More Cheese Less Whiskers

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Michael Barrett from right here in Florida. Michael is in a very interesting position that I think a lot of people find themselves in. He's taken the time to go through many different marketing courses, but he's struggling with that first step common to all of them. Deciding who your customers are. So, we started out with a great conversation about how do you select a single target market and how do you choose your niche, but then turned to a conversation about why that's difficult for people. We talked about his Kolbe Index, Myers Briggs as a personality indicator, and it really came down to a conversation about understanding these baseline things, and what do you really want for your life? What is 'a perfect life' for you? This is a really great perspective on the problem, and you're going to enjoy the conversation if you've ever wondered, is this really what I'm supposed to be doing here? Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com  

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Ryan Johnson from Arizona. One of the things that we often run into is looking for unique vehicles to package up what we do. Ryan is a comedian. He works with other comedians, and one of the neat things we explored here, is the possibility of creating a unique comedy tour in a way that most comedy tours don't exist. Creating a new opportunity, a blue ocean strategy. We have a lot of fun talking about the idea of creating something new and different, something you can control, and there are some great ideas here that you can use in your business. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all about the 8 Profit Activators we talk about here on More Cheese, Less Whiskers...

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Doug Spurling from Kennebunkport Maine. Yes, that Kennebunkport, the presidential, notorious compound of the Bush family. It turns out Doug has some pretty great businesses going up there, including a personal training business, he coaches other people who own personal training businesses, and he has a budding hospitality consulting business. So he's got a lot going on. We talked about this idea of using your business as the ’N of one study' for something you're going to duplicate. It's an ongoing theme I have: if you can create something you can document and then do again and again in syndication, you've got something pretty cool and scalable. We had a great conversation, and there is a lot here for you to take away. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all about the 8 Prof

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Justin Smith from Orange County, California. I really enjoyed this conversation because so much of what Justin's doing in the industrial real estate market mirrors exactly what we talk about in the residential real estate market. We went through all the ways of creating a 'Before Unit' to attract his ideal clients without making outbound phone calls, which is always my preference. Everything I do to engage people is framed as 'what would I do if my phone only accepted incoming calls?' We went through the process of narrowing down to a single target market and thinking through how to get those people to raise their hands. Then we talked about ways to educate and motivate those people so when they're ready, they'll take the next step. There's a lot you can extract from this episode that will apply to your market as well. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Bruce Browning from New York. Bruce is in an interesting position because he can do anything… well, almost anything. The company he works with, the company he's a distributor for, does literally anything you can think of with digital marketing, printing, promotional products, uniforms… you get the idea, all kinds of promotional and marketing materials. He has access to an amazing collection of capabilities, so we talked about how to focus potential, and find a focused target audience for the things he does. We had a great conversation about how to think about your capability and really use it as an asset. PS: I'm doing a small group virtual mastermind next month... we're going to spend 2 days going deep in applying the 8 Profit Activators to your business, from the comfort of your own virtual boardroom. Would you like to join us? Just send me an email to dean@deanjackson.com, and put "VIRTUAL" in the subject line, and I'll get you all the deta

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Blas Carrasco Phoenix, Arizona, and we had a great conversation because he's in a position that a lot of people find themselves in. Often, people learn how to do something with marketing, you successfully apply it to your own business, you get results, you start sharing the ideas with other people, and you start getting individual clients that you're working with. This is exactly the position Blas is in, and he's experiencing a lot of the challenges we see as people look for ways to move their new business to the next stage. We talked about a scalable model that he can syndicate. You've heard me use those words before, but I think this is an amazing time in history where scaling a model you can syndicate is more possible than any other time. This was a great discussion about it. I'm excited to see what Blas does with the ideas, and you are going to get a lot out of the episode too. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Craig Alsup from Ft Worth Texas. Craig has a neat business. He has an office that does a lot of family and marriage counseling, but with the current situation, they're shifting to do a lot of virtual, telephone and zoom type of sessions. We talked a lot about the transition to this model, and I shared a lot of the experiences I had in writing a book with a marriage counselor called Stop Your Divorce, which we've had online since 1998 at stopyourdivorce.com. Craig's business model is similar to the way we were working back then, but now it's become very possible for people to have a meaningful conversation in a virtual way. In fact, as we're all getting used to gathering in this way now, it might turn out to be a more preferable way for people to meet. We had a great conversation about the model, and how to expand the opportunity by narrowing the focus. There are a lot of great ideas for us all in this one. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActiv

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Heather Prestanski from Ontario, Canada, where she runs a great design business. Heather's an interior designer who helps people get the best designs and the best outcomes when they're remodeling their home. It's become a very successful business, and although she's been in the industry for some time, this new business, so we talked a lot about target markets and an approach to making sure she's establishing a brand. You'll hear how we define that term to resonate in the minds of the people who happen to live within a radius of Windsor, Ontario, where she's focused, and we also talked about some very specific target audiences and how to really stand out to a very specific group of people. As we describe in our Profit Activators, this is really a plan to dominate your category. I really enjoyed this conversation. There's so much potential in this business, and I you're going to get a lot of ideas from it. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivat

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we have a very interesting situation. You may have noticed there's a little bit of a virus going around! Now imagine if your business was 100% dependent on travel and not just any travel. Not business travel or essential travel, but on vacation travel. Expedition trips to be precise, the kind of discretionary lifetime bucket list type of travel. Your business might be in a little bit of flux right now. So today, we're talking with Ashton Palmer, who just happens to own a business that specializes in expedition trips. We actually recorded this a week or two ago, right at the beginning of the travel restrictions. The US had started quarantining, no-one knew where this was going to land, and we talked about some immediate things Ashton could do to make the most of a situation that's quickly evolving. I think you're going to enjoy this episode. It's a great look into some rapid responses. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on t

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Brett Ruffino from Georgia. Now, this is an episode that we just recorded on the spur of the moment to address some of the opportunities that small businesses have to adapt too in the midst of this current shutdown. Everybody is being asked to stay inside. Business locations are forced to close. Many of the businesses most affected by this, of course, are service businesses in local areas like restaurants, salons, gyms, all businesses that deal with people locally and in-person. Brett is one of those businesses affected. He owns a restaurant, so we discuss how a restaurant can really adapt and serve the needs of the community and be best positioned to survive through what's going on right now. This is obviously very timely, and I hope the thought process here will be something you can adapt for your business, and make a pivot at the same time. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Kevin Kennedy from Bergen County in New Jersey, where Kevin and his wife Deirdre have a great fitness studio. Like most studios, they have a certain number of sessions they run each week that they're looking to fill, and we had a great conversation about the model of think about it like a hotel, with available rooms (sessions) that if not filled, are perishable. We talked about the reality that every one of his clients or potential clients is really within a three-mile radius of where he is right now, and we outlined an idea for focusing on becoming 'Three Mile Famous' and target all the people in his chosen avatar. We dialed in on Facebook as the mechanism because you can specifically target exactly who you're looking for and target the messaging directly to them. I really enjoyed this conversation. We left Kevin with some homework I'll keep you posted on how it all unfolds. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Alyson Caffrey from Nashville, Tennessee, about something that is very, very pivotal to growth in your business. So, you've figured out something that works for your business. You figured out how to do it. You figure out how to get clients, and it starts to grow and get traction. But as an entrepreneur, you start to get busy, too busy. Too busy to do it all yourself, so you start to build a team, and that can be the most freeing, or it can be the most frustrating experience. That difference between it being freeing or frustrating is having the right process, the right standard operating procedures in place That's what Alyson specializes in helping people do. She helps people get off the operations or agency hamster wheel… finding yourself running crazy, trying to keep up with everything, and bring a sense of calm, peace, and order to your day to day operations. We had a really great conversation about the role of operations and procedures in a

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Lawrence Neal, who's calling in from Ireland, where he helps personal trainers grow their business. He has a nice membership community, and we talked about the difference between growing something organically and growing something with paid advertising. It really comes down to the velocity you can gain from paid traffic and the access you have to a bigger volume of people, so we talked about how to safely do that in a way that helps you figure out the right way to get people on board. We talked about the different philosophies of people trying something on a free trial basis, and I think if you're in that kind of situation, where a free trial is a practical way for people to trial your service, you're going to enjoy this episode. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all abou

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Jeff Jones, and this episode is a really interesting topic because it's something you may have heard me talk about on other podcasts. One of the desires I have, whenever we talk about home services, is I have a desire personally for home management for homeowners. We often think about property management for people who invest in real estate, but if you own a house, you're the property manager for your own property. Anything that goes wrong or anything that needs to be done; ultimately, you're the one responsible for it. I've been thinking about this as a category for a long time, and the way I describe it to people is 'I want to live in my house like I'm a guest in your house'. I want someone who can be the responsible adult and do all the things a responsible adult would do, proactively, to take care of a house, and I would happily pay for that service. Well, Jeff has heard me talk about that, and he's taken it on himself to put this kind of

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Paul Baeppler from Cleveland, where he's a private investigator. Have you ever wondered if someone was spying on you, or thought there was a hidden camera watching you, and listening to your conversations? Well, apparently, that's big business, and Paul has a way to help people in that situation. He does it all the time in person, helping businesses and individuals who are concerned about being surveilled, but now he has a system that can help individuals anywhere, not just locally in Cleveland. We talked about the psychology of how do you get into the conversation that's going on in the mind of the person who is suspicious or suspects they are being followed, tracked, or spied on in some way? So we walked through a really great breakdown of how to apply the 'Before Unit' profit activators to this challenge, starting with who's our target audience, what's the thing that's going to get them to raise their hand, and how can we start the conversa

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Randy Redinger from South Dakota on his way to Washington. We talked about a very interesting part of the startup phase, trying to figure out the best model for approaching people. He's in a situation where he has a really great opportunity with a unique product making custom closets that people can fully design. They know exactly what they want, and he can have it cut out and delivered right to them. It's a unique process for selling one at a time, but we talked about the possibility of selling through distributors or people who can actually install the closets, people who have a chance to create a kit, and buy multiple at a time. When you're looking at something like this, the opportunity of being able to sell anywhere to anyone, it can sometimes blind you because there are too many opportunities. Often, the best thing to do as you're figuring it out is to artificially constrain yourself to a geographic area so you can get all your ducks in

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Sue Richey from Northern Virginia, where she runs a very successful property management company with her husband. This is one of those businesses, that if you're fortunate enough to get it up to scale, you've got the stability of recurring revenue. There's a base of clients who love you and really depend on you and, if nothing's broken, will continue to stay with you. It creates a big opportunity in your after unit, and we spent a lot of time exploring the opportunities to expand within the people she already has under management, by talking about the proprietary metrics that are available. This is a great episode to really uncover the potential, and very applicable to any business with a healthy after unit. Show Links:Show TranscriptProfitActivatorScore.com     Want to be a guest on the show? Simply follow the 'Be a Guest' link on the left & I'll be in touch. Download a free copy of the Breakthrough DNA book all about the 8 Profit Activat

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're talking with Hans Comyn from Medellin in Colombia, where for the past 15 years he's been developing his skills in helping men with their confidence in meeting women. We had a great conversation about how to go beyond the idea of just providing information and courses, and expecting people will take it on themselves to get the result, but instead, what would it mean if you went all the way and helped people overcome what blocks them from doing the things that he knows they should be doing. We all start our marketing equation, our puzzle, with what is the thing we can actually help people with, that would be a dream come true scenario, and only then can we get to the point where we're selecting the right target audience of people we can most help. This target audience is a little bit different, but the spirit of what we're trying to do is help people get to the result they want. And maybe, what needs to happen is the price you charge for something has to go

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast we're talking with Cheryl Pinkard from New York, where she is in a very unique position of being able to deliver a result, a very particular result, for a very particular group of people. Now before you listen to what she does, it's more important to remember that this is exactly the same situation all coaches, consultants, service providers are in right now. Regardless of how unique or not your business is, you have the ability to deliver or show somebody how to get a result. You'll hear in this episode that often the biggest frustration is that you spend a lot of time convincing people you can do it and showing them how to do it, rather than being able to deliver the result for people. So we had a great conversation looking at the different models, or ways to present your outcome, and the psychology of how people think about buying the result rather than the service. You're going to enjoy this episode. There is a lot to take from it no matter what sort of advic

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, we're going to continue the Email Mastery journey we started last week. One of my favorite magic tricks to do with a new business is to look at how we can use what we call a 9-word email and simply send an email to your unconverted prospects and saying, 'Are you still looking for a home in Georgetown?' or 'Are you still planning a trip to Israel?' or 'Are you still looking for a yacht?', to check in with someone who's been on your list, but who hasn't yet taken any action. It's been magical to see the results we've been able to get, and this episode is the continuation of the Q&A calls we did when I was running full-page ads in success magazine, generating leads for our Email Mastery Academy (linked in the show notes). I used the 9-word email idea as content for the ad, the Email Mastery book as the offer to collect their details, and then followed up with an email... 'I'm getting together with a few people to talk about 9-word emails, would you like to join