Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Mastering Marketing and Sales with Darren Moffatt
Transcript
- 0:00I would say it's right down the bottom.
- 0:02So it's when people have passed from awareness through interest and they're down to
- 0:07consideration, Right?
- 0:08So they're they're really looking at you or your business to solve their problem.
- 0:12They're gonna they're they're really looking at you, hard in terms of purchasing your product
- 0:17or engaging your services.
- 0:18And so you need to be doing everything you can at that point to get them to take the final
- 0:24step.
- 0:25And so a lot of that is around social proof, your testimonials, reviews, case studies, all
- 0:31those kinds of things can really help tip people over the edge, but, you know, I like to
- 0:36go old school down, write down in that part of the funnel, is human.
- 0:39It's it's human to human contact.
- 0:40It's conversational.
- 0:41It's picking up the phone.
- 0:43It's having video chats.
- 0:45Whatever it might be, you've gotta really focus on that human connection because people buy
- 0:51from other people, you know, that's still how it works even in the digital space.
- 0:5710, 10, ignition,
- 1:03liftoff.
- 1:05Ending small business failure.
- 1:07Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with the number one small business spurt, Melinda
- 1:13Emerson.
- 1:14Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
- 1:19you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
- 1:22Now here's your host, the small Biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
- 1:29Hi, everybody.
- 1:30Welcome to another edition of the small biz chat podcast.
- 1:33I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady.
- 1:35America's number one small business expert And I am so excited to welcome you to another
- 1:42episode.
- 1:43We are gonna be talking about sales lead gen.
- 1:47Oh my.
- 1:48Okay.
- 1:48So we're gonna be talking about lots of tips and tools that gonna be beneficial to you as
- 1:54you try to build that all important sales engine in your business.
- 1:59Today, my guest is Darren Moffett, He is the founder and chief nerd of nerds of business,
- 2:05and he is host of the nerds of business podcast.
- 2:08He is a award winning business person who is passionate about entrepreneurship.
- 2:13He is a recognized leader in both the financial services and digital marketing industry with
- 2:17over 20 years of experience and has helped 100 of businesses grow.
- 2:22He launched his first startup in 2006 and in 2012.
- 2:27He was the co founder of a tech startup that they called sort of like the Facebook for
- 2:33neighbors.
- 2:34It was called HouseNET, the social network site was later awarded 1 of the top 100 innovation
- 2:39awards in Australia in the smart 100 index.
- 2:43Since 2014, Darren has been of digital strategy and content at webbuzz.com.
- 2:50So I am so excited to have you here today, Darren, if you guys want more information about
- 2:55him, head over to nerds of business.com.
- 2:59Darren, welcome to the Small Bishop podcast.
- 3:02Well, hi, Melinda.
- 3:03Thank you for having me.
- 3:05I'm really, really excited to be here.
- 3:07Oh my gosh.
- 3:08I was so excited to talk to you, a a a fellow nerd of business.
- 3:12I love that, by the way.
- 3:15So so tell me your origin story.
- 3:19How did you become, you know, an entrepreneurship guru?
- 3:24Well, look, that is a very long story, and I know we've gotten rid of time.
- 3:27So I'll give you the sort of, 62nd very compressed version.
- 3:31Okay?
- 3:32Look, I would say that it actually started in bands, in music, I used to play, playing bands
- 3:38and rock bands in Sydney Australia.
- 3:40And I was kind of managing bands as well, and that's where I discovered my entrepreneurial
- 3:44bent.
- 3:46I made a lot of mistakes along the way.
- 3:47Had a lot of fun, but from there, I you know, went into, I was in financial services as well
- 3:54as a day gig working in banking and so on.
- 3:56And then I just spotted a an opportunity, you know, like, I was working in equity release or
- 4:01reversed mortgages.
- 4:02I think you have them over there in the States as sort of loans for people, older people.
- 4:06And, I spotted a gap in the market sort of rather than being a lender in that space, I
- 4:11could see an opportunity as a broker because there was many lenders.
- 4:14And I launched a business called seniors first.
- 4:17And, that business is still going today 15, 16 years later, very successful.
- 4:22And really, that's where I got into marketing and sales, and I taught myself how to blog.
- 4:27Actually, I started blogging 2008.
- 4:30And from there, got quite good at digital, and some other business started asking me to help
- 4:35them as well.
- 4:35So here we are in 2022, and, I think, you know, I've generated, yeah, sort of well over 200,000
- 4:41leads from for clients and myself, since, since that very inauspicious beginning.
- 4:47Well, I wanna go back to the 200,000 leads for people.
- 4:52That is no small feat people.
- 4:56Uh-huh.
- 4:56So so tell me so tell me How did you create the nerds of business?
- 5:02Like, what is that?
- 5:04Yeah.
- 5:04Okay.
- 5:04Well, that's, that is actually a, a response to the stress of the pandemic.
- 5:11I I was, like, a lot of people was having a bit of a nervous breakdown and, I I really felt
- 5:16like I wanted to start a podcast and I felt like I had quite a lot, you know, I accumulated
- 5:21a fair bit of business knowledge and marketing expertise over the years, and I I wanted to,
- 5:26find a a medium to share it.
- 5:29And I just I I, you know, I came up with this concept of of of nerds and business thought it
- 5:33was pretty catchy.
- 5:34And so I launched a podcast in, 2020 and really the first series on branding, and we did
- 5:40another series on development.
- 5:41We went really, really nerdy on how to develop products and design products.
- 5:45Then the most, most recent series was on the mindset of the entrepreneur And now we're going
- 5:51into, lead generation.
- 5:53So, yeah, we kinda tackle a theme each series, and and it's a it's designed to really educate
- 5:59business owners and entrepreneurs with some of the best minds out there, practicing in these
- 6:04particular fields.
- 6:05Love it.
- 6:06Love it.
- 6:06Love it.
- 6:06So your your passion is really teaching people marketing and sales.
- 6:12Right?
- 6:12So if you wanted to focus, like, have a small business focus on their sales.
- 6:18Where would you have them start?
- 6:21Wow.
- 6:22That's a big question.
- 6:24So look, I think ultimately, you know, there's so many ways to sort of come at that question,
- 6:30but, the thing I would say is you've really gotta be focused on the problem you're solving
- 6:35for your core target market.
- 6:39And start simple.
- 6:40Just focus on one problem.
- 6:42Focus on one use case or one buyer persona is the technical the term there, sort of 11 sort
- 6:48of composite character of your target market, and and just get really good at that.
- 6:52You know, just understand that problem inside and out understand, how you can help solve that
- 6:58problem, what your core value proposition is, you know, really your point of difference, and
- 7:03you really wanna get good at your elevator pitch.
- 7:06So when you're at a barbecue or a bar or a cafe or some sort of networking event, you've gotta
- 7:11be really good at saying in 10, 15 seconds exactly who you help and what you do.
- 7:19I agree with you.
- 7:20I'm I believe in that sort of, like, x, y, z method.
- 7:23I do this for this group of people, and we generate these kind of results.
- 7:28That's right.
- 7:28That's that's it.
- 7:29That that's the pitch.
- 7:31So You say they've gotta focus on their their one issue and their one target customer.
- 7:37Right?
- 7:37So it's like their one thing they're fixing in their one target customer.
- 7:42So why do you think people so many small business owners struggle with marketing sales?
- 7:49It's like they know how to make their widgets.
- 7:52They might even know who their customer is, but they struggle with the actual marketing and
- 7:58sales end of it.
- 8:00Yes.
- 8:01Well, there there's many reasons for that, but they all nominate one big one.
- 8:05And I I think, they're not tapping into the into their EQ they're not tapping into their
- 8:11empathy, into their emotional intelligence, right, because ultimately sales and marketing
- 8:15is all about EQ, putting yourself in the mindset of your customer, understanding their
- 8:21pain points, understanding their problems, their journey, and and and really stripping
- 8:26your own ego out of it.
- 8:27You know, that's that comes down to to really taking your ego out of it, which, can be a
- 8:31problem for some of us like me, whatever, but that you've gotta you've gotta get good at
- 8:36that.
- 8:37But I think To be fair to business owners, it's not that they don't have the EQ in many cases
- 8:42or most cases.
- 8:43It's just that they're time haul.
- 8:46So they're too busy.
- 8:47It's and and they've got too many, pots on the boil on the stove, so to speak, to use a
- 8:52cooking analogy and it makes it difficult for them to just zone in, get a zen like sort of
- 9:00calm presence and really focus on that customer need?
- 9:05So their time poor that it's hard for them to focus on their customer need So what should
- 9:12they do?
- 9:13Well, you know, they they could read a book like your book, they they could consult consult
- 9:20a someone, very smart and and experience like like you and many, but many other good
- 9:25consultants out there.
- 9:26But, look, if you're a small business owner on a limited budget, what you can really do is
- 9:31just set aside some time every day just to read or to listen to podcasts or whatever it might
- 9:36be, get some great stimulus and great import from other people out there who who been on
- 9:41this journey longer, who are further down that path and really, teach yourself, you know, d
- 9:47DIY that I'm a big believer in DIY.
- 9:49And I think these days, there's enough, there's enough tools, courses, platforms out there
- 9:57where if you've got sufficient time, and it can educate yourself.
- 10:00You don't need to pay for expensive consultants.
- 10:02You can essentially do it yourself.
- 10:04Alright.
- 10:04So you just open up the door.
- 10:06Give me your top 3, you know, internet marketing books who who wrote them.
- 10:13Alright.
- 10:13Okay.
- 10:14That's, it changes, but, the first one I like, for entrepreneurs and, startups is called the
- 10:21art of the start by a guy Kawasaki.
- 10:25I know.
- 10:25Very well.
- 10:26Yeah.
- 10:27You know, Guy?
- 10:28Oh, wow.
- 10:28Okay.
- 10:29I've I've never I don't think I've spoken with someone that knows him personally.
- 10:32So that book is just amazing for really it's it's like a it's a it's like a guide book.
- 10:38You know, I I often even after all these years, we'll just pick it up and and look at a
- 10:43particular thing I might need a bit of help with.
- 10:46So that's a great one for business people who are starting out in that early stage, you know,
- 10:51journey.
- 10:53The other one I like is is Seth Godin's, obviously, you know, huge figure in in
- 10:58marketing, and I'm a I'm a huge fan of his and his podcast.
- 11:02He's got so many good books, but the one that I I probably go to is what purple cow is a big
- 11:08one, but he's he's most recent one is this is Mark and he's also very good.
- 11:11So Seth Goden, The only one that
- 11:14Purple Cow is actually my favorite seth go to book 2, by the way, just side by.
- 11:19Yeah.
- 11:19I think that's the one that we're he really kind of became more widely known, you know, he
- 11:24was obviously a a real guru before that, but that really took him over the top into the
- 11:28wider business community.
- 11:31And the other one, that I like is contagious.
- 11:33So contagious is is around, you know, viral marketing and and and, you know, how ideas
- 11:39spread and stuff like that.
- 11:41So, yeah, there's my thread.
- 11:44Alright.
- 11:44I love it.
- 11:45I love it.
- 11:45I it's interesting.
- 11:46I was I wasn't sure what you were gonna say, but I I I was familiar with all of those books,
- 11:52so I'm glad to know that great minds think alike.
- 11:54So, When you think about the sales funnel, I think the sales funnel has been transformed as
- 12:03much as traditional marketing has been formed.
- 12:06And, I'm wondering what your thought is around.
- 12:11What is the most important step in the sales funnel today.
- 12:17Okay.
- 12:17So just to clarify, we're we're talking sales funnel as a distinct from marketing funnel.
- 12:22Is that right?
- 12:22So I use those 2 interchangeably.
- 12:25So I I think that if we're talking about brand awareness, consideration, sales, retention,
- 12:36advocacy.
- 12:36That's what I'm talking about when I talk about sales funnel.
- 12:40Mhmm.
- 12:40Yep.
- 12:41Okay.
- 12:41Well, I mean, again, it kinda depends where you're coming at it from.
- 12:46Like, if if you're if you you wanna get volume, then the top of the funnel where you're getting
- 12:51more, you know, the quantum of people in, like lots of people in coming into the funnel is the
- 12:55most important because, assuming that all other steps of your funnel are working and converting
- 13:00at a reasonable rate, that's just gonna spit out more more sales at the bottom.
- 13:06But that usually takes a pretty significant investment of ad spend or, you know, you've
- 13:12gotta buy the traffic from somewhere, So in terms of, the most valuable part of the funnel
- 13:18for small businesses, I would say it's right down the bottom.
- 13:23So it's when people have passed from awareness through interest and they're down to
- 13:28consideration, Right?
- 13:29So they're they're really looking at you or your business to solve their problem.
- 13:33They're gonna they're they're really looking at you, hard in terms of purchasing your product
- 13:38or engaging your services.
- 13:40And so you need to be doing everything you can at that point to get them to take the final
- 13:46step.
- 13:46And so a lot of that around, a lot of that is around social proof, you know, testimonials,
- 13:53reviews, case studies, all those kinds of things can really help tip people over the
- 13:58edge, but, you know, I like to go old school down write down in that part of the funnel,
- 14:02it's it's it's it's human.
- 14:04It's it's human to human contact.
- 14:05It's conversational.
- 14:06It's picking up the phone.
- 14:08It's having video chats.
- 14:10Whatever it might be, you've gotta really focus on that human connection, because people people
- 14:16buy from other people, you know, that's that's that's still how it works even in the digital
- 14:22space.
- 14:23I agree with you.
- 14:24I think it just takes a little bit longer because if you meet somebody in person, What
- 14:28does it take about 3 to 4 contacts before you get to, like, you know, okay.
- 14:32I like this person.
- 14:33I trust this person.
- 14:34Maybe they can do business with me.
- 14:35But when you connect with somebody online, it's about, what, 7 quality contacts up to about 30.
- 14:44Before somebody really takes you seriously and really kinda wants to hear what you have to
- 14:47say.
- 14:48And so you really kinda have to put that time in to really get to that, like, you know, and
- 14:54trust that you were just talking about.
- 14:56Because I think it's harder online
- 14:59It is.
- 15:00It is.
- 15:00But if I here's a here's a good hack.
- 15:01I can give you listeners, and and you probably already know this because you're doing it
- 15:05yourself.
- 15:06But this is where podcasting is really powerful.
- 15:09So in my sort of agency business, if I'm, corresponding, you know, I'm having meetings
- 15:15and chat with people that might be seeking to engage us as a service provider.
- 15:20I will often, you know, share links to various podcast episodes with that person.
- 15:27And I find that that really helps speed that process up because, and particularly because
- 15:32we're doing a lot of B2B stuff, in our podcast nurture business.
- 15:36We've got some really good episodes focused on B2B.
- 15:38And when I share that, I find that, you know, podcast is such an intimate medium.
- 15:43They hear your voice.
- 15:44They get to know the way you speak, your intonation, and so on.
- 15:47And it really it accelerates that trust process.
- 15:51So there's a good little hack.
- 15:52If you're out there doing any podcast, use it at the bottom of the sales funnel because it
- 15:56really does help to build that personal connection.
- 15:59You know, that's actually a tip I have never thought about.
- 16:02So you're actually on here educating me, Darren.
- 16:07Well, there you go.
- 16:08I mean, look, I I, you know, I do my best.
- 16:10I'm I'm now on my second coffee, so maybe that's what it is.
- 16:14Alright.
- 16:15So tell me about The top 3 things that small business owners should know about lead gen and
- 16:21about lead generation and why it's so important.
- 16:25Great.
- 16:25Well, look, firstly, here's something that it took me a long time to learn, and I I really
- 16:32can't find anyone else out there talking about this particular thing.
- 16:36So I'm quite passionate about sharing this insight with the people, and that is that going
- 16:40back to the sales funnel, right, so from aware awareness to interest to consideration and then
- 16:47finally to conversion as a lead the biggest problem I see out there in, campaigns run by
- 16:55agencies as well, but also business owners is that they don't align all the different
- 17:01components of a of a campaign with the the stage of the funnel.
- 17:06So what I mean by that is that if you're doing lead generation online, you've got probably 4
- 17:11components.
- 17:11Right?
- 17:12You you've got, you've got your the ads.
- 17:15You've got the landing page.
- 17:17You've got the hook and you've got the story.
- 17:19Right?
- 17:19And you and your offer, you know, might be part of that.
- 17:22With a lead magnet or whatever.
- 17:24You've got to align all those things to the same part of the sales funnel.
- 17:30So for instance, if you're going for people at the top of the funnel who are just barely
- 17:35problem aware, they're doing a bit of research.
- 17:37They wanna get some knowledge some information about this issue they're having, then
- 17:42everything should be aligned to that part of the funnel.
- 17:45So you shouldn't be asking, for instance, for, like, 10 questions on a web form at that point.
- 17:50It's too much.
- 17:51They don't know.
- 17:52Right?
- 17:53Your lead magnet should should be lighter.
- 17:55It should be more like a an ebook or a checklist or something like that.
- 17:59Right?
- 17:59But, you know, contrast that with down at the bottom of the funnel, someone who's already
- 18:04knows the problem.
- 18:05They that's solution aware they're actively looking at solutions.
- 18:09Well, then at that point, you be more sophisticated.
- 18:12You know, you can ask for more data on the web form.
- 18:15You can you can maybe you're offering a webinar there as as as the lead magnet and so on.
- 18:19So that's the app absolute biggest problem I see is that people are misaligning the
- 18:24different components of their campaign with the the stage of the funnel, and that's that causes
- 18:30a lot of wasted ad spend and and a low conversion rate and that's very unhappy
- 18:37business owners.
- 18:38I I couldn't agree with you more.
- 18:40I mean, I think there is specific content you want at the top of the funnel middle of the
- 18:45funnel and bottom of the funnel.
- 18:47You know?
- 18:47I mean, I just think but but I agree with you.
- 18:50I don't know that it's always aligned.
- 18:53And it might be, like, too basic of content versus more specific content.
- 18:58Then, actually, when it comes to my blog, we actually are very intentional about this.
- 19:03We write content, we publish content, fresh content for me four times a month.
- 19:10And so we're very intentional about focusing on 2 of the articles for more startup side hustle
- 19:17kind of audience.
- 19:18And then 2 of the articles are hardcore for like existing entrepreneurs or trying to figure
- 19:23out how to grow, how to scale, you know, like, like, introducing some new technology that
- 19:28they're not familiar with that would be way over the head of of a more startup type
- 19:33business.
- 19:34So I and we always think about that even in our, you know, our blog content because it's
- 19:39like, we gotta make sure that we're not losing somebody and that we have content that's
- 19:43relevant for, you know, at least 2 different segments that we target with our business.
- 19:48Yeah.
- 19:48Absolutely.
- 19:50So Should a business have multiple forms of lead gen activities going on at once?
- 20:02Well, again, I think it goes to, the resources that the business has.
- 20:06I mean, My number one rule is to be realistic about your own resources.
- 20:11Like, you know, the resources are usually for nights, you know, particularly in small
- 20:15business.
- 20:16So if if if you're too stretched over too many different activities, you're just not gonna do
- 20:22anything that well.
- 20:23Like, it's better to focus on on in my view, fewer or less activities with regard to
- 20:30marketing or lead generation and and do those really well rather than spread it too too
- 20:36widely.
- 20:36But having said that, just to sort of fully answer your question, I think that the most
- 20:41effectively generation campaigns are those that that, you know, you have the primary funnel,
- 20:45and then you've got the secondary funnel, and you've got the stuff happening in the
- 20:48background.
- 20:48So for instance, you you might be, you know, doing blogs or content marketing, but you're
- 20:54crazy in my view not to invest a time in content marketing and SEO and blogging and so
- 20:58on.
- 20:59Without also investing some dollars, very, very minimal dollars in remarketing or retargeting,
- 21:04right, because that's just gonna give you massive bang for Bakken.
- 21:08For people that don't know about retargeting, it's those ads that stalk you around the
- 21:12internet.
- 21:12You know, you you you might be looking at a pair of shoes and you you your child calls you
- 21:17away, you know, because spilt their drink and you come back 20 minutes later and you're on
- 21:20Facebook and there's there's that ad for that same pair of shoes that you didn't buy.
- 21:24Right?
- 21:24That's that's retargeting remarketing.
- 21:26And pound per pound per pound or well, hang on a minute, we're in we're in America here.
- 21:30So I'll use dollar for dollar.
- 21:33Dollar for dollar retargeting is like your best value advertising, you'll ever spend.
- 21:38Right?
- 21:38It's it's really, really cheap compared to other forms of advertising.
- 21:42So, yeah, so I would say focus on doing fewer things really well, but when it comes to SEO
- 21:48and blogging and content marketing, definitely support that with retargeting.
- 21:53I think that is brilliant brilliant brilliant advice.
- 21:58Now in that same line of questioning, Do you feel like lead gen is different for B2C
- 22:05Businessesversusbtobbusinesses?
- 22:09Yes.
- 22:09It is.
- 22:10That's a great question.
- 22:11I love that question, Linda.
- 22:13So, there's been studies on this.
- 22:15B to b actually has a, a much higher trust threshold than b to c.
- 22:18Now that sounds counterintuitive.
- 22:20Right?
- 22:20You think, oh, consumers would be harder to gain the trust, but it's actually that's not
- 22:25correct.
- 22:25It's businesses.
- 22:26By a factor of about 5 and, in fact, businesses are harder to get the trust.
- 22:32And the reason they're they're harder when you're thinking about it, it does make sense.
- 22:35Is that there's more at stake.
- 22:37So, you know, if you step up, the the marketing or sales funnel for a business, that has really
- 22:44significant flow and effects.
- 22:46And that that affects their sales, volume, their revenue.
- 22:49It can affect, you know, whether or not they can meet payroll, pay their staff, and so on.
- 22:53Right?
- 22:53Really, really important.
- 22:54Whereas, you know, if if someone of consumer doesn't like the widget that you're selling,
- 22:59well, okay, they might complain on social media, but it it's it's not the end of the
- 23:04world.
- 23:05Right.
- 23:05So so, yeah, b b to b has a much, much, higher trusted barrier, but here's where it gets
- 23:13really interesting.
- 23:14The most effective B2B campaigns actually take the best elements of B2C.
- 23:19That is they don't talk to businesses like other businesses.
- 23:23They talk to businesses like humans, like people.
- 23:26So this is the re the real took me a while to learn this, actually.
- 23:30This is the real, key insight is when you're doing B2B, don't be boring, don't be bland,
- 23:36don't corporate, don't be talking to businesses like their organizations, inject that humidity,
- 23:42inject the fun, inject the pathos, in in whatever it is, That's how you engage people
- 23:47because ultimately at the end of the day, companies, businesses, ventures, and so on,
- 23:51they are just collectively groups of people.
- 23:54Love it.
- 23:55Love it.
- 23:55Alright.
- 23:56So what is the best way to track all this marketing activity?
- 23:59We're doing all this stuff.
- 24:01We're developing content.
- 24:02We're doing remarketing ads.
- 24:04Okay.
- 24:05What's the best way to track all this stuff?
- 24:08Okay.
- 24:09Well, I thought no one would ever ask me that question.
- 24:12Melinda, you've you've you've asked me the question.
- 24:13I've been waiting my whole life to be asked.
- 24:16So so I'm gonna get super nerdy on you now.
- 24:19Right?
- 24:19Like, I'm gonna freak your listeners out.
- 24:21They're just gonna go, god, this guy is so nerdy.
- 24:23Right?
- 24:24We're gonna talk about 2 types of data here.
- 24:26Qualitative data and quantitative data.
- 24:29Right?
- 24:30So you I'm sure you already know this, but for your listeners, I'll break it down.
- 24:33Right?
- 24:33So quantitative data is the numbers.
- 24:35Right?
- 24:36So that's your Google analytics.
- 24:37That's your conversion rate, how many people are going, what percentage of people are
- 24:41converting through a particular part of your funnel or, you know, becoming a lead on a web
- 24:46form.
- 24:46Right?
- 24:46That's your quantitative data.
- 24:48Your qualitative data is the why.
- 24:51And so this is, in in many respects, much more interesting.
- 24:56It's like, well, why are people clicking on that button.
- 25:00Why aren't people converting on that web form?
- 25:03Why aren't people sharing that bit of content?
- 25:05And to get your qualitative data, you use some other really cool tools.
- 25:10My favorite one is is called hotjar.
- 25:12So hotjar is where you can actually, it shows you heat mapping where so where people are
- 25:18clicking on the web page, and it also videos actual users going through your page.
- 25:24So you can see how people are interacting with your page content, with your web form, and so
- 25:29on.
- 25:29And this is giving you the why question.
- 25:32So the the Google analytics is for is is your is all the numbers.
- 25:36You need that.
- 25:37Really important, but it doesn't tell you why stuff is happening.
- 25:40The qualitative data with tools such as hotjar, does explain the why.
- 25:46Love it.
- 25:47Love it.
- 25:47Love it.
- 25:47I think that's really important what you just said.
- 25:50It's like, why are they or why aren't they?
- 25:53Both of those questions are worth investigating.
- 25:56It sounds like.
- 25:58So tell me something.
- 25:59What is the best best business book that you've ever read to inspire you.
- 26:05The best business book?
- 26:08Oh, right.
- 26:08Wow.
- 26:09The the the one I find most inspiring.
- 26:14Again, you know, jeez, there's so many I could I could pluck out of the air there, one that
- 26:18immediately springs to mind is, it starts with y.
- 26:21So, by Simon Scenic, and, you know, yeah, you're nodding.
- 26:26You know that book as well.
- 26:27It's a very famous book.
- 26:29But what what that book does so well is that it clarifies your mission, your purpose, who
- 26:35you're serving, and why.
- 26:37And and ultimately, I think all business owners, need to have that clarity of purpose.
- 26:42And if you if you know, you know, a, you know, what you're doing, but more importantly, you
- 26:46know, why you're doing it and who you're doing it for, then everything just becomes so much
- 26:50easier.
- 26:52I I could not agree with you more And tell me your favorite old school marketing hack.
- 27:00Favorite old school marketing hack.
- 27:02Well, you're really you're putting me through my paces today, Melinda.
- 27:05I've gotta say I I'm I'm I'm working hard.
- 27:07There's I I I might be looking like a swan, you know, gliding or I'm I'm actually not looking
- 27:12like a swan one is graceful.
- 27:13I'm I'm the opposite of a swan, but if I was a a a very daggy swan, there'd be a lot of
- 27:19furious paddling going under, underwater here.
- 27:22So old school marketing hack, let me, let me say this direct mail is not there.
- 27:30Direct mail is not there.
- 27:31So direct mail is is still an incredibly powerful channel.
- 27:36People gets overlooked these days because of the, the proliferation of digital with Facebook
- 27:42and Google and Instagram and TikTok and all the rest of it.
- 27:44But if you wanna really cut through with an audience that is saturated, you're suffering
- 27:49content saturation.
- 27:50Direct me off can be a very good channel.
- 27:52Excellent.
- 27:53Excellent.
- 27:54And last question for you.
- 27:57What is the best business advice anyone has ever given you?
- 28:01Okay.
- 28:02Well, that one is an easy one.
- 28:03I can answer that in, no time at all.
- 28:07So in about 2000 and, 5, when I was thinking about starting my own business, I it was either
- 28:16I was gonna start a business or I was gonna put the money that I had into a property.
- 28:21So I was gonna buy, you know, investment property or is gonna start a business.
- 28:26And a friend of mine, sat me down over a couple of drinks, and he had built up a substantial
- 28:32property portfolio.
- 28:33I think at that point, you know, about 10 or 12 properties, he's got a lot more now.
- 28:37And he gave me very counterintuitive advice So I was leaning towards buying the property, and
- 28:44he said, don't do that.
- 28:45I said, why not?
- 28:46And he goes, you'll you'll always be limited by what you can achieve, the rate of growth you
- 28:51can achieve through through property.
- 28:53You're gonna be limited by what the banks will lend you, by the rental yield, and so on.
- 28:57He said you're going to get much, much stronger, higher, faster, longer growth by
- 29:04starting your own business and growing that like crazy.
- 29:06And that was the best piece of advice I've ever received because I took that to heart.
- 29:11And I thought, well, if this person here that is a bit of a property guru has built up a
- 29:15little little, you know, mini empire of of investment properties, if he's telling me, not
- 29:19to go that way, but to actually start my own business, I I need to listen to that.
- 29:23And so I did.
- 29:24And, you know, now I've got, you know, several businesses and you know, a bunch of stuff and a
- 29:29lot of really good content.
- 29:30It was the best of us that I've ever received.
- 29:32I love it.
- 29:33I love it.
- 29:33Thank you so much, Darren Moffett, the founder and chief nerd of nerds of business and the
- 29:39nerds of business podcast.
- 29:40If you guys want more information about him, head over to nerds of business.com.
- 29:47And I wanna leave you all with this.
- 29:49You know, I'm Melinda Emerson, the small business lady.
- 29:51And I will tell you that you never lose any business, either you win or you learn.
- 29:57God bless everybody.
- 30:00Thanks for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
- 30:05Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcast, and join us next Wednesday for more
- 30:10fantastic information and interviews.
- 30:13You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
- 30:18website succeed as your own boss dot com.
- 30:21Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.