More Cheese Less Whiskers

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Blas Carrasco Phoenix, Arizona, and we had a great conversation because he's in a position that a lot of people find themselves in. Often, people learn how to do something with marketing, you successfully apply it to your own business, you get results, you start sharing the ideas with other people, and you start getting individual clients that you're working with. This is exactly the position Blas is in, and he's experiencing a lot of the challenges we see as people look for ways to move their new business to the next stage. We talked about a scalable model that he can syndicate. You've heard me use those words before, but I think this is an amazing time in history where scaling a model you can syndicate is more possible than any other time. This was a great discussion about it. I'm excited to see what Blas does with the ideas, and you are going to get a lot out of the episode too. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Craig Alsup from Ft Worth Texas. Craig has a neat business. He has an office that does a lot of family and marriage counseling, but with the current situation, they're shifting to do a lot of virtual, telephone and zoom type of sessions. We talked a lot about the transition to this model, and I shared a lot of the experiences I had in writing a book with a marriage counselor called Stop Your Divorce, which we've had online since 1998 at stopyourdivorce.com. Craig's business model is similar to the way we were working back then, but now it's become very possible for people to have a meaningful conversation in a virtual way. In fact, as we're all getting used to gathering in this way now, it might turn out to be a more preferable way for people to meet. We had a great conversation about the model, and how to expand the opportunity by narrowing the focus. There are a lot of great ideas for us all in this one. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActiv

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Heather Prestanski from Ontario, Canada, where she runs a great design business. Heather's an interior designer who helps people get the best designs and the best outcomes when they're remodeling their home. It's become a very successful business, and although she's been in the industry for some time, this new business, so we talked a lot about target markets and an approach to making sure she's establishing a brand. You'll hear how we define that term to resonate in the minds of the people who happen to live within a radius of Windsor, Ontario, where she's focused, and we also talked about some very specific target audiences and how to really stand out to a very specific group of people. As we describe in our Profit Activators, this is really a plan to dominate your category. I really enjoyed this conversation. There's so much potential in this business, and I you're going to get a lot of ideas from it. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivat

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we have a very interesting situation. You may have noticed there's a little bit of a virus going around! Now imagine if your business was 100% dependent on travel and not just any travel. Not business travel or essential travel, but on vacation travel. Expedition trips to be precise, the kind of discretionary lifetime bucket list type of travel. Your business might be in a little bit of flux right now. So today, we're talking with Ashton Palmer, who just happens to own a business that specializes in expedition trips. We actually recorded this a week or two ago, right at the beginning of the travel restrictions. The US had started quarantining, no-one knew where this was going to land, and we talked about some immediate things Ashton could do to make the most of a situation that's quickly evolving. I think you're going to enjoy this episode. It's a great look into some rapid responses. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on t

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Brett Ruffino from Georgia. Now, this is an episode that we just recorded on the spur of the moment to address some of the opportunities that small businesses have to adapt too in the midst of this current shutdown. Everybody is being asked to stay inside. Business locations are forced to close. Many of the businesses most affected by this, of course, are service businesses in local areas like restaurants, salons, gyms, all businesses that deal with people locally and in-person. Brett is one of those businesses affected. He owns a restaurant, so we discuss how a restaurant can really adapt and serve the needs of the community and be best positioned to survive through what's going on right now. This is obviously very timely, and I hope the thought process here will be something you can adapt for your business, and make a pivot at the same time. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Kevin Kennedy from Bergen County in New Jersey, where Kevin and his wife Deirdre have a great fitness studio. Like most studios, they have a certain number of sessions they run each week that they're looking to fill, and we had a great conversation about the model of think about it like a hotel, with available rooms (sessions) that if not filled, are perishable. We talked about the reality that every one of his clients or potential clients is really within a three-mile radius of where he is right now, and we outlined an idea for focusing on becoming 'Three Mile Famous' and target all the people in his chosen avatar. We dialed in on Facebook as the mechanism because you can specifically target exactly who you're looking for and target the messaging directly to them. I really enjoyed this conversation. We left Kevin with some homework I'll keep you posted on how it all unfolds. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Alyson Caffrey from Nashville, Tennessee, about something that is very, very pivotal to growth in your business. So, you've figured out something that works for your business. You figured out how to do it. You figure out how to get clients, and it starts to grow and get traction. But as an entrepreneur, you start to get busy, too busy. Too busy to do it all yourself, so you start to build a team, and that can be the most freeing, or it can be the most frustrating experience. That difference between it being freeing or frustrating is having the right process, the right standard operating procedures in place That's what Alyson specializes in helping people do. She helps people get off the operations or agency hamster wheel… finding yourself running crazy, trying to keep up with everything, and bring a sense of calm, peace, and order to your day to day operations. We had a really great conversation about the role of operations and procedures in a

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Lawrence Neal, who's calling in from Ireland, where he helps personal trainers grow their business. He has a nice membership community, and we talked about the difference between growing something organically and growing something with paid advertising. It really comes down to the velocity you can gain from paid traffic and the access you have to a bigger volume of people, so we talked about how to safely do that in a way that helps you figure out the right way to get people on board. We talked about the different philosophies of people trying something on a free trial basis, and I think if you're in that kind of situation, where a free trial is a practical way for people to trial your service, you're going to enjoy this episode. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all abou

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Jeff Jones, and this episode is a really interesting topic because it's something you may have heard me talk about on other podcasts. One of the desires I have, whenever we talk about home services, is I have a desire personally for home management for homeowners. We often think about property management for people who invest in real estate, but if you own a house, you're the property manager for your own property. Anything that goes wrong or anything that needs to be done; ultimately, you're the one responsible for it. I've been thinking about this as a category for a long time, and the way I describe it to people is 'I want to live in my house like I'm a guest in your house'. I want someone who can be the responsible adult and do all the things a responsible adult would do, proactively, to take care of a house, and I would happily pay for that service. Well, Jeff has heard me talk about that, and he's taken it on himself to put this kind of

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Paul Baeppler from Cleveland, where he's a private investigator. Have you ever wondered if someone was spying on you, or thought there was a hidden camera watching you, and listening to your conversations? Well, apparently, that's big business, and Paul has a way to help people in that situation. He does it all the time in person, helping businesses and individuals who are concerned about being surveilled, but now he has a system that can help individuals anywhere, not just locally in Cleveland. We talked about the psychology of how do you get into the conversation that's going on in the mind of the person who is suspicious or suspects they are being followed, tracked, or spied on in some way? So we walked through a really great breakdown of how to apply the 'Before Unit' profit activators to this challenge, starting with who's our target audience, what's the thing that's going to get them to raise their hand, and how can we start the conversa

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Randy Redinger from South Dakota on his way to Washington. We talked about a very interesting part of the startup phase, trying to figure out the best model for approaching people. He's in a situation where he has a really great opportunity with a unique product making custom closets that people can fully design. They know exactly what they want, and he can have it cut out and delivered right to them. It's a unique process for selling one at a time, but we talked about the possibility of selling through distributors or people who can actually install the closets, people who have a chance to create a kit, and buy multiple at a time. When you're looking at something like this, the opportunity of being able to sell anywhere to anyone, it can sometimes blind you because there are too many opportunities. Often, the best thing to do as you're figuring it out is to artificially constrain yourself to a geographic area so you can get all your ducks in

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Sue Richey from Northern Virginia, where she runs a very successful property management company with her husband. This is one of those businesses, that if you're fortunate enough to get it up to scale, you've got the stability of recurring revenue. There's a base of clients who love you and really depend on you and, if nothing's broken, will continue to stay with you. It creates a big opportunity in your after unit, and we spent a lot of time exploring the opportunities to expand within the people she already has under management, by talking about the proprietary metrics that are available. This is a great episode to really uncover the potential, and very applicable to any business with a healthy after unit. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all about the 8 Profit Activat

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Hans Comyn from Medellin in Colombia, where for the past 15 years he's been developing his skills in helping men with their confidence in meeting women. We had a great conversation about how to go beyond the idea of just providing information and courses, and expecting people will take it on themselves to get the result, but instead, what would it mean if you went all the way and helped people overcome what blocks them from doing the things that he knows they should be doing. We all start our marketing equation, our puzzle, with what is the thing we can actually help people with, that would be a dream come true scenario, and only then can we get to the point where we're selecting the right target audience of people we can most help. This target audience is a little bit different, but the spirit of what we're trying to do is help people get to the result they want. And maybe, what needs to happen is the price you charge for something has to go

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast we're talking with Cheryl Pinkard from New York, where she is in a very unique position of being able to deliver a result, a very particular result, for a very particular group of people. Now before you listen to what she does, it's more important to remember that this is exactly the same situation all coaches, consultants, service providers are in right now. Regardless of how unique or not your business is, you have the ability to deliver or show somebody how to get a result. You'll hear in this episode that often the biggest frustration is that you spend a lot of time convincing people you can do it and showing them how to do it, rather than being able to deliver the result for people. So we had a great conversation looking at the different models, or ways to present your outcome, and the psychology of how people think about buying the result rather than the service. You're going to enjoy this episode. There is a lot to take from it no matter what sort of advic

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're going to continue the Email Mastery journey we started last week. One of my favorite magic tricks to do with a new business is to look at how we can use what we call a 9-word email and simply send an email to your unconverted prospects and saying, 'Are you still looking for a home in Georgetown?' or 'Are you still planning a trip to Israel?' or 'Are you still looking for a yacht?', to check in with someone who's been on your list, but who hasn't yet taken any action. It's been magical to see the results we've been able to get, and this episode is the continuation of the Q&A calls we did when I was running full-page ads in success magazine, generating leads for our Email Mastery Academy (linked in the show notes). I used the 9-word email idea as content for the ad, the Email Mastery book as the offer to collect their details, and then followed up with an email... 'I'm getting together with a few people to talk about 9-word emails, would you like to join

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast I've got something I'd love for you to hear. Two or three years ago, I was running full-page ads in Success Magazine telling about 'The Amazing Nine-Word Email That Revives Read Leads'. I was experimenting with a new approach to engaging with people who would respond to the ad, and it was really interesting because people who responded would call the ad, an article. I've posted the article in the show notes so you can see what I was doing, but the amazing thing was, we ran that ad for several months and averaged a 68% opt in on the landing page. This was cold traffic from a magazine ad, and what was even more amazing was that we would get over 40% engagement once people responded and left their name and email address. I used a very simple sequence to engage with people who requested a copy of the Email Mastery book. After they received a copy I'd invite people to get together with me on the phone to brainstorm some of their nine-word emails and subject lines. We

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast we have another special treat. I’ve been on a whirlwind tour over the last few weeks in Toronto, Chicago, Phoenix and recently, St Petersburg back here in Florida where I was speaking at an event with my good friend James Schramko. You’ll remember James from our periodic podcasts. Normally I go to Australia each year in August and we record a special episode catching up on the previous year in Marketing. James is an amazing entrepreneur. He has a wonderful business. He lives in a beach community just outside Sydney where he surfs every day, and his lifestyle business allows him to do what he wants, when he wants. We have a lot in common and we have a lot of great conversations when we're together. We decided to go ahead and record our podcasts now, before I go to Australia in a few weeks, and in this conversation we talk a lot about lifestyle elements of your business. I think you’re going to enjoy this episode. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Kevin Kula from San Diego, where he has a great business as the self-described, Runners Repairman. We got to talk about naming and the idea that the 'runners repairman' says all the right things, and describes exactly what you are about, just when you hear the name. Kevin actually has an incredible depth of knowledge and information that can be helpful to anybody who is a competitive runner, so we also talked about this idea of gathering what is largely an invisible audience and building a community of people who are your ideal prospects. Lots of points you can apply to your business in this one. You're going to enjoy this episode.   Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all about the 8 Profit Activators we talk about here on More Cheese, Less Whiskers...

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Darren Kirby all the way from the UK. Darren does something pretty neat. He works with dads as his target audience, but dads who want to be fit, energetic, and have the extra energy they want to really enjoy their life, play with their kids and be there for their family. We talked a lot about the idea of gathering that very specific target audience and creating the tools that allow them to identify themselves as the person he's trying to reach. We talked about the idea of creating some activators or a manifesto that will help dads identify where they are, and what they need to work on to really live this energetic life. This was a great conversation. I really enjoy it when people are crystal clear on who their target audience is because it unlocks the conversation about building that audience, communicating with that audience, and leading that audience to the next steps. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Gorana Angert from here in Florida. I've known Gorana for a few years now. She's been to a Breakthrough Blueprint event. She's in our Email Mastery program, so I had some context with her, and when she asked to be on the podcast to talk about an exciting new venture she's doing, I was game. I think this is going to be a very important conversation because as we're moving into the 2020s now, it's a chance to reevaluate where we are. I always love to think about it like this; we're coming into our first proper decade of the new millennium. As we're moving into the 20s, so much has changed. We literally have the ability to create our own television network, our own radio network, our own printing press. We've had the chance to do all of these things for some time, but I think we're coming to a time now where we can really take it that seriously. Just like a 'real' television network or a 'real' radio network. We had a really great discussion abou