The Newsletter Pro - November 2020

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www.thenewsletterpro.com 2020

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

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Business Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated Thankful for Humble Pie How Do You Think About the Choices You Make? Why G Suite Is Perfect for Your Business Marketing Tips From the ‘Some Good News’ YouTube Show

CRAZY WORK AND LIFE CHANGES FROM COVID-19 And How to Take Advantage of Them to Grow Your Business!

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Microsoft’s Secret to Continued Success

Years ago, I played a video game called Civilization. The goal of the game is to build a civilization and take over the world. Players can also win by achieving one of a few objectives set up at the start of the game, like becoming super advanced in technology. Despite my parents’ warnings that video games would rot my brain if I played too many, I decided to live on the wild side, and I spent hours and hours playing this game. If the name of the game sounds familiar but you’re not a video game person, you may have heard about it from Elon Musk. It’s one of his favorite games. I think there are six versions out now, but I was playing Civilization 3 or 4 at that point in my life. As I mentioned, part of the game’s objective is for players to build and expand their empire. In doing so, one area players have to focus on is the happiness of its citizens. If there weren’t enough entertainment venues,

like sporting events and clubs, the masses got restless and could ultimately rise up and revolt. Of course, having citizens revolt is just as bad as it sounds. I’ve been thinking of this game as I observe how the pandemic is affecting the world. It’s been interesting to both live through and watch. We’ve all witnessed the massive divide in America become even larger, with plenty of blame on all sides. When I think about how the pandemic has changed so much about our daily lives, some of what is going on as a result isn’t that surprising. This isn’t a political newsletter or article by any extent of the imagination. I point all of this out hoping that it will allow you to more clearly see the opportunities in your area or market. Think about it like this: As a species, we’ve always been tribal in nature. Social media has allowed us to find

niches and sub-niches that we can join. This results in us seeing and hearing only ideas and thoughts we either already agree with or are most likely to agree with. Then, we log off. With the ability to hide or unfriend people with whom we disagree, we can effectively spend the majority of our days getting information that pretty much reinforces our own worldview, regardless if that worldview is correct or not. The pandemic has further shrunk our world, as many of us now work from home. With lockdown orders still in place and many entertainment venues still closed, we rarely venture out. Hopefully, all this information is giving you a clearer picture of the way things are trending. That leads us to the next obvious question: How do you and your business capitalize on these trends?

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... CONTINUED FROM COVER

“SO MUCH HAS CHANGED, AND PEOPLE ARE VERY OPEN TO RECONSIDERING THINGS THEY PREVIOUSLY DECLINED.”

magazines (something we’ve been working on for clients more and more this year), podcasts, and digital or print newsletters. There are many more ways, but you get the idea. One of the benefits of entertaining customers and prospects is that you start to build relationships with them, and those relationships can be game-changers for your business. GET MORE PARTNERS . Businesses are more willing to work together right now for the greater good and maybe even the survival of one or both companies. This means there are opportunities for partnerships that may not have been available at the start of the year. Did the company you really wanted to partner with in the past turn you down? They could easily say “yes” to that partnership today. All you have to do is ask. So much has changed, and people are very open to reconsidering things they previously declined. I had one coaching client that got rejected on a three-year deal worth over $4 million earlier in the year. In July, I told him to try again, and he landed the account. The answer is surely going to be “no” if you don’t ask. Many times, it is easy to get stuck in sell, sell, sell mode. While selling needs to happen, don’t forget that you have to entertain, nurture, educate, market, and get distribution to and consumption from both your customers and prospects if you really want to win and see massive success and growth. One of the reasons newsletters, specifically print newsletters, are still viable and relevant in 2020 is that they are one of the few types of media that touch all of the above points. Maybe even more importantly, they have the ability to get into nearly 100% of your prospects’ and customers’ hands. Once the newsletter has been distributed, your prospects and clients are likely to open consume

the content because of the systems we have developed. This distribution and consumption are why newsletters are powerful. If you really want a newsletter to work like it is on steroids, once you have distribution and consumption, use the newsletter to get people to like and join your other media channels or groups. By using an item that has a near-100% distribution rate to fill your other media channels and groups, you have the ability to drastically increase prospect conversation rates, upsell rates, referral rates, and customer retention rates because each and every customer or prospect is being touched by your business multiple times a month across multiple platforms. And since you’re entertaining, educating, and of course, making offers to help them solve their problems, the customers and prospects are happy to consume it all and even share it with friends. –Shaun P.S. If you want help with a newsletter, hit me up by scanning the QR code on this page. You’ll be taken to a scheduling page to get an appointment with my team. Or, simply go to NewsletterPro.com/ schedule and choose a time that works best for you.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, but let me share a few ideas. BUILD A TRIBE. As I said, people naturally lean toward this, but right now, people are even more inclined to join groups or membership programs. I’ve even seen a larger push from traditional businesses into a hybrid- continuity model as the pandemic has gotten people to rethink their business models. How can you gather people up and place them into a group they feel comfortable with? What common interests or objectives do your customers and prospects have? ENTERTAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS. This has always been important, but it’s especially important right now because so many entertainment options are gone. John Krasinski, who you’ll likely know as Jim from the TV show “The Office,” started a YouTube channel on March 29, 2020, with a news program called “Some Good News With John Krasinski.” As I write this, the first show has over 18 million views. Since people are paying more attention, now is a great time to provide entertainment. You don’t need to start a YouTube channel to do this. In fact, depending on your business, that may not be the right media, but there are plenty of ways to entertain and educate your customers and prospects. A few that come to mind are niche

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BUSINESS HOW-TO

Profiting From Changes Made to Google Ads and Search

The second lesson is that you need to have an amazing way to nurture your leads, get referrals from customers, and sell more to existing customers. This is paramount to your success. Even if you rely primarily on one media to generate leads, if you make enough front-end and/or back-end money and can outspend the competition, you win. Many people have lost businesses or will lose businesses this year and next because they broke these two rules. Some may go under because of Google’s change, others because COVID-19 disrupted the single way they got customers (i.e., people who only sold at trade shows or only got their business from speaking on stages, etc.). Business doesn’t have to be complicated. There are laws of business that few companies can break, or at least break for long, before it bites them in the butt. Follow the laws and you’ll be fine; don’t, and you do so at your own risk. –Shaun

all is not lost. It is possible that Google will have to roll back some of its changes, as many people are complaining loudly about this issue at the moment. There is also a lawsuit that has been going on for a while against Google and what some call unfair business practices. You may or may not be doing a ton with SEO or Google Ads. After all, many companies have replaced their Google ads with Facebook ads, but there are two super important business lessons here that you can use in all your media. The first lesson is never put all your eggs in one basket. Many people put the vast majority of their marketing dollars into the SEO game. Entire companies are built on getting you to appear on the top of a Google search results page. This change is not ideal for either group of people. I know many people who are all in on Facebook, and if you look at the path Google Ads has taken over the last 20 years or so, you’ll see Facebook is literally following in its footsteps. The number "1" is a horrible number in business unless it is followed by multiple commas and a variety of other numbers.

Have you seen the cries from the search engine optimization (SEO) guys about the changes to Google’s search engine that started in January 2020? Google has basically made the ads appear more like the organic search results. A few changes back, they got rid of the ads on the right side of the page and increased the number of ads at the top of the search results page. They also made the ads at the bottom of the page blend in more with the organic search results. Some Google Ads (formerly called AdWords) users have reported an increase in clicks on their ads, to the tune of 15% or more. In many searches, when you combine the ads with the map results, shopping results, or travel booking section, everything you see without scrolling down is ringing Google’s cash register. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean much of the money being spent on SEO is being wasted, as most people never scroll. In many cases, people just click the first link they see. This may seem like bad news, especially if you’re spending money on SEO. But

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CLIENT SUCCESS

MARKETING HOW-TO

“I’ve read several books, listened to industry experts, and watched many webinars. While it was easy for me to understand the value of a newsletter, I struggled with the idea of having a section asking me to ‘get personal.’ I have gotten rave reviews for my first newsletter from several families so far. In particular, a mom and dad were in the office Monday morning and shared their emotions and (tearful) gratitude for sharing my personal story — which was read by their son, who I treated several years ago. (He has Asperger’s and has struggled to ‘find his way.’) They said the impact of my story was profound and has resulted in a dramatic change in their son’s view of himself and his view of his own future. The story gave me goosebumps.”

THANKFUL FOR HUMBLE PIE THE GIFT OF SCALING

-Dr. David Muench Muench Orthodontics

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OUR BOOKSHELF

CHANGE THE WAY YOU AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS W

Daniel Kahneman wants you to rethink the way you think. Kahneman is the winner of the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the author of “Thinking, Fast and Slow.” With a storied career in psychology — including behavioral economics — he brought his decades of experience and research together to write his 2011 book, which many critics lauded as a masterpiece.

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” challenges modern approaches to decision-making. Kahneman brings together numerous case studies (practically one in every chapter) to make his point, laying the groundwork to potentially help change the way we think. Why change the way we think? Doing so, Kahneman argues, will help us make better decisions, both personally and professional. Kahneman repeatedly challenges readers with questions and ideas to lay the groundwork for a different (presumably better) way of thinking.

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L ast year, a friend of mine, who works at a large company (more than $40M/year), complained to me about a massive overhaul they had to undertake to pivot from the small system they’d been using since they started their company to one that handles the kind of volume they actually produce today. To be clear, we’re talking about a system created for small- to medium-sized businesses, which had capacity capped at more than four times less volume than the company my friend works at. And they put off upgrading for years until the system started breaking down and they really had no choice. Instead of costing a few thousand dollars to upgrade, it was costing them over a hundred grand in both system price and labor, not including the cost of lowered efficiencies and frustrated customers while processes slowed down during the implementation of the new system.

handle those kinds of numbers with the same ease we’d grown accustomed to every year prior. We made one of the cardinal mistakes of any company looking toward growth: We were caught unprepared. Through that entire holiday season, we worked major hours of overtime updating spreadsheets, organizing gifts, coordinating with dozens of social workers, and missing personal family traditions as we frantically scrambled to get everything together. We did ultimately get things done on time and with the same amount of care as normal. We also just about killed ourselves while doing it! I realized I had settled into a maintenance mindset rather than a growth mindset. Although I give much of my time and resources to this program every year, I hadn’t considered our capacity to continue Continued on Page 6 ...

I was feeling pretty smug until I got a large slice of humble pie. (Always pride before the fall, as we know.) You see, last year around Thanksgiving, the charity I own — Fostering Christmas — got slammed with an overwhelming need from the community. You may have heard me speak about Fostering Christmas before; in a nutshell, it’s an organization that works with local social workers to make sure all the foster kids in our area have gifts that they would be excited to unwrap on Christmas morning. It’s a program near and dear to my heart, and I usually spend thousands of dollars per year out of my own pocket to make sure all needs are met. Last year in particular, we had such a volume of requests come in that we almost doubled our previous record year. My eyes nearly popped out when I realized we didn’t have the systems and processes in place to

U THINK WITH ‘THINKING, FAST AND SLOW’

Have You Heard the Good News?

He isn’t afraid to engage the reader while still being accessible to those of us who are not well-versed in either economics or psychology. That said, “Thinking, Fast and Slow” isn’t an easy or quick read. The print version of the book clocks in at nearly 500 pages. And while Kahneman’s writing is accessible, he brings in many complex ideas and covers a lot of ground. However, the book tackles many ideas that other books (including business books) don’t touch, as he brings together hard economics and human psychology. Throughout the book, Kahneman gets into behavioral psychology in fair detail, discussing points related

to rational and irrational thinking. Many chapters take a serious look at the human mind, and Kahneman spells out two types of thought processes: System 1 (fast, intuitive, and emotional) and System 2 (slower, deliberative, and logical). Kahneman’s goal is to help you navigate these two systems in order to make better decisions and to become a better, more efficient thinker. That way, you can apply this “new” mindset to the way you approach life, work, and everything in between. The theoretical end result? A happier, more fulfilling life.

Colossians 3:13 — “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” 1 Corinthians 16:13 — “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” Psalm 73:26 — “'My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

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MARKETING HOW-TO CONTINUED ...

As for this gifting season, we’ve been carefully putting new systems in place to make sure we can handle any volume that comes our way moving forward. The need is shaping up to be even larger than last year. I started receiving calls back in September from my contacts in the foster system, saying that many of their usual donors had already backed out for this year, so there’s a significant load to take on. Current projections are anticipating about a 50% increase already! One thing is for sure: When they start coming in, we’ll be ready. Will you?

performing at a high level, especially when faced with the kind of unprecedented numbers that flowed in. It has always been my goal to help as many children as possible, but I realized I was planning for the present, not the future. As it was, my organization could not have handled the scope of work I ultimately dream of taking on. The thing is that we all know it’s important to update our systems and processes regularly so we keep ourselves in a good position as our companies grow, but how many of us are actively doing that? It is far easier to proactively seek out solutions and prepare your business to handle the kind of volume you’re shooting for, not the volume you currently have. It is also far easier to procrastinate making those changes until they become urgent and force your attention. Don’t delay. There’s no shame in having a lifestyle business if that’s what you want, but if you hope to grow, make sure you have the things in place you’ll need to get there.

–Shaun

P.S. Interested in helping out with Fostering Christmas this year? Email Karli at [email protected] or visit our website to get some more information at FosteringChristmas.org.

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH WHY G SUITE IS PERFECT FOR YOUR BUSINESS

No Matter Where Your Team Is Located!

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