Monthly Archives: November 2019

When and How to Sell Your Business

When and How to Sell Your Business written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Chad Peterson
Podcast Transcript

Chad Peterson headshot

Today’s guest on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is business broker, owner of Peterson Acquisitions, and fellow Kansas City business owner Chad Peterson.

Peterson has helped countless owners get the best deal when exiting their businesses. He believes that if you spent years building your business, you deserve to reap the rewards when it comes time to sell.

He has a strong track record and a 90 percent closing rate, which is far above the national average of 11 to 25 percent. And he was recently featured in BloggerLocal’s list of the Top 10 Best Business Brokers for Selling Your Company.

In this episode, Peterson walks business owners through everything they need to know when they start thinking about selling. From settling on a fair valuation to approaching the right kind of buyers to their responsibilities and obligations to the company once it’s been sold, Peterson knows all of the ins and outs of brokering a successful deal.

Questions I ask Chad Peterson:

  • Should everybody who starts a company have the goal of selling it?
  • What are the nuts and bolts to valuing a business?
  • Should owners start courting potential buyers before they’re ready to sell?

What you’ll learn if you give a listen:

  • The difference between a managerial and an entrepreneurial mindset.
  • Why you should use passion as your barometer for deciding when to sell.
  • Why the three Ms can cause issues in your business and make it harder to sell.

Key takeaways from the episode and more about Chad Peterson:

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please!

This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by SEMrush.

SEMrush is our go-to SEO tool for everything from tracking position and ranking to doing audits to getting new ideas for generating organic traffic. They have all the important tools you need for paid traffic, social media, PR, and SEO. Check it out at SEMrush.com/partner/ducttapemarketing.

Transcript of When and How to Sell Your Business

Transcript of When and How to Sell Your Business written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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Transcript

John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by SEMrush. It is our go-to SEO tool for doing audits, for tracking position and ranking, for really getting ideas on how to get more organic traffic for our clients, competitive intelligence, backlinks and things like that, all the important SEO tools that you need for paid traffic, social media, PR and of course SEO. Check it out at semrush.com/partner/ducttapemarketing. And we’ll have that in the show notes.

John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. And my guest today is Chad Peterson. He is the founder of Peterson Acquisitions and the author of Swinging Doors: A Guide to Selling Your Company. So, Chad, thanks for joining me.

Chad Peterson: Hey, thank you for having me, John.

John Jantsch: So, it’s not often I’ve speak to people… I interview people all over the world. My last guest was in Sydney, Australia. So, it’s kind of fun to interview somebody in Kansas City.

Chad Peterson: Yeah, we are local. We’re probably not 15 minutes away from one another but we’re broadcasting everywhere, and isn’t that phenomenal?

John Jantsch: It is pretty fun. So, let’s just get right to it. Should everybody who starts a company have the goal of selling it?

Chad Peterson: Absolutely. The problem is this. And I’ll be very concise with my answer. Absolutely, you should plan on selling it. Doesn’t mean you need to be working every day to make sure it’s sellable but you should have an exit strategy in mind because you’re not going to live there forever. There’s a chance you could but it’s a very small chance. It’s kind of like somebody buying a starter home. Are you really going to live in your starter home forever? Probably not. You’re probably going to move up. So, I think, yes, you’re going to move on. It happens all the time.

Chad Peterson: There are builders of businesses; and there are operators of businesses. I find that people that start businesses are more entrepreneurial; and I find that people that operate businesses are more managerial. And those that are looking to buy a business are more managerial, otherwise they would have started the business themselves to begin with.

John Jantsch: Great point. So, and you’ve probably seen, I know I have, people that toiled their whole life, maybe they paid for their house and they bought their food and stuff, but then they came to the end and it was just like, “Close the doors.” I mean, that’s pretty sad, isn’t it?

Chad Peterson: To me, it’s especially sad. I think it’s absolutely terrible if you’re not able to sell your business and walk away with a severance package, so to speak, as being self-employed. So yeah, it really puts a sour taste in my mouth whenever I see somebody’s business die on the vine and they just shut the doors. And really, I think most of the time, it’s because they had bad advice along the way because somebody could’ve stepped in and said, “Hey, this is how you do this,” and walked them to a strategy to get them out of their business with some compensation.

John Jantsch: So, I’m sure that most business owners think that their business is worth more than somebody will pay for it. How do you go about valuing a business? I mean, what are the just nuts and bolts in it?

Chad Peterson: Well, how you value a business, bottom line, is just the cash flow or what we call “seller’s discretionary earnings,” which is… Let’s just say there’s a river of money coming through the door of your business, and you stuck a net in that river. Whatever the owner can pull out of that river is seller’s discretionary earnings, and that comes in the way of salary or a pass-through earnings to the corporation, in distributions, your car, your car insurance, fuel, cell phone, meals, entertainment, 401(k), travel, things of that nature. Anything that your company does for you adds up to that seller’s discretionary earnings number. And we’re going to use that number to price it to make sure that it debt-services at the bank because there’s going to be a loan on it. And so, those numbers have to make sense from a banking perspective.

Chad Peterson: But more importantly, John, I would say whenever you want to go and sell your business, and I know you have a lot of business owners in your audience and many of them have probably built great businesses, but what I really try to drill into people is watch maybe less than the profitability of your company, watch the passion that you have for your business because when you start to lose passion is when it’s already over. The bell’s already been wrung and game’s over. It’s just you’re hanging around for no reason. So, when the passion’s gone, be quick to be ahead of that. So, if you think you might be losing passion for it, you probably already have. And a year from now is going to be more painful. And two years from now, it’ll be even more painful. And so, if your passion is waning, then it’s time to sell. Get out of your own way because without passion, there is no profit.

Chad Peterson: And if you wait too long, profits fade, the value of your business goes down. And so, that big payday, which is what you were talking about earlier, is whenever you just shut down the doors, is because the passion left the building three or four years ago. And now, your numbers are showing it. And now, nobody wants to buy it because the numbers aren’t there.

John Jantsch: How often do you find that businesses… It’s difficult to sell a business because the truth of the matter is the business is really the owner. I mean, that person’s relationships, their ability to sell. I mean, how big a problem is that when it comes time to sell?

Chad Peterson: You’re never going to hear [inaudible] answer [inaudible] another broker but I’ll tell you the answer. Anything above $120,000 in earnings, it doesn’t matter whether it’s owner-operated or not. And here’s the reason why. You can go get a job in corporate America, making 60, 70, $80,000 a year. You can’t, or you wouldn’t rather, go buy a business that’s only making $80,000 a year, and get a bank loan on that business to only go to work for yourself and make 80 grand a year and pay debt service on it.

Chad Peterson: The threshold that I see psychologically is $120,000. So, if you’re an owner-operator of your business and you’re making north of six figures, somebody will go buy that business. And what they’ll try to do is find the deficiencies in your business, thinking that they can, and most likely they can, build that business from there. In other words, if you’ve got a 12-rung ladder, if you’ve gotten it to the fourth or fifth rung, and you sell it, and let’s just say it’s [inaudible] 120 grand a year, you sell it, they’ll take it from there and they’ll try to make it to $250,000 a year. There are buyers out there like that. But if you’re an owner-operator and you’re making 80, $90,000 a year, it’s very hard to sell those types of companies.

John Jantsch: Sure, yeah. That makes sense. I’m sure a lot of people that you… business owners… I mean, is it just the balance sheet, the P&L, the tax returns? Or is there a way to get value out of, I don’t know, potential, or an asset like web traffic or something like that? Or is it really just come down to dollars and cents?

Chad Peterson: It really does come down to dollars and cents. The extenuating factor there would be if somebody’s really passionate about something and it brings them a lifestyle, then you can get more for it. The catch is always the bankability.

Chad Peterson: So, let’s just say, for instance, I’ve got a business that pays you $400,000 a year; you’ve got 23 employees; and you’re going to have to work it. And you’re going to own it but it’s going to own a piece of you too. Well, that’s worth X amount. But what if I said, “Hey, here’s $400,000 of income. Here’s a laptop. Here’s your login. And here’s your cell phone. And you can be in Australia or you can be a beach bum somewhere and you can run this business.” Well, that’s worth a different amount, right? So, those are both truths. I mean, they’re so far from one another, but really they’re bringing in the same value. But one has lifestyle potential and one doesn’t. Here’s the problem: The buck stops at the bank.

Chad Peterson: So, the bank is not going to put an exorbitant amount on lifestyle; they’re only going to put the amount that they will lend on the actual business, which sends us into a different stratosphere, “Well, we have to talk about, okay, if you want more for your business because it’s a lifestyle business, we have to find more of a cash buyer or somebody who has more money to put down on it.” Because a bank would say, “Well, okay, I see your value, but I’m only going to give 80% of that value.” Well, now we have to have a buyer that comes up with 20%, maybe even 30%, if the business is priced with a lifestyle component.

John Jantsch: Where do you see people who come to you and say, “I want to sell my business”? “I hear you’re a business broker.” I mean, where do you see that they… What are their challenges typically, when you… How do you have to get them in shape?

Chad Peterson: Well, are you talking about if they come to me and they’re just not really ready to sell yet? Like they’re not really ready for market [crosstalk 00:09:12]?

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I’m sure a lot of people just think, “Oh, I just sell this thing. I’m done now.” I mean, and I’m sure you’ve learned that no, there’s some things you got to clean up. You’ve got to show, what, better cash flow, whatever it is.

Chad Peterson: Yeah. The biggest thing really… I’m going to go back to that passion subject because the main thing is that they wait too damn long to call me. And by the time they call me, they are so exhausted. They think it’s like a lemonade stand. “Oh hey, Chad, I’m ready to sell. Go ahead and get rid of it.” Okay, well that’s not how it works. You have to come to me; I have to put together a package; I have to understand your business; we have to market it to the right buyer, not just any buyer; I have to get that through a very rigorous process, called the SBA underwriting process, at a bank. I mean, this isn’t selling candy bars; this is selling a business. And so, that’s the first problem.

Chad Peterson: The second problem is they’re often not ready from a marketing and a management standpoint. I would say the three M’s, that everybody has a marketing problem, a messaging problem and a management problem. And those three things, marketing, message and management, within those three things, those three things have probably made them tired in the first place. And that’s probably why they’re calling me in the first place. If they had really strong, strategic marketing, they would probably be doing better. If they had a clear, bottled-up, concise message, a brand, that they could yell through a bullhorn and the market could hear them, they probably wouldn’t be getting tired. If they had a good management system in place where people were motivated rather than being managed, they probably wouldn’t be getting tired. So, it’s the three M’s. And that’s why they call me. So, I would say that number one is their passion and then the three M’s that I just mentioned.

John Jantsch: I’m sure different businesses, different industries are different, but are there kind of people… Should business owners be thinking about who they want to sell it to and maybe even start courting maybe existing employees or maybe a really good customer? Or are there things that business owners should be doing in that sense to kind of, before the thing is for sale even, start sort of courting or grooming somebody?

Chad Peterson: No, that’s the last thing they should do. An employee is never going to buy it. The reason is, most of the time, they don’t have the money. And people have their own dreams and passions. It kind of segways into another conversation, which is, “What about my son taking over? What about my daughter taking over?” That never happens either. Whatever a son or a daughter or, in this case you’ve mentioned an employee, they’ve seen the hell that you’ve had to go through to build that business and somehow, the sexiness has worn off of it. So, that doesn’t happen. As far as talking to competition, you don’t want to do that either. And all of those buyers are very unlikely.

Chad Peterson: What’s so counterintuitive about selling a business is that the most unlikely buyer is the one who’s going to buy it. Somebody who just walked out of corporate America; he’s got six or seven bosses; he’s miserable; he’s in a cubicle, that’s probably your buyer. And I have about 3,000 of them right now. And so, it would more than likely be somebody like that, much over competition or an in-house employee or a partner.

John Jantsch: So, let’s talk about the types of buyouts. I’m sure a lot of people just assume “somebody buys it from me, and they give me a check, and I go on my merry way.” But buyouts are not really structured that way, are they?

Chad Peterson: Well, are you talking about a buyout like a partner buyout? Or [crosstalk 00:12:54]?

John Jantsch: No, I just mean… not necessarily buyout. That’s probably the wrong term. But when somebody sells a business, are they sometimes on the hook to finance it? Are they sometimes on the hook to stay there and earn out what they’re going to buy? Or is it typically like I get a check and I go on my merry way?

Chad Peterson: Well, I would say maybe 10% of the time, maybe 15% of the time, somebody gets a check and they walk off into the sunset. But it’s very rare. The reason goes back to the subject of bankability. So, if the bank wants more security or collateral, then the bank can use that as human collateral. They can say, “Okay, We’ll do the deal but we want the seller to do a 10% seller carry.” So, let’s just say you were to sell your business for a million dollars, the bank might ask you to carry $100,000. In other words, at close, you’re not going to get 100 grand of your million. That’s a wonderful thing for all parties. It’s just that sellers clam up and get tight whenever they hear about that because they’re like, “Oh gosh, I’m not going to get my money.” But the truth of it is that it never fails. I’ve never seen one fail. Not only that, but it’s on a promissory note and it’s usually at a good interest rate.

Chad Peterson: Right now, if you were to do a seller carry, you’d get paid 8.5% on that money. And it’s mailbox money. So, you close the business and you’re getting mailbox money for the next 36 months. Every month, you get paid. So, it’s good for the seller. It’s good for the buyer because the buyer has a feel good on the whole deal because he knows that the seller is going to stick around and make sure it’s a smooth transition. And it’s good for the bank because they have the same mentality, that they want to have a good transition for success.

John Jantsch: How often is the seller contractually obligated to stay and run some aspect of a business? How often do you see that?

Chad Peterson: Well, everybody is required to stay for 90 days. And everybody is required to leave at 12 months. So, it’s mandatory 90 days transition. That’s standard. But with that being said, let’s just say it’s a business that doesn’t require a full 90 days. Then the language is written up, “Hey, for the first month, I need X amount of time; second month, this amount of time; and then for the last month, by phone, as needed.”

Chad Peterson: But let’s just say you sold the business and the seller is hanging around after the 12 months. After the 12th month, it’s actually a SBA violation because there’s a possible litigation matter there and the SBA can’t have it. So, everybody has to agree that after the 12 months, you got to be gone.

John Jantsch: All right, let’s flip the tables a little bit because you mentioned that you work with a lot of… you represent a lot of buyers of businesses. So, if a listener’s out there thinking, “Well, maybe I’ll just buy a business.” What should they be looking for?

Chad Peterson: Well, this is the truth of the matter. This is some real nitty-gritty stuff that nobody else is ever going to say to them. But I’m one of those brokers that’ll just hit you right between the eyes with it. I don’t have any time to give you any fluff. I want to give people the real deal. The truth of it is that if you want to be a buyer of a business, you have to get close to a broker. And you have to pay that broker.

Chad Peterson: Here’s an example. And John, this is good for your listeners because it’s so important and, like I said, they get wrong information. There’s a lot of misinformation out there. I’ve got 3,000 buyers right now. Let’s just say that a good business lands on my desk. Let’s just say that a business that’s making [inaudible] dollars a year. You can run it from a laptop and a phone, which I just got one of those today. As soon as I get it, as soon as I package this up and I send it out to 3,000 buyers, it’s like throwing a T-bone steak at a pack of walls. It’s going to be eaten up really quick. So, there’s a lot of people, and this is so important, there’s a lot of people that are out there calling brokers and saying, “Hey, what do you got?”

Chad Peterson: Buying a business is not like buying toothpaste. You can’t just see what’s on the shelf and go pick it out. If it were that easy, it would be that easy. And it’s not. So, this is the thing. If you wanted to come to me to buy a business, I’m going to evaluate how rare of an animal that you want me to go get for you. If it’s a rabbit, something that’s really common, I’m going to charge you $20,000. If it’s a deer, harder hunt but common, could be 40,000. If you want an elephant, I could charge you 75,000. If you want a elephant with pink feet and purple toenails, I could charge you 100,000.

Chad Peterson: It depends on what you’re going after because a lot of people will call me and they’ll say, “Chad, I want manufacturing and distribution. I want to be making $3 million a year. I want it to be in this region. I want this amount of employees. I want this amount of EBITDA. I want… ” It’s like, “Okay, great. Do you really think that I have that laying on my shelf right now?” Okay? And so, what they do is they waste their time. That would probably be like somebody calling you, John, and saying, “Hey John, get me to the top of Google. Can you do that tomorrow? Get me on the top of Google search rankings.” And you’re like, “Man, if it was that easy, it’d be that easy.”

John Jantsch: A lot of people do ask for that though. You’re absolutely right. So-

Chad Peterson: Right. And the truth of it is you have to pay.

John Jantsch: Is that the typical arrangement? The buyer pays your fee? Or is a typically a business broker compensated kind of like real estate agents? If you’re representing both parties or you’re representing one party, you get a commission? Or how is a business broker compensated?

Chad Peterson: Well, I represent the seller but… And in 95% of the case… and I don’t even want to give your audience that label. I don’t represent anybody, okay? I mean, that’s just the improper way to say it. But if we’re talking in legal terms, that’s how it’s positioned. But no, I get paid by the seller but I very much so hold the hands of the seller and the buyer, more so the buyer, and I get them to the bank. So, I’m working equally for both sides.

Chad Peterson: But in the scenario where somebody wants to go buy a particular type of business, I charge them to go hunt for that particular type of business. And then, that’s a different fee and it’s separate from the transaction. That’s simply a consulting fee. And then, I’ll arrange with the seller for the seller to pay me for the actual transaction for the seller.

John Jantsch: Got it. So, I get pitches every now and then from business brokers. And again, a lot of it’s just they’re just cold-calling. But if somebody’s listening and thinking, “You know, maybe I should go talk to a business broker,” are there certain things they should be looking for? And I realize you are a business broker, and a lot of the other business brokers out there don’t do some of the things you do, but if somebody’s considering, what’s kind of the checklist of things that they need to make sure that they check off?

Chad Peterson: Man, honestly… I know the question you’re asking and I’d like to answer it as you asked, but I’m going to answer it a little bit differently just because it’s the truth. You really don’t want to go with a business broker; you want to go with the owner of a brokerage. And the reason is because most brokerages… and I refuse to do it. By the way, I’ve employed over 1,000 people and there’s not enough Aspirin on the shelves for that much unemployment. So, I just don’t want the headaches. But a lot of these brokerages, what they do is they’re hiring people to simply call you. They’re hiring glorified telemarketers, so somebody else that actually knows what they’re doing inside those walls will then handle it.

Chad Peterson: So, if you’re getting cold-called by a broker or you’re searching for brokers to sell your business, I hate to be such a bad guest and bad-mouth my industry, but I don’t have the respect for the people in my industry. They don’t have the knowledge, the expertise, the intentionality. Most of these people in the brokerage business are just looking for a paycheck and you have to be careful with people that are in deals because they just need a paycheck. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t need to make money, because I’m not Jeff Bezos just yet, but I don’t need a paycheck. So, if you call me and you want to sell your business, I’m not doing it just to get paid; I’m doing it to do good work. And I can’t say that for a lot of people. Does that make sense to you?

John Jantsch: Absolutely. Great answer. So, Chad, tell me where people can find out more about you and maybe get a copy of Swinging Doors.

Chad Peterson: Oh yeah. Please contact me if you have any questions about selling your business. Please contact me at petersonacquisitions.com. And go to my site and get the free download of Swinging Doors. It explains step by step how to sell your business and any and all details of it. And my website has a lot of blogs too, full of information. But again, petersonacquisitions.com. I’m very responsive. And if you just leave your information there, I will get back to you.

John Jantsch: Yep. And we’ll have a link in the show notes, as we always do. So, Chad, it was great to visit with you and maybe we’ll bump into you here in town soon.

Chad Peterson: Okay. Thanks a lot for having me on, John.

WOCA The Source Radio – The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

WOCA The Source Radio – The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

John Jantsch appeared on WOCA The Source Radio’s show to discuss his latest book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur.

Jantsch shares how he began his own entrepreneurial journey as a marketing consultant more than 30 years ago. It was this background as an entrepreneur himself that eventually led him to want to write this latest book, which is designed as a daily devotional for entrepreneurs. Centered around readings from transcendentalist authors, who Jantsch identifies as some of the first counter-culture writers in the U.S., he finds their message of self-reliance to be incredibly valuable to those carving out their own path as business owners.

Check it out – John Jantsch on WOCA The Source Radio

Investing in Small Businesses to Do Good for the Community

Investing in Small Businesses to Do Good for the Community written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Amanda Brinkman
Podcast Transcript

On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I visit with Amanda Brinkman. She is the Chief Brand and Communications Officer at Deluxe and the host of the hit series, Small Business Revolution Main Street.

Brinkman began her career at leading creative agencies, working with brands like General Mills, Allianz, and UnitedHealth Group. In 2015, she was tapped to reimagine Deluxe Corp’s 100-year-old brand.

While it started as a check printing business, Brinkman saw the writing on the wall and led the company’s expansion into offering full-service financial and marketing support for small businesses.

She also hosts the show Small Business Revolution Main Street, along with her co-host, home renovation expert Ty Pennington. Each season, they travel to a small town and Deluxe invests $500,000 in revitalizing the local businesses that are truly the heart of the community.

On this episode, Brinkman discusses the show and shares learnings that any small business owner can take away and apply to growing within their local community.

Questions I ask Amanda Brinkman:

  • What’s your process for selecting the small town you work with?
  • Which has been the most touching story for you across the seasons?
  • Are your businesses from earlier seasons now seeing long-term success?

What you’ll learn if you give a listen:

  • The two biggest, universal hurdles that small businesses face.
  • Why an established business may need to pivot.
  • What to expect from season 5 of Small Business Revolution.

Key takeaways from the episode and more about Amanda Brinkman:

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please!

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Transcript of Investing in Small Businesses to Do Good for the Community

Transcript of Investing in Small Businesses to Do Good for the Community written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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Transcript

Klaviyo logo

John Jantsch: This episode of The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is a platform that helps growth-focused eCommerce brands drive more sales with super-targeted, highly relevant email, Facebook and Instagram marketing.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch, and my guest today is Amanda Brinkman. She is the chief brand officer for Deluxe, and the host and producer of the very fun, Small Business Revolution TV series, which is in season four currently. So, Amanda, thanks for joining us.

Amanda Brinkman: Thank you so much for having me.

John Jantsch: So, start by setting up the premise of the show for people that are not familiar with what you’re doing.

Amanda Brinkman: So, the small business revolution main street is a docu series, where each season we revitalize a different small towns main street through its small businesses. We really believe in the thesis of the show is that if you have a strong, small business core that any community or town can thrive. So, each year we ask people to nominate their favorite small town. And then the Luxal invest half a million dollars in revitalizing that winning town’s main streets, and they’ll be featured in that season of the show.

John Jantsch: So, where can people tune in if they want to find both past seasons, and follow along with you right away?

Amanda Brinkman: Lots of different places. So, they can watch it on Hulu, or it’s on Amazon Prime Video. Amazon just picked it up, or it’s streams online @smallbusinessrevolution.org. So, if you don’t have Prime or you don’t have Hulu, you can watch it online for free @smallbusinessrevolution.org.`

John Jantsch: Awesome. So, let’s talk about the town. So, I love this concept of marrying the two things. Not only the small businesses, but just as you suggest, the impact that that has on the overall community. And some of these small towns are hurting, I think in that regard. So, talk about the process for choosing the town, because I know you get inundated with people that say, “Oh, come to our town.”

Amanda Brinkman: Yeah, exactly. Well, I think that’s because small towns are all struggling with the same thing, no matter where they are geographically. All small towns are struggling with… Big box retailers are moving down on the edge of town, which is putting pressure on their mom and pop shops. They’ve got online competition, which is a problem for small business and across the country, no matter what size community you’re in, you’ve got restaurant chains moving in.

Amanda Brinkman: It’s really hard for these small businesses to compete. And when you think about a small town, and when you tell someone to either visit your favorite small town, or where you’re from, you talk about the small businesses. Small businesses are what make a town or a unique, or a community, or a neighborhood, even in a large urban area, these small businesses are what make it unique. You talk about the barber shop, or your dad used to get his hair cut, and you got your first haircuts, or you talk about that diner where they know your order, or the local coffee shop where you see people that you know from the community.

Amanda Brinkman: You talk about these gathering places that small businesses are, and small businesses also give back to their communities in disproportionate ways. They are the ones who are spending their tax dollars are seeing within your community, they’re hiring employees from your community. They’re certainly the ones who are sponsoring the local little league team. And so we need to see these small businesses be successful in order for towns to thrive. Because again, that’s a differentiated small town is their individual small businesses.

John Jantsch: So, my father was a manufacturer’s representative. So, we’re talking about 50 years ago, and he would go to these small towns, and there he’d always have three or four clients on now on the square on every one of them. And my favorite was… I used to go with him sometimes when I was growing up on these trips, and my favorite was always the hardware store, with the worn wooden floors and everybody working there had worked there for 35 years, and they knew they had one of everything, and they knew where it was. Still, today there were a few of those around, aren’t there?

Amanda Brinkman: Oh absolutely. And you know, what’s so special about small businesses is that they often say to us, “How do I compete with online pressure? I can’t compete with those online prices or their distribution.” It’s like, no, you can’t. But what you can compete on is that personalized customer service. The fact that when you go into those local hardware shops, they know how to fix the thing you’re trying to fix, and they’re going to spend time with you getting to know exactly what that challenge is, or that problem is that you’re trying to solve.

Amanda Brinkman: And big box stores can try and emulate that same service experience. But when you’re not from that community, or you’re not the owner of that business, it’s just hard to get the average employee to treat the customers at that same level of personalization. And so, we always tell small business, compete on what you can be differentiated around. And that is that service, and knowing your customers, and knowing their unique needs.

John Jantsch: All right, so you roll into town, you’ve chosen a city, and you have a fun way because you reveal it. They don’t know they got picked. So, you’re all in, you pick that town. How do you pick the individual businesses in that town then? Because, obviously there’s a whole lot of people that would love help.

Amanda Brinkman: Absolutely. So, each year we get about 200 businesses that apply to be one of the six businesses we feature each season. And we do work with all of the small businesses within the community, Deluxe hosts, marketing seminars, and financial seminars. So, we go door to door and help the small businesses. So, we can really only feature in depth, six of them within each season of the show. And so, a couple of things we’re looking for is, through the series we’re really trying to show them what a difference marketing can make for small businesses. And so we’re looking for a business where maybe marketing is a challenge for them, and where we think it will make the biggest difference. We’re looking for businesses where people-

John Jantsch: So, basically every business.

Amanda Brinkman: You know it, that’s true. So, you can help us narrow it down. We’re all set. And so we also are looking for business owner stories that are going to resonate with the audience. And because the whole part… One of the main reasons we do this show is because there’s something about that affirmation.

Amanda Brinkman: So, the large base of our fans are other entrepreneurs and small businesses because they want to learn from what we do in the show. But we also are striving to affirm the viewer that the things that you’re struggling with as a small business owner, aren’t unique to you that other people are struggling with this too. Because, it can be very lonely to be a business owner. And wonder if other businesses are struggling with the same thing, and why don’t you have the answers. And so, we want to find stories where the viewers can see themselves in those struggles, and see themselves in the stories.

Amanda Brinkman: And the whole reason again, is a seriousness because through that story time we’re also trying to inspire non-small business owners to support small businesses. So, when you hear a family story, and why they run the business, you put a face to the business, you want to go out and support them. So, we’re trying to find stories that resonate both in a business level, as well as a personal level. We’re also trying to show a great diversity of businesses, not just diversity in the business owners, but that’s a very important factor for us throughout the seasons. But also diversity of the kind of category or vertical of business.

Amanda Brinkman: So we don’t want to just do a restaurant makeover shore, or just retail, we want to show very niche businesses too. So, in past seasons we’ve featured a dog groomer, or a boxing jim, or a barber shop, a daycare center. We want to show as many different kinds of business too, to make sure that the advice that we give in the series is as applicable to as many kinds of businesses as possible.

John Jantsch: Now you have a co-host on the show, and first couple of seasons it was Robert, oh gosh, I’m forgetting his last name.

Amanda Brinkman: Robert Herjavec.

John Jantsch: There, Herjavec there we go.

Amanda Brinkman: From Shark Tank.

John Jantsch: And now you have Ty Pennington on the show with you. And I will say, you’re a much sharper dresser than he is.

Amanda Brinkman: [inaudible] I got to tell you, I don’t mind you saying that.

John Jantsch: So, tell me this, what are some of the universe… You already mentioned it, marketing, but what are some of the kind of universal problems that you see, that you walk in, you go, [inaudible] here we are again.

Amanda Brinkman: The two things we seem to struggle with the most, are the marketing. Not understanding how to use marketing to grow and differentiate their business. And the second thing is their finances. So, not necessarily having a handle on their numbers, or what the numbers are telling them. And so that is why those are the two things we focused on most in the show, because those are the two things you need to have a handle on, to really run your business and those are two things that most business owners start their business to get into. They don’t come naturally to a lot of people for good reason.

Amanda Brinkman: People start a bakery because they love to bake, not because they can’t wait to build a website, or to figure out what the heck SEO is, or to balance their books at the end of the month. But none of the important factors of the success of your business. So, every episode and in real life, we just come in to walk alongside those businesses and help them with the resources, so that they can get back to doing what they love about their business. We never have to invent the passion for this business. We never have to convince them to try a different kind of bakery. And they’ve got those pieces of their business nailed. We just try and help them with the things that don’t come naturally, because we want them to be successful.

John Jantsch: I want to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening and understanding cues from your customers. And it allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages. There’s powerful segmentation, email autoresponder that are ready to go. Great reporting. You want to learn a little bit about the secret to building customer relationships. They’ve got a really fun series called Klaviyo’s beyond black Friday. It’s a docu-series, a lot of fun, quick lessons. Just head on over to klaviyo.com/beyondBF, beyond black Friday.

John Jantsch: Some of the shows have some drama. There are tears, and there’s joy, and there’s anger and frustration. What’s been the most touching story for you?

Amanda Brinkman: Oh my. I think this season it’s hard, because we in real life are so close with all these businesses, and I think all of their stories have such emotional elements. So, I think that one of the stories that we’re seeing really resonate with people, and certainly did with my team and I if Whilma’s Filipino Restaurant, it’s episode two of season four. The [Forgosa] family is from the Philippines. And so, Whilma who owns the restaurant, and her husband moved their family from the Philippines to Searcy, Arkansas. It’s the great American dream with literally $100 and two suitcases. And they moved their four children who are all under, I believe the age of 10 at the time. All in pursuit of creating what they perceived to be a better life for their children, or more opportunities for them.

Amanda Brinkman: And how brave to not only do that, so she as apparent on how sacrificial, and then also to them start a business and being a business owner from the most briefings you can do. And we saw her be… What I talked about before. She has a passion for cooking. She’s an amazing cook. She has this incredible sense of hospitality, which is inherent to not just her Filipino culture, but just her as a person. But things like cost of goods and marketing, and interior decor, and some of these other things we’re seeing in her way of actually being a profitable business. So who should have been in business about 10 years and had barely paid herself and some years maybe not at all. And working that hard, you want to see people be able to… There’s nothing wrong with making money from the business when a business is meant to do and provide for the family.

Amanda Brinkman: And so we were just so proud to see what marketing and the publicity of the show, and helping her with some of those operational things like quantity sizes of menu pricing, and some of those less fun things to talk about, but how they could really impact your bottom line. And so that was a very emotional, I think probably because she just sat in such a space of gratitude throughout the entire process. And it’s always wonderful to see a family come together and move themselves forward. It’s very rewarding.

John Jantsch: So, I’m freely will admit, I’m a fan of the Queer Eye series and there is a little bit of that for business. It feels like there’s a lot of hope you’re focused on businesses as opposed to individuals, but there’s a bit of a makeover aspect to it, isn’t there?

Amanda Brinkman: There really is. And I think the other thing we have in common with Queer and they wish more shows for following this is. This is really a makeover show with heart. We aren’t there to make the business owners look stupid, or to look like we’re the saviors we’ve certainly had distribution partners, not the existing ones, but others that we’ve talked to that want to dial up drama,or different things like we’re not just not going to do that. Yo don’t need to invent drama. When you run a small business to be antagonists is, in a business like that there is no need to pretend or dial that up. We’re truly just there to help, and there are certainly dramatic moments in every episode that come out just naturally, because that is the nature again of being an entrepreneur.

John Jantsch: It’s very personal. So, you’ve got a few seasons under your belt now. I suspect you’ve probably checked back in with some of your folks from past seasons. Have you seen real impact in bottom line impact? They have a different business now?

Amanda Brinkman: Absolutely. Every business is certainly far more profitable. Some of the greatest success stories are a season two Annabella Italian restaurant and Bristol borough has tripled their sales, and hired a few more people. Ellen’s dress and bridal from Wabash, Indiana season one went from being $100,000 in debt, and never paying herself to certainly paying herself in doing well.

Amanda Brinkman: Well first of all, the fact that all 24 businesses are still in business, is actually a statistical anomaly in terms of business. Seeing this is being able to stay open and those open rates. But no, they’re all doing extremely well and in different ways. Some have more work life balance, which was a goal for them. They’re all more profitable. Some of them would be able to hire people, which was a goal. So, all of them had certain goals going into it and those have been met.

Amanda Brinkman: And the funny thing that we do is, each season we actually kick off the season with a return to episode from the previous season. So, we did a return to all [inaudible] a few weeks before we just launched season four, which is in Searcy, Arkansas. And it’s so fun to see impact on the whole community. Some of that half a million dollar investment from Deluxe also goes to the town. We gave aesthetic improvements to the main street, and invest in different things within the town as well. And it’s just fun to see the ripple effect. It’s more than just those six businesses. The whole town is really on a different trajectory on the other side of the small business revolution.

John Jantsch: So, your publicity team, when they were lining up this interview said that you were going to use this occasion to announce season five’s winner.

Amanda Brinkman: Well, that was very preempted on themselves. Here’s where we’re at actually in the process. So we’re actually, [inaudible]

John Jantsch: I was going to stay silent there as long as you needed.

Amanda Brinkman: We’re actually in the process of narrowing down the season five nominations. So, over the course of the five years, we’ve received 35,000 nominations accounts. So, every year we get thousands and thousands of towns nominated. So, we’re not even close to announcing that, because what we do is, we narrow down to the top 10, we go out and visit them, boots on the ground, and then we announced the top five, which we’ll announce on January 14th, and then it is up to the public, the public votes, where we actually end up going. And once we identify the five, it’s out of Deluxe is hand sending it up to the American public to vote. And then I’ll pop out on someone’s stage. I believe it’s scenery 28th.

John Jantsch: Okay, awesome. So, your title is chief brand officer. I’m guessing there’s a day job beyond the show involved in that?

Amanda Brinkman: Yes, there is. Over the years, it’s been nice that I’ve been able to focus more and more in the series producing and hosting, and show running a series is an all consuming full time job. And so my team and I are quite focused on the series itself, but we’re very proud at Deluxe that we not only do the small business revolution, but it’s truly our brand purpose turned into a brand action. And so we very much as a company look at this as the leading efforts that we do to really get our brand out there. And it’s making a difference beyond just selling small businesses, marketing services. We’re actually going out and putting our money where our mouth is, and helping these communities and businesses. And so, much of what I do is focused on that brand pieces is how this is leading us as a company.

John Jantsch: And really this is going to sound like a commercial for Deluxe, but here it goes. Deluxe is such a great example of one of these companies that is a very old company that was in a very old industry, that was very entrenched in a very old industry that said, “Wait a minute, at some point people are going to stop buying checks. Maybe we’re going to have to do something else.” And I think a lot of companies died because the golden calf was there and they hung onto it.

John Jantsch: I think Deluxe probably earlier than a lot of companies pivoted to,”Hey, we have to be something else to our customers.” And we got into marketing. You were one of the first companies to really get into content, as a lot of us marketers started talking about it 15 years ago, and now maybe just briefly. What are, what are the offerings at Deluxe look like for small business?

Amanda Brinkman: So, we can help a small business with anything they need to market their business. So, whether it is designing your logo, building your website, securing your domain, email marketing, promotional items, apparel, business cards, email marketing, the list is long. Anything you need to really market your business. And we’re really the only company that can do all of those things for small businesses. We certainly have a lot of competitors that just focus on email marketing, or just business cards, or just domains. But it’s really nice to work with one company that not only has the heart that Deluxe does, but that can do all of those things for you, because it’s just easier than having to try and go and work with a different company for [inaudible] marketing needs.

Amanda Brinkman: And again, we really do it because we recognize that marketing just isn’t something that comes naturally to small businesses, and we want them to be able to focus on what comes naturally to them. So, why not work with a company that can walk alongside you in an affordable way where you can focus on what you want to do in money in your business, rather than trying to figure it out, some of these marketing things that keep evolving and changing over time.

John Jantsch: Speaking with Amanda Brinkman, she is the host and producer of the Small Business Revolution Main Street, currently in season four of that you can find on Hulu and Amazon prime, and Amanda, tell folks where they might also find more information about the work at Deluxe and the show itself.

Amanda Brinkman: So, we encourage people to either visit Deluxe.com, or smallbusinessrevolution.org, and smallbusinessrevolution.org is a really great resource to hear more behind the scenes of what we work with the businesses on. So, especially if you’ve seen an episode maybe on a different platform like Hulu or Prime, it’s a great place to go and find out more about how we built out that website, or why we recommended a certain marketing solution, or a certain financial solution, gives a little bit more in depth. Because as you can imagine, needs to be scenes that ended up being about three minutes in an episode or actually, two hour conversation. So, we really want to provide small businesses with the resources to understand the strategies that we recommend.

John Jantsch:  Awesome. Thanks so much for showing up, and sharing your time and information with us, and hopefully we Will run into you soon out there on the road.

Amanda Brinkman: Thank you so much.

How to Use LinkedIn to Grow Your Network

How to Use LinkedIn to Grow Your Network written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for small businesses looking to grow their network. They boast 660 million members worldwide and over 165 million in the U.S. alone.

Because it’s a business-focused social network, it’s a necessity for those running B2Bs to have a presence on the platform. But B2C businesses can thrive on LinkedIn as well. Since the network is all about business, many users are going there to seriously look for solutions to a problem they have (unlike Facebook or Instagram, where they might just be going to look for cute pet photos).

If you understand how to use the platform effectively, it can help you grow your network and get ahead of the competition. Here’s how you can do it.

Build a Strong Profile for Yourself

Your journey on LinkedIn all begins with a personal profile. In order to build trust, fill out your page as completely as possible. Include a photo, bio, and full resume. Strangers feel better about connecting with you if they can learn a bit about you from your profile. Plus, the more information you include, the more likely you are to find a meaningful point of connection with a stranger that can help you to reach out.

For example, if you’re both alumni of the same school, that’s any easy point of commonality for you to leverage in your introduction. A request to connect that comes along with a note like “I see you went to KU, too. Always nice to connect with a fellow Jayhawk!” will get you a lot further than a generic greeting.

Also include trust-building elements. LinkedIn allows you to ask your connections for endorsements. Reach out to a few former colleagues or clients already in your LinkedIn network, and get them to say a kind word that specifically outlines the value you bring to a work relationship.

Show How You Can Help Them

Once you do create your profile page, you can start reaching out to people. However, there are a few important rules to follow.

First, do a little research on the people you’re going to connect with. Are they really the right fit for your business? What can you glean about them from their profile that will help you write a tailored message?

That’s the important next step: Take the extra time to create a personalized message. There’s nothing less enticing to a prospect than a generic LinkedIn request to connect that’s clearly been copy-pasted to dozens of other people. Why should that person give you any of their time when you haven’t given them the time to do a little research into what they do? Plus, a generic message makes it all about you; a great sales pitch is about them.

Instead, take a look at their profile. Let’s say you’re a marketing consultant focused on SEO. Visit that prospect’s website and check out their presence on Google. Then drop them a line indicating you’ve done just that and that you already have a few suggestions on quick wins for improving their SEO, if they’d have some time for a chat.

That message is a lot more likely to get a response than something where you’re asking them to define their own problem. After all, you’re the expert—you should be able to identify the problem you solve all on your own! It’s thoughtful, personalized messages that are most likely to get you the add and help you grow your LinkedIn network.

Create a Page for Your Business

Depending on the type of business you run, it might also make sense to create a page for your business. If you’re a solopreneur, you might just need your own profile. If you’re running a local business with a distinct brand, though, there’s value in establishing a separate page for your company.

The rules here are much the same as they are across all of social media. When setting up your profile, make sure that your branding and messaging is consistent with your other online assets (website, other social media profiles, etc.). Fill out the profile as completely as possible, with a description, photos, and contact information. The more background information and ways to connect you can provide to prospects, the better!

You also want to include elements that build trust. Link out to your other social profiles and your website—the more substantive your online presence, the more legitimacy you gain as a business. LinkedIn also allows you to connect your business profile with the LinkedIn profiles of your employees. Take advantage of that feature, as showing that you have a real team of people behind the brand also helps build trust.

Plus, it also allows you to tap into the existing network of your colleagues. People who are already connected with them on LinkedIn will see your business’s name and profile, and may choose to follow you if they know you’re associated with a connection they already know and like.

Post Meaningful Content

Whether you’re posting content through your own personal LinkedIn profile, your company page, or both, you always want to focus on creating posts that start conversations.

Some social media platforms, like Twitter, require a more fast-and-furious approach to posting. With LinkedIn, it’s okay to take a slower cadence, and to share a mix of your own content and curated articles, videos, and more. Even if you’re sharing curated content, though, you want to include your own thoughts on the article or blog in a way that encourages your followers to engage with your thoughts on the matter.

Using hashtags and mentions in your status updates can help expand the reach of your posts. Anyone following those hashtags has a chance of seeing and reacting to your content. And when you mention others, you grab their attention and are more likely to get a share or comment on that content, which then puts you in front of their LinkedIn network.

Once you’ve posted something that sparks a conversation, stick around to engage with followers and keep the discussion rolling! When people respond to your content, you should always respond back. And I don’t just mean a like or a one-word answer. Try to ask questions or comment in a way that opens up a back-and-forth. The longer you can converse with each prospect on a social media thread, the stronger your relationship becomes.

Use Ads Selectively

LinkedIn advertising can help you to tap into an even broader audience for your content. For most small business owners and solopreneurs, the most cost-effective type of LinkedIn advertising is sponsored content. This allows you to boost a post you’ve already shared.

When using ads, it’s important to be selective. Don’t go through boosting every post you put out; that’s a waste of both time and money. Instead, take a look at how each piece of content performs. Pick a handful of posts that have already done well organically and focus on those.

If it performed well without a helping hand, you know that the content was useful and resonated with your audience. Boosting the post will further its reach, and because you know it’s an eye-catching item, it’s more likely to grab the attention of new folks who are looking for a brand just like yours in their LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for any business owner looking to expand their network. Whether you’re a solopreneur or the owner of business with dozens of employees, whether you’re focused on B2C or B2B, there is a way to put this valuable platform to work for you.

Weekend Favs November 16

Weekend Favs November 16 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week.

I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from an online source or one that I took out there on the road.

  • CallJoy – Easily manage your incoming phone calls and receive analytics to better understand your business.
  • Chroma Stories – Create beautiful and engaging collages and Instagram stories.
  • Luego – Automatically ask your customers for testimonials.

These are my weekend favs, I would love to hear about some of yours – Tweet me @ducttape

The Marketing Book Podcast – The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

The Marketing Book Podcast – The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

John Jantsch appeared on The Marketing Book Podcast to discuss his latest book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur.

This is Jantsch’s sixth book, and while the others have been focused on marketing strategy and tactics, this book is designed to be a daily devotional for entrepreneurs of all stripes who are looking for guidance in running their business and living their life.

Jantsch has been an entrepreneur himself for over 30 years, and shares wisdom he’s learned from his own journey throughout the book.

Check it out – John Jantsch on The Marketing Book Podcast