Top 7 Rules for Sales and Marketing Growth with Tim Schmidt

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Welcome to another episode of Three Minute Marketing, where we talk to some of the leading growth marketing experts from around the world and condense our discussions into three-minute micro-interviews.

We’re super excited about marketing in today’s world—now’s a great time to be a marketer. And we’ve got a really exciting guest for you today: Tim Schmidt of USCCA.

Tim’s background isn’t like your ordinary marketer’s—he was a mechanical engineer by training and ran an entrepreneurial side hustle. It took several years for that to gain traction, but now, his organization is growing rapidly and has an impressive market presence.

He is exactly the kind of unicorn entrepreneur growth marketer that we love to have on this show. And so, I have a great question for him: “What are your top seven rules for sales and or marketing success?”

Show Notes:

  • The copy you use is more important than anything else. Sure, imagery and colors are important, but words matter the most.
  • Tell great stories because they sell better than anything. The power of storytelling dates all the way to the era of the caveman.
  • What’s in it for the customer? Focus on answering that. Nobody cares about your business.
  • Keep it simple.
  • Measure, track, and test. Otherwise, you can’t improve. Make bold tests that have big impact.
  • Function beats form. Principles beat flash. If you haven’t read Eugene Schwartz in the last six months, you’re doing it wrong. Re-inventing is a fool’s game.
  • Slow execution is the kiss of death.

Bonus discussion after the recording:

  • There are only two things that will never change: analytics and copy. Study them well.
  • Partnering with brick-and-mortar locations (by offering commissions) and selling for them in person has a much higher close rate than you’d get trying to sell things online.
  • Tim’s company has a sophisticated marketing and tracking process that allows them to see just how many members they obtain and lose every day and week.

Transcript:

– [Chris] Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Three Minute Marketing, where we talk to some of the leading growth marketing experts from around the world, and we’ve packaged it all into these three minute micro-interviews that are just packed with value. We’re super excited about marketing in today’s world, it’s a great time to be alive as a marketer, and we’ve got a really exciting guest for you today, Tim Schmidt with us here, ladies and gentlemen. Tim has a really, really cool story. It sounds like, well, you’re a mechanical engineer by training, sounds like you were sort of moonlighting, starting your organization while, you know, working. So kind of, you know, entrepreneurial hustle there, got your organization going, took you several years to gain traction, it sounds like. But now you’re growing really, really fast, impressive marketing presence. So you are exactly the kind of unicorn, you know, entrepreneur growth marketer, that we love to have on this show. And so, I do have a really good question for you, and I know that we’ve spoken about this previously, so I’m super excited. The question, and your three minutes will start after I finish the question, is what are your top seven rules for sales and or marketing success?

– [Tim] Okay, Chris, I’m ready for the question. I appreciate it and thanks for the very generous introduction

– [Chris] Yes.

– [Tim] So top seven rules for marketing success and these are in the context of the points you’d have to continually make sure your marketing team as you go from just a one person team to 50 people, right, or more. Number one, copy is king. The words that you put in your ads, on your landing pages, everywhere is so much more important than anything else. More important than the colors. More important than the imagery. Don’t get me wrong, imagery is important, but the words are the most important. That’s what connects them to the heart of your customer. Number two, tell great stories, stories sell Literally, it goes back to the caveman. Tell great stories in everything. Even if it’s something as simple as a landing squeeze space, Tell a story that puts your consumer into the position where they can actually feel them experiencing your product or service and understanding, you know, the benefit. Number three, what’s in it for me. I hammer my people, my main team constantly. Okay, what’s in it for the customer? Nobody gives a rip about your company logo. They don’t care about your business. They don’t care about how long you’ve been around, except for maybe your mom. Your mom probably cares about that stuff, but your customers don’t. Everything has to be focused on what’s in it for the customer. Number four, keep everything simple. I learned this from Matt Furey. For those of you who are old schoolers, you know who this guy is he was a former disciple of Dan Kennedy, another great guy. Keep everything simple. Your campaigns, your funnels, must be understood by a twelve-year-old. If your marketing team of 30- and 40-year olds can’t figure it out, then your customer never will. Number five, measure, track, and test. This is obvious, the only things that improve in business are those that are measured and tracked. And don’t be a wimp about testing. Make bold tests, don’t test colors of buttons, that’s for the weaklings? Make bold tests. Where am I at? Number six, function, beats form, principles beat flash. Go old school. Guys, if you haven’t read something from Eugene Schwartz in the last six months, you’re not doing it right. Who cares about whether or not you have the most, the greatest, and the latest graphics. The most important thing is to, you know, follow the old school fundamentals of direct response marketing and, even if you’re talking brand marketing, still weave some direct response fundamentals in there because that’s what works, you know. Reinventing the wheel is a fool’s game, but putting new treads on that tire, that that may work. And, am I on number seven? I got 40 seconds left. Feels like I should slow down. Number seven, my favorite of all time. This is actually one of our core values, fast execution. Slow execution is the kiss of death in any project, in anything you’re doing in your life. I don’t care about whether it’s working out, or working on your relationship with your husband or wife, or raising your kid, you got to’ move fast because fast execution allows you to make small mistakes, allows you to learn from those mistakes, and it allows you to experience the most powerful force of success, which is the word, momentum.

– [Chris] Perfectly timed.

– [Tim] Did I do it?

– [Chris] That was awesome, dude! You are my marketing, like, soulmate. It’s like we’re blood brothers. All of those seven things resonated so deeply and profoundly with me.

– [Tim] Oh, good.

– [Chris] You’re like an old school, direct response type guy that studied that. Check it out, man, all day long, all day long.

– [Tim] Yes, I’m Staples, game on.

– [Chris] Hey, lets continue talking. Audience, I hope you enjoyed that. We’re going to continue talking, Tim and I. You can catch a link to our continued conversation in the show notes. Tim, in the meanwhile, where can folks find you if they want to learn more about you or your awesome organization?

– [Tim] So, Chris’s audience, I was put on this earth for two reasons. Number one, to teach people how to be responsible defenders or their family, and number two how to inspire entrepreneurs. And so, if in fact, you want to be the first line of defense for your family and learn how to be a responsible firearms owner then I’m your guy, usconcealedcarry.com or or usdca.com, tons of free information to help you on your path to what I would call a self-defense awakening.

– [Chris] Love it, alright, thank you very much, man.

Featuring:
Tim Schmidt

Tim SchmidtUSCCA

Chris Mechanic

Chris MechanicCEO & Co-Founder

Podcasts Info:
7:39
Categories:
News + Business

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