SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to World What Amber with your host Amber Howard. Your weekly host of clients, inspiration, and strategies to have your small business and whole life thrive. We bring you incredible guests who share their real life experiences of being an entrepreneur so you can have your whole life work. Now, here's your host, Amber Howard.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to What Would Amber Do? I'm thrilled to be here with you today and to introduce you to someone relatively new to my circle. His name's Christian Klemp. Christian is an entrepreneur and one of the creative forces behind I'm Blick Consulting Incorporated, which utilizes a solution-focused approach to provide business-to-business branding and marketing solutions. Christian and I also share something else in common. He's a fellow podcaster and he has a show called B2B Marketers on Emission. And Christian, it's just such a privilege to have you with me this morning. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_05 1:05

Thanks for that awesome intro, Amber. It's a pleasure to be on your show.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Yeah, really great. We always kind of start with like, how did you get to be here today? And one of the things that when we first met Christian, I really loved about you is you've been to so many different places and lived in in so many different places in the world. And so yeah, how did you get to be an entrepreneur and where have you been? And share a little bit with us about your journey to get to today.

SPEAKER_05 1:32

Sure. Yeah. No, first of all, um, thanks for the opportunity. Um, yeah, so so my name's Christian Klepp. Um, I'm originally from Austria and Central Europe. Um, I've been fortunate enough to uh live in uh seven countries um throughout my life. So Canada is country number seven. Um was born in Austria, spent some time in Australia, in the Philippines, uh Singapore, Germany. And then the last 13 years, I was in Shanghai, China, where I met my wonderful wife, and uh who's from Toronto, and that's why I'm that's why I'm now based in Toronto, right? Um, so you know, I've been fortunate enough to live in all these places and uh you know been exposed to many um different cultures, languages, and nuances of uh, you know, working, moving, and operating in in these different markets. And um I've been, I would say my marketing career really started when I was out in China. And um I was actually on the uh what they call the B2C, so business to consumer um side when I started out. So that's basically like you know, we were working on consumer products. Um before I then started to um, you know, I joined an agency that was specializing in B2B, which uh B2B means business to business. Um and that basically the difference there really is that you know you're um you're selling, you're helping uh organizations uh to sell their products and services to other businesses, uh, which means that you probably have more than one point of contact in a said organization that will make a decision on whether to purchase your product or solution or not. Um there's several stakeholders involved in that process. Um and uh the decision-making process is also a significantly longer. And you have to understand um all all the different dynamics and how these all these different stakeholders um you know play a role in that ecosystem. And so that that that's challenging, but it's an interesting challenge at the same time, and that's something that fascinated me. Um so that's where I um decided to like focus my expertise on. And um, how how did I become an entrepreneur? Um, you know, I moved out to Canada, as I said, like um, you know, moved to Toronto three years ago. And since then I've been working remotely, so just you know, dealing with uh people in other markets um, you know, from the comfort of my desktop. Um so when you know, when when COVID hit last year, there wasn't that much of a change in my in my um you know, in the way that I worked in my working lifestyle, so to speak. Um and then I just thought to myself, I I think this was like towards the end of 2019. Um I was thinking like, you know, uh I was already at the time uh working for a different company, and I was responsible for uh closing deals and acquiring um business for set company here in uh North America and other markets like Europe and the Middle East. And I was doing that mostly on my own. So I thought to myself, hmm, I could probably do this like if I set up my own shop, right? So um, and it's something that I've um, you know, I've I I have friends in my own, you know, my my circle, my personal circle that are entrepreneurs, and I'm from a family of entrepreneurs. My late father ran his own business. All of my brothers have their own companies. So it's kind of in the blood, so to speak. It's an RDNA. It's the whole, um, it's the whole like, okay, let's let's go and um let's go and do something and go and set up something on our own. It's it's a bit of that, um, I guess there's many ways to to describe it, but it's like kind of a bit of a pioneering spirit, if you will. Um, just set up something in your own and uh and challenge yourself, push yourself to uh to to that next level. I mean, I'm not saying that people who have a full-time job are not challenged. They certainly are. It's just a different set of challenges if you're an entrepreneur. And so that's that's uh in a nutshell, that's my story. And you know, the the rest, as they say, is history, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yeah, it's amazing. So many things that I could like jump off from there, but I think it's that the freedom to be able to express ourselves the way we want. And it's not that you can't be creative in a corporate environment. Absolutely, people do, but at the end of the day, you're fulfilling on or or like expressing someone else's vision for whatever it is versus that that freedom to say no, like what and and we'll talk about this a little bit later.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

But um, you know, you talk in about you you know, unique competitiveness, right? Like what is Christian's unique way in which he can contribute to to a given space? Um and and I think that I mean there's lots of reasons people become entrepreneurs the more of these shows I record. I, you know, some of it's like we supposedly wanting time freedom. I'm not sure how much time for you, like you guys really get the ability to create your own schedule and how that works. I think entrepreneurs probably work more than a nine to five. But um I I do think at the end of the day, there is something really you talk about that pioneering spirit. There is something about, you know, really wanting to be able to express ourselves into whatever space it is that we we create in.

SPEAKER_05 6:51

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think um, you know, there's a couple of I would say um a lot of people out there, especially in the um age of social media and uh being online, they tend to romanticize entrepreneurship a lot. And um, I'm not necessarily saying that's bad. However, and this is where I'm gonna throw in the caveat, however, they they um they tend to paint this illusion of like um you know making it seem like it's a it's a seamless um process or a seamless transition from like having a steady job. And I am here to tell you, and you can relate, Amber, because you've been running your own business for so many years. I'm here to tell you that uh that is not the case, right? Um it's um, I mean, for me, I I think there's so many analogies, but I think um if I'm gonna compare uh or if I'm gonna have a comparison um for entrepreneurship, it almost feels like the experience of becoming a parent, right? It's um it's an exciting experience that's coupled with feeling scared as all hell, right? Because there's so many things that are unknown, there's so many things that um that you know uh there's almost nothing that can prepare you for parenthood, I would say. Yeah, sure you can go to the classes and whatnot, right? The prenatal classes at the hospital and and so forth. But when the the baby is actually born and you're actually holding it in your arms, it's like I don't know, at least it was that way for me. It was like all that stuff I learned, it just it just disappeared. And it was like it was almost like I had to I had to learn it again, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Absolutely. And I and I think it's an optionalogy because when you create a business or a product or a good or whatever it is and and you put it out there into the world, like it's like um, yeah, it's like birthing something 100%. And and you don't you don't know, even if you, you know, for my strategists out there or my analytical types who like you know go take some courses or read some books and you know, like do some research on how to create a startup or whatever it is, however you approach being an entrepreneur, you can do all of that and it's great. And and there's so many things that you don't even know at the time, and you're constantly learning and growing. And I think you have to be someone who is well, I love the distinction Napoleon Hill makes between temporary defeat versus failure. You have to be someone who's willing to have lots and lots of temporary defeats, right? And and still, you know, maintain like be persistent in the face of that and and really develop yourself into being someone who can just keep keep climbing the mountain.

SPEAKER_05 9:36

Correct. Correct. It's interesting that you mentioned that because that's the that's the analogy that I uh I consistently like to use, the whole like it's a steep climb up the mountain, right? Or you gotta make sure you find a way to navigate your way up the mountain and if you need a guide to do that, right? But um, I I know that we spoke about this before, uh, you know, in terms of like advice um that I would give people um who are thinking about starting their new uh you know their own business or leaving the corporate world. Um there there's lots of it, but um certainly one of the ones that really comes to mind as being one of the top priorities. Um, and before I give the advice, I'll I'll I'll um I'll share a quote from uh Sir John Heggerty, who is um one one of my favorite like uh people in the advertising world. So uh John Haggerty founded this uh agency called Bartles Bogle and Heggerty or BBH, right? And they were known as the black sheep in the industry. And guess what? Their logo had a black sheep in it, right? Um and he he had many quotes, but one of the quotes that um you know, one of his favorite uh quotes um I would say is um the one where he says we didn't get this far to be ordinary. And what that means for me, I mean it it you know, at surface level, it sounds like he's being arrogant, but what it means for me actually is um, and this is to your point that you raised earlier, you know, you can't you enter the world of entrepreneurship and suddenly you're lost in this absolutely massive sea of noise. And especially when you're starting out, people are uh you know are trying to determine, okay, well, where is my what is my expertise, what is my area of specialization? How am I gonna make a difference to my target market? And speaking of which, who is my target market? You know, what niche should I focus on? But you know, before you start thinking about all that stuff, um to the point of the quote, build up your personal brand.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Right?

SPEAKER_05 11:41

Build up your personal brand, right? So what is it, what value is there that Chris somebody like Christian or like Amber can bring to the world? What will make what will make people remember you? What will they remember you as in terms of your expertise, right? How have you made a difference in in the lives of the people that have um you've worked with in the past that you can leverage when you're putting yourself out there as a um as a consultant, as a solo entrepreneur or somebody that's you know starting their own business, right? Like why would people come to you? Like what what um what is it that you can solve for them and what kind of experience can you create for them through the solutions that you provide? Right?

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Yeah, it's it's so good. I I remember one of my mentors once saying, like, don't sell the drill.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Like people don't go, you know, don't buy drills. Yeah, people don't go to the hardware store to buy the drill. They go to the hardware store because they want a hole to hang a picture of a vacation that they had. Like that they want, they're looking for this. So, like, how can how can you like what's their problem and how can you solve their problem for them, right? And they don't really care about the drill. And it's so funny now that I'm saying this to you in the moment, because it's interesting. We as human beings, we get so caught up in the how often. Like we won't even, like my experience has been we won't even express a desire for something if we haven't personally discovered, like, and like if we can't understand how to have it. But when we go searching for other people to support us, we don't really care about the how. It's like I want X. I want, you know, I want to be able to lose weight, or I want to be able to grow my business, or I want to be able to connect better with people, or I want to be in a romantic relationship, whatever the desire is. And I was having this conversation with someone on my accountability club this morning, yeah. Right. Around this whole idea of like control and and not wanting to be told what to do. And I said, Do you really care how you get it?

SPEAKER_03 13:45

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Like if you can have that result and it's illegal and not immoral and whatever your value system is, but do you actually really care how it happens, or do you just care that you get that experience?

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Right. Yeah. So I think there's something, you know, I think you're you're speaking, the importance and and understanding and taking the time to understand who we are.

SPEAKER_05 14:06

That's absolutely right. And to to a point you raised earlier, Amber, um, about like the how. I mean, a lot of people get like caught up in the how and the what, but I think the most important thing that you have to the most important question that you have to answer as an entrepreneur is the why. Right? Well, why are you doing this? Why do you feel you are best suited to help people in this specific niche? Right? Why is that important to them? Right? Why will that be maybe game chang game changer is an exaggeration, but why would that take them to the next level if you are there with them on that journey? Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Yeah, and it's like the why for them and also the why for you. Like, what is it? Because let's just be honest, when you look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, like when you begin to your journey as an entrepreneur, unless you've got a really big nest egg, or you know, you've like put six months in the bank, or you've got a lot of, you know, investment up front, capital investment up front, you go in, you begin this journey to become an entrepreneur, and you're putting yourself in in financial, like you're inviting some financial challenges that you know, a lack of stability, which you know, we all know that human beings don't necessarily like the subconscious mind does not love not being safe. And so we're making a choice. And and I think the more dialed in we are to our personal why, like, why would I do that? Why would I get out of bed every day? And instead of going to, you know, and there is, I think it's a misconception that there's security in a nine to five job, but there, you know, there tends to be a bit more stability in terms of the income stream coming in. Um, but why would I choose that? Why is it so important to me? Uh, and and I I've said this time and time again, and I'm gonna keep saying it, like if I talk about heartbreak, for me, one of the heartbreaks of humanity is how many people go to the grave without never knowing what their purpose is, why they were created.

SPEAKER_05 16:09

That's absolutely right.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Right? So it's like, but to and and I think for anyone listening to this conversation, like you can you don't have to be an entrepreneur to engage in that conversation. Why am I here? Why was I created? What is the unique expression for me into the world? Um, whether that's like at the level of family or community or organization or globe, like whatever that is, it doesn't have to be some grand purpose to transform the planet at the you know the level of world. Yeah, but I think it is important. And it I would say back to the the whole thinking grow rich, like the you know, Hill stresses the importance of having a burning desire. And the more tapped in we are to our why, why is this important to me? Why, why these people, why this product, why this service, I think it becomes easier to be persistent in the face of those temporary defeats.

SPEAKER_05 17:05

That's absolutely right. I mean, you you know, you you um you brought up a couple of points um in the past couple of minutes that I wanted to jam on a bit further. Like, you know, the the the topic of like, you know, there's stability and um having a stable job. Well, let's be honest. Um, last year that concept went out the window, didn't it?

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Um it really did.

SPEAKER_05 17:25

Yeah. So um it it it used to be that way that, you know, um having a full-time job offered stability and regular income. But unfortunately, last year, because of um, you know, I I I I promise we're not gonna talk about COVID, but you know, like um what happened with the pandemic, a lot of people did lose their jobs, and that was, you know, and um and so that that's not to say that if you're an entrepreneur, you're the only one that's gonna be facing um you know, like uh instability, right? But I will say this though about entrepreneurship, and I'm sure you can relate to a certain extent. This is a advice that was given to me um by uh um by an ex-boss of mine, um, who has been an entrepreneur for many, many years. And he said that one thing that you know um separates separates us from the rest is that um you've gotta have an appetite for risk. You've got to embrace, you've got to embrace the uncertainty, right? Because if you if you are a structured person that plans ahead um, you know, for many, many months, um entrepreneurship might not necessarily be the right fit for you because a lot of things can happen that you don't necessarily always anticipate, you know, when you're running your own business, right? That's not to say that you shouldn't be struck structured and you shouldn't you shouldn't be planning. You absolutely should do that. But you always have to have it in the back of your mind. And you know, last year was living proof of all of that, right? You have to have it in the back of your mind that you have to anticipate that things might go wrong. And when they do, you've got to have a backup plan in place. Yeah. Right? You've got to have a contingency plan there, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yeah, and present in what you're sharing, Christian, to like a speech given by Jim Carrey to a graduating class, and you can find the you know, the link on YouTube um, where he talks about his father and and just really watching his father spend many, many his whole life doing a job that he didn't like to make ends meet. And you know, it's like and he really got that you can fail doing what you don't want. So why wouldn't you go for failing for at what you love, right? Like you know, that and I think there's there's a lot of truth in that, and we have a lot of agreements in our culture around um going for what we want and like conversations about that being selfish or or that we should put other people first. And and it really like I think people sometimes as we get older in life, we we we kill off that ability to fantasize, to imagine, to desire. Like our desire muscle is not strong, other than maybe for like the you know, the latest, greatest, like fad or or whatever, you know, TV show or something, you know, like those my friend Beth, who was on the show a couple of weeks ago, talked about like pleasure versus authentic pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

So like taking the time to get to know oneself and what is like what brings you authentic pleasure. Um I think, I think is important.

SPEAKER_05 20:35

Yeah. Um, yeah. I I mean I have a slightly uh different perspective on that, but that's okay. I mean, like, you know, uh, wouldn't it be boring if we if we agreed on everything that we talked about? Um I I I think it's I I think it's equally important as you get older to, I mean, I I don't know if I would use the word fantasize, but like, you know, have have dreams, have aspirations. I think the only thing that I would say differentiates that um like when you were younger is that now you've got more experience. You kind of already know what to expect and anticipate. So at least when you do dream and when you do have aspirations, you you hang you hang a little bit of um uh realistic expectations with those dreams. So it doesn't just go like all out of uh whack somehow, right? Like, I mean, like obviously when we were younger, we had um, you know, we didn't have that much experience and we went out into the world. I I mean, God knows I did. Went out into the world having this having these um not necessarily correct perceptions of um of of of the realities we were um you know we were um subjected to. But you know, as you as you get older, um you can still you can still have those dreams, just um just be a bit more realistic about them, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah, it's interesting because I think I think you're right, as we go through life, we do you know our perception of of reality gets shaped and it's it's an interesting conversation to have because you know the work I've been doing in neurolinguistic programming like we each talks about we each have a map of the world but really like our experience of reality whatever we think reality is is is shaped like is the moment before we even perceive it like even you and I are having this conversation right now the people listening to the show your how you're hearing the words how the language is landing for you is is is created before you even are aware of perceiving it so this notion that there is um there is a reality that's true and and real for everyone I think for me and my experience has been I'm I that that that doesn't really resonate with me anymore as I've gone on my journey because I think every single person is perceiving so-called reality like are are there laws of physics and you know gravity and like certain things like about the world that we live in absolutely yes but beyond that I think there's way more possible than than our our realistic selves might think is possible based on all of these things that we pick up and gather other people's beliefs society things that we're told by society and I think as it's interesting as the entrepreneurs that we probably if we weren't willing to kind of suspend what we thought was realistic people probably wouldn't go into business for themselves in the first place.

SPEAKER_05 23:36

Right exactly yeah and and that's the beauty of entrepreneurship too isn't it I mean like I again it's it's it's um it's it's beautiful and scary as hell at the same time that you know the sky's the limit in terms of what you um what you're able to do and what you're able to achieve but you know you also have to especially for those that are you know solopreneurs um running a business by yourself you have to know what your limits are because you know you're you're not again you're not in this to just burn out all right absolutely and I'm and I'm sure it's the same or at least when you were starting out Amber I'm sure it's the same you actually spent you actually spend more time working than you did when you had a full-time job right so absolutely and you know this is why I think you know when I work with people yeah I have a program that's going to be launching this year called Starting Your Startup and the first phase like the first step in that process is a discovery call to even see if the program's a fit for you right like what is your goal and is actually being a small business owner or an entrepreneur like the best way to achieve that goal because it's not always the case.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

And I think a lot of people back to earlier in this conversation a lot of people think becoming an entrepreneur is like a fix-all for for everything. And and I I don't believe that to be true. You can you can have multiple streams of income and work in a corporate environment. You can um you can have flexibility and work in a corporate environment around your time like and the more we give up and I I think back to what I was just saying a couple of minutes ago the more we give up the notion that there is a way life has to be or there is a way something is and ask a different set of questions. Like okay well I like the stability of a full-time job I like the stability of that income or I like it may not even be the stability. I like my coworkers I like what we do and I want to diversify and have more streams of revenue. Yeah well what could that look like? You know I like working for this company like people don't even like half the time people don't even ask the question like I really love like going to your manager and going I really love working here and some things have changed in my personal life and what would really work for me is to have flexibility around the hours that I work. Can we work something out right like so I I think it's important at the beginning to really get clear about well what are my goals? What is it that I really, really want and what are the best way to fulfill on those goals and it may or may not be that running your own business is is the best way to fulfill on your goal because definitely I agree with you I I I I love what I do. And so there's really not a lot of differentiation between work and play for me. But if you were to look at clocked hours you know I definitely work way more now on that term of work than than I did when I was working in in a for someone else.

SPEAKER_05 26:35

Yeah yeah that's absolutely right that's absolutely right and you know just just to just to uh expand on that a bit further you know what we were discussing a couple of minutes ago about um what I would tell people that are thinking about starting their own business. I mean certainly the personal brand bit I think is important. And I'm not saying that because I'm a branding guy I think it's important right at least from what I've seen.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Lots of people would agree with you. So and your bias is completely expected and you know justified given what you know and your expertise.

SPEAKER_05 27:04

Right. The other piece of advice um that I mentioned was the appetite for risk and embracing change. But there's two other points that I'd like to bring up which I think are equally important. And we touched on this like um early in the um early in the interview um niche down. Right? You have to understand who your ideal customer is this whole notion of like I can just work with anybody is uh not only dangerous but it's gonna like uh lead you down this uh slippery slope to nowhere um and I've seen that happen right and I I I guess the next question would be well that's fantastic Christian so how do I how do I figure out who it is that I'm gonna you know who I'm gonna work with and the the advice I would give there is um understand first of all you got to do a little bit of a like a uh a soul searching is what I call it like understand um understand like what you said understand what your goals are right like why why are you why are you doing this and please don't say I want to make a lot of money like you know I mean it'd be nice if you do um but what what is the purpose of you starting your own business like what is it what is it that you can bring to the world uh number one number two is what is your area of expertise what are you good in right are you good at are you a are you are you a business coach are you a brand strategist are you good at market research are you good at data analytics like what what are you good at right now once you figure that out the next question would be okay so who is it out there in the market who would benefit the most from your expertise so then you start to narrow it down like if you're a guy that's good at um like uh data analytics or or or graphic design like who would stand to benefit from that the most right there certainly is an answer to that like okay and once you figure out who that person is um narrow down even further right like um are you are you targeting small businesses are you targeting mid-sized businesses are you targeting large corporations right and then you start to like you start to build up what what we call like a target persona right because this is the person who you would be working with right so is that person male or female could be both what what position are they in um are they an influencer are they a decision maker like what is what is their uh what does their uh work look like like where do you um like if somebody like you were to come and work with them like uh what is it that would make them decide to work with you so what are do you know what their selection criteria is like what are their what are their um key objections what are their key preferences where do they go to look for somebody like you do they look at a search engine do they go to social media like where do they look right so there there's a lot of things right there's a lot of moving parts but these are these are some of the things I think uh I I would say before you start putting yourself out there you gotta figure out who that who that uh that person is or who that niche is right um and the other one which is equally important and I've seen I I've seen this go wrong even in big companies you've got to talk to the market get market validation for what you're putting out there right like don't just come up with something and because you think it looks nice um you know then then then that's then that's the way it's gonna gonna be and you put it out there and uh it doesn't get the response that you had hoped for right you've got to go out and talk to the market talk to members of your target audience talk to fellow entrepreneurs you know that have been down that road before and and just do a test run with them and say hey listen Amber have a look at this what do you what do you think right yeah no I so to go back to the whole so I like I I I agree with both of the things that you just said Christian and to go back to the whole piece around niching down you know I'll be honest I I have bumped up against this a lot on my journey as an entrepreneur because one of my brand values is people first and I happen to I happen to have knowledge expertise skills that can help a wide variety of people and it's almost like it almost felt at times like going against my own values to be like okay I'm gonna help 40 year old single moms or I'm gonna help you know like I mean I like help this particular group of people and I think one of the things the kind of middle ground that I found for myself and I think everyone's got to look for them I I think there's a lot of wisdom in what you said.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

You know I've heard it said when you try and serve everyone you serve no one yeah um and and it doesn't mean that just because you're niching down and you're looking at a specific group of people to serve who you could have the most big and I think it's about impact, right? Like who can I have the biggest impact with? Just because you're focusing your attention on that specific group of people doesn't mean that other people won't come along and be inspired or interested in what you have to do and may want to work with you. But you're really focusing your time and attention on who can I have the most the biggest impact with. But one of the I've been working and it's so funny because I think he's actually on the show next week and maybe one day we'll get the both of you together because I love I think I've talked to you before about a gentleman by the name of Dave Dick who runs a a brand a marketing company branding company called Human Folk. But one of the things that Dave helped me to identify for myself was what is Amber's core belief and the deep truth of who I am that then I can communicate that into different spaces in ways that so I may not, you know, and and again I invite everyone listening to this like you know because it could be that you just have one specific persona. And for me there's so many different things that I'm committed to creating in the world and and what's at but what's at the source of all of them is my core belief that love, connection and belonging are vital to wellbeing and success. Right. And and so how do I then communicate that into the business for the executive how do I communicate that and have that conversation as a public speaker wanting to inspire young women and in and and youth right how do I communicate that with people who are entrepreneurs about the importance of connection connection and belonging being present in their interaction with customers and clients so for me that approach has and I I probably still I think in each of the different product lines or spaces like different you know whether it's my mindset coaching versus like my my strategic consulting work you know I think that the work that there definitely is for me to do is look at who are the who are the people that I could have the biggest impact on. Because I want to impact as many people as possible. So I want to identify the people that if I if I work with this human being the ripple effect of that in their company in their space in you know in their industry or whatever is going to impact the most people. So I I I a hundred percent agree with what you're saying. Absolutely and I mean you know just to go back to the point about like where you can make um you know uh the biggest impact in terms of your target audience your target market I'm gonna even take that but take that a step further and drop some uh drop drop some in industry jargon in there because you also got to figure out and for those that haven't um determined that I I would strongly advise you to like um start doing so think about things like okay cost of client acquisition right um in terms of like um in terms of like okay um how much is this project worth to you or this consulting gig right if you're if you're going to target somebody in that specific uh in that in that specific group right or or have you identified a group that you are um not just happy to work with but they are also happy to pay right or happy to make that investment rather let's use that term happy to make that investment right to go to you know to take you on that journey with them right because you also have to think about that right it's it's it's not just it's not just um it's not just about the the the cost and you know in the but in the investment and whatnot but it's also like okay how much time are you gonna spend with each of these people especially if you're like a coach or consultant right you those are those are also factors that have to you know you have to take into consideration right for sure yeah no I think it's like from the world of the the corporate experience I had like what's a return on investment if I'm gonna continue you know if I'm spending three hours to get a a client that you know is only going to pay me $20 for my product then and and and I think you like I love that where this conversation's going because I think it's really important for entrepreneurs to look at those metrics and not just around cost of client acquisition but like how do I know that I did a good day today how like I did my job today as a bot as an entrepreneur. You know when you work nine to five you've got a job description you've got responsibilities it's clearly lined out you get a certain amount of money for being in an office and so when you leave the office at the end of the day it's like okay you know what I did or I didn't do a do my job today. But as entrepreneurs if we're if we're not and and it's going back to what you said earlier it's definitely not about the money. Yeah money you know it's it's all energy I believe it's all energy and so it's an exchange right I provide service I provide value I I prove I contribute to other people in various different ways and in exchange for that money flows to me. Exactly but it's like how do I know and and then there's like the the reality of it well how much money do I need to earn each month to be able to take care of my responsibilities and support my family right well that's like $10,000 a month whatever that number is I'm just pulling it out of the air. Okay well how many people need to buy my product good or service for me to earn $10,000 a month? Exactly. Okay great well how many okay so it's like you know maybe you sell a thousand dollar product. So I need to talk to 10, I need 10 people to buy a product a month or a service a month. Okay, great. Well how many people do I need to talk to in order to get someone to buy my product while my effectiveness isn't you know maybe you're starting out and your your your sales effectiveness isn't so great. So it's like your conversion so I need to talk to 10 to get the one. Okay great well you know in order to get 10 clients this month I need to talk to 100 people. Okay well how many people is that a day I want to work these hours and I know it seems a little bit like calculated but I think it's important as entrepreneurs to be able to to know I did my job today or I didn't and you don't make yourself wrong for it. You just look at what was missing so that you can put that in for the next day but to have those metrics and those measurements to be able to determine our own performance.

SPEAKER_05 38:10

No that's absolutely right and uh there's I mean yes you can say that it's calculative but you know at the end of the day uh why do we start we we we don't we don't start a business not to make money right um there there there has to be there has to be a return on all this all this um this time and effort that we are you know putting all our our our energies into right and um and this is the part I would say where again this is going to sound a little bit bias coming from me but this is where branding kicks in right because let's look uh let's look at it this way at the end of the day if we if we're just gonna like really like sit like like uh simplify it in such a way that you know in in layman's terms there are two things um or two um two things that um a company or a business needs to do in order to generate revenue right like there's a lot of other things but like like let's just let's just uh narrow it down to the two basic things okay so number one is um you have to get people uh to know about you right and then number two is you have to get people to choose you right to choose to work with you because let's let's uh short of stating the obvious there's more than one consultant out there more than one coach right why would they choose to work with somebody like Christian or somebody like Amber right and it it boils down to I would say uh it's a very um it's one of the simplest ways that I could explain branding and it's a it's uh it's a diagram um it's a diagram that I saw in one of these uh webinars and basically it's um it's basically a line and then on the left side it says um hell and then on right side it says heaven right so hell basically signifies the set target audience's current situation so why does somebody approach a consultant why does somebody approach a coach well clearly it's because they're facing some kind of issues or challenges and they need help right so that's the current situation and then heaven obviously is the desired situation so this is where they want to go this is where they want to be right so in terms of your brand and where you stand as an entrepreneur or your business and you're putting yourself out there in the market clearly on that in that diagram you want to be closer to heaven than to health right why do I say that because if you start to like if you don't like focus on your or invest time in your branding and you don't emphasize your unique differentiation you are going to be um you know you're going to like um blend into the background of this like sea of noise that we were talking about earlier and you're gonna be in this positioning which nobody should be in which is the one of many right so what you want to do is work in your branding work on what it is that makes you unique work on the value that you can bring to the world and bring to the target market that gets you closer to the right side of that scale which then puts you in the position the one and only right or the one the one that people want to uh work with right so that's probably one of the simpler ways that I can explain uh why having a good brand is important.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Yeah. Yeah I like it. And it's so you know whether I'm instructing business analysis or I am project like I everything I do basically I say to people over and over again comes down to four things. It's helping people cre understand their desired future state where do they want to get to what's their current state where are they today? What's the gap between where they are today and where they want to get to and then what are the solutions to close that gap? That is like literally what I do everywhere in life with with any of the clients and and sometimes that's around limiting beliefs and mindsets sometimes that's around a business strategy. But I I I think you're a hundred percent right like being able to express that in some in terms as a as an entrepreneur in in terms of your brand who you are for your ideal customer and like write I like one of the things that was really powerful that I did like that I was coached to do write out your ideal customer and not just in terms of like their age and their goals but like what what do you want the experience I want to work with people who are like high performers who are like who want results now. I want to work with people who are happy like who see the value in in what I do and what I bring and are happy to work with me and a demand like I want to work with people who are a demand to work with me because they get the value that I bring and the difference that I'm gonna make and how I'm gonna make their lives easier. But like doing that writing work because I think writing is very powerful and we don't do it enough.

SPEAKER_05 43:00

There's a difference between thinking and writing absolutely absolutely and just to add on to what you said which I thought was really good you got to throw in as well things like uh you you got to do segmentation and you also got to understand at what stage of the buyer's journey this said target audience is in. And so why do I say that? Okay for those of you that don't know what a buyer's journey is so it's the buyer's journey um is basically the different stages that your target audience goes through to eventually um become a customer. So that's basically from the first point of contact with your brand through to the stage where they actually make a decision and then you know they then there's a conversion and there's a there's a there's a purchase at the end of it somehow right so obviously there's um there's multiple stages there um and you have to understand at what stage of that journey um that person you're talking to is in and why is that so important because it might it might well be that they could be a potential Potential customer of yours, but maybe right now they're just not ready yet. Right. Maybe, maybe they do need a, you know, maybe they do need a coach to help them, but maybe they're a little bit too early in the journey and they're just not ready to like uh like to to use your services yet. But so that's that's where you you know you keep a note of that and then you reach out to them a couple of months later, right? And and it's also important to segment people. And if you're you know, if you're somebody like me, or I'm sure you're doing it as well, you're putting out content into the world to help um position yourself as an authority in a certain area of expertise. You also got to understand who this content is for, right? And what do I mean by that? Um, are you targeting somebody that's thinking about using your services? Um, are you targeting somebody that's interested and it's engaging? Um interested and not engaging? Somebody that when called on you, like you know, again, like just you have to segment them according to the behaviors, and that gets a little bit sophisticated. Um and that's why you that's why you engage somebody like me. But like um, but uh other than that, it's important to understand that because um then it it uh it helps you to um it provides you with a more holistic view of who it is you're um you know you're talking to out there in the market.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

Yeah, really great. And for those of you that are like, you know, you can you can also look up customer journey mapping is a technique that we use in business analysis. It's it's very powerful.

SPEAKER_04 45:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Um, you know, there'll be information in the show notes about how to contact Christian. So if you're interested in having more conversations with him, you can definitely do that. Uh, because he's extraordinary. And you know, I just I love I love the commitment that you have for for people being able to achieve what it is that they want to achieve and and and make the difference that they're they're out to make in their businesses, Christian. So just really want to acknowledge you and thank you for that. And I'm sure that there's still so much to talk about and there's so much more we could talk about. So I suppose I'll have to have you back on the show. And and maybe I just had this idea. I didn't I didn't plan it that you and Dave would be back to back on weeks, but maybe it'd be fun to get the both of you on the show at some point so we can have a conversation um about branding and marketing. Uh, because I I think it is important. I think it's really important. And before we go, actually, the the one last thing I did want to kind of touch on with you because I think a lot of people, you know, I know for myself that the minute you like step into something and you manifest a lot of like stuff around you, right? What do I mean by that? The minute you like, oh, I want to be a coach or I want to be an entrepreneur, all of a sudden your Facebook feed, everywhere you turn, there's like five-day challenges and freeness and and all of these notions about how to make money. And and many of them, you know, purport that like come take my five-day challenge. You can, you know, you can be earning, you could be having six figure months and in after a week, you know. So there seems to be, and and I do, I am someone who believes anything's possible, but I also believe that like there's there's a lot of different factors that go into being successful.

SPEAKER_03 47:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:21

So, you know, could you say anything about like from a marketing strategy point of view, like how how do people know or what's an approach that people could take to discovering what the best marketing strategy is for them with their unique good product or service, versus you know what I'm gonna equate, and I don't mean to be dismissive in it, is that all of the noise that's out there right now about how one you know should be an online business or or, you know.

SPEAKER_05 47:56

It's a it's a very good question. Um I have to say that um, you know, when you were talking about like what shows up on your social media feed, I'm really disappointed that you didn't bring up the ad, the one with the ad where the entrepreneur is um wearing a white t-shirt and washed-out jeans and a baseball cap sitting on a private jet with his MacBook. Because that's a or or or the other one that was really good is the one where they're you know posing next to the sports car that they rented for the shoot, right? So um I mean, you're absolutely right. There's a lot of um call them whatever you want, um castles in the air or castles in the sky, sorry. And um, you know, there's a lot of um, there's a lot of uh these uh uh again, it's the it's the romanticizing of what entrepreneurship is like. And you know, I made eight figures in 12 months, and you can too if you sign up for my masterclass. There's a lot of that stuff going around. Um, and I've been given this advice, and I will uh share this advice with the listeners. Um learn to put your filter on. Yeah. As as you as you go out there into the world, because man, let me tell you, um, and it's just the way that the algorithm behaves, right? You look up something like entrepreneurship or marketing strategy, and suddenly you just get inundated with all this noise, right? So, I mean, my my advice I would say um would come in the form of an anecdote. And this anecdote was um let me just say that I I had the pleasure of, you know, back then before COVID, when we did these um these exotic things called in-person events, um, I went I went to this um I went to this uh marketing event that was organized by Canada Post at the Carlo in downtown Toronto, right? Um yeah, you probably know where it is, Amber. Um and I had the pleasure of watching the presentation of a gentleman called Ron Tite. And for those of you that don't know who Ron Tite is, uh go ahead and Google him and buy his book. And I I I I'm just gonna put it out there. He is he's probably one of the he's probably one of the biggest personalities in the can uh in the Canadian advertising industry. And um he he has not only run a successful agency for many years, but he's also a stand-up comedian. And interesting, and you know that that that combination itself makes for a great presentation. Um part of the reason why he um he did this presentation was uh also to promote his book. And and it's the book that I want to uh I want to highlight because it's um um the book's called Think, Do Say, right? Sounds simple enough. But here's the point that Ron Tite makes, which I think really like um was hits hits home for me, right? Um people are inundated with a lot of content and information, as we have already discussed. There's a lot of brands out there that make broken promises, there's tons of information overload. So how do you rise above all of that? Right? Because the you know what what happened what what happens when people are inundated with so much noise? They don't know where to look. And worse of uh and the worst of all is they don't know who to trust. Right? So how do you c how do you first and foremost, if you're running your own business and you're reaching out to people who could be your potential customer, how do you earn the chance to take a couple of minutes of their time to have a conversation with them about not not not about working together first, you've you've got to earn that right, I believe. Talk to them about um what is it that they wanna, you know, what do they aspire to, what are their goals, where do they wanna um you know, what do they want to achieve? What's standing in their way, right? What are they doing now that's helping them succeed? And what are they doing right now that they think can be done better? And where do you fit into that story? Right? So how do you how do you win a couple of minutes of their time? How do you gain their confidence? How do you build trust and build that relationship? So here comes the advice. Sorry, that was a long story to get to the point.

SPEAKER_01 52:28

No, I love it.

SPEAKER_05 52:30

And and and and I'm quoting Ron Type from the book here, right? Cut through the noise, ditch the jargon, build purpose, get real. And how do you get real? Think, do, say.

SPEAKER_03 52:47

Right?

SPEAKER_05 52:48

So it's basically thinking about your purpose, thinking about who it is, um not necessarily not necessarily just your target audience, but think about who it is that can benefit from what you have to offer. And then after you think about that, then go and do it. And after you go and do it, then say that you've done it. So you know, it it sounds so simple, and and and that that's what I like about the book, because he he really like simplifies it, right? There's a lot of people out there that tend to like overcomplicate it, but it really does boil down to those very fundamental messages, right?

SPEAKER_01 53:29

Well, I think that's the perfect place to end this conversation for now. Thank you, say, Christian. You're lovely. Thank you so much for being on the show this morning. For those of you listening to us, uh, you'll be able to find out information about how to contact Christian and and where to find out more about I'm Blick and what they're up to in the world in the show notes.

SPEAKER_05 53:48

Thank you so much, Amber. It was a it was a blast.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

Have a great weekend, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode. For show info, visit whatwhatamberdo.com. And for information about Amber Howard and Associates' offerings and services, visit amberhowarinc.com.