Jen Buzza: Oh my gosh you guys, that was too much fun. That crossword, I cannot do that. I’m so impressed with all of you, and with Brent, that was fantastic. Sit tight, you don’t want to leave. If you were thinking I’m gonna get up and get some coffee, not yet, not yet, because what we have coming, it’s so good.

And it’s so good to see a lot of you here still today, this is wonderful, day two of Prepathon. We have a talk coming up that you do not want to miss, and I’ll tell you why. Barbara Carneiro is not only one of the most phenomenal human beings on the planet, she is a mentor and a coach to digital agencies. She’s been around doing this for 20 years, you all, she is a pro.

She’s got the most beautiful life story, if you ever can catch coffee with her, do it. She specializes in strategic communication services, branding, online marketing, enhancing reach for impact, all sorts of good stuff. She really brings this flavor of leadership, and if there is anybody I know who lives their values day in and day out, it is Barbara. So Barbara, thank you for coming and being here. Anytime I get to be anywhere near you is a pure pleasure, and I know that our audience today is just going to love you so much, so thank you for being here.

Barbara Carneiro: Thank you, Jen, that is very mutual. Sorry, this is kind of like a new setup for us, right? We generally join over Zoom and have conversations, like you said, that go between life and business at the same time. And so it’s nice to be here, nice to see all of you. You tell me when are we ready to start.

Jen Buzza: Hey, I think we’re ready, we got a lot of hi Barbaras, hello Jens in the chat, so people are ready, they didn’t go grab coffee quite yet, they are ready to hear this wonderfulness and to partake. You guys, Barbara welcomes questions, I will be looking at the question and answer and trying to insert those as we go, and I might answer some right there for you. So please, Barbara, let’s get on it.

Barbara Carneiro: Good, sounds good. Well, I’m gonna share my screen, but I want to start with a little bit of a disclaimer. And if you’re here looking for something like hyper-practical and tools and tactics, this is not it, okay, straight off the bat. And here’s why, because today we want to talk mindset more than the next tool you need.

And I know that very few people wake up thinking, well, I need a new mindset today, that’s not what comes to mind when we wake up, we’re generally looking for that new technique or tactic or tool. But I’ve seen the growth in my business be more related to the times when I was able to shift how I was thinking, more than the new tool that I was using. So, again, bear with me if it feels like, yeah, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next, I’m hoping to help you think differently, that will get you to that next step.

So now I’m gonna be that person that is gonna try to share her screen having never done that before here, so here we go, I hope you don’t see anything you shouldn’t see. So there you go, we’re going to change to this tab, let’s try it. Oh, there we go, okay. Can you see? Okay, awesome.

So, client-centric mindset, who is in your circle? I want you to join me in a journey of thinking about how has the marketplace, how has the market, how has your industry changed over the years. And so my first note is that shift happens, okay, we all have to admit that things are not the same as they used to be. And I want to introduce you to a few concepts that I have been exploring for a few years now that heavily impact how I do business, and I know they have heavily impacted how others do business as well. And this has to do with the currency we exchange in the social market, in the world, in the interwebs.

So I want to take you down a time travel, don’t mind my AI image, I absolutely love playing with this kind of stuff. And so just imagine that we’re going to travel through time, and we’re going to go back to the time when we could surf the internet. You guys remember that, like, in fact we used to call it the web, because you would go to one website and then go to the next one and then the next one, and the minute you looked you’d be like, how did I even get here? And so there’s no search engines, it was kind of like just going from one link to the next.

And at this stage, at this age, we were looking at information, and so websites were mostly designed to list information and then try to be found. We have things like websites, links, directories, maybe some SEO. And you know how I actually bolded the word site in website? It’s because today, today, 2024, we still use the word website as something static, where a lot has changed.

So anyway, in another timeline of my life, I was thinking about how could I rename the word website, let’s just create a new name, because website no longer describes what we do. But nobody really wanted to invest money in that, so I gave up on that idea, but follow me along. So websites were designed to list information, and all you had to do is figure out a way to be found, okay, this is the age of information. And the currency that we were exchanging with each other was time. I spend time, I look at information, I find information, I use it somehow.

Now things evolved. Oh, actually, before we move to the next age, here’s Apple’s website in the age of information, isn’t that fascinating how it’s changed over the years, and how much info they had there, and how different it is from today, not just from a style standpoint but also from a what is it trying to achieve. Let’s go to the next one.

And then we move into the engagement age. At this particular age we’re talking about motivating participation and getting people’s attention, blogs, social media, ads, funnels. Imagine the scenario, and you’ve heard so many marketing gurus talk about getting their attention and capturing their attention. So this age of engagement is one where we have, as the currency, our attention. So now we’re no longer spending time finding information, now we’re spending attention in exchange for engagement.

Here’s one example of YouTube, actually, so now there’s this menu of things, this is YouTube at the beginning stages of the platform, we have this menu of things that you can do and interact with. But then we evolved, and I think up to this moment many agencies, many people, many organizations are still creating websites for the information age, it’s just a brochure. Some people have evolved into the engagement age.

And I think we have already shifted into a third age. I think right now we sit in a different place, where what we’re trying to do is curate a path and make that path visible. So this is where things like a niche, a community, common language, and clear channels play a big role, in the curation age. The currency now is trust.

Now, why am I telling you all of this? It’s because the clients that you’re trying to reach, the people that you’re trying to speak to, are human, surprise surprise in case you didn’t know, so that’s an important fact. And you’re probably thinking, okay Barbara, whatever, well, but here’s the reality, there’s so much information out there that I can no longer read, assess, meditate, discern all that is out there, and so I’m craving somebody that will curate it for me.

So what happens when you understand this idea, I wonder. And this is just, I’m not one of those that will say radio is dead, TV is dead, but what if the funnels, the way that we’ve seen them so far, what if funnels are dead or dying? I’ll explore this idea a little bit further, so bear with me. But here you go, everything around us right now is confusing, it’s overwhelming, and it’s just too much. And when I say everything, just think about all that you have access to nowadays, and think about all that your clients have access to nowadays. Our brains are tired, and here’s what you need to know, is that your clients’ brains are tired as well.

So when I recognize the scenario that says my clients’ brains cannot handle all of the information out there, I will start treating them, dealing with them, leading them, working with them differently. And why is this so important? The reason why this is important is because one of the resting places for the brain is curation. Let me give you an example. For those of us that participate in UGURUS with Brent Weaver, Brent is a curator for us, he’s helping us curate a path, for those that are agency owners, that will basically give me, hey, here’s your first step, here’s your second, and your third, and your fourth.

So someone is creating a path for me that alleviates that pressure that says you have to read and assess everything before you make a decision. There’s so much coming our way that our brains are all craving curation. That’s why you see YouTubers making a lot of success online asking, what should I unbox next, they’re basically curating things for you without you even noticing. Now, the winner in this new age is the curator.

What does that mean for us as agency owners, what does that mean for our clients, what does that mean for those that buy from us? Well, here’s what it means, that means you have a role. So no longer do you have to worry about just putting information out there for people to consume through their time, you don’t have to worry about creating engagement that will get their attention. At this stage your role is to create a path that they can follow.

So the question for you today is, what are you curating and for whom? So I want to pause here just for a second, I want you to think about this question and look at your business and think, what am I curating, what kind of path am I curating, and for whom, who would follow the path that I’m curating? Now, if I’m a generalist and I’m just talking about everything and anything, or not talking about anything at all, which is very common for some of us, we kind of hide in our little shells, there’s no path that I’m curating for anybody. And so one of the questions that I would like for you to start is identifying the whom, who are you creating a path for?

When you have a path, this path of curation that I’m talking about, you will have the opportunity to create what we call a circle of trust. So I told you about funnels, right, I told you that maybe the traditional funnels are no longer working the way that they used to work. And here’s what I see, okay, and there’s no science behind what I’m about to say, as much as this is like my thought process and how I analyze these things. So when you think of a funnel, you think of the top of funnel is like this big gigantic, I don’t know, net where a bunch of things come in, and you kind of have to push them down this narrow little entry point at the bottom where they will finally convert.

And what I think is happening right now in the marketplace is that I’m no longer bringing a lot of stuff in this top of funnel. By the way, how many of you have all of these things coming up at the top that you have to then push down? I think what’s happening is I’m now able to create one entry point that then introduces people to my circle of trust. So what is that entry point, what is the first yes that people will give me in the marketplace, what is the easiest thing I can talk to them about, I can convince them about, that will get them to simply say yes to my circle of trust? And then within that circle, instead of it being something that narrows down over time, I think it’s something that expands over time.

So as long as I can speak a common language, and I can address the issues and problems of a particular group of people, I’m gonna find myself creating a path for them of curation that will introduce them to our circle of trust. A lot of blah blah blah, I know, but follow me along, we have a few more things to look at.

So let me go a little bit deeper in this topic, so you can understand what I’m trying to say. The game has changed, and here’s what happens. We have been told for many years, some of you may still have this on your website, that we’re supposed to stand out. We have been told that we’re supposed to stand out from the competition, you may be using that exact copy for your clients in the websites that you designed for them, stand out from the competition. And I believe this one for sure, if nobody has ever said to you that this is dead, I’ll tell you, this is dead, okay, we’re no longer standing out.

Have you seen the photos of the big, all of the black umbrellas and the yellow umbrella? Well, here’s the reality, you can still be the yellow umbrella, but the umbrellas around you are no longer all black. Everybody has something unique, everybody has something spectacular about them, everybody has something that is a differentiator. And so how can you really stand out when everybody else is trying to stand out?

So in my opinion, I think we’re no longer playing a game that says you have to stand out from the crowd, I think that game has changed. I think what we’re playing now is a visibility game, and that visibility game is played a little bit different. Again, society has changed, the internet has changed, generations have changed, and our game has changed. There’s power in familiarity. Why do I say this? Because when you are trying to get new clients, new leads, new projects, there’s something to be said about being familiar to those that are saying yes to you.

And so this familiarity has played a role in different ways in the marketplace, like, oh, omni-channel, be everywhere so that you see your brand everywhere. Well, great, yeah, it kind of works, but at the same time what I’m doing at that stage is basically just being loud everywhere. What if I can narrow down into a smaller number of channels, be present and visible in those channels in a way that presents myself as a curator for them? What if I can curate the path of revenue, what if I can curate a path of growth, what if I can curate a path of more donations if you are a nonprofit, you know what I mean?

So the power of familiarity is going to allow me to make myself visible and make myself visible often, so that that builds trust. Why? Because familiarity is the catalyst of trust. I just told you that trust is the currency, so the trust that the market is exchanging with you nowadays is trust, and the way for me to catalyze that trust is to be familiar. There’s a sad reality about familiarity in the human brain, and many stories are told about victims of abuse that have decided to stay with their abusers simply because it’s familiar. That’s how much familiarity plays a role in our decision-making, in our mindset.

And so when I think about brands, and I think about the marketplace, and I think about the clients that work with me, I need to increase the trust that they have in me, and the easiest way to do that is by showing frequently, being familiar to them, but I no longer have to be everywhere. So nowadays I want to give you the freedom to play the visibility game at a level that is significantly easier than it’s ever been, significantly cheaper than it’s ever been, because now you have control over a few things in the visibility game.

You have control of how you’re visible. Think about this for a moment, I can control how I’m visible, so I can present myself as the curator for X in the groups that I’m a part of, I can present myself as the curator for Y at the conferences that I speak at. So how are you visible, as in, what is the persona, what is the identity, what is the heartbeat that you want people to see when you are visible in all of the channels that you are visible in? You can be visible in just one channel, you can say, you know what, I’m just going to be on Twitter, I’m just going to be on LinkedIn, I’m just going to be on Facebook, you don’t have to be on all of them. But let’s just say you pick one, and in that channel you’re going to show up as the person that is the expert on this, and you’re going to speak about that topic often. How you’re visible, it’s your choice.

Then you’re going to decide where you’re visible. I just told you about channels, you can be, again like I said, in 20 channels if you want, but that’s exhausting. I would rather say master one of them or two, and then move on to the next one. So allow yourself a place where you can say, you know what, I really don’t like that channel, there’s freedom in that too. So I really don’t like that channel, I’m gonna invest my time here. Now, let’s advocate for being where your clients are, okay, so I’m not saying don’t go where they’re not, but I am saying that there is freedom for you to decide what makes sense to you.

Ways to be visible, you guys ready? Here’s three ways to be visible, and they all work. I call this the GEM, okay, so we’re giving some acronyms so you can remember easily. You go to them, that’s G, you go to them, this is the cold outreach, that means I am going to them, I’m calling them, emailing them, I’m doing something that will make me visible where they are. You can elevate yourself, that’s the E in GEM, you can elevate yourself by utilizing someone else’s platform. So if you’re trying to be visible to dentists and dentists have a podcast, then you can be in that podcast, right, if you’re trying to be visible to restaurant owners and restaurant owners have a conference, you can go to that conference.

So now you have the ability to decide on how you’re visible and where you’re visible, and there’s the last one, which is the M, which is to magnetize them to you. So where you’re visible, it’s up to you, you can go to them, you can elevate yourself, or you can magnetize them to you through content marketing and algorithms. Okay, there’s one more, the final one is where most people stop, how frequently are you visible? So I can decide how I’m visible, what is the identity that I want to portray, what’s the perception that I want my client to have about me, where am I visible, and how frequently I’m visible.

And now I want to tie this back to the client-centric mindset, because all of these are useless if you’re not thinking about what matters to your people. So when I decide on how I’m visible, I need to make sure that the identity that I’m presenting to them solves their problem, I’m creating a path that they are pursuing or desiring or craving. One thing we hear often from our clients is that they don’t know where to start. It’s almost like they know kind of what they have to do, because honestly the information is out there, remember there’s overwhelming amounts of information, so they know what’s out there, they can do their research, they can Google all the videos, but there’s a point where they realize, I don’t even know where to begin, like which one do I do first?

And so what if I’m visible as the person that can give them that one step to get them started? That’s one way for you to be visible. Where I’m visible, I need to be conscious about the places that they hang out at, and there’s a lot of freedom when you realize you don’t have to be in five different parties, you can just go to one, but keep showing up, because how frequently you show up will increase visibility for those people. So imagine being able to gain trust simply because you show up to the same events that they show up to, you participate in the same things that they participate in.

Blah blah blah, Barbara, great, but how about actually converting these leads, how about moving them from just seeing me and finding me familiar to actually closing a deal? Well, I think the best tool that you can carry with you everywhere you go is the power of questions. And nothing will elevate your clients more than asking them questions instead of telling them about you. And so in any of these interactions, wherever you are visible, you pick the channel, okay, I told you that you have plenty of freedom, for the introverts out there you don’t have to dance on Instagram, you’re free from that.

So you have the choice to decide on the channel you want to use, and you have the choice to decide on how you’re going to portray yourself, and you have the choice to decide how frequently you’re going to show up. But every time you show up, I want you to carry one thing with you, which is one question. Now, I’m not going to tell you what question is your question, because you have to think about that question yourself for a long time. The question that I used to ask my audience is, who’s your audience? And so in conversations, in groups, in forums, whenever somebody was discussing anything, the question that I would always ask was, what is your, who’s your audience?

And so that positioned me as the person that is triggering my industry into thinking about their audience first, and it became such a constant that at some point in time somebody, for my birthday, gave me a photo of a cake that says happy birthday, who’s your audience. So it’s almost like it became something that people identified me with. But at the same time, I want to talk to you about questions. Here’s what happens when somebody asks you a question. If I say a statement like, the sky is blue, we all recognize the statement, it goes in, it goes out. But if I say, is the sky blue, every one of you, unless you’re an alien, you have answered that question in your mind, you may have not said it out loud, but you’ve answered it in your mind.

So what happens when the brain is faced with the question is that the brain wants to answer the question. It’s almost like you take somebody from a place of rest, like being idle, to a place of activity. And so imagine, remember I’m talking about trust, I’m talking about curation, imagine if instead of addressing my audience with, hey, here’s a lot of information you need to read, I’m now addressing them with a question. And so every time I’m visible, I’m coming with questions about them, more than I’m coming with, hey, here’s what I do, hey, here’s what I got to sell.

And so the tool that you need to carry in your back pocket is not just the one question you’re gonna ask all the time, but questions in general. Nothing, I would say nothing, has made the most impact in my business than to move from a pick me, pick me, pick me, this is what I can do for you, to, can I ask you a few questions? And we bring clients through a process of discovery that lasts for three meetings, and for three meetings I haven’t given them a single insight, I’ve just asked questions. And what happens when you ask questions is that you will naturally increase in trust, because they see you as the trusted advisor, they see you as the person that knows all the questions to ask.

So what is your question? I want you to go into your market with a few things in mind after this session. One is, things have changed, we’re now in the curation age, what can you curate and for whom. And the second one is, what is your question, when you show up to a conference, when you create a blog post, when you create a video on YouTube, what is that one question you’re asking your industry all the time? Now, how do I stop this? There we go.

Jen Buzza: All right, wow, Barbara, thank you so much. I love that you come in and you just make a splash from left field that nobody’s expecting to see. I really appreciate that, the chat really appreciates it, and we’re gonna open up to some questions here in a second. If you guys don’t have any questions, if you do have questions, pop them in there. We have Farad in the house who is asking, let’s see where did it go, ask questions about the value you should put into their business. Okay, so he always asks questions about what value I should put into their business, interesting.

All right, so, love that, Farad, glad that you’re here, would love to see if there’s any other questions for Barbara. There is a question-answer tab. Barbara, I have to say, you know, this idea of, like, you are in the field day in and day out, and you are mentoring digital agencies day in and day out, and so this knowledge is really spectacular. Earlier at Prepathon we were talking about the changes that are coming and what we can be predicting, and you hit the nail on the head with that, like, what do you see coming, where are we now? So super appreciate you bringing that level of awareness.

We do have a question, it says, Barbara, can I ask you a question? Sure, Maurice, you can ask a question, I think you might have to type it. But let’s go on to Sebastian’s question here, can you talk a little bit about how you think funnels are dead?

Barbara Carneiro: Yeah, so, and the reason why I say this is because we’ve been taught that there’s this huge, like, entry point, how many of you have all of these things coming in that you have to filter out? Like, I feel like we’re dropping this huge net into an ocean, but in reality all we want is lobster. And I’m like, why don’t we just bring the cages for the lobster instead? Like, if I throw this big net into the ocean I may catch some lobster in it, but I’m like, why would I do that, instead if I know that I want to catch lobster, I would do one simple thing, which is to bring whatever cages. And I know nothing about fishing, you guys, I should not be using this metaphor at all, but if that’s what I know I want to catch, why wouldn’t I create a path that is so simple and easy for the lobster to come into the cage?

And so, but again, if I have clients that I would rather be very known and visible and trusted and familiar in a small niche of the market, then they have these big things. And I’m not saying you got to be a big fish in a small pond, that’s not what I’m suggesting, what I’m suggesting is I want to focus on what is the entry point, how do I get them in, because once they’re in it really expands, it’s like I can upsell, I can partner with other people that they can be a client for as well. So imagine the partnerships you have, that person, once they enter your circle, they enter the circle of your partners too. So what happens when your partner brings in somebody into their circle? You’re now a part of that circle too.

And so I don’t think it’s a funnel that squeezes people in, I think it’s a room that opens up. And so, can I see that, yes, 10 people will come, five will buy, two will upsell, like, yeah, I can see that in my mind, but nowadays the attention is no longer the thing, you guys, it’s not attention that we’re trying to get from them, it’s trust. And so for me to build trust, I need to be doing something different.

Jen Buzza: You know, this kind of bleeds right into the next comment, it’s really a comment more than a question, by Gian Marie, of niching. So I know this is a favorite topic of ours, but when we talk about these funnels being dead, and then we talk about focusing in, how do you know, does the red tip versus the blue tip lobster, like, this is what niching is about, so if you could speak on that just for a second.

Barbara Carneiro: Yeah, so I think what we confuse often is that when we think of niche, we think that, well, I’m only going to work with dentists, how boring could that be, like, that’s not what we’re saying. What we’re simply saying is, what party will you go to, like, am I going to the party that has dentists in it, or I’m going to the party that has restaurant owners in it? It simply determines your activity, your visibility.

And so when I think of my niche, listen, we work with churches, but we’ve had limo companies, investment firms, nonprofits, all sorts of other industries coming to us, and we’ll take those clients if we’re interested. It gives you the freedom to say no if you don’t want to work with them. But in my going, in my visibility efforts, where I go, it’s all for one niche, and the reason why is because honestly you don’t want to dilute that effort, you don’t want to go to two different parties or climb two different mountains, and so you don’t have to worry about who comes to you.

The best way I can describe niche to you is this, you currently have, as an agency, as a business, you currently have a lot of little pathways coming towards you, very slow, they’re all coming super slow towards you. So whatever you have working right now will continue to work, but you have the chance to accelerate one of those paths. Which one are you going to accelerate? I’m going to accelerate the path of dentists towards me, and so that means I’m going to be more visible, more familiar, where dentists are. And so the idea of niching is simply saying, people are coming to me at a slow pace, at an unpredictable pace that nobody likes and is not consistent, and so I’m just gonna create consistency towards one group of people coming towards me, but then once they’re in, the party begins.

Jen Buzza: Love it. What are the best strategies for acquiring high-quality clients in a competitive market?

Barbara Carneiro: Okay, questions, absolutely no doubt, questions. And here’s, and I can give you a very specific example, okay. I’m a part of groups within my niche, and a lot of people will say it out loud, there’s no money in churches and churches don’t spend money. And I will go into those groups, and sometimes you’ll see people saying, hey, my cousin just designed four logos for my church, which one do you like the best, and suddenly you see this influx of people, hey, I can do one for you for $500, I can do one for you for a thousand dollars, and I’m like, there’s no way I’m competing on price. But the reality is I don’t want to compete on price.

And so what I do is I ask questions in those conversations, and I’m saying things like, hey, are you looking for, did you guys do just a logo or branding? And suddenly, because I’m asking a question, it’s triggering a thought process, remember questions will trigger the brain to think. So the person may say, well, I think just a logo, but what’s the difference? Okay, now you got an expert that can answer the question, I can explain to you the difference between a logo and branding.

But here’s the key point, you guys, hear me out, the person that’s gonna hire me is not the person posting, or the people commenting are the lurkers observing how I behave in that setting. How am I behaving when I have nothing to sell, when I’m not trying to prove a point and I’m not trying to compete on pricing, I’m simply responding to a question, bringing expertise, asking questions that will then trigger the lurkers to be like, wait a minute, and then here comes the DM, hey, I saw your answer on group such and such, can we chat?

Jen Buzza: I love it, the lurkers, yes, the people watching, I love it. We have another question by Farad about, what should I include in my proposals to stand out and to win clients?

Barbara Carneiro: Oh my gosh, how much time do we have, Jen, this is one of my favorite questions.

Jen Buzza: Minutes, yeah, okay.

Barbara Carneiro: Okay, so listen, this is gonna be the fastest ever that I’ve talked about proposals, because generally you get me talking for a while. So here we go. I think the best thing you can do is put in what you would normally charge, that’s your pricing, you put it there, hey, this is how much the project is gonna cost, whatever. Then, can you take like 50% of the deliverables and put in a plan that is like a starting? So for example, let’s say client needs branding and website, and you can say, hey, if you’re not ready to do all of this now, let’s start with the branding, and that’s your plan number one.

Why? Because you’re able to already give your client an option that is cheaper, so guess what happens when you offer them a price that’s already cheaper, they’re no longer gonna ask, can you cut whatever, but you do it ahead of time. But this is never just half of the price, generally you have half of the deliverables and 80% of the price. So you have your main project in the middle, and then you have number one here as, it helps you anchor that second price.

But you also need, this is for me where what has helped me grow in my business, I always have a plan number three. So we call these the VIPs, we have the middle one which is the normal pricing, we have a cheaper one where we already prepare them for a stage option, and then we have the third one, the VIP. It’s like, what would you do if there’s no limits, if there’s no money, no budget, like if you could do this project the way you dreamed about, what would you do? I’ll be like, oh my god, I would send you a photographer to your store, I would get this videographer to do a reel for you, oh I would definitely get a senior developer, oh we should hire an influencer, so you would basically dream this project.

So if you could do it without restrictions, what would that plan look like, that’s your third option. But that third option is 3 to 10x what your middle price is, it needs to make your belly like, you know, not sure if I can do this, so it needs to make you uncomfortable, but 3 to 10x what your middle price is, because the truth is if they give you that money you will get the influencer, you will get the photographer, you’ll get the videographer, you will do all these extra things that you wish you could do if you had the money.

The good thing is, when you present this third price, you’re not trying to sell it, you’re just presenting it as an option. And so clients can see that, hey, this is what it would normally cost to do a project like this, right in the middle, so if I say the third one is 30,000 and the middle one is 10, 10 no longer looks so expensive, does it? You’ve anchored your price by presenting them what could be. And the way that we normally introduce it is by saying, hey, if you’re ready to grow faster, here’s an option that we can put together, this is the exact expression that I use, if you’re ready to grow faster, this is one option that we have.

Some clients don’t hire you for more because they don’t know you can do more, they just don’t know you can do more. So present it, add it there, you don’t have to sell it, 95% of your clients will say no to that plan, and that’s okay, but you have no pressure to sell it, you’re just presenting it as a dream project, and guess what, some people will say yes, and when they do, you take me out for dinner.

Jen Buzza: I love it. One last quick question, and then we’re gonna move on to the rest of our agenda for the day, but this idea, if somebody doesn’t want to be on social media, what options do they have?

Barbara Carneiro: Just about, I love it, I love it. Listen, I thought I had to dance on Instagram, I for real thought, like, until I do the things that everybody else is doing, I’m not going to win in the business world, and you just kind of think that there’s this box that we need to fit in. And listen, I’m here to break that box down and tell you it doesn’t exist, you have your own box, introvert, extrovert, it doesn’t matter, your business can be designed the way that you want it to be. And there are clients out there hoping you’re not dancing on Instagram, they don’t want to see that version of you, they want to see the version of you that is real, the version of you that is more of a toned-down kind of person, you know what I mean. There are others that prefer the dancer, and that’s great.

So for you, you need to be the person that simply says, you know what, in my business we’re going to do it this way, and you live it out. So, no social media, great, meetup groups, go in person, you don’t want to meet in person, create content marketing, don’t want to create content marketing, golly, make these amazing boxes that you send out to them in the mail that completely wow them, you don’t want to do that, hire somebody to be the face of your audit videos, use AI to create those audit videos. But just allow yourself to be in a place where you say, I don’t have to be like everybody else, my business can and should look different. And if you don’t want social media, my friend, here’s good news for you, you don’t have to be on social media, and if somebody else tells you the, just send them my way.

Jen Buzza: I love it, Barbara, thank you, thank you. I love the concept of making your business work for who you actually are, because we don’t sell into pain, so let’s sell into joy, let’s break every, day beautiful. Barbara, thank you so much for shining your light here today and being with all these amazing audience members. Thank you, audience members, for being here, Barbara, you are the gem, as many people said in the chat, fantastic.

We do have a quiz coming up, y’all, with Brent Weaver, hacking business growth quiz, so that’ll be a fun good time, and then we go into a master class on lead magnets, so stick around for all of that. That class will wrap the second day of Prepathon, we have a whole other day tomorrow, so don’t write us off, you stay in your seat, stay here with us. Overall, you guys in the chat, how’s your experience going so far? We see Brent already answered that question with an amazing maybe, maybe that was for you, Barbara. But how’s your experience going, we want to know, you all are the fuel that makes us show up and smile and want to be here with you, so yay, there we go, some love in here, wonderful, wonderful, thank you.

Fantastic, whoop whoop, thank you guys so much for being here, have a wonderful rest of your day. Barbara, always a pleasure, and we will see you all soon, stay tight, stay seated for that quiz, it’s a-coming.