1:01:47
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
day, people, andrew, customer, allison, cabin, felt, question, awesome, books, thought, kurt, hear, write, talk, marketing, clients, helping, building, speak, Business broker, Business value builder, M&A consultant.
SPEAKERS
Damon Pistulka, Jennifer Wegman, Andrew Deutsch, Andrew Cross, Dennis Bolger, Mark Brown, Brad Smith, Dan Bigger, Ron Higgs, Jacob Warren, Dr. Elia, Allison DeFord, Melissa Worrel, Troy Neihaus, Kon Apostolopolous, Curt Anderson, Alon Zaibert, Jeffry Graham
Damon Pistulka 00:00
Oh heck. I’m standing here my hair sticking straight up nice. Nice tells you how much I care about that. All right, Allison? Is it gonna let you come on? I’ll add you here.
00:21
There we go.
00:24
At least you have here.
Damon Pistulka 00:28
Nice. Yep. All right. Well, I’m going to go live on LinkedIn folks. And then we’re going to get started. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Alright, everyone. Thank you once again for joining us on the exit your way round table. With us today, we have Allison DeFord, who’s going to be speaking a little bit later on messaging that is felt.
It’s awesome to have you here. Allison, the if you guys don’t know, she’s just a pro at it. When you hear him talk about I mean, this is this be this be honest here. If you’ve been around her and heard her speak, about messaging, and how to do it differently, and how to do it that really connects with your with your audience, your whatever you want to whoever you’re trying to reach. She just really good at it.
Awesome and anonymously. So lucky to have her here today. So happy. Thank you. They got Wonder Woman’s here too with us. And we cannot forget that Wonder Woman is here with us. That’s another another great attendee today. Oh, all right. So we got some people coming in yet, as we as we normally do, there’ll be rolling in. We’re live on LinkedIn. And I am actually just realized I had myself on there twice. So we’ll get that a little bit straight.
And boom, boom. All right. So as we normally do, we bring people up for the first part of this. And we’re going to allow you to introduce yourself, just say, Hey, this is me. This is what I do. And we are going to answer a question. So we tried the random question generator generator last week, I think that was or the last time we met a couple weeks ago. Now I forget Thanksgiving was last week. And I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. But our question of the day, is, you are quarantined? In a mountain cabin? With all the food, water clothing, you need for 90 days? Your family’s there? If that’s what you want, you’re not worrying about your family.
But what would your day look like? And what specific two items would you want to make sure you had with you other than the necessities in your family and stuff? And why? So, yeah, so we’re in a mountain cabin? 90 days, you can’t you’re gonna be there 90 days, you got all the food, clothing, family, all that kind of stuff. But what are two things you want? And then what would your day look like? So we’re gonna start off with Andrew Deutsch. We’re going to bring him up and go from there. And I’m, and I apologize, because it’s going to show the the display on LinkedIn as I let people off. So, Andrew, what is your answer to this?
03:33
The two things. Yeah.
03:36
And I’ve got all my food and beverage.
03:40
Something, something to do with my hands.
03:44
And probably my old iPod. So I’ve got a whole collection of music to listen to.
Damon Pistulka 03:49
Good. So what would your day look like there for 90 days in the mountains?
03:55
I go bear hunting.
03:57
There you go.
Andrew Deutsch 03:58
No, I don’t I really don’t know. I read and learn and
04:04
relax. Wait for the end. Cool.
Damon Pistulka 04:07
So again, Andrew Deutsch. Tell us about what you do real quick. And we’ll go from there. honest answer though.
Andrew Deutsch 04:16
Yeah, we were working full service, consulting for global marketing and sales. We help our clients turn every touch into voracious advocates for their brand. By doing everything strategy first
Damon Pistulka 04:32
thing Yo, awesome. Awesome. Well, we’re bringing up Brad Smith now and we had him on. Thanks a lot. Andrew. Warner will work this on and off. So Brad,
Brad Smith 04:48
I have to ask a question first. Okay, is internet considered the same as food? Run? Oh,
Damon Pistulka 04:55
you don’t get the internet sorry.
Brad Smith 04:57
No. Why? no internet cuz That was my two things, books and internet.
Damon Pistulka 05:06
No internet. No, no,
Brad Smith 05:07
no internet. Oh my god, I think I’d go nuts.
05:10
You got books?
Brad Smith 05:11
What what my day looks like right now is I get up I check the news just to see where things are in the world read down through about COVID. And that whole process, right? So it would have to be books and board games.
Damon Pistulka 05:24
There you go. Awesome.
Brad Smith 05:25
So what would your day look like? My day would look like get up before because I wake up before everybody else does anyway. Do my exercises. You know, do do my morning, kind of whole routine, eat my breakfast, right? Have a conversation with my raisins and oatmeal. And then and then sit down and start working through the things I want to map out. I move from deep inside to outside into the world I start with Who am I? What do I choose to bring? Right?
That’s the very first thing I confront in the morning. And I plan it out so that if I wake up before 430 I plan out a 45 minute nap somewhere in my day. So, but meditation practice Kundalini Yoga up and doing that, but my question is, who am I? What do I stand for? And how do I bring that down to out into the world? And that’s my daily process. All day long. Everything else gets into that? What are my core character traits? And how am I building that? That’s what I do daily. Anyway.
Damon Pistulka 06:33
That’s I love that inside out. That’s cool. That’s cool. And do this quick. And so it’s what tell people what you do quick, Brad. And then we’re gonna bring up AJ,
Brad Smith 06:51
I am a listener. I hope I help my clients. I coach CEOs and business owners on business growth, and I help them grow from who they are to who they want to be at the bottom line at the top line insight.
Damon Pistulka 07:08
Nice, nice. All right, so we’re gonna get AJ is going to come up next. So are you going to bring him up, Andrew? Yep. Awesome. Got him. Got to go on. You’re moving. People are not sweet. Slick over here. All right, AJ, so glad to have you here today. So tell us a little bit about what you do. AJ?
Kon Apostolopolous 07:38
Oh, so basically, I’ve been a business development manager in the staffing industry. So we help clients to recruit for these positions for vacant positions, like mostly into the IT sector. So mostly developers, programmers, this kind of stuff.
Damon Pistulka 07:53
Yeah. So AJ, if you were at this cabin for 90 days, what are the two things that you would want to have?
Kon Apostolopolous 08:04
I’m sorry, can come again.
Damon Pistulka 08:06
If you’re in a cabin in the mountains for 90 days? What do you have all the food and clothing and everything you need? What to other things with?
08:16
books and music? books and music?
Damon Pistulka 08:19
There you go. Alright, Andrew, so we had an introduction already, Andrew, so we are actually bigger. Sorry.
08:29
Thanks, JJ. awesome to see you. Guys.
Damon Pistulka 08:33
Yep. So and speaking today. So that’s why we’re leaving Allison. On and on everybody. Dan, good to see you. So tell everybody about what you do, Dan, and and then we’ll go to the question of the day.
08:51
I am the Director of Sales and Marketing for a plastic injection molding and tooling company in Central New York.
08:58
And I am also
Dan Bigger 09:00
sort of a co host and creator of USA manufacturing hour on Twitter.
Damon Pistulka 09:04
Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. So I know you like the outdoors a bit. What would you be doing if you were in a cabin for 90 days and you had everything? Food, clothing and stuff, but what are the other two things that you wouldn’t want to have? I it’s funny, I live in a cabin in the woods
Dan Bigger 09:24
that I designed and built. I would take music and my fishing boat.
09:31
All the good ones are the good ones. Yeah, that’s what I get. That’s what I do. Just like everybody else. I
09:38
- I live it.
09:43
Efficient all day.
Damon Pistulka 09:45
Oh, nice. Nice. Good stuff. So thanks a lot, Dan. Welcome, sir. All right. Well, Dennis, good to see you today. My friend. Cody, from a mile away
Dennis Bolger 09:56
from about a mile away. Yeah. We never sold
Damon Pistulka 10:01
Yeah. So, Dennis, tell us a little bit about how you help people, and then we’ll get on to work Question of the day.
Dennis Bolger 10:09
So we are insurance agents. And so what our, we’re independent. And our goal in life is to help people understand what they have. And then make sure that they’re protected properly, so that they can go through life not worrying about what’s going to happen to them the next day, because it will happen. There’s a movie out there called Captain Ron and Captain Ron says, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there. And that’s what we try to protect people from is what’s going to happen out there.
Damon Pistulka 10:45
Very cool. Very cool. So I know you’re getting close to Nate closer to nature. Now with your, with your, yeah, the RV you’ve gotten and that kind of stuff. So if you’re quarantined up in the mountains in this cabin? And what are the two things that you would want outside of food and clothing and family?
Dennis Bolger 11:05
Well, the number one thing is music. Because I, I think music is worth, it makes the world go round. And then the other piece of it is I love to work with a spreadsheet of all things. And so a computer with the ability to build and create spreadsheets.
Damon Pistulka 11:27
I write that down, because I don’t think we’re gonna hear that answer again.
11:34
Oh, that’s awesome, dude. That’s awesome. Well, thanks for being here today, Dennis. Thank you.
Damon Pistulka 11:42
Dr. helia.
11:45
Allison, good to see
11:46
you to
11:49
be here. Yeah.
Damon Pistulka 11:51
So explain a little bit about yourself, Dr. Alien, and how you’re helping people. And then we’ll get to our all important question of the day. All right. So I’m a happiness and corporate wellness experts
Dr. Elia 12:01
do executive coaching and leadership training and development. bestselling author and just to do a lot of keynote, speaking on wellness and happiness across the world. It can’t wait for COVID to be over so I can travel again. And I just love helping people. I want to see people happy. I like seeing people’s smiles and faces and just making a difference in people’s lives.
That’s driven me for 50 years that this is just who I am and what I do. Now for that, so like then we have a cabin up in Breckenridge, Colorado, which is a ski resort. So I know where we would be basically and and we all have food stores up there. And we’re set for the for the end of days. Now, however, no internet, this puts a kink into my plans. So I would say if I had 90 days, honestly, you guys, obviously would have my computer even with no internet.
Yep. I would write a book. That’s what I do. I mean, can I get a book in 45 days, the two of us together, I think I can do it by myself for 90 days, 90 days. There you go. I read a book, how to surf, how to thrive during a you know, during the lockdown or being isolated or whatever, something, something of that nature. That’s the one the other thing we’d love to do. And we do that when we go out there. We’d love to go on hikes, you know, when the Rocky Mountains.
So my family and I would love to play board games and just go hiking every day like yeah, there we can leave our backyard and we’re in the woods, we back into kind of a like federal land like open space, kind of like anyway, from my from our backyard, you just go out there, you start hiking, and in the great outdoors, breathing the fresh air and getting some good ideas. And just coming back and start writing the book. That’s what I do. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thanks
Damon Pistulka 13:54
for thanks for being here today. Dr. Alien and glad to have you. Awesome, Jacob. I know you’re you’re an outdoorsman, so so he, first of all, tell us a little bit about how you help people. And then we’ll get to the important question of the day.
Jacob Warren 14:12
Awesome. Yeah. How I love to help people is making technology simple. Yeah, that that about summarizes a lot of complexities out there. And just making it as simple as possible for the client. No. Yeah, making their life I have just one less headache. Awesome. Well, everybody
Damon Pistulka 14:35
wants less headaches. So I think that’s a great, that’s a great thing. So you, I know I spent a fair amount of time in the wilderness. And it’s not just because of the beard either because I actually know what would you be doing out there?
14:51
What would I be doing in the wilderness? I honestly just the serenity of the quiet And one of the things so, you know, most of my life is spent around technology. And being in the wilderness. It’s just the disconnection and the peace that you can have with things is more than enough for me.
Damon Pistulka 15:14
Nice. Nice. Awesome, awesome. Well, thanks for being here today, Jacob. Jeff. Yep. Graham, tell us a little bit about what you do and how you’re helping people. And then we’ll get on.
15:28
Um,
Jeffry Graham 15:29
a little bit of what I do I essentially scale and have scaled and grow e commerce companies over the last seven or now seven years can’t believe it worked a lot with Damon worked a lot with Andrew. Yeah, um, was real excited about being part of that process and had a lot of fun and still do. Yeah, um, but yeah, so internet marketing machine, I guess you could say, but outside of that, if I could have two things with me. I like Jacobs answer, I think I want a little bit of peace and quiet, the world’s too noisy, my ambition will probably get the best of me.
And then I would bring my tools because as you know, I like to build cars. In my spare time, I like to restore vehicles. So I bring my tools and my project, my project car, and I would probably spend a fair amount of time wrenching in that way and not doing the internet. You know, because I’ve, I live on a computer, you know, so it’d be cool to do that. So that was that would be what I would do for good after the time for the time off.
Damon Pistulka 16:38
No doubt. Awesome. Awesome. Well, that great answer, Jeff. And thanks for being here today. Jennifer.
16:47
Hey, everybody, how are you? Alright,
16:50
my
Jennifer Wegman 16:50
name is Jennifer and I do I’ve done for you social? Oh,
Damon Pistulka 16:57
you I’m sorry. Andrew picked the wrong person off,
17:01
Andrew.
17:03
Of course. He’s back.
Damon Pistulka 17:16
Here we go.
Jennifer Wegman 17:19
I use social media blogging content and social media strategy and content planning. So I hope to overwhelmed business owners take, you know, the hassle out of getting visible and staying visible on social media with custom content. What was it? What would it take to a cabin? By to regret regrets? I wouldn’t take them because I wouldn’t get to relax if I took them. Or I take a nanny to watch them for me. So that I see on the bookshelf back there that hadn’t been read. So
Damon Pistulka 17:57
yeah, so you take a nanny. And you take books? Yeah.
18:02
Other cuz if I don’t take any, any I won’t get to read the books. But enough to know that, that.
Kon Apostolopolous 18:09
I totally understand. And
Damon Pistulka 18:14
I can relate. Not now, but it used to be anyway. Well, thanks for being here. Jennifer.
18:21
Yeah, thank you.
Damon Pistulka 18:22
So con, you’re a person that lives up in the beautiful, you know, Colorado area, you probably get out in that into the wilderness once in a while. So first of all, what do you How are you helping people? And then then we’ll answer the question. Thank you. Um,
Kon Apostolopolous 18:39
I guess the the the easy answer to that. One is I have a boutique consulting firm that focuses on change leadership, and performance, and improvement. And what we do is we help on three different levels for our clients, we’ll make sure they have the right people on the right seat on the bus going in the right direction, we make sure that their processes are set up.
So they can succeed and rather than get in the way, and third, and most important, we help them unleash the talent that they have internally, to make sure that they get the most out of their investment in their people and treat them like the real acid that they are. That’s basically what we do. I’m also like many of the others here. I’m an author. I’m a speaker, I’m a coach. And I help people either individually or as a group as an organization.
And yes, it’s beautiful being here in the Rocky Mountains and having the chance to actually see the wilderness when we can, every now and again, we do sneak out there kind of go for a little drive up there. But yeah, we’d love to be able to get up there a lot more. As to your question, Damon, what would I take with me? I would probably say, music or something where I can play my music and my audio books. Because life needs a soundtrack. And something maybe a piece of paper and endless supply of number two pencils that I can write and draw The ideas that come out of being up there and kind of clearing your mind up in the woods.
Damon Pistulka 20:05
Yeah. Yeah, just thinking about that. That’s awesome, dude. That is, it is really good stuff. Khan. Thanks. Thanks for being here. Mark, good to have you. Tell us a little bit, introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about what you do and then answer our question of the day.
Mark Brown 20:24
I was on late as usual. What was the question of the day? Oh,
Damon Pistulka 20:27
well, the question is, you are going to be quarantined in a mountain cabin for 90 days with all the food, clothing, family, that kind of thing. But you want to make sure you got two things with you. What would those two things be? Okay, as
Mark Brown 20:45
far as what I do, I help individuals with being more tax efficient, protecting their incomes and assets, distribution in retirement, you know, a thoughtful financial plan. And I help businesses with retention and succession planning. And I do that through investment insurance products from Northwestern Mutual and other insurance companies. The cat I like the cabin question. The two things I would take with me, one would be my wife. And the other one would be some sort of audio book capability, because that way I would need to carry need to worry about carrying 50 books.
21:24
Yeah. Yeah. Because
Damon Pistulka 21:29
it seems like he’s cut out a little bit. They’re awesome for having you here, though, Mark, and, Melissa.
21:37
Hey, good morning.
21:38
Great to see you.
21:40
Yeah. So
Melissa Worrel 21:40
a little bit about me. So I am a coach, right coach and leadership development. So three specific areas, emerging leaders, career coaching, and small business and franchise owners. And then leadership development training, the firm that I work with, we have an extensive leadership development training programs that we offer for individuals and leaders.
And then I love the cabin question. So I said the two things I couldn’t live without I wrote them down my fat bike, because you’re in the mountains, so you could go over anything. And then I would puzzles. So I love music. However, I can sing in my head very well. And puzzles would keep me very busy. And they’re challenging, right? So at least 1000 piece puzzles, if not harder. And then what the day would look like this is maybe a little specific, but I wrote coffee, eggs, bike ride, lunch, walk, nap, dinner, movies, read conversations and sleep.
Damon Pistulka 22:33
Oh, got planned out. So when you get there, you can do it.
Melissa Worrel 22:38
Yeah. And Allison looking forward to hearing what you have to say today. So thanks, everyone for having this live. And Allison for being here. No, thank
Damon Pistulka 22:45
you for being here, Melissa. Beans. So, Pete, we’ve got a couple days of sunshine here. It’s been glorious outside here. I hope you’ve gotten out and seen a little of that. Yeah. So how you helping people in and then answer the question. Sure. So thanks, Damon, I help facilitate 30 day stress Buster challenges so that leaders can better protect their health and handle challenging situations with grace.
And what I would say is, is that if I had my two items, it would be music, definitely, as several others have said, and I would take my hiking poles because I absolutely love to hike here and the the Olympic National Park. And so wherever it is that I would be in a cabin. Those hiking poles are a must. Yeah, yeah. Good stuff. And you do live in a beautiful place. That’s for sure. Awesome. Thanks for being here. Pete. Thank you, Ron.
Ron Higgs 23:46
Hey, good morning, everybody. I located here in Seattle, fractional CEO. those opportunities are scarce these days. So I have been looking for a full time job in a full time opportunity in operations. So still searching and there are some folks here that have helped me in my search, and I really appreciate that.
Damon Pistulka 24:09
Awesome, awesome. And so the answer to the question, you know, my answer,
Ron Higgs 24:15
there’s some folks that have taken my answers already. But let me ask this is there a hot tub in that cabin? Cuz I mean, right, do
Damon Pistulka 24:23
you want a hot tub there’s a hot
Ron Higgs 24:25
so I got I got to have a hot tub too. That helps with the relaxing part. So just like, you know, I like to get away and enjoy, enjoy the quiet. But I would also, if it’s summer, then I’m taking my mountain bike. If it’s winter, I’m taking my snowboard. There you go. But as far as you know, what I would do really is I would try to learn two things. I try to learn something new. Something that I don’t know how to do. And then you know, I’ve been working on a book forever, right? So maybe, maybe get focused on
Damon Pistulka 24:59
that. while I’m there, too. Ah, thanks for being here. It’s great. Great to be. So Troy, Hey, how are you? Awesome, man. Awesome.
Troy Neihaus 25:11
So good to see everyone here online. I’m funny house, I work at Bernstein. We’re a global investment research and management firm. And we work with wealthy people and we help to make money meaningful for them. That’s, that’s what we do. I focus my practice on working with this was, who were thinking about an exit or taking their company public.
What would I do, I would bring a box full of books that I haven’t read, that are sitting on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to read. And I just, I get too busy with life. And it would be a great opportunity to get caught up and read through these books that I love. And then I’d also bring my iPad because I would love to write a book so much like everyone else, but there’s a there’s a ton of different fiction or historical fiction that I would love to put together in a great story.
So 90 days would be perfect for that. In terms of my day to day activity, I get to do some reading, then go do some exercise and exercise a couple times a day, but then I just, I just put in, you know, the the exercise the book, reading the exercise, and the book writing and then I like Ron’s idea of having a hot tub. That’d be fun, too. Great way to start and end the day.
Damon Pistulka 26:29
Yeah. Awesome, man. Awesome. Great to have you here. Troy. Thank you. Thanks. So, Alon my friend. Great to have you here. Tell us how you’re helping people. And then you can answer the question.
Alon Zaibert 26:43
Can I ask the question first, please?
26:45
Yeah.
Alon Zaibert 26:46
How the hell are you guys?
Damon Pistulka 26:49
freaking awesome, man. I every day.
Alon Zaibert 26:53
That’s awesome. What I do, I’m up in laymen terms. I’m a business consultant. I think everybody here I look at the names. Hi, Allison. Are we you’re waving at Kurt or me? Both? Both? Both. You can talk you know, you can? Your Wonder Woman you could speak you know that?
27:15
Right. Both? Both. There
27:17
you go.
Alon Zaibert 27:18
Mr. Anderson, good to see your face. So, everybody here pretty much I think I talk to you more when I do
27:25
a thing.
Alon Zaibert 27:28
So when you started talking about this cabin, etc. First of all, yes, I want to make sure that it’s isolated enough that I can be peace, quiet and yell and scream and be you know, not bother any neighbors like I always do. That’s what but what I would want to bring is this is right, fantasy, right? So what I would want to bring, I need a hug. I need a hug and I need the you know, the hug. So I would want to bring Thank you, Kurt. So I would want to bring some sort of, you know, how do you call this? You know, so I can bring people whenever I want. How do you call this? teleport?
Damon Pistulka 28:12
the teleporter Star Trek The headquarters. There you go.
28:15
You need a jacket.
Alon Zaibert 28:18
So I can get him in. And David, you want to come over for dinner? Yes.
Damon Pistulka 28:26
Yeah, you’re there. Yeah. Okay.
Alon Zaibert 28:30
But I also want content. So whether it’s, you know, probably just big bandwidth, large bandwidth of internet. So I can read online, I can watch whatever, all that stuff. But yes, this is what I would bring. So awesome to see you guys. By the way.
Damon Pistulka 28:47
Yeah. Great. Great to have you here Alon thank. Thanks. Course. So Kurt. You You’re up.
Curt Anderson 28:58
e commerce guy blah, blah, blah. So anyway, who cares about me Allison big virtual hug. And you know, if I were I came in late, I think I understand the question. So two things on my on the question for camping. So number one would be I need my computer I hate I love shutting down.
I love going off off grid. I mean, all of you, man. When I look at the participants in his crew, we’ve either been on each other’s podcasts, we’ve covered each other’s backs through this whole 2020 disasters. I’ve learned so much from Khan and Dr. e. Professor P. Ron Higgs, Andrew, everybody on this list. We’re doing business together. So Andrew and Damon. Let’s get everybody in this crew, a big standing ovation for what you guys have done for us for 20.
So, you’re so humble with the relationships that you’ve created for 2020. So thank you, Andrew. Thank you to Damon. So I need my I need my peeps. From Zhi Wei on my on my camping trip. And then I need my 140 pound Rottweiler who’s laying next to me. He’s right over here. Did you know that dogs can blow an ACL? Well, I didn’t either. Apparently my hundred pound Rottweiler blew his ACL. So now we’re not having holidays.
This year, it went to my dog’s ACL. And so yesterday, I’m going live on a webinar. I’m, like, we’re just booking on on my dog sitting next to me every day, recovering from surgery. He’s sleeping, and he’s snoring at the top of his lungs. And we have this little bowl for him that we bought. And as I’m just about to go live, he falls off the bed. And he jumps up as if like, Oh, I meant to do that. And I’m like, I’m going live while he’s snoring. That so I have to take my Rottweiler with me. So that’s my story. Yeah. God bless everybody. Thank you, Alison. You, Brock.
Damon Pistulka 30:50
Yeah. Well, that’s funny. You say that, Kurt? Because my dog actually she’s not with me anymore, but had two knee surgeries. So yeah, it is. And it was, I was lucky at the time because I was in Tennessee, and it was one of the best orthopedic animal hospitals around and in. Yeah, it was, it was incredible. So now I think we’re down to
31:14
Andrew, Our
Andrew Cross 31:17
Lady spurt? Yeah.
Allison DeFord 31:21
Well, we have manufacturers, become seen, heard and felt. And we do this, because they’ve spent a lot of years wasting money on marketing, that doesn’t grow sales. So we retrofit their traditional system with modern components to make sales easier and more profitable. So that’s what I do every day. I would do it for free, because I love it so much.
And the cabin, I think, my yoga mat, and my laptop, and I would finish my book, actually have two books. But yeah, just to have the time to do that would be nice. And to disconnect. And every day, there would be some structure. There’d be exercise, meditation, reading, writing, laughing watching movies, wine, bar, none. There’s got to be wine at the end of the day. And, and being outside. So that would be my thing. But to sort of structure, because it’s really easy for me to get off of that and fall back into bad habits, you know, pushing snooze 50 times, then. Yeah.
Damon Pistulka 32:43
Yeah. That’s cool. That’s cool. And right. Yeah. Finishing the books. Yep. Very cool. Very cool. So Andrew, what would you be doing, man?
Andrew Cross 32:55
I’m singing I already already live in a cabin up in the mountains in Park City. So and have a hot tub. So let’s check that one off tonight. But no, I would. I would take I would take a piano. Always wanted to learn. I don’t know how to play anything but the radio.
And then the other thing is I would, you know, some sort of device or program to learn a foreign language, another foreign language might as well. And my day would be like it was back when I was in Greece. Cotton aliah gives you an up early in the morning, do a little yoga. Have late suppers and a siesta in the afternoon. A lot of conversation with people in some way to do that. That’s what I would.
Damon Pistulka 33:52
Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. Well, I, I if someone else needs to go make sure to message Andrew.
Andrew Cross 34:02
I think we got everybody if not, yes. Speak up.
Damon Pistulka 34:06
Okay. So I’ll do mine. I actually thought about this question because I was I was thinking about a time back when when actually I didn’t do this very often. But but growing up in the Midwest, I was deer hunting and we were in the Black Hills of South Dakota and I was with a few other friends but we had watched literally miles into the into the back country.
And I sat down for, I don’t know, three or four hours. And they the intensity of the quiet. I mean, when you are around where you don’t hear anything. I mean literally anything and you can hear a tree, a twig snap. As far as you can hear it away. You know that that’s what really got me thinking about this. And in that experience, because it was I had even grown up in the Midwest.
I’ve never really been worth that absolute quiet but I think if I was in the cabin, there’d be two things I’d want. I want a camera. And I’d want a pencils and paper writing and stuff. Because I would get up in the morning. And I would find three or four of the peaks to take pictures of the sunrise and talk about them and write about him and do the same thing at night, and spend the day with my family. Because that would be I just, this is just me that that’s, you know, bring me to tears. Just thinking about, but it would be cool. So anyway, that’s my deal.
Allison DeFord 35:36
You’re starting us off with the motion. It’s perfect.
Damon Pistulka 35:41
Well, my dad, my dad’s 85. And he goes, he goes, you know, a demon. And the thing is, he says, Your, your your tear ducts are connected to your bladder as you get older. They both work a lot more. Yeah. So anyway, today, I’m so happy to have Allison here to talk about messaging and so awesome. So we’re gonna get you on the screen, Allison and let you roll. All right. It’s awesome. Get it? get it going here.
36:12
Okay. I want to see if anybody if you take a second, because I smell something. Do you smell that?
Damon Pistulka 36:21
Probably,
36:22
it smells like accomplishment. And confidence with a little hint of vanilla. That’s because Wonder Woman’s here. So even about that, because that’s what she smells like. Smells good in here. That’s how you engage the senses. People just like that. Right? Yeah. So I’m going to share my screen, because I’ve got a few things to share with you.
36:53
All right.
36:54
This is gonna be good. Okay. All right. Can
37:02
you see that? All right. Oh, yeah, we’re gonna bring it in full screen.
37:05
Okay. So today, we’re going to talk about creating content for you, that isn’t just seen or heard, it’s felt. And so we’re going to talk about what is that? What does that even mean? Well, that’s messaging that engages the senses. Specifically, not just any senses, but that appeals to your customers sense of what safety efficiency, legacy, freedom profitability.
And you’ve got to understand what those senses are, so that you can appeal to them. So essentially, it’s messaging that transcends them into their hero state. Because life is made up of what the seven stories that rule the world, and so it’s either rags to riches, overcoming the monster, you know, that type of thing. So you want to make your customer the hero of your story.
It’s not about you, it’s about them. And so you want to invite them into the story, at every possible touch point. I’m not just on your homepage of your website, not just the first email that you exchange, but every single time that you engage with them, that’s content. And you want to guide them with a plan, right? Like every great movie, there’s a guide, right? Think Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, and he had Obi Wan, and that you’re guiding your customers to their desired state.
So you also want to show them their key word state, as many as much as possible, because that is the alignment they see. Hey, that’s me, like Weight Watchers, right? Look, there’s me, I’m thin. That’s what I’m going for. And you want to show them how you help make it what easier, faster, more fun, more profitable, whatever it is that they desire. And then you always want to close the story loop with a call to action. And we’ll talk about that a little bit more to now this is what you don’t want to do. Okay, stop looking at your own navel.
Because they don’t care about you. They care about them. And I I shared this in my Alibaba talk on Tuesday about digital marketing one on one. And I said, You know, I found this picture like 15 years ago, it reminded me of all my boy cousins, I had a lot of them. And I grew up in Indiana and it was always hot and humid in the summer and they’re running around with no shirt on. And I was jealous because I wanted to do that too. And, and, you know, they’re always fascinated by their own navel.
You know, they’re making it talk and whatever it is. They’re laughing like, I’m so great. And I found this picture and I thought, Oh my gosh, this is what we all do. We talk about ourselves, because we’re so in love with ourselves, well, no one gives a shit, they care about them. So with all the content that you create, you want to answer three questions. What’s in it for them? Why should they buy this? And why should they buy this from you?
40:28
And then, the way to create engaging content or content that is felt, is you have to think about how do you want them to feel? And and I say this when I work with manufacturing clients, right? In the get go, when we’re talking about strategy, I’m like, Well, how do you want your customers to feel? And they look at me like, like my, my golden doodle? Who looks at me with one ear cocked?
Like, it’s kind of that Scooby Doo, you know, they’re like, What do you mean? How do we want them to feel? And I said, Well, think about it, you know, they go through, there is a customer journey. I know, there’s some people that say there’s not a customer journey. Well, there there is, in my humble opinion, we all go through it, right?
So first, you have to become aware of something, and then you evaluate it. And then you make a purchase, or you don’t in this case, we hope they make the purchase. And then they use it, they’re happy. And then they buy again. And then they share it. That’s the advocacy part. And if you look at, you know, the loop here, or the journey, and all the ways that you reach them, most manufacturers or brands for that matter, or solopreneurs, or whoever you are, that’s selling something, you stop in the middle, you know, you stop that purchase, and you forget to continue nurturing them through our after the buying, or app site after the purchase.
After the repurchase, after they’ve shared it with people. It’s like a continuous loop. I like to think of it as the customer circle, instead of a funnel, right? Because if it’s a funnel, and they finally drip out the bottom, and you’ve sold them, then what, but if it’s a circle, it’s constantly evolving, it’s constantly moving forward. And it’s funny, because most people want to jump into, like building a brand.
And messaging is a lot like building a house. And most people that I work with, and probably, you know, I think we’re all guilty of this and not really guilty, but it’s, it’s like that fun part, we want to jump straight up to the roof, and start amplifying our message shouting from the rooftop, right? That’s your email, that’s your, you know, trade show, zoom social media, we want to start shouting. And and the point I want to make is that it’s so much more effective and engaging, if you slow down, and if you shore up your brand infrastructure first.
So, you know, thinking about Are you a specialty versus a commodity? Who do customers think you are? Do you have a plan or a haphazard marketing strategy? right how, when and where you interact with them? So are you making it easier to find you to trust you to choose you. All of that is about strategy and content, before you fail your speakers or your amplifiers, your social media, your website with content? So why do we want to have emotionally engaging content?
Well, emotionally engaged customers are 33% more likely to buy from you again, they’re like 44%, more likely to share the experience. It’s proven that it works when people are connected at the heart. And the reason that I think this is so beautiful, and effective and fun, is you’re creating chemistry with your customers. And what that does is it blows way past just return on investment. And we’re gonna have return on influence and innovation as well.
So who doesn’t want ROI cubed, like, that’s like a no brainer. So now, I’m going to be mindful the time to and interrupt me, Kurt, or Damon if you need to. I’m going to be really vulnerable. And I’m going to talk about a huge mistake that I made as an agency owner as a business owner for years. And I suggest you start with how you talk about what you do. So this is how I used to answer people, when they would say, oh, what do you do? And I’d say oh, we’re a boutique. marketing agency specializing in b2b strategy branding, website development and social media.
45:07
And you just watch their face their eyes glaze over, I lost them. Because I was busy talking about me and describing what I do write my speak. It took me literally, I’ve been doing this for 30 years. And I want to say that it took me 25 years to really figure out to get out of my own way, and stop weaving all the way home and learn to speak their language. Now you’re like, well, you’re the marketer. So that’s dumb.
It’s like, you know what, it’s really easy for me to help other people do this, I can do it in my sleep. But to help myself, and the reason I’m sharing this example is, it’s hard to help yourself, it’s hard to get out of your own way. And to, you know, kick the we we syndrome. So I call myself a recovering wi addict.
And what happens when you’re finally felt defied. And you’re finally creating engaging content that gets to the heart of your ideal customer. It’s when you finally flip the script, and you lead with their hero state. So now, when people ask, I say, we’re helping manufacturers, so that’s our hero, and what is their hero state? It’s to become not just seen and heard, because everybody wants that. But it’s to be felt. And not just by anybody, not by all architects, everywhere, all contractors, it’s by their ideal customer. So we lead with their hero state. And then somebody goes, Oh, that’s interesting.
Why do you do that? This is the problem, right? This is the problem we solve for years, they’ve wasted time and money on marketing that doesn’t grow sales. Oh, you’re talking about sales? Yeah. Because that’s what this is all about. Nobody wants more marketing, but they want more sales. So again, now I’m speaking my customers language. And Damon said, This, I think got a couple weeks ago, and I laughed so hard. He said, When I think about marketing, it makes me want to throw up in my shoes. And I have to be honest, for years, I felt that way, too. I’m a damn marketer. But that for myself, I it just, it hadn’t clicked yet. How I needed to
47:36
market for me what that system looked like. And until I took myself through my own process and my team, it was revolutionary. And and then the next see that see how this all connects? So then people go, Well, how do you do that? So you say, well, well, we retrofit, there’s a unique solution that no one else is talking about. So that’s our unfair advantage. We retrofit their traditional marketing system, because manufacturers are typically at least a decade behind. So we’re addressing a problem that they have. And we modernize them. And why do we do this to make sales easier and more profitable, again, the thing that they want.
So I want to click on here, because in case anybody has questions, I want to do, you know, some q&a, but i and this is not to poke fun at anybody in particular, or, Dear God, if this is your company, I’m sorry. But I just really quickly pulled up a few examples this morning on LinkedIn, and looked at people’s websites. And some of these people are doing a great job. But I wanted to just point out a couple ways that they could modify and make their content more felt. So see, you can see these folks, they lead with them, and what they’re doing.
And then here again, we are listed as essential. Okay, good for you. Um, you know, how does that help me as the customer, and then sign up for our newsletter, this is very, there’s some we we hear that they could flip and make it more about me, the customer. A third. And the other thing that came to me is I don’t even know who they serve, or what major problem they solve. And this is their homepage. So here’s another example. Now these these folks are doing a few things really right. And I thought with a few tweaks, they could focus more on the customer.
So instead of let us you just start with accelerate, accelerate your time to mission. Now you’re speaking to me directly. So I’m more engaged right from the get go. And again, this is their homepage, then I don’t know who they’re serving because they didn’t they’re not that’s what they should lead with, by the way. So the unique value proposition here is accelerate your time to mission, which is good. That’s for me, so good. rid of lead us, and then don’t start talking about yourself, like the About Us should happen on the About Us page, not on the homepage. So I just again, see they say we do this thing, blah, blah, blah.
And then now, but I do want to point out the thing they’re doing really right is the three boxes below. They’re going to help me outpace, they’re going to help me out, adapt, and they’re going to help me Outlast. So now I’m interested again. So that was something I thought they were doing really right. And I just wanted to give you some examples. This is a little blurry. But it was a small picture that I took from my buddy Mark Mitchell, he wrote a really great blog post.
He specializes in helping building materials companies, with sales and marketing strategy. And he refers clients to us all the time when they actually need to create the strategy and execute on it. But one thing I thought Armstrong did really well here, this is at a trade show booth. Trade Show trade shows are notorious. They for really syndrome. Every freakin booth is covered. And we do this, we do this. Armstrong got it right, because they’re talking to me, the architect me the contractor finish every job on time, on budget and on the mark.
And then every single purple box talks about the benefit to me if I use their products, so I just wanted to show you what a felt defied. And we didn’t work with them on this. But what that looks like, you know, at a trade show, make it about your customer. And the bottom line, and I’ll wrap up is and you say well, how do I create content that’s felt, I don’t even know where to start. Start with by understanding what your values are, what you bring to the table, what their values are, what they care about. And it’s that sweet spot in the middle.
It’s the shared values. That is what you’re going to talk about. And then how you talk about it is a little bit like when I asked you, if you smelled something, you know, 15 minutes ago, you get them to engage you use language that is compelling, that engages the senses, that is with with really think flavorful adjectives, not fluffy, but succinct copy that makes them feel something. So ultimately, the reason that you want to do all this is that, you know, the most beloved and successful, successful brands, they aren’t just seen and heard. They’re felt they make an emotional connection.
52:52
Yeah.
Damon Pistulka 52:53
So feel awesome, is incredible. It really is. And that’s why this is why knew that having you here would be so, so educational. And and I wasn’t watching the chat, Andrew. So what was coming out of the chat or what are your thoughts and other just antidotes not to piss out of it? I like that. No,
Andrew Cross 53:20
let me we’re working on ourselves and with Jennifer wegman has been helping us and you know, we’re we’re really going back and visiting our messaging on our website in God, though, the thing that I take away is that shared value part, that’s the thing, I think, wow.
Now, just from my own experience, I think, you know, we’re trying, you know, trying to tell the hero, ours is the business owner, the entrepreneur who’s, who’s basically getting screwed at the most important time when he’s trying to exit his business, or hers. And, you know, and they’re fighting the good fight, they’ve been doing it a long time. So but, you know, the connection between that and the shared values is we’re trying to project our values rather than, you know, it now they think about that.
That’s a that’s a key, a key thing, because I think of the actual, you know, what marketing has been successful in the actual really good clients and relationships that we’ve had, and it worked. That was the one thing that you know, I mean, they re kind of recognized, you know, we’re, you know, our values that match theirs, and that’s why we work well together and then think about what are we missed? And maybe that just wasn’t either either it wasn’t communicated, or they didn’t see it, or they just we just didn’t share values. So which is fine, which means we need that customer misses that.
Damon Pistulka 54:43
And the in the comments here, it’s great. First of all, Jeff talked about plushie went to OCC. I mean, he was Yeah, Jeff went there too, so and Melissa, what’s in it for them as great and spot on which it is And then and then Jacob. And, you know, he said he’s adjusting his messaging as well.
And that’s why I think it was so relevant for to have you Allison and and to hear this because when you know, and I’ve heard you speak about this a few times, and when you start to think about it in the mail the way that you you are talking about, you look at these other websites, and you realize, well, we looked at our website now we know it sucks. I mean, because I mean, I look at ours now. And it sucks. Right, but you know, and that’s why I think it’s so impactful with what you’re saying.
And then you know, and then building on things like long talks about the emotional connection and stuff. And when you really feel that Anders that Andrew does make makes a good point is when you really have that feeling with your customers, and they know that you’re going to help them and you’re going to be that guy or help them navigate through that challenge or to the other side and make them successful, that’s when you have the best, the best outcomes.
56:09
Yeah, well, and I’ve got two quick examples. Recently, we proposed a really large project for a manufacturer, and they are out of Spain, and right now and then in North America, in North America, they’re whispering, no one can hear them. And so they need to amplify their message. But so they asked us to propose them on search engine marketing, campaign, and pay per click and SEO.
So of course, I brought in Kurt, and I’m looking at this proposal. And I thought, I’m not going to just propose on what they asked for, because they’re missing a few things. And in this is real quick. So yesterday, we met with them their team in Spain, whatever word is like our third phone call. And I think we’re down to like, it’s between us and someone else. And the main guy in Spain was like, I gotta tell you, he said, You’re the only company that listed branding in the options.
And I said, I’m surprised I said, because you need it, you’re missing some things, and you need to do that first. Otherwise, it’s like putting lipstick on a pig. You know, it’s still a pig. And and I’m not saying that you know that they are but and he’s like, no, you’re totally right. He said, I absolutely think we need this. And, and secondly, the thing about that, oh, he said your proposal was the best one. Because you demonstrated that you get us, you demonstrated that you understand our audience, and you understand what our struggle is.
And I was like, Yes, that is that was a win for me, because that’s what I’m trying to do. My second example is, again, for me to be really transparent and vulnerable, and share with you that for years, I thought I was better than my customer smarter. I know about marketing, they don’t. Like they’re so dumb, they’re so behind. And I have to tell you, that mindset was getting in the way. Because I believe marketing and messaging happen from the inside out, just like I forget who mentioned that earlier. So true. Everything happens from the inside out. And so my values were misaligned.
And my ego was getting in the way. And it was. So I took and I’m the reason I’m sharing this is that you can all do this to take yourself through your own process. I took myself through our marketing process, the way we lead clients, and all of a sudden, it was this aha moment. And it was like, holy crap. We’re not different than them. We are them. When we get confused with what to do with marketing, we were having the Wi Fi problem. We were doing all the we started from from nothing and built something. We bootstrapped it just like grandpa who started whatever company we’re working with.
We are our customer. So that’s the thing to understand. Is that, where’s that alignment? And then how do you stop making it about you and make it about them, make them the hero. And as soon as I did that, our business completely shifted. It was like night and day. So you know, that’s that’s not easy for me to admit. But when I finally figured it out, and the second thing, the reason that this will help you whoever you are, whatever your brand is, is you can stop.
You can win without pitching. Yeah, that’s the goal. And that’s from Blair ends. I didn’t make that up. He’s a genius sales trainer for creatives like me, and he talks about that. And he’s like, if you’re the specialist, if you show up and you demonstrate that you understand your customer better than anybody else, and that you have a bespoke solution that they can’t get anywhere else, then you become Why are they going to they’re not comparing apples to apples. Yeah. So, yeah, that’s why that’s important. It helps you demonstrate your difference and be the chosen one.
Damon Pistulka 1:00:37
So awesome. Alison. I just looking at the comments. Everyone has enjoyed this thoroughly. And and so grateful to have you here and speaking with today and drop those nuggets of wisdom. Just thank you.
1:00:51
Thank you.
1:00:53
Appreciate you guys.
Damon Pistulka 1:00:54
Yeah, Andrew tkae it away here.
1:00:57
Yeah.
Andrew Cross 1:00:58
Well, we ran over a couple minutes, but that was not a problem. Well
1:01:01
worth it. Thank
Andrew Cross 1:01:02
you, Alison. Great, great stuff. I learned you took away a couple great things there that we’re going to go work on today. So we have our website meeting coming up. So yeah,
Damon Pistulka 1:01:12
Andrew and I are talking about some things today.
Andrew Cross 1:01:14
Yeah, very good stuff. Um, yeah. And as usual, we’ll, we’ll hang around after the back on the tables. If anyone wants to hang out and chat. We’d love to see all and that’s it. That’s a wrap for today.
1:01:29
Should be there to
Damon Pistulka 1:01:30
Wonder Woman are we at the table saying those of you listening on LinkedIn live thanks for being here, and we’re going back to the tables. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Let’s
1:01:42
do this. Boom.
