By Brooke B. Sellas, {grow} Contributing Columnist
Am I the only one being inundated with Facebook ads and emails about “winning with my totally proven and definitely in no way made up seven-figure business plan”?
Advertising strategists and business “influencers” are the new used car salesman. And they’re worse than ever.
Take this post (literally plucked from dozens when I open my Facebook Feed):
[Insert run-of-the-mill video of twenty-something using a bunch of jargon here]
Why am I sharing this?
Because I know that YOU as an entrepreneur and business owner also are working on something you’re passionate about, and you have GOALS that you want to hit.
Whether it’s to go from 6 figures to 7, or from 7 to 8… I want you to know it is DO-ABLE, and I’ve helped others DO BOTH.
So, if you want to hit the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year, send me a message and we can let you know about our different services, and setup a time to talk more on the phone if you like what we have to offer.
We’ll chat about your business, deliver some value, and see if we’re a good fit to work together.
We can’t wait to help you scale your business!
[Name removed to protect the not-so-innocent]
Excuse me, WHAT?
I’m not even sure what this message is saying. Or who he’s targeting.
And sadly, this isn’t the worst of them.
Guilt Trip Galore
One of my favorite tactics of the seven-figure business slingers is the guilt trip they take you on when you don’t reply to one of their 4,673 emails.
I get it. Sales is not a one-and-done process. Personally, I follow up a total of three times after our free consultation. I do not send cold emails or make cold calls. I’m sure I’ll get flack for this!
Studies have salespeople thinking that sales require at least five follow-ups. That doesn’t sound far off.
Call me crazy, but I like to have some sort of warm connection or lead before I start sending you information on my company or services.
And I find it appalling to connect with someone on LinkedIn and then immediately start pitching them on my services.
Perhaps worse, where did the seven-figure business plan pushers get these scripts for guilting you into thinking you’re a horrible person for not responding to their incessant emails?
Damn, Dan, That’s Cold.
Below is a sequence of emails I got from “Dan” about growing and scaling my business.
These are cold, canned emails. And is it me, or is Dan is insinuating that I don’t already know how to do things like delegate or produce results?
On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 04:57 PM, Dan wrote:
Hey Brooke,
Saw your profile on Linkedin & noticed you work in the digital marketing industry.
My name is Daniel [removed] & I specialize in helping digital agency owners like you in growing and scaling their business.
We do this by:
- Building effective systems that streamline company operations
- Helping you hire incredible talent
- Structuring your business to run without you
Bottom line: we’ve helped a bunch of entrepreneurs increase their revenue (and profit) in the 3x – 5x range…..
Beyond growing revenue….our goal is for you take back your time, stop “hustling” for every dollar, & truly act as a real CEO in your business.
I know that sounds like a lot to promise so here is the story of one of the entrepreneurs in our program (he took his agency from $21k to $50k MRR in less than 90 days) [link removed].
If you are curious to hear a bit more about the process we share with entrepreneurs that produces these kinds of results, shoot me a quick reply!
Thanks,
Daniel
On Sat, Mar 30, 2019 at 05:01 PM, Dan wrote:
Hey Brooke,
Was checking out a bit of your past work….
…and it reminded me of a lot of Stevie [last name removed]
(He was the guy in the video from the last email I sent)
He & his team did amazing work for their clients……but he felt like he was chained to his computer day & night
(not to mention that he wasn’t personally earning anywhere near enough to justify how much of his time, life, and energy he was giving….)
I offered Stevie a few solutions that completely transformed the way he ran his business.
He began delegating more and more of the tasks he was previously convinced that he had to do. He empowered + elevated a few of his team members (which allowed Stevie to focus on the things that actually grew the business + was in his “zone of genius”)
There were a few other key things I coached him on as well. If you want a full overview of the kinds of things I help entrepreneurs with, let me know & I can send over a few times for a call.
In my experience – – just hearing about the common struggles & seeing a path to overcome them can be powerful and valuable, even if our relationship begins and ends with just that call.
Daniel
On Wed, Apr 17, 2019 at 12:00 AM, Dan wrote:
Hey Brooke,
Being a tad persistent here because what I want to share with you is incredibly powerful + valuable for digital agency owners.
I wouldn’t take the time to follow up a couple times if there wasn’t something of real substance to share on the other side of it.
If you want to grow your agency faster (while also creating more personal freedom for yourself), let me know when is a good time for you to discuss this on a quick 10-minute call. Do any of these times work?
>> Book A Call Here [link removed]
Daniel
On Fri, Apr 19, 2019 at 4:00 AM, Dan wrote:
Hey Brooke,
Guessing you are fully busy running your business & as a result haven’t had the space to take a breath (let alone strategize how to work on your business’ foundations so it can scale)
At this point I’m going to assume that now is not the right time for you to explore scaling, delegating and systemizing your business.
If you ever do feel you have a little bit of time to discuss the above, please feel free to reach out to me.
Thanks,
Daniel [last name removed]
>> Book A Call Here [link removed]
Take Your Seven-Figure Business Plan & Shove It
Who Are These People?! Why do they think this type of selling works?!
Even if they had a lovely seven-figure business plan that was all nice and laid out, it may not work for me and my business.
When did business and marketing start being about scripts and snake oil and less about business relationships?
Perhaps Mark was right when he wrote a post called, Is it time to eliminate the sales function?
Marketing and sales are about creating demand, and I fail to see how these silly seven-figure business plan gurus are doing that. How are they doing anything beyond annoying us to death?!
I know I’m being extra rant-y. But tell the truth, have ANY of you actually replied to one of these people? Have any of you bought a seven-figure business plan and made seven figures?
I’m genuinely curious. Let me know in the comments section below.
Brooke B. Sellas is the CEO & Founder of B Squared Media, an award-winning done-for-you social media management and advertising agency. Recently, she joined Mark Schaefer as the Co-host of the Marketing Companion Podcast. Brooke’s marketing mantra is “Think Conversation, Not Campaign” so be sure to give her a shout on Twitter!
