(Well, maybe your mother, but that's beside the point.)

This assertion rings especially true in sales and marketing. To go from $1M to $10M you'll need to realize that prospects don't care about your product; they care whether or not you can help them solve their problem.

Ray Mottier, CEO and co-founder of Operatix, delves into this idea while revealing his top four ways of increasing pipeline and accelerating sales. In this episode, we cover account-based marketing techniques, marketing automation, and more.

Financial hardships creep up and eventually pass.

One constant through all of the ups and downs you can always count on?

Strong relationships.

That's what helped Tim Reilly successfully navigate the rough waters of the American recession. His Bluetooth software company at the time, Stonestreet One (now Qualcomm), took plenty of hits when the market crashed. Now, he has started a new venture called T2 Labs based on the success he achieved with his first software company.

In this episode, Tim fills us in on how his business model was able to survive the recession and spawn a new opportunity.

At least, that's what AJ Bruno drove TrendKite to do before it sold for $225 million. Now, as founder and CEO at QuotaPath, AJ is implementing everything he's learned from operating a crazy-successful startup.

In this episode, AJ gives us the inside scoop on what characteristics a startup's first hires should possess, how to create leaders, and more.

One this episode of the 1 to 10 podcast, I invited Aurelia Flores, Co-Founder of Athena Digital Media Group, on the show to talk through some of those tools and how you can use them in a practical way to improve your marketing efforts and grow your business. 

We covered topics like: how data has impacted traditional marketing metrics, what it takes to get a new client in this digital age of marketing, and practical steps you can take right now to use these tools to grow your business.

He and his wife have taught these 8 concepts to McDonald's, the NFL, Aflac, United Healthcare … you name it, he's worked with them. Global Gurus named him #3 on their top 30 Sales Professionals in 2019. His book, Sell Naked on the Phone, sold 45 thousand copies without a real book deal.

He joined me on the 1 to 10 podcast to share his 8 non-negotiables in sales:

Walter hopped on our 1 to 10 podcast and gave us all the details we need to know about marketing automation.

In this episode we discuss:

What is marketing automation?

What are marketing automation platforms?

Which marketing automation platform should I use?

Best tips for implementing a new marketing automation platform

Typically SEO is thought of as a service, but George and his team are positioning their company to lead with products instead.

And they've experienced incredible growth in the last couple years. They've seen more than just growth in revenue, too — over the past couple of years, they've grown their team from 4 members to 43. It's also worth noting that they're 100% bootstrapped.

So, how did they do it?

That's what I invited George to talk about on our latest episode of the 1 to 10 podcast. He gave us an inside look a how The HOTH has been able to scale so successfully by focusing on hiring well, effectively managing talent, and succession planning.

Ethan talked about why and how you can use video messaging to send a more authentic and clear message that will produce better results. Here's what he had to say.

When that's someone's opening statement, you know it's going to be a great interview. (And we weren't disappointed.)

Roy Firestein joined us on the 1to10 podcast to discuss how to move from a service-based company to a product-based company.

Roy is the Chief Product Officer at Cycura, where they deliver offensive (and defensive) cybersecurity services. He's a seasoned hacker, co-founder of HackStudent and  autohost.ai, and an Advisory Board Member of SecTor (Security Education Conference Toronto).

When he came aboard Cycura, his top priority was to help the company scale by developing a product offering. The company had successfully found vulnerabilities within the infrastructure of many of the largest tech companies in the world (such as Google, Facebook, & Microsoft, and others), but the leadership knew that without a product to supplement their service offerings, it would be difficult to move past a few million in revenue.

So, Roy's on a mission to productize their services. He shared 5 vital steps to moving your company from a service-only company to a product-based business:

On this episode, Roy also suggests a book called Your Brain at Work, by David Rock)

A lot, apparently.

He joined us on this episode of the 1 to 10 podcast to talk all about why cold calling is far from dead. In fact, Matt's entire company, QualifiedMeetings, is dedicated to helping companies build out their SDR and ISR sales programs. And last year alone, he collected 3 million data points from the sales teams he's helped create.

What did he learn from all those data points? Listen in.

In this episode Charlie talked about why business founders need to invest in themselves — and what happens when you don't .

You may get to the office every day and think, "I'm the only person marketing in this entire industry. I'm a loner." You probably think of all the interesting marketing campaigns other marketers are running, or maybe you watch TV commercials and think "If only that would work in my industry."

Addie Ventris had every reason to feel the same way — In 2011, she became a marketing specialist for Tactical Electronics, which sells to a very niche industry: SWAT teams.

Their products help SWAT officers and other tactical law enforcement teams see into situations before approaching. (My favorite device: They have a K9 camera that goes on police dogs!)

In the next few years, she would be continually promoted, until she arrived at her current position as Marketing Director.

She found a way to market to her niche industry. (And she crushed it.)

She came on the 1 to 10 podcast to share what she's learned:

We asked a true WordPress expert this very question on our 1 to 10 podcast, and he gave us the pros, the cons, and the ugly (well, nothing ugly, but you get the idea).

Michael Wender is a Web Developer, Graphic Designer, and Internet Consultant, specializing in WordPress and PHP. He's ran his own consulting firm for over 17 years, and we're kindred spirits — both graduates from Full Sail University.

Check out his reasons you should (and shouldn't) be using WordPress.

It's a hot topic right now.

Why? Because it's crucial. You're spending tons of money on driving customers to your site. But what good is that if they don't convert?

Joel Klettke is a conversion expert. He's a conversion copywriter to B2B and SaaS companies. He's also the founder of Case Study Buddy, a done for you case study service that helps companies capture, share, and cash in on customer success stories.

Joel recently came on the 1 to 10 podcast to talk about creating copy that converts

Here's what he had to say.

Meet Ian Lawson: He's a designer, entrepreneur, father of two, and he loves music. A man after my own heart.

He came on our 1 to 10 podcast and told us all about Slickplan — his amazing website planning tool that is used by thousands of businesses (including ours). Here's the interesting piece: Slickplan was never intended to be its own company.

Here's what happened:

Irit emphasizes the importance of the customer journey.  Shifting power to the customer, the subscription model of business has catapulted customer-centric business focus to the forefront of importance in successful models, making success for each customer a major factor in not only keeping existing customers, but also in attracting new customers.

You'll love her Executive's Guide To CS Initiatives.

You can also follow along by subscribing to the CSM Practice Newsletter!

In this episode, I sat down with my good friend Naveed Usman, Principal and CEO at The Usman Group, to talk about some of the traps we fall into while trying to make decisions.

Naveed is very excited at the opportunity he has to help leaders navigate their biases and make better decisions for their business.  Having these conversations with those you trust or consultants empowered to point out changes can also help you avoid many mistakes of bias laden decision making.

In this episode, Phillip Davis, President and Founder of Tungsten Branding, talks about the creative process they go through with clients in order to land on a name that catapults their brand forward.

Finding a company name is about more than just being creative; it's about knowing who you are and hope to accomplish.

But first, you have to know your businesses' purpose and have a vision for that narrative.

That's where Michael Cardwell, Owner and Creative Director of Digital Brew, comes in.  He and his team have been creating award winning live action and animated videos since 2011.

His team is made up of marketers, so they make sure the stories they tell look cool and get business results.

And some dreams are never realized because of poor focus.

Wayne J. Hilmer Sr.,  Founder and Chairman at Touchrate, tells a different story - of ideas that became reality because Touchrate was willing to look at what was coming and seek business partnerships that could help!

One day your business may be marked by what it did to learn and adapt.

Steve Larrivee is the VP of sales and marketing at Cactus Technologies. As the leader of the sales and marketing division, he's had the difficult task of marketing their product to a very niche market. But he's done it well.

They learned that they were lacking in their ability to communicate their value proposition to potential customers. So the crack in their foundation was their messaging; they would have to be intentional about updating all of their marketing materials to send one, clear message. Doing that led to incredible growth for the company.

John Rougeux, the VP of Marketing at Skyfii, explained during the most recent episode of the 1 to 10 Podcast that, "It's not just about the product itself; It's about the entire range of ramifications these purchase decisions have on your business."

The biggest takeaway from John's message is this:

Once you understand the contrasting roles in the B2C and B2B spaces, you can then transform your company's B2B branding for massive Marketing success.

And there are 3 Principles in which to guide you:

1. Position your company in unclaimed territory
2. Meet Customers halfway with your messages
3. Consistently delivering on those promises

After 42 years in the arena, Dan said the key to success depends on how you connect with your customers… But the key to consistent success depends on whether or not you have a repeatable sales process. In fact, it's the most important ingredient responsible in taking you from an Approved Vendor to a Trusted Partner when engaging with your customers.

Scaling.

Your company is growing, and as you grow, you are going to encounter the blessings and the challenges that come with a growing company.

Your revenue may be increasing, but with that comes hiring decisions. Who does what? How many hats should you, the founder or co-founder, wear? When is it time to separate the sales and marketing teams?

It's something that every company wants to have in abundance, but is difficult actually foster within your organization.

How do you actually set your company up in a way that truly fosters creativity? How do you ensure that you're inspiring your employees to come into the office every single day, whether they're writers, artists, engineers, developers, or animators?