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Advice for a New Agency Founder

"Any advice for a new agency founder?" This was a real question posted in a large agency group yesterday.

My Answer: Focus on REVENUE GENERATING ACTIVITIES.

Playing around with your website is not a revenue generating activity.

Fiddling with your offer is not a revenue generating activity.

Similarly, writing copy is not a revenue generating activity.

Cleaning the company bathroom is unquestionably not revenue generating activity. Yes, I have seen founders try to hide from their business by doing this.

However, getting conversations with qualified prospective clients is revenue generating activity.

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Image by Photo Mix from Pixabay

Focused Advice for a New Agency Founder

Know and apply the difference between Pay Time and No Pay Time. As a result, do non-revenue generating activities in No Pay Time.

Also, do not believe that "being busy" is "being productive".

Set a specific money target and go for it. "Trying to make as much money as possible" is no target at all and dumb. Your subconscious needs a target. To survive, you need a money target. Those who don't set a specific money target (which you can achieve and then raise) tend to lose a little or a lot of money month after month until they have to go back to a j-o-b.

Therefore, set your money target for at least 2X of what you thought. You are responsible for EVERYTHING now. You can't go down to the company storeroom and pick up a pack of pens and a notebook. You have to pay for all that stuff now. You need more money than you think.

If you're not talking to at least two qualified prospects a day, you're bound for failure.

The Four Systems Every Agency Founder Needs To Be Concentrating On

Every business needs four systems:

  1. Lead Generation
  2. Qualification
  3. Closing
  4. Fulfillment.

Hardly anyone I've known over the past dozen years in the agency game thinks that way. They make things up as they go along. Then they end up with a sloppy set of processes and outcomes, and in fact are not even thinking of processes to make up systems at all. At that point they wonder why the business is slushy.

Be thinking every day about how you are accomplishing these four systems. How are you executing them, written in plain language first and then applying technology last? How can you improve them?

Advice for a New Agency Founder—What They Won't Tell You

Your business needs eyeballs (Traffic) and a way to turn some of those eyeballs into buyers (Conversion). Don't buy anything unless you understand EXACTLY where it fits in, in either generating Traffic or helping you with Conversion. Is there a hole in Traffic or a hole in Conversion that this thing can help you fill?

So many people buy a tech solution or other offer because the sales copy made it sound cool. They get things off Appsumo because "it's a deal". They have no idea where it fits into Traffic or Conversion, and therefore they never use it. I have watched people make this mistake again and again over 10+ years. Markedly, I have watched some specific people stay in the wrong mindset and remain broke for 10+ years. Don't be one of them.

Your job is to get at least two conversations with qualified prospects a day. "Qualified" means they admit they have a problem you can fix and want help fixing it; the size of the problem warrants your involvement; and they have a personality you can get along with. If you do this, you'll get 10 conversations a week. That's over 40 a month. Even if you suck as a salesperson, over a month you should land at least one client by accident. That's called a "laydown", someone who was waiting for someone like you to come along and wants to give you the money.

What New Agency Founders Need To Understand About Sales

A final mindset thing: There are without a doubt people out there who WANT to Give You The Money. They have money and they are desperately seeking Talent. "Please," they are praying, "send me someone COMPETENT who I can give this money to in exchange for them taking this Serious Problem off my hands." Understand, therefore, that they want this problem taken care of more than they want the money. Broke strugglers have an impossible time understanding this. Imprint it on your soul. Someone out there is desperate to give you money right now. You don't have to convince, force, or fool them into hiring you.

Print this out and tape it up in front of you in your work area. In addition, read it at the start of your day, the middle of your day, and the end of your day. Do not expect your mind and your memory to remember a darn thing on its own. For that reason you have to keep the instructions, the vision, the outcome you want right in front of you.

When I have not kept these principles in front of me over the past dozen plus years, I have forgotten them. That has led to trouble.

>> Jason Kanigan is a strategist who works with agency owners to increase the profitabilty and effectiveness of their organizations. Book a consultation with Jason here <<

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How Do I Start A Business?

How Do I Start A Business? Here is my answer to a "Can you give me a 10 minute call on How do I start a business" question, from a large group of coaches (and would-like-to-be-coaches). Maybe it'll help someone out here in the wild. Let me explain the process in six straightforward questions you must answer:

Starting a Business: The Positioning Element

1. Who will you help? Identify a target market.

2. What will you help them with? Financials? Strategy? Operations? What's your offer?

I think of this as "taking the client on a bus trip". You pick them up at Stop A. Where is that? And then you take them on a journey and drop them off at Stop B. Where is that located? How is that location/situation better than where you picked them up?

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Hit Your Target Audience by Making Specific Choices and Doing Your Research First.

3. What size of problem are you solving for them?

You can have a number, but it's best to have the client do the math and figure out how big the problem is. You can easily charge 5% of the size of the problem. Maybe 10%. Maybe more, if you have good reason to charge more. This is more formally known as “budget” (which is not “is the prospect breathing and has a dollar in their jeans?”). I have made videos and content on this concept, called “Monetizing The Problem”, for a decade.

Looking around and seeing "market rate" to figure out your pricing is a common and foolish idea that keeps people poor.

The Traffic and Conversion Element

4. How will you find your target client? Where are they?

5. How will you begin a conversation with them, and eventually sell your service? Map this out.

How Do I Start a Business: The Fulfillment Element

6. How will you deliver your service? How will you and the client know when you are done (dropped them off at Stop B)?

These are the basics. You get to choose. You get to choose your customers. You get to choose the problem you solve. You get to choose the size of problem you solve. You get to choose how much you charge. I believe you should choose a target market and a service that you enjoy talking about all day. That way you will be automatically enthusiastic. There must be an overlap between that and what people will pay for, or you will have a hobby and not a business. Many people make this mistake.

Many of your limiting beliefs will impact these choices. Since they are limiting beliefs, you are likely to be unconscious of them.

Final insight: you can outsource anything on the list.

>> Jason Kanigan is an agency growth expert. Book a consultation with him here <<

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Get Out of Negative Mindset: How To

Get out of Negative Mindset: How To

Today's post comes from a very good question asked in a group I'm a member of that is full of personal trainers and weight loss coaches. They know the value of exercise. They know about nutrition. But sometimes that isn't enough.

“How do you get out of a negative mindset?” one asked.
“When things go wrong, either in business or in your personal life, how do you put it to one side and move forward?
“Negativity crushes creativity and I know I have to get away from it to move forward with anything I want to do but how do you guys actually do it?”

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Here's my answer:

You can't simply forget about the negative situation and move on (at least, without practice)...but you can come up with a plan to get out of the bad situation.

So what happens when you feel 'stuck in the suck' is that your brain gets into a loop. It goes over the same thought again and again and again. "OMG this is TERRIBLE...and it's NEVER GOING TO CHANGE."

You get stuck inside the idea!

The Truth of How To Get Out of Negative Mindset

The ego believes you are separate from everything else, and this feeds directly into the tremendous sense of isolation most people feel when undergoing hard times.

But reality is not actually that way! You are not truly isolated—you are in fact connected to everything else.

As long as you remain the effect of this negative idea loop, you'll continue to spiral down. What you want to do is re-exert control to get out of negative mindset and get back in charge of your reality: be the cause, instead of the effect.

The key to accomplishing this is to get conscious. Instead of unconsciously following along the loop of this nasty idea, address it consciously. "Wait a minute... NEVER going to change? Things are going to stay this way FOREVER?"

Nahhh.

Right?

Change is constant. Things never stay the same. But as long as you allow yourself to remain in that negative thought loop, your conditions will continue to decline.

The key here is Belief that you can get out of that situation. Detach from it. "Yeah, this thing is happening, and it sucks...but it can't keep happening forever. That's impossible. What my mind is trying to convince me of is false. Things cannot stay this way forever."

Then get creative.

Now that can be a toughie in this condition, but do something different. Get up from your desk or your couch. Go outside. Go for a walk. Break your routine. Then, while you're out of the usual comfort zone, address your situation.

What is actually happening?

Are the collectors or evictors banging on your door RIGHT NOW?

Probably not.

You have some time. At least a little time. Nothing horrible is happening at this exact moment.

You should feel a little relief at this point.

Now step outside the problem. Imagine someone has come to you with this problem, and they want you to advise them.

Solution To Get Out of Negative Mindset

What would you suggest?

See, things are almost assuredly not nearly as dire as your mind has been telling you.

And you probably have more resources (friends, family, business contacts) available than you have considered.

Relax as much as you can. Then ask yourself, "If money and resources weren't an issue, what would I advise this person to do to change their situation?" The first part of that question is what allows you to be creative. Detaching to get out of negative mindset, then asking without limits.

Limits are artificial, anyway. They're mostly self-imposed, and yet we act as if reality was that way (see my video on The Stretch for a clear example.)

Write all this down.

Write everything down. Order and movement are the creators of success: Bob Proctor was sharing this in his pre-Internet 1980s seminars. Although the media may have changed, reality has not.

Get a plan together.

What does a plan look like? It has SMART goals. It has actions listed to achieve those goals. And all together, it is something you believe in. Your plan should excite you. Enthusiasm dramatically counteracts negativity.

Then, make another list. Look at your contacts and assign each of them to help you with something. Their help may be an approximation of what you wrote down; it may be even better than what you thought of. But ask them.

For instance, you may have realized that you need more sales. Jason here is a business strategist and sales trainer. Surely he has free resources or something he can give you, if you let him know you need the help.

Will some say No? Of course. Some people you thought were 'friends' may even disconnect from you (and aren't you glad to discover what they truly are?). But you won't be any worse off than you are now. And some will say Yes. They will help you.

Having a plan to move forward that you believe in, and that others are injecting confidence into with their help, is an astonishing turn-around device. It changes your mindset. You have something you can see working.

Sitting there, doing nothing but replaying the negativity loop, not taking any action, is the kiss of death.

Get Out of Negative Mindset With Clarity

As you gather resources, do not wait. Get into action. Use whatever you have and move forward with it. Remember: order and movement. The TV show The Profit recently had an episode visiting Cuba. Entrepreneurs under that harsh anti-business environment were literally using whatever was available to accomplish their goals. One was using a crock pot to melt down commercial soap as the base for her specialty soap business. They weren't waiting. They didn't need everything to be perfect. They were in motion, with a clear idea behind their actions.

You can do this, too.

You will likely encounter a delay between starting your actions and putting your plan into place to get out of your negative situation, and the results you desire. That's normal. The delay is caused by your beliefs and resulting mindset. Keep at it. Be consistent and persistent. The results will arrive faster than you imagined.

If others are around you who continue trying to feed the negativity, cease or limit communication with them. You don't have to be rude. “I have to concentrate on this right now; I'll be happy to talk with you again once I'm back on my feet.” Of course, if it's a family member or significant other that can be more challenging. But you can always steer the conversation away from the negative topic in times you must be with that person.

But get into order and motion.

Get conscious. Break out of the negativity loop. Develop your plan. Assign helpers. Ask them for the help. Use what you've got and get into action with it. Forget perfection. Look to results.

Update for 2022 & 2023: Changing Your Mindset For The Better

As with most fundamental concepts, things have not changed since I wrote the first version of this post in 2016. What you can use are apps, reminders, and even online chat programs to jolt yourself out of a troublesome mindset. Remember that your life can and will start delivering you different results the moment you decide it will. Don't forget to reach out to a friend. You have more support than you think. You've had a bigger impact than you believe.

If you missed my free report on what makes for a good client and how you can identify them, grab it here. No opt-in required. Even simply seeing this could be the big first step in making the mindset change and getting out of a negative point of view.

>> Jason Kanigan is a business strategist and Conversion expert. Book a call with Jason to discuss your situation here. <<