Get your story down by focusing on WHO you want to attract, WHAT you are offering them and HOW they work with you. From a lifetime in the education field, Lisa pivoted and became a coach focused on helping YOU get your message dialed in and pushed out to attract the right clients to your offering. Lisa is a thoughtful business coach who works with you to develop your passionate message and personal story brand that will bring out YOUR UNIQUENESS! Did you know our amazing voices can go beyond just the microphone? Yes, we have video! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
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GOLD NUGGETS:
(00:00) - Small Business Safari and Italian Adventures
(07:53) - Entrepreneurship and Education Journey
(18:19) - Lessons in Networking and Purpose
(39:08) - Investing in StoryBrand and Coaching
(47:21) - Transforming Business With Story Branding
(57:00) - Customer Service and DIY Nightmares
(01:04:18) - Building Your Brand Through Networking
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Lisa’s Links:
Website | https://lisamcguire.com/
Newsletter | https://www.thediyframework.com/so-much-more-subscribe
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Books Mentioned: Unreasonable Hospitality | Will Guidara
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Previous guests on The Small Business Safari include Dale Cardwell, Amy Lyle, Ben Alexander, Joseph Sission, Jonathan Ellis, Brad Dell, Chris Hanks, C.T. Emerson, Chad Brown, Tracy Moore, Wayne Sherger, David Raymond, Paul Redman, Gabby Meteor, Ryan Dement, Barbara Heil Sonneck, Bryan John, Tom Defore, Rusty Clifton, Duane Johns, Jason Sleeman, Andy Suggs, Chris Michel, Jon Ostenson, Tommy Breedlove, Rocky Lalvani, Amanda Griffey, Spencer Powell, Joe Perrone, David Lupberger, Duane C. Barney, Dave Moerman, Jim Ryerson, Al Mishkoff, Scott Specker, Mike Claudio and more!
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If You Loved This Episode Try These!
• Reviving an Americana Brand: Stephanie Stuckey Talks About the Renaissance of the Stuckey Brand
• Bark to Business! How Brady Foulk is Starting a Dog Training Business
• The Fighter for Truth and Finding the Good in Companies - Dale Cardwell
-----
Have any questions or comments? Connect with me here!
Get your story down by focusing on WHO you want to attract, WHAT you are offering them and HOW they work with you. From a lifetime in the education field, Lisa pivoted and became a coach focused on helping YOU get your message dialed in and pushed out to attract the right clients to your offering. Lisa is a thoughtful business coach who works with you to develop your passionate message and personal story brand that will bring out YOUR UNIQUENESS! Did you know our amazing voices can go beyond just the microphone? Yes, we have video! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
-----
GOLD NUGGETS:
(00:00) - Small Business Safari and Italian Adventures
(07:53) - Entrepreneurship and Education Journey
(18:19) - Lessons in Networking and Purpose
(39:08) - Investing in StoryBrand and Coaching
(47:21) - Transforming Business With Story Branding
(57:00) - Customer Service and DIY Nightmares
(01:04:18) - Building Your Brand Through Networking
-----
Lisa’s Links:
Website | https://lisamcguire.com/
Newsletter | https://www.thediyframework.com/so-much-more-subscribe
-----
Books Mentioned: Unreasonable Hospitality | Will Guidara
-----
Previous guests on The Small Business Safari include Dale Cardwell, Amy Lyle, Ben Alexander, Joseph Sission, Jonathan Ellis, Brad Dell, Chris Hanks, C.T. Emerson, Chad Brown, Tracy Moore, Wayne Sherger, David Raymond, Paul Redman, Gabby Meteor, Ryan Dement, Barbara Heil Sonneck, Bryan John, Tom Defore, Rusty Clifton, Duane Johns, Jason Sleeman, Andy Suggs, Chris Michel, Jon Ostenson, Tommy Breedlove, Rocky Lalvani, Amanda Griffey, Spencer Powell, Joe Perrone, David Lupberger, Duane C. Barney, Dave Moerman, Jim Ryerson, Al Mishkoff, Scott Specker, Mike Claudio and more!
-----
If You Loved This Episode Try These!
• Reviving an Americana Brand: Stephanie Stuckey Talks About the Renaissance of the Stuckey Brand
• Bark to Business! How Brady Foulk is Starting a Dog Training Business
• The Fighter for Truth and Finding the Good in Companies - Dale Cardwell
-----
Have any questions or comments? Connect with me here!
I don't know about you, ellen, but I just went through. I feel so bad about myself. And then Lisa said but Chris, it's okay, here's the three steps, and I'm bunching up our tablecloth right now. It's okay, chris, it's okay. It's okay and I'm like yes, you know, I think I found my new therapist. She doesn't even know it yet.
Speaker 2:And then you just talk about the wonderful things that can happen.
Speaker 1:So clearly it hit with you, and you've been doing this for how many years, though?
Speaker 2:StoryBrand. Seven years for StoryBrand, but naturally I've been doing it, probably 20.
Speaker 1:Exactly, yeah, so you're very good at this right. You bring people in, you make them feel that pain, and then here's how we can find your way out of that pain and to this pleasure.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think the key part is when someone hears I understand your pain and it's okay, because I've been there, you'll follow them all day long. That's where that trust begins.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Small Business Safari where I help guide you to avoid those traps, pitfalls and dangers that lurk when navigating the wild world of small business ownership. I'll share those gold nuggets of information and invite guests to help accelerate your ascent to that mountaintop of success. It's a jungle out there and I want to help you traverse through the levels of owning your own business that can get you bogged down and distract you from hitting your own personal and professional goals. So strap in Adventure Team and let's take a ride through the safari and get you to the mountaintop. To the mountain top. It's just another humdrum day. We're going to be vanilla today. Are you kidding me? If you're listening to this thing, you better get rocked up, get amped up, but don't hit anybody. Okay, maybe just a little bit. That guy's a little side swipe.
Speaker 1:You know what? Just a little fender bump. And don't be afraid to roll that window down and let him know. Let him know that that guy was in the wrong and I don't care how many these be patient. Student driver stickers. You got the back, you are not driving. The record is four. We sit four still holds. Yeah, four student driver records.
Speaker 3:Students two drivers. As if one wasn't enough, I got four.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, oh. So the other day I just saw somebody get in that car. I was like dude, there's no way. I mean you're older than me, it should be senior driver, stay back Now, that's that would work Right. That would keep me away, absolutely 100%. Keep me away. All right, alan, enough about driving Really. Can't we talk more about that? People would love that. Well, all right, just don't every stay focused. All right, because everybody knows that I love to travel and if you listen to this podcast, you know that I'm usually doing all the traveling. But somebody got done, just outdoing me had the big dad to me. So welcome back, bon viagra and bonjour, no bonjour. So come stay. Hey, see, he's already. He came back from italy. So now alan, the tallest white English guy you've ever met in your life, went to Italy and has come back and next thing, you know, he's got a beret on, he's got the things on, he's, he's got the Italian flag and he says I'm going back, I'm a.
Speaker 3:Ferrari. You know what? My favorite part of being in Italy was knowing that you were sitting at home alone that weekend with nothing to do. For once, I'm the one I all right.
Speaker 1:So to be fair, yeah, I was home alone by myself, and you know what I did. I watched stanley tucci's eating italy and I was thinking about you the whole time going. That should be me, I mean. I should be happy for my friend. He's enjoying his anniversary with his lovely wife, so I'm so glad you got to go to the mother country and eat some amazing food and see some amazing people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I learned. I learned two things. We pay way too much for wine here. Yeah, I know and we overcook our pasta.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they love al dente over there.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's seriously al dente.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know I'm so I. That's the one hard part for me when I go there. I liked it, Did you?
Speaker 3:I was told this by two different people that apparently it's healthier for you to eat your pasta very al dente because it takes more energy from your body to process it and absorb it, and so you don't get the glycemic hit. Lisa, are you agreeing with him?
Speaker 2:I just think it would burn more calories because it's more work to digest, see.
Speaker 1:No, I disagree with all of you. So I say I down two gallons of wine over there and I get no hangover, love it. I gallons of wine over there and I get no hangover, love it. I love my wine over there. Did you notice that? Did you really?
Speaker 3:like your wine over there.
Speaker 1:I did. I really love my wine over there, yeah, but I love Italian.
Speaker 3:Ten bucks for a bottle of house wine at a nice restaurant is like sign me up.
Speaker 1:So I'm a Napa snob because of the big bowl cabs and you know, just kind of my palates kind of move that way. But when you go to italy and we start drinking wine over there, you're like, um, I need to see your wine list and I, uh, I was telling somebody like no, no, we just go. We go vino de vino de casa, vino de casa, and it is amazing, it's amazing wine. You're italian and you say it that poorly, but that poorly. But I'm american italian, but don't worry, a couple pops in me it's much better, because I think so. All right, got the hand motions, hey, hey. But so we've told amazing stories and so what we're really going to do is talk about how to tell even better stories today. This is very nice segue, thank you.
Speaker 1:I work on that power of recall, lisa mcguire is actually in studio with us because we dragged her all the way from the other side of Atlanta. She said I'm going to brave traffic, I'm going to knock people out of the way. Now I'm going to know how to drive home better because you guys have taught me how. So, lisa, thank you so much for making it all the way over here.
Speaker 3:You side-wipe them and give them the finger. That's what we taught Lisa already right? Well, we are teachers.
Speaker 1:She did have a background in academia before she started her business. So there you go.
Speaker 3:Now she knows that thank god, these people did not afford. I think she's gonna send a note home to your dad.
Speaker 1:Dad, it wasn't me, I did not. Just for the record, that was somebody else's paint on that car and I definitely did not hit him. He hit me, okay, back, lisa. Thank you so much for coming in studio. Lisa mcguire is an incredible coach who can help you build the story brand of your business and, um, what she doesn't know is that I actually have been cyber stalking her as well how do you uh have the time to stalk so many people?
Speaker 1:because I'm not going to italy, alan. All right, I'm sitting at home with nothing else to do. I can only watch so many stanley tucci episodes and watch the food. I gotta start talking somebody else. All right, fair enough, okay, thank you, I'm not bitter, just a lot, okay, maybe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, maybe a lot that's why I didn't send you very many photos, because I knew you were just seething.
Speaker 1:I bet you signed up for three vacations, he sent me one video of this guy singing and he goes and he wrote, wrote this actually is bringing me to tears and and I'm I'm crying listening to it I'm not even there because I know what he's experiencing is this amazing sound that you can't replicate in this corner because of all the houses around it. Right, and it's just.
Speaker 3:He's booming and it's echoing, just perfect, it was our last night in rome. We're walking home after dinner and there's just a man by himself singing opera, like Pavarotti, and I just started tearing up. I teared up, I'm not going to lie, I teared up for you. As I said, it was like Rome saying goodbye to us. It was.
Speaker 1:Go back to the podcast. It's time to get back and get Chris in line, because don't ever leave me alone again. As we talked about this before, how did it feel?
Speaker 3:I mean, that's what I feel like almost every weekend.
Speaker 1:You're in vegas and you're in carbo and well nine, so I have a rebound. Uh, so this weekend I'm going to the beach because I couldn't take it anymore. I can't sit at home one more weekend. That was two weekends in a row. That's enough. I had to go. So I'm going to the beach, we're going going down to the Garden of Gunn. Experience on Charleston and Keel oh, my God, that sounds like fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, should we talk to our guest.
Speaker 1:I guess we should, Lisa. We tried to introduce her, but it had to go back to Alan again. Oh, here we go. Story, story, story. Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan.
Speaker 3:All right, let's go back to Lisa 142 episodes, just a little he thinks he is.
Speaker 1:Don't worry, take it uh. Lisa gave me an editing uh app right before this. I think we're gonna edit that sucker right out. Goodbye, alan. Hey, welcome back to the show. Everybody, I love that music. Let's get ready to rock and roll. Lisa, thank you for joining us. We're excited to talk to you. But before we get into this, where the hell are you from?
Speaker 3:so charming. Thank you. Send another note home to his father, all right.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you first of all, so much for having me here. I can tell it's going to be a great conversation, but I live in Atlanta. Not that far from here Sounds like the other side of town by the time you go through traffic, and I got a driving lesson apparently before I got here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you'll get home much easier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, originally I grew up in the midwest and came down to atlanta. Um, we'll just say last century. We'll leave it like that. I've I've been here more than anywhere else. I love the area. It's close to the beach, close to the mountains and you know you can get to anywhere through hartsfield jackson that's right.
Speaker 1:Like rome, for example, you did get there, yeah, in one night in r Rome. He actually texted me. He says I'm here, I'm like, yes, I'm in the Delta crown, love, yeah. Yeah, I'm aware of that, alan. Yes, we're flying first. Yes, I knew that too, alan, I'm just gonna go to bed now. No, I was excited, you know I'm. Yeah, I know you were. That was really fun. It was so, lisa, you've been down here for quite a while. Uh, your start. You didn't start your business right off the bat, so what did you do? What was your background before you got into your business?
Speaker 2:So, as I said, I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Ohio and the whole thing that there was to do was really just learn, and one of my memories was going to the bookmobile. And so learning turned into what are you going to do when you grow up? Well, I decided I'd be a teacher. I love to learn became a teacher. Education brought me to this area as well. I ended up working quite a while with middle school and high school students and became one of the founders of a private faith-based school in Atlanta.
Speaker 2:It was a great experience, but when my job there was done, when I did what I came to do, I decided, you know, I wanted to do something different, because I could do that with my eyes closed, and so it was really interesting. It was almost a message that dropped out from nowhere of I think I'll start my own business Now. That is not typical of most people, but I grew up at the feet of. My parents were serial entrepreneurs. They had about six different businesses, and my grandfather started out with a little general store. So it was in my blood, whether I knew it or not.
Speaker 3:Your parents worked together in the business.
Speaker 2:Yes, they worked together in the business.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yes.
Speaker 1:Tell Chris what that's like no, no, no, no, I'm good, yeah, yeah, no, we'll just skip over that. Yeah, boy, god bless them they call a therapist one more time. What's funny is that she said I grew up in the middle of ohio so I did what everybody did and the whole time I'm like you got drunk at the corn, yes, smoked a lot, no, I we used to go. I grew up in michigan and uh not much there exactly same thing.
Speaker 1:So we went to the cornfields and got drunk. No, she's over in the bookmobile. Guess, we know the future farmers of America what they were doing. And then there was Lisa. Okay, so back to education. So mom and dad were entrepreneurs, and you saw it, but you were off doing your thing. But you started a school. You're a part of that. Yes, I mean, you felt like you were a part of something there, though, didn't you?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. It was really a mission, a vision, to create something different, an alternative, for what we have in, you know, was great education in this area, but we wanted to have an alternative for people. So, coming together it was fun. We had quite a few well-known people that were involved in it, so being able to have community meetings and build a movement to create a school was amazing and we really wanted to do something. That was you know. I still remember having the conversations. Traditionally in the South, private education was founded to keep out other people, all right, so we wanted to have something that was different, that was very inclusionary. That was about, you know, when you're talking about a faith-based education, my philosophy on that is what is heaven going to look like? You're going to have everyone there, right? You're not going to keep people out.
Speaker 3:God forbid, really yeah.
Speaker 2:You're not going to keep some people out and not others. You're not going to keep some people out and not others.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry Spoken like a true minister's son. No, not everybody gets in, Ellen.
Speaker 2:That's right, that's right. But it was really important to bring you know, just be a community schooler and bring all that out. So I'm sorry I'm being too serious.
Speaker 1:You are. I'm sorry, yes, you are, but I just cracked myself. No, okay, we're processing a lot of demons over on this side, so all right, lisa, continue.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so anyway, we did that. It was great, and it was great to build it from the ground up. Community school bring in children, and the thing I loved was being able to see how we could transform lives. So again, another big, noble cause.
Speaker 3:That's huge.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Wow, and then you stepped away from it.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I did, Because really it was building the foundation.
Speaker 1:You know if you Middle school kids, yeah.
Speaker 3:I was going to say bless your heart when she said middle school. I mean that is right up there with hospice workers and people that I hold on a high pedestal, oh boy.
Speaker 2:They're really, really such sweet kids. I remember when I first started teaching middle school, my principal said one minute they're playing with GI Joe and the other minute they're looking at Playboy. They don't know who they are. Talk about being challenging. There really is a very exciting time.
Speaker 1:So Alan, your son's an educator as well. Does he teach high school kids?
Speaker 3:or middle school. So he was a public high school teacher and I don't think they were very sweet. And now he's in private and does high school and middle school and middle school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got to use that GI Joe and playboy. That's.
Speaker 2:Well, it stuck with me.
Speaker 1:Stick it with me Because I'm an educator. Did that sound serious?
Speaker 3:Damn it.
Speaker 1:She's probably right though.
Speaker 3:I mean, you didn't have a GI Joe, though, did you, damn it.
Speaker 1:I was a good guy with the Catholic school, all right, sister Mary, catherine, I did not bring that Playboy in. It was Jerry, not me. Okay, I get that off my chest, thank you All right Back to Lisa. Okay, so you're educating, you're doing all this. And to Alan's point, you said you know what? I'm going to start my own biz.
Speaker 2:I'm going to start my own business And're going to start my own business and you know it's so funny because I remember hearing my dad tell this story. He was working on the Frigidaire factory line but the day I was born he quit his job and I always think back. My mom was probably thinking, what are you doing? But he ended up starting up pouring concrete and so he was, had a company that poured the concrete slabs all of that for 55,000 homes in Huber Heights, ohio. So built that Ended up going into land development. So those big yellow Caterpillar, all the pieces of equipment. I knew how to drive a bulldozer at one time, so that was fun. I got to do that.
Speaker 1:Oh, come on. Yeah, I mean, if some kid started acting up, you'd say son, I could bulldoze your. Did you ever use that line?
Speaker 2:no, but it is my. What is the one thing you would never guess about me?
Speaker 3:it's perfect.
Speaker 2:So now I've like told the world that so I've got to come up with something yeah, you're gonna come with something else.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, did you think you were really good at it?
Speaker 2:no, I was terrified because, um the project we were on, we had a piece of land and my father was building an additional nine holes onto an existing golf course, and so he was working to smooth the dirt out on the green and he put me behind the engine blade or the dashboard and he cut in the golf cart and drove away and left me. He's like, just keep turning left, just keep turning left.
Speaker 3:So the eighth green is your-. Yeah, that's mine, that's yours.
Speaker 1:You know, I think I played that green in Huber Heights and you know what? Now I know who to blame for my four putt. Yeah, In fact, every time I A little uneven. Every time I three putt a first time, I like you, I get a chance to go on some big equipment too. My uncle was in that. But after the first couple of times, like I go back over the summer, I'm like I'm really good.
Speaker 1:And then I look back on it and I was like they all ran. I thought they were leaving me alone. They're all afraid. I was just going to take the backhoe and just like whack them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but those like today. I still smell dirt and think of my father, so I love the smell of dirt and I've worked with a lot of trades, construction companies, things like that. I just I understand the people. I understand some of the challenges that they're dealing with, so that experience has been able to serve me well in my business today.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. Yeah, I mean, look at that, yeah, man, I just love that I'm actually thinking about right now. Just, I just want to get behind one right now. I'm just trying to drive it around a little bit. No, probably not Be patient student driver, that's right. Well, that was the back of the dozer sticker on that one.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:All right. So when you started your biz let's talk about that, because that's a big leap for a lot of people Um, and you, you, you made that choice. And so you went and married still, yeah, congratulations. And so you started this business. So you went to your husband, said you know what, got this job and stuff, but I'm gonna start my own business, right. And he went oh, I am so supportive. What can I do to help? Is that how it went?
Speaker 2:Well, how it really went was there was a situation in which there were several of us. There was a situation in which there were several of us. It was decided that our positions would be dissolved, and so I had that decision made for me which really Extruded entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:So a great common theme for a lot of entrepreneurs, right? Sometimes it chooses you, sometimes you choose it. Sometimes you don't even know what's happening. Somebody gives it to you. So somebody said hey, lisa, we're going to downsize you, yes. And you said can I give you a student driver? No, can I give you a side swipe? No, can I give you a finger? No.
Speaker 2:You said I'm going to start my own business, but first I said that must have been really hard for you to tell me which was really uh is that?
Speaker 3:would that have ever crossed your mind, chris?
Speaker 2:it just to be empathetic for the person who just popped out of my mouth and I thought where did that come?
Speaker 1:oh, thank god you said that. Okay good, because at least we're gonna end this podcast, because we're not of the same minds. That's exactly what, in fact, when somebody says, hey, chris, um, I know you thought your raise was going to be x, uh, it's actually going to be x divided by two, um, I wasn't like, oh, that must have been really hard for you to tell me. That's not exactly how it came out of my mouth back in the corporate world. No, huh, exactly right, you, you either, buddy, don't you act high and mighty. You were right there with me going. Are you flipping, kidding? You know who I am, you know who I am? So lisa didn't do that. She didn't go. Do you know who I am? You're doing that to me. Okay, I got something for you, buddy, okay, okay, it's not gonna go so well. We're going to the train station, my friends. She says, oh, that must have been so hard.
Speaker 2:Yes. And then when I caught my breath and you know, on the walk out of the building, my friends walking me out and I said, you know, I think I'm going to start my own business, and I was shocked more than anyone else. I'm like what are you thinking? What are you going to do? I had no idea. So it took me a few weeks to kind of figure out where I was and what I was doing, because I'd poured so much of everything in my life into that. You know, to grow it from the startup, I knew every child, I knew everyone in the school, and so it really was an opportunity for me to understand a really valuable lesson who you are is not what you do.
Speaker 3:Who you are is not what you do.
Speaker 2:And I think that lesson is not one that is learned unless you go through an experience like that.
Speaker 3:It's tougher in the States too, because I think we are just so driven here to succeed and the first question you're asked at a mixer is what do you do? And I've learned that you've got to be careful with that, because they're not curious about what you do. They want to know where you are in the pecking order.
Speaker 2:Exactly, yeah, yes, they really do All right, that's a good one.
Speaker 1:All right, those are two great.
Speaker 2:I wrote hers now, who you are is not what you do and when people ask you what you do, they want to see where you are in the pecking order. Yeah, all right, ellen, it's a really great point, all right yeah well, we keep score one zero it's one zero.
Speaker 1:So, and don't worry, I'm not petty, but it's coming. You're going down all right. So, very thoughtful, you did this, um, and at the time, obviously, well, in that situation, your husband just would have went, omg.
Speaker 2:I think my whole family was like what happened, because I was probably the last person that was going to happen to. But looking back at it, I am very grateful it happened, because I would not be doing what I was today. I would have probably been there until you know. They carried me out of there and at that point I wasn't going anytime soon. But it really gave me an opportunity to do something, to make an impact in the world, more so than what I had been doing before.
Speaker 3:You had a greater purpose.
Speaker 1:I did.
Speaker 3:I did.
Speaker 1:Wow, and you know what? She wouldn't be here if that happened. So I'm thrilled that she's here. That's right, so we can sit here and go.
Speaker 3:And had she slashed the tires of the guy that delivered the message, she wouldn't be here. Chris, you know there's consequences. I mean not for nothing.
Speaker 1:But I'm not saying slashing tires, but definitely, you know, cutting gas lines, water bills, break line, you know, maybe a little flood, maybe a little fire at the house. No big deal, right? I mean hypothetically, of course, not me. I'm just saying hypothetically, sure, not me, I'm just saying hypothetically, sure, somebody else who may be a little. It's really terrible when things like that happen, isn't it? No, it does suck.
Speaker 3:I mean, come on man, yeah, I mean uh, you mean the fire, the flood, yeah, yeah, it depends on what you know. After you burn down their house, you're like, oh, that's too bad.
Speaker 1:I left my card though. I'm like, hey, if you need some help on the house, house repairs I know someone called the trust, the toolbox. We help with floods and fires, those tires not so much. So that's why I stay away from the tires. No, but she didn't. She took the high road, she showed that she lived the bookmobile, faith-based, truly had a great life and doing a lot better than some of us here at the table, some of us, some, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:I'll do better Okay. Thank you All. Yeah, some I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:I'll do better. Okay, thank you. All right, I just want to make sure you admitted it. No, okay, maybe me. All right, so you're thinking through this. You're getting up. Was this your first idea? Was there other ideas you had?
Speaker 2:Well, it was really funny. I had coffee, which was one of the things I learned. When you start your own business, you go have coffee which is funny because I don't drink coffee but you go sit in a coffee shop and you have a beverage and I was meeting with my former boss and he had a conversation, isn't it? Yes, I was meeting with my former, not the one that told me the position was dissolved, but this was somebody else that I met with, so a mentor, former boss and he said what are you going to do? And I said I really don't know. And he said well, you're going to have to go out and network. And the reason why that was a point of conversation is he knew that I would rather have my teeth cleaned with whatever terrible thing Sandpaper.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was the worst steel wool. Yeah, I mean as long as we're going for torture. I mean hypothetically again, of course, I don't know but that was like.
Speaker 2:That was like the worst thing you could have said to me and I said, yes, I know, but I'm gonna figure it out right.
Speaker 1:So so you're in that corporate america world and you go and then you say, oh, by the way, let's go get a coffee. I don't drink coffee, lisa, that's not the point. Okay, so we have to do the coffee clutch right, that's what we do in networking and we have to get out there. So Al and I are huge fans of networking, but when you do it you don't do that in the corporate world. I mean, we did it networking in the corporate world just to gain competitive advantage, to get to know guys. We didn't know that that's what we were doing. But running our own businesses you realize it's a whole different world. And in the beginning you're like what is this cult crap? Networking? What do you do? How do you do it? Oh, what do you do? How do you do it? Oh, let's paint our cards. Oh, who can I connect you with? Who can I connect you with? I'm like connect me with me. I'm going to connect you with something. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:No, so you had to go learn to network as an introvert, as somebody who didn't want to do this yet, absolutely Because I was always the one in the background to make everybody look good and to really just make everything happen and make sure it was just on point. I even remember once I got into networking at one point younger gentleman. I asked him for coffee and he said I'd love to go, but could you tell me what we're going to do when we get there? Right, like he did, he really didn't know what it was. Now he was maybe 24, you know. I don't know if he thought I was hitting on him.
Speaker 1:Yeah anyway, yeah, that's what I actually. That's exactly where I went. I'm like look, dude, I did not bring the playboys. Okay, again, I'm just asking you to coffee, son. Okay, we're talking business here, son.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:Get your mind out of the gutter Eyes up here.
Speaker 1:That would be. So. I don't think anybody's ever asked me if I've done that. If you're like, hey, man, you want to grab a coffee? I've never had anybody go. What are you going to talk about? Because if they would have done that, I'm like, okay, that's creepy. We're going to stop this right now Because I ain't getting coffee with you. If you think that's what I was creeping out about doing, I'm trying to grow my business, bro.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I've grown to love it. I love networking, I love connecting people, finding out what they do, who they need to meet and really what drives them, Because I have been. You talked about purpose, Alan. I have been seeking and chasing purpose since I was 10 years old.
Speaker 3:That is a very heavy topic for someone so young, but it has been a thread that's on my life. That's what she learned at the bookmobile when you were out smoking cigarettes in the pasture. Just for the record, I wasn't smoking cigarettes.
Speaker 1:I drank a lot of beer. In fact, that was a really good beer bar. It was really good. I mean enough of that.
Speaker 3:What was your record of beers in the bong? Did you do three? No, look at the look on your face. Why? I mean really or he's.
Speaker 1:He's very humble big funnel, it was, it was, it was. Hey, I went to michigan tech, bro. I mean, we had to go in the middle of nowhere, I mean, and I grew up in the cornfields, so it's something all right. Back to purpose. And lisa, please can we? Okay, all right, not me. And beer drinking all right, which I'm really good at, just again for the right, apparently so do I get a point for that?
Speaker 1:no, okay, right back to the competition later so, uh, so purpose, uh, you stayed, you stayed focused on it. You, you built on that, you built your business. You got out of your comfort zone. You're doing the networking, you're doing podcasting now, and the name of your podcast is your passion, purpose and personal brand yes, indeed, it was with one take it was tongue twister, it I couldn't say it, I know.
Speaker 3:I mean, I was like Passion, purpose and personal brand.
Speaker 1:So let's talk a little bit more about what you do to help people with that, Because this is the stuff that I was like oh yeah, we're going to have a lot of fun on this podcast.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely so. I think the thing is is, when people start their business, like Alan you were talking about, what do you do, all right? Well, the last thing you want to say is I'm an accountant or I'm a financial advisor or, fill in the blank, whatever it is that you are. Because here's what happens In people's minds as soon as you say I'm a financial advisor, they open the virtual file cabinet, the file drawer. They open it up, they look for the folder that says financial advisor and they virtually drop your name in that file, close the drawer and they stop listening to you because they think they already know what you do you know, she stunned you on that one, didn't she bro?
Speaker 1:I know she dropped this on me as we're getting ready to talk about the podcast, uh, and get them coming on. I was like, oh, that's deep dude. And like you know what? She's right, you're right, and, and, and now I'll give you props back. Right, I always leave with hey, what do you do? Because that's how I identify where you are. Um, but I, I don't see, peck, you're so superficial. I am really um, you know where's your car parked, don't worry about that. Student driver stickers. So all right. So you, you're right. So what should we?
Speaker 2:and well, that's what you did, so you worked on this, so let's go back to how you help people with that yeah, so I I think the thing is is we have our person that we serve, we have our ideal client, we have our service offering or our product. But how do you connect the two? How do you connect what you do, the value you bring to the world, with the right target person and I hate using the word target, but with the person who has the problem that you want to solve, the person that you are uniquely wired to solve that problem. They're out there looking for you, they're desperately looking for you and you're looking for them. So how do you make that match? You've got to have a customer or client-centric message that calls out to them.
Speaker 3:So this goes to and I'm putting my glasses on so I'm smarter. Linkedin says you're the top personal branding voice.
Speaker 2:I am a top personal branding voice.
Speaker 3:I'm not the top person.
Speaker 1:Hey you know what Editorial advice here at the podcast Let it roll, it's the. Go with it. Go with it, girl. I am the. That's right, oh my God. In fact, she's wearing a shirt. No, I am the. Yes, that's right, oh my God. In fact, she's wearing the shirt that says I am the. She's just being humble.
Speaker 3:This is the top personal branding voice in the room.
Speaker 1:You don't do humble on this shit, man, let's go. Screw that, let's go.
Speaker 3:So what should that financial plan? Because you're right, and I was actually laughing to myself when you were talking about getting involved in networking at first, and you're an introvert, I'm an introvert, I'm a gregarious introvert, but I'm an introvert and you get out there and you think, oh, I'm, I'm gonna network and I'm gonna build my network, and what you find out is you're getting hit up for financial planning, insurance, sales, stuff that you don't. You know, I mean, you're just trying to. You're just trying to, you know, meet people that can help you connect and then you'll help them connect.
Speaker 2:But you know, suddenly you've got this target on your back right, right exactly yeah, so what should that uh, that that um financial services person say yeah, so I think the thing is is we want to catch people's attention in a very unique way, and we also want to turn them into a member of our sales team. So the thing about networking that I believe many people do not realize is, the person across the table from you is not your prospect.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Right, it may be, but what you're doing is you're trying to help them figure out who you can connect them to, and it should be likewise. So. When you sit down to have a conversation with someone and they start pitching you immediately, then it's learning the finesse to turn the conversation.
Speaker 3:We call that leg humper.
Speaker 2:Well, I could see that yes.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure she probably had not heard that one. She probably doesn't use that one. You now are two up on me, because that one I'm going to give you props for, because I think we just shocked Lisa and she's like I'm going to go pray for their souls?
Speaker 2:No, not at all. I have four dogs, so I get it.
Speaker 3:It's about as perfect a description. Absolutely, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:But to answer your question, you really want to start talking about the problem. And who has that problem? So I know a financial advisor, for example. She serves women who are either widowed or divorced and have never learned how to manage their finances.
Speaker 3:That's super niche.
Speaker 2:It is. But there's a reason why she does it is. She experienced that, seeing it with her mom, so that pain is within her. So she's trying to heal that and help other people. So she would start out saying I know I'm getting deep.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, we like deep.
Speaker 2:As superficial as we appear.
Speaker 1:So she looked at me because I was rolling my eyes. I'm not rolling my eyes. I was like, oh my God, that's so good. I'm trying to write this down.
Speaker 3:It was an eye flutter, that was a critical.
Speaker 1:That was an eye flutter. It really was Like, oh my God, I threw a clamp. Oh my God, she said you're in the room with us.
Speaker 2:So what you might say is you, I help them, manage and make their great financial decisions so they never have to worry about retirement whatever something like that. But what you're doing in that is you're talking about who you serve, You're talking about the problem they have, You're talking about what you actually do for them, and the last part is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow what are they able to do? So when you do that, and when you do that as an elevator pitch so let's say, you go to a local chamber networking event you get 25 seconds to stand up. This is great to say who you serve, what is the problem, what you do and how you're going to make their life better.
Speaker 3:You mean you don't grab the microphone and seize it with both hands and just go for five minutes to where everybody wants to kill you?
Speaker 1:No, that's not good, no, I've never done that. Actually, the guy who does that, chris, is out there going. Which car is his? That's right, he's not driving away today, no, he's getting an Uber. But they think they're the best right and they're going on and on and on, like I am now. But stay with me, guys. Hey, if you're still driving in the car, don't forget. I wrote a book Lisa's totally on this stuff. But we've got to get back to Lisa.
Speaker 3:Thanks for looking at me when you were feeling guilty.
Speaker 1:Right, I was, but that's the thing, right. So 25 seconds who, what and how?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think one of the biggest things. We talk about this in my sales process at my company. People buy to get away from pain more than they do to go to pleasure, and I said that's a big part of this because we do a lot of break fix. Give that's a big part of this, because we do a lot of break fix. Give yourself one of that, chris. Thank you, yes, my sales process Dude. I'm telling you, man, we are down some stuff.
Speaker 3:You know what I like about that, though, besides the fact that it's're actually saying what you do in a way, that's interesting and also gives me a little bit of comfort that you're not necessarily coming after me Right, exactly Because what you're doing, it's a very short story you're telling.
Speaker 2:You're telling that story there and those people that stand up and go on for five minutes, what they're doing is they are trying to make a sale before they walk out the door and that doesn't happen. That doesn't happen. Yeah, it turns people off. So by being able to encapsulate that story, you're not only she's using a lot of multi-syllable words.
Speaker 1:Dude, I'm over here writing a theme and she actually said this script. I was like, yeah, I'm pretty sure nothing, because I mean she's. I said clearly I spent way too many, way too many weekends at the cornfield.
Speaker 2:I should have been at the bookmobile all right, but yeah, but what happens is you turn that room into your sales force yeah, 100 yep and that percent Yep. And that's the whole goal. And that's what networking you're looking for Door openers, strategic partners. You're not looking for clients in there.
Speaker 1:But it doesn't happen. That one and back to Ellen's point again it was a good leg humper thing. You guys talk about this networking. You have to know, like and trust people. That's a phrase we always use and it takes time, right. This is not an overnight success story like if you're starting your own business and you're going out there, and so let's go back to when you started your business. So hey look, I had this job and they let me go. You know what I say. God bless them. You know my friend chris, I met now looking back on it, he said a couple other things. But I gotta go forward, we gotta all make money, so I gotta make money. So networking takes minute, right. And as we talk about that, that's a long play. That doesn't happen like instantaneously. So you got to make that phone ring. So in the beginning, how'd you make that phone ring? How'd you get that first?
Speaker 2:call Really great question, so I'm going to point for that one.
Speaker 3:That was a reflexive answer.
Speaker 1:You know it wasn't.
Speaker 2:And I coach people who start their own business, because this is a really very hard thing. I just want to say I was talking to some guy a few weeks ago. He lives in Austin, texas. Okay, left the corporate world, wants to be an executive coach. He said you know? I said how are things going Well? They're going pretty well. Well. Then when you get further into the conversation, then the real story comes out. He says I was very successful in corporate America. I was a Marine. I was deployed twice. I lost my dad when I was young. I've been divorced. Nothing, nothing is as hard as starting this business. Wow, yeah. So think about that.
Speaker 1:Can we pause for a minute? I'm going to cry. He's right, though. I mean, and I'm not a marine and I've not been deployed, yes, and uh, not divorced, okay, so let's keep thinking yeah, but but no, it is very hard.
Speaker 2:So the first thing and this is what I this is why I advise people to do is yet yes, yeah is who I start my own business.
Speaker 1:Kind of a recipe for divorce, exactly anyway. So it's hard right, all right, so go, all right. What happened?
Speaker 2:is who do you know that you could go ahead and do some work for them, whether it is a discounted rate, whether it's somebody that you can white label business for, which is where they are selling it as their product but you're working behind the scenes so you don't have any client contact to do that.
Speaker 2:So I had an agency in Atlanta that I had been very successful working with and so they were very kind to give me some work and so I white labeled for them to get some reps in, because at that point I had gone to Nashville, I had signed up for Donald Miller's StoryBrand certified guide program. So I built that messaging framework and I started working for people in exchange for if you are happy with my service, I would love a testimonial. Now I wasn't doing big-blown projects for them, but I was doing something like writing elevator pitches or maybe writing the copy for their homepage of their website, or helping them figure out what is your distinctive message to where they're like wow, you really do know what you're doing. I got a testimonial from them because the thing is, people who don't know you sure you're going to say you know what you're doing, but it's they're looking at that third party social proof. They're looking at those testimonials to know. Do I trust them? Are they an expert and are they going to deliver?
Speaker 3:can I ask you why you chose the Donald Miller yeah program?
Speaker 1:yeah, so there's no, he does not get a good question there, that's, that was not one, because her face said great question, more than the words that she delivered two and a half to one.
Speaker 2:Two and a half to one, two and a half well, it was really funny how I came across that process. This was when I was still with the school and one of my roles was, uh, heading up communications and marketing and many other different things I did there. But we were in a planning meeting for a fundraising session, okay, and we had a few people that were on the committee. One guy was doing production, and so we're trying to figure out what is our theme, what are we going to do? So this guy gets up marker by the whiteboard and he's like, okay, who is our audience? Who are we talking to? We're talking to the parents. What is the one thing they want? And so he goes through that. What is the obvious problem they have to solve?
Speaker 2:So, if you are familiar with the storyboard and framework, we've just gone into the second thing who is the character and what are the three levels of problems. Well, we got through most of it and he had to leave. Ben had to leave and as he left, I left the meeting. I ran out into the parking lot after him and I said what was that that you did? I have to know about it.
Speaker 2:So I was still employed at the school at the time. He goes. Well, you know it's this framework and you can learn it, but it's kind of expensive to go. He was one of the first guides StoryBrand had certified. And he said but they do have an online course.
Speaker 2:So the minute July 1st the next year, when my budget hit, I signed up for that digital course and so I took it and I tried implementing the framework and it was really hard to do, which Don Miller is not silly in what he did. He tells you enough so you can learn to want it, but he doesn't tell you how to do it right. It's very hard. So when I was here with some time on my hands, you know found myself as a new entrepreneur and thought what am I going to do? I knew I was great at messaging and so up on my computer came a retargeted ad because I had purchased that online course. No accident, it says come to Nashville, be a StoryBrand guide. I took a little bit of my severance and invested that and that's what helped me get going.
Speaker 1:All right, so great, I'm retargeting. Another great message for everybody If you don't do retargeting now, you should.
Speaker 3:Yes, because, guys, by the way, I think maybe some people need to explain All right.
Speaker 1:Let me back this up. So I have a home remodeling and handyman company here in Atlanta called the Trusted Toolbox and if you go to my website and you go away from my website after checking us out and you go to Facebook or you go out to Instagram, it will get retargeted and you'll get a ad served up to you saying do you need some handyman work, do you need a wood rot, do you need some drywall? Do you need a bathroom model? Do you need a kitchen remodel? Depending on what you looked at on my website, I go back and retarget you and I hit you with that sponsored ad. This is all legal, we can all do it. It's happening, super powerful. It's super powerful and I'll tell you, especially with ai coming, uh, down the road, which I hate it right now, it's getting way overused. Um, it's going to be.
Speaker 3:Did you just say you hated ai? Because, no, I love ai.
Speaker 1:I know you do, yeah, I do. Uh. Actually, uzar just came out um, by the way, and it's blowing up.
Speaker 1:What the ai, the hi, uh, hvac ai, guy, yeah, yeah, yeah, blowing up on the yeah, no, that was a great episode but back to, uh, the guest at hand, yeah, which is most important, because she is the most important person in the room talking about the story brand, one of the things you did that I want to. That's the big thing I want to talk about when to coach, when not to coach, when should I get a coach? When should I not get a? You, at the point that you did the story brand buy-in, how much were you making in your business?
Speaker 2:Oh, I was six weeks into into my business, Zero, zero.
Speaker 1:Right, and so you decided to drop. Not, it doesn't matter the number, you don't even have to tell Five, 15, 20 grand. It wasn't 500 bucks. No, it was a lot of money.
Speaker 2:It was when I called my sister. She said are you freaking nuts? That's what she said. You've got to be crazy. And I said nope, I knew it. In my gut. I have this instinct of what is right to do and when it's right to do it, and I knew it was right.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So investing in yourself it's hard, it's very hard to do and I, you know, over the course of 16 years doing this alan has, uh, heard me tell this story I go in and out of coaching and I spend a lot of money and I don't spend a lot of money and I'm currently I'm not being coached, um, but I definitely need to get coached soon.
Speaker 3:So do you? Do you have like a certain amount of money that you need for help, and sometimes it's coaching and sometimes it's therapy, and then back and forth is it, is it no, therapy is?
Speaker 1:always odd. Okay, that's that's. That's a whole different thing. That's on the personal side. Uh, still married, so let's continue.
Speaker 1:I started my business 16 years ago, but I'm still in the startup phase. It's really hard, my friends. Starting a business takes a tax on everybody, and you said it this guy that you talked about your client. It is harder to start a business than it is to be the CEO of Coca-Cola. I am convinced of that. I have heard this over and over and as a guy who was in corporate America, who dealt with the C-suite all the time Alan did as well it is a lot harder to start something than it is to run it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, cause in corporate America you're you're working with other people's money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because when it's your money and, like you said, you invested in yourself, so you go off, you go out there, so you met Donald Miller, you get the story brand and if you haven't heard of Donald Miller, um, we're about to learn who he is. Uh, but what Lisa can do for you with his message, what did you learn? Why was it so good?
Speaker 2:I think why it was so good was because traditionally, when we think about our business, you know we're all into our business. We know the ins and outs, we know all the features, we know why you should buy it. We are so excited about what we do. We're experts in the industry, but your client is not. They don't know. So we start trying to impress them with all of this knowledge we have and excitement about why they should use it.
Speaker 2:And they're sitting there thinking what are you talking about? Do I need this? So why I love this was because it truly was inviting your audience into the story of what it might like to be to do business with you. So when you do that, you mention that I know what you want and I know that this is your problem and this is how it makes you feel and why it's just not right in the world. And I've been there, I've gone down that road before, and here is all the experience I have and, as you know, I'm going through the framework right now, and so here is a three-step plan. It's going to be really easy First we're going to do this, then this is going to happen and then you're going to experience this wonderful thing.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, ellen, but I just went through. I feel so bad about myself. And then Lisa said but, chris, it's okay, here's the three steps, and I'm bunching up our tablecloth right now. It's okay, chris, it's okay. It's okay and I'm like yes, you know, I think I found my new therapist. She doesn't even know it yet.
Speaker 2:And then you just talk about the wonderful things that can happen.
Speaker 1:So clearly it hit with you, and you've been doing this for how many years, though?
Speaker 2:Story brand. Seven years for story brand, but naturally I've been doing it, probably 20.
Speaker 1:Exactly, yeah, so you're very good at this right. You bring people in, you make them feel that pain, and then here's how we can find your way out of that pain and to this pleasure.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think the key part is when someone hears I understand your pain and it's okay, because I've been there, you'll follow them all day long. That's where that trust begins.
Speaker 1:Oh, so deep. I told her. I said we're going to have a lot of fun on this one because, yeah, I was like, yeah, we're going to go there. Personally, I'm going to go there, so I'm already punching up everything. So it's amazing If you guys aren't making a personal connection right now, that's on you, man, and so do not hit the guy in the car.
Speaker 1:All right, stay there with me. All right, I know everybody's in the car. Maybe you're taking a run. Listen to us. That's how we know where you get us. Of course that because on the youtube channel you can see lisa in action and you can see alan and chris cringing, especially when they hit way too close to home. Okay, we're back. So let's talk about a story that you worked with somebody, because here's the hard part. You can go in there and say, hey, I'm a story brand coach and I'll help you with this and that, and everybody's like blah, blah, blah, I'm good at my business. Blah, blah, blah, make my phone ring. Tell us the story of where you got the guy to go. Bang, I understand you and oh my God, it worked. Or a gal.
Speaker 3:I'm going to give you a good question on that, because it was the one I was going to just ask.
Speaker 1:That's a backhanded one. No, it's a one. I'm taking it All right. All right go.
Speaker 3:Oh, I thought you were going to rephrase the question no, I couldn't have said it better than Chris.
Speaker 2:So are you looking for an audience who understood my message?
Speaker 1:No, I'm looking for a client where you went, this guy, this gal, whoever You're like hey, I did a story brand thing. You're like blah, blah, blah. I don't believe you. I've heard these people.
Speaker 2:And you came in and you helped them recraft their message and then bang, their business took off or they got some wins. Yeah, so I will tell you, one of my most interesting clients was Santa Claus. So that was a fun client, santa Claus, who runs a school to train other of those people just in case you've got the radio on your people in the car who need to hear it but he was training other people who are in that industry and would go out to company parties and things he was training santa claus's yes, yes that's a.
Speaker 3:Thing. Oh yeah, big business big business I love this country
Speaker 1:dude, honestly, when she said I trained santa claus, you have no idea. My mother was a huge santa claus freak, freak. And then, yeah, my mother's thing was always if you don't believe, you don't get. And I'm telling you, man, I don't care, I'm gonna tell you, hold on, I'm 53, I still believe, because if my mom's gone unfortunately passed away but on Christmas morning I'm looking for something coming from Santa Claus, it's not me and you know what? I found it right? Uh, two years in a row, by the way, that's really cool.
Speaker 3:You've been crying a lot lately, Chris. Okay, so you train the.
Speaker 2:Santa Claus, but I think you know. To go back to your question about the client, one of my most amazing messages that we came up with was for a hypnotherapist. So think about it no-transcript on the homepage of your website. People will only stay on your website seven seconds unless you give them a reason to stay longer. So that is where that hero section of your website needs to capture people. It needs to tell you three things. It needs to say what do you do, how are you going to make my life better and how do I start doing business with you?
Speaker 3:The hero section, meaning the client is the hero.
Speaker 2:So the hero section is the top section of your website. It's above the fold before you scroll down, and so that's why it's called the top section of your website. It's above the fold before you scroll down, okay, and so that's why it's called the hero section, just like it's the big thing he's throwing lingo on you.
Speaker 1:Uh, ellen, I know it's, it's hard for you.
Speaker 3:You're old, at least now you're a lot longer than you and you know I have uh done quite well in my life asking the stupid question that nobody else would have the guts to ask what is the hero?
Speaker 1:the hero section is the top okay, that's before you scroll right.
Speaker 2:So it's what you see when you go to website.
Speaker 3:It's a, it is a great and listeners, I would like you to just overwhelm chris's mailbox. Chris, at the trusted toolboxcom saying hey, that was really great that alan asked that question, because I honestly didn't know what she meant hit me and hit me hard people.
Speaker 2:You guys have been hitting me hard, but we're going to do the client email back on the next episode, so let's go yeah so, but when you have that in the top section of your website, the key piece that most people are missing is that call to action button in that top section of your website so you don't want to scroll down to get to the below.
Speaker 3:What's beneath the hero, the fold. Yeah, so I've got some more things on that, but here's the thing't want to scroll down to get to the below what's?
Speaker 2:beneath the hero, the fold. Yeah, so I've got some more things on that, but here's the thing you want to put that call to action button several places as you're scrolling down, because as you move down through the website, you know oh, now I think I might want to contact them, or I'm not really sure yet. Let me keep reading. Oh, now I do. So you don't want to make them?
Speaker 2:hunt for that call to action button. That call to action button is called the cash register of your website. That's where you start. The sales process is whether it is contact us, schedule a call, whatever it is. But you don't want to have a wimpy call to action button, but you don't want to have a wimpy call to action button. So I call the action button like learn more. That doesn't really.
Speaker 3:Which is interesting because it seems like a lot of marketing today is to kind of be less in your face. But you're actually saying be more in your face.
Speaker 2:You have to be crystal clear of oh, I'm reading this and sounds good, what do I do next? It's an act of service to show them.
Speaker 1:This is the next step wow, she said wimpy, and I went wimpy's hamburgers, remember that. Oh yeah, I'm dating you, uh, alan, because I watch your episodes, not mine. I'm not that old, okay. Um, all right, so back to the. Uh, you go out there and you talk with people and they're like, again, it's hard to pick a coach or somebody's going to tell you a story that's going to help you make the cash register ring yes tell me who you did. Who did who? Who?
Speaker 3:just like bang, you worked with them and then it lit up well, she mentioned the hypnotherapist and I'm actually curious what message did you help create for the hypnotherapist?
Speaker 1:is that? Because you know, I know two of them here in atlanta, so that's what I'm interested too.
Speaker 3:But can they help me not hate my neighbor because of their barking dog?
Speaker 1:I don't know, but, but she, but, but they, but she, her, her job is to get the hypnotherapist to get you to go there to do it, but they're usually about smoking cessation, weight loss. That, the hypnotherapist that I know. Again, when I heard them, what do you think? The first thing you think hypnotherapist? I'm, like you know, quack, like a duck, and so I've met some of these folks who built them, and so Inga Chamberlain is the one I know very well, and her husband, bob. So they have developed a whole training program around doing that. Is that who you've worked with?
Speaker 2:No. Oh well, you're going to, because I'm going to. Okay, that's awesome, yeah, that's awesome. You know, I think just every client that I've worked with has seen some transformation in their business, but it really is how thorough you're using that message. Now you can have your message on your website, but if you don't have a way to drive people to your website, that's not going to do you any good. So how do you get people to your website? That's. Another question is is do you have a lead generator? Do you have some type of value-filled asset you can give people in exchange for the email address? Do you have an ad to drive them in your website? Is your Google business profile connected to your website? And I think for a lot of your listeners that are perhaps maybe in the trades or a local business, that Google Business Profile is your bread and butter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, local business, gmb is the way to go. I mean they don't want to say Google my Business anymore. But bottom line is Google wants you to be on Google all day long and so we're on it. We're Google Guaranteed. We're Google my Business. They don't say it like that. What is Google Guaranteed, guaranteed? We're Google my business. They don't say it like that. What is Google guaranteed?
Speaker 1:So, as a handyman, we are listed on the Google LSA local service ads and we're verified. So I had to do a video background check, answer a bunch of questions and now I have a little green check mark that says every time somebody calls you, we get paid Google. But because we served you up, because you have good messages and people used you, we're going to keep serving you up, because that's what Google is all about. Right, they're in the information business information serving up business. That's where you got to absolutely rate yourself up and that's a big thing because it's a long play.
Speaker 1:But Google LSA I found it's starting to kill pay-per-click. Give yourself a point I found it's starting to kill pay-per-click. Thank you, we're coming to the end and I hate this because we have so much more to talk about. We might have to have her back? We might, because she's so close. I'm local, she's local and we like her, she's fun, all right, but you know what? I hate? That we don't get the chance to go through our favorite four questions. The first question we want to ask you is what is a favorite book that you would recommend to our audience?
Speaker 2:All right. Well, I brought a copy of the title because I couldn't get it right if I didn't have it written down. So it is called Unreasonable Hospitality.
Speaker 1:Yay, I just got done reading it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than they Expect. And it is on my nightstand to read. I have not gotten into it yet, but the reason why I'm going to give it to you is I heard Donald Miller a couple of weeks ago say it's the best book he's read in a very long time, and he reads a lot of books and he knows about books. So I heard the gentleman that wrote the author interviewed and he just has some very well, yes, yes, yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's the book that he thought was the best.
Speaker 2:He said it's the best book I've read, so I actually implemented a couple of those uh lessons into my business awesome. Yeah, that's great name one. What did you do?
Speaker 1:so all right. So we have captains of uh, of hospitality. We have captains of hospitality. We have captains of things that are specific to you, because the unreasonable hospitality thing is is that if you get your team empowered to provide great service to their clients and to their customers when you're not there. So I now have a technician advisory board we brought this into training where you guys are responsible for making something awesome happen. If you, as a project manager, feel like that project went well, I want you to give them a gift. You have up to a hundred dollars. Anything you want to do. You want to go over a hundred dollars. Just get a gift to who? The customer? Oh, at the end. So if you did a great bathroom and their love bathroom salt, so we did a great kitchen or we did a great deck, we want you to give them a great barbecuing kit. That's cool. Yeah, I like that, and one of my guys check this out. After I implemented this made a cutting board.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 1:For his customer made out of exotic woods that he was able to pick up. As part of our gig we go around quite a bit and see other stuff. He put them together and milled it all together himself and presented it to him that's pretty, that's staggering right unreasonable. Yeah, hospitality yeah, love that book all right. Yeah, it's great, it's great okay, we gotta keep moving right. What's the next question? I can't remember now because I'm so excited about that will go there, I went yeah, the question b customer service uh customer service diy nightmare.
Speaker 1:Uh, how about this one? Okay, you ready? Yeah, what's the favorite feature of your house, alan? You have not been listening. I was testing you. You have failed. Yeah, like 135 times, alan, it's my first time yeah. I just got back from.
Speaker 2:Rome. Well, without question, no hesitation. My screen and porch.
Speaker 1:Why.
Speaker 2:Because I get a chance to be in nature when I Without the bugs yeah, without the bugs and when it's rainy, like I love going out there. Summer evening rain, like just being able to experience the fresh air. There's nothing that compares Glamping yeah, I've always had a screen and porch since I've lived in Atlantalanta see, I don't agree.
Speaker 1:It's called glamping, it is dude wait. When I tell people I'm going to my cabin up in the mountains, they're like so what's it look like?
Speaker 3:no luxury mountain house. I'm like I'm not going outside there's too many bugs.
Speaker 1:I'm like I can't stand that. Bug, bug, bug, bug bugs all right. So we are huge and we have not talked about this a lot, but we need to talk about this more. Al and I are huge around customer service because we are customer service freaks and we love great customer service. But when you're out there and customer service is not going your way, you're the customer. What is a big pet peeve of yours?
Speaker 2:You know I've got a couple that I can relay. One I was at the doctor's office with my husband the other day and you know, when you do online check-in and you fill out your form and all of that, and you feel like you should be done by then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you feel like you should be done. So what happens is he gets up to the counter and they say, well, let's just verify everything. So what they're doing is they're calling out all of his personal information in the middle of the waiting room. Okay, so, okay. So your phone number is this and your, you know, bank account ends in this. No, I mean, like I'm stretching that there yeah, no, I'm with you though right, but I'm like dude sip it, sip it.
Speaker 1:I got a. I'm with you, though, right, but I'm like Dude sip it, sip it. I got a student driver's ticket for you, son.
Speaker 2:But we have HIPAA requirements that you're bound to, but yet you're broadcasting all of this personal information through the waiting room. I even said to him as the next person came in. I said I'm going to go over there and tell them that this is just not right. And tell them that this is just not right. It just burned me Just burned me. Did he like that idea? Well, he was dealing with some pain.
Speaker 1:You're like, I'll fix this. We're going to get you some stickers and a couple knives. No, I did not say that, don't worry, we're going to fix things. Don't worry. By the time we're done, your justice will be good justice. Yeah, it's okay, but it's righteous, yeah because they deserved it.
Speaker 3:You know what? That's what I say.
Speaker 1:If they hadn't have done that, and you can go with me on Saturday morning. You know it's called confession. Hey, I didn't mean to do that. Hey, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:All right, let's go away.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank, God, I don't know, I'm just your son. Oh thank you, okay, last question what is a DIY nightmare story?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, Not a contractor one I want.
Speaker 1:We like pestilence, we like pain, fire, flooding.
Speaker 2:Oh, I've got a great one.
Speaker 1:Emergency services are even better, yeah, Actually we had a great one on that one too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so you know several years ago, when all these home fix-it shows got really popular.
Speaker 2:You know, I can do that too. Oh yeah, and I was really into uh, you know, there's this yes, everybody, you can do it yourself.
Speaker 1:You don't need the trusted toolbox. Trust me, we don't know what the hell we're doing. Forget the fact that we're licensed. We're actually training. We might have some tools. You do it all yourself, continually so thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:You know Chip and Joanna Gaines, right when they became really hot. You know watching all of this and you're just like, oh, I want to live in a house like that.
Speaker 3:I could do my bathroom in a weekend.
Speaker 2:Well, since you mentioned it, I could do my bathroom in the weekend. So how hard could it be? So one, how hard could it be? So I, one thing I do is I'm a quilter, so I take fabric and I sew it together and you know, like this, you know I, I can do that. So how hard would it be to put tile on the wall in a bathroom? So what do you have to do? You have to take off the old tile.
Speaker 1:So I go in my garage, I get a sledgehammer I get some gloves and some goggles and I go at it yeah, and you think about the guy who fired you. That's right you're like, yeah, take that and take that. And oh, by the way, the guy you cut me off, take that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, your sledgehammer, the shit and everything, keep going well, it wasn't coming off as easily as it should have oh that's a shock, yeah. So I took a break and it was a few days. I thought, okay, let me give it another go. Got my goggles on and do it again, so it was exhausting few days. I thought, okay, let me give it another go. I got my goggles on and do it again, so it was exhausting and I realized this was not going to like. It didn't fall off nicely Like it was.
Speaker 3:Like a Chip and Joanna style just falls right off.
Speaker 2:And the next episode they're tiling 24 minutes later and they're done in three minutes, right, and it wasn't smooth and I thought, oh, this is not going to be good. So I just closed the door and left it. It was the upstairs bathroom, you know, one of those Jack and Jill ones that I left it. And I had an opportunity. I ran into someone who was a home contractor and we just happened to conversation. I'm like, oh, by the way, do you do this? He's like, yeah, go to floor and decor. I picked out the tile we did, and so he fixed it up.
Speaker 3:Can I get a discount if I've started the demo?
Speaker 1:Right, if I do my own demo, that's my other favorite one. If I do my own demo, how much less. And I walk in and there are lines of water sitting there, there are open electrical things sparking, there are nails sitting out of two by fours. He goes what's my discount? I'm like, bro, you just added like two grand to this project because we're going to die if we're not doing this thing. All right, oh my gosh, lisa, this has been amazing. Thank you so much for coming on. How can people find you?
Speaker 2:Yes, well, if you're on social media, you'll find me Monday through Friday. On LinkedIn, it's Lisa McGuire and I'm on Instagram. I am Lisa McGuire.
Speaker 3:Are you basically saying you have office hours on LinkedIn?
Speaker 2:I do.
Speaker 1:Have you heard of that? No, I'm wide open, bro. That's kind of cool, but she's on Insta too. Come on now.
Speaker 2:I'm on Insta and then also lisamcguirecom. You can find me there. Phone and you can find me there, phone number 678-520-7660. Lisa at Lisa McGuirecom, that's everywhere You're still with us.
Speaker 1:You heard all that. Don't worry about it. It's in the show notes. Check it out, tap it on the app. You not tap it while you're driving Unless it's a student driver thing in front of you, right, and then you can hit him. It's fine. Use him as your bumper, it's fine. But you know what, guys, if you didn't learn something, that's on you because stories hold the day, even if you're not good at networking, what did Lisa tell you? You got to network. If you want to build your brand, you want to build your business, you want to make that phone ring? Tell a story, figure out your story, figure out who it is, what you're going to do and how you're going to do it. Man, let