Thom and I started this podcast because for over 20 years we have been discussing and dissecting on a daily basis what it takes to build a business.
Our daily conversations were so good and useful for Thom and I that we decided to make them public because we knew others would benefit from these conversations as well.
This week we discuss many topics but we start with how to deal with stage fright before a meeting or presentation.
00:6:09 – Stage fright and how to manage it
6:10 – 11:00- Maximizing the value of a lead
11:04 – 14:14 – Learn at least 1 thing from every situation
14:16 – 16:44 – Never Assume…..anything
17:02 – 20:09 – The value of your stories
20:23 – 23:33 – The importance of a really good Lead Gen Partner
Many think when you are the founder of a business… you have others doing the selling for you. Although this may be true as your business experiences growth….being in the field as a founder can generate invaluable feedback that can make an immediate impact on your business.
Three benefits of being a founder/seller…..
– Improving the product: Feedback can provide valuable insights into what customers want and need from the product, allowing the founder-seller to continuously improve and innovate the product to better meet customer needs.
– Building customer relationships: Engaging with customers and listening to their feedback can help build trust and deepen relationships with customers, leading to increased customer loyalty and advocacy.
– Validation of the product-market fit: Feedback can validate that the product is meeting the needs of its target market, providing a sense of validation and confidence in the business. This can also inform future business decisions, such as expanding into new markets or developing complementary products.
– Optimizing relevant keywords and content to improve search engine ranking and drive organic traffic.
– Content Marketing: Sharing valuable, relevant, and engaging content to attract and retain a target audience and drive website traffic.
– Email Marketing: Sending targeted and personalized email campaigns to your current and potential customers to drive traffic and increase conversions.
– Social Media Marketing: Utilizing social media platforms to reach and engage with your target audience, build brand awareness, and drive website traffic.
Paid Advertising: Investing in targeted advertising on search engines and social media platforms to drive traffic and increase conversions.
The last piece is merging these data points together in way that businesses can take immediate action.
A great product idea doesn’t always turn into a successful business for several reasons, including:
Lack of market fit: The product may not meet the needs or wants of the target market, or there may not be enough demand for it.
Poor execution: The product may not be developed or marketed effectively, resulting in low adoption or sales.
Competition: The market may already be crowded with similar products, making it difficult to stand out.
Financial mismanagement: The company may not have a solid business plan or may mismanage its finances, leading to financial difficulties and eventual failure.
Timing: The product may be ahead of its time or the market may not be ready for it yet, leading to limited success.
Lack of differentiation: The product may not offer any significant advantages over existing products, making it difficult to attract and retain customers.
Scalability issues: The company may struggle to effectively scale its operations and meet the demands of a growing customer base.
Therefore, a successful business requires not only a great product idea but also effective execution, market understanding, financial management, and adaptation to market trends.
Remember the Segway? They are still around but they were going to be revolutionize personal transportation.
Here are a few examples of great products that failed to become successful businesses:
– Google Glass: Despite being a highly innovative product, the high price point and privacy concerns kept Google Glass from becoming a mainstream success.
– Betamax: This was a high-quality videocassette format that was released by Sony in 1975. However, it failed to gain widespread adoption because of its proprietary nature and the success of its main rival, the VHS format.
– Apple Newton: This was one of the first personal digital assistants (PDAs) to hit the market. However, despite its advanced features, it suffered from poor battery life and an unreliable handwriting recognition system.
– Amazon Fire Phone: Amazon’s first smartphone had impressive features such as dynamic perspective and a unique user interface, but it failed to catch on with consumers due to a high price point and a lack of compelling apps like like it’s rival… Apple’s Appstore.
These products demonstrate that even innovative and well-designed products can fail if they don’t meet the right market need or are not executed well.
Thom and I discuss this topic in the following segment….
By nature I am an introvert so cold callers are at a disadvantage when they call me under most conditions.
Even when I am in need of the product or service the cold caller is calling about…I still rush them off the phone.
I suspect I am not alone. Most people do not even answer their if they do not recognize the incoming number.
A few weeks back Thom and I received a lot of good feedback from a podcast where we discussed our own hypothesis that Podcasting in many cases is warming up prospects better then cold calls. For this reason…B2B podcasting is taking off.
Anyway….the hypothesis we discussed was not made up…but based on our own experience while running our company #mergedanalytics .
Because of our podcasting…when we speak to prospects they often feel they know us already and have spoken to us before that initial call…..all because they have listened to our podcast.
Everyone likes a good story especially when they are authentic.
The best communicators understand that real stories whether they are positive or negative can be the most effective tools for getting people to understand whatever it is they are trying to teach you .
When a story is told the right way…the listeners should be able to apply the message to their own situation and learn something from it.
We use stories often to illustrate how companies sometimes even in the same vertical leverage #mergedanalytics. in different ways.
In this segment….Thom tells a story of one of our Engineering Customers and how they use MergedAnalytics to curb their competitors from poaching their key talent.
I had not heard of MergedAnalytics being used in this way before this story!
The word “entrepreneur” usually triggers certain preconceived notions about the people who take the quantum leap from a job to running their own business.
I find many think being an entrepreneur is for a certain type of charismatic genius. Unlimited riches are often associated with being an entrepreneur as well.
In reality…in most cases those ideas could not be further from the truth.
Entrepreneurs are often lonely, have a low self esteem and experience high levels of mind bending stress on a daily basis.
As the saying…”heavy lies the crown”.
Having said the above…being an entrepreneur could also be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of a lifetime.
Eating what you kill, having incentive to be creative on a daily basis and ultimately creating a better life not just for your customers but for yourself and coworkers in the process is an amazing feeling.
Entrepreneurs must make all aspects of personal health (mind, body and soul) their highest priority.
It is a marathon ….not a sprint.
There are hacks that you can do on a daily basis to make sure you stay in the game and cultivate a mindset that will allow you to perform at your highest levels.
Thom and I discuss some hacks specific for the entrepreneur in this segment.
Is Mark Zuckerberg following the correct process with his plans for the Metaverse?
Raising money or in Zuckerberg’s case…having access to billions at his disposal is many times the worst possible scenario when creating and building a new company.
Having a limited amount of money forces your focus on the mission critical aspects of launching your new business. Having a large sum of money can give you a false sense of security especially if you have raised it from a VC firm. “My idea has to be good…look how much money we raised from the VC firm”!!!!
There are countless examples of amazing well funded ideas that never go anywhere because certain things were not understood before going live.
Just because you solve a problem…does NOT mean you will have a successful company.
– It took 70 years for the light bulb to go mainstream because people preferred Gas Lights. – A technology that would have made Radiologists almost irrelevant was never adopted because Doctors refused to adopt the technology that would put many radiologist out of work.
– A new Keyboard that would have sped up typing was never adopted because people are used to the QWERTY keyboard standard.
– At the Turn of the 20th century combustible automobiles beat out electric vehicles
To launch a successful company….you need to understand….
– the buying process
– the end user
– the ecosystem
… and so much more.
Which brings me to Zuckerberg. He unilaterally pledged $10 Billion annually for the next 10 years and changed the name of his business because he was positive the Metaverse is the next thing.
Listen to this segment for more. mergedanalytics.com Thom Stallings MergedAnalytics LLC #mergedanalytics #nailitthenscaleit
