The Key to Real Business Success May Surprise You with Penny Sansevieri

0:01Boom! Shake the room, 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 talking about how the key to real business success may surprise you. To drop these value bombs, I brought Penny Sansevieri into EO Fire Studios. Penny is a founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., and is a bestselling author and book marketing media relations expert. She's the author of 23 books, including the Amazon Author Formula and From Book to Bestseller.

0:35In today's information, we'll talk about Finding our lane, the one secret to success. We'll talk about bright, shiny objects, social media, and oh so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Penny and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lands, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Matt 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.

1:09The 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. Penny, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with? Honestly, it's consistency, which is so unsexy, right? Like people come, people are like, oh no, you have to be on TikTok. You have to be doing all these things. And at the end of the day, you can be doing all the things, but if you're not doing anything consistently, none of that's really going to matter.

1:44And Fire Nation, that's why we're talking about the key to real business success, not fake business success, real business success, because it may surprise all of you TikTokers out there. And you believe strongly, Penny, in finding our lane. You think it's critical to business success. So tell us more on that specific topic. You know, when I was first in business, I wanted to do all the things. And I think that a lot of business owners feel compelled, especially when you start out, like, I want to do all the things. But the problem is, is you become a little bit of, you know, the old saying, a jack of all trades and a master of none.

2:24So by finding your lane and figuring out exactly what you're good at and really maximizing that, you become not only a better entrepreneur, but also a more focused entrepreneur. Because trying to do all the things is scattershot, right? And it doesn't really end up building into anything that is substantial. And if somebody asks, What do you do? You know, what's your business? I got to tell you, there's really no elevator pitch for saying, well, I do these 50 things, right? People get distracted. So finding your lane is also a better marketing tool because you are focused, you know what you offer.

3:11And, you know, if they want something else, then you look at referrals to these people that we work with who do all these other things. And to me, that is something that took me, it took me a long time to figure that out. I'll just be really honest. But when we did, we became much more focused and streamlined. And we also attracted people who vibed with that, right? Because we all want to work with people. We want to bring people into our business and offer services to people who appreciate what we do, right? And have, you know, and whatever it is you're doing for them, make them more successful.

3:55And finding your lane is just such a more crucial, is a really very overlooked and also feels a little unsexy, right? But it is definitely something that will, you know, separate you from the pack. It may feel unsexy, but I'll tell you, it also feels great when you just get in that groove and you're like, you know what? This is me. I am speaking at my highest level. I am honoring what I love doing. I am fulfilling my curiosity, my passions, my excitement. I'm also delivering value and knowledge and skills to the world. I mean, man, that lane is a great place to be, Fire Nation. Now, you already exposed the lead here, but we're going to get a little deeper into it right now by sharing the one secret to succeed in business.

4:47Consistency. There's a lot of things that are vying for our attention these days, right? Oh, we have to make reels on Instagram. Oh, we have to be on this new social media site. Oh, we have to be a TikTok influencer, all the things. but what is done consistently is creates a foundation and create your success and people ask me all the time because this will be my 24th year in business which again like time just flies when you're having fun but and people ask me oh what's the secret to your success and I'll say consistency but you know obviously in showing up but consistency is part of that whatever you do do so consistently.

5:25So, you know, even we run a, myself and a co-anchor, we run a podcast for authors and publishers and marketing and publicity and things like that. And, you know, as you know, you were one of the early adopters to podcasting. And when you started, John, I mean, very few people had, but now podcasting is like indoor plumbing, right? Like almost everybody has one. But the fail rate with that is high, right? I mean, people produce three shows and they're like, oh, I don't know. This was just a lot of work. If you're going to pick something to market your business, pick something that you know that you can be consistent with.

6:08Because otherwise, you have now invited people to a party that you didn't even bother to show up. A lot of times, Fire Nation, you will just frankly outlast people when you're consistent. You'll think that you're fourth, fifth, sixth in the race. But then you'll look up one day, you'll be like, wait a second, the person that was in second and fourth place, they just dropped out. Now all of a sudden I'm in third place. And wait a second, six months later, the second place person dropped out. Then six months later after that, something happens to that first place person. And you're like, wait a second, I'm on top of the podium.

6:39I'm just here because I just continued to wake up, to show up, and to do it. day after day after day. Now, with all that being said, and this is what gets a lot of those people that drop out of the race, it's called the bright, shiny object syndrome because it's all around us. There's so many appealing things. I mean, you know, there was crypto and now it's AI. And then it was all these different things. People are just like, man, I'm so impatient. I got to go try and taste that thing. And they lose their focus. They lose their consistency. So I want to call it out. Can we run a successful business without distractions, without social media?

7:09You know, one of the most popular classes that I teach right now is called How to Market Your Book Without Social Media. And obviously, book marketing is my focus because that's what I do. But part of the reason that the class is so popular is because we've all gotten to a point where, you know, the shine has sort of worn off of all of these, as you call them, the bright, shiny objects, right? And it feels it we are we are fatigued by the things that feel productive, but that really aren't. So you're on social media, you're pushing all this content out, you know, you're doing all the things. And, you know, if you're consistently asking where people found you, right, or how they found your business, maybe one or two of them say they found you on social media.

8:02And so it feels less productive. And the other piece of it, though, too, is, is that when folks are on social media, you feel like you're doing all the things. And yet you're overlooking things like maybe you could be pitching yourself to local media as a great local entrepreneur story. Right. Maybe you could be doing things like, hey, how about putting together some listicles for, you know, BuzzFeed, which they love. I mean, if you've ever read any of their posts, they love lists, right? Lists of anything. so when you take social media or limit social media right when you take it out of the equation it opens up this area of all of these other like I've always wanted to launch a speaking career but I was too busy making updates to whatever Instagram X Twitter whatever it's called now and I didn't really have the time for that now you can take that time and invest it in something that actually does move your business forward.

9:02And that's really where the appeal of this conversation comes from. Because people are like, I should be doing all these other things, but I'm running all these accounts and I don't have the time. And when it comes to social media, it's not about being everywhere. It's just about being everywhere that matters. So maybe you have all these social media sites and you just decide, you know what? I'm just gonna keep Instagram or whatever, right? and the burn rate for entrepreneurs also has to be considered. So TikTok is very alluring, like, oh, his videos. But TikTok has a burn rate, has an immediate burn rate.

9:41So what that means is is that how long does your post really have visibility on any of these sites? For Facebook, I think it's like a day. For Instagram, it's four hours. You know what I mean? and but for for uh tiktok it's immediate so you're putting all this stuff out there and if it's not getting seen within this window then it's just not getting seen which is also a little terrifying when you think about all the time you invest in social media fire nation a lot of takeaways there a couple things i wanted to repeat was number one it's not about being everywhere it's about being everywhere that matters those last two words are critical, critical, critical, because all you have is time.

10:23All you have is time, energy, resources, finances. All those things are finite. You have to spend on the right things. And something I want to add is play stupid games, win stupid prizes. And so many people on social media, they are playing stupid games. And guess what? Even when they win, and they don't win most of the time, it's a very small percentage of people that quote unquote win on social media, they're winning stupid prizes. Oh, look at this. This post went viral for a hot second and I got hundreds of thousands of views or whatever that might be. And then nothing. Because they're playing a stupid game, they're winning stupid prizes.

11:01So think about that and only play the smart games for you and your business. We have a lot more to talk about around this topic when we get back from thanking our sponsors. The overwhelm that comes with choosing the right software and tools for growing your business is real. with so many options and so little time. How are you supposed to know which platform is best? You've got your email marketing platform, payment systems, content tools, the list goes on. It can sometimes feel like you're spending more time organizing all the moving pieces and places than actually connecting with prospects and customers.

11:34And this is where HubSpot steps in. HubSpot is the all-on-one customer platform for growing better. Imagine this, marketers generate better leads. Sales build tighter relationships with customers and closes more deals. And service supports your customers at scale with tools like HubSpot's AI chatbot and knowledge base. Plus, with built-in AI to answer common customer questions, brainstorm and write marketing content, easily pull reports and more, your teams can slash their busy work. Meaning your marketers, sales reps and service teams actually have the time to be, well, marketers, sales reps and service teams.

12:13And when they grow, the sky's the limit for your business too. Grow better, faster with HubSpot's all-in-one intuitive customer platform. Visit HubSpot.com to learn more. Penny, we're back. And some people think writing a book is the absolute best marketing tool that we can create. Others think it's a total waste of time and resources. What do you believe? As somebody who has used books to grow her business, I'm a huge fan of using a book as a business card. Part of the reason for that is, is because there's no quicker way to launch your expertise than to put together a book, right? So the book sits, you know, a book is a 24-7 sales tool, so consider this.

13:00And for those of you listening, you think, oh my gosh, writing a book, it sounds so daunting. The majority of business owners have a lot of this content at the ready. So maybe they're, maybe you keep up a blog or maybe you have white papers or whatever. I mean, I've worked with business owners who literally have, you know, a 25 ,000 word book just sitting and all it needs is just somebody, you know, to put it together in a strategic way. But a book is a really, books have a much broader value, right? I mean, we get inundated with so many ads. I don't even know, John, you probably know, but I don't even know what the number is now, how many ads that we get targeted every single day.

13:43A book has a higher perceived value. It sets you apart from the competition. And it's also a great building block for your book, right, for your business, as well as bringing in new business. it's also a great way to launch a speaking career because I've worked with folks who, you know, couldn't get speaking before they had a book and then they publish a book and all of a sudden they're getting speaking events. It is really a, it's a fantastic tool. And there are so many, I mean, you know, in the 10 years that you and I last chatted, you know, the process of going from idea to manuscript to book to finished book has gotten so much more efficient as well.

14:29So I highly encourage entrepreneurs to consider writing a book because it can expand your business in ways you couldn't have even imagined. Fire Nation, I really hope you're taking these words to heart and realizing there's a lot of ways that you can spend your time. You can do what a lot of people do and just doom scroll Instagram, or you can create something that can stand the test of time. I mean, so many opportunities, Fire Nation, when you look at them, say, hey, what are the ones that are really going to matter? Not tomorrow, not next week, but next year in five years. And again, 10 years.

15:03Look at Penny and I. Our last episode we did was April 21st, 2014. That's over a decade ago. But that episode has stood the test of time. I recommend going back and listening to it. Her UPS driver did. I got that little nugget of info before the episode. That was a cool story. So think about it, Fire Nation. Now, Penny, entrepreneurial success, it has this lore of being a wild risk-taking ride. Does this have to be the case? A lot of people don't really feel like they wanna take the risk of leaving a corporate job and leaving the security. But at the end of the day, I mean, is there really security in a corporate job, right?

15:44It doesn't have to be this wild, crazy ride, even though in the 24 years that I've been in business, sometimes it has felt a little wild. I think the more strategic that you are about what your business is going to offer versus what it's not going to offer, that takes a lot of the uncertainty and the, you know, wildness out of what this ride is. Because a lot of times what happens is, is when business owners feel like they're on this roller coaster, they're usually, I mean, maybe business is great and people are just beating a path to their door and that's a high quality problem to have. But a lot of times when they feel like they're on this out of control roller coaster, it's usually because they're in the wrong lane and they're serving the wrong people and the expectations aren't a match.

16:37And you know what I mean? And that creates this really kind of chaotic vibe that that fits in with that wild ride. So it doesn't necessarily have to be. Yes, there's a risk. But honestly, as we know, there's a risk in everything. And to me, as challenging as sometimes running a business is, it is every single day it's different. It's amazing. I would not trade 24 years having this business for anything in the world. um so but it it it never really felt wild and out of control and like oh my gosh i have to invest a million dollars in public i never i've never felt that way and it never never moved the needle for me either really penny we talked about a lot of things today i mean we've talked about finding our lane the one secret to success consistency bright shiny objects we've talked about creating a book, the entrepreneurial lore.

17:39What is the one thing that you really want to make sure our listeners get from our conversation today? I love being open to new ideas. I love being open to, as you pointed out, the bright, shiny objects. The more focused that you can be in a world that is built on distracting us from absolutely everything, right? Remember that your attention is a commodity. And I think that the more focus that you can get on who you're serving, what you're serving them, and what you can do this week to keep pushing that message out there in a consistent way and find five things that you want to do consistently and stick with those until you feel comfortable adding more.

18:28The more focused that you can be, the faster that this will start to move along because, John, you and I both know there is so much stuff buying for your attention all the time. And there's one thing that you can't, you know what I mean? You can't really put a price on attention unless you're spending it in the wrong way and you're not moving your business forward. Penny, if Fire Nation wants to learn more from you, wants to connect with you, what is your call to action for our listeners today? Check out our website at amarketingexpert.com. You can also reach me directly at penny at amarketingexpert.com.

19:08That's P-E-N-N-Y. And yes, I'm on socials and whatnot, but if you want to connect with me directly, penny at amarketingexpert.com. I'd love, your listeners are great, by the way. Thank you. I've had so many people comment on the show that I did 10 years ago. Well, a nice reunion is happening because Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with PS and JLD today, so keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com, type Penny, P-E-N-N-Y, in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up, as well as the episode from 10 years ago.

19:44So Penny, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you, and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you so much, John. It's been a pleasure. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Penny for sponsoring today's episode and Fire Nation. Are you ready to rock your very own podcast? Check out our free podcasting course where I will teach you how to create and launch your podcast for free, freepodcastcourse.com. I will catch you there or on the flippity flip side. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lance, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

20:23Matt 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.