Opening We Are Podcast 2017 – Do What Doesn’t Scale

At last year’s We Are Podcast one of the keynote speakers (and one of the most recognisable names in podcasting), John Lee Dumas shared with us his Fire Funnel technique. As entrepreneurs, I’m sure most of you are familiar with the concept of a “funnel” and where it fits into your business. But what really surprised me about Dumas’ We Are Podcast opening keynote was this one sentence: “You have to do what doesn’t scale”.

Ever since popping in my headphones to listen to that very first business podcast, and sticking that invisible “Entrepreneur” post-it note to my forehead, I’ve had it drilled into me: Don’t do things that don’t scale. Podcasts, blogs, books, well-intentioned advice-givers at various networking events, they’ve all taught me to approach any business decision with the question: “Is it scalable?”

However, in a day and age where almost everything is automatable, maybe the one thing that’s missing is the human touch. Sure, in the online world, you’re obviously not going to have a 10-minute yarn with your local shopkeeper about how inconsiderate the youth these days are. But, sometimes – just sometimes – it might be nice to know that businesses care about you on a human level.

We Are Podcast 2017 Opening Keynote

We Are Podcast is the first podcasting conference in the southern hemisphere and in 2017, John Lee Dumas spoke about engaging one-on-one with your audience and asking them this one simple question: “What are you struggling with?”

Whilst this is about as scalable as a street-corner lemonade stand, it does achieve two key things for your business:

  1. It shows your audience that you care about their opinion enough to reach out to them personally, and
  2. It gives you an insight into their problems and the language they use to describe their problems.

The first point helps you build trust, which goes a long way towards selling to your audience. The second point helps you to resonate. How? By addressing your audience’s problems, preempting their objections and using the exact language they use in describing their struggles. Use these things in your copy and your audience will feel like it was written just for them.

Now Automate

Now that we’ve reached a stage where we’ve automated just about everything possible, I predict that the pendulum will soon swing the other way. Many large retailers already send handwritten notes with customer orders and some businesses will even call customers personally to discuss their customer experience. Even though their customers might be just one in several million, at that point, when they’re unwrapping their order or chatting to a customer service rep (or even the owner) on the phone, they feel special.

And you know what? Customers who feel special go on to become brand advocates. Sure, adding the personal touch might not be the cheapest way to run your business, but you can’t put a price on brand advocacy.

Now Scale

So, if John Lee Dumas tells you to do things that don’t scale – maybe you should just go ahead and listen to him. If your business is just starting out, now is the perfect time to do it… before your to-do list gets any longer because, believe me, it won’t get any shorter!

To learn more about We Are Podcast 2018 or to register interest just click below!

This post is written by Steph Taylor who is a corporate square peg turned health and wellness entrepreneur. She is the founder and director of Australia’s first dedicated health and wellness marketing agency, Wildbloom Creative [www.wearewildbloom.com]. Wildbloom Creative grows brands that nourish the mind, body and soul, with the aim of making health and wellness mainstream.

Author: Ronsley Vaz

Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.

He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *