Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://bluecollarculture.com/podcast/

One thing that tile installers – not to mention people in other trades – struggle with, says Luke, is that some consumers, because of what they’ve seen on home improvement shows, think DIY is easy. That leads to unrealistic expectations about the time a job takes and more.

By the same token, many contractors feel that because they’re experts in the technical work and they have the tools… starting a business should be easy enough.

But being an entrepreneur actually requires a whole other mindset and skillset. We get into that in detail with Luke in this episode, as well as…

●     The biggest unknown every new business owner faces – and how to find the answer

●     How to actually start running a business instead of just “doing the job”

●     What you must have in place to work less but make more money

●     The dangerous consumer misconception that impacts contracting businesses

●     And more

“I can fundamentally say for 80% of the people out there, they don't have a lead problem, they've got a conversion problem. What I mean by that is, if they've got a website that isn't capturing information, that's not educating, or nurturing, or leading people to the next step, their website's not converting. So, they could be getting enough traffic, they could be getting enough eyes on their website, but those eyes are not taking the next step. They're not filling in a webform, they're not making a phone call, they're not downloading a resource, they're not doing something,” says Matt.

We chat about Matt’s frustration over the lack of support for the trades and his journey to creating his own agency, as well as:

●     His podcast, The Site Shed

●     Myths about marketing for the trades

●     Advice for tradespeople on how to improve their messaging and reach more prospective clients

●     Tips for improving your conversion rates

●     And more

Even with all the channels out there like social media, SEO, online video, web content, and more… the noise… if you stick to the fundamentals, you can cut through the clutter and reach your prospects and customers with your message.

Tim shares what those fundamentals are, which he says you must learn first before spending one dollar on Facebook ads, an email marketing campaign, or anything else.

Tune in to discover…

●     What Michael Jordan can teach you about marketing

●     The key to differentiating yourself from the competition

●     Vital parts of your marketing plan you’re probably neglecting

●     The first thing you must do if your current marketing isn’t working

●     And more

“Pay attention to the technological trends of younger generations. Those are your future employees and customers. Where are their eyeballs? Do we want to get in front of those eyeballs now, or in the future? These are generational context questions that you need to ask yourself now and try as best as you can to project in the future. The last part of this is the understanding that, because of technology, these changes are happening so rapidly at this point that adaptation as a business is non-negotiable. Things are going to change and they're going to change rapidly. Get your head around that concept and you won't be caught off guard,” says Matt.

We chat about classifying millennials, as well as:

●     Advice for overcoming the generational divide

●     Growing up in the information age

●     Better connecting with millennial employees by changing your perspectives

●     Why younger people are more attracted to mission-driven organizations

●     And more

●How he uses the Kolbe A Index to identify an individual’s attributes–and why that’s important for them and the company

●The reason many small business owners don’t know if they’re profitable

●New employee onboarding strategies that lead to success for businesses AND team members

●Why a company founder can’t expect employees to be like them

●And more

We explore that concept with Ryan in depth, including the role of relationships in the sales process and the mindset shift needed to create better long-term results. One thing is for certain, being the lowest bid isn’t a good thing, and when you make some key changes, you won’t have to be cheap to get the job.

Tune in for details on that, as well as…

●     Why you need to start thinking of general contractors as partners – and how to make them feel the same way

●     What to do if you’re stuck at a certain level of revenue, including problem areas to look for

●     How to determine which GCs you actually want to work with – yes, you should be selective

●     The biggest obstacle to change – and a strategy to overcome it

●     And more

“What a lot of people are seeing in games is that they look more like our economy and our future than traditional sports does. The skills that are transferable from traditional sports to our economy are almost all mental and attitude. I don't need sports to create those conditions, to train you to work together with each other with respect, to include everybody, to be able to participate, to challenge your capability as a person, and to learn how to be your best. I can do it with a video game,” says Scott.

We chat about common myths about gaming, as well as: 

“In digital marketing, specifically, there's a myth that there are wizards or gurus out in the marketplace and they can make you be better and your business will be awesome, but that's not how we roll; we want to grow with our clients. So, when we're having a client conversation, if I get a sense that they're just looking for the wizard to make it work, it's a real moment of pause to say, hey, I want you to know that we are real people on the other side of this and there are real efforts going into it. It's not magic and it's not going to turn on overnight,” says Tim.

We chat about marketing myths, as well as:

Darren is a leader who keeps an eye on his destination and initiates the practical steps to get there through awareness and the ripple effect. He is passionate about long term scalability and commonly steps aside to allow others to take ownership of their zone of genius.

We’ll chat with Darren about the biggest myths in his industry, as well as…

two

profit-first bankers in the world. What does that mean? He advocates methodology where a banker is a strategic partner to an entrepreneur helping grow the business – not just a commodity service provider. That means you need a banker who not only understands how businesses work… but the reality of profit.  Working in the profit-first model can have a huge impact on your business, creating predictable and sustainable revenues that will grow the business, even in tough times. This not only benefits your business… but also creates consistency in your personal life and builds your personal wealth. Greg also talks about how the right banker can help protect you from risk, the biggest thing holding entrepreneurs back, and more, including… 

“Perseverance is critical. The thing is, I think it's critical for entrepreneurs to realize the difference between perseverance and stubbornness. And I say that basically, perseverance and stubbornness, but it's’ really creative stubbornness. Like you're stubborn, you persevere, but you're not creative. You have to have both and this is where so many contractors just do not think outside the box. They just keep doing the same old thing over and over again without being creative and breaking the mold,” says Jim.

We chat about the biggest myths around the landscape industry, as well as:

right

knowledge that you can apply to your business and life. That’s where Steve’s Readitfor.me comes into play. He distills best-selling business and self-development books into impactful 12-minute text, audio, and video summaries. Instead of wading through a sea of books, you can choose topics to help you achieve specific goals and learn from the world’s top experts in those areas. As Steve puts it, he focuses on behaviors, actions, and results – not knowledge. Tune in to get all the details on his process, the results, and more, including… 

“To me, the biggest myth about leadership is that because someone runs a company, or someone is promoted to a position of authority, they automatically think they're a leader. That is the furthest thing from the truth out there. People will follow someone who actually they look up to, admire, and respect, so it's who we become that they follow, not our position,” says Gary.

We chat about more myths around leadership, as well as:

Tune in to find out… 

“Many business owners will only look at one or a couple of things. They may only look at the balance in their bank account, or maybe they'll look at a P&L periodically, but there are a few things that should be worth looking at. First of all, their P&L, you want to know if you're running profitably. But, I also want them to be able to drill down into that and understand what kinds of customers, or what kinds of jobs, or what industry is really giving them the most profit, not the most revenue, which is the most money in the door, the most profit, which is how much money you keep at the end of the day,” says Judi.

We chat about common money myths faced by business owners, as well as: 

Clockwork

,

The Pumpkin Plan

, and

Profit First

. He is also the founder of Profit First Professionals, an organization designed to support accountants, bookkeepers, and other financial professionals to substantially differentiate themselves in the market, and co-founder of Provendus Group, a business growth consultancy. 

“It’s a myth that it takes money to make money,” says Mike. “It's actually the opposite. When I had no money I was far more innovative— I challenged industry norms so much more. But, when I had an infusion of capital, I seemed to find ways to spend it really, admittedly, to satisfy my ego, I justified the big office and the nice car for sales and all that stuff. None of that stuff was true. So it's ironic, it does not take money to make money, I think actually it takes the lack of money to be innovative, and when you're innovative, you make a lot of money.”

We chat more about the biggest myths around running a business, as well as: 

“One of the biggest myths is that you have to be really good at sales if you're going to get a new client on board. My take on that is that selling is what you have to do when your marketing sucks. If your marketing really sucks, your sales skills have to be pretty good because you haven't differentiated yourself or given anyone a compelling reason why they should pick you. If you get your marketing happening, the inquiries are going to come in and people are gonna want to work with you,” says Tom.

We chat about debunking sales and marketing myths, as well as:

“The idea behind cash flow engineering and The CFO Project is every dollar you invest in your business, you want a buck and a quarter back. How many of you would invest $1 in the stock market if you thought you were going to get 87 cents back? And we don't apply that same theory to our own businesses. We're leaking cash in places that your accountants, your bookkeepers, your CPAs are not telling you. As business owners, we only have to think about cash in versus cash out. Cash coming in has got to be greater than cash going out. It's really simple,” says Jeff.

We chat about letting go of the ideas of revenue and profit, as well as:

Not only does Tracy work with business owners, but she’s also the author of

LinkedIn: Publishing To Profit.

Think LinkedIn is just for select businesses and won’t work for you? “Think again,” says Tracy as she clears up some of the most common misconceptions people have about the platform.

This week we chat about myths about the LinkedIn platform, as well as...

coldcallingresults.com

. Wendy is an expert in sales, sales teams, lead generation, and getting salespeople to generate results. We know that sales are crucial to the growth of many businesses, and hope that our conversation with Wendy will shed some light on how to sell more effectively.

“So many business owners, they go out, they hire a salesperson, they leave everything up to the salesperson, they keep that person around for a number of years, paying them a salary perhaps, or a draw against commission, and they don't sell anything,” says Wendy about one of the biggest mistakes business owners make when trying to increase their sales.

We chat about creating a clearly defined process for salespeople to teach them exactly what they need to know, as well as:

When asked about why she came up with the idea of the Live It List t, Nicole responds, “It's not just helping someone get to retirement, or get their kids to college. It's really about helping people figure out what's important about life, and what experiences they want to have.”

We chat further with Nicole about the Live It List, as well as…

Before focusing on his business and family, Vinnie was a lawyer in the corporate branch of his firm, handling M&A deals. Then, Vinnie was coaxed out of the legal services world and ended up in building internet companies for over 10 years, the last of which was sold off in 2014. Now, Vinnie runs Fully Accountable-- a complete back-office solution. 

“I was so excited when I got the idea of talking about blue-collar culture because we live the idea of culture every day and in what we do,” says Vinnie on why he’s appearing on the show. 

We’ll talk to Vinnie about how he defines culture, how he’d describe the culture at Fully Accountable, as well as…

Blue Collar Culture

podcast, we chat with consultant and business planner Kathy Boyle. Kathy is the owner of Chapin Hill Advisors and focuses on the question on most business owners’ minds: “what happens when I don’t want to do this anymore?”

When it comes to succession planning, estate planning, and even personal planning, Kathy is here to help us break down some myths about getting out of the business. We can’t wait for you to hear all the valuable information we have in this episode! 

We’ll chat with Kathy about the two biggest mistakes she sees business owners making, as well as…

“Ask questions, get help, be open to mentorship and coaching, go beyond what you think is right, be inquisitive, constantly be asking questions. There is no place for ego, but confidence is imperative,” says Mitch when asked about the advice he would give to business owners.

We’ll chat with Mitch about how setting intentions can help you succeed in business, different ways opportunities may arise, as well as…

Josh’s specialty is taking stressed out entrepreneurs from working in their business to working on their business using his simple system. This leads to profit and freedom becoming more consistent.

This interview had so many insights that we’re excited to share with you! We’ll chat with Josh about documenting systems in your business, why systems are important for your employees’ success, as well as…

After watching his father pour everything he had into his own service business for 40 years until he couldn’t do it anymore, Paul knew something had to change. Today, Paul helps other small business owners automate and scale their business so it can thrive without them,enabling them to leverage their business to build a life they love. 

We’ll chat with Paul about how to initially identify a problem within your business, how to start getting out of your business so you can work on it, as well as…

Traction

and the new book,

Entrepreneurial Leap,

and the creator of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, Gino Wickman is in a unique position to define all those elements. 

The tools he’s built are impacting more than 100,000 businesses worldwide – this interview is your chance to be one of them. He kicks things off by revealing the six essential traits of the successful entrepreneur, and that’s just the start. We also talk about… 

Brian chats with us about the common mistakes business owners make, what business owners should know when they’re just getting started, and…

But Shaina Weisinger maintains that many businesses are going about content creation all wrong. They’re busting their butts to get content out there… but not using it to its full potential.  We talk about an approach that bolsters your ROI on content marketing and beefs up your all-important social media presence. Shaina also shares the hiring secrets she’s picked up over the years that have helped her put together a very effective team. 

Tune in for the details from Shaina on all that, as well as…