Podcast Summary
Advertising for brand awareness: Businesses, especially new ones, should invest in advertising to build brand awareness and reach a wider audience, as relying solely on word of mouth or organic growth may not be enough.
Businesses, especially those just starting out, need to prioritize advertising to make themselves known to potential customers. This was emphasized through the speaker's personal experience of launching a book with a large following but still being overlooked by people on the street. He also shared a story about Henry Ford's marketing campaign, which drove home the point that even if a campaign is visible, it doesn't necessarily mean it's effective if people aren't aware of it. Once a business starts to see significant revenue, it's important to unify sales and advertising into one department to optimize customer acquisition. However, the mistake many businesses make is not advertising enough when they're starting out and relying too heavily on word of mouth or organic growth. The lesson here is to invest in advertising to build brand awareness and reach a wider audience.
Brand repetition: Despite the fear of over-advertising, consistently reminding your audience of your brand and messages can be beneficial for positive reinforcement and memorable experiences.
Despite the fear of over-advertising and repeating messages, it's essential to remind our audience more than we think they need. People are constantly bombarded with information and are easily distracted, making it challenging for them to remember new brands or messages. Therefore, repetition can be beneficial as it provides a positive reminder and reinforces the core message. Think of it like following an account that consistently shares messages you appreciate, such as patience or a lighthearted perspective. The novelty required in content is less than assumed, and every repetition offers another opportunity for a positive experience with your audience.
Customer Engagement: Dedicate 4 hours daily to reach out to contacts, create content, or run ads to engage potential customers consistently, increasing chances of business opportunities when they're ready.
Consistent engagement with potential customers, even when they're not actively looking for a solution, can lead to business opportunities when they are ready. This can be achieved through various methods such as personal outreach, content creation, and advertising. The "four by four" rule, which involves dedicating four hours a day to reaching out to one-on-one contacts, making one-on-one outreaches to strangers, creating one-to-many content, or running one-to-many ads, is a useful guide for implementing these methods. The rule of 100, which suggests making 100 minutes of content, doing 100 outreaches, or spending $100 a day on advertising, can serve as a baseline for anyone starting a business. Failure to engage in these activities can make it difficult for potential customers to remember or find your business when they're in the market for your solution.
Advertising vs Product Development: Focusing solely on advertising up to a certain point can lead to neglecting product development, resulting in a 'leaky bucket' problem and making it harder to scale the business. Prioritize both advertising and product development for customer satisfaction, recurring business, and long-term growth.
For a business to thrive, advertising is crucial in the initial stages to attract customers and generate revenue. However, focusing solely on advertising up to a certain point, such as $100,000 a month, can lead to neglecting the importance of improving the product and retaining customers. This can result in a "leaky bucket" problem, where customers leave and referrals decrease, making it harder to scale the business. Therefore, it's essential to prioritize both advertising and product development to ensure customer satisfaction, recurring business, and long-term growth. This was a valuable lesson learned from experience, as the tendency to focus solely on advertising can lead to missed opportunities for improving the product and retaining customers.
Fixing business issues before scaling up ads: Addressing underlying business issues leads to steady growth and improved offerings, while neglecting them can result in a plateau and declining reputation. Focus on serving a specific customer base to create a high-quality product.
Focusing on fixing the underlying issues in your business before scaling up your advertising efforts is crucial for long-term success. By addressing these "holes in the bucket," you can continue growing steadily while improving the quality of your offerings. Conversely, constantly increasing your advertising without addressing these issues can lead to a plateau in growth and a decline in reputation. Additionally, it's essential to focus on serving a specific type of customer, rather than trying to cater to too many, in order to create a high-quality product and build a successful business.
Focusing on one audience and marketing channel: During the early stages of a business, focus on a specific audience and mastering one marketing channel to increase chances of success and reliability. Wait until reaching a million dollars in monthly revenue before exploring secondary and tertiary channels.
During the early stages of building a business, it's crucial to focus on serving a specific audience with a particular solution and mastering one marketing channel. This means saying no to opportunities that don't align with your target avatar and product. By perfecting your product or service, productizing it, and optimizing your marketing efforts on a single channel, you increase the chances of success and reliability. This focus allows you to make iterations and improvements, setting the foundation for future growth. It's recommended to wait until reaching approximately a million dollars in monthly revenue before exploring secondary and tertiary channels for customer acquisition. This approach saves time and resources, as the initial channel should be capable of sustaining growth without requiring your constant attention.
Expanding business: Expanding a business by opening a second channel of acquisition takes time and resources, but with proper planning, training, and continued cash flow, it can eventually contribute significantly to revenue.
Expanding your business by opening a second channel of acquisition is a significant undertaking that requires careful planning and resources. It may not yield the same level of efficiency as your initial channel in the beginning, but with the right people in place, proper training, and continued cash flow from your primary business, you can eventually pour resources into the second channel and see it grow. However, it's important to note that this process can take a considerable amount of time and money, potentially up to 12 months or more before it becomes a substantial contributor to your revenue. Many businesses fail to recognize this and may be discouraged by the initial investment and slow growth, but those who persevere and remain committed can ultimately reap the rewards. It's crucial to approach this expansion strategy with a long-term perspective and a solid understanding of the resources and time required to make it successful.
Sales and Advertising: Sales and advertising are interconnected functions in the customer acquisition process, with sales serving as an extension of advertising for high information buyers. A unified approach under a Chief Revenue Officer can optimize the process.
Sales and advertising are not separate functions, but rather different stages of the same customer acquisition process. This idea was emphasized in a discussion about the early days of a gym business, where a sales and marketing divide existed and led to inefficiencies. The solution was to unify these functions under a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and view the entire process as an "acquisition department." Fundamentally, advertising and sales serve the same goal: to help customers make informed purchasing decisions. However, they cater to different types of buyers. Low information buyers may require minimal additional information to make a decision, while high information buyers need more details filled in. In this way, sales can be seen as an extension of advertising, filling in the gaps left by one-to-many communication. The success of this approach depends on the quality of advertising. If it is exceptional and provides enough information, sales may not be necessary. However, not all customers will be convinced solely by advertising, and salespeople can step in to address their specific concerns and close the deal. This idea can be applied to various industries, including real estate, where customers can make purchases online but still require personalized assistance. Ultimately, the key takeaway is that sales and advertising are not separate entities, but rather different aspects of the same customer acquisition process.
Unifying sales and advertising: Unifying sales and advertising departments can lead to improved business operations, reduced cross-departmental conflicts, and accelerated business growth
Unifying the advertising and sales departments in a company can lead to significant improvements in business operations. By eliminating cross-departmental conflicts and focusing on a shared goal of selling to customers, these departments can work together effectively rather than against each other. This approach can help the founder or a designated chief revenue officer gain more control over customer acquisition and ultimately accelerate business growth. A notable example of this is Kale at Gym Launch, who started as the chief revenue officer and successfully managed to oversee both sales and marketing functions, enabling him to optimize customer inflow and eventually run the business.