Chasing Clients is Obsolete
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INTRODUCTION
Chasing Clients is Obsolete
What if a previous prospect wanted to hang out with you for an hour, whereas before you couldn’t even get your foot in the door?
What would it be worth to you if your favorite prospective client kept all your expertise on their nightstand or on their desktop?
Podcasting and books are like standing in a lake of kerosene, striking matches. The two work so well together that there should be a warning label.
By design, the traditional Funnel Stage Marketing is cumbersome and unforgiving. The Sales Funnel once offered a valuable path to success — as long as you kept shoveling new prospects into the top of the funnel, you’re bound to see profits spit out of the bottom.
(Image source: How the Marketing Funnel Works from
Top to Bottom, by Rebecca Lee White)
However, this also guarantees you will lose more business than you attract, because at every level, the prospect can disqualify themselves from your process, no matter how much time and money you have funneled into their procession. As your prospect steps through your funnel, he is asked, “are you aware,” “are you interested,” “would you consider,” exhausting both the assessor and the assessed. Instead of beating the prospected with unexciting, unending, pre-qualifying questions, we would prefer generating the prospect’s interest and compelling the consideration of the topic’s product or service. If you’re waiting for the person to grow inner excitement, then you will be waiting a very long time. During that time, you will be forced to pour more prospective leads into the top of your funnel to keep up with the slippage at every crack and crevice, only to have them disqualify themselves since they cannot self-generate enough excitement to stay in your funnel.
Today’s modern marketer must understand the unprecedented changes in consumer behavior over a brief period. Companies must understand the shift in the balance of power between brands and learn how to build processes that guide prospects through their journey from purchase to loyalty. It’s not about leads. It’s about time and recourses to turn your prospects into brand ambassadors.
Podcasting doesn’t reduce the number of stages in the sales process, but it switches never-ending questionable surveys for positive pressure, applied when needed. Instead of asking unending pre-qualifying questions, you are offering opinions to the listener on why they should be interested and why they should consider the offering.
In the early days of TV and Radio, audiences found most programming boring. The jokes fell flat until the American sound engineer Charles “Charley” Douglass invented the laugh track to cue the audience to laugh in the right places. This spurred on more laughter, more interest, until the laugh track became a standard in mainstream television in the U.S., dominating most prime-time sitcoms from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. The open mic podcast has replaced the laugh track for your sales funnel marketing, teaching your listeners what is essential, what is exciting, and what should be considered attractive. No longer leaving comprehension to chance, the podcast walks the listener to a better understanding of why they are interested and why they are spending time with you instead of your competitor.
Multiply your effectiveness ten-fold when you add a book to your podcasting. Motivated by face-to-face, trust-building podcasts, your readers will get to know you on an intimate level through your writing. Your customers quickly learn about you and your brand, streamlining the purchase process and forming loyalty within a matter of days instead of weeks or months. This is with little to no slippage, since it produces the interested instead of polling for results; therefore generating new business.
In my book journey, I took practical steps to make every effort a success, every step was a determined thoughtful move forward, and every learning experience only experienced once. I’ve earned the skills and knowledge, as well as compiled best and worst examples, to help you avoid mistakes while capitalizing on the triumphs. It can help you understand how it applies to every business. Using a book paired with a podcast generates a virtually endless supply of leads for your business, month after month. We will break down those steps necessary to create an infinite stream of interested clients, as well as how and why most authors fail.[EC1]
After seeing hundreds of authors produce good books only to see their frustration when the book fails to provide the wanted and/or needed, expected results. I met Melanie and Jenn of Elite Online Publishing on a podcast interview and together we created inspiring guidelines, which allows anyone to produce their desired results every time. We will show you where the potholes are on this journey, so you can avoid them. We will give tips on how to finish your book quickly by teaching you how some books actually can write themselves.
We also will digest the book-authoring process, starting with how a book topic is selected, not by magic or a serendipitous toss of the dice, but rather clearly defining parameters to topic a book that will spur fascination for your readers and your prospects. Melanie also will delve into the best approaches to the writing process, so that even if you’re not a natural writer, you’ll be able to effortlessly produce a successful book regarding just about any topic your heart desires. We have included an entire chapter on marketing strategies to capitalize on your efforts to turn a profit at every step in the process. This collaboration has been on the workbench for a couple of months, and I think it’s been one of the most significant experiences in my professional career. This book was written for us by recording our webinar and transcribing it. This has been one of the easiest books I’ve ever written.
If you are a business owner wanting to create a never-ending stream of new clients and contacts for every aspect of your business, then this book will be exciting for you. If you are interested in writing a book that seems to write itself, then this book will be motivating to you. If deep into your heart’s desire is to write the next great American novel and become a modern-day F. Scott Fitzgerald, then sadly, you are probably not in the right place. However, you might want to check out the marketing strategies just in case you want to sell your book once you are published.
For authors who have written a book and want to get much better results, and entrepreneurs who maybe have a book idea, but not quite sure where to start, you’re going to walk away with your arms full.
— Steve Gordon
1
THE POWER OF A PODCAST AND A BOOK TOGETHER
— Steve Gordon
The idea of writing a book can seem daunting, but we’re here to tell you how to effortlessly create your own book and use it to attract high-ticket clients. This book is filled with proven ideas and techniques that currently are working for us, as well as our clients. You will learn how simple it is to repurpose your current content into a book or a podcast. We’ll be using a lot of real-life examples as we detail marketing techniques and tools to write your own book and create your own podcast.
I’m Steve Gordon, a bestselling author of four books and the host of Unstoppable CEO Podcast. My first book completely transformed my business. Podcast Prospecting was written in 2017. I started using it with my podcast and it became clear to me that having a book is the best lead generator. In fact, of all the marketing tools I’ve tried, there’s nothing that quite compares to a book. Webinars, email lists, and social media platforms all have their place, but books enhance each and every one of these areas, creating high quality leads.
Podcast Prospecting the book
What is the perceived value of a book? When we look at a book that might cost only 10 dollars, the value we get out of that book often can be in the millions of dollars. Who hasn’t read a book that has changed their life or business in a meaningful way? A book can create tremendous results for your business and clients. Consider this: if you see a book that speaks to a problem you’re seeking to solve, isn’t that something you’ll check out and quickly purchase, because it’s an inexpensive and high-value method to get needed information. That’s exactly why books work so well. They work better than articles, blogs, brochures, or flyers. When you package your knowledge into a book, it immediately has a higher perceived value and will generate the right kind of leads, customers, and media attention.
Steve Gordon, Founder, The Unstoppable CEO™
You’re probably wondering at this point why there is such an emphasis on podcasts and books. Well, the answer is simple. Books and podcasts, when used together, are perfectly aligned to create a solid marketing plan. Time and time again we saw the same amazing results. Lead after lead came in through our landing page. The reason? Inside the first few pages of my book I included a Call to Action (CTA)! A CTA leads the prospect to a landing page for a free offer. The free offer needs to be compelling and give your prospective client something of value. Ask yourself, what does your client want? What value are they seeking? It should come as no surprise that we are a big proponent of books in and of themselves, but when you combine your podcast and book together, the results are endless.
Four Benefits of a Podcast
Podcasts are a simple way to create relationships and the easiest way to create a plethora of marketing content. Back in 2012, I wrote an email every weekday. At 5 a.m., I’d send out an email. The writing was a lot of work, as well as a lot of time and energy for someone who’s not a natural writer. How do podcasts solve this problem? Now all I’m required to do is show up to my podcast interview. I meet with interesting people and build great relationships that lead to other collaborative opportunities, as well as new business. After the interview, my marketing team takes our creative ideas, spoken during podcasts, and turns them into emails, social media posts, and other marketing content. Doesn’t this sound like something you’d like to do to make your life easier? A perfect example of this process is how this book got written. I was a guest on Jenn Foster and Melanie Johnson’s podcast, Elite Expert Insider. Before and after the recorded interview, we built a relationship. This conversation then turned into a joint webinar regarding how books and podcasts complement one another. That webinar became this book.
“You should have a podcast.” Seth Godin
Seth Godin, former Vice President of Yahoo’s direct marketing and author of 18 books, says you should have a podcast, and because he is Seth Godin, we’re inclined to agree with him. He also said that “Podcasting is the new blogging.” There really is no easier medium right now for you to get your message out.
The biggest problem that most businesses face is no one knows who you are. You are obscure, you need to get your name out there. You are the best-kept secret in your market. The great advantage of a podcast is through the sole power of your voice. It allows you to have a natural conversation, speak directly into the microphone, while getting your message out there. A podcast is better than blogging. Blogging is a form of creating content. You know, the kind where you go into your office or the writing cave, and type away. It’s something done in solitary, but that’s not the way business works. The best results in business come from relationships. Podcasting allows you to not only create content, but develop relationships and collaborate with other businesses. It allows you to multiply your results instantly. You are not going to post an article and hope someone sees it. With a podcast, you already have created a built-in motivation for at least one other person and they can share it with everyone they know — and it builds from there!
Akimbo, a podcast from Seth Godin
#1 Creating Strategic Relationships
Gary Vaynerchuk, a Belarusian-American entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, speaker, Internet personality, and a cofounder of Resy and Empathy Wines, stated the other day on LinkedIn, that “starting a niche podcast is one of the most incredible opportunities for anyone in B2B.” Podcasting works for Adam King, the Captain of Think Like a Fish, and host of The Client Catching Podcast. Adam’s passion is helping service businesses, advisors, and experts to build their own “Client Catching Ecosystem” that removes you from up to 90% of your marketing and sales process, instantly boosts your authority, while at the same time increases the quality of leads, appointments, and clients that you attract and catch — All without spending a penny on advertising or adding more hours to your week!
Gary Vaynerchuk
Why are we such big proponents of podcasts? It allows you the freedom to do a lot of different things, such as creating strategic partnerships and relationships. This is the most important reason to have a podcast. We would record podcasts even if nobody listened. Sounds crazy, right? It’s not. While we are beyond thankful for our listeners, the majority of the value in any podcast comes from the relationships you build with your invited guests. If you do this thoughtfully, you’ll be able to create these relationships with other businesses with which you would never have connected via any other medium. A podcast gives you a place where they can come and promote themselves, they are going to show up. Not only that, but they are going to be excited about it! It allows you to be the buyer — you always want to be the buyer. You want to be the one that is buying rather than the one that’s trying to sell someone or convince them to join you. When you invite someone as a guest to your podcast, you are buying them. You are giving THEM the opportunity to shine. This puts you in a powerful position. As you start these relationships you will find it’s extremely effective.
Melanie and Jenn interviewed a man on their podcast just two weeks ago. He was launching his digital training course and looking for strategic partners. Jenn and Melanie jumped on board and helped sell his course through an affiliate link. In return, he interviewed them on his podcast where they gave away a book for free. Here was the CTA: Text your name and email to 58885 with the keyword elite to receive the book How to Write Your Story of Accomplishment and Success. When the podcast and digital training course were released, Melanie and Jenn received 75 leads in the first four days. This is the power of a strategic partnership.
#2 The Forever Follow-up
Businesses should investigate and consider podcasting as another channel for marketing, sales, service, communications, and branding, because the medium is in serious growth mode right now: (source: https://www.business2community. com/)
Statistics:[EC2]
· One in three Americans listen to podcasts monthly
· One in four Americans listen to podcasts weekly
· Podcast listeners are affluent – more likely to make more than $75,000 per year
· More than half of listeners are more likely to consider buying an advertised product
A podcast allows you to create the forever follow-up. One of the biggest challenges we see in businesses at the start of our relationship is that they have many leads they have generated over the years, but they haven’t pursued them. With just a small amount of work every month, you create that follow-up. Your leads will be going onto their podcast list, receiving an email every time a new episode is posted. It’s an instant follow-up, one that is relevant to them. It’s not just a sales pitch. You connect instantly with your leads. It also provides information for your social media content. A simple 30-minute interview will provide five to 10 quotes, and those quotes can become social media content. You also can pull images from it and can create a wide array of content. You can tag the person interviewed on your podcast, connecting another world of listeners. The content then begins a snowball effect.
Take advantage of previous podcast episodes and re-post it on social media. Tag the person you interviewed and start the engagement in your comments. The interviewee will see this and encourage them to get engaged. Melanie and Jenn implemented this and out of the blue the interviewee called them to suggest a new client who was ready to write a book. One post on social media turned into an instant client.
#3 Demonstrate Your Expertise
Having a podcast gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in real-time. This is a very powerful tool, and yes, if you’re showing up every week or every other week and you’re doing an interview or having a conversation, you’re establishing your credibility. When you’re doing an interview, you are having a conversation — you are not grilling the person on the other end, like you might imagine an interview to be. While you are discussing your experience, the other person shares their expertise in their area. You’ll be able to comment and contribute. It’s a natural flow. Over time, your listeners hear that natural flow of conversation. They hear the real depth of expertise on the topic. The listeners also develop a relationship with you.
One of my listeners reached out to say that he had been listening to my podcast for hours as he traveled on a business trip. He didn’t have to be convinced or receive a fancy sales pitch — he was ready to become my client. That is the power of a podcast, it lets you build relationships on a scale you just can’t do otherwise.
#4 Develop Intellectual Property
The last big benefit of a podcast is you get to develop your intellectual property. As you talk through your message, your message gets refined, very quickly. You can take it even one step further and organize your episodes. For example, each episode could be a different chapter in a book. You could then hand that off to a ghostwriter or editor — it’s a very easy way to create content and develop your intellectual property. This very book was created from a webinar we turned into a podcast. You get a lot of bang for a very small investment. We’re talking maybe two to four hours a month of total time invested. For most, it takes that much time to write one decent article, sometimes more. When you have a podcast the results are limitless.
