Iteration and improvement. That's how we're going to approach this podcast episode today, as well as how we're going to approach our business. So. One of the things I've noticed about my business. All the businesses I've ever run is I've taken my best foot forward. I've taken my best judgment and brought it to the market. And put up offers that I think would resonate. And what ends up happening is you get feedback.
The more you put things out there, whether it's in the form of content, whether it's in the form of offers, which is something I've been talking a little bit more about lately, whether it's in the form of. Service lines or markets that you want Bye. Putting yourself out there with your content, your ideas and your offers.
And starting conversations with people, inevitably what's going to happen is you're going to get feedback and you're not going to have people come to you and say, that sounds like an interesting idea. Tell me more, or that sort of sounds like this or. Here's what I would want. From you. If, if I could customize the solution. Uh, maybe not those exact words, but I've basically had people say, look in an ideal world. This is how we would look to work together.
Is there something like that that we can make And what ends up happening is you start to notice where the resonant parts are. You start to see. You start to see people buying things at the end of the day that you're selling. And so you double down on the things that are working and frankly, You may just give up on the things that are not working so well, and that might be the smartest move you can make, because at the end of the day, it's going to help you focus on things that are going to work.
And you really don't know what's going to work until you expose your ideas and your offers. And have conversations with the people. Publicly. And that's the, kind of the gist of what I want to convey to you today is that. There is no roadmap necessarily. That's going to get you where you want to go.
The thing that I want to help you do as best as possible is give you some guiding principles, some things that have worked for me, but at the end of the day, they may not work for you and something else may work or some nuance or some subtle variation. So, what I often recommend people do is look. Yes. Rely on your gut instinct. Trust it. Take a new information and if it doesn't work, if it doesn't pass the filter, let's talk about it. Analyze what's resonating.
What's not see where the mental hangups are coming from. If content or ideas. Say that someone is teaching you don't fully align with you. You can leave it or you can. Push it and say, Hey, let's talk about this a little bit. Why. What I use this approach versus the one I'm used to. And really just until you feel settled or satisfied that you have a good answer as to why. One idea or another. Is good. Then frankly, you can do whatever it is you want.
And then let the market decide what's best for you because it doesn't matter what anyone tells you. Doesn't matter what you learn. The best people can do is give you a framework, give you a method, give you some tactics, some strategies, some tools. To help you achieve your goals. But at the end of the day, the only thing that's going to work is iteration. Improvements it's doubling down on the things that are working. It's discontinuing or, or not promoting things that aren't working.
Trying new things, putting a new offers, even if nobody buys And doing that a few times to see and waiting and trying again and switching things up and tweaking things. Because eventually you're going to land on something that's really good. Eventually you're gonna land on an idea. That's easy to sell. That is profitable for you and for your clients. And it's aligned with people's interests. Ideally it's unique, although it doesn't have to be a unicorn, it doesn't have to be a category creation.
Product or service, ideally it's unique. But, you know it, when you see it. And the only way, you know, is not to be too precious with your ideas and not to stay with things that are working. For too long. But instead to. Try new things, put things out there and iterate, iterate, iterate, and sometimes it means a wholesale deleting, removing, cutting. Destroying and rebuilding of your products, your services, your content framework, your strategies.
You know, what is the operating principle that you're guiding yourself under for me right now? It's if I, I know that if I legitimately help you and my clients. Transform and become a better version of themselves through your professional selves. You know, if you're trying to become an advisor, for example, how do I make you successful at being an advisor? And if I do that, not only is that mean the value is in alignment between what you're paying someone like me and.
And then therefore what you're getting, but what ends up happening is that's where the word of mouth kicks in and that's where people talk and spread your ideas and they share it and that sort of thing. So I want my guiding principles. I want to make you successful. And see significant results. In the areas you're trying to go to and creating leverage around your expertise.
And that You gain the success needed to be my advocate to go out and promote and share the good word that I'm trying to spread and to kind To help me get in front of more and more people. And to keep coming back or to come back as long as you need to, or to buy the next product or service that I offer. Because he knows that that's going to take you to a new level in a different And, you know, ideally you see things in a richer way that allow you to. Capture the opportunities that you have.
So all this is to say is that there really are no. Good answers, but it helps to have a guiding light and a guiding principle. One that is focused on true, genuine transformation. About who the person really is not necessarily what they can do, but who they become professionally and personally. And what does that impact have on their entire business and personal And then spread the word that way. So as long as you have a guiding principle, whether it's that one or something like it.
And. You keep putting things out there, keep putting new ideas out there. Keep putting new services out there, tweaking things. Every time you have a sales conversation, if your productized service needs it, it needs an Ask yourself. If I made this adjustment, would it work for the past clients that I also sold this to? And if it would and using them as the lens. To come up with the best solution that fits your core target Then make the change permanently new product. I service.
And if something doesn't feel right, if your prices feel too high or too low, Then it's time to adjust as time to change. What you're doing. To match how you feel because you have a lot of data through discussion. With prospects in your target market. So that's kind of the general message is that there really is no straight path. To succeeding in any way. The best thing you can do is equip yourself Tools and processes and ideas and tactics and strategies. A good mindset.
That's going to help you being an advocate for your clients and helping them make transformations so that they go in. Market for you. Things like that and having. At the end of the day. A mindset that you're not married to your best ideas, cause you may fall in love with your idea, especially if you made it up. On a walk or, you know, just sort of in your head and not in a custom proposal, for example, really easy to fall in love with the thing that you're doing.
Or a target market that you're working with or what have you, and then not adjusting it, but then also not getting results and not getting traction. So just want to remind you that. Yes, follow and model people who have succeeded the way you're trying to do. If that helps find the ingredients that work really well for you. Try things out, even if it makes you a little uncomfortable. Test, push back, ask questions to try to figure out where your expertise.
Or your perspective differs from the people who are, are a few steps ahead of you and find out where the disconnect is. If you're not understanding or you're not believing in something. But ultimately just being ready to try stuff and not being too precious until you gain traction. And then once he gained traction, that's about doubling down and eliminating things that are less profitable for you. And continuing to iterate. Towards improvement on your business.
So just wanted to share this with you. Just reminding you that. All these ideas stack up. But nothing is going to help you get to where you want to go. Except iteration. And the way you iterate is through conversations. Through your content and your ideas and seeing what people resonate with and stick to and putting out offers and seeing what people buy. And, you know, for example, I'm putting together course how to sell advice.
And a lot of people have come to me saying, wow, that's interesting. It's unique and valuable sounding. And I'm really curious as to what that's going to be about. And who was going to be four. And really I'm kind of then paying attention and saying, well, what sounds interesting about that to you? What are you trying to accomplish related to that? How does that make you feel? What would a course like this potentially have?
And of course I've got my own ideas, but I don't want to fall in love with my own ideas and I don't want to be too precious. And so on the one hand I'm seeing ears perk up and a lot of people, my peers and my target, market's saying that sounds interesting. And not many people are doing that. It's. You know about breaking free of execution and getting into an advisor work. And to consulting, selling your head. Selling access to your brain kind of thing. And so there's.
So there's something there based on what people are telling me. And the name maybe in itself sounds interesting. So I'm going to continue to follow that, continue to build around it, and then to continue to not just rely on my own. View on what that product should be, but to pay attention to the people who could potentially buy it. And ultimately build my business around those kinds of conversations. And not just the ones that live in my head. So yes. You want to have a vision?
Yes. You want to create something that. You feel should be in the world, but then you also at the same time have to hold it loosely. And yet not also be at the whim of. Random people. So it's a very delicate process. Like all things like all transformation, like all creation, it's delicate because you want to create the thing that you have as a vision, because you know that there's something there and you also want to then gently hold it.
While also taking other perspectives in and then seeing if there's where the common ground is, especially when your target market perks their ears and is interested and wants to buy. And there's no other form of validation better than a transaction. And that's how, you know, you're onto something there's frankly, no other way. So iterate, look for the transactions. Look for the signs of life. As I've talked over before, look for interest and then double down on the things that are working.
And not be too precious with the ideas that you have, because I'm sure they're good, but they might just be adjacent to where you I hope that helps bye for now. Oh, and before you go, if you want to get on the waiting list for how to sell advice, head on over to my website, kevin.me. And you'll see a dropdown under products, and that'll take you to the how to sell advice page it's at kevin.me/advice.
You can click and join the wait list and I'll notify you and maybe give you a little inside track when the product gets closer to being announced or released. Uh, so you can do that. And as always. This podcast is going to spread through word of mouth more than I don't really promote it too heavily. And, uh, yet I want to get the word out there. So if you know anyone else who is on that journey from execution into advisory work and beyond, and do you think that this would be a good fit for them?
Please send it, send them my They can check out just Kevin dummy there's links to my podcast, my email list, a crash course, all kinds of that's how I'm going to grow. So I really appreciate if we're getting value out of this, that, uh, you just recommend it to a friend. That's all. Okay my friends you take care and bye for