Dealing with Uncertainty

by | Sep 15, 2017 | Blog

As I write this, I’m dealing with uncertainty…

It’s life…it’s business…it’s the life.

I got a chance to reconnect with my great friends Langa and Khalipa at one of Langa’s two farms. HE is dealing with uncertainty – will there be water? Will he get his green houses up in time? Will the plants do what he NEEDS them to do?

I could see it in his face and I was SO glad to be able to chat with him. Because frankly when you’re in the midst of uncertainty, you need to sometimes just chat it out.

You’re probably in the same boat. You’ve got business plans and problems that are on your mind before bed, and right as you wake up. You might have a family that you’re thinking ‘holy moly I’ve got to take care of ALL of these people!?”

I’d rather not LIST everything I’m uncertain about but I’m betting you have similar problems and me listing them might seem like complaining…of which I do NOT want to do!

Today I’d like to share some tips that I use, and one from Langa, to deal with uncertainty.

Brad’s Tip #1: It’s a Learned Management Through History

There are times when I can just feel totally overwhelmed when I look at my every growing plate!

But when I stop, take a breath, and look at my HISTORY I know it’ll be ok.

Why? How? Well I’ve personally learned from seeing how my parents ran a business and pushed forward regardless of what life was throwing at them that they thrived.

My mom ran a business that eventually went away as the industry died, then went to see her PIVOT into a different business later in life to see her THRIVE once again in a brand new industry! I’ve learned by seeing my dad transition from a career, back into school, then to a completely different industry, and NOW started his own business, AND HE WILL BE OK!

Learned by living it ALREADY!!! We’ve done this before. In fact we, as a family, have had a new baby AND started a new business while away from the safety, comfort and “certainty” of being in the States.

I continue to have to remind myself of my HISTORY and have Faith that we’ll be OK…

Brad’s Tip #2: Talk it Out

Raise your hand if you’re a ‘in your head’ kinda person….(Brad’s hand raised!)

For me, being able to just do a brain dump with/on someone, and then realize it’s all manageable and there’s a path through it! I’ve got a few people in my life who I trust 100% and can confidently brain dump without being judged, and by letting me just get it out. They’ve seen me walk the crazy road before, and know to just hear what he’s got, then let him sort it out.

Finding someone like that is HUGE as it allows me to be able to just get out of my own head, talk through what’s going on without TOO much input from them, and then see the clear path.

Langa: “People believe in me.”

Chatting with Langa today (see point two above 😉 ), it was clear he’s got a lot going on. We talked a little about how to just keep pushing through the challenges from baboons, thieves, traveling over a mountain daily, etc etc. It was a great conversation, one that will always stick in my mind as Langa may not know how helpful he is to ME! Just seeing him lay forth his plan, execute, manage problems, and stay positive.

And one thing that stuck with me from the many wisdom bombs he dropped was this, “I can’t stop or feel down as there are too many people who believe in me.” Essentially he’s saying ‘how can I believe the lie that I can’t do it, when SO many think I can do it!?’

Stop and think for a second, that is amazing.

Because we, as business owners and entrepreneurs, often times feel like we’re on an island. We feel the only people around us who are cheering are cheering for our failure. But the reality is MUCH DIFFERENT!!!

[bctt tweet=”If you take note of the people around you, you’ll probably find more people that ACTUALLY MATTER to you, who are actually cheering for your success and believe in you.” username=”bradstafford3″]

Pretty crazy thought but it’s a true one if you take a second to consider it!

Hopefully this article finds you in a spot where you stop, look back, and realize – ‘Hey, there’s really no reason to feel uncertain as I’ve been through worse and I’m here standing TODAY!”

Have a great day and would love to connect with you. Email me anytime: brad@bradstafford.com

Also if you have ANY messages for Langa please comment below as he will be reading and responding!

Best,
Brad

AGD Marketing
 What the Heck Is That?

by | Apr 11, 2017 | Blog

 

 

You’ll first ask yourself, “what the heck is AGD Marketing?”

AGD stands for: A-dapt, G-row or D-IE!

The first rule in marketing is to adapt to the data that the market place is telling you and pivoting to QUICKLY take advantage of the market place trends.

HUH?

In a nutshell ‘change your marketing (offer, squeeze page, product) to what the market actually WANTS.’

Think about this


If you’re running the same squeeze page across all your marketing channels, how do you know if you can’t get a better result by changing the headline?

Or if you have a product that’s selling ‘ok’ but don’t present the audience a new option or even price point, then how do you know you’re not leaving money on the table?

Well that makes sense Brad…but HOW?

DATA and SPEED

In adaptive marketing strategy, the first thing you need to have is the data. You HAVE TO KNOW exactly what’s going on inside your campaigns, on your pages, and on your sales forms.

Tracking that data gives you the knowledge to see if a lead source is converting well, or if you’re actually making money from a funnel, or if a new price point makes you more.

Analyzing and SEEING data is a must!

Here’s what I recommend… Lead pages for squeeze page testing.

Google analytics for everything else 🙂

Simple right? It is… but you actually have to USE it and that’s where the next part comes into play.

SPEED

Having data is cool. But having the ability to QUICKLY ADAPT to what the data is telling you is even COOLER!

Imagine changing your squeeze page every few days that net you an additional 1000 leads per week, that net you an extra 10k per week!? It’s possibly IF YOU CAN MAKE THE CHANGES! And then your business will surely GROW!

I know exactly what you’re thinking right now…

ARE YOU INSANE?! CHANGE MY PAGE WEEKLY!?

And you’re right…it’s insane.

But you know what? That’s the world in which we are marketing in now.

A marketplace that changes sometimes DAILY and those changes can be the difference between an extra 40k per month…or your business will surely DIE.

**GROW**

Now it’s time for you to GROW…but the ONLY way is if you’re able to ADAPT as the market changes…

Because what worked last year (or last WEEK for that matter) might not work TODAY. Having the skills and ability to track campaigns, edit them, and test them, is how you’ll be able to SCALE the campaigns…and your business.

If you’re not growing, or actively seeking new ways to grow, then you really don’t have a serious GROWTH business…you have a lifestyle business. And that’s OK, but you still need to be active in your attempt at growth.

But if you want to have a GROWTH business that can scale to from 5mm to 20mm+ then being on top of your numbers, and having the ability to ADAPT to what the market is telling you is the KEY.

So how can you apply what you’ve learned today…but let’s be honest, you really didn’t ‘learn’ anything as much as face a reality that you didn’t want to have to admit to:

“I’m not nimble enough in my marketing, and I’m not growing enough”

You knew that…SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!?!?!

Because I don’t write these things at 10pm at night for fun…I want you to be successful!

I want you to take care of your family…your employees…your future!

 

Here are your choices

LivingHope students and my kids know this…

 

Option 1: BUCKLE UP AND DO IT YOURSELF

I’m sure it’s not the hat you want to wear, but it’s one that if you want to grow your business, you’ve got to put on.

The tools are THERE for you to use, and ask me if you need any advice or recommendations!

Option 2: OUTSOURCE IT

Of course, I’m going to have this option available because it’s WHAT I LOVE TO DO!

AGD is the reason behind the success of my new company TradersNewsMedia.com. We apply AGD very successfully for our clients and their results speak for themselves.

We do ALL that marketing and tracking FOR YOU so that all you need to do is sell your product!

But even if you do not use me, I HIGHLY recommend figuring out how you can jump on the Speed Marketing trend ASAP!

Best,

Brad