The Newsletter Pro February 2018

The Newsletter Pro February 2018

#343 in the 2016 INC. 500 | #120 in the 2015 INC. 500 | 2014 Marketer of the Year | 24K Club Winner

02.18 208.297.5700 www.thenewsletterpro.com

As Seen On:

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

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The Single Most Important Piece of Advice I Could Ever Share With You What The Law Office of James R. Snell Jr. Has to Say Taylor Swift, Master Marketer & Superstar On Our Bookshelf: “The Power of Habit” & How it Will Change You This App Will Save Your Company Thousands

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Meet Paul Zimmerman

Transform Poop Into Marketing Gold

HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE of Any Company and Why It Is IMPERATIVE YOU START NOW!

2. Do you have the right goals for the year?

I want to ask you three questions, and I really want you to think about them for a second. Once you have your answers, continue reading, and I’ll give you my thoughts. I know it would be super easy to not answer the questions and keep reading or to get distracted by something while thinking about the answer, but let’s agree ahead of time not to do either. One final note is this: Don’t judge the questions or try to guess what I’m going to say based on the questions. Just do the exercise; you’ll get better results.

“When you build a business worth selling, you build a business worth owning — one that can run without you there every day, ONE THAT GROWS IN VALUE WHILE YOU SLEEP .”

Do you have your answers? This is your last chance to make a change to them.

Now that you’re ready, let’s start with the first question. 1. What do investors look for when determining the value of a business?

Before I jump into this question, I want to monologue for a minute.

1. What do investors look for when determining the value of a business?

Continued on page 2 ...

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COVER CONTINUED ... If you started to read this question and thought it didn’t apply to you because you’re not selling, you are dead wrong. Every single entrepreneur needs to focus on this question as part of their overall plan. When you build a business worth selling, you build a business worth owning — one that can run without you there every day, one that grows in value while you sleep. Since this question is broad and deep, let’s break it down. A. How stable is your business plan? Here’s what I mean by this: Are you jumping from shiny new object to shiny new object? Are you simply guessing at what works in your business? This can’t be the plan. I know business gets boring, but find areas that you enjoy and dig in. Do you think newsletters are the most exciting business I could be running right now? Of course not. But there are many areas I do enjoy in my niche, and I had to seek them out and focus on them. B. Investors also look at consistency. How long do your team members stay? Has someone been there too long? Side note: This is a huge problem. You’re loyal to Bertha because she has been there for 12 years, but Bertha is screwing you with her inability to perform her job at a high level. I see it literally every day. Is your business basically a different business each year because you see the next new internet hype and start selling it? Do you jump on the marketing bandwagon for the next way to magically get new customers? How consistent are your core customer bases? Do you even have a core base of customers? C. Investors surely want to know what systems you have in place to run the business. Does everything go by you before it can get done? Do you have a process for ordering or for working with vendors? Do you have marketing systems? What about a sales system — do sales happen due to luck? What about customer complaints? Do you have a system for those? Every business needs systems, and so few have any, except for the systems employees make up on their own. Those systems don’t count unless they were created on purpose and are documented somewhere.

D. What does growth in your company look like? Are your numbers solid? Do you cheat on your taxes and have two sets of books? What is the growth plan for 12–24 months? How’d it go in the previous 12 months? Is a large majority of your marketing plan from the previous year still being used for the next 12 months, or do you have shiny-object syndrome, or are you simply guessing at sales and marketing? E. Investors will make sure they know your real numbers. If they think there’s any chance you’re guessing, they’ll want to dig even deeper to see if you know your numbers. By the time they are done checking up on you, they will know the truth. For example, do you have any idea what the sales numbers were last month? No, the real ones, not the guesstimate. How many leads did you get last month? How many times did you follow up with them? What was your closing percentage? “At any point, we can — and have — CHANGED THE PLAN when it was in the best interest of the employees, customers, or the company.”

F. Finally, they want to know what your churn is (lost customer rate per month and per year) and what you are doing to decrease that number. The more customers churn, the more revenue you have to put back into the company just to stay flat. For every customer that leaves you, you have to replace them or start dying. High churn will have one of the largest negative effects on overall valuation than any other single item we’ve talked about, because most investors aren’t looking to buy a sinking ship. So now, what I want to ask you is this: What are you doing to fix these areas we just talked about? Fixing the items above is very important to your long-term future and profits, which leads me to my second question. 2. Do you have the right goals for the year? If your plan for next year is to grow and that’s the only plan, you have the wrong plan. I see “business plans” that only talk about new marketing tactics, but marketing is only one component of a business. If you’re just starting out (a couple hundred- thousand or less), having 85 percent of the plan devoted to marketing is fine. At a million-plus, though, there better be a section on systems and processes. There better be a plan for churn.

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COVER CONTINUED ... It’s early in the year. Still, if you don’t have a plan for some of what we’ve talked about above, change the plan. There isn’t a law requiring you to plan only once per year. At my company, our meeting rhythm (planning) looks like this: • We have a two- to three-day annual planning for the upcoming year. The annual plan is broken down into quarterly goals, and those goals are reviewed at the start of each quarter in a one- to two-day planning meeting, where we plan the details of accomplishing each part of the quarterly goals.

• Next, we have a one-day monthly planning meeting, and each week, we meet as a management team for two hours to make sure we are driving in the right direction and can solve any problems that come up. At any point, we can — and have — changed the plan when it was in the best interest of the employees, customers, or the company. Please also note the order: employees, customers, company. That’s how we prioritize our priorities.

If not, you have my permission to change the plan.

–Shaun

P.S. Need our help? Schedule with a Pro by calling 208.297.5700, or go to

newsletterpro.com/schedule. Got a question? Email me at [email protected].

So, I’ll ask again. Do you have the right goals for the year?

BUSINESS TIPS & ADVICE

Single Most Important THE PIECE OF ADVICE I Could Ever Share With You

I get the honor of teaching thousands upon thousands of people each year — some at live trainings; some via webinars or podcasts; and others through this newsletter, my books, or guest postings on various websites. Without fail, I talk business, sales, or marketing. When I speak about the subjects I’m an expert on, I’ve been blessed to get a lot of great feedback over the years. I’ve also received my fair share of critical comments, but that comes with the territory. Through all of the teachings, though, I rarely give out my very best secret, because it has nothing to do with business. But today, I want to share with you my most important lesson ever.

but in real life, it can be very hard to implement and even harder to master. However, if you do it, it will have a profound impact on you both personally and professionally. So, here it is. The next time you have some one-on-one time with a loved one, I want you to ask them this question: What can I do to be a better [insert your title in relation to them]? For example, if I was asking my kids, I’d say, “What is one thing I can do to be a better dad to you?” If I was talking with my wife, I’d say, “What is the one thing I can do to be a better husband to you?”

My goal is to ask this question of my wife and kids at least twice per year. Then, I do my best to make a change and become that person. The good news is it’s an easy question to ask. The difficult part is actually taking action and making a change. Being able to change and adapt is the single most important skill you can have as a parent, spouse, entrepreneur, or leader, because all of those roles require constant change to stay ahead of the game. Clate Mask, a friend of mine who’s the CEO of Infusionsoft, says he is not the CEO that Infusionsoft needs 12 months from now, but he is

determined to become that person. This statement is true both personally and professionally for all of us. I want to close with a question for you: Are you determined to be the spouse, parent, entrepreneur, and leader you need to be? If so, don’t wait. Tonight, ask your kids and spouse what you can do to be a better spouse or parent. Then, listen closely and take massive action to become the person you need to be. –Shaun

One word of caution, though. On the surface, this concept is simple;

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MARKETING HOW-TO

CLIENT SUCCESS

FROM T

TO

OUR BOOKSHELF SUPERSTAR TAYLOR SWIFT, MASTER MARKETER ‘THE POWER OF HABIT’ GIVES YOU THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO CHANGE UNWANTED BEHAVIOR Habits affect us in every aspect of our lives, from our offices to our houses. Whether it’s nail biting, eating too many sweets, or putting off tasks until the last minute, we all have habits we wish we could break. But how do you escape a behavior you know little about? In his book “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business,” New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg examines the structure of habit, its underlying causes, and the impact of habit in our careers and personal lives. The first part of “The Power of Habit” investigates what Duhigg calls the “habit loop.” This loop comprises the cue (the situation that leads to habitual behavior), the routine (the behavior itself), and the reward (the feeling of satisfaction provided by the behavior). Breaking down this loop, Duhigg argues, is the key to altering behavior. If you don’t understand the “why” for an action, it becomes much harder to escape that action itself. “Once you break a habit into its components,” Duhigg writes, “you can fiddle with the gears.”

H

“We had a newsletter prior to signing on with The Newsletter Pro, but it could best be described as run-of-the-mill. From the moment we sent out the first edition of our new newsletter, we started getting calls. People told us how great the version created by The Newsletter Pro looked and how much they enjoyed the articles. “Everything from the design to the layout allows us to put a bolder stamp on our community and give people something to be excited to read. In 2017, we opened our new office, and the newsletter has been a great way to promote it. We’ve even had people come in for tours after reading about it in a cover story! The newsletter matches our branding and is a better reflection of our team, office, and values than we could’ve ever imagined. “Mailing a monthly newsletter helps us improve our marketing, bring in clients, and increase awareness of our firm. Other lawyers in the area call us asking how we manage to put out such a good-looking custom newsletter. The process is easy, and the results are impressive. Whenever an existing or prospective client mentions the newsletter (which happens a lot), we know it’s working.”

The Team at The Law Office of James R. Snell Jr.

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If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you know I think Taylor Swift and her team may be some of the best marketers on the planet. Recently, Swift released another new album, and neither her marketing nor sales have disappointed. Let’s break down what she has done for this latest album release. June 9 Taylor Swift generated massive media attention by re-releasing her catalog of music on streaming services. It’s likely this alone would have gotten press, but she timed the re-release of her music for this specific day because it also happened to be the day longtime rival Katy Perry’s new album was released. This caused the media to cover both releases extensively. Aug. 18 Taylor Swift wiped clean her Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts. Virtually all of her posts were deleted. When you have a combined 250 million followers, people notice that you don’t have anything on your social media. Aug. 21–23 Taylor Swift posted cryptic videos of a snake moving its tail on social media — her first post in days. She followed up the post with two additional snake videos. Swifties of the world went crazy. Everyone anticipated a new album. From there, Duhigg zooms out to take a look at the habits of successful organizations. As a business owner, the habits you instill in your staff go a long way in determining the success of your company. Duhigg looks at organizations ranging from huge corporations like Target to the more intimate structure of NFL teams. If you’re not creating positive habits in your staff, you’re not doing your all as a leader. If you notice a way to replace a bad operational habit with a good one, you’ll improve productivity and employee happiness. Finally, Duhigg details four steps to changing any habit, in one of the most instructive sections in any book in recent memory. First, you pinpoint the routine. Then, you interrogate the reward you receive from that routine. After that, you isolate the situations that cue your behavior. Finally, you make a plan to change the behavior. Self-belief is a huge part of this process. As Duhigg says, “You have to actually believe in your capacity to change for habits to permanently change.”

Two of the comments on her social media to this post are in the picture to your right. Her three cryptic videos of snakes moving got a combined 6.3 million views; 35,946 shares; 337,000 reactions; and many thousands of comments; and those numbers were just on Facebook. Amazing!

Aug. 22 Sources confirmed to the media that a new album was coming.

Aug. 24 The single “Look What You Made Me Do” dropped on all streaming services. Taylor Swift sold 200,000 downloads of this song in a single day and sold over 500,000 downloads in its first week. Although those numbers are impressive according to Inc. Magazine, the song was streamed 43.2 million times in 24 hours, topping the previous record-holding song by 7 million streams. If you haven’t heard the song, you wouldn’t know there is a part in the song where Taylor says, “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now … Why? Oh, cause she’s dead!”

Fans’ comments on Swift’s cryptic social media posts.

America.” It was also announced that the official premiere would be at the MTV Music Awards.

On the same day, UPS announced it was the official delivery service of Taylor Swift’s new album, “Reputation.” See the picture on Page 6. Although the terms of the deal are not public, this is the first time UPS has ever decorated its trucks with ads. All this hype led up to an album release that sold 1.2 million albums in its first week, which confuses me because I thought Napster and illegal downloads killed the music industry. I must be wrong.

Now we know why all her old social media posts are gone. It was an amazing tie-in to the album.

Aug. 25 The video for “Look What You Made Me Do” drops on Instagram and “Good Morning

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With the tools and examples Charles Duhigg details in “The Power of Habit,” you’ll be able to take control of actions you thought were unbreakable. In both business and life, there’s hardly a more valuable asset.

Have You Heard the Good News?

Colossians 3:14 – “And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Ephesians 4:2 – “ Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 – “ However, as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

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MARKETING HOW-TO, CONTINUED ... Now that we are into 2018, the Taylor Swift “Reputation” tour has kicked off, and Taylor has continued her amazing marketing by working with Ticket Master to allow verified, real fans (not robots, which typically buy all the good seats) to get a spot in line for tickets. That alone doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but in this program, you could improve your priority to buy tickets by interacting with Taylor Swift’s social media, preordering the album, or buying merchandise. Here is a list of ways you could improve your spot in line for tickets.

• Watch designated videos on Taylor’s fan site. • Sign up for Taylor’s official mailing list. • Refer friends to the program with a link. • Buy merchandise from the Taylor Swift official store ($50 T-shirts! $60 snake rings!). • Preorder the album (before Nov. 9 only) or buy it up to 13 times. • Interact with Taylor’s social media, use her hashtags, and get lucky enough to have them pick your post. Doing this only improved your ability to spend more money with her by buying tickets to her concert. You didn’t get a discounted ticket for buying 13 albums, just a better spot in line, because buying her album 13 times proves you are a real Swiftie. With all of her additional star power, Taylor Swift’s concert ticket prices also increased this year to $500 for floor seats, $800 for pit passes, and $1,500 for VIP tickets. It is projected that this tour could sell as much as $450 million in tickets, making it one of the largest tours in history.

There is no doubt that Taylor Swift and her team are master marketers who should be studied. We may not all have this kind

of celebrity, but it is a good reminder that we need to manufacture as much local celebrity as we can. The more celebrity you have, the easier it is to make sales and charge higher prices.

–Shaun

P.S. When I write an article like this, my hope is that you’ll find areas to mimic in her marketing and branding in your own business. Or, at a minimum, you’ll realize that becoming a local celebrity and having media is an important strategy. How can you mimic Taylor in your local area to help grow your business?

UPS includes advertising on their trucks — for the first time ever — for Swift’s new album, “Reputation.”

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH

Inefficient systems and models cost your business valuable time and money. This problem is most evident in expense reports. The old way of doing things — gathering receipts from employees, entering >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8

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