“I’m just glad I spent 30% of my life speaking to dumb prospects”...

Said no one ever, so why are you currently doing this?

Call me jaded, but I’ve legitimately reached a point in my life where I think 90% of the human population is braindead.How I got here, I’m not 100% sure, but I think a lot of that came from my “traditional” background.Back in the day, I used to work as a Commercial Loan Officer, and we always did your “traditional” sales.

Etc, you get what I’m saying, and it did “kind of” work in that field.When it comes to giving loans to business owners, ones that are doing well over $1M/year, they’re pretty well versed on it.Been there before, now just want to see how you’d structure everything, but the same logic didn’t apply after starting my own business.With my first “enterprise”, I had an Accounting firm.That’s what I specialized in then, as I:

The whole works, figuring I could easily leverage this skill and land my own clients.That certainly turned out to be the case, but there was one slight issue:

They all sucked

Now when I say “sucked”, I should probably put some context behind this.At the surface, they were actually fairly smart dudes, but they were also terrible to work with.I remember one client being mad that I couldn’t complete a Sensitivity Analysis at 9 p.m., and have it done before he woke up.These things take roughly 5 hours to do, I like my sleep, so there was no way I’m going to work until 2 a.m. (especially on a last minute request).Have much better things to do, that’s a bit outside of “working hours”, but then I got scared - and realized he was really my only source of income.If I didn’t keep him happy, I might be broke, so I made a “compromise” instead.I’d spend 3 hours working on it that night, then wake up early, and try to have it completed by 9 a.m.That’d give him time to review before his 11 a.m. meeting, which was enough to keep him happy, and I was able to get this done on time.All things that were great, but here’s the kicker:

I almost missed my Aunt’s funeral

One thing I forgot to mention earlier, is that the main reason I wanted to hit the sheets early, is because I had to drive 100 miles for my Aunt’s funeral the following day.We were pretty close, used to babysit me when I was growing up, something I wasn’t going to miss.Seeing this, I decided to get it done earlier than expected, primarily so I could close my computer for the day and spend time with family.Did just that, but then around 9:30 a.m., the asshole reached out and asked for revisions.These were outside of what he initially asked for as well, so they weren’t even my fault, and at the time I was on the road.En route to my “funeral destination”, which just sent me into a very stressful situation.Not like I could pull over and get work done, I was already short on time, so I finally had enough and told him no.Mentioned how I had to make this funeral, I’d already done everything he asked, expecting a smidge of sympathy because of it.Sent this all via quick email, then when I finally reached my hometown, I checked my phone and saw that he’d responded.Figured it’d be your typical:“Oh, no worries. I get it, just finish this tomorrow then”...As I’m sure you can guess, that wasn’t the case.Instead, it was something along the lines of:“Well, funerals only take 1 hour, so can you do this afterwards?I’d really like this done by middle of the afternoon”...Meaning I had to run home right after the funeral was done, skipping the “luncheon” and all that, primarily so I could keep this guy happy.This was the start of my “pissed off journey”, and it certainly didn’t stop there.Had another client get mad that I couldn’t complete something in two hours, even after I’d just helped him raise $5M in capital, and after having these circumstances happen time and time again - I’d finally had enough.Couldn’t do this anymore, thought about going back to a “job”, but I couldn’t give up just “yet”.Think a lot of this had to do with my ego, where my previous co-workers mentioned how dumb I was for quitting this “lucrative role” and starting my own thing, so I did some research instead.Searched far and wide, trying to figure out how I could solve this problem, eventually realized it came down to one main thing:

Your intake process sets the tone for everything else

As I mentioned earlier, in the early stages of business, I took the “traditional” path of sales.I’d constantly be on my phone all day, responding to messages within minutes, primarily because I needed clients.Knew that if I could always be “available”, they’d be more apt to work with me, which is true for certain prospects.There’s always ones who want that, but the caveat is if you treat them this way in the “intake” process, they’re going to expect that throughout the duration of your engagement as well.Certainly not a “crazy” concept, I can see where they’re coming from, but the issue is how it’s just not sustainable.I mean, sure, if they’re paying me $20K/month and making me a glorified employee then I might - but they obviously didn’t want to do that either.They wanted to pay “normal rates”, yet get treated like Kings, and that’s when I began to realize this “fix” was up to me.Had to change something in my process, if I wanted to avoid this issue going forward:

Life immediately became better after that

I’ll explain “how” I did this later on, so it’ll make more sense then, but let’s just say - I was legitimately amazed with how quickly it happened.Weeks before this point, I was dealing with clients similar to what I mentioned earlier, now - I had clients that I honestly loved working with.As opposed to:“Hey, I know it’s midnight, but can you wake up and complete this project I really don’t even need right now?”...It was:“Hey Sean,Here’s the intake form. No rush, take your time”...And naturally, the quality of my work increased alongside this.When you’re happy and enjoying life, you produce better results, when you’re stressed and depressed - it’s the exact opposite.Kind of how the human brain works, so this was great by itself, but here’s another byproduct I wasn’t expecting either:

My lead flow actually increased

I didn’t realize this at the time, as it’s not something most talk about, but there’s A LOT of people out there who don’t fully understand how a product or service can help them.In fact, with most markets, that’s generally around 97% of your total opportunity.These are the people who’ve heard about:“Tax Planning”...But they don’t fully understand what it is, or how it can help them.When you reach out and offer this type of service, they just think:“No, I’m good. My wife uses TurboTax, and she’s good at math, so we don’t need help”...When in all reality, they’re probably paying thousands in unnecessary tax each year, they’re just unaware of it.Seeing that, when I started using the methods I’m about to show, I noticed how much opportunity I was able to “unlock”.When I could target people like this, then explain everything upfront (via pre-suasion assets), it generated demand that others would never be able to accomplish.They simply don’t know “how” to sell this crowd, leaving me with a lot of “low-hanging fruit”, and that was pretty nice to see.Almost put me in a league of my own, all things I’ll get into more detail on in a second, but there’s one last thing I wanted to mention before that point:

The downside of doing this

Throughout the course of this page, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the “benefits”.It’s one of the smartest things I’ve done in life, so I’m obviously a big fan of it, but I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit there’s a few downsides as well.For the most part, one thing that held me back in previous years, was always my concept of “linear thinking”.I was the type who was like:“Yeah, that sounds great, but I need to generate more revenue first.I’ll do this with the methods I’m using now, then once I save up money, I’ll take the time to do that type of marketing”...What I didn’t realize, was how this only created a vicious cycle I could never escape.By the time I landed a client with prior methods, I was too tired to think of anything else, and was never going to actually escape that “rat race”.The rationale seemed sound at the surface, but didn’t translate into real life, so finally I said “screw it” and just went for it.Knew it was going to be scary in the beginning stages, as this type of marketing required:

All things that kept holding me back, but then once I finally got done with all of it, I realized how mad I was for not doing it earlier.Sure, the “building phase” sucked, but it was funny how much time and effort it put back into my day after it was done.I was pretty much trying to avoid 80 hours of work upfront, to save hundreds (if not thousands) of hours on unnecessary effort afterwards, and I think that’s pretty much how most good things in life are.When you focus on the “cost”, and not the “benefit”, it kills motivation.Nobody wants to go through that “pain” in the short-term, we’ll do anything we can to avoid this, but we don’t realize how much that actually hurts us in the long run.Seeing this, the main thing I guess I’m trying to say right now, is that you will be met with some “resistance”.That resistance will depend on the route you take, and the method used to implement this type of marketing.If you hire somebody to do this for you, you’ll hate the costs.If you do this on your own, you’ll hate the time it takes, as it’s a skill that doesn’t happen overnight.If you hire somebody to help you build this, you’ll spread that hate between time and cost…But as somebody who’s standing on the other side, I can assure you, it’s more than worth it.Am I biased?Of course I am, but I think intuitively, you know what I’m saying as well.We all “want” what I have right now, yet most are unwilling to pay the (overall low) price to get this, but if you’re the type that’s smart enough to see how the pros outweigh the cons:

Here’s how I can help

One thing I’ve noticed over the years, is how everybody likes to focus on the “tactics”, when in all reality - they’re a small part of the process.If you were just like:“Hey, can you create a quick Facebook Ad for me?”...I’d be like:“Sure, but it’s probably not going to get results”Not because I suck at Facebook Ads either, I’ve been doing them for a long time:

But because true results happen in the “foundation”.This is where the “consulting” aspect of my services come in, and then the actual “implementation” takes place afterwards, so here’s a brief overview of how that’s accomplished:

Step #1 - Positioning

Since you’re here right now, I don’t know how much of my content you’ve read, but if you’ve been around for a minute - you know this is something I talk about a lot.Not necessarily because I’m obsessed with it, but because of how important it is.Don’t care if that’s:

It applies to any aspect of marketing you do, but in this sense, it’ll be the “north star” we work back from.I’m not going to get into a lot of detail on how that’s done now, as I want to try and keep this page somewhat short, but in the general sense - it’s how we’ll stand out.When everybody in your market says:“We’re Web Designers, reach out today!”...Then you never want to say the same thing, as you’ll not only blend in with the crowd, but you’ll also be commoditized.When one person says this, and charges $500, then that sets a “benchmark” for everything else.Hard to come in with the same “angle”, yet charge 10x more, and expect clients to pay for it.Huge conundrum I see in the marketplace today, as everybody is overworked and underpaid, but it’s not like it has to be this way either.Instead, we simply need to find an “untapped” angle, one that not only stands out - but also offers something people want (and also allows you to be different because of it).Easier said than done, but it’s applicable to any business, and then we move onto:

Step #2 - Market Alignment

Positioning is easily the most important part of this process, but if there’s a close #2, it’s market alignment.A lot of different ways I could explain this as well, but at the end of the day, you need to make sure you’re working with people you like.If your positioning statement is:“Generate Better Leads”And your target market is:“Brand new business owners who haven’t landed their first client”...Then your life is going to be hell.These people never want to pay for anything, as they’re too dumb, but they also don’t have a lot of money to spend.They’re in “scarcity mode”, scared to spend a dollar as they don’t have any income coming in, so we’d have to take a different approach.One that attracts a better market, and maybe that’s real business owners who are currently generating leads with paid advertising, but don’t necessarily like the quality they’re getting.A lot of “tire kickers” that keep coming in, killing their profits because of it, so maybe you go in and help them change a few things.Do so in a way that immediately solves their problem, creating a win-win because of it.They get what they want, you don’t have to break your back doing this, and that’s the goal of “alignment”.Need to make sure everything matches up here, and it’s important to figure out what that is right now, as it’ll dictate how we leverage later steps.The “approach” will differ by markets, even if you have the same “positioning statement” overall, so we figure this out now and then move onto:

Step #3 - Offer Creation

Now that we know our positioning, along with the target market, the next step is creating an offer that provides everything they need.I’m not talking about your typical “newbie” offer either, saying:“100 leads or you don’t pay”...I’m talking about an offer that has a “product mindset”.To give you an example of this, with a lot of people in my field, they like to sell “funnels”.“We’ll build you a webinar funnel”...Which sounds great, but the issue is how it only helps like 1% of the market.These are people who already understand everything I just went through, such as:

So if they have that in place, then webinar funnels work great, but it’s worthless if they don’t.Can’t get any leads (or sales) if the foundation isn’t built, which is why I offer the ENTIRE package instead.One that actually gets results, and something I’ll explain in a second, but you essentially need to have a “product mindset”.Something that starts with a benefit, then gives them EVERYTHING they need to achieve this benefit.If my benefit was:“I help Sole Proprietors save thousands on tax”...But then only helped them:“Switch to an S-Corp”...My offer is “blah” at best.That’s only a small fraction of the process, they also need help:

The whole works, so I’d want to create an offer that does all this.Maybe say something along the lines of:

Which is everything they need to succeed, while also helping you show the true value of your services.If I just said:“I do Tax Planning”...It’s hard to get a lot of clients, as they can’t see everything that goes into it.They’ll be hesitant, as we like deliverables, so if I explained it in a way that said:

You’ll not only get more clients, but you’ll also be able to charge what you’re worth, as they can see the value now.Small tweaks, but they make all the difference, and then we have:

Step #4 - Conversion Asset

Now that the foundation is built, it’s time to start building your “marketing system”, and the actual implementation here will depend on a few things.For starters, if you’re the type that wants to build everything yourself, I’ll serve as a consultant that helps you do this.Pretty much teach you how to do everything, while also making sure it’s done correctly, and we’ll try to leverage your current skills.If you’re good at video, we’ll focus on that.If you’re good at writing, we’ll focus on that…Etc, you get the hint, and on top of this - your market/budget will have a big impact as well.If you’re the type who doesn’t want to spend a lot on ads, we’ll create a system that’s driven by content marketing.On the other hand, if you’re the type that doesn’t like creating content, we’ll create a system that’s driven by ads.There’s a lot of customization we can do here, ensuring it’s designed for you specifically, but that’s what we build now.Want to have a system in place that has prospects saying:

And a lot of times, it really doesn’t need to be that “difficult”.I once helped a Commercial Loan Broker generate $11M worth of loan leads, in less than a month, with some janky “LinkedIn Automation”.I’d never advise this anymore, as they’re cracking down on these tools, but the same logic applied either way.We did this by reaching out on LinkedIn, giving them a link to his Advertorial, and then having people sign-up for a call afterwards.Went something along the lines of:

And obviously worked incredibly well.That’s all you need, but in other scenarios, we can make it a little more complex.My personal favorite is “upside down” funnels, driven by content, creating something along the lines of:

So that’s what I skew towards, but again, that’ll all depend on your preferences and market.There’s a lot of different ways to do this, so we build this now, and then move onto:

Step #5 - Optimization

Even though I’m pretty good about getting results on the first try, as I’ve been doing this for so long, I also understand the importance of optimization.In the beginning stages, it’s important to just get everything launched and then begin landing deals, but the brain also has a funny way of generating “new” ideas after the process is started.Not in a way where you have to change much, but in a way where you can make minor improvements.Maybe you notice how a lot of leads have the question of:“How long does this take?”...So instead of dealing with that in calls, we make a quick revision on your conversion asset, mentioning that upfront.This would be a “minor” example, but in other cases, we can improve everything with certain tools.Maybe we install a “heat map” on your sales page, helping us see where leads begin to drop off, trying to smooth everything out after that.It’s a continuous process, continuing to make things better and better, so I typically like to stay on for 12 months.Don’t worry, I’m not going to charge some crazy retainer to do this either, I generally like to do project fees that cover everything upfront.In addition to that, I do like some sort of small “royalty fee” to go along with this, as I’m human and have more incentive when something continuously benefits me.Anyway, all things we’d have to discuss, as that’ll change by your preference and situation - but that’s the gist of it.Essentially have the package of:

Which provides everything you need, to get the results we’ve been mentioning.That’s the brief overview of what goes into my process, and if you’re interested in seeing how I can help you, then here’s the:

Next steps

For the next steps in this process, all I ask is that you sign-up for a phone call.Need to do the typical “consultation” to learn more, mainly so I can see what the best fit for your business is, and then if everything makes sense - I’ll take a little time explaining what offer would work best for you.If that’s something you want to move forward with, awesome, if not - no worries either.Zero obligation to jump on this call, and seeing how you already understand 99% of what’s going on, it really doesn’t have to take that long.I block off 45 minutes just to make sure there’s more than enough time, but unless you have a lot of questions, it probably won’t even be close to that.Fairly simple “next steps”, which is why I like to explain everything upfront, so if you’re interested in learning how I can help you specifically - then please click on the link below:

• Book Call

Signing-up for a time that works best for you after that.This is the “ideal” scenario, as it keeps the momentum going, but I also wanted to provide a head’s up and let you know that I’ll have “supplemental” information heading your way as well.Know there’s some items in this process that need further “elaboration”, so if you don’t mind, could you please go check your email either way and confirm I have the right email address?You should have an email from me in your inbox right now, saying:“Do I have the right email?”...And in that email, there will be a link you can click, to confirm I have the right address.After that, you’ll be added to the “supplemental information” group, where I send new content everyday that explains all this in more detail.Of course, if you ever get tired of these emails, all you have to do is click “unsubscribe” at the bottom - and you’ll never receive them again.Anyway, that’s all I wanted to mention today (for real now), so if you’d like to streamline the process and see how I can help you - then please click on the link below:

• Book Call

Signing-up for a call after that, and if not, please go confirm your email either way - that way I can send supplemental information that’ll help you understand everything even better.Thanks again for stopping by, and hopefully we talk soon.-Sean