Episode 155 Transcript

Heather Porter (00:03.16)

Hey Rebels, welcome back to the Hustle Rebellion. We're on episode 155. Now, I have to just share something with you guys today. I'm feeling a little proud of myself. I just started my lifting weights journey at the gym, which I said earlier in this show, I do a little earlier this year, but I'm just stressing it because there's never a good time to start anything, ever, ever, ever. so I do my Pilates four times a week.

 

But I've been listening to a lot of shows around, women going into their late forties into their fifties. And, with these shows that I'm listening to, it's talking a lot about what you should do, right? So should do a lot of strength training, increase your protein, you know, do more hits, high intensity stuff like short sprints, things like that. And a lot of weight resistance. And although I do a lot of applaudies, which is good for stretching and core, the whole thing about weights is

 

Not really, like I haven't done it in a few years. I used to have a personal trainer that would do it. Cause I'm with me like one day a week. Cause I'm scared, I'm scared of doing it myself. I don't know why, but I am. I just have this mental block. So I woke up today. It's good Friday today when I'm recording this. I don't know if you can see there's a little Easter bunny behind me. Anyway, I woke up today. I was, I was like, okay, I'm going to Pilates and I'm going to walk upstairs in Virgin Active. I'm walking upstairs.

 

to the place I used to go with my PT. And I did. And it was slammed because it's a public holiday. So there's so many people, but I just committed to do a few exercises. So I did my legs and then I ran on the treadmill to just comfort, get comfortable with that. And I was like, okay, there you go. I'm only sharing this story before I get into the meat of this podcast with you guys, because I just wanted to share my journey with you. Like I just had to do that one step.

 

to go, know, Heather, it's not that scary. It's okay, you got this. And then I'll keep doing it. It's now gonna be part of my routine because I've done it. Now it's not scary. So for anyone that needed to hear that today, just something that maybe you're like, oh, I'll do that tomorrow. I'll put that off. I'll do that tomorrow. Just do it. Do like, I'm like, I'll just do two exercises today. Just do it. Even just walk into the room. Research the thing, right? All of us need a little extra push. So enough about me.

 

Heather Porter (02:25.708)

Today we're going to dive into something a lot of business owners are quietly or maybe loudly feeling globally with all the weird and wacky things that are happening around the world right now. And that is slower business to business or B2B spending. Is that what your business does? Do you have a B2B? Cause I know a lot of my listeners do. And some of you are B2C, but a lot of you are in the, in the sort of, sell stuff to other businesses.

 

So if that's you, I'm wondering if you're feeling the pinch as well. I was talking to friend of mine. So she owns a large digital marketing agency, way bigger than mine. I just don't want to grow that big. That's not my outcome, but I'm so amazed with what she's built. She has like an advisory board as well with her. Like they're huge. They're really growing and she's getting these huge contracts and you know, having to pitch for huge jobs. And so was talking to her the other day and she's like, you know, saying,

 

It's like a really crazy time right now. I'm really filling it with all my clients. it's taking a lot longer to win a contract or a job. Like the sales process has grown by three months out to like six months or more. People are scaling back. People are asking or negotiating or saying, do I really need that piece? She said one client shopped around to like 10 agencies and just said, no, I'm sorry. I actually can't do it. I don't have the budget. And then I went to my

 

nail technician the other day. And you know, I do my little things that, that, that mean a lot to me. And that's one of them. And I went to her and I'm, I was talking to her. I'm like, have you been noticing a shift in how people are? And she goes, Oh, you mean like the doom and gloom? Yes. So there's that. And then I was talking to a client of mine in the States and she said, we're not going to sell this thing that we want to sell because of the current energetics or the P how people are feeling in America right now. So weird shit going down, right? And I am wondering if you are feeling it.

 

And I mean, I'm, feeling it even with some of my clients too. It's kind of unnerving and a little bit freaked out about cashflow. So I thought that this would be a really good time to have this conversation with you guys as well, to see if you, you are also noticing a bit of a shift. Cause I think what's happening is like buying actual buying confidence is a bit down, right? Not because people don't want help. It's because we're just collectively being a little bit more cautious, right?

 

Heather Porter (04:50.734)

I mean, budget approvals are taking longer. Sales processes are longer. Risk aversion is higher. People are sort of questioning the whole, it's nice to have this, but should I do it? You know, should I do it? And people are also sort of saying, you know, maybe not right now, rather than that whole, yeah, let's do it attitude that has been, I've seen a lot more of in the past. Look, and I'm a big believer you guys in

 

you see what you attract or you attract what you see. so I'm very aware of not focusing on doom and gloom as well and really trying to keep that out of my mind, but it's just interesting that I'm hearing it more. And normally I'm really good at pushing that out, but I'm hearing it to a point where I'm like, maybe I should chat about this a little bit. So here's the deal. If you're feeling this at all, people are still spending money.

 

They're maybe just spending a little bit more selectively on what they're choosing. So stay tuned for some ideas of what to do if you're feeling a little kind of, you know, a little uncertain in your business right now, especially in the, in the B2B space. So number one, reframe what you sell, reframe what you sell, position your offer is like mission critical, not optional. So

 

Big thing in what I do in digital marketing is people are like, let's just, let's run ads. But here's the deal. If you don't have a good landing page, if you don't have good content for social media ads, your ads are going to just go nowhere. They're going to tank. So it's actually just as critical to have the content piece as the advertising or the ad piece that you might do online as well. You have to have both in order to make it work.

 

So it's, really talking through what you guys offer and your services and explaining like, yeah, you could get this, but it's not going to work without this. Like it's critical to have it as a package. Highlight return on investment as well. Like whether it's time savings or more revenue, especially with AI right now, people are out there trying to save a lot of time, but they're also scrambling around, not sure if they're actually adding things to their plate to the even make sense in the first place.

 

Heather Porter (07:12.686)

So if you're more in the strategy space, know, strategy right now is really important with AI and what's happening because AI is not strategic yet. So you can use your brain and really say like, come to me to save time, to save money. also reframing by saying like, this is not a cost, it's a safeguard for growth. Right now, my space is really interesting when, when cost of living goes up and there's

 

you know, sentiments around where money is going and what should I be doing? Um, people oftentimes cut their marketing, right? Which is exactly the way to get your brand and your business out there. So I think consider what you're selling. Is it a safeguard for growth for the company that you're working with? Number two. So number one was reframe what you sell, right? Just think about it a little bit differently. Number two is to make it easier to say yes. So

 

break down your offers or what you're selling in bite sized points rather than potentially a huge retainer, for example. So I was just talking to a new client of mine and you know, he does incredible things in the sustainability space with manufacturing companies, really large companies. So he comes in and works on their sustainability programs. And he said, you know, like I always start with this or at least now.

 

I always start with like a discovery package, a foot in the door, right? Before it's like, used to go straight into retainer, but now it's more the foot in the door, the discovery package, because that allows people to try before they buy. They still spend money, but it's not as risky. And that's something that is, I've found really important in my business as well. So for you guys, that can look like, you know, offering audits.

 

which is definitely I'm building out a whole audit suite for me for digital marketing in my business. So all these different audits will offer, but offering audits, workshops, you know, where people can come and experience you and your team paid strategy sessions. So paid strategy, right? Where in instead of having like a free discovery process, it's, it's paid. So people are taking baby steps towards next steps with you. Low risk retainers as well.

 

Heather Porter (09:32.256)

So big part of what I've changed is we do like what's called a marketing kickstart program, which is a three month program rather than just locking in for a long time. it's strategy, paid strategy that then we take that strategy and go, okay, cool. Now we know exactly what you need. Here's the map to get there. And let's just really focus in on those core outcomes in the next three months and just focus on those and nothing else. Now, is that going to be long-term sustainable for business? No, not at all.

 

but it's a good place to start to get an ROI to see what we can do as a team, my company. And then from there, it rolls into ongoing relationship, more retainer, more projects. So those are just a few things to think about where you can make it easier for people to say yes. So let's move on to number three, lean into education and value first content. People are so used to,

 

getting free content, especially with chat, GBT or, or, know, or Gemini or wherever you go to get your clot or wherever you go for your AI, right? you just ask and put together a travel plan or a fitness plan or whatever. so people are used to getting their free education, right? So lean into that with your business as well, whether you're doing webinars, cause people still want to connect with people, even though there's AI out there, there's nuances in and wisdom.

 

and the ability of Q and A and specifics that can happen through human to human conversation. Webinars, guides, another client of mine right now are releasing a suite of eight, I think there's eight or six guides on different pain points for his B2B. Toolkits you could offer, anything that keeps you visible and useful. And essentially what you wanna focus on is to be the brand they learn from.

 

before they buy, especially now if people are a little bit more timid in buying, you have a big opportunity to teach. So consider this, I like this as a little bit of a kind of a quote. If someone's not ready to buy, should still be better off for having talked to you. I'm gonna repeat that. If someone's not ready to buy yet, they should still be better off for having talked to you. Because you know what? They might still,

 

Heather Porter (11:52.798)

say what you do to their friends, colleagues, et cetera. I have met numerous people over the years and certainly in my old business called Autopilot Your Business, where I'd had people that go, my God, I've listened to your podcast for years and I tell everyone about it, but they've never actually become a client of mine, right? So teaching and offering value. How can you do that? It's important. The next thing is to shorten the path to proof.

 

shorten the path to proof using client case studies data before and afters. Like you want to make the trust with you undeniable. So big part of marketing is obviously get people in and considering doing business with you, right? And seeing case studies or user generated content, but also equally important is the sales process where if somebody is putting their hand up and they're like, I'm interested in booking a call, a strategy call or an appointment in that time zone of

 

or that that window from the time that they put their hand up to the time they show up with you is so important. So you can show them lots of case studies and really cool things that you've done and media and awards and all of that sort of stuff. There's a very important reason why whenever I show up on my speaking gigs or whenever I do webinars, I'm always saying, you know, I'm only one of a few trainers for Metta in Australia. I teach at the University of Sydney's Center for Continuing Education.

 

It's credibility, right? It's showing, not really telling, it's sort of saying, these are my credentials, you know, and people can kind of make assumptions from that in their own mind. So shorten the path to proof. How do you weave in your trustworthy wisdom background in what you do, your frameworks, all of that. Trust builds speed in a slow market. People are looking for people right now. Yes, AI is amazing, but we're looking for people to guide us still always in our business.

 

especially now it's a bit crazy out there and who to trust, right? The last one is to stay in their world. Most of your future buyers are always in research mode. They're not ignoring you. They're just researching. Big part of what I'm always teaching and working with my clients on is the customer journey, right? In marketing. So it's sort of moving people from awareness, aware of problem that they have or

 

Heather Porter (14:16.62)

the desire that they want fulfilled. It's moving them from that into considering doing business with you. And in that consideration step, they're researching, they're out there seeing like what they should be doing so that most of them are always, or not always, but most of them are in this research mode before they come upon you, right? Or when they first initially are introduced to you. So make sure you're following up and you're sharing something useful. You want to be seen, but not necessarily like pushy, right?

 

So when the budget actually opens up, you will be the first in line. That is why right now it's so important to create your content, your content marketing, your good valuable information that you're sending out, doing those newsletters, doing those social media posts, stay front of mind because maybe the buying cycle is longer. Maybe it's taking longer for people to find budget and do things. That's why you need to be front of mind. So when they're ready, you're there, you're ready. Speaking of that, another client of mine the other day was saying, know,

 

It's crazy. I forget the power of newsletters because I just do them. I keep doing them. And for him, winning a client is a very big price point. So he's like, yeah, I just had somebody that says, yeah, I read all your newsletters and your emails. And two years in, he puts his hand up and goes, yeah, I'm ready. Cause it was just one thing, specific thing that was said at the right time in one of those newsletters for this guy, for him to put his hand up. So stay in their world and

 

Look, it's really tempting to go quiet when the market seems to be maybe going quiet. But use your consistency, be consistent, be really clear on where you're headed and use connection and community with your people around you. Make sure that they remember that you're there. It's not a time to kind of pull in. It's a time to expand. Keep showing up, you guys. Keep adapting. Keep listening to what's happening.

 

have little daily chats with chat chibi tea. Here's what I'm working on. Are there areas for improvement? Use it as your advisor, you know, cause slow down is not the end of let's say opportunity. It's just a filter. It's a reset on what people will find valuable, what they need, who they're going to trust to go forward with. It's the ones who stay determined and consistent really through it that come out the other side stronger. So to repeat on those ideas for you.

 

Heather Porter (16:43.04)

right now, if you're feeling the pinch at all in your business, reframe what you sell. Number one, know, focus on the ROI, that it's the whole package that you offer is, is critical and not optional. Number two, make it easy for people to say yes with baby steps first, not maybe taking up the whole package that you offer, but those initial baby steps to enter into your world with little offers, audits, things like that.

 

Number three, lean into education and value first content. Now's the time to teach demos, how to's share what you are capable of. Shorten number four, shorten the path to proof. So that is using your community, your user generated content, your case studies, all of that, and really using them in your communications that you put out in your marketing. Number five is stay in their world. Stay front of mind. You guys be consistent with releasing your content.

 

Be consistent and be out there in community with with real people, you know Make sure you're out there and being present in what's going on around you So hopefully this episode gave you something to think about there might be something in there for you that you think maybe I should keep doing that or try something new and For me to keep doing this which I love to do for you guys It also helps if you share it to just today. I was listening to an amazing podcast

 

and what's called Diary of a CEO, which probably a lot of you guys have heard. And I just shared an episode with a girlfriend of mine who never had heard of it. I'm like, you've got to listen to it. So good. So if you find something in this that may be a friend of yours that has a business might benefit from, I'd be very, grateful for you to pass this episode on to him or her. And that is it from me for now. Thank you for tuning in and until next time, have a wonderful week, evening, day.

 

weekend ahead. Talk to you soon. Bye guys.