Show Notes:

Project the right message. “Here’s the deal when it comes to your marketing: Everything works and nothing works. I know people who run billboards and see tremendous success, and I know people who do the same without seeing any success from billboards whatsoever. I know people who have run social media ads and have been really successful, but I’ve seen people run social ads who never gained any traction. The same thing goes for SEO, email, texts, and so on. Something can work great for one firm and not work at all for another, so is it necessarily the medium or something else entirely? Marketing is the amplification of a message, so if you have a message that doesn’t resonate with your audience or you’re amplifying it in a place where your audience doesn’t spend most of their time, then it’s not going to be successful. So first, you need the right message, and then you need to make sure the medium is the right one, and finally, you need to stick with it.”

Consistency is key to standing out. “If you’re a law firm who’s not yet a market leader and you’re using a generic slogan of sorts, you’re screwed. Unless you’re willing to invest millions of dollars to build that brand and that message — and even if you do it’s not a memorable one — then you might as well put those dollars in the shredder. You might have to find different mediums and advocate for your brand in different ways. What makes you unique and sets you apart from all the rest? The more specialized you are, the easier it usually is to stand out from the crowd. It’s difficult to compete with a large firm simply because you probably don’t have the same resources as they do.”

Teslas get people excited. “You have to do something to get attention. When we gave away our first car, Crisp wasn’t very well known at all. We weren’t anywhere near the size of resources of some of these other organizations. That’s when I thought that, in order to stand out, maybe we could give away a car — but what kind of a car? And that’s when I thought our audience would get most excited about winning a Tesla. It’s a great user experience and an overall fun vehicle.”

Protect your time. “As a business leader, you have to start taking control of your day. If you have constant interruptions, in many ways it’s because you allow constant interruptions. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be problems and situations that arise, but is it something that you have to handle immediately? Whatever’s happening likely isn’t open heart surgery that needs to be taken care of right away, and it’s important to know the difference between what is and what isn’t. Set boundaries, protect your time, and don’t allow an open-door policy. If you do have one, you’re only encouraging your team to become braindead instead of solving their own problems without you — not to mention your time no longer belongs to you anymore.”

Develop the skills needed to try again. “I believe that we’re all about three decisions away from going back to zero. I’m constantly thinking about this, maybe even a little too paranoid. If I had to go back to ground zero, I truly believe I’d be alright. The most valuable things to have are the capabilities you have since going on your journey, and then of course, you must have courage. As long as you have the willingness to try again and again, you can always rebuild yourself.”

RESOURCES & REFERENCES
Crisp
Game Changers Summit
Tesla
Kyle Bachus
Erika Riggs