometimes we have to remember to exhale just so we can breathe. That may sound crazy, but it makes sense. When we let go of our old habits, preconceived notions and other limiting beliefs, we open up to a whole new realm of possibilities. Human nature uses communication to change our mindset and forces us to think outside our comfort zone.

Can't wait to see what you will create next.

How do you double your sales without increasing your prices?

Look at why people buy products and services like yours.

I know what you are thinking, here we go again, yet another promise of somebody trying to tell me how I can double my business.

Is this yet another half-baked scam, or could it be that it is possible to actually double, triple or even quadruple your business in the next 90 days?

The fact of the matter is that it is not only possible, I do it regularly as a digital marketing consultant with my clients.

While it is not guaranteed, the techniques I use are the next best thing to foolproof and can work for almost any business that sells to the public. If your business is selling to other businesses, there are methods I use to do much the same thing.

Let’s start with why people buy anything.

If you look at all 4 reasons, the first thing you’ll notice is that they are all emotional.

People buy on emotion, not logic.

It doesn’t really matter what it is you are selling, if you sell on anything but emotion, I can guarantee that I can double your sales by making just one small shift in how you present your products or services to your prospects.

Let’s look at the 4 reasons people buy anything.

First, they buy things for reasons of love or sex (relationships). Yes, sex sells, and it’s a very potent marketing tool if you know how to use it tactfully.
Second, people buy things because they want their dreams to come true. No matter what dreams we have, more than anything, we want those dreams to come true. Position your products as a tool to help a person live their dreams, and you’ll see your sales jump almost overnight!
The third reason people buy is that they are looking for effortless ways to make money. That’s pretty evident if you look at the popularity of many of the products sold through infomercials that promise big money in exchange for easy work that anybody can do.
And the final reason people buy is that they are going to be getting either something for free or they are getting a bargain. Do you know of anybody who does not want a bargain, or who won’t jump at the chance of getting something for nothing?

So there you have it, the 4 reasons people buy.

So what do you do now? You are selling products and services that just don’t fit any of these categories, right? Nonsense! I have yet to find a single product or service that can’t be promoted as delivering one or more of the things that make people buy!

I used this technique with an IT Consultant and doubled their sales in less than a month. And I did it without increasing their advertising expenses by one cent!

I’ve used it with real estate companies, coaches, and all kinds of small businesses, and I’ve even used it for insurance companies! In each case, the results were the same; sales increased dramatically in a very short period of time.

Look at the main benefits your product or service offers. Can it be used to fit one of the 4 categories, or do you need to dig a little deeper?

An example might be an insurance company advertising that their life insurance will help you to “live your dreams” by removing all the fear of losing your financial security.

If you are really in a jam and can’t seem to fit any part of your product or service into any of these 4 categories, try advertising something for free or at a reduced price, which is also commonly known as a bargain. There is hardly an industry that can’t use this category.

As a coach, consultant or service business owner, you serve a vital function in our society. You create a market for products. To be a good salesperson, you must take pride in your profession, be it part-time or full-time. In this podcast, we discuss eight sales tips to help you along with selling your products.

Growing your own business is tough.

Cold calling potential clients and having them hang up in your face…
Sending out hundreds of emails without getting so much as a ‘thanks for reaching out…
Wasting thousands of dollars on ad spend without generating qualified leads…

Sometimes it can feel like NO ONE wants to buy what you’re selling. And when you rely on your business to pay the rent and put food on the table…

It can put an enormous strain on your emotions. You’re terrified of having to give up on your dreams…

And return to a ‘safe’ 9-5 job with your tail tucked between your legs. If you can’t bring in new clients…

Listen to this podcast and learn how to generate 100s of qualified, high-ticket leads like clockwork, so you never have to rely on cold calling or emailing just to beg clients to hire you.

Nobody is born great.

We all start off as equals: tiny infants who can’t do much on their own. Forget about beautiful websites, elegant social media profiles and persuasive writing that sells itself; we can’t even smile yet!

Later on in life, we often get frustrated with ourselves when we’re first trying to learn a new skill. We expect to be naturally good at it. We expect this skill to come easily.

What we forget is that every single skill that comes easily to us now wasn’t easy at all when we were first born.

It’s no effort to feed yourself now. Pick up food; place it in your mouth. You don’t even think about it. But when you were an infant, you picked up the spoon over and over and missed your mouth entirely. You do it all the time.

You did it until you finally mastered that skill.

You don’t learn anything overnight.

You might pick up some skills more easily than others, but you still have to work hard to develop those skills. You’ve got to get comfortable with the idea that you’re still learning – and that learning means failing.

A lot.

The good news is that if you do it right, those failures can work for you. Every time the spoon missed your mouth as a child, you learned what didn’t work. Every time you got a bite in your mouth by sheer accident, you learned what did work.

That’s the attitude you want to bring to your rejections in business – so you can master the slightly more sophisticated skills of becoming a professional.

And if you get discouraged, just remember: every skill you think of as effortless now, was once incredibly hard for you.

If you keep working on your business, you’ll soon find that it will become one of the skills that’s “effortless” in your future – even though it’s a lot of work now.

We’re all “teachers” in some form or another. If you enjoy sharing your knowledge with your prospects, you’re definitely a teacher.

The key is leveraging your teaching as an asset, to grow your business.

People generally assume that if you’re teaching on a topic, you have a relatively high level of expertise. You’re more of an expert than the students.

Of course, you don’t actually have to be the “definitive” expert. You just have to tailor your services to an audience you’re comfortable teaching.

Land More Clients and Boost Your Income by Teaching others.

How to Deal With Criticism as a coach, consultant or small business owner.

Dealing with criticism is one of the most important skills you have to develop to be successful as a coach, consultant or business owner – and in life.

I used to get really hurt and instantly defend myself if I received any type of hateful email. And at the beginning of my podcasting days, these weren’t uncommon.

I remember being crushed every single time I read one. I had put so much thought, heart and research into what I was doing, and yet here I was enraging people.

Looking back now, I feel those people had a point, even though they could have conveyed their messages a little more nicely.

I’ve found it’s better, both personally and career-wise, to take criticism before dismissing it or feeling sorry for yourself.

I wish it hadn’t taken me years to learn, but I finally developed a few ways of turning criticism – even really harsh criticism – to your advantage.

Yes, sometimes people criticise you because they don’t like you, are bored or have their own issues. But when someone genuinely criticises your work, you should try to push your ego aside.

Remember that you and your work are entirely separate entities. When it comes to your work, try to be as objective as possible and detach your self-worth from what you’re doing.

What are your secrets to mastering the art of taking criticism?

"The best way to become an overnight success is to start before you’re ready."

In this Podcast, Prosper Taruvinga shares his story of becoming an overnight success in Digital Marketing.

He talks about the importance of taking massive action and how to get clients by providing value through content marketing.

If you're looking to make a big impact and become successful quickly, this podcast is for you.

You know who I’m talking about – those people who suddenly burst out like instant celebrities. Sure, you’ve noticed these people from time to time before, but they didn’t seem like anyone special or important, so you ignored them.

Now they’re everywhere.

More than that – they’re getting LOTS of attention.

Thought leaders are talking them up like they’re the next best thing to a great whiskey They’re getting comment after comment on their posts and seem to strike up a conversation with anyone they please.

They’re IN the “in-crowd”. They own it.

And yet, just a little while back, they were… well, nobody special.

You think to yourself: How’d they DO that? How can I do that myself?

Here’s the secret:

It didn’t happen overnight.

NO ONE is a true overnight success. From rags to riches in a day?

Not gonna happen.

Not even to all those people you can point to and say, “But Gary Vee did it…”

No. Gary didn’t.

Before becoming an overnight success, Gary made a crucial decision:

to go after what he wanted.
To work at it, hard.
To pursue it.
To put in the time, the energy and the effort.

Then Gary actually began the process. He followed through.

All of a sudden, Mr. Vee gets noticed by more people, and more, and more, until there’s an avalanche of attention coming his way.

Out of the blue.

As if this person sprung out of nowhere.

Overnight, even.

But the only thing that truly happened overnight was the willingness to try and the decision to put in the work. And that’s something anyone can do.

Why not you?

So if you're looking for some new marketing ideas, be sure to listen to this podcast.

There are a lot of marketing channels out there, and it can be tough to know where to start. But what if I told you that there are some simple, often overlooked ways to market your business that can be just as effective?

Marketing your coaching, consultancy or small business can often be frustrating. You’re already busy trying to make ends meet, and it just seems like there’s not enough time to do everything you know you need to do.

There’s no “magic formula” to make marketing easy – you just have to do it.

But luckily for you, there are simple, often-overlooked techniques you can use that take just minutes to put into practice.

Your Email Signature

This marketing tactic is deceptively simple but definitely one that’s most commonly overlooked.

Your About-Us Page

Most About pages make big assumptions that your readers know who you are and what you do.

Your Personal Network

Your friends and family already know that you have a coaching, consultancy or small business. But they may have no idea what you actually do.

There are a lot of simple, often overlooked ways to market your business. In this podcast, we'll go over some of the most effective ones.

From creating helpful content to building relationships with potential clients, these strategies can help you get the word out about your business and attract more customers.

Implement them today and start seeing results!

Here’s the problem with having more content and strategies.

Think, for a moment, about all the thoughts that play in your head as you move through your day-to-day life.

Narratives like “I’m not a numbers person”, “I’m not good with technology”, and “I don’t cope well with change”. These are thoughts that are subconsciously stuck on replay in our minds, whose voices never seem to quieten, gradually chipping away at our sense of self-belief.

In your mind, these stories are the truth, they’re gospel.

In your mind, you simply have a realistic view of what you can and can’t do, what you are and what you aren’t good at.

You’re just being honest with yourself, right?

But remember this: who told you these things which are now true? Probably no one but you.

So how certain can you be that they are in fact true?

Last night I hosted a great zoom call that lasted over two hours. It was full of great content and strategies to grow your offline coaching or consulting business.

Virtually anyone on the call could have taken the information that was shared on the call and started profiting from local marketing.

Here’s the problem with having more content and strategies; most people already have more information than they really need to make real money with digital marketing skills.

We’ve all gotten the emails, the launch sequences, the promotional videos and audios aside from all the products we’ve already purchased in our pursuit of a business that's profitable and enjoyable.

We’ve been exposed to more things than ordinary local businesses know to exist.

The problem isn't knowing what to do, it’s getting the right mindset to go and share this valuable information with businesses!

I’ve come to realise that it’s the mindset, not strategies and tactics, that creates the biggest gap between those who win and those who wish.

The moment I finally accepted that I had the goods and already had what it takes to bring results to these businesses that are desperate for help, everything changed.

The world began to look different.

Confidence was something that I built up rather than received one day.

What’s holding you back right now?

Are you ready and willing to change your life simply by challenging your greatest fears and uncertainties?

You don’t have to ignore them, simply challenge them and take just 1 step each day to remove their deadly grip on you.

You’ll finally break through and get the results you’ve been longing for!

It’s my opinion that everyone comes into this world with a unique and valuable skill that allows them to do something incredible that no one else can do in such a way.

When I was just a kid, I always dreamed of being an actor or a famous rapper.

Sure, I loved to rehearse my rhymes and act out my favourite characters, but what was it that made me want to be an actor.

Then, I moved on to other career choices, like being a policeman or even a pilot It was the dream of most young boys to be a hero and save the world.

Now that I’m a month away from turning 39 years old, I discovered that it really wasn’t acting that I wanted or even wearing a uniform to save someone. My childhood desire was more about making a difference in people’s lives than studying scripts for movies.

You see, over the years, I’ve really come to realise that my personal unique and valuable skill is simplifying difficult things and making them clear to others.

In the case of advice to friends, I have a gift of asking powerful questions that simplify their situations and help them come up with a solution much faster.

In business, I am able to teach my clients more about themselves and their needs to show them how to bring more value to the marketplace through what they offer.

For my daughters, it's taking the moment to listen to what they are really saying and coaching him to find solutions on his own.

My unique and valuable skill is making it simple.

What’s yours?

Have you stopped for a moment to think of one or two things that you do extraordinarily well?

My goal for you is that you search for it. Analyse your life until you find that common denominator.

Once you find your unique and valuable skill, your passion will follow, and you’ll be able to achieve much more than when you’re trying to fill someone else’s shoes.

You’ll also realise that people will completely value you when you focus on it!

Have you ever looked at the gurus in your industry and wondered how you can create the same success in your business as they have?

It seems like everything they do works while your hard work and effort continually fall short.

Well, there may be a very good reason for that and in this podcast, I’ll be sharing with you some insights for you to consider as well as part of my personal journey to where I’m at today (which is quite freeing if I do say so myself).

Gurus come in all shapes and sizes. Some are tech-savvy while others aren’t. Some have huge teams while others don’t. There are many gurus who specialise in certain aspects of business while also removing other aspects that their competitors do. This is part of their personal strategy, and it’s pretty obvious that it works for them.

This fact isn’t inherently bad. It’s actually a good thing because it shows that they’ve found exactly what works for them, and they’ve worked at it to make it succeed.

In other words, if they’ve found success in the unique ways they do business, so can you.

From Frustration To Freedom!

I have got to say, once I defined what was important to me and what I loved doing that was profitable and purposeful, developing my business became much easier than it’s ever been trying to follow in someone else’s footsteps.

I still learn from gurus, but only if what they offer is aligned with where I’m already headed.

They no longer have any decision-making abilities that will shift the direction of my business.

As a result of choosing my own path, I’ve focused entirely on helping coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs and service professionals pave their own way to create a business that supports the life they want, so they no longer live life by someone else’s design.

There’s no amount of blogging, article writing, AdSense, pay per click, social media or other marketing tactics that will trump my desire to serve entrepreneurs in creating an extraordinary life.

Likewise, there’s no guru out there that will distract me from my purpose and calling.

What’s Your Anti-Guru Business Approach?

Have you experienced any of this?

Leave your comments below and share what you want out of your business? What would your perfect business look like?

P.S. If you aren’t clear about where you’re heading, we should talk. If you’re looking for help and support and are ready to design your life and business around what you value and love, I invite you to schedule a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me. Click here to get started.

If you want potential clients to buy from you, you have to assume your responsibility to make it happen.

That doesn't mean that you have to be pushy or use high-pressure tactics.

It does mean that you have to take action and be proactive in your approach.

In this Podcast, I'll share with you 3 specific things that you can do to make potential clients buy from you.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel, that if you’re in business, you have a responsibility to help people move forward. You have an obligation to answer questions properly, in terms people understand.

Yes, I’m human. Sometimes I make assumptions that people know more than they do. Many people who don’t really have a clue often pretend they do, just so the other person doesn’t think they’re ‘silly’ or ‘stupid’ for not knowing. For sure, that makes it hard to tell who knows what these days.

So when a client specifically says, “I don’t understand. I’m just not getting this. Could you explain?” I’m happy to explain in easier-to-understand terms, using analogies and comparisons and 1-2-3 steps.

I put myself in their shoes.

I try to bring them from lack of knowledge to, “OH! I get it now, thanks!”

Go down to the “I’m clueless” level to help people rise above it.

And if you can’t be bothered to give good customer service where you help your clients feel happy, informed and in control… then what the hell are you doing in business?

What clients like to see

Most coaches, consultants and freelancers suck at meeting deadlines.

I’ve heard horror stories from disgruntled people complaining about coaches, consultants and small business owners they’ve worked with, in the past, and I’ve dealt with my own fair share of flaky coaches and freelancers.

Blown deadlines, forgotten deadlines, missed deadlines, stretched deadlines and the mysterious so-called “flexible” deadlines… no, coaches and consultants aren’t really known for being reliable people you depend on to deliver.

That’s too bad. Because there’s one easy way to create ecstatic clients who come back for more:

Set a reasonable timeframe to complete your work.

The keyword is “reasonable”.

Don’t say you can turn the work around in a day, especially when you know it may actually take you three days. Or four, because you have to be away from the computer for most of Friday and, well, after that it’s the weekend…

The client won’t mind that much if you write in at the last hour and tell him you’ll deliver on Monday instead. It’s only an extra day or two… right?

Wrong.

If you agree to a deadline, you have to hit it.

No excuses.

Do You Refuse to Work for New Clients?

“For that reason, I’m out.”

If you’ve ever watched Dragon’s Den (or its Aussie counterpart, Shark Tank), you’re intimately familiar with that final verdict. It’s uttered by some very successful entrepreneurs when they decide a particular investment opportunity isn’t a good fit.

So how often do you say it to your prospects?

Maybe you should say it a little more often.

You know how it goes: Some potential client emails you about working together. Perhaps he wants a new website, or some copy, or marketing advice. Doesn’t matter. You and him discuss the work a little further, and you realize…

Your potential client is about to make a huge, expensive mistake.

Even if you invest hours, even despite doing your very best work, you know in your heart of hearts that this person is about to waste his money on something that won’t work.

What do you do?

Most people shrug. “That’s what the client wants… not my fault if it doesn’t pan out as he planned!”

But here’s the thing: You do have a responsibility to serve your clients well.

If you take on a project knowing that your work and his money will be a complete waste, it’s (in my humble opinion) wrong not to tell this person the state of affairs.

I see it all the time – some people get so excited about their ideas that they can’t see the forest for the trees.

They don’t realise the business model is broken,
or that the idea sounds fun but just won’t make money,
or that there’s a huge gap in the marketing strategy that nearly guarantees a failure.

The money’s just burning a hole in their pockets because they want to see their idea become reality fast. And they want you to do the work.

You’re the expert. You should know better than to accept the job.

3 Simple Questions Your Website Should Answer

An eye-catching website design will set the stage for your business, obviously. But that powerful first impression only buys you a few seconds of attention.

If what you SAY on your website gives visitors the wrong impression, you’re chasing potential clients away.

And that problem is far more common than you think.

People visiting your website subconsciously look for reasons to bail.

They’re not asking themselves,

“Why should I stay here and look around?”
They’re thinking, “Is this website a waste of my time?”

Make them struggle to find the answers they need, and they won’t bother hanging around.

Don’t be hustling for nothing.

Instead, anticipate the questions your prospects are probably asking themselves.

Use this checklist to make sure potential clients will easily believe hiring you is the best choice they could make.

Who Are You?
Why Should I Care?
Can I trust you?

Read your own website today. Go through it line by line.

Make sure your marketing message packs power.
Answer the questions your potential client is already asking.
Show that you understand where your potential client is coming from, and tell him why you’re the solution he needs.

Your turn: What else is important to answer on your website?

What more do potential clients want to see?

Let me know in the comments – and by the way, what’s stopping you from making that change to your site today?

Exactly how should you set up that ebook-based workshop?

I recently published an episode about a sure-fire way to maximise your business potential, and it was a big hit: Just turn your ebook into a workshop.

Then get ready to impress the socks off new prospects.

But exactly how should you set up that ebook-based workshop?

How can you make sure it’s a win?

I’ll tell you that too. Keep reading…

No matter what type of coach, consultant or business owner you might be, and no matter what sort of product or service you sell, hosting a workshop is a great idea that could bring huge benefits to your business.

Think about it:

A workshop:

Lets you show off your expertise, in person.
You get to demonstrate how you solve a specific problem.
You have the opportunity to engage with fresh prospects.
You can talk with people one-on-one, answer their questions directly, give them some personal attention and show them just how nice a person you are.

Oh yeah, and you get to promote something you sell. Bonus.

Here’s another bonus:

Hosting a workshop lets you pick up some public-speaking experience, and that’s a very valuable skill to have in your back pocket.

Your event could lead to other speaking opportunities in larger venues in cooler locations.
You could meet new networking contacts who tell other people what a great speech you put on.

A workshop could bring you fame. Fortune. And greater confidence.

How to Create a Workshop From Your E-Book

It's no secret that a big part of being a successful coach, consultant or small business owner is creating and selling your own products.

And one of the best ways to do that is to create a workshop from your e-book.

In this podcast, I'm going to show you how to create a workshop from your e-book.

You'll learn :

How to create a landing page for your workshop,
How to price your workshop, and
How to promote it.

Most people just slap their e-book up on their website and offer it to blog subscribers as a free download.

A few others stick a price tag on their e-book and try to make a few bucks.

And while there’s nothing wrong with that, passive action leaves potential on the table, collecting digital dust.

Want an idea that can turn your e-book into your best business asset ever?

Use your e-book to create a workshop.

Are you terrified of public speaking?

Do you get sweaty, shaky, and feel like you're going to vomit?

You're not alone. In fact, public speaking is one of the most common fears in the world. But it doesn't have to be that way.

In this podcast, I'm going to teach you how to get over your public speaking nerves using a simple 3-step process.

This process will help you feel more confident, relaxed, and in control when speaking in front of a group.

So whether you're giving a presentation at work, speaking at a conference, or just leading a team meeting, use this process to help you overcome your public speaking fears.

The key to a successful sales and marketing strategy is knowing — at a broad, deep, and ultimately very specific level — what’s troubling your prospects.

Especially when selling in to larger organisations, understanding the pain points of everyone involved in the decision-making process is critical.

I’m a client. I get approached by designers, web developers and copywriters all the time. They pitch me the same thing – over and over.

I don’t like being blunt, but the whining at the other end of the phone, Skype session, Zoom or whatever-technology-choice-du-jour just comes off as pleading. Painful, desperate pleading.

Angry yet?

Good.

If you want to differentiate yourself from the rest of the poverty herd, here’s a checklist of what a client really wants from you – directly from a client’s perspective.

Measurable Results
No Mumbo-Jumbo
Your Best Work

Start contacting people who can pay you. ASX listed companies are always – and I mean always – looking for coaches and consultants.

Departments like engineering, communications, sales and marketing are always looking for coaches and consultants who can get their ideas onto paper in a crisp, concise manner.

Why not make it you who gets hired?

Decide how you’ll use your coaching and consulting talents to create the lifestyle you desire.

Make the decision to be confident in your ability.

If you won’t, then who will?

When was the last time you put some thought into your About us page?

If you’re like most coaches and consultants, the answer is probably “I never think about it if I can help it. I hate writing about myself.”

You might struggle for the right words to describe your work or be uncertain about how to position yourself. Odds are pretty good that you wrote your About us page in a fit of desperation when you really needed one, and you’ve studiously avoided looking at it since.

I’m going to show you why nailing your About us page is one of the best things you can do for your business, helping you secure ideal clients and make them fall in love with you – just by following a few simple tips.

Prove You’re Not a Robot

If your About Us page gives an accurate idea of who you are as a person, the prospects you draw in will be more willing to form strong working relationships with you.

Become Their Storyteller

Being a coach, consultant or small business owner is a tough gig, and storytelling is a powerful strategy to “soften up” potential clients and your journey.

Your About Page Deserves Better

Stand out from the crowd and attract the ideal customers you deserve by using some of these strategies on your About Us page today.

Which ones appeal to you? Why?

What’s stopping you from putting them into action on your website today?

Let me know in the comments which one you’re going to use – and come back and tell me when you get it up, too, so we can check it out and give you feedback and encouragement!

How to Turn a Prospect into a Paying Customer

I’ve owned a successful Digital Marketing business for nearly a decade, and if I’ve learned one thing in all that time, it’s this:

There are people who agree with what you’re doing – and there are people who believe that you’re the only one who can do it right.

Paying clients don’t come from the first category. The first category is a mishmash of your regular readership, colleagues and competitors who respect you. They all feel you know what you’re doing, but they’re also confident they can do the same or similar themselves.

Your clients come from the second category.

They agree with what you’re doing,
and they don’t think they’re capable of doing it without you.

To get the clients you want, to build a base of people from the second category, you need to create content that persuades this group that you know a lot more than you’re letting on.

Here’s how:

Do you want to be popular or do you want to make money?

Popularity and success require different tactics, so you have to decide between fame and fortune. Ask yourself this:

What’s more important for your business right now?

For most, the answer is as obvious as the balance in your bank account: you need fortune, not fame.

Popularity has its perks. If you’re financially comfortable, you can afford to take the time to build up a larger audience so that you can eventually pitch them your services or products. If your business is already succeeding, you can rest on your laurels a little to network with peers in your industry and create bigger opportunities down the line.

But you’re fooling yourself that getting tons of retweets on Twitter is going to put money in the bank. You’ll need to rethink your decision – or you’ll end up with a huge following but no rent money.

The biggest difference between success and popularity is how you measure results.

For success, you don’t count followers, fans, or even subscribers. Instead, you count the number of leads your marketing generated. You keep tabs on how many of those leads turned into sales and paid work. And you calculate how much money you earned in three months, in six months, in 12 months.

In short, it’s all about money.

It’s the opposite for popularity.

You’re still counting numbers, but instead of money,
you’re counting how many people follow you on social media.
You’re keeping tabs on the retweets your status updates get.
You’re calculating how much your following grew in three months.

In this case, it’s not about money.

This is a really simple way to determine whether your efforts are pursuing success or popularity. If you’re doing a marketing campaign on social media, for example, you may be getting lots of retweets and likes and shares – but you’re counting the number of sales you make.

In that case, you may appear to be pursuing popularity, but the fact that you’re counting the money as a measure of whether you’re doing well means you’re pursuing success.

The same goes for the reverse:

if you launch a new website and ask people for their opinions on social media,
you’re counting the likes, shares, and retweets.
You’re not counting the money – because there isn’t any.

That’s pursuing popularity.

The next time you want to make a big move for your business, ask yourself honestly what results you’ll be measuring: popularity or success?

The Fears and Anxieties of Your Target Market

Have you ever wondered why a certain product or service isn’t doing so well in your business?

Even though you’re sure that it’s exactly what your target market needs?

It could be that you’re not marketing to their level – and the psychological findings of Abraham Maslow just might have what you need to nail it.

Abraham Maslow was a pioneer psychologist who was a bit of a rebel. While most of his peers studied dysfunctional individuals and behaviours, Maslow did the opposite: he studied healthy, successful, and exemplary people to learn about their personalities and motivations.

Why were these people doing well?
What motivated them to achieve more?
What was the progress of their development, growth and success?

Maslow’s work resulted in a theory of human motivation, known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Represented by a pyramid, the hierarchy had five levels of human needs, from the most basic to the most evolved:

Physiological,
Safety,
Love and Belonging, Esteem, and
Self-actualization.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs might be decades old, but there’s wisdom in it that you can apply to your marketing today.

It’ll help you better understand your target market, and what they seek, so that you can create a message that really resonates.

Think about the level of your target marketing in the Hierarchy of Needs right now.

What needs are they working on fulfilling?
Think about the anxieties, fears and concerns those unfulfilled needs create for them.
How could you present your product or service as the best solution, both in terms of meeting a need and reducing stress?

You’ll soon find yourself developing a marketing message that hits the target.

You won’t be talking over anyone’s head or encouraging them towards something they don’t need or already have.

You’ll be right where they are, talking to them at their level.

Add Some Maslow to Your Marketing

How much time and effort do you put into boosting your brand’s credibility?

When it comes to your marketing strategy, how much time and effort do you put into boosting your brand’s credibility?

Whether you are a coach, consultant or small business owner, it’s essential to prove your worth to potential customers to build a following.

If you work on improving the credibility of your brand, you’ll be able to generate more leads, boost conversions, and enhance engagement on your website and social media. When people are new to your business, they need something tangible that tells them you’re worth investing in as a business. It’s your duty to lead the way so that, when the time comes, they feel confident taking action and making a purchase.

Brand credibility is one element you can’t afford to skimp out on. Without it, you’ll neglect a huge portion of your target market that wants to love your brand but simply feels they can’t trust it.

Here are a few ways you can boost your brand’s credibility and see a peak in conversions.

Did you know that the human personality is formed of five basic traits?

According to the Big 5 theory, every human being’s personality is a blend of

extraversion,
openness,
conscientiousness,
neuroticism, and
agreeableness.

(For those who like acronyms, the Big 5 theory is referred to as OCEAN or CANOE.)

And in a recent study in the International Journal of Marketing, your success in reaching customers via brand credibility in your content marketing depends on making sure you play up just two of these traits.

You Don’t Have to Change Your Personality

Your personality is mostly set in stone by this point.

You’re either easily motivated or you aren’t.
You’re either extraverted or you’re not.
You’re neurotic or you’re not.

There’s no point in convincing you to change your personality – not by a long shot.

You choose what you want the world to see.

But knowing what you know now, you might want to make some tweaks so that you can build more credibility into your business brand.

Why aren’t you doing this right now?

I have a question for you:

If you had to start everything over, today, what would you do differently?

I have another question for you:

Why aren’t you doing that now?

I can probably guess the reason: it’s easier to work with what you have than to start your business over from scratch. There’d be so much work to do! You’d have to plan and make decisions and invest money and time… and you’ve already put in so much time and money already that the thought is almost unbearable.

Everything you have now will all go to waste! Scrap everything you worked so hard to build? That’s crazy talk! And what if you did, and then you realised it was all a big mistake? That you made the wrong choice and should’ve stuck with what you had?

Start your business over?! Forget that!

That’s a reasonable line of thinking. It’s probably the line of thinking most would have – I’d probably think the same way. Mind you, if you really think about each of those reasons for not starting your business over, and if you get really honest with yourself, you can see that they’re all kind of bullshit reasons for not entertaining the idea.

But I can understand how the thought of sticking with what you have now, even if it isn’t working that well, would probably seem like a far better idea than starting over.

Indulge me, though.

If you’re continually tinkering away at a business that isn’t working as it should, maybe it’s a good idea.
If you have a long list of to-dos and changes you’ve always wanted to make, but never seem to get around to it, maybe this is the right choice.
If you haven’t made a change in 5 years, maybe now is the time.
If you’ve been wishing for months that you could just… well, start over, maybe this is day you do. You could take a month off – or two, or three. You could map out a new and improved version. You could ditch everything, and begin anew.

The question is… would you?

When was the last time you gave your business a trim?

As a coach, consultant or small business owner, you must strive to improve the quality of your product or service. The reason why most people don’t grow is because they do things the old way. They are not willing to learn about the new trends in town–they prefer doing things the old way.

Whether you’re a coach, consultant or an established business owner, don’t get comfortable with the present level you are, in your business. Strive to make improvements from time to time, and you’ll see the way your business will grow.

Without wasting much time, here are some quick tips to guide you on how to improve your business.

There’s nothing quite like experiencing the magic of a hair stylist’s scissors. You’re taken through an entire transformation, going from ratty-looking to refreshed in less than an hour. There’s a whole new you in the mirror – one who looks at least 5 years younger.

You walk out of the salon with a smile. You’ve got a bounce in your step. You feel confident about yourself – and it shows.

That’s a pretty drastic rejuvenation if you think about it. Just a trim can change your entire mood, outlook, and the impression you project on the world. (How many therapists can claim that kind of success rate for each and every client session?)

What if you could have that feeling about your business?

The little things. The small corrections and quick updates and teeny changes we’ve been putting off because we don’t think they’re important in the grand scheme of things.

They’re not detrimental. But taking care of these little details often make a big difference. They’re the regular trims we book with our stylist to take off half an inch. They’re the cufflinks we add to a suit to bring the whole look together.

Prospective clients notice these small details. And when they see that you don’t pay attention to them, it can make them doubt your competence, your ability to take care of their business.

After all, you’re not taking good care of your own.

When the money is under control other pieces of your business can fall into place.

Getting my business finances organised improved my personal finances. When the money stress was off of my shoulders, I felt positive about my business, and it started to grow. It’s all connected.

Coaching and Consulting is a funny kind of game. When business is going well, you can find yourself making more money than you ever have in your life, and the thrill is amazing.

When things aren’t going as well … you might find yourself staring at an empty bank account, wondering where the hell all the money went while feeling rising panic in the pit of your stomach.

If you’ve ever been in that situation (or are in it right now), you’re definitely not alone.

Schools don’t teach effective money management, and they certainly don’t teach it to coaches, consultants and small business owners (arguably the people who need these skills most).

It’s even worse if you’re in the 35-and-up age group – our parents never spoke of money or how to manage it properly, and if we learned anything from them, it was only thanks to keen observation skills… if we had them, and if we even bothered to pay attention to our parents.

I mastered money management skills the hard way. Today, I’d like to share a bit of what I know to help put power back in your hands.

I want you to get past, get through and forever avoid going broke on that feast-and-famine financial cycle coaches, consultants and small business owners are all too familiar with.

Some clients don’t want your help.

They say they do. They come to you for advice and listen to your good suggestions on solving a problem they complain about.

And then they do nothing.

No matter how easy, fast, cheap or effective the solutions you propose might be, some people can’t be convinced to go for it.

They’re comfortable with their problems.

They’re used to their misery.

Better the devil they know, after all.

Change?

Well now. That’s just crazy talk.

It’s much easier for many people to stay stuck sighing about their issues and hesitating on change.

“It’s just not the right time…
I’m not sure if this would work…
it sounds too risky right now… maybe I should just leave things as they are. It’s not so bad.”

Your time, expertise and experience are precious.

They’re worth sharing with those who are ready to put them to good use.

Those who aren’t?

Let ’em be.

You aren’t being cruel.

They’ll come to you… when they’re good and ready to change.

What’s the secret of successful Coaches, Consultants and Small businesses?

That’s the wrong question to ask.

While some coaches, consultants and small businesses enjoy a steady stream of paying clients, many more watch weeks slip by, with crickets chirping in their inbox.

If you’re struggling to get hired by clients on a regular basis, you’d be better off looking for the secrets of less successful freelancers – and making sure any habits you share with them get taken care of, pronto.

Listen to this podcast. It tells you some ways far too many coaches, consultants and small businesses shoot themselves in the foot. And if you’re having trouble getting paying clients, you may be making one of these mistakes without even realising it.

Mistake 1: Using passive marketing as a crutch
Mistake 2: Not taking ownership of closing the sale
Mistake 3: Spending too much time “looking” for clients

After you have a listen, you’ll then be able to make decisions and choose the next actions to get yourself moving in a better direction.

Course correction is part of life, and it’s fairly easy to turn any – or all – of these issues around so that you can start enjoying the sight of more sales coming into your inbox.

Of course, you do have to decide it’s time to start.

Today would be a great day to begin, don’t you think?

You Can Win the Customer-Attention War

When someone comes to a website – yours, mine, or anyone else’s, there’s a shockingly short window in which that visitor makes a decision to stick around or leave.

Some sources put the range at three to five seconds, maximum. Some put it at even less – 1 to 2 seconds, tops.

Attention spans have never been shorter than they are now.

In this crazy war for attention,

does your website even stand a chance of emerging victorious?
Does it make visitors pause in their tracks, poke around for a while, and stay to learn more about you?

It can… if you’re able to answer “yes” to 3 critical questions.

Use this website 3-second test on your home page, and see how you score.

Is It Instantly Clear What You Do?
Is It Instantly Clear What You Offer?
Is It Instantly Clear Why You’re Interesting?

You don’t need to be a marketing expert to make a website that captures attention. Visitors don’t need to be dazzled by visual spectacles or impressed by feats of content-marketing superiority.

But they do need is to know, within seconds, whether your website is right for them, offers what they want, and is the kind of place they’d enjoy spending time.

Nail those, and the battle is yours.

Get your business the social proof it needs to earn more customers.

It’s a question that confounds many new and young coaches, consultants, and even big, established businesses these days: “With all the competition and noise out there, how can I gain the attention of new, potential buyers?

You have a great service.
You’ve developed a stellar website.
Even your social media looks sexy.

But new clients these days are also looking for one more thing before making a commitment to spend money on you -- what other people are saying about you or your product.

It’s no secret that online retailers and brands like Amazon are increasingly pushing reviews for the products on their site.

People need to see that others also enjoy that product.

It’s what we call social proof: the idea that buyers are influenced by the decisions and actions of others around them.

Through my marketing agency, I find a lot of small business websites that aren’t leveraging the power of testimonials on their site, and that’s a missed opportunity for them.

One of the first things I advise all my new clients on is gathering social proof to place on their web page.

Here are some of the reasons why they’re so important on your site:

Testimonials add credibility for the products and services you offer.
People tend to trust online reviews when making purchases.
Social proof earns better SEO: Adds more favourable language surrounding your brand online.
When sourcing opinions from your client base, you show that you care about their experience with your brand, thus strengthening the relationship you have with your clients.

So what do you do if you have NONE of those things, but still want customers to trust you?

Demonstrate an understanding of what buyers and customers experience.

The words Marketing Psychology and the premise of empathy have become quite the buzzwords in business and marketing.

Especially so since the advent of and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There is widespread consensus that having empathy is a good thing and marketing psychology is evil.

I am here to argue that, both are a must-have to connect with buyers and customers.

A place to start for most coaches, consultants and small business owners is by having a common definition of empathy and marketing psychology.

Empathy is at its most basic level, the ability for one to walk in another’s shoes.

To experience their world from another’s point of view. Essentially, to have a deeper understanding of what another is experiencing.

What Is Marketing Psychology?

To put it simply, marketing psychology (or psychological marketing) is a method of using psychological techniques in your marketing efforts.

Such an approach takes into account the irrational, unconscious decisions customers make to create a more nuanced and effective online campaign.

It’s about finding patterns to make generalised assumptions, but it’s also about personalising customer experiences.

Here are some of the most popular Marketing Psychology Best Practices we discuss:

Loss Aversion: This theory says that most people prefer to avoid losing something instead of acquiring it.
Scarcity and Urgency Theory: This theory suggests that people tend to place more value on things that are believed to be rare rather than easily accessible.
Social Proof: Using social proof can help you increase trust in your products by having other customers validate the value of these products.

So what’s the takeaway? Most importantly, marketing psychology is not a single tactic. There is a number of techniques you can use to elevate your online campaigns. You can still rely on traditional marketing tactics, but you should also adapt to the digital age by adopting marketing strategies deeply rooted in psychology.

We tend to take for granted that our customers know how to buy.

We think they know who should be involved and why.

We assume they know how to get approval, how to contract, how to issue an order.

The reality is unless they are in a role where they are shopping frequently, they don’t know these things–yet we assume they do.

Too often, our customers get derailed in their buying journey. They want to buy, they need to buy, but they don’t know how to navigate the process and the hurdles put up by their own organisations.

We know the majority of buying journeys end with no decision made.

We know this has little to do with selecting a vendor, but aligning the buying team and navigating the buying process.

Customers need our help!

If we are going to help them reach a decision, buy, and implement the solution, they need our help.

Some things they probably don’t know:

Who else should be involved in the buying process?
What questions should they be asking?
What do they need to do to get approval to move forward?
How does this initiative support corporate strategic objectives?
How do they actually buy?

We create great value for our customers by helping them navigate the process.

When they aren’t involved in the right people/organisations, when they aren’t considering the critical issues, when they don’t understand the detailed activities to make it happen–we create great value in helping them navigate the whole process.

Buying is never easy.

But we help our customers succeed, and we help ourselves when we help our customers navigate the entire buying process.

As coaches and consultants, we struggle with determining new ways we can add client value.

We wrack our brains for breakthrough products and services or new content and resources to engage our clients.

However, we are missing the one thing that we do that adds the most value, which is when we serve our clients simply as a sounding board.

All senior executives have a ton on their plates and on their minds...and not a lot of people that they can talk to that do not have an agenda or expectations for them to be in perfect control at all times.

But when we, as consultants, offer our thinking partnership to them, we provide a SAFE PLACE to help them sift through clutter and chaos to more quickly set to clarity in terms of both thoughts and desired action, so that results they seek can be accelerated and realised.

When we act as an executive sounding board, we provide significant benefits

When you own a business, it is inevitable that at some point you will experience crisis and disruption.

The question to ask yourself is, should I pull back or lean in?

Being afraid in uncertain times is normal, but fear doesn’t have to define your response. When seasons of crisis come, you can strategically pivot in the face of the unknown and lead with confidence, make solid decisions, and find a way through.

Learning from other entrepreneurs and reflecting on my own experiences, I’ve discovered this four-step process for working through a crisis:

It’s easy to feel like we’re constantly going from one thing to the next.

From our tasks at work, to our responsibilities and commitments at home.

There are seemingly endless demands on our time and attention.

We can only keep up the juggling act for so long. Soon, some areas of our lives will begin to suffer neglect in favour of other areas.

But our lives are more than our work.

They are more than our social lives outside of work.

In fact, it’s helpful to see our lives as consisting of 10 interrelated domains: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical, relational, parental, social, vocational, avocational, and financial.

All of these domains are connected. Each one affects all the others.

For example, your physical condition impacts your work; your financial state will affect your social life.

To get the life you want, you have to be touching all the domains. Only then will you have the balance you need.

How many times this week have you been asked, “How are you?” and have responded with all too familiar, “Busy!”

Whatever happened to the pat answer, “Fine?”

Our culture has become ridiculously busy and, as a consequence, many of us suffer from what can be referred to as an addiction to busyness.

We may FEEL time-poor and stressed out.

But here’s the kicker.

For many of us, we are not too busy simply because we feel societal pressure or need better time management.

It is because we are addicted to being busy.

Like all addicts, we are not crazy about the effects on our health, performance and well-being. But we like the “high” that being busy gives us.

Let me share with you four reasons why this addiction, this “too busy addiction”, is so powerful and even better than crack.

Why Every Coach, consultant or Small Business Needs A Website.

A business’s online presence, regardless of industry, can have a massive impact on its success.

In this day and age, some coaches, consultants and small businesses still don’t realise that a majority of their customers will visit their website before making a purchase.

Having a strong online presence, particularly a website, can be a make or break for generating more revenue.

Yes, the quality of your website impacts results, but the purpose of this podcast is to stress the importance of making sure you have a website.

I've helped numerous companies of varying sizes create their digital presence.

In some cases, some coaches, consultants and small businesses are hesitant to get online because they feel they are not tech-savvy enough and don't understand how to manage a website. Other times, companies are concerned about the price.

The good news is that there’s a solution out there that will work for you.

If you still need convincing, here are the top reasons it’s important for your business to have a website:

How Do Your Customers Find You?

How do you find stuff nowadays?

Whether you’re looking for where to buy the best digital camera for under $500, or the best toaster for under $50, where do you look? I’m guessing that, if you’re like me, you’re searching online.

According to Nielsen Media, 82% of consumers and small businesses use internet search engines to find out about local companies. Hardly surprising, in today’s digitally-connected world.

How Can They Find You If You Don’t Have A Website?

But the research goes on to say that a mere 44% of small businesses have a website. Most of the companies surveyed directed less than 10% of their marketing budget towards online activities – search engines, optimisation, blogs, email marketing and the like.

Based upon the types of coaching, consulting or small business marketing inquiries we receive, there seems to be an endemic feeling that certain businesses don’t need a website.

Just this morning, I had a conversation with a coach who was reliant on her business Facebook page as the only online property for customer interaction.

I asked her why she didn’t feel it was necessary for the business to have its own website. She explained that since all her customers were on Facebook, it made more sense to have a Facebook presence than a web presence.

Without going down the road of inquiring why she thought one thing cancelled out the other, I asked her what would happen if Facebook changed their minds?

Supposing Facebook started charging every time someone views your business page or mandated that businesses spend a minimum amount on Facebook ads in order to have a page at all, for example?

The answer was, predictably, silence.

A Multi-Platform Online Presence Is Essential

Putting all your eggs in anyone’s basket is a dangerous thing. Putting the future of your business in the hands of Facebook is tantamount to commercial suicide. Whether it’s failing to block fake ads designed to manipulate opinion, or just changing the way users see branded content, Facebook’s already shown its colours on more than one occasion.

But I’m not singling out Facebook. The very fact that this coach has decided her entire target audience is on Facebook just shows how poor her marketing strategy is.

I don’t care what you’re selling, your customers are not all in one place.

Time To Outsource Your Marketing?

One of the benefits of the new, tech-driven business environment is that today’s coaches, consultants or small businesses don’t have to have all the traditional infrastructure in-house.

You can outsource pretty much every part of your business – accounting, HR, project management, sales – and, of course, marketing.

Outsourcing isn’t a new idea at all.

The difference today is that it works for any size business. Many people assume that outsourcing business processes such as marketing are only for medium to large-scale organisations: Not so.

The same reasons that big companies outsource apply just as well to small businesses. Even a one-person business.

But outsourcing your business marketing isn’t just something you should, kinda, maybe, vaguely consider. I think it’s a lot more important than that.

How much more important?

Well, how about if I lay it out like this:

Unless you’re a marketing professional, marketing your coaching, consulting or small business on your own is going to end in failure.

There, I said it.

If You Don’t Outsource Your Marketing, Your Business WILL fail.

Unless you’re a marketing professional, the chances that your coaching, consulting or small business will succeed without professional marketing help is small at best.

Sorry, but it’s true.

Over the past decade, we’ve helped more than 450 small businesses with their marketing.

I’d say at least 90% of the business owners we’ve worked with would agree that, after working with us, they realise they actually didn’t have a clue about what they needed to do.

Too many business owners think they know what’s required. But they can’t see things clearly because they’re too engrossed in the mechanics of business.

Outsourcing your marketing gives you access to top-drawer experience, experience, and advice.

But you’re the boss – you’re in control. You’re still driving the initiatives, it’s just that someone else is behind the wheel.

Can the industry that you are in, be replicated by your customers?

Could your customers do what you do cheaper, better, faster?

Every now and again, it’s important to take a look at technologies and systems that are appearing in your commercial environment – as well as in other commercial environments – to see whether your business value proposition still makes sense.

No coach, consultant or small business owner is immune to discovering that their – once-lucrative – offering is no longer relevant.

If your business occupies a space that could conceivably be embraced by your current customer base, then why should they continue to buy from you?

This change in B2B buying models demands a similar change in how coaches, consultants and small business owners operate.

The ROI of the longstanding model of talking to customers continues to diminish.

A modern B2B environment requires a more collaborative approach, one that sees customers as partners along the sales journey.

It requires building trust, an intense focus on customer needs, and articulating value and solutions quickly and regularly.

For coaches, consultants and small business owners who are trained in traditional models of in-person sales, adding technology to navigate the sales process may be viewed with suspicion.

Tools may be seen as a potential for displacement or ushering in a new sales landscape where these professionals are replaced, or their skills are deemed irrelevant.

However, the future of sales builds on the past. It merges intuition and experience with data, analytics, and innovation to create a new, prosperous, B2B sales cycle.

Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Times are hard. No one’s saying otherwise.

Sure, the global economy is in a bad way and may get worse before it gets better. We all know people who’ve been laid off or businesses that have gone under. One of my clients, who is a bankruptcy lawyer, has a four-month waiting list.

If your business is still around, however, bad sales are at the moment, then you are to be congratulated. It’s pretty brutal out there.

But don’t let the media talk you into thinking that it’s all doom and gloom.

People are still buying things.
Businesses are still selling things. Maybe not as much and to not as many,
But commerce is still rolling on.

I truly believe that the majority of businesses that will fail by the end of the current economic turmoil are ones that are still using outdated methodologies in terms of strategy, marketing, sales and customer service.

Business methodologies rooted in commercial environments that haven’t been seen in more than thirty years.

It’s a kind of “Digital Darwinism” – the coaches, consultants and small businesses most adaptable to change have a greater chance of survival.

What I’m saying to you is that, tough as it may seem, now really is the time to stop procrastinating and implement a sales funnel – and take the best advantage when the sun comes out again.

I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m certainly not saying it’s a guarantee of survival. But if you’re looking to load the dice in your favour, I can’t think of a better use of time, money, and resources right now.

The biggest challenge in marketing is not budget, nor is it the reach-to-frequency rate. It’s the words we use, and how we go about using them.

Words matter. In fact, they matter tremendously.

The blog article you wrote yesterday. The product/service description on your website. That online ad you placed on Google.

People don’t read marketing copy in the same way that they used to. Email, web pages and pop-TV type soundbites have reduced all of our attention spans.

Instead, people scan your text to decide whether your message is actually worth reading. You’ve got a few seconds of their attention, so make it count.

Take websites as an example. Your site’s homepage is not the place to explain why you decided to open a business, what your passion is or the employment history of your management team. Don’t laugh – I’ve seen all of these, and much worse.

However, I’m not saying such information isn’t important to help customers make a buying decision.

That sort of stuff is invaluable in helping develop a feeling of affinity and trust with your business. They have their place in the hierarchical scheme of things, it’s just that place isn’t on your homepage.

Simplifying Messaging Is Hard

I think the reason more coaches, consultants and small businesses aren’t simplifying their marketing presentations is that simple is hard.

It seems to be far easier for organisations to hide behind fluff, rhetoric, and jargon than tell it like it is.

And that’s a shame.

Because customers are no longer tolerant of having to wade through reams of doublespeak. They know it no longer has to be that way. They’re fed up with being patronised, especially when customer-focused brands don’t make them feel small.

They judge their buying experience with you using the same yardstick as they do for the world’s biggest brands.

There seems to be a level of self-inflicted ignorance in many of our coaches, consultants and small business marketing materials. The common sentiment is that “we know better” or “we know what they really want”. In many cases we do, but in this area, I’d ask you to consider the reality that you don’t.

The path is set before you. Are you going to bow to the common language of your customers, or beat them senseless with your meaningless jargon?

Is your website little more than a glorified sales brochure?

Even worse, are you using pretty much the same text on your website features that you already have in your printed materials?

If your company has a website because you would like to generate sales leads from it, then there are a number of factors to consider.

Firstly, few coaches, consultants and small business owners can reasonably expect to compete in today’s business world without exploiting internet-based marketing tools.
Secondly, unless the site appeals directly to your target prospects, you run the risk of them visiting your website and not realising how your business offering relates to them.

When coaches, consultants and small business owners are aiming to generate more leads from their websites, they need to think not just about how to capture audience attention.

Attention isn’t the goal – that just gets you in the same boat as everyone in your industry.

The goal is the successful delivery of the message you’re trying to convey.

Attention without a message is just noise.

You need to consider how to structure the words, pictures (and increasingly, video) on the site in a way that makes sales prospects want to find out more about the product or service on offer.

In short, what’s required is a smart and well-considered lead generation strategy that includes the creation of valuable offers and experiences that fit naturally into the context of what your target market is already doing online.

By optimising their experience on your site, you’re making the most of the time site visitors are giving you, to increase the likelihood of website leads that, ultimately, lead to sales.

Marketing Is So Much More Than Pretty Pictures

During the course of my work, I speak with coaches, consultants and business owners pretty much every single day.

With very few exceptions, most of them confuse ‘Marketing’ with ‘Promotion’, or ‘Ads’, or ‘Public Relations.

The danger, moving forward, is that the historic role of marketing – as a key component of an organisation’s strategic execution – will disappear forever.

We’ll be left with Martech-driven, cookie-cutter campaigns producing ever lower returns – and where marketing will get the blame.

Marketing brings the customer's voice to the table.

Not only is this important for future product and sales strategy. It (should) include insights and recommendations on real-world, tangible metrics like Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Acquisition Cost.

Real marketing is first about having a deep and fundamental understanding of your customer. After that, it’s coming up with a strategy designed to help your business increase sales in the market you’re in. The sexy bells and whistles are, of course, an essential part of the route to success. But they’re not where you should begin – and they’re certainly not the most significant part.

It’s no wonder so many businesses come to us complaining about how their marketing isn’t working.

Most coaches, consultants and small business owners haven’t a clue about the internal workings of the business where they work.

They just want to post (yet) another pretty picture on Instagram.

That’s not marketing.

Understanding how the human mind works and how to attract and hold the attention of your audience will enable you to create content that out-performs the competition and pleases your users at the same time.

You can empower them to get access to the information they need quickly and easily and ultimately complete their tasks with as little wasted time as possible.

Now let’s take a look at some specific techniques that use knowledge of how the mind works in order to grab people’s attention and hold it long enough to deliver your message:

In this Google-focused age, it can be hard to understand what content will help a business become successful.

If you run, market or write for a coach, consultant or small business, this challenge can be even more frustrating and feel insurmountable.

Fortunately, it can be simple to write or create solid, trustworthy content that your audience can appreciate and search engines will be more likely to trust.

Avoiding the following mistakes is a great way to begin improving your content writing, whether you are a business owner, a marketer or a content writer.

Keyword Stuffing
Writing Fluff
Using Unoriginal Phrases

After these issues are taken care of, you or whoever is responsible for writing for your company’s content can start focusing on creating original content that is SEO-friendly and audience-friendly.

Understanding that every podcast, website page, article and blog post that you put on the internet is important to your business and customers in numerous ways can help you re-frame your thinking about content marketing and writing for the web.

Being boring doesn’t make you more credible.

Even if you have a great product or service that provides value for your customers, a little pizzazz can keep customers engaged. This makes them

Hear your message,
Make an impact,
Remember you,
and are excited enough to want to take action.

Our customers now have information overload, which has caused them to decrease their attention spans.

If you keep your message relevant and always take into account your audience’s interests, tolerance level and time, adding pizzazz to your presentation can have nothing but upside for your bottom line.

YOU DON’T WANT MORE TRAFFIC.

You might think you do, but you don’t.

SEO firms will promise it to you. Marketing agencies will show you gorgeous looking case studies: “We increased traffic by 1,115%!”

You will read blog post after blog post after blog post promising that if you just do X, Y and Z from their top 10 list, your traffic will explode like a majestic firework made out of money – all your business problems will be solved. And after all that brainwashing, it might even say so in your own messy handwriting, printed in your book of marketing goals for 2014 – “Improve website traffic”.

When it comes to most things in life, I’ll take quality over quantity any day. That includes business prospects.

For most coaches, consultants and small businesses today, the website should be a pillar in their marketing strategy and a primary sales channel.

In the day and age of inbound marketing – creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product – heavy web traffic that includes a high number of unique visitors to your website might look good, but if those visits aren’t from quality leads – people who might actually buy what you’re selling – it’s nothing more than traffic for traffic’s sake.

To get quality leads, you have to know exactly who your ideal client is. By developing buyer personas for ideal clients, you can better attract quality leads.

You don’t want more traffic. Scratch it out.

You want better-targeted traffic, not more traffic.
Sometimes, earning better quality traffic (and more money) means reducing the amount of incoming traffic by being exclusive to your market.
To capture that targeted traffic, you need to know who that market is. That means building personas – and then building a brand around them.
There are other, better success metrics to focus on: Leads, sales, cost per lead, return purchases, sentiment analysis and so on. Don’t get distracted by traffic’s big shiny disco ball.

You don’t want more traffic. In fact, sometimes you might want less.

You can wind up with a lot of nice-looking numbers and spend countless hours of admin time trying to vet leads.

Traffic on its own is worthless.

It’s the things traffic is supposed to do for you that make it valuable: leads, sales, brand advocates.

These are what you actually want more of.

The fallacy here is that more traffic will definitely lead to more of those things.

You get more of those things when you increase your targeted traffic.

If I were to ask you your value proposition – the thing that makes you different from everyone else and the reason people should choose you over a competitor, what might you say?

“We offer the very best in customer service.”
“We offer a superior quality than our competitors.”
“We get to know our customers’ business.”

Blah, blah, blah.

These tired messages have been rehashed so many times that they are meaningless to readers. They’ve got no personality, no proof, nothing “sticky”.

They’re so ubiquitous they might as well be placeholder copy in website templates.

"What is Lorem Ipsum?"

It’s like eating cardboard – dry, tasteless, unpalatable. That’s not to say your USP isn’t relevant, or your claims aren’t true. It’s just that you have to present them in a more compelling and believable way.

Before resorting to these boring platitudes, ask:

“WHY?”

Why are you their best option?
Why does your business do what it does?
Why are you different from your competitors?

“HOW?”

How does your claim to be customer-focused actually play out in real life?
What special processes do you use to assure quality or service?
How will what you’re telling them actually change their experience positively?
How is your business set up to serve your customers better?
How do you put your money where your mouth is?

Your copy should present you in such a way that it’s blindingly apparent what your value proposition is, even without bashing the reader over the head with a run-of-the-mill statement like “We are the best in the business.”

Give them something to grab on to.

Your USP should be implicit in every other bit of copy you have.

To be clear: This is not about dancing around your USP with a bunch of flowery text. It’s about cutting the fluff and getting to the core with demonstrable proof.

Instead of saying “customers are the heart of our business”, share the details that irrefutably prove that claim. Your tone, voice and personality should all show customers that they’re the centre of your attention.

Instead of saying “we have high-quality products”, you ought to describe the differentiating factors that obliterate any doubt in the customer’s mind.

If you want to make more compelling claims, ask the questions your customers are going to ask – and don’t settle for lazy, tired clichés.

Commanding appropriate fees speaks to the value placed on your work. But in order for others to value your work, the process starts with you. It begins by establishing credibility and trust prior to ever placing anything on the market.

By building credibility first you are then able to sell value.

Frequently, it is the lack of self-confidence that is called into question.

Review past accomplishments and list them. If you are active on social media, review the nice comments received. What is the common thread for all of these?
Focus on the commonality to build talking points for your clientele. Marketing pieces may be created around these as well. This becomes your grassroots branding program at its best.

Setting a fee for services also requires research. You will need to decide if you wish to be at the top of the scale, midway, or at the bottom.

There is an emotional tie in all of this.

Imagine yourself at a department store first drooling over the expensive designer section and then timidly walking over to the reduced pricing section.

Where you would like your services to appear – designer or reduced?

The way in which to build credibility, that produces referrals and testimonials, is to charge a fee that is fair to all (including yourself) and deliver on and possibly beyond the expectations of your clientele.

As long as you produce highly credible information, outstanding customer care, and exceed expectations, you will produce a clientele that sees value in your work.

The best news is you will have developed a returning and referring clientele that pays, stays and refers.

When it comes to boosting your online business, choosing the right combination of digital marketing tactics spells the difference between success and failure.

There are many options from which you can choose, and you only have so many resources you can dedicate to this marketing effort.

You can get a custom website designed for your business, hire SEO services to increase your presence, or utilise social media platforms to reach a bigger audience.

Whatever your choice, content marketing is king, so you must create valuable content on a consistent basis if you want to succeed.

Using copywriting skills for your content is another way to ensure that your business is achieving the results you want.

To get started with the process, it’s helpful to know exactly what copywriting is and why it’s important.

Today, we’ll share our top 10 copywriting tips to get your content efforts up to scratch.

Content is the Key to Connective Marketing.

Your content should first and foremost be useful to your audience. It should entertain, inform, and intrigue, helping to build a real connection.

Remember that the work doesn’t end when you hit the “post” button, it only just begins.

The point of your content should be to start a conversation.
To get more calls,
to increase website traffic,
to bring people in the door so they can face-to-face with you or your employees.

It’s all relationship-building. It should also be consistent – there are so many competing factors for our attention, and our attention spans are even shorter than they used to be.

One of the worst things you can do as a coach consultant or small business owner is “radio silence”, even just for a few days.

So, what happens when you know you need to create some content, but you sit there, racking your brain, striving to come up with something you haven’t thought of before while staring at a blank screen?

Writer’s block can hit us all if we let it…but I have good news – there are ways to avoid this entirely!

End the paralysis!

If you follow this advice, you’ll never again panic when you have to create a video, write an article, blog post, or web page.

Here's How to Beat Writer’s Block Before it Even Begins

Storytelling marketing is using narrative to communicate a message to an audience.

The message should make the viewer feel something that drives them to take action.

It is considered an art form requiring creativity, insight, practice and skill. It is not an overnight practice or a simple tactic to use in your marketing strategy.

It’s an ongoing process that develops your brand and makes you stick out from the crowd by connecting your audience to your brand on a deeper level.

But first, why is storytelling important?

Think about an intriguing author, someone who writes stories that captivate you all the time. They’ve mastered storytelling to get you hooked. This is what you want to aim for in your storytelling marketing; the same hooking reaction with your audience.

Build your brand through storytelling marketing.

But first, why is storytelling important?

Connecting with other people is one of the highest forms of human beings’ communication. And good storytelling is the key to it. If you’re telling a story and another person is engaged in it, you two are in sync with each other. Storytelling is the trigger of communication, and that’s why it’s so powerful.

Storytelling evokes a certain psychological response from people, driving them to engage with your brand.

This engagement is the key to successful marketing on social media.

In this podcast, we will explain how to grow your business’s brand by using storytelling marketing on each of the popular platforms.

Ways To Really Engage Your Brand’s Followers On Social Media

At the end of the day, your REAL goal as a coach, consultant or small business owner, is to help your clients.

You want to spend as much time as possible changing lives and solving people’s problems.

You don’t want to waste countless hours each week trying to navigate the complex world of online marketing…

And you certainly don’t want to spend another minute on the phone having to beg people to hire your services.

Fortunately, you don’t have to.

Truly Engaging Your Social Media Followers

Many business owners find our new world of social media marketing and brand building to be completely confusing.

After all, their success in these mediums depends on knowing who is following them, what those people are interested in reading about, and then delivering those things on a regular basis.

Marketing via social media is as much about showing your audience the human side of your brand as it is about espousing the quality and benefits of your product or service.

And while the latter is very important and is often done well by coaches, consultants and business owners, showing the human side of the brand is usually more of a challenge.

So why is true engagement on social media important to a brand’s success?
Why is it important to a brand’s reputation?
How can you master engagement on social media?

Here are a few tips for those who find themselves spinning their wheels when it comes to this new-fangled social media thing.

Are you actively working on your personal development? What techniques do you use?

Many people shy away from the idea of personal development.

Strangely enough, the idea of becoming a better person and being happier is seen as some silly activity. But, in reality, we all want this, and we resist it because we shy away from personal responsibility. Also, the idea of actually facing all our internal junk kind of scares us, and we would rather not.

No matter what type of person you are, you will clearly benefit from working on yourself.

If you are a coach, consultant or entrepreneur, in particular, you really need to devote time to bettering yourself, because if you want to be successful in your endeavour, you will likely need to make some changes to your belief system as well as how you think and act.

If you look at the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, it is clear that personal development was a huge part of their life.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Take a step back from your marketing strategy for a minute and think deeply about your customers.

What are their interests?
What do they love and hate about managing their business and lives?
How do they help create or maintain their online presence, balance or relationships?
What aspects of it could they care less about?

It’s likely that every customer you engage with has a primary business or life that’s not focused on coaching, consulting or the service you provide.

Some might understand how to make a website, meditate or workout and might even be extraordinarily tech-savvy, patient or fit, but their main focus is still their own business or life.

For instance, a lot of my clients are coaches.

They don’t care about how a website is made, what technology is used, or where it’s hosted.

Instead, they care about the utility of their website. It solves business needs like showcasing their courses and hours of operation, representing their brand, and serving as the landing zone for their social media marketing and paid advertising efforts.

They just want it to work well and look great.

You’re an awesome coach or consultant; now it’s time to leverage your knowledge and reputation to land more business.

You can level up by marketing your expertise through education.

The goal for every coach, consultant and small business owner is to get more clients and customers, generate more revenue, and grow their online business.

I assume that is also a goal that you want to achieve for your business. That’s probably why you’re here.

But how can you achieve that goal?

What is it that you should do in order to scale and grow your online business?
What you need – above all else – is an actionable Customer's buyers journey that actually works and is proven to get great results.
You need a good and detailed-action plan with the right steps that should be taken to get you from point A (where you are right now) to point B (where you want to be).
You need to have a powerful system that you can use and that will guarantee success.

Far too often, coaches, consultants and small business owners think that consumer buying is randomised.

That certain products appeal to certain customers and that a purchase either happens or it doesn’t.

They approach product and service marketing in the same way, based on trial and error.

What if there were a distinctive set of steps that most consumers went through before deciding whether to make a purchase or not?
What if there was a scientific method for determining what goes into the buying process that could make marketing to a target audience more than a shot in the dark?

The good news?

It does exist.

The actual purchase is just one step. In fact, there are six stages to the consumer buying process, and as a marketer, you can market to them effectively.

Let's dig in...

The goal for every coach, consultant and small business owner is to get more clients and customers, generate more revenue, and grow their online business.

I assume that is also a goal that you want to achieve for your business.

That’s probably why you’re here.

But how can you achieve that goal?

What is it that you should do in order to scale and grow your online business?

What you need – above all else – is an actionable content marketing strategy that actually works and is proven to get great results.

You need a good and detailed-content plan with the right steps that should be taken to get you from point A (where you are right now) to point B (where you want to be).

You need to have a powerful system that you can use and that will guarantee success.

One of the key activities of any content marketing strategy is to create content.

You need to produce fresh and relevant posts, articles, videos, and more on a regular basis.

It’s important to do so to bring more traffic to your site, to get more subscribers, and to win customers.

Creating a large amount of good quality content can be very challenging.

You have to stay on top of the latest trends and carry out substantial research.
You also have to structure your content well and leverage it to support SEO.

Creating content is not easy; you can run out of ideas or just get burnt out.

Not to worry, there’s a simple way to solve your content creation woes, and that is to repurpose content.

Repurposing content is where you reuse content that already exists on your site or on other platforms.

You can opt to repost content that you published on one platform to another.

For example, if you created a video for your social media, you can add it as a post on your blog. You can also convert one content format into another. We’ll go into further detail on ways you can do this.

It’s important to start planning to repurpose content.

Doing so will enable you to take a few pieces of content that you can use several times over.

Let’s look at some ideas on how you can repurpose content that will help you get customers.

Best practices can be helpful, but they are just a starting point. We have to adjust them to fit our specific situation.

Thousands of blogs, books, articles, video’s, and podcasts talk about “best practices.” They cover every topic imaginable. Every nuance of marketing, sales, customer experience, business, dating (oops) talk about best practices.

As consumers of information about how to improve, we devour best practices. The thought is, “If I know what’s best practice, and apply it in my organisation, we will be doing the very best things we can and should see huge performance improvements.”

The problem with best practices is that they are only “best” in a specific context. That is, what is best for others, may not be the best for us for a whole number of reasons. The organisations may have very different strategies and goals. The products and services offered may be very different and target different types of customers. The customers may be very different.

In reality, best practices, at best, can be only very general.

Nothing can ever address our specific situation or the context of what we face right now. Even best practices within our own companies have limitations because they cannot address every context/situation we face.

So should we abandon best practices?

Dear Coach, Consultant and Service Business Owner,

I know that growing your own business is tough.

Cold calling potential clients and having them hang up in your face…
Sending out hundreds of emails without getting so much as a ‘thanks for reaching out…
Wasting thousands of dollars on ad spend without generating qualified leads…

Sometimes it can feel like NO ONE wants to buy what you’re selling. And when you rely on your business to pay the rent and put food on the table…

It can put an enormous strain on your emotions. You’re terrified of having to give up on your dreams…

And return to a ‘safe’ 9-5 job with your tail tucked between your legs. If you can’t bring in new clients

That's why you need to build a sales process.

Management consultant W. Edwards Deming once said, “If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Deming’s statement rings especially true in the chaotic world of sales.

In a single workday, the average coach, consultant or sales rep can make up to 60+ cold calls a day, in addition to being responsible for following up with dozens of prospects in the sales pipeline.

Without a sales process, trying to build a business that's profitable and enjoyable would feel like throwing mud at a wall and hoping some of it sticks.

A well-defined and repeatable sales process will ensure you and your sales team have a clear road map for turning potential leads into customers quickly and efficiently.

To help you get started building your own sales process, we’ve

collected a lineup of some of the best resources on what a sales process is,
why it’s important and how to build one.

We’ll also share free downloadable resources and templates to help you run your sales process efficiently.

Let’s dive in!

Virtual meetings are here to stay.

The technology for holding virtual meetings has been around for a long time.

If you compare the last 18 months to the previous decade, the increase is phenomenal.

The pandemic triggered an instant shift to remote working.

Overnight, businesses all over the world were compelled to switch to something many had been resisting for years; working from home.

Here are the 5 biggest mistakes when running virtual meetings and what you can do to avoid them.

Which one of these happened in your last Zoom/Meet/Teams meeting?

The speaker asked a question, and the echo of crickets was deafening.
You kept yourself muted on audio and video while multitasking because everyone else is doing it.
The meeting ended and you’re not sure why you wasted 58 minutes of your life.
All of the above.
None of the above. The speaker’s Wi-Fi went down, and the meeting promptly ended.

There’s not much you can do for the person who ran the meeting, but you can make sure that never happens to you. And, let’s be honest, at least one of those things has happened to all of us over the past 20 months.

Here are the 5 biggest mistakes when running virtual meetings and what you can do to avoid them.

Seth Godin is a world-class author and marketing expert.

His blog is one of the few that I read every day when it arrives at my inbox. His ideas are worth paying attention to and offer enough inspiration to be profoundly valuable.

He frequently blogs about building a tribe, a group of people who support what you do and who are invested in your success – they are part of your personal team.

“This is great, we all know that,” you may say, “But how do I devote the time and attention – among the myriad things that take my attention every day – to building that tribe? Shouldn’t people just fall in love with my product? Isn’t that enough?”

No, it’s not enough.

Even if your product is absolutely superior in every way, another suitor for your customer’s attention is always in the wings.

Even the legendary Odysseus had to fight off Penelope’s 108 suitors after his absence. And if Odysseus was forgotten, it is a guarantee that you will be as well.

What have I learned from Seth Godin’s blog posts which, like Twitter, are so short and concise yet full of such deep insight?

I went through my favourite blog posts from Seth over the last 12 months and chose those which I felt were gems in this respect.

People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral is the holy grail of advertising – Mark Zuckerberg

Referral marketing is known to be one of the best and most trusted marketing approaches applied by both small and large businesses globally.

This type of marketing aims at encouraging and increasing the number of new clients through word of mouth referrals. And is usually done by offering incentives, rewards and encouraging customers to recommend the business’ products and services to other people.

But we’re not talking just about referral marketing in this podcast. Today we will take a look at why having a referral program is important.

Having a program in place helps your customers recommend your products or service with ease.

Identifying ways, channels, and incentives will help you achieve the success you need.

It’s not about once you build it, they will come. It’s about having that foundation and the tools to help bridge gaps.

There is an economic theory that says this:

Our capitalist system relies on the ability to continue to expand. We can no longer expand without wars or unethical trade agreements with underprivileged societies. Therefore, we will fail.

Those who subscribe to this theory point out that we on planet earth live in a “closed system.”

They believe there are only so many resources.

And, as our population grows, this means that the increasing population will have less and less.

This economic idea has some truth to it.

We do, indeed, live on a planet with limited resources.

As a nation, we can no longer expand our borders across the continent - we ran out of continent a while back.

As children, we heard about the “boom times.” Men with adventurous spirits were told, “Go West, young man!” Those with fortitude and brains could make a fortune. They could pan for gold or farm cheap land.

However, these opportunities are done, right?

Prices for limited resources will now spiral upwards until no one can afford necessities.

And, global warming will kill us all.

From virtual museum tours to five-star curbside pickup of a steak and lobster dinner, some tremendously innovative ideas emerged out of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.

With the help of application development, normal in-person business operations quickly pivoted during March 2020 to combat the tremendous loss they were facing as the world shut down in response to COVID-19 While some companies are moving into the “New Normal,” or “Next Normal” as some prefer, just as many companies are hoping to return to their pre-pandemic status quo.

However, the reality is that our world is forever changed.

The pre-coronavirus world is not where we are heading, and I’m aware that scares many in all walks of life and all generations.

Yet it shouldn’t!

The post-pandemic new normal is whatever we make it, and the innovative apps and more that have emerged can and will aid in business growth if you continue to apply them.

Whatever your business model, you’ll always need one very important thing – a steady flow of new clients and customers.

That is really the most important thing for scaling and growing your online business. The more clients you get, the more successful your online business will be.

Without clients, you have no business.

There are a lot of ways to build a business online, but most of them involve one ‘hard-to-get’ thing.

Clients.

A steady flow of new clients and customers is the key to a successful and profitable online business.

Unfortunately, getting more clients is one of the most stressful and anxiety-inducing struggles every business owner has to go through.

So the first thing that you need to do is to get new clients and customers, you need to attract them to your business.

You need to get them interested in your products and services.

But first, do you know who your ideal client is?
Do you know their desired outcome?
Can your product or service satisfy their needs?

The first step of a successful marketing strategy is identifying who your ideal client is.

Don’t make the mistake of marketing to everyone; it’s one of the most common mistakes coaches, consultants and small business owners make when marketing their products and services.

They don’t realise that – everyone is not their customer.

To have a successful online business, you must target the right people.

“Psst. Hey, kid. Wanna be at the top of the Google rankings? Gimme $1000. I'll get ya there.”

The Snake Oil SEO “gurus” who sell this type of product intentionally keep one thing from their would-be customers...

If your website is at the top of the Google search pages, but doesn't provide useful information to your potential customers, it is useless.

If your potential clients click on your site and don't get immediately drawn in by your knowledge about your products and the problems they solve, they'll hit the “back” button quicker than you can say “SEO is dead.”

An SEO services company has to do better than that.

SEO is an important part of marketing your business. If you want people to find your website, you have to ensure that they can find your website when they’re using Google and their other favourite search engines.

However, what you have to realise is that search engine optimisation has changed a lot over the years.

Gone are the days when stuffing your content full of the same keywords over and over was actually a successful method of optimising your site for search engines.

Honestly, SEO is now easier than it has ever been. However, before you can be truly successful at it, you’re going to need to forget everything that you think you know about SEO.

Sticking to the same bogus forms of search engine optimisation is only going to harm your site and isn’t going to allow you to get ahead.

What Does Google Maps Say About You?

Google maps is an incredibly powerful tool. It is one of the premier online promotions a business can use to be competitive.

Web advertising for coaches, consultants and small businesses should include this vital tool. And, it enhances our lives in other ways as well.

Only 25 years ago, the ability to walk the streets of Melbourne, block by block, and view the buildings as they exist nearly in the present while sitting on a computer several thousand miles away would have seemed impossible.

Never has the human race had such an accurate idea of where we were in relationship to one another?

Compare this ability with the maps available to explorers 200 years ago, and we can appreciate how far we’ve come.

Business listings on Google Maps are becoming more advanced, allowing consumers to quickly get the information they need and make informed purchasing decisions.

Follow the tips in this podcast to get your business showing at the top of Google Maps, and you’ll get to experience the increased visibility, engagement, and revenue that comes along with it!

Digital marketing has exploded over the last decade, and there are now dozens of ways to reach out to customers.

However, there is still one technique that rises above the others.

Believe it or not, email marketing still has the best ROI, even beating out social media marketing.

Why email marketing?

It is probably because people tend to pay more attention to their email. You can scroll through a newsfeed aimlessly, but email needs more direct attention since it can contain important information.

Catching your target audience when they are paying attention is the key to successful marketing.

I'm a big fan of subscribing to others' email lists.

It gives me an opportunity to watch my own actions as a "consumer" of information.

Which emails do I open? Which do I auto-delete? Worse, which cause me to unsubscribe?

Of course, that is easier said than done.

You want to evade spam filters and give customers something useful, all while managing your own successful company.

Let’s face it, you don’t have the time to manage personalised email marketing campaigns for each customer, which is where managed email sequencing comes into play.

Building a strong email sequence is the foundation that will lead to strong sales leads in the future.

It is much better to be mediocre when trying something new than to continue to rely on one's older perfections.

Reach out, learn and embrace the new.

Whether as an individual or as a coach, consultant or business owner, let your light shine in previously unexplored space.

The internet and social networks are a vastly expanding space right now. We will all either expand into it or be eclipsed by it – the choice is ours.

Feast or famine is defined as a situation in which something is always either extremely abundant or in extremely short supply. In this case, that something is sales leads.

Do you often have times when your team is so busy that you can barely manage it all?

Are they followed by times when your team is frantically making calls in the hopes of drumming up new business?

If you answered yes, you are a victim of feast or famine.

Admitting it is the first step.

Now, let’s focus on how you can get off this seemingly never-ending treadmill and position your sales team to always have a steady flow of leads coming in the door.

As coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs, especially those trying to make a name for themselves in their industry, it’s important to understand the dangers of hustle culture and know when it’s consuming your life—your dreams are not the problem, the way hustle culture tells us to achieve them is.

So, let’s talk about the dangers of hustling and how you can avoid hustle culture and burnout while still working hard to reach your dreams.

No, You Don’t Need to Sleep 4 Hours a Day and Take Cold Showers to Have A Business That's Profitable And Enjoyable

Yes, you can lead a normal, happy life and still build a successful company.

Here's how.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in business for years, systems (and updating them) are crucial to help your business run smoothly.

Some entrepreneurs avoid system building because they feel like it’s too challenging, time-consuming or confusing. However, there are many benefits to building strong systems for your business.

Are you ready to systemise your business for success too?

It’s wise to regularly assess your systems to see what’s working well, what needs improvement, and what still needs to be implemented.

It doesn’t matter where you are on your business journey, the thing that needs to be constant are your systems and processes.

Don’t avoid system building because you think it may be too time-consuming or confusing.

Personal branding plays a crucial role in your success. Whether you’re aware of it or not, everyone has a personal brand or image that affects the way others see and think about you.

That’s why your personal brand and image are so important in determining if you’re successful in life.

What Is Personal Branding?

Let me start with the personal branding definition first — a brand is basically a promise. When you have a brand, it’s a promise that you make and are known for keeping to the person who you are asking or trying to influence.

Human beings decide emotionally and justify logically.

If you have a good personal brand, people are willing to pay you more for your product or service and argue less.

What Does It Mean When You Brand Yourself?

Branding yourself means developing your professional identity to align with your values. A personal brand statement always begins with your values. If you want to truly be a thought leader and an authority in your field you have to stand for something.

Quality? Excellence? Responsiveness? Teamwork? Innovation? Leadership?

Then you build a tremendous personal brand by starting with the principle of integrity.

There’s no better reputation you can have other than for people to say that when they do business with you, you always fulfill your promises.

The answer for success is to do what you’ve been hired to do and do it. Now, this expands into every area of your interactions with others.

Here’s the rule:

“Everything counts. Everything that you do either creates and builds your brand or weakens and destroys your brand.”

The “people buy from people” adage is so ubiquitous in business that we don’t even know who actually uttered these famous words.

So let’s put it down to Einstein, since the genius has so many other sayings attributed to him.

But the truth is that no matter who said them, these words hit on a fundamental truth.

And that’s why successful founders have personal brands

When it comes to branding, consistency is key. And by being consistent, your product or service becomes known to your customer and then, from there, you can develop loyalty and trust. Here are some top strategies for the creation of a consistent brand for standing the test of time:

Branding refers to the deliberate actions you take to influence people’s perception of your product or service—so they will choose your brand time and again.

Essentially, it is the way your product or service lives in the hearts and minds of your customers.

While it may seem like a simple idea to comprehend, branding is an ever-elusive, hotly debated topic that is not easy to define.

Why?

Because, as we mentioned above, branding is emotive, and subjective and not something that can necessarily be measured or quantified.

In order to fully conceptualise branding, let’s go back a step and understand what a brand is to quote author and entrepreneur, Seth Godin, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another”. Meaning, branding is everything you do to actively influence those decisions.

Think about it, when consumers need to make a choice, how will they make their decisions? Whatever motivates them, branding is what shapes the perception of your business in their minds and ultimately what converts new customers into loyal buyers.

Here are some top strategies for the creation of a consistent brand for standing the test of time:

The goal for every coach, consultant and small business owner is to get more clients and customers, generate more revenue, and grow their online business..

I assume that is also a goal that you want to achieve for your business. That’s probably why you’re here.

But how can you achieve that goal?

What is it that you should do in order to scale and grow your online business?

What you need – above all else –. is an actionable digital marketing strategy that actually works and is proven to get great results.

You need a good and detailed-action plan with the right steps that should be taken to get you from point A (where you are right now) to point B (where you want to be).

You need to have a powerful system that you can use and that will guarantee success.

It’s past the time to use better marketing and sales practices that engage buyers on their terms instead of converting them into our sales funnel, which is what we should have been doing all along.

Listen to today's podcast and discover why Lead Gen Is No Longer a Strategy

Enter 2022, and we will have coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs witnessing a range of technology trends. The overarching principle driving these changes is that the customer demands a lot more.

The growing competition and race for profitability amidst the pandemic have put the customer in the driving seat. The old paradigm of leading the customer is gradually being phased out, favouring a new one — following the customers and catering to their requirements.

As technology changes the coaching and consulting strategies, marketers’ teams must remain on top of industry developments.

As a B2B marketer, you may have difficulty deciding where to invest your time and resources with a constant stream of new technology and execution techniques.

This is why we are covering five technology trends that you should be aware of in 2022.

Getting hold of any or all of these would mean staying relevant and on top of the growing competition.

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love. You CAN Have Both. Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

Book Your Free Consultation Now

It’s rare for customers to come across a product online and then simply click the buy or add to cart button.

In most cases, people go through a long process or a journey where they search for content, do research, interact with a business, and only later do they make an actual purchase.

If you’re aware of the customer’s journey to buying your product, you’re in a strong position to improve their experience at every step.

In this post, we’ll break down the major steps in your business’s customer acquisition journey. This knowledge will help you figure out ways to optimise each milestone and convert users faster.

The Role Model Mindset: Being a Great Entrepreneur Is About Showing Others What's Possible

How entrepreneurs solve big global problems, survive risky situations and create with limited resources.

When we talk about entrepreneurs, we often think of people who have followed a dream to create a business.

They are a group set apart because of their bias towards action — getting their hands dirty and building a company, and because of that, many are role models to the millions of other aspiring founders across the world.

We are not talking about the basic desire to imitate a businessperson because of their wealth and success, but rather about being a role model, which entails a degree of awe and respect for a person’s methods and strategies for building successful and impactful businesses.

They do things that others feel are impossible.

The world’s best entrepreneurs are not looked up to because of their salaries, but because they do three key things: they solve big global problems, they survive risky situations, and they create with limited resources.

The company you keep has the power to influence and change you.

Never forget that a positive influence will teach, motivate, and brush you up for success.

While a negative influence will inspire you to become a bad person, change your good nature, and leave you with regrets in the end.

They influence your success with positivity or negativity

The friends you keep can either influence you with positivity or negativity, because your friends have the power to change your kind of person completely.

This is how your friends influence you:

They influence you indirectly through what they do.
They influence you directly by teaching and giving you advice.

Yes, that is how they influence you. For instance, you watch a movie, and you like the way the actor walks. The question is, if you truly like the way the actor walks, won’t you try to imitate the actor? Of course, you will.

Just the way you imitate the actor is the same way your friends can influence you with their character. However, the funny part is, they don’t have to teach you to do things like them.

You just find yourself imitating and copying them gradually.

An important question to ask is, are you imitating a good friend or a bad one? If you imitate a good friend, then you will be good, but if you imitate a bad person, you will surely become a bad person.

Every great person was, is, or will be successful because of the company he or she keeps. They will make an impact because of a successful network of driven peers who provide both inspiration and healthy competition.

If you want to be remarkable, you must constantly challenge yourself and surround yourself with remarkable people. So think about what your goals are, and take a look around you. Do you need to write a “make or break” list?

Here's Why Your Belief System Is the Number One Factor to Success:

We’ve all heard the saying “You are what you think,” but are we really?

You may be surprised to know the answer to this question is yes; whether you realise it or not, we are the products of our own thoughts.

The life you are living right now, good or bad, is attracted to you by the choices you made. I’m sure at this point in time you are thinking: “Why would I attract failure and negativity into my life?”

Sir Edmund Hillary didn’t get to the top of Mt Everest the first time he tried, but he did what no man had done before with a strong belief system and commitment to succeed.

The very same principles apply to you; whether you are climbing Everest or trying to build a six-figure business, your key to success is through a strong belief system.

From A Small Town In Zimbabwe, Africa To Generating $75+ Million In Client Revenue

When it comes to selling, in particular luxury/high ticket selling, I’ve pretty much seen it all.

As the founder of Livelong Digital, I’m passionate about helping people grow their businesses because I know what it’s like to come from very little.

As the owner of a digital marketing agency, working as a high ticket sales consultant/coach/strategist, I’ve been privy to nearly every sales trend, sales tactic or formula that’s been mentioned and yet I hardly use any of them.

The only time I’ve ever attempted to sell with a sales script or set formula was in my first selling job as a door to - door salesman selling electricity, and I failed miserably at it. Less than 8 weeks later, I had failed to sell a single thing, not even a $39.99 contract.

It was safe to say I believed I’d never get back into selling ever again. I’d even go so far as to say I hated selling. I was rubbish at it. The end.

Fast-forward to today and the opposite is true.

I love selling.

Not only do I love selling, but I sell with ease.

I’ve closed sales while on a holiday in Bali, on a cruise, from just networking right the way through to 5, 6, and 7 figure coaching/strategy programs.

You name it, I can sell it. I’ve carved a successful career in luxury/high ticket selling, not as an employee but as a business owner.

This isn’t just lip service. I’m so confident in my selling abilities, I have no problem pitching anyone I think I can help, including celebrities.

Believe it or not, in the early days of my business, I even pitched Naomi Simpson of Red Ballon.

I kid you not.

She never got back to me, but that doesn’t matter. What does is that I didn’t take it to mean anything about me as a person.

This is a common issue I see in the entrepreneurial space when it comes to selling; the habit of equating the value of their offer or themselves to getting a yes or no.

I've generated up to 8-figures in revenue across my business work with footballers, celebrities and other High Net Worth individuals.

Do I still get the odd ‘No’ – of course.

Did I take it to mean that my service isn’t of value?

Definitely not.

I enjoy selling. My aim is to ensure that you allow yourself to love selling too.

After all, sales are the lifeblood of any profitable and enjoyable business, so it makes sense to enjoy selling if running a successful business depends on it.

Here are 5 things I’ve learnt along the way about selling:

If you’ve ever studied or listened to anyone talk about entrepreneurship and business, you have most likely, at some point, been told to identify “your why”.

“What’s your why” they will tell you, or “get clear on your why”.

Why do you want to accomplish what you are seeking to accomplish,
why do you want to make a certain amount of money,
why do you want to be in a certain niche and on and on.

Over the years, I have spent countless hours, journaling sessions, meditations and conversations on identifying the specifics of my why.

Make no mistake, I fully agree on the importance of being clear about all the reasons why, because the bottom line is if you don’t know the why, then what the heck is the point?

But after years of dissecting and analysing my why, and hearing over and over from the people I admire how important identifying the “why” is, I had an awakening that opened an entirely untapped purpose for my vision.

As I learned more, I realised, all this time I had been focusing so intricately on the details of “My Why” I had forgotten an equally and arguably more important piece; “The Who”.

I had spent so much time focusing on detailing “the why” that somewhere along the way, “The Who” got lost in the sauce.

You can imagine the revelation of disconnect I had when I realised that so much of my motivation was to make an impact, to add value, to empower and inspire, but I hadn’t identified “the who”.

And without “the who” there is no impact to make, no value to add, and no one to empower or inspire.

Prepare Yourself for Prosperity With These 6 Success Habits.

Create your success story and allow the law of attraction to manifest prosperity in your life. Here’s how:

Success stories don’t come from naturally successful people. They come from ordinary people with starry eyes and big dreams who stayed true to their end goal and consistently put in the work.

They are just like you and me.

What sets them apart is their mindset — a success mindset.

Some people equate success with money and materialistic possessions. However, this is only a fragment of what it can be.

Others may have generated this image of perfectionism that finds them unfulfilled and out of touch with life’s submission.

Materialistic success gives the appearance and image of looking the part; however, you can look the part yet feel like a fraud at the core of your existence.

If materialism is the external evidence of success, then the inner question becomes what does success ‘feel’ like? As much as someone may look like they have it all together, feeling down and negative, will get very little accomplished.

You can’t find success naturally, you have to work for it.

Those who have created success in their lives have developed an inner dialogue of success and achievement. If you feel unproductive, then maybe it’s high time to take a closer look at your mindset.

Success starts with a growth mindset.

Your mental attitude is impacted by the way you value yourself.

Becoming fixated on materialism and how much you acquire will limit you from unleashing a high-performance capacity of your unique strengths and talents. To accomplish growth and expansion, it’s important to understand what success means to you.

When you shift your mindset to a more positive direction, you will feel more enlightened and motivated to achieve your goals.

Adapt or Die: The key is proactively adapting now and forever.

When it comes to marketing, far too many coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs settle into a comfortable rut where they’re doing the same thing and getting increasingly diminishing returns.

This leads to less exposure and declining revenue.

Often, this happens slowly over time, until it hits a crisis point where they finally realise they have to take massive action to get back on track.

Marketing is a constantly and rapidly evolving field, so as coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs, we need to keep up in order to remain competitive and profitable.

We have to adapt if we want to not only survive, but thrive.

Learn how to diversify your marketing...

When you diversify your marketing in this way, you reduce or eliminate the impact you could feel when faced with major changes in one channel, but you also make your marketing exponentially more effective.

This creates a powerful snowball effect where the results are increasingly compounded over time.

And results, after all, are the bottom line.

Marketing lets you build a relationship with consumers and earn their trust so they want to spend with you.

Sales have long been regarded as the driving force of business — as they should, right? If you don’t have sales, revenue or cash flow… your business ceases to exist.

So, it makes sense to celebrate completing monetary transactions. It’s the intrinsic sign your business is doing well.

Somewhere along the line, though, the concept of sales became idealised and over celebrated. This idea that if you could coerce the “adversary” into your proposition then you’ve won is just the tip of the iceberg.

Marketing truly is the new sales.

Use your list to gain informed market research, create educational content surrounding their pain points, learn which new products your customers want and ultimately create a higher lifetime value from your customers.

Stop Making Excuses for Who and Where You Are.

What you do matters.

Everything. The big stuff. The little stuff. Even the annoying stuff.

It matters that you waste time. It matters that you blame others for your failures. It matters that you are lazy at times.

It matters because achieving your goals matters. And eliminating excuses is the pathway that takes you there. It’s the same path that every great achiever has followed.

Could you conquer more? Could you do some outrageous things?

Possibly. Probably. You can bet on it.

So listen to this podcast and, stop making excuses.

If you’d like to learn about the habits of successful people, so you can emulate them, Grab this free ebook

We all go through ups and downs in life.

Most of the experiences we encounter, either make us or break us. We can either learn from them or succumb to the uncertainty that lies around us.

The choice is ours.

On the contrary, successful people view life through a different lens. For them, every day is a new challenge and life is a risk they welcome with open arms. They are seldom afraid and never look back.

The only thing that matters to them is their own success and hard work; for which they are willing to give their 100%.

Our success depends on what kind of person we wish to be.

Around 80% of the people fail to achieve their goals because they do not have a clear vision of where they want to be.

Purpose is one thread in the journey of life that makes us more of who we are; it makes us discover our true selves. Purpose pulls. It makes us push our limits and tells us to never give up.

Several notable people in the field of business and innovation have shared their own ideas of success.

They have spoken about the kinds of habits and disciplined routines that have always kept them on the go.

It’s important to learn from the best.

They have shared their experience and learn for a better tomorrow; leaders who will guide their followers on what success should actually look like.

Here are 10 ways to change your game and get it right:

You followed your heart.
You turned your passion into your mission.
Your fear of regret superseded your fear of going for it.
You’ve worked hard, but the success you desire didn’t arrive on schedule.
You’ve had achievements, followed gurus, and kept your dream alive through sheer tenacity and a determination not to return to the hamster wheel from which you jumped.

You’re exhilarated at the thought of being your own boss, working alongside your dog, and not punching a time clock.

What you may not have known about entrepreneurship is that, like raising kids, there are ups and downs, overwhelm and excitement, pain and joy.

You’ll think you’re doing it wrong most of the time, while secretly hoping you’re getting some of it right.

You’ll want to quit.

To all those statements, I can say, listen to this podcast and figure out how to get your game right..

You Deserve A Life Of Freedom While Your Income Continues To Grow.

You're probably listening to this podcast for the same reasons why I recorded it.

And that is because of a powerful, innate desire to turn your vision into reality, to experience greater freedom and life, and because you really want to figure out how the heck to make this whole online business thing more successful. (With “success” here meaning your definition(s) and measure(s) of the word.)

In my 10+ years as an entrepreneur, the methods you have in your hands are the most powerful amplifier of success, freedom, abundance and impact I have ever seen.

They have reliably grown so many businesses that have learnt and implemented them, that I've lost count, and because of that, I do believe sharing them with more Business owners like you through recording this podcast will satisfy that innate desire for me (and will help you satisfy yours if you make a serious commitment) to making the concepts taught here work for your business)

Life has been wild recently, hasn’t it? COVID-19, crazy governments, millionaires being made overnight... In this sort of environment, it takes smart operators to gain an edge, so you can scale your business to the next level.

As a Coach, Consultant, or Service Based Business owner, it has become more difficult than ever to stand out from the crowd.

How do you attract new leads on a regular basis?
How do you turn those leads into paying clients?
And how do you get maximum bang for your advertising buck?

These questions can be difficult to answer, especially if you’re not tech-savvy or have a team that can help you.

I'm excited to contribute to you succeeding in an entirely new life.

And I'm excited to have that potential you have inside you to have a business that is profitable and enjoyable in the next 90 days, and do something truly great, important and valuable for yourself, others, and the world as a whole.

Your product page design can make a real difference to whether or not customers convert. Here, in this podcast, we share our top tips on how to optimise it.

Building effective and high-converting B2B product pages isn’t as simple as just describing your product, publishing the page, and hoping customers bite. Business decision-makers are now conducting more research online before making purchases. That’s why your product page design must be crafted to perfection.

B2B product pages shouldn’t follow the same structure as B2C ones. Although they both need to include details about your product, business decision-makers expect them to provide more information and answer any key questions they have.

Instead of optimising product pages for quick purchases, B2B product pages should nurture the viewer and encourage them to convert or take further action to find out more.

Here’s everything you need to know about creating highly-optimised pages.

As coaches, consultants and small business owners, marketing to other business owners can be somewhat of a challenge.

Their needs are different from those of private consumers, so your approach should be tailored as well.

Since B2B is a specialised marketing niche, there are several concepts to keep in mind if you want to target your audience successfully.

Not all marketing approaches are created equally. Marketing to consumers requires appealing to their emotions and offering solutions to common pain points. They like simple messaging that highlights benefits and solves their problems.

Business owners have pain points, too. Lots of them, as any business owner could tell you. However, the products and services that appeal to business owners are based more on logic than emotions.

They want solutions that are tailored toward efficiency and resource conservation.

You're still marketing to a person, but that person is responsible for making cost-effective purchases that can affect a company's bottom line and ability to serve their own customers.

Ask yourself "What could help this business grow, and how can I become a part of making that vision a reality?"

Your business is your brand. When you're predominantly engaged in B2B marketing, you have to approach each client how you would want to be approached.

Although there is a science to digital marketing, it still involves human touch that reaches customers where they live.

Our focus is on providing you with timely, actionable information and resources that will make your marketing efforts produce measurable results.

Dig In!

Content marketing is a strategic approach to marketing that emphasises the creation and delivery of valuable content to attract, retain and convert a clearly defined audience.

How to tell if you’re doing it right:

You’re doing content marketing (and not just content creation or digital marketing) if your content:

Puts your audience first. Be customer-focused, not company-focused. You’re delivering helpful, valuable content and letting the customer decide when they trust you enough to buy from you.
Links back to a business goal or solution to a problem. You’ve laid out how your content works together to further your business goals.

The main difference between content versus content marketing?

Content marketing involves a lot more than just content creation. In fact, the emphasis isn’t on content creation at all, but crafting an experience that improves the lives of your readers. If you’re putting your readers first, addressing pain points and producing exceptional quality content consistently, then you’ll grow your brand while you cultivate authority and trust. That’s content marketing.

Hopefully, I’ve left you with an idea or two about your content marketing strategy. Now, go forth and convert that target audience into passionate fans.

Each of us is 100% unique, even twins or triplets. While their DNA may be remarkably the same, they’re not absolute clones of each other. There will still be a few variables that will make them unique, even if they look remarkably similar.

So what about the rest of us?

We’re all different, from our DNA to our physical size, skin colour, background … everything.

And yet we too often act as though how we see the world the way everyone does.

We use terms we understand, we write as we would want to see it, and we’re often surprised to find out that someone else “misunderstood” us when we thought we were being so clear!

I’m sure most of us can remember at least one time – either in a personal or professional field – when we were misunderstood or didn’t understand someone else.

Did we lay blame on the other person, certain that we could have made such an error?

Did we take it upon ourselves to straighten things out?

Did we take the time to learn from it or just move on?

Success wears many hats, and one of them is clear communication – clear to the sender and the receiver. If we can’t be clear, we can get a reputation for being difficult to deal with, and who needs that?

Here are three ways to strengthen your communication skills, which will give you more of the results you want, and help you look and sound like someone others want to be around.

Get a head start on positioning, packaging and promoting your personal brand in a growing online world.

The personal brand is here to stay.

You might wonder — aren't personal brands something reserved for celebrities or influencers?

Once upon a time, maybe, but now every individual is considered to already have a personal brand. The only difference is, now the entire world has access to it with a simple online search.

Personal branding has evolved over the years from being what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos referred to as “what people say when you are not in the room” to what people see when they do a search for you on Google.

As entrepreneurs and decision-making executives continue to embrace this growing online space, more and more opportunities to attract your ideal client, generate leads, find the right employees and even potential investors become available to you if you are positioning, packaging and promoting your personal brand using the right channels and content that speaks to the unique problem that you solve.

Let's Design Your Personal Brand

Enhancing your life and well-being isn’t something that happens through hopes and flukes. It happens through tenacity and consistency.

You can't do well if you do not feel well.

Your success, happiness and dreams will happen through the quality of your actions and an abundance mindset.

Start with these eight steps, and you’ll begin to construct and see an improved version of yourself.

you will learn how:

Your vision is not just what you see in front of you.
1 simple trick that helps billionaires to stay relevant even if they do not feel like it.
The actual formula for creating a life your neighbours will envy.

And more...

Think “Getting Clients Is Hard?” Think Again…

Coaches, Consultants & Service Businesses Need a Digital Revolution: Here's How You Do It:

More people are spending time at home and buying online. Service businesses need to meet them there.

Many businesses are realising that remote work can still be efficient, sometimes even more efficient, than working in a physical office.

These benefits have led many companies to keep their employees working from home longer than originally anticipated.

With so many people spending the majority of their time at home and avoiding physical interaction, service businesses need to adapt to how they reach current and new customers by getting their digital affairs in order.

The new normal for many people is less physical contact.

People just aren’t entertaining neighbours, throwing a few beers back at the BBQ and talking about who does their lawn.

So, how do you reach customers under this new paradigm?

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love.

You CAN Have Both.

Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

Book Your Free Consultation Now

Let’s be realistic regarding social media content for coaches, consultants and small business owners.

Most brands are struggling just to post to social consistently.

Why? Well, the factors can be many:

You can’t afford someone to do it full-time.
You feel like you’ve said all you can say about your brand.
You’re not sure what content is resonating with your customers and what is not.
You haven’t figured out that most social media posts won’t even be seen unless you’ve assigned a media placement budget for it.
You’re not convinced social is doing anything anyway.

Enter the “create once, use forever” methodology.

Listen to this podcast and discover more.

What is permission marketing?

To understand permission marketing, you must understand its opposite, interruption marketing.

Interruption marketing is advertising in the traditional way.

The Internet has made interruption marketing worse with more clutter than in the old days when advertising was primarily limited to newspapers, radio, and Network TV stations.

Permission marketing, in contrast, uses a strategy to get prospects to provide you with various levels of permission to market them, making them far more receptive to your message.

To combat and stick out in the clutter of interruption marketing, saturation marketers are forced to change ads more often to keep the message fresh and to gain the prospect’s attention.

This is expensive and achieves poor response rates, especially today with the proliferation of ad fraud.

However, with permission marketing, permission is the asset.

It is less about new customer acquisitions and more about selling more to the same customer to make the customer acquisitions more valuable.

It is the difference between reach (the number of potential customers you can reach with a campaign) and frequency (the number of times you touch each person with your message).

Listen to today's podcast for more.

Find a Shared Enemy to Galvanise Your Prospects

“Storytelling” is one of the marketing industry’s biggest buzzwords.

Every coach, consultant and small business owner knows that telling stories is a powerful way to communicate.

It’s been true since the dawn of the human race.

People have used stories to warn each other of danger and to relate epic adventures throughout generations.

People connect with stories on an emotional level, and for that reason, they remember them.

Stories are powerful.

But what if you could make storytelling do even more?

This Podcast will teach you how to galvanise your prospects to join you.

Think “Getting Clients Is Hard?” Think Again…

Go From $200k To $2 Million Within 2 Years Using The Wildly Controversial System That Breaks Every Rule In The Marketing Playbook,

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love.

You CAN Have Both.

Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

A lot of sleepless nights have been had by coaches, consultants and small business owners over why sales copy has failed to perform, but keeping a few critical elements in mind can assure that storytelling and marketing stay on track.

Few things are as frustrating as spending a lot of time and effort on sales copy that doesn’t convert.

Copy does that, right out of the gate, and can help give you the numbers you need to keep a business growing without interruption.

And even if you don’t write your own, it’s critical to understand good copy’s inherent structure and the reasons behind it, if you don’t want to be at the mercy of your marketing director or ad agency — of being in the awkward position of having to take everyone else’s word. In the long term, that’s not a winning strategy.

But where to begin if you’re not a trained copywriting professional?

These are the cornerstones that offer the greatest leverage to persuading prospects to take action.

What does it take to be seen as an expert? It's a bit different for everyone.

It pays to be seen as an expert.

Depending on your goals, being seen as an expert could help you get leverage in a sea of "me too" coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs out there..

It could help your brand achieve more visibility and earn more trust from its customers.

It could also help you build your authority, giving you access to more clients and work opportunities and a better growth trajectory.

But here’s an unpleasant truth about the modern world: being an expert and being seen as an expert are two different things.

There are experts who don’t get the respect they deserve and there are non-experts being treated as if they’re true authorities.

The road to being seen as an expert can be a long and difficult one, but it’s worth the effort.

With a better reputation and more visibility, you’ll have a better chance of achieving your goals – whether you’re interested in building a business from scratch or just climbing to the next rung of your personal career ladder.

We all start out as kids with big dreams; we want to be movie stars, astronauts and sports superstars.

We want to be somebody.

But then we get out into the real world and it starts beating us down, and then we start beating ourselves down.

We get to the point where we have little or no belief in ourselves.

Why Do People Resent Your Success?

There’s no denying that success comes in different “shapes and sizes”. You could be successful financially, romantically, or health-wise.

And if you’ve always found yourself being advantaged in some way, then you must already know that some people feel a little envious towards you, (and may want to take what you have), but you can understand where they are coming from.

However, what is perplexing is when the people you’ve always known suddenly become jealous when you begin to win or shine more.

And when you think about it, the logical conclusion would be “they should be happy for me now that I’ve achieved success”, but this is not the case at all times and that’s the harsh reality of life.

But why?

How to Optimise Your Branding

When it comes to branding, absolutely everything matters.

An important aspect of branding is where you do it — and that should be absolutely everywhere you possibly can.

Branding is an opportunity to put a stake in the ground that puts your business in the hearts and minds of your consumers.

The more you can get your brand right between their eyes, in a way that matters, the more your consumers can engage with it, build loyalty and develop a deeper relationship with it, and understand why you swing your legs over the side of the bed every morning to make it happen.

However, it’s important to understand that this is more involved than putting your logo everywhere.

It’s more complex than consistently using your brand colour palette, typeface and tagline everywhere you can.

Branding is more than what you find in a brand standard manual — it’s multi-dimensional.

It’s a combination of both tangible and intangible things that all add up to the story your brand tells to its audience.

Powerful branding, in its broadest sense, is having a brand story.

And using your brand’s aesthetic elements is just one piece of the narrative that tells the story of your brand’s values and why it does what it does.

The Digital Era Introduces a New Challenge That the Majority of Coaches, Consultants and Businesses Aren't Prepared For.

As an entrepreneur, you have to embrace the role of content publisher and creator in order to remain competitive in a rapidly changing era.

Imagine doing business 25 years ago.

For most businesses, the only people who would hear about you would be locals. If you wanted to even have a chance at being known anywhere outside your area, your only option would be to buy enormously expensive radio, TV or newspaper ads.

Even making a phone call to the neighbouring postcode often led to long-distance charges.

Today, all businesses have such incredible access to people at such a cheap price that if you told someone in 1995 about it, they’d laugh you out of the room for being crazy.

And the only thing you need to tap into this incredible power?

A website, social media profiles and content.

"Publish or perish" has always been synonymous with professors, but now it applies to every business owner in all industries and market sizes.

If you don’t publish content, you simply can’t reach people in a world where 70 million blog posts are made a month — and that’s just wordpress.com websites.

When I first started my entrepreneurial journey, I remember my newsfeed was filled with information product offers from gurus selling cassette tapes in colourful laminated boxes with phone men in suits in the front.

These gurus sold tapes on goal setting, marketing, time management and relationships.

The tapes weren't cheap in the early 2000s and late 90s; in fact, each set cost hundreds of dollars.

It was the information age and information was highly valuable and difficult to come by. Finding someone who would share quality ideas was even harder.

Gurus in all industries sold special reports, audio seminars, documents, subscriptions and workbooks by the truckload.

There was a sense of anxiety during that time that someone else might have access to more information than you, and you'd miss out on something great because you were off doing something else.

Then something changed.

Google, YouTube, WordPress, iTunes came along and suddenly everyone was drowning in information. By 2010, the amount of readily accessible and free information you could get your hands on was endless.

Now you can download any documents you wanted, and all this, at the touch of a button, watch endless hours of video on any topic and listen to terabytes of high-quality audio podcasts for free.

After 2010, the anxiety people felt was a sense that they had too much information coming at them and not enough time to do anything with it. The value of information has fallen through the floor and the value of getting things done has risen through the roof.

This isn't obvious to some people though.

They are still under the impression that their information is somehow more valuable, and they should make money from it. I see plenty of people still trying to make money from ebooks, downloads and audio programmes.

They refuse to acknowledge the world has changed.

The new model is pretty simple though and only requires a small shift. You must give away information freely or cheaply and then charge for the implementation work.

I share my ideas freely in books and blogs. I rarely hold anything back; if I have a good idea, it goes up for the world to see. As a result, people read my ideas and then want to put them into action.

I often get emails from people who have a budget to get my company to help them implement the ideas.

Done for you - This is a "solution" whereby your business has created a full and complete answer to a problem that your client needs to be solved. This is the most valuable solution for a customer because it involves very little of their time or creative energy to get a result.

The more your business takes on the responsibility of delivering an outcome, with little or no external input, the more value it creates.

We see solution products in a variety of industries, from telecommunications, software, accommodation, financial services and countless others. These solutions are ready to go; you can buy them and no further input is required from you in order for them to be implemented.

We all know about the magical, brain-boosting powers of reading.

Reading for as little as six minutes each day can lower stress by 68%.

It can also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, help you live longer, and make you more empathetic.

And, of course, it can improve your language skills, vocabulary and knowledge base, which is beneficial regardless of what path you’ve chosen in life.

Why is it still so hard to read despite the fact that we know about all of these benefits?

With social media updates, near-constant news alerts and other forms of media—like YouTube videos, new Netflix shows and podcasts—all competing for our attention, reading often falls by the wayside.

Considering the vast majority of us are stuck at home right now, there’s never been a better time to start reading more.

Here are 16 tips from Prosper Taruvinga to get you started.

3 Marketing Dos and Don'ts for Maximising Profit for coaches, consultants and small business owners on a Bootstrapped Budget

If you don't have a working marketing strategy, you're just as likely to feel stuck with money as you do without it — and a few key strategies make all the difference.

A coach, consultant or small business owner’s access to information, ideas, tools and other resources is at an all-time high, but it’s the ability to be decisive and apply what you learn quickly that is truly valuable.

When it comes to marketing, the mantra is “measure, track and improve”.

Keeping this in mind will, among other payoffs, avoid the trap of spending most of your time researching or otherwise consuming others’ content, and questioning your every move as a result, instead of attaining the confidence needed to truly achieve better results.

Listen to this podcast so you can:

Discover how to build a better process.
Create more streamlined systems to save hours per week, such as using templates for batched work, or what about automating work.
Consider forming strategic partnerships.

Get creative and decisive; your options are unlimited, but time is not!

Want to Make a Name for Yourself as a Thought Leader?

You'll Need These Two Things to Stand Out in the Saturated Space.

Don't fall for the "Fake it till you make it" trap.

You might have heard the mantra “Fake it until you make it.”

It expresses the idea that you should embody a confidence or persona that you might not actually possess.

And I disagree with it.

I’ve gotten into trouble for being too honest in my career and in life, but I don’t regret not “faking it.”

I believe authenticity is one of the best assets we can have.

Thought leaders, especially are in a position where they need to build connections with their audiences.

Authenticity and consistency are vital to this.

If your coaching, consulting or small business doesn't stand out, you'll get lost in the noise of your industry.

Like it or not, some products and services naturally have a lot more competition than others.

Even if you have a high-quality offering, it can be surprisingly easy for it to get lost among a sea of similar competitors.

When trying to gain the attention (and dollars) of your target audience, positioning your product or service as a competitive offer is often key to standing out.

With a unique value proposition, you can make your offer that much more appealing to your potential customers.

While the exact “recipe” for a competitive offer can vary based on the product or service you’re selling, the right combination, custom-tailored to your audience, will help you gain major headway in your niche.

Here are four key ingredients.

Show consumers the value your business can give them.

As the world reopens, consumers are changing their mindsets and adjusting back to everyday life.

They are spending more on products, services, and various offers from other coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs.

While the growth opportunities are tremendous, a lack of clarity often derails that growth.

You may have started your business around something you’re passionate about, but you need clarity on where you're going.

One important step to scaling a business to six, seven or even eight figures is a vision and plan for what the business will evolve into.

Will you always have a solopreneur type of operation?
Do you want to build a business with virtual assistants?
Would you consider bringing employees on?

If it’s your goal to build a remarkable, profitable and enjoyable brand or business that you could sell someday, here are four ways to build in a way that leads to clarity and growth.

Becoming an expert doesn't happen overnight.

What criteria are necessary to be deemed a thought leader in your industry?

The answers may vary; however, most people can agree it takes a complex series of experiences — not just successes, but also the kind of setbacks that make you rethink, redesign and restart an endeavour you believe in.

Once you master your craft, your successes will eventually speak for themselves.

This process is how thought leaders are born.

But thought leaders cannot rely solely on word-of-mouth endorsements.

Here are 10 tips to help develop your personal brand and become a top-notch thought leader.

There are a lot of reasons why sales don’t close.

So, it can be particularly frustrating when you feel like you are working hard in your service business. I know you really believe in what you offer, and you still don’t get the customers you want.

While I mostly speak about marketing, but knowing how to close a sale is critical to coaches, consultants and small business owners.

How Can You Grow Your Business Or Compete With The ‘Big Players’?

The biggest problem is…

As a coach, consultant or entrepreneur, marketing is just one aspect of running a successful business.
Hiring and managing new staff, balancing the books, driving growth and more…
It feels like a constant balancing act where you’re pulled in multiple different directions at once.

At the end of the day, your REAL goal is to get and help your clients.

You want to spend as much time as possible changing lives and solving people’s problems.

You don’t want to waste countless hours each week trying to navigate the complex world of online marketing…

And you certainly don’t want to spend another minute on the phone having to beg people to hire your services.

Fortunately, you don’t have to.

I don’t – but I still have a long list of clients who want to work with me.

It’s not because I’m a genius…

And it’s not because I’m a master of persuasion, either.

It’s because I follow a simple system that works…

Book Your Free Consultation Now

If You're Using These 3 Marketing Tactics, You're Hurting Your Brand's Credibility.

Coaches, Consultants and Entrepreneurs are always hungry for new clients and growth strategies that work.

The online gurus know this, so they use emotional-trigger-based marketing tactics to convince business leaders to buy their courses or services.

These questionable marketing tactics tend to lead to refund requests, chargebacks and consumers that won't do business with them again.

Even if you provide something of value, how you market it will affect your sales depending on your approach.

As you build out your marketing strategy, avoid these three commonly used marketing tactics because they tie you to a culture of bro-marketing and online gurus.

Consider a different approach before these tactics detail your business growth.

Think “Getting Clients Is Hard?” Think Again…

Go From $200k To $2 Million Within 2 Years Using The Wildly Controversial System That Breaks Every Rule In The Marketing Playbook.

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love.

You CAN Have Both.

Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

Book Your Free Consultation Now

Think “Getting Clients Is Hard?” Think Again…

Go From $200k To $2 Million Within 2 Years Using The Wildly Controversial System That Breaks Every Rule In The Marketing Playbook

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love. You CAN Have Both. Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

Book Your Free Consultation Now

Starting a business comes with many challenges, from funding and hiring to product development and marketing, making successfully growing, let alone surviving, extremely difficult.

But it’s not impossible.

Many successful coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs, appear to cruise along without any bumps, but appearances can be deceiving.

Here are five lessons I learned firsthand while growing my Digital Marketing Agency and the businesses of our clients..

Are you struggling to get more clients? Or sick of cold calling businesses and DM’ing randoms to get leads online?

Get The Proven 10-Step System

Flood Your Service Business With Qualified Leads In The Next 90 Days using the power of video.

Video is one of the best windows your customers have into your business.

It allows them to see for themselves what you can offer them and why they should trust you.

But for it to be effective, your videos need to build on and strengthen your brand so that consumers have a clear picture of what to expect and why they should come to you.

In light of the pandemic, 30 percent of coaches, consultants and small business owners have indicated that they plan to increase their video production, which means it's more important than ever to ensure the strength of your brand through your videos.

That's what will set you apart.

Let's get started.

The past year has resulted in a level of mental exhaustion that is unknown territory for most coaches, consultants and small business owners - and selling in the face of that can be very challenging.

Here in this podcast, are four strategies that can help.

In a lot of businesses, coaches, consultants and business owners jump straight into introducing their products or services assuming that people are in a great frame of mind to buy.

The mantra goes that all they have to do is cut through the noise, grab the customer’s attention and everything will be perfect.

But this is a myth.

Between work, children, education and other responsibilities, buyers are often mentally exhausted — and the pandemic has brought their exhaustion to levels that modern service-based business owners, like yourself, have never dealt with before.

Amid the pandemic, coaches, consultants and small business owners need proactive steps to keep their buyers motivated to complete transactions and remain engaged.

If you’re looking for a no-nonsense approach to get more leads online…and easy strategies that work FAST…then download your copy NOW before this page is taken down!

Are you struggling to get more clients? Or sick of cold calling businesses and DM’ing randoms to get leads online?

The internet is the most powerful tool in the arsenal for coaches, consultants and service businesses…but ONLY when it’s implemented using the right SYSTEM.

This Podcast from Prosper Taruvinga reveals

10 proven strategies to explode your business with qualified, high-ticket leads in under 90 days, Using Content Marketing Strategies.

Prosper and his marketing agency – Livelong Digital – have helped more than 450 service-based businesses grow their sales in the last 6 years.

If you’re looking for a no-nonsense approach to get more leads online…and easy strategies that work FAST…then download your copy NOW before this page is taken down!

Launching a new business is not easy.

You have to give up the comforts of a stable paycheck to delve into the unknown, an unpredictable abyss.

A lot of things keep us from making the leap—things like fear and insecurity. And one thing above all the rest: motivation.

I’m no stranger to feeling stuck in life.

I was born in Zimbabwe and from birth, I think I knew I was destined for more.

After being inspired by a teacher from Australia who changed the course of my life, I decided not to settle.

I left Zimbabwe and all that I knew and headed to Australia in 2011, where I was going to start all over again.

I had just turned 28, with no family, life or savings.

I basically had no connections or plans, but my backpack was full of hopes and dreams.

You are about to Discover:

Why You Need to Focus on commitment, not motivation
How to make the journey fun.
3 Ways to Protect yourself from burnout.

If you’re looking for a no-nonsense approach to get more leads online…and easy strategies that work FAST…then download your copy NOW before this page is taken down!

Using social media to promote yourself as a coach, consultant or small business doesn't have to be hard if you just follow these 8 easy steps.

In social media, you must not only engage but also engage consistently.

The key to building meaningful relationships is to join the conversation. By reaching out to people in your community and responding to their comments, you can set the agenda.

In this podcast I go deep on:

What authenticity really is, and what you will discover may shock you.
How a lot of people work so hard to create content and push it out, yet they never seem to scratch the surface, and the 2 things that you can do to not fall into this trap.
How to not be that that guy at a party who always wants to sell you insurance, and how to practically have people begging to do business with you.
And more...

Social media offers you the chance to build a massive sales force that will be more effective than anyone you can hire to do sales for you.

Your crowdsourced sales force will be out there telling other people who are interested in your product or service all about you.

People are much more likely to trust your brand and make a purchase based on a friend’s referral than by listening to anything you have to say.

In a hurry?

Download the ebook with these 8 little-known secrets to explode your social media today.

We are going through some unprecedented times in business. Small business owners can adopt these recovery strategies to recover and thrive in unpredictable conditions.

We are living through a very uncertain time — from day to day, it seems almost impossible to predict what will come next.

It's impossible to fully predict what will happen in 2022 and beyond, but there are strategies that can help coaches, consultants and small business owners stabilise and grow.

Let’s discuss five of them in this podcast here.

You will discover:

How to build multiple revenue streams with actual examples.
How to leverage your branding and have people practically begging to buy from you.
The number 1 thing you should invest in so that you never have to compete for business, ever again.

And more.

Listen to this podcast if If you want to make sure that your small business is in a position to recover from any potential economic downturn.

You now have in your hands a blueprint you can use to plan for the future and for the successful growth of your company.

Skip the queue:

Let me walk you through my simple, step-by-step plan on how to attract more clients than ever before.

Download the step by step framework here

Each of us are in business, so we can make money, and enhance our lifestyles.

I’ve yet to speak with any coach, consultant or entrepreneur who doesn’t want more sales.

Generating more sales isn’t easy, but it’s simpler than many business owners would link to think and dare I say, admit.

After a decade of teaching coaches, consultants and small business owners how to improve sales, I’ve distilled all the creative tactics into three simple ideas that can create more sales now — even in tough markets.

Listen to this Podcast a Discover the 3 simple ways your business can increase sales.

Sometimes the best methods are hidden in plain sight.

You Don’t Need To Sacrifice Your Income To Do What You Love.

You CAN Have Both.

Let Me Walk You Through My Simple, Step-By-Step Plan To Show You Exactly How Easy It Can Be.

Book Your Free Consultation Now >

Fear of failing is something that all business owners whether starting out or established think about, most of the time.

So how can they overcome it?

What is the force that drives you? Is it the fear of failure or the achievement of success?

As it turns out, most people are driven by a combination of the two.

The idea of success gives us wings, but before we can do anything about it, the fear of failure creeps in and starts chopping off our feathers.

The fear of failure can be so strong that many people who dream about becoming entrepreneurs waste their time preparing, reading business books, taking classes, and watching others succeed.

They are so scared of failing in their big project that they never take the chance, which is a failure on its own.

In this podcast we explore how even great entreprenuers went through episodes of failure but that did not stop them.

Listen in and discover how failure is not the end of your adventure, whether your start-up didn’t succeed, or you took a risky investment that didn’t pan out.

Failure is an experience that teaches you about the paths that don’t go up.

As you take more and more of these, you learn to recognise the signs and slowly discover the way to success.

It may be slow and difficult, but the final result is going to be so much better!

Join over 1000 other businesses in our community that are working hard to creat a business thats profitable and enjoyable.

If you habg around a barbershop long enough, you will soon have a haircut.

Join us today... https://community.livelongdigital.com.au/

A lot people think of life is black and white. That you are either born rich or poor.

They also think it's either something that happens to them or as something which they have to bend to their will.

Life in short is seen as a series of problems requiring solutions.

As a result people spend much of their lives either in escape activities or driving themselves to achieve, often both at the same time.

But life becomes so much different when we see it as a game in which we decide what is going to happen and then let it happen in the way that a player will allow his or her creation to appear.

This Podcast is an example of the message that it teaches.

Prosper speaks about how he himself stopped struggling to work against his own feelings and to let his life happen.

Exciting and inspiring, bits of his own story with a few tips and tricks plus exercises for the listener prove the life-changing fact - that when we give priority to the workings of our unconscious minds we can trust them not to let us down.

If you would want to continue the conversation, join the community that Prosper has built so you can see how other entreprenuers are making their dreams come true...

Click this link and join here today:- https://community.livelongdigital.com.au/

We are always selling. Selling others on our ideas, our opinions and most comonly, our products and services.

Business people selling their products and services don’t have the upperhand anymore. With a quick checkin with Siri or a simple Google search and some browsing, prospects can get as much information about a product or service as any business owner has.

As a result, it’s harder for business owners to demonstrate their credibility and their expertise.

And if they can’t demonstrate expertise, it becomes all the more difficult to establish credibility and eventually build trust.

Without credibility and trust, a business owners will likely lose the interest of their prospect ... or worse, never really gain their interest.

So what should business people do?

Simple: Invest in listening.

Business owners who don’t listen miss the opportunity to build rapport, uncover buyer needs, and let the prospect know you understand their worldview.

Trouble is, listening can be very difficult. Too often, Business owners are waiting for their turn to talk or thinking about what to say next, instead of truly listening to the prospect.

To eliminate this habit, I’ve put together this episode talking about a very specific skill: Active listening.

This is one of the first skills we all should learn if we are to create relationships with those we would like to contribute to.

Jump in and listen to this episode and if you would like to add onto it or join the conversation - JOIN US Here:- https://community.livelongdigital.com.au

In this episode, we explore the 10 types of Videos you should Invest in your marketing strategy.

Video is a highly effective form of content and its popularity has gone hand-in-hand with the rise of social media.

Despite the fact that so many of us consume online videos on a daily basis, many small business owners still aren’t using video as part of their digital marketing strategy or aren’t seeing the best results.

In order to inform your video marketing and help you get the best possible ROI from campaigns, we’ve compiled some video types that could help you get to grips with video.

Continue the discussion in our community and let us know how you are using Video in your Digital Marketing strategy. Join Us here:- https://community.livelongdigital.com.au/