January’s book is how to win friends and influence people. Who’s joining me reading the book this month?

I go through bouts with marketing my company where I feel limited in how I can market. Home services aren’t sexy. They fill a need. So how many people are really gonna watch my Instagram posts about bugs and pest control? Who gets excited to see Green Machine pop up in their feed? Probably not many people. Maybe you feel the same way? Here’s my list of what ideas I use to get out of that funk. My marketing posts should be… - Are super entertaining - Show the craziest jobs - Show things going wrong - Are heartwarming - Create a new sense of urgency - Give back to the community - Give them something to do - Show your personality - Pull back the curtain on looking professional - Show the viewer how to do something themselves - Are something people would share - Include someone from another industry Try some of these! They make a big difference in how people view your business. I’ve got one more that worked EXTREMELY well for us. It got us exposure to 25,000 new REAL buyers last year. I’m talking warm leads. I’m gonna make a course to show you guys exactly how to do it. It takes you out of the home services category completely and puts you in the fun category, which makes your marketing more watchable and gets people engaged with your business. Keep your eyes open for a new course coming soon! Which of these did you like the best? Which ones are you already leveraging? Put it in the comments!

I have found that a really good sales rep will pay for themselves and maybe even teach you a few things. Not just a good one. A phenomenal sales rep. They come with experience and they may have a few tricks you haven’t seen. And if they came from a bigger company, they may have seen the service done differently or better than yours so leverage that employee’s knowledge to see if you could be more efficient or take on a new service. Sales is one of the easiest positions to manage. 1. Set their minimum quota based on sales from each month last year + 5%. 2. If they don’t hit that number, put them on a PIP. For the next 3 months they have to hit 80% then 90% then 100% of quota. If they miss a month, they get let go. 3. Set their commissions to grow AFTER they hit their minimum quota. Our reps are required to hit $50k. Once they hit their number, their commission grows only 1-2% at a time for the first 3 levels. And then it grows increasingly after that. This is to set the standard that at the minimum, you won’t make much money. But if you push past that you will make boatloads. This mitigates your risk and reserves a fat payday for the sales rep to the point when you can afford it. 4. Know when it’s time to hire your next sales rep. How many leads or appointments can one rep handle? What thresholds will you create so you have guidelines to make your next hire?

Buying back your time is important. We all spend time doing “what’s necessary” to keep our business running each day. What are your favorite 3 things you did to buy back your time?