IAM2434 – Unlock the Power of Lead Generation Today!

Gresham Harkless shares his experience with Google Ads, noting that while he has heard mixed reviews, he sees some leads.

He emphasizes the importance of exploring multiple lead generation avenues rather than relying on just one method.

Gresham highlights that in the early stages of a business, testing and iterating are crucial for finding the best strategy.

Gresham acknowledges that marketing for niche audiences (like aspiring entrepreneurs) is challenging since it targets a small subset of people.

Gresham underscores that the “grass isn’t always greener on the other side” when switching strategies too quickly.

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE. 

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:01

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:29

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh here, and didn't get really a lot of sleep last night. I won't say I'm running on fumes, but I'm sure I will be by the end of the day.

What I wanted to talk about a little bit today was starting to generate leads. We're starting to see some leads come in, not a lot, but a little bit coming in from Google ads.

[restrict paid=”true”]

I've heard not great things about Google ads, but again, when you are looking at different opportunities, I think you weigh them all at the same time.

One thing that I really learned about, from a franchise broker, which makes perfect sense, is a lot of times when you're testing out different ideas, what we'll often do is we will stop doing something to do something else.

And then, have something else to do and then stop that to do this next thing. And the problem is, is that you don't really get the adequate opportunity to really like AB test and to really like see what the opportunities might be.

So one of the things I've been going back and forth about like should I you know continue with the leads that I've been getting or should I just do something else.

And I try to balance all of those things. And ultimately I think, uh, just thinking a little bit more about that.

I think you're more likely to be better off by AB testing and AB, maybe even C testing something else just to see what's going to generate those opportunities.

And I think in the very beginning of any type of business, but especially a business that is somewhat fairly new, that's something that you're going to be kind of working with and seeing what can happen.

So Google ads is something, that we're looking at. We're going to look at some other opportunities and options to see what happens.

But I think doing that along with the broker leads is going to be a great way to kind of see what's working and what's not.

I think there's always, you always feel like there's a better option at another level, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it is necessarily greener, that the grass is definitely greener on the other side.

I think that's one of the challenges, with understanding what to do. But I think that's where the power of A-B testing comes in.

You start where you're at. So we got, 30, 40 leads, 35 leads or so like that. And we had, three or four of them become meetings and maybe one ends up closing, then you have that as a baseline to see, like, can you improve that?

So the next thing that you introduce, you're going to have that same type of cadence and you look at those two things and see what's better.

If it's not better, then you move on to the next thing. But there's also like A-B testing within the A-B testing, if that makes sense.

So maybe, within AB testing, you're doing something as far as copy. So you look at the copy and see if you can improve that.

Or the imagery if there's some type of imagery you look at the imagery to see what can be improved there.

But I think the the biggest thing is just to kind of truly understand that I think from what I can gather a lot of the marketing and advertising is still kind of at its infancy you know in this world.

And I think a lot of it is because it's so niche. There's such a few amount of people that actually will start businesses.

And I think if we know and understand that that is a minority, we understand that as we advertise to them, that's going to be even more of a minority.

So I think it's just like understanding what that cadence is. I'm trying to get in and test out, pay attention to the data.

But at the same time, continue to kind of iterate and ultimately kind of go from there. So with that being said, there's lots of opportunity, I think.

And that's what I'm kind of most excited about. It just takes time. And that's one of the frustrating things I think with everything is that good things take time and I think doing things the right way takes time.

So that's one of the reasons I wanted to move before I was ready. And that being said, I'm excited about all the transitions, the changes, the things that are going on.

But ultimately, just continue to kind of understand that leads the more people that hear about you, what you do and how you do it are going to b, more likely to take those steps.

So Gresh signing out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. Also, One other really cool thing I've learned is being active on social media, social listening, on Facebook groups, other groups.

I haven't been as active on LinkedIn groups, but I plan to do that as well too. Another great way to, at least in the beginning, it seems like generate people that are opportunities.

I mentioned that one of the people that I was, didn't get a chance to talk to as quickly as I wanted to end up closing.

So that's a good sign that I'm in the right place. So look for those wins, those small wins.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, I look forward to giving you more and more updates.

Intro 06:28

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase. It's a community.

Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at Blue16Media.com. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]