In Episode #13 I spent some time chatting with Australian online marketing powerhouse James Schramko from Super Fast Business about how he has grown his business and used education to capture the attention of his customers.  His background selling prestige Mercedes Benz cars informed his passion for providing high quality information as a way of attracting customers. James’ SEO business does over $1MM a year in revenue and his team has built over 3000 WordPress websites.
I'm giving away a lifetime license of the Video User Manuals plugin valued at $288 per year - watch the interview for details on how to enter.
Congratulations Jonathan! James has chosen you as the lucky winner of the competition! Thanks for your contribution and keep elevating! (December 2013).
There is soooo much gold in this interview if you take the 35 minutes you need to listen to it you will learn something you can apply to your business, I promise. James has integrity and results. Everyone I know that has worked with James or studied his teachings speaks very highly of him and now I know why. Branding, curating content, content marketing, transparency, advertising (or not), affiliates (or not), developing products and getting paid before you make the product and collecting a list of buyers. These are just some of the topics we touch on in this interview. James mentioned the venn diagram from the book Good to Great by Jim Collins that highlights the sweet spot where you find something you are good at, love doing and brings in the cash. Here it is.
You can reach out and thank James at Super Fast Business.
James suggested I interview someone I really admire so Andrew Warner from Mixergy, I’m coming to get you. Keep your eyes on your inbox Andrew.
Hint: to enter the competition, tell us the best golden nugget you learnt from this interview.
16 Responses
Thanks James, The interview was very inspiring. I have been working in the lead-gen industry for a while and your suggestions around Traffic Grab – devaluing the Lead-capture – sounds very foreign. But, honestly, we have found exactly the same results. A great landing page that treats visitors like reasonable educated buyers, offers real information and a very simple call-to-action. Call this number for more information. These pages are doing much, much better from a conversion rate perspective and, a benefit you did’t mention, they cost MUCH less to build!
Thanks Troy – keep up the great work!
I liked how he was able to take his knowledge (that he probably didn’t really think much of) and find value in it that people were willing to pay. It makes me realize that I actually do have something to offer that would make a difference in people’s lives because I really am a specialist and the people who need me are far (or out of touch) simply because of my posture on the internet. I want to now write my own e-book and systematize a process (maybe have a widget coded) and then market it to my clients and abroad so I can offer something unique from my competitors. This was a great talk! Really appreciated his candid responses.
That’s excellent Jonathan. I think it is very easy to forget how much we know that our clients do not know. Simply packaging your knowledge into something that is easy to understand (a process or framework) in a format that is easy to access (a free report, e-book or simple piece of software) and easy to implement (action steps to follow) can have a huge impact for your clients and for your income and positioning.
I’m glad you found the interview valuable. I also enjoy James’ candour and down-to-earth approach.
Mark Lazenby
A very enjoyable interview. Take away’s: His integrity, and the hint of not following like a sheep those many so called “experts” who want you to follow a very prescriptive set of rules or set formula to be successful. Yes there needs to be some kind or foundation or framework – but be confident to use your own expert knowledge or skills. At that crossroad, turn the opposite way and follow your own personal beliefs. don’t be the next “anybody” be the best you! Create valuable original content, work hard at spreading the word around that content and do it regularly. there’s no magic formula – I too dislike those ‘hawkers’ who prey on those that want a quick fix or “secret sauce” formula to success and the millions of $$$$$$$$& that await by signing up to a very weak,poorly constructed course.
Enjoy the show Troy thanks for a regular entertaining 30 mins or so.
Always nice listening to James!
Golden Nugget: Be yourself. Keep being yourself. It’s very easy to get distracted with various best-practices from other people working for them, but that doesn’t mean they’ll work for you. I’m referring to James’ statements about lead generation, where he underlines that he’s going down a road which is not so much being the general best practice and advice everyone seems to be giving (i.e. he’s not aggressively capturing leads on his websites). And he’s obviously doing great with it. So be aware of your processes and priorities, and don’t change your plan every time you hear a new advice.
That sounds all so easy ;-). The best I learned is: I could put my own cheatlist online and see what happens 😉
I would say that it sounds simple, but it is definitely not easy. The genius in what James did is the simplicity. Build an audience, identify the need and then fill it. A formula that has been around since the Roman Empire yet most of us try to make it way too complicated.
It’s good advice isn’t it Philipp? Oscar Wilde once said “be yourself; everyone else is already taken”.
My pleasure Mark. It’s nice to know others are getting value out of these podcast episodes. It makes it all worthwhile.
Thanks for stopping by Scott. This idea of collecting a list of buyers is a good one and something we have implemented ourselves. I think the trap is that everyone thinks a massive list is what they need to make money online and the size of the list has become a vanity metric, kind of like having a fast car.
Glad you’re enjoying the show.
anything that helps your customers get more value from something they already use is very popular
many people giving advice are not very successful in some areas of their life and business so be very careful where you learn from.
exactly
most people do not recognise their special ability because to them it is normal.
Hi Jonathan,
Congratulations! James has picked you as the winner of the competition. Your subscription to the Video User Manuals plug-in is good for life 🙂
Enjoy.
The Academy Awards are this weekend but this is so much more exciting! Who can say they have VUM 4 life?! Thanks Troy and thanks James for picking my comment! Very grateful.