If you were asked, “What is the top priority in your business,” how would you answer?
You might say things like:
- Keeping my clients/customers/students happy
- Getting new business from new people (new customer acquisition) …and note this is below keeping existing customers happy (intentionally)
- Creating new products or services (innovation)
- Commitment to positive cash flow and profit margin
- Fulfilling your mission
- And one based on current events: Using A.I. everywhere 🙂
I know you can think of many more.
What if I told you that the top priority in your business is something that could encompass all the items above–and a lot more—and it’s as easy as creating a consistent flow of information to your family?
That’s my thesis for today and I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.
And on the Titans Xcelerator call this past week, I was grilled on the subject…so it’s once again top of mind.
First, let’s differentiate between your personal family (i.e., your immediate loved ones) and your business family (i.e., those who follow you, read what you write in books and emails, and/or watch you on YouTube or your video blog…another flavor of “loved ones”).
The former is a given…that family is the top priority in your life. Full stop.
And as a bonus you can still invite them into your “business family” …optional for them of course.
But it is a crime when our business family is neglected in favor of silly things like “making more money” and “finding new customers” which tend to supersede sincere and regular communication with this “second” family.
And I’m all for making money and finding new customers.
The key is to understand that “priorities” such as making money and acquiring new customers are derivatives of that consistent communication with your list (i.e., your online family…I can’t say the word “list” without specifying that lists are people too).
You need to believe this so you can stay with me here. Feel free to abandon this belief later if you choose.
Maybe you don’t receive big bucks with every email, tweet, blog or video…but there is definitely a cumulative effect…and combined with the notion that “life is long” (read “A greener mile” if you get a chance), it’s why thinking/writing/communicating should be your number one priority.
And as you may know, I am not a “should guy.”
I’m more of a “I highly recommend guy.” 🙂
Secondly, if you look at your list as a list and not as real people, it’s understandable you wouldn’t make these communications your top priority.
Why would you if they are only “names”/prospects/potential buyers (on paper or in your computer)?
It’s no fun (and there is a lot less profit) to think of people who follow you and want to hear what you have to say as paper cut outs (at best)—like the ones who were the “fans” at COVID era baseball games.
The fact that I often address you as my “online family” is not a stunt or something that’s not genuine.
I really mean it.
It works as a constant reminder that everyone who opens one of these emails is akin to a relative.
Many of us subscribe to the theory that publishing anything that our mom would not approve of is not worth publishing.
Of course, my mom never understood what I did for a living so there’s that…but you know what I mean.
I take that philosophy out to my full online family (with the only exceptions being people who have no interest in what I have to say).
When I realized that you, my readers, students, teachers, clients, customers, prospects, suspects, tire kickers (and yes, my actual relatives and friends too), are the most important thing that moves my business forward, my business made a lot more money (without trying to make money).
It ties into “the five ways we get paid and the fifth is cash” (i.e. you utilize me and I hopefully enhance, appreciate and refer you when I get the chance—which organically leads to the reward called money).
That’s why writing these emails/blogs/propaganda/musings from my experiences each Sunday is the number one priority in my business.
(See further down for some specific non-monetary/monetary examples of rewards from regular communication with your online family).
An added advantage for me is that writing is something I love to do…and having all sorts of “relatives” who want to read what I have to say, makes me want to write even more.
Especially when you engage with me.
And if you have engaged with me from this blog, you know I always (eventually) respond (and not through a Bot).
It’s self-motivating and it gives me joy.
Even if writing is not something you love to do, I assume you constantly think about interesting stuff, don’t you?
You know…that loud voice inside your head that never shuts up?
Pro tip: Write those thoughts down (in a journal, on a pad next to your bed or desk or on a non-used tissue). This will lead to good things. Guaranteed.
My favorite emails during the week are the ones I receive from you, with good news and bad news, agreements and disagreements, about what I wrote on Sunday or Friday…because they are all in the spirit of moving us both forward.
And you don’t have to be an A-List copywriter (which I am not) …or a published author…to feel this way.
You’re probably saying to yourself:
“This email is that important to you, Brian? You need to get a life!”
I would answer that this way:
During my 44 year career (and 67 years of life), all of my good fortune has originated from contributing to people…then connecting deeply with them…and in recent years, expanding my reach to a larger and loyal following who might care what I have to say on a weekly basis, resulting in even more good fortune…with additional contribution and connection.
Not because I want to be famous or a guru (I am neither) …but to have a place where I can share …and have you share with me in return.
This activity is as gratifying as anything I do, and I am so grateful to all of you for whatever engagement we have with each other.
If you write or speak or do anything for a loyal audience, and you stay engaged with that audience, you know what I’m talking about.
Without getting too corny, I consider it a sacred bond.
I try to be interesting each week but what I really aim for is to be interested…and I know those of you who communicate with me feel the same way.
I was inspired by something my friend and Titans Mastermind member Justin Goff said in one of his daily emails to his online family.
He said he gets up every morning to write with no interruptions and he works at his daily email until he’s done because it’s the most important thing he does each day.
Justin has a very profitable business with all sorts of courses, webinars, interviews, masterminds etc.—I do too—but that is not necessarily what motivates him to write his daily email–and it is not what motivates me to write to you weekly.
It’s true that Justin is a copywriter by trade so you can say that is the reason why he does it every day like clockwork.
But I’m not a copywriter…so why is writing so critical to my business?
If I did a “direct calculation” of each of these emails and how much money I make from each one, there is no calculation that would make it worthwhile…nor could it be accurate.
However, if I told you that every “indirect calculation” I can source from these emails cumulatively adds up to millions of dollars over many years would you then consider making it the number one priority in your business?
Despite being a serial direct marketer, which demands measurability in everything I do, I believe that I make more money from writing to you than anything else I can do.
In addition, there are many things which are equal or more valuable than money (in my bank account at least) such as personal satisfaction, learning something new, finding out something from a person in my online family that leads me to an epiphany, finding a potential speaker for one of my masterminds or to simply source an idea from a family member for another blog post.
Anything I receive from writing these posts has value today…which will eventually lead to value tomorrow…maybe even making money.
I posit that it will be the same for you… if you are patient…and it doesn’t matter if you are looking for a monetary reward or not.
Enjoy getting rich slowly…it’s the kind of rich that lasts a lifetime.
But…please don’t ask this serial direct marketer for a precise ROI (return on investment).
I can, however, give you some examples of my imprecise ROI:
- There’s the guy who has been part of my online family for over three years—and admitted that to me after he joined Titans Xcelerator—because that was the offer that hit him in his sweet spot. I told him for three years, “I’m here when you are ready.” That offer made him ready at the right time…on his schedule.
- There are the thousands of people who bought my book Overdeliver as soon as it came out, solely because they had been part of my online family for quite a while…and despite many of those people not being able to afford a $2,000 or $20,000 mastermind or Breakthrough Advertising (at $125), paying $20 for Overdeliver with an overdelivery of bonuses from someone they liked (I assume) was a much easier decision, and connected me to them as much as anyone who paid me bigger bucks for more expensive products and services. And there were many buyers who bought in bulk for their staff, company or coaching groups which didn’t make me rich either…or did it? The fact is that many of those people bought more than a $20 book over time.
- What about the guy who wrote to me after I blogged about the Titans of Direct Response event of 2014…and he asked, Do you think you will ever do a big “Titans event” again? I picked up a tone in his email that felt like he was more of an industry insider than a novice in the business. I got into a lively email correspondence with him which determined he was a major player in the industry…which led to him joining Titans Mastermind at $20,000. In this case, his vast experience left clues during an email exchange…and led to a monetary payday. But it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t responded to his email in the first place.
- The previous situation is more than simply having “whales on your list” (a Dan Kennedy term) …it proves that quality within your online family beats quantity every time. Big families are nice, but they come with unnecessary baggage (i.e., they can create family feuds because not everyone will be aligned with you).
- It’s about having a relationship with as many people on your list as humanly possible—oops, with your online family—which leads you to the whales, the striped bass, the sunfish…and some minnows too…and hopefully not too many sharks or barracudas. I wear the title “Director of Sales Prevention” as a badge of honor (one given to me by my good friend Joe Polish); but what I really mean when I call myself that is closer to what Dean Jackson (also a good friend) would call a “Fisherman without bait” (i.e., fish jump in my boat when they are ready rather than when they are offered a hook with a worm every day or every week).
There are some keys to developing an online family (another way of saying “list building”) that will pay you millions over time—if you attract them and curate them the correct way and if you romance them regularly with sincere interest in what they are up to.
That will be its own blog post which I promise to write for you soon.
Hint: It’s about building with quality over quantity…one person at a time…even through social media.
To summarize, here are “Three P’s” on how to make the task of communicating with your online family your top priority (courtesy of Titans Xcelerator member, results leader, and daily email writer, Michael Roderick):
- Prioritization—you need to make time for it every day or week, or it won’t get written (e.g., Friday is my “writing day” and without putting that time in my calendar, I couldn’t do it)
- Process—every email, blog, video should be used, at a minimum, as market research of your online family…whether there is an offer or not (e.g., find out what they like, what they don’t like, and ask questions, showing you are interested in them). It’s not that complicated when you are interested and your focus is on engagement over open rates.
- Permission to suck—you can’t be consistent and perfect—some things will work, and some things won’t (i.e., “they can’t all be gems”)—just be true to yourself and congruent all the time. You’ll be surprised what works that you thought wouldn’t…and vice versa.
I hope this blog post didn’t suck.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. “Permission to suck” is also “permission to prosper” …to coin a phrase (and book title) from my good friend and A-List copywriter, Ray Edwards.
As a devout Christian, Ray wrote a book that debunked the notion that selling is evil (according to some scripture) and he made a case (and a few enemies inside the church) for why God gives us permission to prosper (i.e make money).
If done nobly and with integrity of course.
Please listen to the Timeless Marketing Podcast with Ray Edwards by clicking here.
Thanks for this important lesson, Ray, which is adjacent to everything I wrote today.
I hope you agree.
And if you don’t, that’s O.K. too. 🙂