Math was probably my least favorite subject in school.
At the same time, there was one area that everyone else had trouble with that was easy for me: word problems.
When I could talk through the situation, everything made sense.
Flash forward decades later and now I can use that advantage in my business life.
Business is all about sustainable services or products.
Sustainable, in this case, means profitable.
Is this going to make me more money than it takes for me to make it happen?
That's it.
That's the one formula to rule them all.
Sometimes, in order to find that answer, you have to do some complex math.
Example?
What's the ROI on my PPC campaign?
Well. To figure that out, you have to know your budget, the cost per click, the conversion rate of your website, your sales close rate, and the lifetime value of your average client.
Now you're working with division & multiplication of percentages.
Good luck doing that with a calculator.
So you might use Excel or Google Sheets.
I won't.
I mean, I have, but now I don't need to.
Not since I discovered this Obsidian plug-in, and that's what the video's all about.
Enjoy!
Personal branding sounds like one of those smarmy buzz words until you really think about what it means.
Unfortunately, too many people stop at "this is probably something that a self-important jerk would care about."
But, if its done right, personal branding can bring you massive opportunities, help you stand out in a field of overly qualified applicants, and a LOT more.
In this week's video I take you on a journey through my own history of branding (hello Jonny Zavant!), and what it has done for me.
If you think that personal branding is something that only insufferable idiots do, I'd urge you to watch this one all the way through.
Best thoughts,
~Jonathan
Hey there, trade show enthusiasts! 👋 Want to take your booth game to the next level? Well, I've got some exciting insights to share with you in our latest video. 🎥🌟
Imagine having an awesome booth that catches everyone's eye, but struggling to bridge the gap between passersby and actual conversations. That's where I come in to spill the beans on the key difference between active and passive lead generation strategies. 💼💡
You see, most of the traditional trade show marketing ideas fall into the passive category. You know, things like donuts, coffee, handouts, and those trusty QR codes. But here's the kicker: they rely on people deciding to engage with them voluntarily. 🍩☕️
But wait, there's one strategy that truly takes the cake: human-to-human communication. Yep, it's all about proactively reaching out to those potential customers and starting meaningful conversations. That's where the magic happens! 🗣️✨
In our video, we'll dive deep into different approaches you can take, like having your sales team work their magic or hiring an in-booth host. We'll explore the pros and cons, but there's one method I'm particularly passionate about: the in-booth presenter. 🎤🌟
These presenters are absolute rockstars! They work closely with your company, getting to know your business inside out, and then they hit the show floor to create an attention-grabbing spectacle. They'll draw in a crowd like you've never seen before! 🎉👥
But here's the secret sauce: finding that perfect balance between entertainment and subtle marketing messaging. You want to keep your audience engaged and interested, without overwhelming them. It's an art, really. 🎭🔥
So, if you're ready to revolutionize your trade show booth and leave your competition in the dust, this video is a must-watch for you! 🚀 Don't miss out on the game-changing strategies that can transform your trade show experience. Click that play button and let's get started! 📽️💪 And remember, if you can change your mind, you can change your life.
Discover how to use Obsidian as a client relationship management (CRM) tool for solopreneurs in sales and consulting. Learn how to track clients, companies, and deals, and build out your sales pipeline.
Enhance your to-do list management with just a few plugins.
Optimize your workflow, never miss a deadline, and keep track of your sales opportunities effectively. Say goodbye to scattered notes and maximize your productivity with Obsidian CRM.
As a business owner, one of the most important decisions you'll make is choosing the right legal structure for your business. One option is to start a Limited Liability Company or LLC. So, what exactly is an LLC and why should you consider starting one?
First and foremost, an LLC offers asset protection. When you start a business, you're essentially putting your personal assets on the line. In the event of a lawsuit, creditors can go after your personal assets such as your home, car, and bank accounts. However, with an LLC, your personal assets are separate from your business assets. This means that if your business is sued, your personal assets are protected. Your liability is limited to the assets owned by the LLC, which can protect you from personal financial ruin.
Secondly, an LLC limits your liability. In addition to protecting your personal assets, an LLC also limits your personal liability. This means that if your business is sued, you're only liable for the debts and obligations of the business up to the amount of your investment in the LLC. This is different from a sole proprietorship or partnership, where you're personally liable for all business debts and obligations.
Thirdly, an LLC protects your identity. When you start a business, you're required to register your business with the state. This means that your personal information, such as your name and address, becomes part of the public record. However, with an LLC, you can choose to have a registered agent receive any legal documents on behalf of the LLC, keeping your personal information private. Finally, an LLC can improve your perceived value. When you start a business, you want to appear professional and established.
Having an LLC after your business name can give potential customers the impression that your business is more legitimate and trustworthy. It can also help you attract more investors and partners who may be hesitant to do business with a sole proprietorship or partnership.
If you're starting a business, consider forming an LLC to protect yourself and your assets.
When you start working on enterprise level opportunities, you're probably going to be talking to more than just one person, and oftentimes that's going to be an executive and maybe even the CEO or owner of the company.
If you don't know how to speak the language of executives, you will literally talk your way out of huge opportunities. I wanna help you avoid that. So these are five things that you should keep in mind when you are going after giant opportunities.
Let's get into it.
Over the past 10 years, I've done a lot of business to business consulting. I've done workshops, sales training, trade shows, you name it, I've done it. I've been brought in by BP to speak with the president and the entire executive suite. I have worked with CEOs and founders of companies to help them pitch their value to investors.
For four years, I've worked at one of the country's largest marketing agencies, talking business with CEOs and executives at multimillion and billion dollar companies to negotiate very large deals.
One of my mentors was an executive at Sharp Electronics that took the company from making 📍 millions per year into📍 billions per year, and he has laid out a lot of this for me, and I want to share this with you. so that you can level up your business.
To that end here is the first thing,
which is
zoom out
as a subject matter expert. You are really, really good at managing the details that you need to manage to do your job and accomplish your goals. But that's why you're being hired, is to manage those details.
The people hiring. You don't need to know those details. If you get into the nitty gritty details, well then it's going to be too fine for somebody who isn't a subject matter expert to understand what in the world you are talking about. They will very quickly be thinking, why do I even care about this?
So You're talking to people who are big picture and visionaries more so than granular level KPIs and metrics and that kind of thing. Those come later, but when you are trying to explain how you're going to help the company, getting too lost in the weeds will make sure that they lose track of why they should hire you.
The second thing that you have to nail is being confident. Business is challenging, it is difficult. It can be even brutal. And the executives, the CEOs need to know that they can depend on you when things are difficult. So when things are easy, when you are in the negotiation phase. The conversation about how you're going to help them.
They might test you, they might push back, they might press in on some particular detail that you wish they wouldn't, and they're going to see how you hold up to the smallest bit of pressure. You might think that that was unnecessary and unreasonable, or they were being mean. They were basically just testing how confident you were in, how well you can execute at this level.
So if you fold, when they give you the slightest bit of pressure, they know for sure that they cannot trust you with the full weight of the success of their business. And that is one way that you can lose the opportunity is if you get flustered or you snap at them when they're testing your resolve. So the right thing to do is to remain confident,
support your claims and to stand by your work and to weather that pressure. And then you might find out that, uh, you passed the test.
The third thing to keep in mind is to focus on value. Companies are a creature that live on profits and are hurt by liabilities. Not just making money and losing money, but employees can be liabilities. Debt can be liabilities. There are all sorts of liabilities that a company is facing, and the CEO is the partner of the company who wants the business as happy as possible with as few liabilities as possible because their payday is tied into the value of the company, not just their paycheck.
So the CEO and the executives are tied into how comfortable and happy the business is. That means that at every stage of the conversation, every detail that you are explaining, you should be able to then say, and that helps improve the profits or lowers the liabilities because this, this, and this.
So you should be able to say that if we run more effective Facebook ads, then we will be able to increase your exposure for the same ad spend. So that is more results with the same investment, which is more profitable, right? So when you speak the language of value, you're speaking the language of executives.
The fourth thing is to extend your time horizon, focus on the long term. You might want to talk about the immediate wins, and we're gonna do this tomorrow, but. CEOs are in it for the long haul. They have a long-term vision for what they want the business to be, where they want it to go and what they want to do.
Maybe that is to make it as profitable as possible and sell to investors in three years. Or maybe it is to retire by the time that they are 40, or maybe it is, they're building this business to provide for the next three generations of their family. That's how long term that they are thinking, and you can figure out how to fit into that vision by helping focus on, I'm helping you today.
For tomorrow's benefit into perpetuity. So when you extend your time horizon, you are helping them envision a longer and longer partnership instead of, here's what I'm doing today. It's more of we're going to work together for the long term because we both have the same goal, which is helping make your business successful.
The fifth detail is know how your puzzle piece fits into the company. Another way of saying this is:📍 know your place
now, I mean that to say. See how you fit into the whole picture. Not to stay quiet because if you understand branding and marketing and sales and onboarding and delivery and client retention and business systems, you are bringing a lot more value to the table when you are still talking about your particular area of expertise.
When you can think strategically at a long-term vision, you're a consultant who is a business expert with a, with a focus in your area of expertise. So that is how you're going to be in. incredibly valuable to that company beyond just the level of skills that you're bringing to the table for the thing you want to be paid to do.
So when you know how you fit in, you can be even more valuable to the company and that translates to higher pay.
So those are the five things. Zoom out, be more confident, speak the language of value, extend your time horizon, and know how you fit into the whole picture. When you bring all of those together, your sales conversations are gonna go much more smoothly and you'll land many more opportunities.
Now, if you want more insights like this, I strongly suggest that you join my almost daily email society. I call it the secret email society because nobody else can see what happens inside of it. And I share tips, tricks, techniques, and strategies for, uh, landing more business of bigger and better quality. Uh, you can do that at I can read minds.com. And again, I'm Jonathan Pritchard, and remember, if you can change your mind, you can change your life.
New video! Click to give it a watch.
I'm up early this morning to tell you about this video because it's suuuuuuuper valuable to anyone working with large companies & large opportunities.
For the past 4 years I've been working with one of the country's #1 digital marketing agencies.
Every day I talk with several business owners & CEOs about their goals for the company, and I get to hear their concerns about whether or not digital marketing will even work.
This video isn't about digital marketing at all; it's 100% focused on the 5 most important lessons I've learned after selling, pitching, and negotiating hundreds of multi-million dollar opportunities.
If you try to "sell" a CEO the same way you would with a middle manager, then you're going to talk your way out of the deal.
Give it a watch, let me know what you think, and we'll dive back into how & why the internet sucks.
Best thoughts,
~Jonathan
It's time.
I wrote "[think] Like A Mind Reader" back in 2017. Since then it has helped people discover new opportunities, easier ways to accomplish huge goals, escape the spiral of self defeating mindsets, and more.
You wouldn't believe the messages I've gotten from people over the years telling me how much it helped them.
Makes it all worth it!
And now, I'm ready to start those conversations in a new domain.
Sales.
I talk about it off and on, but I'm not sure I've laid it out directly before: after being a sales person at one of the country's best digital marketing companies, I was moved into a training & planning role.
My approach to selling was so dang effective for monster deals that leadership told me that I'd be more valuable to the company teaching the rest of the team how to do what I do than do it myself.
So for the past 2 years I've helped seasoned pros & absolute beginners (no joke, one woman had been a missionary her whole life with zero sales experience and within a couple months she's one of their top closers because she listened & did what I taught her to do).
So I have a proven system that works. It's simple. It's different from every guru who claims to understand the psychology of sales.
Not like this, you don't, bud.
What questions do you have for me about sales? What do you think when you think about sales? What challenges do you have closing new business? Does it scare you?
In short, what do you want/need to know about selling?
I want to ask you now so you can get those over to me, and I can make sure I have all your bases covered by the time I finish this thing.
My goal is to help you win huge opportunities more easily without compromising a single iota of your integrity. Helping awesome people be more awesome; that's sales to me & hopefully you too once you read this thing.
Hit reply, overwhelm me with as many questions as you can possibly think of, and we'll make this thing the best damn book on selling that the world has ever seen.
Best thoughts,
~Jonathan
. . .Just don't be boring.
That's what I'm thinking about as I walk through all the blinking lights & ding! ding! ding! of the casino and seeing droves of people completely focused on their bright machines ignoring everything else.
Houdini understood all this. He knew in his bones that his audience was the source of all his success.
The conduit between his success & his audience was his ability to command their attention.
Not just be interesting.
But commanding.
He was so daring. So dynamic. So overwhelming that you could only pay attention to him.
And it wasn't because he was physically imposing. He was a short dude.
It was his single-minded focus on being the greatest the world has ever seen.
How do you look away from that?
So what's most interesting about you? What are you interested in?
I want to know! Hit reply, and I'll read your answer.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
New video posted 👇
I got quite a bit of feedback from the 5 pillars email last week, so I turned it into a video. Hope you like it!
Best thoughts,
~Jonathan
PS: If you want to learn more secrets of Houdini's success combined with cutting edge internet strategies, then I have a whole course about it in ZAVANT University.
In the age of the internet, everyone is building a personal brand (whether or not they know it).
It's a smart move to take lessons from some of the most successful personal brands in all history: magicians.
These guys build amazing wealth without the help of the internet, so there's a lot we can learn from them and run with it in this new universe to achieve even bigger things.
Relevant watching for any creator: author, entrepreneurs, and beyond.
