On the Record by Leadpages

Michel Fortin and I continue our conversation from last week. I get him to share a few copywriting strategies you can use to elevate your sales results online. Michel’s had an extremely successful career as one of the best direct response copywriters alive. 15 years ago, he gained internet marketing fame as the copywriter behind the web’s first $1million in a day product launch from John Reese. Michel’s words have been used by companies large and small and across multiple industries generate millions in revenue.  For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  About the PodcastThe Lead Generation Podcast features small business origin stories and marketing lessons for coaches, consultants, service professionals, and leads-dependent entrepreneurs. Our goal is to fire you up for your own business and shorten your pathway to profit while you make a positive impact on your audience. 

Michel Fortin is a legendary copywriter and full stack marketer, currently serving as the director of marketing for a medical clinic in Ottawa, Canada.  This episode is a counter-punch to our usual conversation on entrepreneurship. The skills you’ve honed as an entrepreneur may be well suited for taking your talents in-house for a corporate gig. Find out why a J-O-B might actually be a perfect move for you as Michel and I discuss his choice to take on a dedicated role inside a company, the principles of kaizen that he brings to his leadership style, and how he is still able to scratch his entrepreneurial itch.  For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  About the PodcastThe Lead Generation Podcast features small business origin stories and marketing lessons for coaches, consultants, service professionals, and leads-dependent entrepreneurs. Our goal is to fire you up for your own business and shorten your pathway to profit while you make a positive impact on your audience.   

Gain an instant boost in credibility and demand for your services when you create a short book showcasing your expertise. Daniel Hall is a prolific content producer, and in this episode we discuss the benefits of producing short books for your business that boost your credibility and help you stand out in your market. He shares some of his favorite methods for producing your book within 90 days, and how to leverage for more revenue in your business.  For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.net/podcast  About the PodcastThe Lead Generation Podcast features small business origin stories and marketing lessons for coaches, consultants, service professionals, and leads-dependent entrepreneurs. Our goal is to fire you up for your own business, and shorten your pathway to profit while you make a positive impact on your audience. 

Peter Fader and Sarah Toms, the co-authors of Customer Centricity Playbook, share how to think differently about your target audience, which customer acquisition channel seems to always win, and how to become a more customer-centric business by determining exactly who your best customers are. For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  Top Takeaways from the Episode Diversify your idea of the target customer. Individual customers are wildly different from each other, both in terms of what they're looking for from you, and how valuable they are to you in terms of their future lifetime value.  Referrals first. No matter the industry, acquiring customers through referrals tends to be a strong channel, albeit with somewhat limited scalability. Evaluate your metrics in cohorts. Avoid using averages in your data, but explore metrics (like Net Promoter Score) across different customer groups based on acquisition channels, plan levels, activity, etc. Focus on the right customers. Discover the customer groups that will best respond to premium packages, and avoid spending too much energy on those whose customer lifetime value has a low upper limit.  About the PodcastThe Lead Generation Podcast features small business origin stories and marketing lessons for coaches, consultants, service professionals, and leads-dependent entrepreneurs. Our goal is to fire you up for your own business and shorten your pathway to profit while you make a positive impact on your audience.  About Sarah TomsSarah Toms is the executive director and co-founder of Wharton Interactive, a platform for marketing simulations. Her 20 years of being a thought leader in the technology sphere include starting several tech companies, and involvement with Women in Tech Summit and techgirlz.org.    About Peter FaderPeter Fader is the Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He was named by Advertising Age as one of its inaugural “25 Marketing Technology Trailblazers” in 2017 as the only academic on the list.

Michael Hall and Chris Sakr, the co-founders of ShoHawk Media in Portland, Oregon, talk about the lessons they learned creating their feature documentary, Generation Freedom, how they collaborate on projects while having day jobs, and their approach to editing their content.  For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  About the PodcastThe Lead Generation Podcast features small business origin stories and marketing lessons for coaches, consultants, service professionals, and leads dependent entrepreneurs. Our goal is to fire you up for your own business and shorten your pathway to profit while you make a positive impact on your audience.  Top Takeaways from the Episode Validate your ideas with the right people. Test your ideas with your market, not friends and family who will likely sugar coat their feedback to the detriment of your project.  Even flops bear fruit. Lessons learned and skills developed in a failed project or launch often become the foundations for your next success.  Shorten your timeline of production. Taking too long to release a project may result in a disjointed bundle instead of a focused product from start to finish.  Collaborate with communication. Clearly understand your roles and commitments when working on projects with partners.  Edit ruthlessly, but don’t delete anything. Give yourself permission to trim your content by saving extraneous material in a “for later” folder. 

We’re closing out Season 5 of The Lead Generation with a great example of an entrepreneur who jumped out of a comfortable corporate gig to start his own company.  Bryan Nguyen (CleverTaxes.com) shares how his initial business plan faltered and what he did to change his success trajectory. He also gives his advice on learning vs. delegating, and when it makes sense to work with a coach. I also got him to share a couple of financial tips that will likely save you quite a bit of money on your taxes. For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast    Bryan is the founder of CleverTaxes, which helps digital entrepreneurs grow profits and save taxes so they make more money, save more time, and have complete confidence in their financial health. Top Takeaways Choose your clients. Design your business in such a way that you get to pick the types of clients that you want to work with.  Share quality content. Publish higher-value content and focus on disseminating it across multiple social channels. Don’t delegate in the dark. Know enough about how to market your business to hold yourself and anyone you may hire accountable. Hire a coach. Learning from Google and digital courses can help, but compound your learning with the accountability and prioritization a business coach can bring. Designate a home office. With a separate home office dedicated to your business, you’re likely to save a lot on your taxes that you would otherwise not be able to deduct. Talk to a tax professional to get clear on what this means for you.  

Cheryl Muir shares her journey from corporate public relations to becoming a relationship whisperer, the tools she uses to market her coaching business, and a mindset shift to pricing your programs and services at a higher rate. For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  Cheryl delivers “Love Bites” videos to her community at CherylMuir.com, where she provides programs and private coaching to women ready for an empowered relationship.  Top Takeaways Know your worth. Know the value of what you bring to the table, both in terms of the experience you bring to the table and the results you’re helping your clients achieve.  Reach out and connect with someone. When it comes to increasing your exposure, pitch to as many people as possible through their online contact information and social networks.  Put in the work. You've got to work hard. You've got to be really focused and aligned to your why.  Hustle with boundaries. To be fully present in your work with clients, create routines that allow you to turn off work-mode so you can recharge. Turn up awareness. Read books, listen to podcasts, and take on experiences that help you tune in to what matters most to you.   

Cindy Schulson shares how to market from the heart instead of relying on hype, the marketing strategy she prefers for the biggest impact, and what it takes to stand out from the crowd. For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  Cindy is the founder of MarketingFromWithin.com, which trains coaches on how to clarify, share, and monetize their core message in their business.   Top Takeaways It’s never one and done. Our business, our niche, our message continue to evolve and refine themselves.  Market with heart instead of hype. Honor yourself and the people that you're here to help instead of operating from a place of manipulation. Build on your successes. Leverage your experience and strengths in your business, and align it in a way that you're passionate about.  Check your ego at the door. If you don’t like your voice or image on the screen, focus on the people that we're here to serve, and you’ll get over that hump. Learn by listening. Sometimes the best education is not in books or podcasts, but simply in listening to what your ideal customers are saying. 

Phil Adair shares a mental trick for overcoming self-doubt, how he persevered imperfectly through an unimaginable tragedy and the tools he uses to create and market his content. For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  Phil is the founder of PhilAdairTraining.com, an online resource for aspiring entrepreneurs and digital marketers. Originally from New Zealand, Phil now calls Sydney, Australia home.  Top Takeaways There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Attaining success doesn’t appear overnight, it makes many years and hard work to achieve. Transitions are never timely. When tragedy or hard times strike will you take a step back or dive into your work? It's your choice. Never stop learning. Take advantage of as many tools, podcasts, books, etc., as possible. The more you learn the more you’ll understand where you want to go and what you want to do in your business. Don't sit on the sidelines. Be a professional. Dive in. Do it!

Lacy Beatley shares how she went from side hustle to digital marketing agency owner, the challenges of growing a business out of an RV, and a clever lead generation strategy that gets her great clients.  For transcripts, show notes, and more, go to Leadpages.com/podcast  Lacy is the founder of Jungle Cat Marketing, a website marketing company specializing in landing page design. She’s also a former member of the Leadpages customer support team who took the leap into entrepreneurship two years ago and is now living her dream RV lifestyle with her wife in Rockaway Beach, Oregon.  Top Takeaways Follow your gut. Trust your instincts and do what you love – don’t let other people’s opinions hold you back. Don’t let your perceived limits define you. Starting a business and being an entrepreneur can be challenging, that’s why it’s so crucial to reach out and ask for help when you need it.  Be seen online. Local brick-and-mortar stores in tourist areas can no longer rely on foot traffic alone to drive up business. Know the value you bring to your clients – and charge appropriately. Charging what you're worth allows you to take the space that you need to deliver the professionalism that you know you can. Meet them where they're at. If your clients aren't savvy online users, consider an in-person approach to your sales cycle.