Paradigm Systems AI Solutions https://paradigmsystems.net Empower Your Business With AI Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Weekend Favs June 24 https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-june-24-2/ https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-june-24-2/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:33 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-june-24-2/

Weekend Favs June 24 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but I encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from an […]

]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-june-24-2/feed/ 0 10 Signs You Need A Marketing Strategy and How To Get Back On Track https://paradigmsystems.net/10-signs-you-need-a-marketing-strategy-and-how-to-get-back-on-track-2/ https://paradigmsystems.net/10-signs-you-need-a-marketing-strategy-and-how-to-get-back-on-track-2/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:33 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/10-signs-you-need-a-marketing-strategy-and-how-to-get-back-on-track-2/

10 Signs You Need A Marketing Strategy and How To Get Back On Track written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

As a marketing consultant, I meet numerous business owners who are all set to take their companies to new heights. But, I’ve also noticed a consistent pattern of confusion about what a marketing strategy truly entails. Marketing strategy is a detailed plan designed by businesses to promote their product or service through different channels and […]

]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/10-signs-you-need-a-marketing-strategy-and-how-to-get-back-on-track-2/feed/ 0 Embracing Your Entrepreneurial Superpower Being Unemployable https://paradigmsystems.net/embracing-your-entrepreneurial-superpower-being-unemployable-2/ https://paradigmsystems.net/embracing-your-entrepreneurial-superpower-being-unemployable-2/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:32 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/embracing-your-entrepreneurial-superpower-being-unemployable-2/

Embracing Your Entrepreneurial Superpower Being Unemployable written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Alysia Silberg In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Alysia Silberg. She is a leading venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, where she mentors tech startups and helps them go public. She is the CEO & General Partner of the investment firm Street Global. Her online radio show: Global […]

]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/embracing-your-entrepreneurial-superpower-being-unemployable-2/feed/ 0 Unveiling The Future Of AI https://paradigmsystems.net/unveiling-the-future-of-ai-2/ https://paradigmsystems.net/unveiling-the-future-of-ai-2/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:31 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/unveiling-the-future-of-ai-2/ Unveiling The Future Of AI written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Kenneth Wenger In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Kenneth Wenger. He is an author, a research scholar at Toronto Metropolitan University, and CTO of Squint AI Inc. His research interests lie at the intersection of humans and machines, ensuring that we build a future based on the […] 10 Signs You Need A Marketing Strategy and How To Get Back On Track written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing As a marketing consultant, I meet numerous business owners who are all set to take their companies to new heights. But, I’ve also noticed a consistent pattern of confusion about what a marketing strategy truly entails. Marketing strategy is a detailed plan designed by businesses to promote their product or service through different channels and tactics, in order to accomplish their business goals and understand their customer needs.But, today I’m not just going to define it for you. Instead, let’s uncover the 10 symptoms indicating your business might be operating without a solid marketing strategy.If you find yourself nodding along to any of these symptoms, it’s high time to collaborate with a strategic professional.This is where the AI Prompts for Building a Marketing Strategy toolkit comes in!This toolkit can help you develop a complete marketing strategy to overcome these symptoms. It’s a step-by-step approach designed to boost your marketing efforts, enhance customer retention, increase online visibility, and improve ROI.Your marketing strategy should be the backbone of your business – a roadmap leading you toward your growth goals. By identifying your ideal customers, creating consistent branding, and tracking your performance, you can start working smarter, not harder. Get Your Toolkit Trying To Be All Things To All People  Lack Of Competitive Edge Forced To Compete On Price  Wasting Money And Resources Inconsistent Branding Low Customer Retention Poor Online Presence Untracked Performance Missed Opportunities Flat Sales And Profits 1. Trying To Be All Things To All PeopleWe’ve all been there. If I’m a dentist, anybody with teeth is my ideal client, right? But this approach, while maybe attracting clients, fails to identify your most profitable, ideal, and best customers. Without understanding this, how can you effectively attract more of them?Instead focus on being the right thing to the right people.The idea of being a universal solution might seem appealing initially, but the truth is, you can’t be all things to all people. In the world of business, it’s crucial to identify your specific target market – the people who will benefit the most from your product or service.Who is your ideal client? What are their pain points? What can you offer them that your competitors can’t? By identifying and understanding your ideal client, you can tailor your marketing efforts to reach them more effectively instead of casting a wide net and hoping to catch something.2. Lack Of Competitive EdgeSound familiar? You’re a commodity. In your clients’ minds, every business that offers the same services is pretty much the same. If you’re just one of many, why should they choose you over ten others who look just like you?Create one.To prevent falling into the “commodity trap”, strive to create a unique value proposition. What makes you different? Why should clients pick you over competitors? Developing a distinct competitive edge doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s well worth the effort. It will allow you to stand out in your market, so you aren’t forced to compete solely on price.3. Forced To Compete On PriceIf your customers can’t distinguish how you’re different or unique, they’ll default to comparing prices. And as we all know, price is a terrible place to compete. There will always be someone willing to sell cheaper than you do.Instead charge a premium.If you’re struggling to differentiate your offering and find yourself competing primarily on price, you might need to reconsider your marketing strategy. The goal should be to provide such outstanding value that your customers are happy to pay a premium for your services.Instead of lowering your prices to compete, consider how you can add more value. How can you make your customers’ lives easier, save them time, or help them achieve their goals? By focusing on value over price, you can charge a premium and boost your profitability.4. Wasting Money And ResourcesWithout a clear strategy, you’re constantly testing the waters, never really sure what’s working. There’s a significant chance that most of your efforts aren’t producing the results you expect.Make sure to resource allocation and track performance.Where are your marketing dollars going? Are you spreading them too thin across too many platforms or channels without really knowing which one is driving results? A robust marketing strategy will include a clear plan for resource allocation backed by regular performance tracking. This approach ensures you’re investing your money and time in avenues that drive results and help you understand what works best for your business.5. Inconsistent BrandingBranding isn’t just for large corporations or soap bars. It’s about how customers perceive your promise or your values. Inconsistent branding leads to confused customers; you either stand for nothing, or you represent confusion.Be Consistent.Inconsistent branding leads to confused customers, and confused customers seldom become loyal customers. Be clear about what your brand stands for, and make sure this message is consistent across all your marketing channels. This includes your website, social media platforms, email marketing, and even your offline marketing materials. Remember, the least expensive thing you can do is to get more business from existing customers. 6. Low Customer Retention You’re losing customers as fast as you’re getting them. Remember, the most cost-effective marketing is getting more business from existing customers.Enhance your customer retention.It’s cheaper to keep an existing customer than to acquire a new one. By focusing on customer retention, you can increase your profitability. This might involve launching a loyalty program, consistently exceeding customer expectations. Here are some ways to make sure you’re always delivering an outstanding value to your customers.7. Poor Online PresenceToday, every business is served by having a robust online presence. If your online presence is weak, it’s likely a symptom of a reactive and weak marketing approach.Improve your online presence. An online presence is non-negotiable. But it’s not enough to just “be online”. You need to have a strategic approach to your online presence. This involves a well-designed, user-friendly website, an engaging social media presence, and maybe even a content marketing strategy that helps establish you as a leader in your field. You need a consistent online presence.8. Untracked PerformanceDo you know what’s working and what’s not? Maybe business is fine, but you don’t know why or whether it will still be good tomorrow.Set a performance tracking strategy.A well-defined strategy allows you to set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), like website traffic, leads, conversion rates, or customer retention rates. Tracking these KPIs provides invaluable insights into what’s working and what isn’t, enabling strategic adjustments.Having a marketing strategy is about setting goals, tracking progress, and making necessary tweaks. Consistent performance monitoring assures your marketing efforts are steering your business in the right direction. If you don’t know where to start, start by tracking your 3 most important metrics and build on those KPIs. 9. Missed OpportunitiesWithout a strategic focus on your ideal client, you miss the chance to serve them better. You also overlook the potential for partnerships and referrals.Capitalize on opportunities.Every customer interaction presents an opportunity. Are you making the most of these? Could you upsell or cross-sell? What about partnerships and referrals? Data tells that referrals have a 16% higher lifetime value rate, and a 37% higher retention rate than leads generated from other marketing channels. A marketing strategy helps you to spot and seize these opportunities.10. Flat Sales And ProfitsIf your sales and profits are stagnant or even non-existent, it might feel like you’re trapped in a cycle of no growth.Boost your sales and profits.If you find your sales and profits are flat, this is a sure sign you need to rethink your marketing strategy. Integrating sales with a well-executed marketing strategy can help you target your most profitable customers, differentiate your offering, and ultimately drive business growth.It’s mentioned above, but a quick way to turn up the profit machine is to implement a customer retention program. This not only fosters customer loyalty but can also lead to increased spending per transaction.Recognizing and admitting that you’re suffering from these symptoms is the first step towards a cure. The next step is taking action. And that’s where the AI Prompts for Building a Marketing Strategy toolkit can truly make a difference. Start creating your complete marketing strategy with this prompts and see the difference a focused and efficient marketing strategy can make to your bottom line.Are you ready to turn these symptoms into solutions?  ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/unveiling-the-future-of-ai-2/feed/ 0 Weekend Favs July 1 https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-1-2/ https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-1-2/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:31 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-1-2/ Weekend Favs July 1 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but I encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from an […] Embracing Your Entrepreneurial Superpower Being Unemployable written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Alysia Silberg In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Alysia Silberg. She is a leading venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, where she mentors tech startups and helps them go public. She is the CEO & General Partner of the investment firm Street Global. Her online radio show: Global Fireside Chats, brings together global industry titans to share insights on our fast-changing world. Furthermore, Alysia is a UN Women Empower Women Global Champion and an international board director with sovereign wealth fund experience.  Her first book, Unemployable: How I Hired Myself details her life story and guide to financial freedom. It’s a guide that helps to change your mindset from “I can’t” to “I can”.  Key Takeaway: Alysia changes the narrative of being “unemployable” and relates it to entrepreneurship and finding one’s superpower in business. Being unemployable is something to be proud of, as it often reflects the mindset and qualities of an entrepreneur, that can lead to innovation and generate changes. She emphasizes the importance of owning one’s uniqueness, taking risks, embracing curiosity, and seizing the opportunities presented by the digital revolution. The current business environment, which Alysia describes as a “modern-day renaissance”, it’s a time for innovation and new opportunities. It’s important to leverage the power of AI and digital tools to start and grow a business and develop each person’s superpower. Questions I ask Alysia Silberg: [01:52] Tell me a little bit about the artwork from the book cover. [03:07] Your book launch party was at a roller rink. How did that come about? [04:13] Why is the book called Unemployable? [07:20] Can you name a particular instance in your career where you felt like “This is going to work, this is like what I should be doing”? [08:58] You talk about superpowers and finding your superpower. Does your superpower have a name? [10:00] Back in South Africa you got shot, what did that story mean to your journey? [11:53] Is there anything about what’s going on right now in the current business environment that you think makes us a strong time? [15:25] What’s the first step you tell people to acquire the mindset you talk about? [18:23] What are your thoughts on the idea that there are proven business models and you don’t have to like to create a whole new thing from zero? [19:41] Based on where you see where we are today, what’s work going to look like in 10 years? More About Alysia Silberg: Get your copy of Unemployable: How I Hired Myself Connect with Alysia and follow her on Instagram More About The Agency Certification Intensive Training: Learn more about the Agency Certification Intensive Training here Take The Marketing Assessment: Marketingassessment.co Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please! Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): Hey, did you know that HubSpot’s annual inbound conference is coming up? That’s right. It’ll be in Boston from September 5th through the eighth. Every year inbound brings together leaders across business, sales, marketing, customer success, operations, and more. You’ll be able to discover all the latest must know trends and tactics that you can actually put into place to scale your business in a sustainable way. You can learn from industry experts and be inspired by incredible spotlight talent. This year. The likes of Reese Witherspoon, Derek Jeter, Guy Raz are all going to make appearances. Visit inbound.com and get your ticket today. You won’t be sorry. This programming is guaranteed to inspire and recharge. That’s right. Go to inbound.com to get your ticket today. (01:03): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Alysia Silberg. She’s a leading venture capitalist in Silicone Valley where she mentors tech startups and helps them go public. She is the CEO and general partner of the investment firm, street Global. Her online radio show, global Fireside Chats brings together global industry tightens to share insights on our fast changing world. She is a UN Women Empower Women Global Champion, and an international board director with Sovereign Wealth Fund experience. We’re gonna talk about her first book, Unemployable: how I Hired Myself. So Alysia, welcome to the show. Alysia Silberg (01:47): Hi John. Very excited to be joining you. Thanks for having me. John Jantsch (01:50): So listeners can’t see this, although you’ll see, you can see it in the show notes, the video of folks obviously will see it, but I, you have a picture of the artwork from the cover behind you there in the in frame and I just, I wanted to start there because I just absolutely love it. So tell me a little bit about, I mean I frankly it’s a work of art. Alysia Silberg (02:08): Thank you. Um, very excited to hear you say that. So you talk about being unemployable, you talk about the future of ai. I know these are themes we’ll be chatting about today, but I had five designers trying to come up with what it meant to be unemployable and no one could convey that in imagery. And one of my founders who has an ed tech startup focusing on AI in Minneapolis, he said, let me sit down and let me take the book and let me put it in open AI’s design platform and let’s see what happens. And the, this is what the AI came up with. It’s the essence of a founder’s journey and it’s interpreting it, you know, that drive and ambition, you know, like that all of its embodied it that in this situation happens to be my image. But I’m, I’m very excited that we created that connection with the AI and it turned out the way it did. John Jantsch (02:55): Yeah, it’s kind of a, a block, almost like a Japanese block print illustration. It’s really fabulous. Okay, another totally unrelated topic to the book, sort of, I also love that you were doing a book launch party at a roller rink. How did that come about ? Alysia Silberg (03:11): Well, we’re gonna be, you know, the book is about finding your superpower and you know, superpowers are often unexpected and we discovered them in the weirdest of ways. And for me, they happened to be, I went to a pair of pink roller skates at five years old. I went to them more than anything on earth and I couldn’t afford them. No one in my family could afford them. And I had to figure out how I could get these pink roller skates and I built a business and you’ll read all about it in the book. Crazy wild Only founders understand what it means to, to want something so badly. And I never wore those roller estates ever. I treasured them cuz they reminded me of what’s possible. The dreamer, you know, anything is possible. And so the idea of having a a roller skating party for the book was the only thing I could do to honor each of our journeys. For me it’s roller skates. For you it was probably something else, but once a founder, always a founder and it was just, it’s the way it’s meant to be John Jantsch (04:05): Kind of sounds like a load of fun too. So there’s that . So why unemployable? I mean that that name specifically or that term specifically as opposed to entrepreneur or, you know, I, I know obviously you’re trying to convey something maybe a little deeper. Alysia Silberg (04:26): Absolutely. So I was trained as an actuary and I went for a career aptitude test at a bank. And I was like, you know, on my way thinking I joined, you know, a big bank and I was told I, I was unemployable in that attitude test and I was devastated. I was like, what do I do now? And I took it as an insult and at the time it was, you know, it wasn’t a compliment and it took me decades to own that. And what I do today now is I’m a researcher and I’m an investor. Like those are the things that make me the entrepreneur that I am. Right. And it was very tough choosing the title. I did a ton of research because everyone kept saying, but you’re not unemployable. How can you say you’re unemployable? And I’m like, well actually I am. (05:07): And it’s okay. It’s something to be proud of. The most important creators in history were basically unemployable to create innovation and change in these things. You’ve gotta be able to just live in a different way to many people and take risks. But there’s a lot of bravery around their title And I, I hope and honors the founder’s journey. So for everyone out there that feels the unemployable, as I say, I’ve learned to own it and be the queen of unemployable . And I know my family members are like, have you lost your mind? But it’s my truth. John Jantsch (05:39): No, it’s funny, I relate to it maybe in a little different sense. I, I’ve owned my own business for 30 years i’s I worked for somebody for about five years and said, you know, I, anybody can run a business. But uh, there was a sense of feeling unemployable but it was more of a probably a self-esteem issue than it was uh, you know, I can go out there and conquer the world. And I wonder if, if, you know, it’d be interesting if you’ve come to this place you’re in right now, but I’m wondering if a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, start with that same view a little bit regardless of what it turns into. Alysia Silberg (06:12): Absolutely. I think I suffered from huge imposter syndrome and the ironic part was it was that bank who didn’t want me and because of my imposter syndrome I decided no one wanted me. So when job offer offers came, I was like whoa, I don’t feel I belong here because there’s something wrong with me. Versus I’m a ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-1-2/feed/ 0 How To Write A Business Book That Matters https://paradigmsystems.net/how-to-write-a-business-book-that-matters-2/ https://paradigmsystems.net/how-to-write-a-business-book-that-matters-2/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:31 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/how-to-write-a-business-book-that-matters-2/ How To Write A Business Book That Matters written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Josh Bernoff In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Josh Bernoff. He is the bestselling author or ghostwriter of eight business books and contributed to 50 book projects that have generated over $20 million for their authors. Josh was formerly Senior Vice President, Idea Development at Forrester, where he […] Unveiling The Future Of AI written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Kenneth Wenger In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Kenneth Wenger. He is an author, a research scholar at Toronto Metropolitan University, and CTO of Squint AI Inc. His research interests lie at the intersection of humans and machines, ensuring that we build a future based on the responsible use of technology. His newest book, Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?: A Layperson’s Guide to the Concepts, Math, and Pitfalls of AI. Kenneth explains the complexity of AI, demonstrating its potential and exposing its shortfalls. He empowers readers to answer the question: What exactly is AI? Key Takeaway: While significant progress has been made in AI, we are still in the early stages of its development. However, the current AI models are primarily performing simple statistical tasks rather than exhibiting deep intelligence. The future of AI lies in developing models that can understand the context and differentiate between right and wrong answers. Kenneth also emphasizes the pitfalls of relying on AI, particularly in the lack of understanding behind the model’s decision-making process and the potential for biased outcomes. The trustworthiness and accountability of these machines are crucial to develop, especially in safety-critical domains where human lives could be at stake like in medicine or laws. Overall, while AI has made substantial strides, there is still a long way to go in unlocking its true potential and addressing the associated challenges. Questions I ask Kenneth Wenger: [02:32] The title of your book is the algorithm plotting against this is a provocative question. So why ask this question? [03:45] Where do you think we really are in the continuum of the evolution of AI? [07:58] Do you see a day when AI machines will start asking questions back to people? [07:20] Can you name a particular instance in your career where you felt like “This is going to work, this is like what I should be doing”? [09:25] You have both layperson and math in the title of the book, could you give us sort of the layperson’s version of how it does that? [15:30] What are the real and obvious pitfalls of relying on AI? [19:49] As people start relying on these machines to make decisions that are supposed to be informed a lot of times, predictions could be wrong right? More About Kenneth Wenger: Get your copy of Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?: A Layperson’s Guide to the Concepts, Math, and Pitfalls of AI. Connect with Kenneth. More About The Agency Certification Intensive Training: Learn more about the Agency Certification Intensive Training here Take The Marketing Assessment: Marketingassessment.co Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please! Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): Hey, did you know that HubSpot’s annual inbound conference is coming up? That’s right. It’ll be in Boston from September 5th through the eighth. Every year inbound brings together leaders across business, sales, marketing, customer success, operations, and more. You’ll be able to discover all the latest must know trends and tactics that you can actually put into place to scale your business in a sustainable way. You can learn from industry experts and be inspired by incredible spotlight talent. This year, the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Derek Jeter, Guy Raz, are all going to make appearances. Visit inbound.com and get your ticket today. You won’t be sorry. This programming is guaranteed to inspire and recharge. That’s right. Go to inbound.com to get your ticket today. (01:03): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Kenneth Wenger. He’s an author, research scholar at Toronto Metropolitan University and CTO of Squint AI Inc. His research interests lie in the intersection of humans and machines, ensuring that we build a future based on the responsible use of technology. We’re gonna talk about his book today Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?: A Layperson’s Guide to the Concepts, Math, and Pitfalls of AI. So, Ken, welcome to the show. Kenneth Wenger (01:40): Hi, John. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. John Jantsch (01:42): So, so we are gonna talk about the book, but I, I’m just curious, what, what does Squint AI do? Kenneth Wenger (01:47): That’s a great question. So, squint ai, um, is a company that we created to, um, do some research and develop a platform that enables us to, um, (02:00): Do, do AI in a more responsible, uh, way. Okay. Okay. So, uh, I’m sure we’re gonna get into this, but I touch upon it, uh, in the book in many cases as well, where we talk about, uh, ai, ethical use of ai, some of the downfalls of ai. And so what we’re doing with Squint is we’re trying to figure out, you know, how do we try to create a, an environment that enables us to use AI in a way that lets us understand when these algorithms are not performing at their best, when they’re making mistakes and so on. Yeah, John Jantsch (02:30): Yeah. So, so the title of your book is The Algorithm Plotting Against, this is a bit of a provocative question. I mean, obviously I’m sure there are people out there that are saying no , and some are saying, well, absolutely. So, so why ask the question then? Kenneth Wenger (02:49): Well, because I, I actually feel like that’s a question that’s being asked by many different people with actually with different meaning. Right? So it, it’s almost the same as the question of is AI posing an existential threat? I, I, it’s a question that means different things to different people. Right. So I wanted to get into that in the book and try to do two things. First, offer people the tools to be able to understand that question for themselves, right. And first figure out how, where they stand in that debate, and then second, um, you know, also provide my opinion along the way. John Jantsch (03:21): Yeah, yeah. And I probably didn’t ask that question as elegantly as I’d like to. I actually think it’s great that you ask the question, because ultimately what we’re trying to do is let people come to their own decisions rather than saying, this is true of ai, or this is not true of AI . Right. Kenneth Wenger (03:36): That’s right. That’s right. And, and, and again, especially because it’s a nuanced problem. Yeah. And it means different things to different people. John Jantsch (03:44): So this is a really hard question, but I’m gonna ask you, you know, where are we really in the continuum of, of AI? I mean, people who have been on this topic for many years realize it’s been built into many things that we use every day and take for granted, obviously we ChatGPT brought on a whole nother spectrum of people that now, you know, at least have a talking vocabulary of what it is. But I remember, you know, I’ve been, I’ve been, I’ve had my own business 30 years. I mean, we didn’t have the web , we didn’t have websites, you know, we didn’t have mobile devices that certainly now play a part, but I remember as each of those came along, people were like, oh, we’re doomed. It’s over . Right. So, so currently there’s a lot of that type of language surrounding ai, but where do you think we really are in the continuum of the evolution? Kenneth Wenger (04:32): You know, that’s a great question because I think we are actually very early on. Yeah. I think that, you know, we, we’ve made remarkable progress in a very short period of time, but I think it’s still, we’re at the very early stages. You know, if you think of ai where we are right now, we were a decade ago, we’ve made some progress. But I think the, fundamentally, at a scientific level, we’ve only started to scratch the surface. I’ll give you some examples. So initially, you know, the first models, they were great at really giving us some proof that this new way of posing questions, you know, the, uh, neural networks essentially. Yeah, yeah. Right. They’re very complex equations. Uh, if you use GPUs to, to run these complex equations, then we can actually solve pretty complex problems. That’s something we realized around 2012 and then after around 2017, so between 2012 and 2017, progress was very linear. (05:28): You know, new models were created, the new ideas were proposed, but things scaled and progressed very linearly. But after 2017, with the introduction of the model that’s called the Transformer, which is the base architecture behind chat, g, pt, and all these large language models, we had another kind of realization. That’s when we realized that if you take those models and you scale them up and you scale them up in, in terms of the size of the model and the size of the data set that we used to train them, they get exponentially better. Okay. And that’s when we got to the point where we are today, where we realized that just by scaling them, again, we haven’t done anything fundamentally different since 2017. All we’ve done is increase the size of the model, increase the size of the dataset, and they’re getting exponentially better. John Jantsch (06:14): So, so multiplication rather than addition? Kenneth Wenger (06:18): Well, yes, exactly. Yeah. So, so it isn’t, the progress has been exponential, not only in linear trajectory. Yeah. But I think, but again, the fact that we haven’t changed much fundamentally in these models, that’s going to taper off very soon. It’s my expectation. And now where are we on the timeline? Which was your original question. I think if you think about what the models are doing today, they’re doing very element. They’re doing very simple statistics, essentially. Mm-hmm. , they’re not the idea of, of these models being called artificial intelligence. Right. I think it’s a bit of a misnomer sometimes. I agree. And it leads to some of the questions that, that people have. ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/how-to-write-a-business-book-that-matters-2/feed/ 0 The 4 Commitments To Grow Your Reach Online https://paradigmsystems.net/the-4-commitments-to-grow-your-reach-online/ https://paradigmsystems.net/the-4-commitments-to-grow-your-reach-online/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:30 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/the-4-commitments-to-grow-your-reach-online/ The 4 Commitments To Grow Your Reach Online written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Becky Robinson In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Becky Robinson. She is the Founder and CEO of Weaving Influence. This full-service marketing agency specializes in digital and integrated marketing services and public relations for book authors, including business leaders, coaches, trainers, speakers, and thought leaders. In April […] How To Write A Business Book That Matters written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Josh Bernoff In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Josh Bernoff. He is the bestselling author or ghostwriter of eight business books and contributed to 50 book projects that have generated over $20 million for their authors. Josh was formerly Senior Vice President, Idea Development at Forrester, where he spent 20 years analyzing technology and business.  ​​His most recent book Build a Better Business Book: How to Plan, Write, and Promote a Book That Matters, is a guide for authors who want to create impact in their business books. Josh teaches them how to refine their idea, choose a publishing model, and research, write, publish, and promote their books. Key Takeaway: A good business book should have a unique idea that solves a specific problem for a targeted audience, incorporating real-life stories and a narrative structure that engages readers. It should follow a natural progression from presenting a problem to providing a solution and explaining the details of that solution, using case studies to support their ideas. It is vital for authors to understand the continuum between big-idea books and how-to books, as both can be problem-solving. The promotion plan of the book is crucial, and authors must not assume people will find their books without proper promotion and by building a platform. Josh shares a five-step process called “PQRST” which involves: Positioning, answering the Question, Reaching the target audience, Spreading the book encouraging word-of-mouth, and Timing the book launch. Questions I ask Josh Bernoff: [01:59] What are the essential elements that a business book needs to be good? [02:49] Can a business book have a similar narrative to a fiction book? [04:03] Some business books are terrible. What are they doing wrong? [04:59] There are two types of business books: the ones that stay in the big idea category and others that are perspective. Are there different approaches that need to be taken for those two different kinds of books? [06:43] Can you explain the different kinds of authors? [08:59] Do publishers care about ideas or do they care about the platform or do you have to have both? [11:16] There are two book approaches, the ones that include research and case studies, and the ones that talk from the author’s daily knowledge and experiences. What do you think of that? [15:09] You have been a ghostwriter on some projects. What are some reasons somebody who has a good idea might use a ghostwriter? [16:01] Let’s talk about editors. In a business book, are they qualified to give much input and help you get your ideas down? [17:16] What role does the design of the interior pages as well as the cover play in the success of a book? [19:36] If you’re going to write a book today, how important is having audio done? [20:54] Can you explain the promotion plan of the book? More About Josh Bernoff: Get your copy of Build a Better Business Book: How to Plan, Write, and Promote a Book That Matters. Reach out to Josh. More About The Agency Certification Intensive Training: Learn more about the Agency Certification Intensive Training here Take The Marketing Assessment: Marketingassessment.co Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please! Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): This episode of Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by HubSpot. Look, AI is literally eating the web chat. GPT is more searched than I don’t know, Taylor Swift. Check out HubSpot’s AI powered tools, content assistant and chat spott. They both run on open AI’s GPT model, and both are designed to help you get more done and to grow your business faster. HubSpot’s AI powered content assistant helps you brainstorm, create, and share content in a flash, and it’s all inside a super easy to use CRM now. Chat Spott automates all the manual tasks inside HubSpot to help you arrange more customers close more deals, and scale your business faster. Find out more about how to use AI to grow your business at hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. That’s hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. (01:14): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch, and my guest today is Josh Bernoff. He’s the bestselling author or ghostwriter of eight business books. He’s contributed to 50 book projects that have generated over 20 million for their authors. He’s formerly Senior Vice President of Idea Development at Forrester, where he spent 20 years analyzing technology and business. We’re gonna talk about his most recent book, Build a Better Business Book: How to Plan, Write, and Promote a Book That Matters. So Josh, welcome to the show. Josh Bernoff (01:49): It’s great to be on. Good to talk to you. John Jantsch (01:52): So I’ll just throw out like one really big question to start us off. Okay. And then we’ll hone in on, uh, things, you know, what are the essential elements that a business book needs to be good. How is that for, how is that for a big question, ? Josh Bernoff (02:06): No, that’s exactly the right big question . And I’d say there are two things, one that everybody understands and one that people don’t understand. The thing that everybody knows you need is an idea. Yeah. That is, you need something that will solve a problem for a specific group of people, and it has to be a differentiated idea that is an idea that hasn’t been heard before. So that’s what people know. What people don’t recognize is that business books are made out of stories about people, stories about business people, about ordinary consumers, about people who have a problem. And you get insight from the way they solve that problem. And unless you’ve collected those stories and shared them in an interesting way, your book’s gonna be boring and it’s not gonna sell. John Jantsch (02:49): Can a business book, like, I mean, a fiction book, you know, has a narrative and a plot and characters and we get to the end hopefully and go, oh, that was amazing. Can a business book have narrative similar to that? Or is it there just to do some nuts and bolts work? Josh Bernoff (03:04): It has to have a narrative similar to that. Now we understand this, if you’re reading a business book that’s say a description of Elon Musk’s life or Right. You know, how Netflix was created as a company. But when you’re talking about a business book that solves a problem, there’s a natural order to it in the first chapter. We have to scare the crap out of you by getting you to see that there’s either a problem that you’re gonna have if you don’t follow the book or some opportunity you’re gonna miss out on. That’s the fear and greed options. Yeah. And then after that we described the parts of the solution. We show you how to implement that. We might show you some more detail about how it applies in different situations. This is a natural progression from you have a problem to the solution, to the problem, to the details of the solution. And that’s just as much a narrative as if narrative as if you were reading a novel. John Jantsch (04:00): All right, let’s some people learn better from the negative. Let’s talk about some business books that are terrible. What are the, without naming names, what, what do they get wrong typically? Josh Bernoff (04:10): So I don’t know if your listeners have had this experience. I have many times of the business book where you read chapter two and you’re like, gee, that sounds just like chapter one. And then you read chapter four and you’re like, oh my gosh, it’s just the same thing over and over again. Yeah. So there’s a word for what that book ought to be, which is a blog post . So if what you have is a blog post, write a blog post and you’ll save us all. A lot of trouble ideas that are worth writing a book about have to be big. That is, they need to affect a lot of people and they need to have consequences. They need to have elements to them. They need to have some subtlety to it that you need to figure out. And unless you have the ability to do that, you really should just write a blog post. John Jantsch (04:58): Uh, there are two types of book business books. I read lots and lots of business books as I know you have as well. There are two types of business books that I really like. Some kind of stay in the big idea category. Mm-hmm. , Seth Godin’s books, I think are a great example of always a great idea that you, that he clearly believes in and that you can believe in, but not a whole lot of how to in them. And then there are other prescriptive books which are probably closer to what I write, you know, which is literally a retelling of what I do , you know, in, in the book. Are there different approaches that need to be taken for those two different kinds of books? And feel free to throw in, oh no, there’s four or five other categories too. , Josh Bernoff (05:36): Well, in the problem-solving kind of book, which is both of those are the big idea books and the how-to books are basically problem-solving kind of books. I think it’s a mistake to think of them as two different kinds. Okay. They’re really two ends of a continuum. Yeah. Right. So for example, the book I just wrote, right? Build a better business book here. This is a how-to book. There’s 24 chapters. There’s a chapter on covers. There’s a chapter on how to do research. Right. These are all very specific things that you have to learn how to do. If you look at the first book I wrote with Charlene Lee groundswell of posters behind me on the Wall. Yeah. That was a big idea book. And the big idea was that social ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/the-4-commitments-to-grow-your-reach-online/feed/ 0 Weekend Favs July 8 https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-8/ https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-8/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:30 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-8/ Weekend Favs July 8 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but I encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from an […] The 4 Commitments To Grow Your Reach Online written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Becky Robinson In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Becky Robinson. She is the Founder and CEO of Weaving Influence. This full-service marketing agency specializes in digital and integrated marketing services and public relations for book authors, including business leaders, coaches, trainers, speakers, and thought leaders. In April 2022, Becky published her first book, Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause. This book provides a structured approach to creating a successful online presence that will generate a big impact on any message. Becky shares a framework to cultivate followers based on four commitments: value, consistency, endurance, and generosity.  Key Takeaway: Building a successful online brand and thought leadership requires 4 commitments. The first one is delivering value and establishing meaningful connections to attract and retain followers. The second one is being consistent in the content shared and messaging to build trust and a strong presence. While it may be tempting to chase quick success, longevity is the third commitment, and being able to create a long-term commitment that generates sustainable growth. It’s important to set realistic expectations and understand that building something meaningful takes time. Finally, being generous: with ideas, time, and support to attract interest and engagement. Becky emphasizes that sharing ideas freely and supporting others can contribute to your personal thought leadership growth. Questions I ask Becky Robinson: [01:54] Based on the title of your book, creating reach starts way before selling or marketing a new book right? [02:35] Would you put the things you mention in your book as a must? [05:48] Can you explain a little bit about self-publishing as a more accessible and streamlined option when someone writes a book? [09:20] Talk a little bit about your journey of creating Reach that led to a publishing deal for you. [13:16] In your book you mention four commitments: value, consistency, longevity, and generosity. Can you explain each one of them? [17:53] Talking about longevity, how do you balance that when everybody wants quick results? [21:52] What’s your relationship with goal setting? More About Becky Robinson: Get your copy or audiobook of Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause. More about Becky and Weaving Influence. Connect with Becky. More About The Agency Certification Intensive Training: Learn more about the Agency Certification Intensive Training here Take The Marketing Assessment: Marketingassessment.co Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please! Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): This episode of Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by HubSpot. Look, AI is literally eating the web ChatGPT is more searched than I don’t know, Taylor Swift. Check out HubSpot’s AI powered tools, content assistant and chat spott. They both run on open AI’s G P T model, and both are designed to help you get more done and to grow your business faster. HubSpot’s AI powered content assistant helps you brainstorm, create, and share content in a flash, and it’s all inside a super easy to use CRM now. Chat Spott automates all the manual tasks inside HubSpot to help you arrange more customers close more deals, and scale your business faster. Find out more about how to use AI to grow your business at hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. That’s hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. (01:14): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Becky Robinson. She’s the founder and CEO of weaving influence, a full service marketing agency that specializes in digital and integrated marketing services and public relations for book offerers, including business leaders, coaches, trainers, speakers, and thought leaders. In April of 2022, she finished her first book with Barrett Kohler publishers titled Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause. So Becky, welcome to the show. Becky Robinson (01:51): Thank you, John. It’s so great to be with you today. John Jantsch (01:54): So I have, because I’ve written a few books myself, I get a lot of people that reach out to me and say, okay, I’ve written my book, how do I market it now? Uh, how do I sell books? ? I sell more books. I’m gonna suggest based on the title of your book that it starts way before that, doesn’t it? Becky Robinson (02:12): Oh, it sure does, John. And you know, I think it starts, hopefully it starts before you even have an idea for a book. If you’re talking about a prescriptive nonfiction book, if you desire to write a prescriptive nonfiction book, you likely should be building an audience and community around your work for years before, John Jantsch (02:31): Yeah, Becky Robinson (02:32): Maybe a decade before John Jantsch (02:34): . So, I mean, are you, I know a lot of people have ideas that they want to write a book and a few of ’em actually get around to doing it. Would you say that this is, I you would put this out there as a must? I mean, you must do the things in your book if you’re going to even consider having somebody look at your book. Becky Robinson (02:53): Well, certainly if you want to attract a traditional publisher, right? You need to build an audience before you go to a traditional publisher because they’re making a business decision. They want to know that if they take a chance on your book and publish you, that you’re gonna be able to drive interest in sales. So, you know, if you dream of traditional publishing, yes, you must attend to growing an online presence to be able to support your book marketing. Now, if you’re interested in, you know, some people come to me and they wanna write a book just because it’s a bucket list item or Yeah, yeah. You know, maybe they wanna use it as a glorified business card in their business and give to potential customers. Now, in that case, you might have a choice about whether or not to build an online presence, but in the book, one of the things I talk about, John, is what I call the influence gap. (03:36): And for anyone who has great real world expertise that they could bring to a nonfiction business book, but they haven’t adequately represented that thought leadership online, then they’re experiencing what I call the influence gap. And that happens when there’s a disconnect between who we are in real life and who we are online. If we want to set ourselves up for success, to have the biggest possible reach for our work, we have to choose to invest in both that kind of offline real world, you know, knowing something about our topics, experience with real life people and work. And we have to translate that and share that journey online as well. John Jantsch (04:14): Yeah. If I can be completely cynical, I would suggest that the traditional publisher is, that’s the first thing they care about. What’s the size of your audience? What’s the size of your reach? Oh, you got a nice topic. Great, we’ll get to that later. It’s more like, can you guarantee us that you can sell 25,000 copies? I mean, I think that’s almost the, the calculus today, isn’t it? Becky Robinson (04:31): It is. And that’s why people who are already famous get book deals. Right. You know, I have, I took a screenshot the day that Barack Obama’s book came out. He sold 887,000 books on the day his book was released . So of course, you know, people who have that kind of existing fame and fortune already are the ones who are gonna get the book deals. You know, that’s why, you know, you see kind of a, a viral sensation happen and someone has a big following. Then quite often what follows after that is a book deal. And that’s an easy decision when the outcome of the success of the publisher’s work is that they sell books. The reality is they may publish a lot of books that don’t sell to that level, and they’re using those huge sale selling books to offset the ones who aren’t. But for people who are not known, you have to be able to prove that you can drive sales. Yeah. John Jantsch (05:24): And it’s probably 90 to 95% of their books, you know, are not, maybe they’re break even or, you know, maybe they make a little money, but you’re absolutely right. They bank on, you know, that top 10. And then of course, years of back list. I mean, but Duct Tape Marketing came out in 2007, and I’m still getting, you know, royalty checks, you know, for that, because that back list of 600 or 6,000, I don’t have many books, you know, is where they actually make their money. Let’s talk a little bit about self-publishing then. You talked about the glorified business card as it sort of called, but it, there’s no question it can be, uh, an effective marketing tactic and that whole world has gotten a lot easier and you know, much more streamlined. Talk a little bit about that as an option. Becky Robinson (06:03): Sure, I’d be glad to. So there are lots of folks who, you know, have a point of view to share, but they don’t necessarily aspire to getting a lot of sales. Uh, in that case, obviously self-publishing can be a viable option and, uh, like even at my company, we support authors who want to self-publish their books, uh, with what I call a book production service. We are not a publisher. Uh, what I would say is that quality still matters. Yeah. So you wanna write a book worth reading because if you’re using a book in that way, those who read it will be using that book to decide if you’re credible and if you’re worth hiring. And so you don’t wanna skimp on a professional cover, you don’t wanna skimp on a professional edit, you don’t wanna skip skimp on a professional interior design. You want to create the best product possible, because obviously ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/weekend-favs-july-8/feed/ 0 The 7 Deadly Marketing Mistakes https://paradigmsystems.net/the-7-deadly-marketing-mistakes/ https://paradigmsystems.net/the-7-deadly-marketing-mistakes/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:29 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/the-7-deadly-marketing-mistakes/ The 7 Deadly Marketing Mistakes written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I’m doing a solo show, and I’m gonna talk about 7 martketing mistakes that business owner usually make and I give you some tips on how to avoid them. Key Takeaway: Businesses often make seven deadly marketing mistakes: lacking a clear […] The 7 Deadly Marketing Mistakes written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I’m doing a solo show, and I’m gonna talk about 7 martketing mistakes that business owner usually make and I give you some tips on how to avoid them. Key Takeaway: Businesses often make seven deadly marketing mistakes: lacking a clear vision, trying to please everyone, being just like their competition, wasting marketing resources, competing solely on price, succumbing to the idea of the week, and lacking measurable success criteria. Overcoming these mistakes requires a focused marketing strategy aligned with business objectives for creating a roadmap for growth. Topics I Cover: [01:25] Introduction to the 7 deadly marketing mistakes. [02:32] Number 1: No vision of where your business is headed. [03:47] Number 2: Trying to be all things to all people. [05:54] Number 3: Being just like the competition. [08:49] Number 4: Wasting precious marketing resources. [09:37] Number 5: Competing on price. [11:11] Number 6: Getting overwhelmed with the idea of the week. [13:16] Number 7: Having no way to measure your success. More information: Send me an email  if you want to talk about Strategy First. More About The Agency Certification Intensive Training: Learn more about the Agency Certification Intensive Training here Take The Marketing Assessment: Marketingassessment.co Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please! Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): This episode of Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by HubSpot. Look, AI is literally eating the web ChatGPT is more searched than I don’t know, Taylor Swift. Check out HubSpot’s AI powered tools, content assistant and chat spott. They both run on open AI’s GPT model, and both are designed to help you get more done and to grow your business faster. HubSpot’s AI powered content assistant helps you brainstorm, create, and share content in a flash, and it’s all inside a super easy to use CRM now. Chat Spott automates all the manual tasks inside HubSpot to help you arrange more customers close more deals and scale your business faster. Find out more about how to use AI to grow your business at hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. That’s hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. (01:14): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch and I’m gonna do a solo show. Seems like it’s been a little while. I think it’s time. I wanna talk about the seven deadly marketing mistakes, uh, that every business makes, and it’s the ultimate benefit of having a marketing strategy and plan. You know, marketing can seem really overwhelming. There’s more to do every day than you can possibly do. There’s a new thing that comes along every day. Getting it all done just seems impossible. So when I talk about these mistakes, I mean, I, I, again, I think these are pitfalls that people can naturally fall into. And so I wanna talk about the things that you should avoid, things that you need to focus on, because by doing so, maybe I’ll also give you some thoughts about what you should stop doing or not need to do. (02:08): Like, jump on every new trend and new shiny object that comes along, for example. All right, so I’m gonna go into, uh, these seven things that I see, and I call ’em mistakes because that’s a, you know, that everybody’s scared to make mistakes, right? But they’re really just common business, uh, practices that, uh, I want to help you avoid. And by virtue of doing that, help you focus on the right things. Okay? So here they come. Number one, I see so many businesses that have really no vision of where they’re headed. I started my own business without any vision where I was headed. And, you know, you quickly find that you get whipped around by kind of every breeze that that blows. So, you know, not having a roadmap or at least a thought about what success looks like for you. Now, it’s pretty common for people to advise, like, what’s the three year plan? (02:56): And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, except who knows , what the three year plan is. But having some idea, not just of what the numbers are going to be, but what impact you want to have. But I will say when I set goals with numbers, somehow we kind of get there. So there is some real value in just projecting guessing as some numbers, but I think the bigger thing is what kind of impact? What kind of business do you want to have? Who do you want to associate with your brand? I mean, what place in the market do you wanna own? I mean, those are some things that you can make as statements early on, and I think that they can be very invigorating for your team members. They can certainly be attractive to customers as well. So having it holding and at least an outline of vision is so crucial. (03:44): So that’s mistake number one that I see. No vision. (03:47): Number two, trying to be all things to all people. Now, I don’t think people necessarily set out and say, I’m going to be all things to all people. But what happens is there, there is a natural inclination if somebody comes along and says, oh, you do marketing, or, oh, you do accounting, I need that. Then line up like, here it is, you know, buy from me. And I think what happens is, and you’ve probably experienced this if you’ve been around for any amount of time at all, is that you end up watering down any kind of messaging or any kind of brand. In fact, you typically have no brand and you will inevitably attract the wrong clients. And in fact, you’ll confuse the right clients, uh, by saying, look, here’s everything we could do. Uh, does anybody need that? (04:31): As opposed to, here’s the thing that we do that nobody else can do for you. Like we can do having the top 20%. In fact, I always tell people, take a look at the top 20% of your clientele today, your ideal clients, they’re probably in your top 20% because they’re profitable. They probably have a good experience because they had the right challenge and they had the right behaviors on how to solve that. They probably don’t beat you up over price. Maybe they even refer you because they have such a great experience. I mean, those are the folks that you should build your entire business around. It doesn’t mean you won’t sell to other people, but your messaging needs to be lined up to attract more of that top 20%. And then really from a business model standpoint, you wanna make sure that you’re actually not just keeping those folks happy, but continue to explore what else could you do with those folks? (05:22): Because you’ve already sold them, they already love you. Um, do 10 times more business with, uh, the top 20% of your client. You’ll double your business rather than than going out there and, and trying to convince new people, uh, to buy from you. It helps you solidify your offers, helps you solidify your customer journey. It certainly, you know, you can build momentum with repeat business. Um, this is a group that’s gonna refer you. We all know how great referrals are. So focus on that top 20%. Stop trying to be all things to all people. (05:54): Number three, being just like the competition. And again, I don’t think anybody sets out to say, I’m gonna be just like every other business in my industry. But we have a tendency to look around and, and maybe we worked for a company like that. We start our own company. We have a tendency to look around and and find that we are, um, saying the same things. We’re offering the same things, we’re acting the same way. There’s really no way to build trust in that type of environment. And unfortunately, what happens is if you look just like the competition, well guess what? Somebody calls three people in your industry and all they can compare is price. And so you’re constantly competing on price because there is no, there’s no differentiating factor that people value. So you can’t attract the right fit. You can’t really make, or the the promise you can’t attract talent. You know, staff gets really excited about knowing, Hey, we’re, we have this compelling message, we have this compelling difference. Here’s the problem that we solve for folks. You know, this is one that, that I’ve got it right here in the middle of these seven. (06:55): But this is one that, that leeches out into so many other things. You know, you’re gonna waste marketing resources, you’re gonna compete on price, you know, by doing this. And so finding, and guess what? Here’s a clue. Your customers know how you’re different. And so finding and discovering in their words what that difference is, the problem you actually solve is such a huge component that you can build into the overarching strategy. Not just marketing messaging, but the overarching strategy of your business. Your starts with a core message that you then build into everything you do. (07:29): And now let’s hear from a sponsor. This episode is brought to you by Business Made Simple, hosted by Donald Miller, and brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals hosted by Donald Miller. Business Made Simple Takes the Mystery out of Growing Your business. In a recent episode, they talked with my old pal, Seth Godin, where he explained the virtues and values in his book called The Song of Significance, A new manifesto for teams. Listen to Business Made Simple. Wherever you get your podcasts (08:01): Hey, marketing agency owners, you know, I can teach you the keys to doubling your business in just 90 days or your money back. Sound interesting. All you have to do is license our three-step process that’s gonna allow you to make your competitors ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/the-7-deadly-marketing-mistakes/feed/ 0 How Virtual Assistants Are Reshaping The Business Landscape https://paradigmsystems.net/how-virtual-assistants-are-reshaping-the-business-landscape/ https://paradigmsystems.net/how-virtual-assistants-are-reshaping-the-business-landscape/#respond Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:48:29 +0000 https://paradigmsystems.net/how-virtual-assistants-are-reshaping-the-business-landscape/ How Virtual Assistants Are Reshaping The Business Landscape written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Joe Rare In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Joe Rare. He is an “underground” serial entrepreneur, investor, and outsourcing expert. Joe focuses on helping small- to medium-sized businesses and currently owns and manages a number of digital companies that are fully run by virtual assistants, including: Level […] How Virtual Assistants Are Reshaping The Business Landscape written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Joe Rare In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Joe Rare. He is an “underground” serial entrepreneur, investor, and outsourcing expert. Joe focuses on helping small- to medium-sized businesses and currently owns and manages a number of digital companies that are fully run by virtual assistants, including: Level 9 Virtual, Wedding Booking System, Engaged.app and Campground Digital. Key Takeaway: Joe shares his story as an underground entrepreneur with his unique perspective on building businesses in silence, without seeking the spotlight or constantly promoting themselves. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on business growth, making an impact, and connecting with customers rather than getting caught up in content creation and personal branding. Joe is involved in the virtual assistants and shares the benefits of outsourcing tasks to VAs and how it can help businesses grow and be more profitable. It’s important to have a mindset shift to fully embrace this approach. Questions I ask Joe Rare: [01:51] What’s an underground entrepreneur? [04:34] How did you get started building businesses? [06:12] What attracted you to the virtual assistant world? [08:37] Now you’re building some apps and some marketplaces. What what got you there? And what have you learned that it’s going to allow you to repeat that process? [15:43] Should every business be looking at virtual assistans as a way to supplement, grow, be more profitable? [18:50] What’s the best way to go about finding virtual assistants? [20:35] Do you find that people graduate towards higher levels of responsibility for those virtual person where maybe they’re even client facing in some cases? [21:58] Talk to me a little bit about the mistakes or the best practices when you’ve seen the relationship with virtual assistans really work. What’s been the keys to success? More About Joe Rare: More about Level 9 Virtual. Joe’s website. Reach out to Joe. More About The Agency Certification Intensive Training: Learn more about the Agency Certification Intensive Training here Take The Marketing Assessment: Marketingassessment.co Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please! Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): This episode of Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by HubSpot. Look, AI is literally eating the web ChatGPT is more searched than I don’t know, Taylor Swift. Check out HubSpot’s AI powered tools, content assistant and chat spott. They both run on open AI’s GPT model and both are designed to help you get more done and to grow your business faster. HubSpot’s AI powered content assistant helps you brainstorm, create, and share content in a flash. And it’s all inside a super easy to use CRM now. Chat Spott automates all the manual tasks inside HubSpot to help you arrange more customers close more deals and scale your business faster. Find out more about how to use AI to grow your business at hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. That’s hubspot.com/artificial-intelligence. (01:14): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Joe Rare. He is a, I’m gonna say self-proclaimed underground serial entrepreneur, investor and outsourcing expert. He focuses on helping small to mid-sized businesses and currently owned and manages a number of digital companies that are fully run by virtual assistants, including Level 9 virtual, wedding booking system, engaged.app campground, digital. We’ll talk about a few of those. So Joe, welcome to the show. Joe Rare (01:45): Thank you so much. I, I appreciate you having me. John Jantsch (01:47): So I have to get into that like underground thing. , what’s an underground, what’s an underground entrepreneur? Cuz you’re clearly like not in a cave or anything. Joe Rare (01:55): No, no, no. Well, I mean, I’m actually in the lower level of my house, so that counts for some. No, I, you know, somebody actually kind of said that to me when I was speaking at an event and we were discussing social media and whether you have to be a personality in order to succeed Right. In business today. And you know, everybody’s kind of telling their story over and telling everybody else what to do and is that necessary? Is that how it has to be? And I said, well, you know, at that time, I mean I’m like, I don’t produce content. Like I don’t do anything on social other than in some, you know, Facebook communities where I engage with people in my market, but I really don’t spend much time there. I don’t post a lot. It’s just not something I love and I don’t enjoy it. (02:34): And so I don’t think I do. And they were like, geez, that’s so underground. Like it’s so, you know, you’re not in the spotlight. You’re not trying to tell everybody how to do everything like everybody else is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, that’s kind of interesting. And so that carried over and somebody else introduced me at another thing I spoke at and they called me an underground entrepreneur and I’m like, you know, that kind of sticks and I kind of like it. So, I mean, the way that I say it is I build businesses in. Yeah. I, I don’t, you know, nobody knows. We just lost a company and kind of see here in the background, we just launched a company called visitor match.com and it’s, you know, we did it and nobody knew we were even doing it. Half the com, half of my team didn’t even know we were working on the project. Cause I’m like, look like let’s not do anything until we know it works, . Then we’ll actually say, okay, let’s build it. And so yeah. So that’s kind of how that came up about. John Jantsch (03:23): Well, and and I actually love that cuz there definitely are a lot of people, like you say on social media that, you know, they’re making a lot of noise, but they’re not really making a lot of impact. And I think that, you know, being busy, building a business, making money, having an impact, you know, you don’t really need to necessarily have a megaphone to do that. Joe Rare (03:38): Right. I mean, you look at the, the biggest businesses in the world didn’t have, um, a single person out there telling everybody what they should be doing. Yeah. And I think I actually just had this thought today and I was like, oh, should I make a piece of content around it? Because it’s completely inverse of what the thought is. But I said, you know, everybody out here thinking I gotta make this content to make my business more successful. It’s like, no, you don’t. You need to pick up the phone. You need to contact your customers, you need to sell stuff. That’s how you make your business more successful. So stop producing content at the, you know, where you think you have to. Right, right. The moment you think you have to produce content to make money, you’re dead. Yeah. Because everybody else that’s competing with you, they’re calling your customers and winning the business. John Jantsch (04:25): . All right. So you’ve got, you’ve had a really sort of interesting journey. I wouldn’t say you’re a youthful guy, so I’m not gonna say long journey necessarily, but how, how’d you get started building businesses? Joe Rare (04:37): When I was in high school, towards the end of high school, I think we took a road trip to visit my grandfather in Canada. And so we were driving from California to Canada in an rv and I read the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I think, you know, over a two 10, day two, no, I used this two week trip. I think I read the book six times. John Jantsch (04:57): . That’s awesome. Joe Rare (04:57): And the first time I read it, uh, it literally just, it just nailed me. And I went, yep, that’s exactly what my life’s supposed to be. And so then I went to college and I, you know, started school and thought, okay, I’m gonna go play sports. And of course I’m a five 11 guy who isn’t gonna play basketball at any level, you know, beyond, you know, maybe I sit in the bench in college I decided, you know, maybe I should start a business. And so I dropped outta college, started a business and my thought was, I can always go back to school. Right. If I ever want to, I can go back to school. But the business that I started went from zero to 40 employees. And then I sold the company two and a half years later, . And so I didn’t make a ton of money cause I didn’t know what I was doing. I was in my early twenties and I was kind of an idiot. And so I didn’t make, John Jantsch (05:39): Yeah, you probably made early twenties money. Joe Rare (05:41): I made early twenties money, you know, and, uh, I was able to get into real estate investing and bought some properties and got to play that game. Uh, but that, you know, I, right out of that, I was like, okay, hold on. I, I, this is like, it’s my itch, it’s my thing. And I have to be, I have to be able to flex that muscle. And really that’s, it’s where my interest lies. It’s where my heart lies. I don’t think I could work in a job. I think I would suffocate and it would just be devastating to me. So that’s how I got started . So, John Jantsch (06:12): So what attracted you to the virtual assistant world? Um, you run one of your organizations is fairly large, uh, VA Level 9 virtual is a fairly large VA placement agency. Uh, was it one of those things where you needed one and you were like, Hey, this is cool, this works. And so business? Joe Rare (06:28): Right. So yeah, so I mean, to kind of make this story more colorful, I actually was ]]> https://paradigmsystems.net/how-virtual-assistants-are-reshaping-the-business-landscape/feed/ 0