Marketing From The Trenches Podcast Marketing From The Trenches

A closed deal starts with a good pitch. Good pitches come from good proposals. But how do you create proposals that will get you more customers and leads? A lot of businesses have gotten used to the customary proposal where they read the first page, the last page, and then make a decision of whether it’s a yes or no.
Today, we will be hearing a lot of valuable insights from our guest, Adam Hempenstall—founder of Better Proposals. Today, Adam will tell us about how they create better proposals, in such a way that you’ll make your client want to read every single word of it.
I hope you’re excited as I am with today’s episode because this will surely give you a lot of fresh insights you can apply to your businesses.
About Adam Hempenstall (3:30)
Adam started rebuilding websites since he was 14 years old. From being an agency to becoming a software company. Creating software that served as little tracking devices for the proposals they sent out. Getting more leads from Better Proposals in 24 hours compared to the one they’ve been working on in the last 12 months. Moving Better Proposals into full-time mode. Adam talks about the lifetime deal he made with AppSumo. Things that are Hurting Your Sales Conversion Rate (10:00)
Sending proposals that cannot be opened on a mobile phone gives your potential clients a bad impression/experience. Data shows that 71% of people open their emails through a mobile phone. Tip: Make sure your proposals look good on mobile phones and/or tablets. Sending proposals at a much later time. Data reveals that there’s a 14% chance of winning a deal if you send your proposal within 24 hours. Important Point: Not getting on to a new lead within 5 minutes, the chances of converting that lead into a sale falls off the cliff. Not having a “NEXT STEP” on your proposal. Integrating Live Chat with Proposals (22:20)
Adam talks about the integration of live chat in proposals. The reason being, you can answer clients’ questions on the spot with a live chat messenger. Data shows a 13.2% higher conversion rate upon the integration of live chat. What is the data for certain issues? (23:55)
Does including videos in proposals make a difference? Data says “not really”. If putting in a video is meaningful to your business, go ahead and post a video. If not, then don’t bother. It will only prove to be a waste of time. Good ideas (25:36)
Adam talks about some excellent ideas he has seen on the platforms. Fully understand what your clients need, prove that you can deliver and you’ll do great. Adam shares stories about reviewing some old proposals and finding unique ways to present proposals. Framing the mindset of your clients. Positioning yourself and showing that you can add extra value. Never forget the basics. A good mix of clever stuff and the basics will result in a nice blend.  More Tips (39:04)
Get away from the tactics and just focus on the basics. Attaching yourself to your clients’ excitement and giving them something that will make them say yes. For every proposal you send, give your clients something to say yes and/or no to. Don’t leave your client hanging about what to do next. Our Guest:
Adam Hempenstall is the founder and CEO of Better Proposals. Better Proposals is a software that creates stunning and relevant business proposals- fast. The mission of their company is to empower clients to succeed in both business and life.
If you want to know more about what Adam does, just go to their website: Better Proposals. There you’ll be able to discover a lot regarding better proposals.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With outsourcing, businesses have found a way to gain leverage but with lower costs. The question is, how do you find the perfect person for your team? Where do you get high-quality members who will give you high-quality results?
Today on the podcast, we have a good friend of mine who’s an absolute expert at outsourcing and helping businesses grow. Linh Podetti, founder of Outsourcing Angel is here with us today to talk about how you can find the right people for your team.
We go into detail about how important outsourcing is. So for business owners who want to learn more about this topic, tune in and enjoy!
 
Linh’s Backstory (3:10)
Starting a nail polish business to get to the next step. Learning how to get a website up and running. Learning marketing on the job. Getting ripped off because of limited knowledge about the outsourcing world. BIG TIP: Never do things just for money. Linh shares how she got into her first business of outsourcing back in 2010. Linh talks about the startup of Outsourcing Angel.  
Outsourcing (8:11)
What’s the process of outsourcing? What do you look for in a candidate for outsourcing jobs? Linh gives tips on what to do for the onboarding of staff. What are some of the most common obstacles to outsourcing? What are some of the most common beliefs which are wrong around outsourcing? Offshore outsourcing versus local outsourcing. Are foreign employers exploiting offshore employees? How Outsourcing Angel goes beyond outsourcing. The “win-win” situation of all teams both local and offshore.  
What to do when looking for content writers? (17:39)
Get someone who understands your content as much as you do. Give specific instructions. Give a test task to see if their output is what you want to see as a result. Train yourself to give the right briefing and the right examples to empower the people to do the right job. If you can’t outsource 100% of the job, outsource at least 80% to minimize time expenditure. Build a relationship, give outsourced employees time to adjust and get familiar with the way you run your business.  
Outsourcing Platforms (25:11)
Upwork Onlinejobs.ph  
Tips for Outsourcing (27:28)
Instead of cutting down the team, get more sales for more business. Commit. Go all in and NEVER back out! It will be scary at every stage of growth but you CAN because you’re committed. Morning routines are the biggest reason for success. Linh shares her morning routine over the past two years.  
Our Guest:
Linh Podetti is the Founder of Outsourcing Angel, an offshore recruitment agency that aims to help businesses in finding the right match of a quality virtual assistant for their clients. Linh has undergone a lot of struggles at an early age but through Outsourcing Angel, she has been able to provide home-based job opportunities for people around the world.
If you wish to connect with Linh and find out more about what they do, connect with her through the following channels:
Outsourcing Angel
Linh Podetti
Instagram
Facebook
 
Resources:
Do you want more high-quality B2B leads for your business? To get you started, we opened a resources page. These resources will be constantly updated, so be certain to check back every now and then!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marketing is not the only crucial aspect of a business. You also need the right business model for your strategy to work. Aside from these factors, a business owner must possess the right mindset and sufficient knowledge to manage the company better.
In this episode, digital marketing profit strategist and coach Greg Cassar shares his insights about his journey from running his own digital marketing agency to earning a million dollars in sales on Amazon. He also talks about exceptional business models that work.
Check these show highlights and listen to the podcast for guides on how to grow a business using exceptional strategies!
 
Engineer Your Luck (03:21)
Aim to be the better version of yourself so that when opportunities come along, you can identify them and take action. Greg is in the corporate world, with a safe and decent job. But, for him, he is not where he is supposed to be. Thus, he built an agency and quit corporate. He started The Collective, a high-end digital marketing mastermind. He emphasized the importance of resilience in running a company. When the issues get tough to resolve, people tend to quit. Company owners should not have that attitude. Business Model Freedom Scale (06:21)
There is a direct association between leverage and level of freedom. An excellent business model paired with an amount of marketing can yield more outstanding results compared to a good enough business model paired with the same amount of marketing. Business owners must realize that marketing is only one part of the business. It must be suitable for the kind of business, products, and business model that the company has. The Proper Mindset (09:05)
It is essential to have the proper knowledge and mindset when running a company. Most business owners are like operators than owners. However, they must focus on marketing to grow the business. Entrepreneurs must learn about financial IQ, proper mindset, marketing, and sales. Small Business Formula (12:02)
The director of first impressions is your website. Have direct response elements on your site. People must also know what your business is all about and what they can get from your company. Site visitors must also know how and where to contact you for fast communication. Incentive-Based Marketing (17:33)
Make sure your business offers stand out. Standing out does not mean lowering your price to a point where you don’t have profit anymore. Present incredible and attractive offers to your customers. If you want to get exceptional results, think and act differently from other players in the industry. E-Commerce (30:01)
He learned about e-commerce by working with agency clients. The fastest way to be a marketing expert is to speak to your clients. It is impressive to sell on Amazon because there are a lot of customers every day. Greg’s company is focused on listing optimization and advertising. Choose What Matters (42:29)
They chose to close the Collective Mastermind to focus on what matters: health, happiness, and freedom.  
Our Guest:
Greg Cassar is a marketer, growth hacker, tech founder, and a philanthropist. He specializes in e-commerce and Amazon. After working in the corporate world, Greg decided that he wanted to start an agency that can help clients with traffic and conversion. He is one of the founders of The Collective and has positively impacted a lot of lives through his work. Greg is also a tech founder at Modshow TV.
Connect with Greg Cassar through his website or LinkedIn profile for more great and inspiring content.
 
Resources:
Do you want more high-quality B2B leads for your business? To get you started, we opened a resources page. These resources will be constantly updated, so be certain to check back every now and then!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SEO is the current trend that online businesses utilize to get more leads and scale. However, I’ll be the first to admit that SEO is not my specialty. But although I’ve got a very limited understanding of making SEO work, a good friend of mine is an absolute expert at it.
James Norquay, the owner of Prosperity Media, runs an SEO agency that offers all things SEO. In today’s episode, he will be walking us through the process of making SEO work in your favour. We will be talking about the do’s and don’ts of SEO—making sure it all works well for you in the long run.
If you’re interested in learning about SEO or know someone who is, don’t hesitate to tune in to this value-adding episode.
 
James’ Backstory (3:01)
James started making money online around 14 years ago. James started an SEO team for a large media agency in Sydney back in 2008-2009. Late 2012-Early 2013, James started Prosperity Media. Basic “to-dos” for Small Business Owners to Improve Their SEO (6:18)
For small business owners with little budget, start with a basic site audit. Ensure that your website is indexed. Get an SSL certificate. Set up your site on Google My Business. Fix technical issues, and start building relevant landing pages, do keyword research. Set up tracking, start monitoring things. SEO Factors (8:07)
On-Site (technical setup, content, schema markup, etc.) Off-Site (brand mentions, backlinks) The basic setup matters because if you don’t have it, everything else you’re doing doesn’t matter. One big mistake is spending too much on ads but having little to no budget for SEO. The budget should go mostly to paid advertising and organic SEO channels because that’s where the highest ROI comes from. Index (10:12)
A “no index tag” is a preventive measure that web developers use to stop Google from indexing your website. Error: Going live with your site but forgetting to take the “no index tag” down. Not taking the tag down means you won’t be getting any traffic to your site. Common Mistakes in Starter Websites (11:21)
Using large images. Larger images mean a slower website.  Tip: Resize your images to get faster site speed. Not setting up your site on Google My Business. Tip: Don’t be spam heavy. Talk to a professional. Tip: DON’T put white text on a white background; this will easily penalize your site. Tip: Don’t “keyword stuff,” Google quickly detects that. Tip: DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY TO AVOID GETTING PENALTIES FROM GOOGLE. Most Effective Way to Increase Results from SEO According to James (17:27)
It depends on the vertical that the client wants to work in. It depends on the competitiveness of the niche. New websites take longer to see results because you have to build trust by building the authority of the site. TIP: Pick people who are the right fit for what you’re doing. Budgeting: How much budget should go to SEO in the overall marketing mix? (25:06)
Traditionally, SEO gets a smaller portion of the pie when it comes to budgeting. Some clients are entirely dependent on SEO, like large affiliate clients and crypto clients. You have to be able to see the value in SEO as you could be making excellent ROI from it. What is the difference between PPC and SEO? James shares how he gets the big businesses (30:23)
Attending events. Some clients come from SEO traffic. The relationship is KEY. Speak at events, be known for a certain thing. Don’t try to be an expert at everything; stay in your lane.  
Our Guest:
James Norquay is the founder and consulting director of Prosperity Media. James is an absolute expert at SEO. He has already helped quite a number of companies to grow through SEO. James’ company, Prosperity Media, strives to help their clients achieve success with their excellent customer service.
If you wish to contact James, you can reach him through their website: Prosperity Media. You can also connect with him on his LinkedIn profile: James Norquay.

Today’s guest is one of my mentors, John Logar, the founder of Consulting Unleashed. When I first started in this industry, I knew absolutely nothing about being in business. But John—being one of the top guns in marketing—reshaped the way I thought about sales. He turned me from a geeky dude into a decent salesperson.
This episode may be longer than usual but sit tight and stay with us until the end. John and I will be discussing valuable information that will surely help you in your venture into marketing.
 
Sharing Golden Nuggets (3:37)
Choose your words very carefully. Frame your reference from JUST selling to ACTUALLY get what they need/want. From productization comes retention. Retention is essential in growing and scaling your business. Your mindset needs to be: “This client is not just exploring the idea of working with me because at the end of this call, this client WILL work with me.” Position your frame of thoughts in such a way that the client understands you can solve their problem. John tells clients to do what they do best, and he’ll be responsible for bringing in the customers.  
John’s Three Pillars of Conversion (4:34)
Clarity – Be clear about your offer. Conversion – About your marketing. Leverage — Productize what you do.  
John’s Three Fastest Ways of Generating Leads (7:03)
Getting leads is the easy part—if someone says they don’t have any leads, they’re not doing any work. Go direct. Work with a channel—customers you can add value to will introduce you to new clients. Buying leads.  
Before Setting Up a Sales Presentation(10:15)
Qualify the person first—do they need your help? Can you help them? Will they pay you?  
The Sales Presentation (12:34)
Set an expectation of the budget; set an expectation of the outcome. What are the objectives? How can we attach the objectives to tangible results? What is stopping you from achieving or adding extra revenue to your business? What’s the bottleneck?  
Three Things You Need to Know From Your Client So You Can Work Together(16:20)
They are a reputable business that wants to scale and grow—having a vision for the company. They understand that they need to invest if they want to scale and grow. They will look after every person that is put in front of them.  
John gives us a firsthand experience about what happens during his sales calls (17:43)
Involving important people to make sure that everybody is on the same page about scaling and growing a business. Knowing whether the action needs to be taken now or on a later date—not being able to move forward is a waste of time. Just exploring the idea of working with you doesn’t turn into a sale. Showing your client that you actually want to help them makes a great difference—a hug or a firm handshake to affirm them that you are there to help them gives a certain kind of energy. Understanding the client’s business will give you leverage. If you want to be an expert in the niche market, work with one client and understand their niche. Ask as many questions as possible—you need to know what you need to know NOT what you THINK you need to know. Confidence comes with experience—showing clients that you are confident assures them that you know what you’re doing. John recommends listening to Rejection Training. It helps you understand that to succeed, you need to go through rejection.  
The Sales Process (41:12)
Give your client an “out.” Don’t intimidate them by making them feel like they’re obliged to buy anything at the end of the call. John gives an idea of important questions to ask before you begin with the whole talk. Show your clients a bird’s eye view of the plans you have that will help them achieve their objectives. A walkthrough of the execution of the presented plan Talk to your clients about the costs, give them a yes or a yes option, not a yes and no option. Set up your agreement, including the list of services.

Every website has backend support. It’s impossible not to have one. The backend support is responsible for how your site is presented to users. However, there are some things we end up doing that end up breaking our websites more than fixing them.
So today, our guest, Justin Meadows, managing director of TunedWP and an expert when it comes to the tech behind websites—will share with us some informative facts about the common mistakes websites usually make. These mistakes take away the effectiveness of marketing. As someone involved in online marketing, it’s essential to address these issues so you can improve your marketing strategies and get better results.
Make sure to listen to this episode to get amazing information on how to do digital marketing right.
 
Justin’s Backstory (4:03)
Learning SEO and playing around with websites To get results for SEO, fixing the site is the way to go. Justin ensures website optimization for clients. How Justin’s business has grown over the last 10 years Where Justin got the name of their company, TunedWP.  
How to Prevent Infection of Sites (7:35)
Once your site is infected, stop the ads to stop wasting money. Clean your website. If your site is left unchecked, Google will take you out of their index. It’s vital to keep your website secure because trust and brand damage happens when your site visitors get a message or notification that your site is infected. Keep your sites updated with the latest security patches to combat malware. Insecure hosting environments, bad passwords, no firewalls—these things trigger a site to get infected.  
 3-4 Most Common Mistakes that People Make with their Websites (11:50)
Speed—most websites need substantial improvements in terms of speed. Putting a lot of focus on the desktop version of their website while leaving out the experience for mobile users, not realizing that 50-70% of their traffic is coming from mobile phones. Storytelling—about content; the journey you want your clients to take on upon encountering your brand. Make sure your homepage has a very clear message and is not cluttered with too many things. Building trust—focusing on sales messages makes you overlook the trust factor, which is crucial in establishing a good relationship with potential clients.  
Tips on Getting Around these Most Common Mistakes (17:23)
Speed implement Cloudflare CDN have an excellent caching plugin setup optimize images for faster loading use dedicated video hosts for your videos make sure that unnecessary codes are not at the top of your scripts Mobile experience optimization consider how the mobile layout goes from the desktop to phone condense menu, strip out unnecessary things for easier navigation resizing elements correctly have a call to action in the header website speed optimization on mobile Justin gives recommendations on Google tools to use (web.dev) Storytelling—user experience and copy declutter your site identify what you can remove from your website that won’t affect the results you’re getting don’t load your page up on lead magnets; one strong, relevant lead magnet is enough a good option is making a page for your resources so people can choose  
“Know that your website is not a set and forget thing, you need to constantly work on it since it is a valuable asset and part of your business.” - Justin Meadows.
Our Guest:
Justin Meadows is the Managing Director of TunedWP, a business that aims to help people improve their websites. He believes that sites are an essential part of your business. Trust is built on what you can offer your clients via the face of your business—your website.
If you wish to contact Justin Meadows, you can reach him through their website: TunedWP or send an email to support@tunedwp.com 
 
Resources:
We now have a free resources section on our website. In this section, we are dedicated to helping you grow your business, whether it’s through gener