Building Million Dollar Brands with Adrian Boysel

0:02Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation? JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Hustle and Flowcharts. Today, we'll be breaking down how to build million-dollar brands. To drop these value bombs, I have brought to Adrian Boizel and the EO Fire Studios. In 14 years of research and experience, Adrian has created million-dollar brands, increased visibility, made better offers, and more conversions. His process is designed to educate and inspire you, giving you the marketing tools needed to succeed.

0:33His service includes a comprehensive consult to help you identify what's working. the gaps and the opportunities that will help you quickly become the industry authority. And today, our nation will talk about building million-dollar brands, how to conduct a consultation, takeaways from industry experts, their biggest struggles, viral promotions, how to achieve those, and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Adrian and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lanz, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

1:08Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. NestSuite by Oracle brings accounting, finance, inventory, and HR into one proven platform, helping you reduce costs everywhere, backed by popular demands. Nessuite has extended its one-of-a-kind, flexible financing program for a few more weeks.

1:42Head to netsuite.com slash fire. Adrian, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, Fire Nation? I'm Adrian Boystel. I believe that entrepreneurship is your greatest path to self-improvement and it's going to bring up all those things that you have inside of you that need to be worked on, that need to grow, and it's going to force you to work on those. You're either going to keep pushing through it and grow or you're going to give up. And so that's one of the things I definitely believe in. Fire Nation, we've already started this episode on fire and you know we're talking about building million dollar brands.

2:22So Adrian, I want to dive in to talk about effective marketing strategies that can build million dollar brands. Let's go. Yeah, I mean, to start with, you got to have a plan. That's where most people fail is they wing it. Everybody's winging it. I talked to thousands and thousands of business owners now and out of all the business owners have asked less than 10 of them have told me, yeah, I've got a clear marketing plan. Most people are just throwing stuff at the wall, hoping that it sticks, wasting money, wasting their valuable time that they can't get back. And so what I do is I help people come in and understand what a real marketing plan looks like and how that ties in with your brand strategy.

2:58And once those two are super clear, it gives you your archetype, your avatar, everything you need to go out and reach your clientele and share your story over and over and over again, which is going to resonate with your ideal audience. So that's a big part of what I do. And one of those next steps is to actually create a comprehensive marketing consultation. So talk about that and how one is conducted. I do it in four sessions. The first one is branding. That's everybody's talking about branding, personal branding, your business brand, all these things. and I break those into three pieces. There's your story, your niche, and your identity.

3:33Then once you're done with branding, you're gonna go into your visibility. Where are you being seen online and where is your ideal avatar? Where is that person hanging out online? I specialize obviously in more online marketing than offline these days, but I also focus on the offline stuff too. And so visibility, online, offline. And then when that's really clear, you go into your promotion. And this is an area that Alex Hermosi talks a lot about is your irresistible offer. What is your promotion? strategy. What is it that, you know, what's your hook? What's the irresistible offer? How do you get people to feel stupid for saying no, right?

4:04And creating that real good promotion strategy. And then from there, it's your nurturing or what I like to call your conversion session. So once you've converted them over, you have to nurture those relationships and not everybody's going to buy immediately. So you need to have those systems in place to nurture your existing audience and your prospects and your leads, and then to be able to continue to nurture the existing customers. A lot of, especially agency owners, once they bring in the client, it drops off. Communication drops off, nurturing drops off, just falls off a cliff, and they just feel like you've abandoned them.

4:34And that's one of the biggest issues in the industry. So I walk clients through that four-step process and develop a written plan for each one of those steps and get them very clearly documented so they have a process and deliverables that can be built off of that. Now, I don't need to use exact names or businesses. We don't need to reveal this. But I want you to give us a specific, really down-to-the-earth example of one of these comprehensive marketing plans that you created for a business. So let's just call it business A. What did that look like? You jumped on a call with them. What did the steps that you walked through with them look like?

5:09And then what was the result? So I worked with a company that specialized in roofing repair. I've worked with a lot of home service businesses, a lot of attorneys, But this one specifically was a roof repair business. And they were just winging it for 30 years. They were just throwing ideas out there, dealing with different marketers, trying different things. And they weren't seeing consistent results. And so I was like, well, where's your plan? They're like, what plan? I'm like, you don't have a marketing plan? They're like, no. I'm like, how much you guys are spending on marketing right now?

5:33They're like, oh, like$20 ,000,$30 ,000 a month. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. You guys are spending that much a month. OK, what are you guys' current sales at? And they were like, oh, we're doing about$3.5 million,$4 million a year. And I'm like, wow, that's great. They were in a bunch they weren't in a bunch of markets So I what I did is I took them back really got really clear about their their brand strategy because they were doing a bunch of other Services outside of roof repair. I narrowed that down to one specific thing as you guys are the roof repair experts This is what you guys do. You don't do roof installation.

6:01You don't do anything else This is your main bread and butter then your your promotion or your visibility is like what markets are you in? What are some geographical areas that we can expand you into for an example? It was Fresno They had zero presence in Fresno, California, which is about two and a half hours away. And so they had representatives and other repair guys down there, contractors that they could leverage. And so I said, let's expand you into that market. Then we went into their promotional offer. And our promotional offers, we do a free roof inspection. They linked up with a bunch of real estate agents.

6:31They linked up with a bunch of people and started doing free roof inspections. And they were doing about 38 ,000 roof inspections per year, which was insane. And in about a 10-month period, we took them from$3.8 million to almost$8 million in a 10-month period. It was a massive growth. I mean, they were number one in the market in Fresno within less than six months. I mean, I had them on the first page of Google within 30 days. Then it was just nurturing to continue to building those relationships with the real estate agents, with people in the industry, so that they knew they had this resource and this tool of free roof inspections to go out there to their clients.

7:03So I walked them through that process, documented it all, built all the SOPs, helped them get their SEO clean, helped them get all their messaging on their website dialed in because their website was a mess. And we saw almost double revenue in that time. So beyond referrals, what have you found to be the best ways that you get clients? How do you get in front of them to have this consultation? What are some ways that you have found that's been really effective in this manner? Oh man, there is nothing like YouTube and there's nothing like speaking at the front of the room. I'm sure you know this and some of you guys that are listening to this know this.

7:37YouTube is the most powerful lead generating tool I have ever used. I started on that journey a little over four years ago and I have one video on my channel about geofencing alone that has brought me hundreds of leads and it's not even my number one video. It only has 10 ,000 to 12 ,000 views on it but I've had hundreds of leads from that video just around geofencing alone. I've done videos on radio advertising and over-the-top advertising. And anytime I make an evergreen type of video around a specific type of advertising or marketing modality or method, I get leads from it. And I mean, I've had leads from attorney firms like legal counsel.

8:12I mean, just select counsel and just huge brands that have come to me. I've worked with brands like Google, BenQ. I mean, huge names that all over the world that have come to me specifically from my YouTube channel. Let's talk about mentorship because you believe that mentorship, specifically from industry experts, can transform marketing approaches. How is this possible? Man, there is nothing in my life that has been more significant than mentorship. And that's why I've spent so much of my career doing that for others all the way back in 2008 to even to now is kind of when I really started being a mentor to people.

8:46Just understanding the pitfalls of business that you're going to go through and you're going to experience. How to communicate at a higher level, what books to read, what not to read. They are your guide. They are your Obi-Wan, right? They're helping you, guide you through the dangerous and treacherous paths, the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur and being a business owner. And I want to encourage anybody that's listening to this. Not only should you go find one in different areas because you have five pillars in your business, right? Sales, marketing, operations, fulfillment, and finance.

9:16You need to find a mentor in all of those, in each one of those, or a coach. Either hire them or ask them to help you. One other way, and you want to make sure you're giving value in return. You're not just asking and trying to take from them, but you want to give to them in return. So you've got to find these mentors in these different areas of your business that you're not going to be strong in and that you need that objectivity. Mentorship is really about objectivity and letting you see things that you can't. You're so close to the forest, you can't see the trees kind of concept. Right. So you need those mentors in your life to point out these things and ask you the hard questions.

9:46And that's what both of my mentors, my two biggest ones in the beginning, Larry and Dayton, they both did for me. One was a marketing mentor. One was just an entrepreneurship business mentor. And they both changed my whole entire life. I mean, I would have probably still either been working in the mortgage industry or or doing nightlife promotions at this point if it hadn't been from their their push and their influence in my life. Fire Nation, please remember that we are all standing upon the shoulders of giants. We have all learned from those who have come before us. Let's learn from their experience.

10:13Let's learn from their mistakes. Let's learn from their successes. Let's learn from their failures. It's going to help you on your journey. And we have so much more to talk about, specifically around hacking strategies, strategic marketing planning, when we get back from thanking our sponsors. We all know that starting a business is hard, but there are tools out there that help make it easier. HubSpot is one of those tools. and just one way HubSpot makes starting a business easier with their all new entrepreneurship kits. This all-inclusive kit gives you step-by-step guidance and frameworks to help you crush every stage of starting a business.

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13:10Back by popular demand, NetSuite has extended its one-of-a-kind and flexible financing program for a few more weeks. Head to netsuite.com slash fire, netsuite.com slash fire. netsuite.com slash fire. Adrian, we're back and I teased it before the break, so I want to dive right in. What the heck are your top growth hacking strategies if we wanted to achieve viral promotions? You know, I got to sit down at lunch a month or two ago with Adley Kinsman, who gets over a billion views a month and got to sit down and have a really candid, really real conversation with her. And she made it so simple that even for me, even for somebody that is so good at marketing, that's been doing it for many, many years, almost 20 years now, I realized that somebody that's only been doing it for about seven or eight years can teach me something, right?

13:57Being an open-minded student, always be willing to learn. And her strategy was so simple. And already from that, some huge things have been born. One of those strategies was taking two things that don't belong together and combining them. And they talk about this in the book Contagious by Jonah Berger. He's a professor at the Wharton School of Business. But actually applying this and watching somebody do it in such a simple way was so profound for me. She said her first video that she ever did, she took chickens and she put them in her bathtub. I don't know the reason why she did that, but she did it.

14:24And that video got 9.8 million views within a week or two then she took another video where she went in and she she actually was doing like a cooking instructional video she opens up the fridge and the camera follows her and there's a box of tampons on the in the in the fridge she closes the fridge it doesn't say anything about it and then the comment section is blowing up right her most recent one that I saw that does really well is this one where they're drilling a hole in a Gibson guitar and people are just angry and losing their mind and why would you destroy the guitar for this is so dumb.

14:54So anger and getting people's emotional reactions. My mentor, Dighton Bradford taught me at the very beginning, very, very early on in my career. He said, everything is driven by vanity and greed. Those are two big driving forces, but the science of marketing is built on logos, pathos, and ethos, logical, ethical, and emotional. And emotional is the primary thing that moves people, right? So if you can get somebody angry, you can get somebody feeling convicted or mad or make them laugh, right? You're going to instantly build a better connection to them. They talk about this and contagious and live strong and all these different things.

15:25So that would be my advice is make people feel something and then appeal to their logical mind, right? That's a really strong backup facts and figures. And then the third piece is the ethical, right? What is it? What are their voids and their values that make them believe what they believe, right? Whether you're left or you're right or you're extreme left or extreme right in the political landscape, right? People, you see how polarized people are. That is how you get things to go viral is understanding the science of marketing. Fire Nation, again, getting behind the scenes, understanding the science of marketing, really understanding and knowing what works and then how to take advantage of it when it does work.

15:59I mean, there's been so many people that have gone viral that nothing's happened as a result. Like it's just been an empty virality because they've had nothing there there. You need to have everything in place so that when you do go viral, you can capture that virality. Now, you believe, Adrian, that strategic marketing planning paves the way for business success. Tell us more. Yeah, I mean, if you don't have a plan, it's a plan to fail, right? How can you start a business without a business plan? How can you do marketing without a marketing plan? How can you create a solid brand that's going to be a million-dollar brand or a billion-dollar brand without actually having it documented and in writing of what your brand strategy is?

16:34You're competing in an ocean of all these other businesses. is. And for you, the one differentiator that you have that nobody else has is your story. Nobody's walked in John Lee Dumas' shoes. Nobody's had a podcast EO Fire like you. Nobody's had your story. And so anybody that's listening to this, you have your own unique story. Like a lot of my mentors in the past have said, your mess is your message. And inside of that, if you can find the heart and soul of who you are and what drives you, what voids you have, what are your values, what makes you tick, what makes you wake up every day. Like Simon Sinek says, what's your why?

17:08And you take all those things and you wrap your messaging and your strategy around that, you become completely unique in the marketplace. And if you pair that with something that's irresistible, where you're truly helping a lot of people, or it doesn't even need to be a lot of people, you help the right people. That's the big disconnect that a lot of people are missing nowadays, is they're trying to help everybody. Everybody is not your customer. There's one specific person that's out there that's in pain, right? Most people are trying to help people get the supplements, right? Make a million dollars a year.

17:37That's not relatable to a lot of people. A lot of people just want to get out of pain. How do you just make an extra$10 ,000 a year? How do you just get out of debt, right? Focus on the pain reliever, not the supplement. So there's a lot of different strategies that I implement, but documenting those is key because I can throw out ideas all day long. Those come easy to me. I'm the campaigner personality. I can give you ideas till the cows come home, but actually putting them in writing and knowing what's in alignment with you and making you sign off on what actually works for you and what, and you know, you being candid and tell me what doesn't, that's where I really excel.

18:08And I'm able to really help people make the transformation. Now you did touch on stories and I want to dive deeper because we as humans, we love stories. There's a reason why history broke it up into two words, his story, her story. Think about that fire nation. So why is storytelling about the client's journey essential for driving significant revenue growth? One, it was because it's unique, right? And two, it builds connection and relationship. There's a lot of hills and valleys in stories, right? One of the story frameworks that I like to teach people was taught to me by another mentor that I hired a few years ago.

18:44His name is Steve. And he told me, you have your initial hook, right? So one of my stories is, I was the smallest kid in my high school the first day I got there. And it was so small. In fact, a kid walked up to me and said, what are you in like the sixth grade and I was like no man I go here right so that's my hook to one of my stories and then you have your pain points right pain pain pain when you have pain and other people see that you become more relatable and once you get through those pains you have that light bulb moment well I felt small and insignificant my whole life but guess what I started surrounding myself with what I looked at to be titans my mentor Larry my mentor Dighton all these guys that rode almost professional motocross riding I started surrounding myself with professional fighters and trainers.

19:24The next thing you know, I started to feel like a Titan. My confidence grew, my skill sets grew and I became this different person. So I had this light bulb moment. And so then I call people to action, which is the next step. And then that's where all of a sudden people are like, oh my gosh, if he can do it, I can do it. Stories are just so inspirational and transformational for people. It lets people see who you are and in your authenticity. And that's what people are dying for nowadays is authenticity more than ever. Fire Nation, authenticity, transparency, just being genuine. Nobody wants a pale, weak imitation of somebody else.

20:02They want the true, genuine, authentic version of you. But now how do you get there in a way that's also delivering value? We don't just want to hear sob stories to hear sob stories. We want value to our lives. We want the number one solution to a real problem we possess. Adrian, you dropped value bombs, brother. What's the number one takeaway you want to make sure our listeners get from our conversation today? The biggest takeaway that I want everybody here to have is that you really need to take the time to sit down and get clarity around your brand, around the purpose, because my brand strategy isn't just a brand strategy.

20:39It's the purpose-driven branding blueprint, right? I've literally built a whole site and a whole software around this is getting clarity around your brand, who you are, what you do, why you do it, how you help people, who do you want to help the most? What are their needs? Who do you want to repel from working with you? And then the last piece is your identity. What's your avatar? Are you the hero? Are you the sage? Are you the rebel like me? And understanding those key pieces, once you have that brand piece as your foundation, and you know that, that helps everything else become more clear. And then the strategies when it comes to your marketing, become very simple.

21:11It's like, cool, where are the people like me and the people that I want to help the most hanging out at? And if I communicate authentically in my way, it's just a matter of time and being consistent over that long time horizon where it's going to eventually impact them. And I'm going to start to build that snowball effect. And it's going to be compounding day after day. Fire Nation, compounding the slight edge. This is stuff that is so key for you moving forward because it really does work. Doing the right thing every single day, no matter how slight, will compound over time into something meaningful if you keep up the consistency, if you are persistent, and if you're doing the right things.

21:48Adrian, how can Fire Nation connect with you? What is your call to action for our listeners today? Yeah, so check me out on YouTube, Adrian Boysell. And then the biggest one is we just launched our own software, Brand Butler. And that's a really easy way at brandbutler.ai. And And anybody that comes to that from John, I'm going to give you guys a free membership to this. This is not something that's cheap. It's$100 a month. And I'm going to give it to you completely for free. No even credit card you even need to have to do this. So all you got to do is go to brandbutler.ai forward slash EO Fire and happy to give that to you and all your listeners.