Episode 07: Dov Gordon

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Dov Gordon helps consultants, coaches, experts and small professional service firms build a steady, consistent, predictable flow of ideal clients.

For several years Dov led a CEO peer advisory group that attracted the CEOs of many leading companies, with between $10,000,000 and $150,000,000 in annual sales.  At a number of these and other companies Dov worked side-by-side with senior management to reformulate their company’s strategy and / or to redesign and develop the management organization.

In 2010 Dov turned his attention to helping entrepreneurs who love what they do, but don’t yet have a consistent flow of their ideal clients.  He helps these owners build a simple marketing and selling systems that brings in all the clients they want.

Find out more by visting http://dovgordon.net/. While you’re at it, make sure to visit http://dovgordon.net/bepaid and you can get a free webinar called “how to be noticed, be valued, and be paid by the clients you want most”

Or follow him on Twitter @DovGordon

 

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION:

01:01 – Meet Dov Gordon, the Alchemist Entrepreneur. With no formal college education, he was mostly self-taught when it came to business, coaching, and self-development. He’s never held a real job, although he has tried on very rare occasions. Regarding his lack of formal education, he counts it as an advantage, recalling something he learned when Tim Ferriss interviewed Glenn Beck. “When you haven’t gone through formal education, you’re free to look at things differently”

03:13 – What Dov considers the most exciting thing in his current business is how he helps people take all their talents and expertise and turn it into a thriving business. Dov helps them create a consistent flow of clients. “I’ve spent 8 years banging my head against the wall,” Dov says, “knowing that I had a lot of talent, a lot to offer, [and yet] did not know how to present that in a way that other people got it.” He compares the frustration to a silent scream

04:14 – So why does it take people years to prove their worth and amass a consistent flow of clients? Dov calls it the “I am not Abe Lincoln” problem

05:33 – Dov currently has a hundred-day sprint for his clients. It’s a program where they take people and help them accomplish more of their marketing and client acquisition in just a hundred days compared to what they’ve accomplished in two or three years’ time. They do this by focusing on the basics

06:22 – Earlier in the interview, Dov mentions what he calls “the critical 10%,” which is what he believe contributes to a person’s brilliance 90% of the time. He then explains what that is for a coach or consultant wanting to build up their business. Dov starts with how a simple and repeatable marketing system is crucial

07:07 – What’s the purpose, Dov asks, of a marketing funnel? Of a marketing and selling system?

08:00 – There are only three questions that your prospect will think about when introduced to your product or service. The trick is knowing these questions and how to answer them through your marketing funnel.

1. Should I pay attention to this? Is it interesting?
2. Who are you (the marketer)? Can I trust you? Do you care about me or are you just looking to make a quick buck?
3. Is what you recommend right for me?

It’s not about doing ten different tactics, Dov explains. Most people are all over the place, trying to do too many things, and they’re not doing anything really well

10:05 – Dov shares some advice in regards to capturing the interest of potential clients. There are only 2 things people are ever interested in:

1. If you’re talking about a problem they don’t want

And/Or;

2. If you’re talking about a result they want but don’t have

12:43 – Dov uses The Blue Balloon, Red Balloon story to reiterate his point of how crucial it is to master the fundamentals before anything else

14:31 – Time-Travel Moment: if Dov were to go back to the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, the one message he would give to his old self would be to “relax.” And he admits that he still tells that to himself even today. When you make a mistake, it’s okay to give yourself the time, the space, and the tools to do it right

16:21 – Time-Travel Moment Part 2: If you were starting over from scratch today, with only your experience on hand, what’s the first thing you would do? Dov says that he would pick one very specific problem that he could help solve, and then find a way to hunt down people who have that problem – even if it’s one person at a time. And he would offer them a way to solve that problem at a reasonable price. “The place to start,” Dov says, “is to find one client”

18:26 – Start of Quick-Fire Questions:

18:32 – What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received in your industry?

19:06 – Can you share one of your personal habits that you strongly believe contributes to your success?

20:12 – What book would you recommend? “The Biography of Theodore Roosevelt”, by Edmund Morris (a trilogy) and Ryan Holiday’s “The Obstacle is the Way”

21:17 – One last tip from Dov Gordon: Focus on the few things that make a big difference. Master the fundamentals. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else – compare yourself to where you were yesterday