Canva – for DIY design and print projects

You may have seen the ads on TV recently for Canva, the online tool that enables you to design your own artwork projects.

I have recently been using the Pro version (there is a free version) and I have been very impressed and found it extremely useful. Previously I have recommended image-editing softwares (check them out here) which are great. But what Canva does is make it really easy and intuitive to create online graphics and even finished, print-ready artwork from scratch.

So this will not replace using a graphic designer for intricate and creative work, but for simple artwork that may be required at short notice then you can DIY-it with Canva.

Genevieve Rockett – Health & Wellbeing

Julian is fantastic! Really holds a deep understanding of Keap. He saved us enormous amounts of time and....…

Julian is fantastic! Really holds a deep understanding of Keap. He saved us enormous amounts of time and money by helping us to launch our referral program. The tools were available in Keap, but we did not know how to leverage them...Julian helped us get it all set up... helped craft automations... helped us to fine-tune and expand...and no need to purchase any other 3rd party or plug-ins options for our website. Julian is very patient as well.

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Genevieve Rockett - iPivot-now

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DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas and talks with an old rancher.

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officer stops at a ranch in Texas and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown dr*gs.” The rancher says, “Okay, but do not go in that field over there,” as he points out the location. The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, “Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me.” Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher. “See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish… On any land. No questions asked or answer given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand? ” The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores. A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life chased by the rancher’s big Santa Gertrudis Bull… With every step, the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he’ll get gored before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly terrified. The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence, and yells at the top of his lungs… “Your badge… Show him your badge!” Of course, nothing to do with marketing, but made me laugh. And you have to have a bit of fun in the working day – Julian
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“Waiting List” and “Baby Boomer Businesses” concepts from Daniel Priestley on the Steven Bartlett podcast

I was watching the Daniel Priestley interview on the Steven Bartlett podcast “Diary of a CEO”. It’s a fantastic interview full of nuggets from Daniel, you should definitely take a look. Click Here to watch it on Youtube The two big takeaways for me. The Waiting List Concept. Check out from minute 7 of the recording. Although not a new idea it is very powerful. I advised a client in the past to do this who sold live courses. I said when there was no live course available to buy then put up a waiting list. On the next course sale they did £500K in sales – just from the hot waiting list. Tools like Marketer-M8 (HighLevel) are perfect this for this job. And I have even created a Waiting List snapshot I can give to Marketer-M8 users. Baby Boomer Businesses. Check out the recording at 1hr 38 minutes with Daniel and Steven. Here Daniel explains that the big opportunity is not in building a sexy online “unicorn” business from scratch (luck + very hard work). But to acquire Baby Boomer Businesses that have run out of steam as the owner approaches retirement and the business is in need of revitalisation. Not the most sexy businesses, eg lift maintenance. But with the right deal they can be purchased for very little money upfront (like a management buy out) and flipped into valuable concerns. Daniel gives an example of one company using paper orders on spikes to manage the business processes. And this is what gets me excited, as tools like Marketer-M8 (HighLevel) are the perfect solution to automating business and marketing processes in these smaller companies. If any of the above has resonated with you I would be happy to have a chat, just schedule a call. Click here.
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Northern and Southern Ireland HighLevel training and implementation visit next week

Next week I will be in Ireland with a number of clients on both sides of the border, where I will be training and implementing HighLevel marketing automation. I will be working with clients who are completely new to HighLevel and we are setting up marketing automation for the first time. And I will be working with clients who want to become more advanced HighLevel marketers. If you are located in Ireland and thinking about HighLevel then this may be the perfect time to meet up. I will be starting off in Dublin on the Sunday then I will be traveling up to Belfast. If you are interested in speaking further regarding HighLevel then please schedule a Discovery call. Julian
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How to migrate from Acuity to HighLevel calendars

Are you considering moving over to HighLevel calendars from Acuity? Firstly – why would you want to do this? 1. Cost – for a single subscription to HighLevel you can have unlimited user accounts. Whatever the size of your team it is just one monthly cost that does not go up as you add more users. Check out a previous post where the client was paying Acuity $500/mo for ten users. 2. Functionality. HighLevel does so much more that schedule online meetings. With HighLevel you have a constantly expanding set of online marketing tools (of which calendars are just one). One area where Acuity lacks is marketing automation integrations – even when using Zapier to connect to CRM’s it has restrictions. Not so with HighLevel, you have many ways to schedule and automate appointments follow up. A nice feature in the HighLevel CRM is it be able to schedule meetings from within the contact record i.e. when on a call to a prospect – schedule a call there and then. And offline meetings are no problem either. Steps on how to migrate calendars from Acuity to HighLevel. 1. Document all the calendars you wish to bring over. 2. Map out how your calendars fit into your overall marketing and sales “machine”. Do not think about calendars in isolation they need to be an integrated part of your marketing machine. For instance – what happens when you have a “No Show” for a call? – do your sales guys have to then write an email asking for them to reschedule – or do they mark them as a No Show and the system then automatically sends them reminders until they re book? Better to spend time upfront working out how it all works for maximum efficieny. 2. Make sure you are familiar with the latest functionality and set up in HighLevel. Please note HighLevel is a rapidly evolving platform with regular updates, so be aware that any “how to” guides and videos you find online may be already outdated. I suggest you use the help provided by your HighLevel agency provider. Here are the latest support guides from HighLevel. 3. Set up for a single user first. The easiest way to learn how to set up HighLevel calendars would be to set up the calendars for yourself first. Before looking to set up your entire team. If you need any further pointers I would be happy to get on a quick discovery call. If you have yet to set up a HighLevel account then I suggest you reach out to MarketerM8. They are a HighLevel agency that can support you during the set up phase. Check out MarketerM8 here.
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Do you need a CRM / Marketing Automation Champion in your business?

Do you have a CRM / Marketing Automation system in your business? If yes, then you are already ahead of most small business owners. But are you getting the most from your system? Your CRM / Marketing Automation system will become the backbone of your company – it can support and link so many parts of your business with a view to generating sales. So it requires someone to manage it that is fully committed to its success. The ideal person, of course, is you, but that is often not an option as you only have 24hrs a day! A CRM / Marketing Automation system is a sophisticated bit of software and is not something that can be dabbled with – you either embrace it fully or you should not bother! And yes, this software is time-consuming to both learn and maintain. But the rewards can be tremendous -I know, I see this with my clients. So if you do not have the time to manage your CRM / Marketing Automation system yourself -what do you do? Well obviously you have to find someone else to do it. So you can either give it to a member of staff, hire someone in or find a consultant or an agency who specialises in CRM / Marketing Automation systems. I have seen first hand what happens when entrepreneurs hire someone who has no experience or interest in proactively developing the CRM / Marketing Automation system – (be it a recent graduate or a website designer/developer or agency). Without the dedication and continuity of one person, a CRM / Marketing Automation system quickly cease to work efficiently. These systems requires someone dedicated to the cause who understands the intricacies and history of your particular set up. So if you charge a recent graduate or developer in looking after your system then they most likely do not have the real dedication and combination of skills to make the CRM / Marketing Automation system successful. To master the system successfully requires a certain technical ability and no doubt a developer can master it. But what a developer is unlikely to have is the entrepreneurial flair and marketing experience to “connect all the pieces together” to create a sales generating machine. So to be successful with CRM / Marketing Automation systems requires a rare breed of person – someone who is both technically savvy and is marketing orientated. I have now been working with Keap and MarketerM8/HighLevel clients since 2009 and this is the conclusion that I have come to regarding this conundrum – who should manage your CRM / Marketing Automation system. When I am approached by a prospective new client an early question that I ask is – who is or will become your inhouse “CRM / Marketing Automation System Champion”. It could be the business owner or a recent graduate. Whoever it is I am looking for someone that is interested and motivated to take the marketing forward. Once we have this Champion then my job is to work with them to implement a marketing system based on my skills and experience and at the same time the champion gets real life, “on the job” training in only the parts of the system that are going to grow your business. Ultimately my job is to get them self-sufficient in the system as quickly as possible (and would you believe do myself out of a job ASAP). But working this way has a number of advantages for all concerned – The business owner gets the system working for the business and does not have to keep paying my fees. If the “Champion” should leave the business then they can call on me to help out/ train a new champion because I understand how the system has been set up in the first instance (I’m an insurance policy if you will). The “Champion” learns valuable new skills and manages the system day to day as the business requires it and becomes a key part of the team. And what’s the advantage for me? Well, firstly I do not get called upon to do day to day tasks like send email broadcasts, minor campaign tweaks etc. I get to work at a higher strategic level for a wide range of clients. Because this way of working is effective and works I find that clients will refer me to other businesses who need my help – so I am constantly challenged by new clients and projects which ultimately makes me a more effective consultant for my clients. If you like what I have to say and you think I may be able to assist you with Keap or MarketerM8/HighLevel then feel free to schedule a Discovery Call below.
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Neat marketing idea – A creative door drop/insert I received today

I received this flyer through the door today from the local conservative councillor in the run up to the May local elections. I thought this was rather creative – it got my attention. It looks like one of those cards that the courier leaves when he was unable to deliver a package – who is going to ignore that? this is sure to get picked up and get attention. If door drops are part of your marketing arsenal then may be you should test one that looks like a “we tried to deliver” card. Link to download full design.
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Canva – for DIY design and print projects

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Selling to Serve – James Asford – GoProposal

Have you read ‘They Ask You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Outrageous Multi-Step Marketing Campaigns That Are Outrageously Successful by Bill Glazer

Making Websites Win by Karl Banks & Ben Jesson – founders of Conversion Rate Experts ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Have you read “The Ultimate Sales Machine” by Chet Holmes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review – Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself by Mike Michalowicz ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jordan Belforts Straight Line Selling methodology applied to Keap / Infusionsoft marketing

Top 10 Marketing Business Books for Entrepreneurs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Work the System’ by Sam Carpenter

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Learn why entrepreneurs want me to work with them?

Within a year I enabled Celia to more than double the size of her wedding venue business, take on staff and have free time for holidays!