65: Tap into Your Network to Grow Your Business with Nicholas Kusmich

We have the great pleasure of speaking to the one and only Nicholas Kusmich today! Nicholas is an entrepreneur who has had tons of experience with Facebook ads and online advertising campaigns.

He is joining us to talk about what you, as a business owner, should be doing about your advertising and marketing. He will also explain what is happening currently in the worlds of Facebook and Apple. 

We hope that you will enjoy our conversation with Nicholas as much as we did!

Nicholas Kusmich’s bio:

Nicholas Kusmich, Founder of the H2H Media Group and the Marketers Council and creator of The Limitless Leads Workshop & Advisory Program + Accelerator Group is best known as a Leading Facebook Advertising Strategist and for having the highest ROIs in the industry (up to 30,973.32%). Working with A-List clients, including top thought-leaders, NYT Best Selling Authors, Top Inc 500, and fast-growth companies, he creates advertising campaigns that don’t suck and allow you to scale your business at will. All his information can be found here.

In the beginning

Nicolas grew up knowing that he wanted to do something with his life. When he was seventeen, he got hired as a youth pastor, and at nineteen, he got ordained and started a church. Nicholas remained a pastor for the next fourteen years, feeling like he was living his life’s purpose and thinking he would change the world. He did not want to take a salary from the church, and he needed to support his family, so he decided to start a side-hustle to pay the bills. 

Internet marketing

He knew nothing when he started. He joined many different companies and made a lot of mistakes along the way. That was how he got to know about the world of internet marketing.

Books

The first book he read advised him to find a product to sell online, so he did that. The next book he read said that he should write a book and sell it as an e-book, so he did. The following book told him to turn his e-book into a course to make even more money, and he did that, too. It was all done under a pen name. 

Facebook ads

Nicolas got introduced to Facebook ads in the early days. Playing around with it, he started to make some money. When he discovered that very few people were profiting from Facebook ads, something clicked. 

Facebook Consultant

He decided to go all-in with the Facebook thing. He became a Facebook consultant and started teaching people how to do it. 

An agency

Then, people started asking him to do it for them. So, he opened an agency.

Taking a break

He took a break from the church in 2014 but ended up never going back and focusing instead on his newly-formed career. He came to realize that he could meet and help even more people that way.

Committed to Facebook

Nicholas is still committed to Facebook, the Facebook properties, and figuring out how to get good messages out to the world using the platform.

News platforms

Forbes Magazine wrote an article about Nicholas on how he transitioned from a pastor to a marketing guru. Then, CNBC News and Yahoo News picked up the article and syndicated it on their platforms.

Nicholas Kusmich took a big risk

It is a risk to step out on your own, especially if you have a family. Nicholas points out that being an entrepreneur is not easy. It takes a lot of work, and 99% of businesses fail within the first five years.

A slow transition

Nicolas advises you to make a slow transition. Keep on doing your job while you figure your new business out. Go all-in on your new thing, but don’t let go of what will cover you, and pay the bills until your new venture starts to take off.

A sense of comfort

Feeling a sense of comfort will indicate that the time has come for you to break ties with what you were doing before.

Support

It helps to have the support of your spouse and family and have them believe in you when you step out on your own.

Nicholas Kusmich’s advice regarding Facebook ads

Nicholas advises people not to use Facebook ads unless they have to. Advertising is expensive. It is a risky endeavor because you are spending money without knowing if that money will return for you.

Direct response advertising

Direct response advertising is when you put something out with a direct call to action for someone to do something, and you can track it. 

Gorilla marketing

For people getting started, Nicolas suggests doing gorilla marketing rather than paid advertising. Gorilla marketing is about actively tapping into your network, calling people on the phone, building relationships, and drumming up business in an old-school way. Although it is hard work, it is a way to see if you can generate business without spending any money first. It will also give you a chance to figure out your processes.

The right time

You can continue building referral networks until you feel ready to scale. That would be the right time to start doing advertising. Start advertising only when your processes are in place, and you are ready to grow your business. 

Avoid burnout

To avoid overworking and burning out, business owners should be asking who can do things in a profitable way for them, rather than asking how to do those things.

Get involved  

Business owners should get involved with their advertising to some degree because they know their business and their clients better than anyone else. 

Providing valuable data for your marketing

As the business owner, you can provide all the necessary data to either a salaried and dedicated employee from within your company or a skilled external expert with tons of experience, who will then do all your marketing for you. 

Some advice

Nicholas generally advises people who are getting started to hire a company to run their ads and do their marketing for them, initially, with the intention to transition, at some point, to doing all of their marketing and advertising internally. 

Things you need to look for in a marketer

• Do they have experience in your specific space?
• Do they have any kind of guarantee that they will give you a good experience?
• Are they endorsed and referred by people you trust?

Privacy

Facebook has always been under the microscope regarding issues of privacy. Remember, if you are using any free social media platform, you will not have any privacy. 

Why Facebook is such a good advertising platform

Facebook is a good advertising platform because it is continuously tracking people’s behavior and collecting their data. That helps you to target the specific people that you want to reach.

Apple

Facebook and Apple are having an issue. Apple realized how much power Facebook has. So, they decided to stop allowing Facebook to track the people using Apple devices. 

Some things you need to know about using Facebook as a platform

• There is no other platform like Facebook when it comes to targeting specific people in specific areas.
• The entire revenue source of Facebook comes from advertising. So if their advertising revenue ever gets threatened, they will either fight back or make the necessary adjustments.

The best platforms

Nicholas firmly believes that there are no better platforms on the planet than Facebook and Instagram. 

A rollercoaster

If you choose to advertise on Facebook (or Google or YouTube), be ready for a rollercoaster ride because things keep changing. 

No more privacy

People need to realize that privacy is a thing of the past. Although that can be hurtful or harmful, those platforms can be helpful tools if you try not to be upset by the lack of privacy and accept them for what they are.  

Nicholas Kusmich’s thoughts on self-care

It is honorable to put others before yourself. However, that is not the healthiest thing to do, according to Nicholas. You need to take care of yourself first, or else you might not be in a position to help anyone else. 

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Book mentioned:

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan