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SEO, AI & Marketing Strategy That Actually Converts: How to Get More Leads, Clients & Growth (Without Guesswork) · Unstoppable Success Podcast

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of Unstoppable Success.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Jacqueline Schuminger.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: And on this podcast, as you know, we hear from amazing individuals, leaders, and influential people that are out there having unstoppable success themselves, and they get to share their tips, their insights, and all the things to help you be unstoppable.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: And today I'm gonna get to introduce you to Wes Towers.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: You might find his voice amazing because he's coming from Australia.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Those of you in the United States, we always love an accent.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing I want to share with you about Wes because he truly has an unstoppable success.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: He basically is a learn on the jump kind of person.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: But for 20 years, he has run Uplift 360, where he has helped real world businesses, especially builders and trades, turn websites and SEO into steady, qualified work, no fluff and no jargon, just clear strategy, clear execution and results so they can see on the calendar and in the bank their results.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome, WASP, because what you do for your clients is that you help them have success.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: But you sort of, as we were kind of sharing a little bit, and I want you to want my, want the listeners to hear, you sort of fell into this group and you can't swing a hand.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's right.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: So because we serve the trades and construction industry, oftentimes people might assume that I had that background, the trades and construction.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I didn't at all.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm as I said to you before the show, I'm useless swinging a swinging a hammer and picking up a don't know what end of the screwdriver to hold.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: So it's kind of funny that I serve these people.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: But I think so.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: I've been in running the digital agency for a long time, as you said, and I found the majority of our better clients were all looking and sounding the same and was the in the trades and construction industries for them for the most part.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: So the niche found me.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the best things in life often feel like that, don't they?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: So they feel like they just are a good fit.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: And you sometimes you're not searching for a some certain something, but if you've got your eyes wide open, you see the opportunities and you and you feel you set it, you set you set yourself on a path and a direction, but there's opportunities along the way to evolve what how you go about doing things.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it's been fun.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's so true.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you just had a golden nugget in there.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So listeners, I'm so glad you said this, Wes.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: But listeners, here's the key thing that Wes just said, and I just want to make sure you got it because it's a huge nugget.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Being open to opportunities.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know when something's going to fall in your lap or you're going to have a conversation.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm kind of curious, going because again, so listeners, be open, be ready to have conversations.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, Wes, did you have a conversation with somebody that that all of a sudden it was like that right connection?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, so how did you find the niche?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, what what was that door that opened for you?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I just sort of set myself on the path.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: I I wanted to start a my own company.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'd been in well, I'd studied graphic design multimedia back in those days.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: There weren't really websites.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: It was I feel so old when I say that, but don't worry.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm I'm probably right there with you on the age.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: So choosing the career path, websites weren't really a thing, but I studied graphic design multimedia, got my first job in marketing in an award-winning marketing company.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: They'd never never designed a website, but they won a project and said, You're right, you're the young guy, better figure out how to build this site.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I did and I loved it.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: I loved the technical and the creative aspect.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: So that's you know, that that that kind of felt like it found me in that instance, the website design and development.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I became their website person.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: And by the time I started my own business naively a few years later, that's what I wanted to do.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I didn't realise I wanted to niche into the trades and construction.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: I I was just doing websites for anyone and everyone, anyone who would uh come on board.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, and then on that path and direction, I I realized, hey, the majority of our better clients were were in the trades and construction, so decided to to double down on on what was working the best.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: So and it I mean the industry is changing wildly all the time, as you can imagine with AI.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, everyone's talking about AI, but it's always felt like it's evolved really fast.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so you just need to be so nimble and seeing what the trends are and seeing what the opportunities are.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it keeps us on our toes for sure.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh it's a uh like a roller coaster, right?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh it's it's a wild journey.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think every business is.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: It is so okay.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Two things.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna ask the first question.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: So and listeners, this is actually a really key tip for success.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things that you did is you analyzed your business, right?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you said, you know, you looked at what was working and you and it's really good to create a niche.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: It could have been beauty salons, right?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if beauty salons were the one that were working, right?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: Could have been anything, really.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, sometimes you're just not quite sure what you know, there's so many options, you don't not quite sure what to choose.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I think if you set yourself on a path, you know, we've it feels like we know the now, the ABC, but the we don't know the Z, do we?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh XYZ.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: So that middle part is the challenging part.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I think if you just set yourself on the journey and correct course all the all the all the way, yeah, that's kind of how it's worked for me.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I've always had a long-term vision, but it hasn't been too prescriptive in terms of exactly what I'm doing.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: The the the goals that I that I wanted to achieve for myself in the in the initial starting of a business, you know, setting up life and freedom and things that I could a business that I could work around my lifestyle so I could not lose time with the children, which is something I think a lot of people lose because, you know, they invest so much time in their businesses, they they don't get to do the things that they set out to do when they started the business in the first place.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: So those things were dear to me to have the time with the children, to coach them in basketball and all that fun stuff.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: So those things were achieved, but uh to set up a business that supports what I want to do for the long term as well is really important.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so those are some really golden nuggets.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because basically, what you really did is you, you know, you've done a couple of things that I feel like I talk about all the time.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: You do you were doing the MMA, you were a measure, monitoring, and adjusting because we're as being nimble, we're always looking at in our businesses.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: We always have to do that.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: We always have to look, you know, at our actions, direct marketing.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: You would always look at, you know, like your control package, what's working, what's not working, that test, test, test, create a new control.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we're always doing that on our business.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a key part to success.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: So listeners like follow Wes on that part.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: But the other thing that you did is you knew what your vision was.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we and I think and and I think sometimes we we might we might be so focused on the specific vision, like I want to do this you with this niche.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: You can still get to this, but maybe with a different niche, right?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Which is basically what you did.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: So you had this bigger vision.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and I would say so.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Kudos to you.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's a huge part for unstoppable success, is knowing your vision, like and having that.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, yeah, I think you're right.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's it'll vary from person to person, but there's there's the aspects that are non-negotiable.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're the core things that you want in your life, and you that that's your core vision.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but there's sometimes things on the peripheral that can adapt and change to facilitate that, those core foundational, really solid things in your life that you want to achieve and want to do, and what you want life to look like, because it can so easily be lost in the busyness of everything as well.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess it starts with who you truly are as a person.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: What you know, your values and convictions are born out of your own personal values and convictions, and and to be to have that self-awareness is really important.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and those are some of the key things to have unstoppable success.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Having awareness, knowing your values are so important.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: There's something else that you said that I that I really want to make sure that our listeners really grasp.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: We say it all the time, always be learning.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think I think what you the way you are saying it in your business, your business is changing all the time.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, how how do you stay on top of the coming change?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's really uh challenging, isn't it?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: A challenging times for a lot of businesses with AI and what that looks like.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: Certainly speaking to various people in my world a few years ago, someone mentioned that my whole industry was vulnerable to being wiped out simply because AI will do a lot of the technical aspects of what we do.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, that was a bit of a wake-up call.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: I I kind of knew deep down that you can kind of bury and put aside these things that are difficult to deal with.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: So, but it was really good that that he shared with me those things because it meant that I focused in on what we needed to adapt and change for the short term, but also with the long term in in mind.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: But the biggest shift we made at that time was I brought my team in at a greater level to have input and insight into how we do things.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: See all the standard operating procedures, I'm really diligent on having procedure to achieve predictable and reliable outcome each and every time.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: But they were all built around me and how what I thought was best.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Because it started as a micro business, it started as just me.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: So it kind of just grew and it was stayed with my with my ways of doing things.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I realized, hey, I've got a lot of technical people around me.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: My team are technical, I've got that significant advantage in this world of AI.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I I started drawing upon there, what they're seeing, what what they felt might be the shifts, where what could we adjust to make sure we're readied as best we can for the for the uh shifts.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so we were able to streamline our procedures significantly and you know, save a whole lot of time and what we were same outcome, just saved a whole bunch of time just because I listened for the very first time.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: What a what a what a crazy uh thing to run to run a business so long and not really to involve your key team members to that level.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they were brilliant.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: I I hire people that are smarter than me, always.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Key key, key thing, key thing to do that.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't want to interrupt, but but I really want listeners to understand this.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's so true, you know, to be able to get outside to for you to actually into for that success, right?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Number one is look at your team, right?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: You hire smarter people, people that are smarter than you.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kudos, right?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's really important.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: But then creating that environment where you kind of say, okay, this is what's, you know, what do you see what's happening?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: As you said, how can we learn from it from it?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and you realize, like, I'm not the smartest person in the room, but you you lean on your team to bring in the knowledge.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then what is and I'll not to be able to put words in your mouth, but I'm assuming the biggest thing that you see from that is you can, as you just shared, you can probably do more.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're accomplishing things faster, but then your team is probably more vested in the company itself.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I previously I had issues holding really great people within the team.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um because it felt like they kind of outgrew their position, like they started to get bored.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Because, as I said before, I'm really process-oriented.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, and that can be monotonous, and you can soon find yourself a little bit bored if you're doing the same thing every day in, day out.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: And there's certainly advantages of that because it's kind of, you know, it creates that predictable outcome.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: But you can I could appreciate how people might feel as though they they want to be stretched in new ways.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so I didn't have a mechanism for that.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I think this is a really good way of keeping people engaged, and it's going to continue evolving.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm certainly going to keep those doors wide open for further discussions as we go.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: I had a horror story actually along this line.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm happy to share as well.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe lesson learned the hard way.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: Early on in the business, I suppose.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh I don't know how far in, but it was a time where I had a lead developer, a website developer.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I could sense that he was getting bored with the work.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: This was a little bit of a pattern that I'd seen previously as well.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I I knew why, because he's he was really, as I said, hire smart people.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: So he was probably beyond the level of working which we had for him.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: So this project came up, which was really complicated, complex.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: I had no idea how to build it.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: It was a dating website, it was before those the apps and all that these days, but it was a website with a lot of those similar functions of connecting and a lot of different things you could do behind the scenes as a member.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: So complicated website that I would never have touched ordinarily.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's just not a world that I I knew anything about and something I didn't want to do.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I thought, hey, my lead developer might be interested because it's going to be complex.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: I said, Hey, do you know how to do this?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: And he said, Yeah, of course I know how to do that.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's brilliant enough.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: I said, Well, I don't.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: So you can you put the proposal together and I'll present it.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: So we did that.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: We won the project, and a couple of weeks into the project, he quit the job anyway.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was left with this massive task.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: My other team members had no idea how to do it either.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, a lot of late nights and early mornings and figuring it out.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: And we delivered on the promise that the client had no idea of the turmoil I was going through because it was really difficult.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: And what it meant was whilst we got that job done and the client was really satisfied, ended up selling that business.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: But it meant that all the other projects were I couldn't take on other jobs because it was just burning every single waking hour that I had to get this job done.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I realized, hey, I I I took on this job for all the wrong reasons to to keep the the person engaged in the company and it didn't stay anyway.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I realized, hey, stick to my line, stick to my niche, do do what we do best.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was always thinking about, hey, how do I not lose people?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I I didn't come up with a solution until in recent times.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: That was a silly, silly, it took a slow learner in that instance, I suppose.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm glad, I'm glad things are a little better now.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, because it's true.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's if you can keep people engaged, I mean, that's like one of the biggest, you know, things, and to to give people recognition, you know, and to whether they are a full-time employee or a contract employee, to be able to say thank you or jell bow them or not to get upset if somebody makes a mistake.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, something happened the other day.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have a VA and I noticed that he actually spelled a company's name wrong on a post.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, okay, yeah, sorry, but like mistakes happen.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: All right, can you just go in and fix it?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, and apology, like not to get bent out of shape.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Just what happens is like it's a little note.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Please make sure you check the name of the company of the person before we do a post, right?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, put in that check-in, right?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: But it's but but still, like, you know, he does great work and I wouldn't want to lose, you know, it's we're not doing we're we're not doing rocket science or not doing we're not doing brain surgery or hurt, you know, whatever, life-threatening surgery, you know.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: But just to be able to do that is so important, you know, for you know, keeping people and and making people feel that they are heard and they have growth.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think so.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know where I learned it or who coined the phrase, but the emotional bank account.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it works in every relationship in life in terms of you've got to invest over long-term positive things into people because sometimes you might need to make a mini withdrawal either by doing them wrong by accident, you know, you you've you know put pressure on somebody or you've done you, you know, spoke out of turn or or something, you've made a a micro withdrawal.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you want to make sure you've put invested a lot into that relationship.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Also, sometimes you need to go and you say, hey, you got a spelling error, can you fix that and make sure it doesn't happen again in polite ways.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: But that can also be uh they can feel like it's a a withdrawal of that um positive emotion as well.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I think keeping those things in check.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: In this age of AI and everything's fast and everything's crazy, I think we can lose that the human connection.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: And these personal skills, I think, are going to be those that make it a business last the distance and stand out in the this crazy world in which we're living in.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: So those personal personal engagement in every aspect.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: So engagement with your clients, obviously, with your team, these sorts of things will never be replaced, I don't think, with AI and all the tech that's happening.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I would completely agree.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't think it's gonna be replaced with you can't replace a human with the with AI.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I I am really curious.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: So what are the things that you guys are doing differently in your business to use the use AI as the tool to help your business?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: And because you know, I you know, I heard what you were saying before that people thought that your industry might completely it could wipe away.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't think so.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: I've I have my own opinions, but I'm curious as to what what you're seeing and what you guys are doing so that you are not going to be erased, so speaking that's absolutely right.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: So there's there's less of a technical need in what we do because people can do that stuff technically themselves.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: But the guidance, we're living in a day and age where there's just so many options, and options it creates a confusion and a confused mind can't make a decision, or or they make a decision and they're not quite sure it's right, so they'll keep changing and oscillating from one thing to the next, not knowing if it's the best.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I think bringing the expert guidance that we can bring is something that will set us apart.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: So that consultive approach, the human connection again, and to understand someone at a deeper level what they're wanting to achieve at their with within their business and to to guide them.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: For example, there was a website we were working on, uh launched at last two weeks ago.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I was working with the marketing person, and uh he said the directors were wanting lots of animation within the website.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, a really sophisticated, fancy website with everything moving and and so on.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: They wanted to look like a cutting-edge company.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: That was the thinking behind it.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: But they hadn't realized those sorts of things can be a deterrent in terms of marketing because people want c don't want confusion.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: They want to understand the message, they're looking for they've got a need that they want fulfilled and they want to know is this company going to facilitate what it is we're looking for and what uh solve our problems and and facilitate the need we've we've got.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: So the uh simple website always performs better.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it was about talking through we can certainly do that, those animations, but just to talk through to the marketing manager, hey, these are the these are the the the consequences of doing what they want to do, we can do it, but this is why I think you shouldn't.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: So that guidance you're not going to get from any AI tool.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: That you you tell the AI tool to do an animation, it'll just do it for you.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: And even if if you ask if you th if you if they think it's a good idea.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: It it's most of the tools uh have a propensity to tell you you know, to affirm what you're saying.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: They they um they just uh always saying positive things, it feels like to me.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: We'd love to see a website with uh moving around.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Scrolling and moving right.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that guidance, expertise, understanding what works, what doesn't work is the is is the value that we bring.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: And certainly because we're uh specialized in in a niche, it helps us understand that niche in a at a greater level as well, so we can bring better advice.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: We've probably seen a bunch of whatever customer comes on board, we've probably seen a bunch of circumstances similar to theirs.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: So we know roughly what's likely to work and what's not not going to work, and so you can get to success faster.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: Every business is nuanced and different, but there's similar core things that you know just won't work, and just things that are likely to produce a better outcome faster.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's what it is.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: So bringing that expert knowledge.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: And the beauty of it is because I opened up everything to the team more, what they realized was I was a massive bottleneck in a whole lot of things.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like things that depended on me that should just never have been requiring me.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: But that's because it started micro and I just never fixed it.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: So it freed me up so much.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: So the team can do so much more without me, and then I can get out and get it in front of of customers and clients.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And understand them better so we can produce better outcomes.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the stuff I love.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: I love people.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's been brilliant.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why that's what so I'll share something with you.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: I just I had a gentleman on my podcast recently, really, really great guy.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that very similar learning lesson for him, and his now business is huge.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: So watch out because I bet your business is going to even grow more.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is that as soon as he gave his team, you know, sort of the reign, so to speak, to do without him, they basically told him, don't come into the office, like only show up like once a month, right?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: But his it enabled his business to, you know, to go big.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: So he did.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: He focused on the things that he was best at.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's true, that's where you know you realize that you have a one particular set of skills.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, your set of skills might have been in the beginning that you could do websites, but now, as you just said, you love doing the getting out and meeting and connecting.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so you're, you know, doing the business development and bringing people in, and the team can do the other stuff.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so our skill sets change and the things that we like to do change.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: So now you still get to do what you love and be part of something because you still, you know, you're still in, you know, you get to work on it, not in it.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think finding the things that light you up in in your business and and finding ways that you can focus on those things and delegate other other items is so important.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone speaks of it, but it can be difficult to give away aspects of what your business is because it's your baby, really, isn't it?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: As a founder-led business, you're just so attached.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think that a really important aspect of it is to have mentors in your world and and guidance and be part of a community where other people can have insights and import into what you're doing because you just don't know what you don't know.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like you can't see things as clearly as someone else might in your world and community.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: As soon as you open up to other people, the the impact can be uh phenomenal.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Did I say that word right?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: I won't try it again.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: But it it's uh it's such an important thing as even from a mental health perspective, business can be tough and challenging and stressful, and other people potentially don't understand that fully.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: So to have other people who are go-getters and and pushing the boundaries and and you know, trying to achieve massive things, having them in your world is really important.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's what you so I'm curious, are you part of a any kind of mastermind or collective group that helps you on that front as a you know, as you know, you coming from the start of being a founder and CEO of a company?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I've been a member of various groups over the years, and it felt like at different stages of of the business, I needed different things.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: So to start out with just like a networking group was really important because uh in those instances it was a a room full of various different business types and people, and so you have to stand up every week and present on your business.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so just as a young fellow with a room full of successful business people, it felt overwhelming to start with, but you kind of learn and just by observation you you see how things are done.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that was great for a season, but over the years I joined other groups, so then I felt like that was uh under under control.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I joined the Professional Speakers Association here in Australia, and so I wasn't a speaker, but I felt like it would stretch me to be able to do that and to do podcasts just like this, so that certainly was important to be in a room full of people who stretched me in that way.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I got a few little platform speaking engagements there, they kind of dried up since COVID.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: But um the Yeah, so that different seasons, different communities these days, because I have such a strong friendship group of people who own businesses, I'm really fortunate to have that so as well.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: So that's just an organic and natural group of mates, really.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: We call them mates, but not everyone has that.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I think joining a professional body or something structured, for the most part, is really important for businesses, business people.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody really, probably, even people in career paths probably would benefit greatly.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: I just don't know that world, it's not part of my world.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: But um Yeah, mentors in in a whole lot of ways is really important.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's really great.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: So, so Wes, tell me, what is the biggest thing that you're working on now in your business?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's interesting.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: So the just trying to stay on top of the AI stack that we're using.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: So as I said, we've adapted already, but it feels like you you you you figure out what's going on today and you you apply some things, but then tomorrow someone's already released something that's slightly better.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: So the the danger is to flip-flop and to take every new thing that the you know, the shiny object.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right on.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: Squirrel, squirrel, right?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: So so I'm constantly just educating myself.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: So what I'm working on is just trying to read the trends, and even for our target market, the trades and construction, it's been pretty turbulent times with everything globally.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: We're here in Australia, we've realized how vulnerable we are to what might happen on the other side of the planet, you know.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: So there, our clients, a lot of them are really feeling it tough times simply because supply chain building materials jump through the roof.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so a lot of these companies they'll have things on a fixed contract.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: But when things blow out so fast, that creates a massive headache.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: So they've just got to get through these really difficult times and hopefully, you know, quickly get through those jobs that they might be making a loss or breaking even, whatever, but not making the profit they should be, and get to the next project.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really important for them to dial up.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: In my view, the temptation is to cut all your costs, uh which makes sense because you're just trying to get through a really difficult time, but you you've got to be careful that you don't cut off all your marketing because that's what's that's what's fueling the next set of projects and growth and and opportunities.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I know it's a brave decision to keep to keep going with the marketing, and maybe I'm a little bit biased because that's what we provide, but people need to be you know mindful of what the uh the long-term outcome is if you turn certain things off in your in your business.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, right now that's what I'm working on.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just trying to help our clients get through this really difficult season and finding ways in which they're they don't need to spend a whole lot of money, but they're still getting some quality leads in the door.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um so they can get through.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you probably know this, but and I should know which one was which, and I don't know, and I should probably ask ChatGPT to do it.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me right now which is the most powerful, which is the biggest one.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: But I believe back in the 20s 30s when with World War II post-serial was the number one, or Kellogg, one of them was number one.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: One of them continued to advertise, the other one stopped.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: And number one went to two, and two went to one, and it's stayed that way ever since.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: So do a Google search on which is the number one serial brand right now, and you know, and it's it's like the Coke versus Pepsi.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Pepsi may have been number one, but then maybe they stopped advertising and then Coke took over number one, took and you know, became number one.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I think that has been something that I have known that, you know, if you are, you know, you know, listeners, or if you are in the process of doing any type of advertising and it's in a demo economy, you may pull back a little bit, but don't stop.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is, as you said, Wes, it's very, you know, it seems like it's right to do, but I'll share a little advertising little thing that that I still I used to ads for, you know, advertising in magazines.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the biggest things that, you know, we also really talked about was having the consistency and placement, you know, page 12, left side, whatever it was, or right side, whatever, you know, of the magazine, have your animal there.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: If you can book that space, right?
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows that you're on page 12.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I will never forget.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I was talking to this.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: This is like one of my first clients.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, and I was talking to him about advertising.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: He was like, Oh, let me let me figure out where, you know, give me the magazine, like became a great advertiser.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: And he said, his story was he totally believed in advertising because his grandmother's it's like the funny story to me when I think about it.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: His grandmother's bathtub somehow broke.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what happened to it, but something was going wrong with the bathtub.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, name a person because I can't remember his name.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: Go get me the newspaper.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because on page 12, on the upper right corner is an ad for bath something or other.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so she picked up the phone and she said, Let's call them.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so consistency, not everybody's gonna need your service right this second, but particularly in your business with the trades, oh my God, it is so important, I think, to find to stay consistent and in that, you know, wherever you're gonna show up, keep showing up because you want people to be able to say, oh, I know I can go find them.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: I know they're in this magazine or in this place.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: I want to go find that person.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the repetition and frequency is really important to get these things done right.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: The other way to look at it is when your competitors are turning off their advertising mechanisms.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: So let's say it's it's Google ads, you know, then all of a sudden the clicks are cheaper.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: Or if you if you are in in you know magazines or print print-based advertising, maybe you can have a conversation with the company selling that ad because all of a sudden they've got blank spaces.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: Right, remnant space, remnant Yeah, yeah.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: So um just just um be a little bit um maybe maybe reach out and see what deals you can be done to get a better bang for your buck.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: There's always opportunities in these times.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: Some of our clients are shifting toward a little bit more of the maintenance or emergency fix type scenarios because that uh just for the short term, because it brings in dollars now as opposed to your bigger project which blows out uh for the long term.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so just pivoting a little bit just to get things moving along with the cash flow scenario, and then they can go back and revert to to other what they what they do.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: So getting that balance right.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just thinking about the circumstances you're in right now.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's a catch-22, right?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because you want to create the you want to create the customer who's going to give the have the the customer that's gonna pick up the phone and call you whenever you're whenever, right?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the big job and the small job.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_01: So if you start and build trust with the small job, right?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Then when a bigger job comes down, you're gonna be like, oh, I'm gonna call whatever plumber, electrician, handyman, whatever, you know, because they did right by me the first time.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, particularly, you know, and it can and it goes both ways.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can have somebody do a really big project, and then you have to say to them, you want to make sure they come in, sorry, that will be my daughter, everybody calling me.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's all right.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's it it it's creating that trust and that bond, right?
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a good the good thing to that's um a really important thing to think about when it comes to marketing.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: What brings people in sometimes is uh is a smaller job, but what keeps them for the long term is something slightly different, and that maybe that's the bigger piece that you would, you know, you would really want to do more of, but the the smaller it's kind of like the Apple ecosystem of product, you know.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_02: It felt like to me, and I've got no data and stats on this, but it certainly felt like to me it was the iPhone that everyone started getting the iPhone, and then all of a sudden it felt like more people were using the the Mac, the the um laptop.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that sort of thing.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: So once you become aware and and you have a good experience of a certain product, in in this instance the iPhone, you love the iPhone, and you would never iPhone users never want to go back to an Android.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: It probably is the same the other way around, I'm not sure, but it's my experience anyway, to go to an iPhone and then it just makes practical sense to use a Mac computer, even though it's it all ties together, right?
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that gets you into their world, and then that and everything plays nicely together, and and then that's you know, that's there's so many lessons to learn from that, from for every business, really.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: What brings people in and what's going to keep them for the long term, which might be more profitable.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great so Wes, I could talk to you for hours about this because I love marketing and I love branding, and I love actually trying to be able to help other people.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: So tell our tell our client, I'm assuming you, you know, you can work with anybody anywhere in the world.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um360.com.au is the website.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: And as you say, we do have clients all around the world.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: You'll see that on our homepage with some of the brands they're probably recognized all around the world, some of the brands we've uh worked with.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: And from there, you can book a strategy call with me.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's a free call, big button on the homepage.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: So uh anyone who would like to do so, happy to have a chat.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, do me a favor, listeners, please, please, please go.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: I will put up Lyft 360 in the show notes.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: So go to the website and connect with Wes.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: He's also on other channels.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: So find him, connect with him, but go to his website and book that strategy call.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because whether or not you realize it or not, each and every one of us is a brand.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we also need to brand ourselves, um, making sure that we're out there marketing ourselves as to who for our own business.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: So connect with connect with once, go to uplift360, and then do me the favor, please share this episode with people that you know, other business associates, because I know that they need to hear these messages.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then if you haven't already subscribed, make sure you're subscribing.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: And lastly but not least, please go over to school.com, which is a brand new, which is a platform.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a new platform, but we, Unsoppable Success, have a brand new school community.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: So please go over there and join.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've got great content that we've got in there, and we'll be having more great things.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much, Wes, for being a great guest.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's been so much fun.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's fly uh flew by, didn't it?
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's always a good conversation that fly flies by.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: So thanks so much, Jacqueline.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's my pleasure.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you, listeners, for being for listening to Unstoppable Success.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: As I said, I'm your host, Jacqueline Stromager, helping you leap to your greatest success.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.