Is there anything better than running your own business? You get to be your own boss. You’re in control of everything from your deliverables to your team. And you get to work with people you hand-pick to lead your business to success.
It’s truly incredible. If only it weren’t so damn hard.
All that responsibility comes with a whole lot of stress, and you’re so overwhelmed you don’t have the time to figure out why things aren’t working the way they should. You just want them to work. Your website, your emails, your Facebook ads. All of it. It needs to give you an ROI. Otherwise, what’s the point?
As a fellow entrepreneur, I applaud you as a hero for taking the risk of being a business owner—for creating opportunities and changing lives and shifting mindsets along the way. It’s something that not everyone can do, and you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
But I’m not going to gloss over the challenges you’re facing, especially those challenges related to ineffective marketing. Your business deserves to succeed more than anybody’s. But if you follow the wrong shiny tactics, you’re not going anywhere.
So what should you do? How can you ensure your business gains traction and lift? With my new book, The Golden Toilet, by your side, you’ll have everything you need to move your business in the right direction.
It's All About Knowing
Running a business might mean you don’t always know what you’re doing or that you’ll have to change tactics along the way—and that’s if you’re lucky enough to be around five years later and not part of the half that has already failed.
Whether you’re succeeding in spite of yourself or you have detailed plans for every possible turn your business can take (or you fall somewhere along that spectrum), the thing your business needs most is to set your business up for success with a solid, sturdy foundation.
The Golden Toilet is designed to help you do just that.
It comes with four key takeaways that will stick with you long after reading, all of which are applicable and customizable to your business whether you get help or go it alone.
What are those four takeaways, you ask? Keep scrolling. You’re about to find out.
1. The Proper Mindset (Knowing Who You Are)
Running a business requires a certain way of thinking. At least it does if you want to succeed, which I think you do.
First and foremost, you need to know that you’re a hero. Like John McClain in Die Hard.
No, seriously. You might not be Bruce Willis or spend your time wandering around in air vents, but you’re definitely a heroic figure like John McClain. Why? Because you wouldn’t even be here if you weren’t.
Let me say that again: You, dear business owner, playing the long game and risking it all, aren’t a sheep in tiger’s clothes. You’re the real deal. An actual tiger.
And until you start to believe that, until you stop letting your self-imposed roadblocks hold you back, you’ll never reach the level of success you’re dreaming about.
Not that you can’t, and not that you shouldn’t be realistic, but without a deep understanding of what you offer, you’ll subconsciously stop yourself at every turn. That’s no way to act as a hero. Heroes are the ones who save the day. Heroes have courage.
And so do you. Never forget that about yourself. If you remember what you really are, everything else will fall into place.
2. The Right Language (Knowing What You’re Building)
Just because we use the same words to talk about your business doesn’t mean we’re speaking the same language. Success might mean one thing to you and something completely different to the other guys. That’s why it’s so important to understand who your customers truly are and what matters to them.
I get it. You don’t always have the right answers. You probably take charge and figure it all out as you go. And to an extent, that’s fine. You’re a leader, a hero, and that’s just what heroes do.
But at some point, you have to take the time to listen to what your business is telling people. Are you speaking your customers’ language? Or are you spewing out keywords that don’t mean anything to anyone who isn’t Bing?
You can’t be successful when you’re speaking to search engine optimization. Search engines don’t care about the success of your business. They’re not the ones who buy your products or services. So why are you wasting your time talking to them? Instead, try understanding what your customer wants and designing an experience that makes them feel safe and understood along the way.
How do you do that?
You start with the Business GrowthStack. The Business GrowthStack is a foundation built upon the four key components of a successful business. (Clear Messaging, Marketing Automation, Sales Automation, and Strategic Campaigns). These components work together to give your customers what they want, because, if you understand what your customer wants better than anyone else, you’re already winning the game.
Now that you know that, if someone comes to you promising to grow your business, but they’re talking SEO and ad management, you know they’re offering you the snake oil of the tech age.
Reading The Golden Toilet will give you the language you need to either manage your GrowthStack yourself or hire someone who can, knowing you’re not throwing your money away in the process. It will empower your conversations and help you get back to what you do best.
3. Realistic Expectations (Knowing Where You’re Going)
I once had a client—a client who loved the work we were doing for them, mind you—tell me they didn’t feel like what we were doing was working for them. Their accounts weren’t outpacing the year before, despite our dedicated time and attention. It seemed like our collective hard work wasn’t getting them any further to their goals.
What it came down to were outcomes we had very little control over. And by that, I mean we hadn’t set proper expectations in the mind of this client when the marketing is successful.
The client didn’t understand all the moving parts of the GrowthStack. They didn’t know how to use it to not only attract a customer but sell to them. And they didn’t recognize how to use that knowledge to set expectations that were real—based on data rather than based solely on feeling.
Realistic expectations enable your employees to do their jobs, to accomplish clear goals, and to know when something is working or not because data proves it (or doesn’t). The Golden Toilet helps you understand what these expectations are and how to meet them.
When you have Clear Messaging, Marketing Automation, Sales Automation, and Strategic Campaigns in place, you’ll be able to see progress. You’ll know where you’re falling behind. And you’ll make informed decisions that will help your business to continually grow.
And don’t we all want to grow our businesses as much as possible year after year?
P.S. You might notice none of that has to do with a shiny website or appealing to our computer counterparts. The Golden Toilet isn’t about using tools to trick algorithms or show up on search pages, it’s about meeting your ideal customer where they are and making them feel safe enough to purchase your product, the thing you believe will best solve their problem.
4. Examples (Knowing How To Get There Yourself)
Examples fill the pages of The Golden Toilet because I don’t want you to just take my word for it.
There are tons of businesses out there following this advice and knocking it out of the park. Some have attracted me when I’m not even in their audience, that’s how good they are (Rachel Hollis, anyone?). And others have caught me via social media, instantly solving a problem I didn’t want to deal with (Lint Lizard).
If they can do it, so can you.
Personally, I’ve found that the easiest way to learn something is to see someone else do it. It gives you a deeper understanding of how the tactic works and what it looks like in action so you’re better prepared to tackle it yourself. And that’s exactly why I included countless examples throughout The Golden Toilet to help you learn how to apply the GrowthStack yourself.
Another good idea is to bold key phrases and calls to action. Just be careful not to over-do it. If too much is emphasized, nothing will be.
Read The Golden Toilet & Become The Badass Marketer You Were Born To Be
If you want to know how to apply these tools, if you want results from your marketing, if you want to stop wasting money on shiny tactics that don’t provide an ROI, read the book yourself. It’s jam-packed with more information covering these takeaways, examples, encouragement, and funny anecdotes from my own crazy life.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a marketing director, a StoryBrand guide, or just someone who wants to promote themselves, this book is for you.
Go get ‘em, tiger. 
