Rhys: Our guest is today David Newman, he is the author of “Do It! marketing: 77 Instant Action Ideas to Boost Sales, Maximize Profit and Crush the Competition.” Thanks for being here David.

David: No, it’s a pleasure. I’m glad to be here Rhys, thank you for having me.

Rhys: So, a lot of which you talk about developing like thought leadership and stuff like this, it’s great for speakers but how does a small business person say in a trade like a carpenter or plumber stuff, apply that to their business, I mean, I’m sure there’s a way..

David: Oh no, well actually let me correct your assumption, I mean thought leadership is great for speakers but this is not a book for speakers thought leadership is great for small business owners, so I’ll give you a quick example. This is an example not from my book but from another great book that other people might want to read, utility. Which is the word, YOU, Y.O.U., YOU-tility by my friend Jay Baer, he talks about a pool company, swimming pool, in-ground installation, you’d think wow, that’s just. That’s like a Johnny numb-nuts kind of business that’s guys digging holes, pouring concrete, you know, building pools. This company was on the brink of bankruptcy, they had no other alternative, except, “Hey, we got to turn on some more leads from our websites. Our websites, are our best hope, how do we get more leads off the website. What this pool company owner did very simple and Jay talks about this in his book, take every single question that you’ve ever been asked as a pool installer, as a pool expert and answer it on your website. Answer it in blogs, answer it in videos, answer it in short articles answer it in tip sheets. He started doing this, no search engine optimization just being massively helpful to people who were looking to put in an in-ground pool. Web traffic went up, leads went up, business started to come in, and now, it’s a super successful mega, multi-million dollar company much, much bigger it was than before it hit the dips and it was struggling.

So, this is true, and I’ve done work with, as a speaker, and as you can see, I’ve got my conference badges here behind me just as a background, just so happens. So, Terminix, right? The exterminator company, killing bugs, you think thought leadership is not for them? Yes, it is. Xpel is one of my clients, which is paint protection film and clear bras that goes on the front of your porches and BMWs and Ferraris, right? How can those guys become experts in protecting your vehicle showing off your vehicle, you know, the pride and joy of your car collection, you don’t want chips, and road rash and pings and so forth. They have videos, they have blogs, [and] they have all kinds of fabulous things.

A paving company, so EP Henry and Pavers, and things like that like hardscaping, I’ve got some clients in the hardscaping industry. So you know, this is not just for speakers, and consultants and guys that are, you know, that dress like me and write books, and book promos, here’s the book. So, seriously, this is for any kind of business. You can be in a service business, you can be in a products business, you can be in really any sort of, blue collar, white collar, dealer, distributor, franchisee, this is vital for everyone’s success, because you know what, increasingly now, everybody’s in a commodity business. And whatever it is you sell, whatever products, services, programs, packages, whatever it is, there’s a million guys like you and me.

I mean, Rhys, I love you; there’s a million guys like you. I love myself, there’s a million guys like me. Believe it or not, this is not the only marketing book available at your local Barnes and Noble, right? However, what’s special? What’s unique? What is useful? What is helpful? What is it worth? Following Rhys? Why is it worth Following David? And reading my blogs, and looking at my videos. Even if you don’t buy anything.

So here’s the other thing I talk about partly in the book, is about happy-meal marketing. Happy Meal marketing, is about, is your marketing itself nutritious. So people that buy from us, that buy our products and services, they get a beautiful seven course meal. No question, but even people that don’t buy should get a happy meal. So, is there value in your marketing material? Is there value just on your website? Is there value in your free downloads? Is there value in your blog? That even if they’re not the end recipient or the end customer, they say, “Wow, I don’t need this product or service right now but you got to go check out David Newman’s blog. You got to see this other guy’s videos, you got to download this other person’s eBook because it’s just content rich and so valuable and so useful and so helpful.”