Denise Blasevick: Differentiating Your Brand

Hey there, listeners. It's Jay Cablone from the podcast. Before we get started, I wanted to share an exciting opportunity to test out some strategies from Mike's next book. No, not fix this. Next. His next book. It's a book on marketing. And he will present some strategies that you can use to stand out in the market and attract and convert more leads. Mike will be presenting these ideas in a webinar on June 11th at 5pm Eastern Time. It's totally free and you may even end up in the book. As our loyal listener, we wanted to give you the opportunity to sign up first. Just go to mikeswebinar.com to register. That's mikeswebinar.com. enjoy the show.

Okay, here we go. There's a mosquito. No, I'm clapping in the cameras for you.

I already did. I did that.

Oh, you did?

You just. I think you just like doing that.

Yeah, I think it just pumps them up.

Yeah.

Three, two.

Mine is Mike McAllen.

Here we go. My name is Mike McAllen. We're having fun here in the studio and I'm an author on a mission. A mission to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty. We're gonna do on this show and we do with every show called Entrepreneurship Elevated. Welcome to our show. I'm all excited. I gotta pump myself up for these shows, so. Well, yeah, you should put Jeremy when you edit this one. You just have all stuff in the beginning, me clapping and slapping. Cuz that's how I get jacked up.

Yeah, I'll. I'll do it.

There was a guy at the gym once, he was like, punch me, man. Punch. As I got jacked up. And someone punched him and it hurt him. He's like. And then he said, are you okay? He's like, I'm fine. And he just walked to the bathroom. Do not get fired up by hurting him.

Did that up.

No.

True story.

That was Mike. Mike's like, punch me, bro.

Punch Jake.

Jake was 10.

It was me. No, his name was like.

You should do all that clapping and slapping. Who did you slap? You did one clap.

After the clap? I did multiple claps. I'm joined in studio. Kelsey, Critical heirs. Casey, a thank you, friend. Hey, you know you have a line here. It says you can find us.

No, we stopped doing that line.

Oh, why did we stop doing that?

Because they know where to listen to us. They're listening to us right now.

Oh, that's a good point. You should just subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes.

Right? Yeah. So please subscribe Wherever you're listening.

Okay. Thank you, president.

Yeah. You can use this time to talk about the transition.

Yeah, I will. It's a great point. Thank you, Jeremy. Wow. I just say Jay Bone.

Yeah.

I didn't say J Bone. I said Jeremy. Thanks, Jeremy. Yeah. So we have a brand new show coming out called all up in your business. We are getting to the meat and potatoes of helping business. We are condensing the show so it's, it's quicker, more digestible, but we're still having some fun. It's called all up in your business. And also in studio is Amy Cortelli. Hello there, Amy. Good to see you as always.

Thank you.

We've very special guest joining us today. Denise Blasovic, personal friend of mine. We've known each other, I want to say, 15 years. I don't know if Denise remembers. I know the first time we met. Such a sushi house. Denise, if you remember. First time.

I do.

Oh, I did. Yeah. As you yawned. And we're going to talk about improving your brand and improving your business and. And Denise has a great saying. I'll let her reveal it. About being different. So we're gonna talk about that in just a second. Let that be the cliffhanger. I do want to thank nextiva, Our corporate sponsor has been supporting us now for years. Even this 305th episode. They've been with us every single episode. Could you just stop? Could you just stop?

I knew it was coming as soon as I heard it. I look over her, say anything.

I mispronounced one word, even one iota.

Clearly it's not one word.

Gosh, you are tough. So I want to thank nextiva for being our supporter. Is there anything else we have to discuss before we bring on our guest?

That's it.

Okay. Her name is Denise Blasovic. She is the co founder and CEO of the S3 agency, which is a full service creative agency that specializes in brand elevation. She has developed groundbreaking campaigns that have helped clients like Aston Martin, eight o' clock coffee and the Wyndham worldwide organization. What is your problem, Kelsey? Achieve record sales and she's helping small business just like yours. So with no further ado, Denise, welcome to our show.

Welcome, Denise.

Thank you. Thank you. I am so happy to be here. I just, I love everything you guys do and I'm really super excited to be part of it today.

And we're privileged to work with you. I know we're exploring more and more ways to partner together and it's just, you know, the foundation of a partnership is just good people connecting. And you and Adam are just good people. So thank you for the good work you do.

Thank you very much.

Last time we met, you said a wonderful saying about being different. Do you know what I'm talking about?

I do. I do. This is, like, our mantra, right? We say it all the time. All brands want to be differentiated, but few do what it takes to be different.

Yeah. So why is that true?

Yeah, it's true. Because it's easy to say you want to be different, but being different means taking what are perceived as risks. You're not doing the same thing as everyone else, like, by definition. And I think that businesses that have some success are afraid of rocking the boat, whereas being differentiated can really help them get that bigger success they're seeking. Smaller businesses that haven't achieved that level of success are really perfectly primed to come out as this differentiated brand. Then bigger brands that are smart, that go, you know what? We really got to do something differentiated so that we can continue to be successful in the future. Those are the two kinds of companies that we see really having the most success with this and the most open to it. People who are middle of the road are just afraid.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think many people are middle of the road. Why is being different a benefit?

Well, you know, it's very easy for anyone to pick out the different thing. Like, three of these things are kind of the same. The one that's not like the other. Right. As kids, we saw that on Sesame street when we were growing up, and as we get older, we can always tell the different thing. And so you don't want to just be different. You want to be differentiated in a way that is strategically sound, that will resonate and be relevant with the target consumer that you're going after. But, you know, it starts with being different and looking at what are the different possibilities and figuring out who could be your best customer and why, and what do you have to offer them that can be differentiated?

Well, you said you don't just want to be different, and maybe there's a risk associated with that. What is the risk if there is one?

Sure. You know, a lot of times when we're working with clients and we look at, you know, what's that blue sky? You look at grids, competitive grids, and where is everyone? All of your competitive competitors on this grid, and sometimes there's this big empty area, and everyone goes, oh, maybe that's where we should be. But sometimes there's a reason no one's there, because that's a good point because it wouldn't actually sell ultimately. So sometimes being different, just to be different, if it's an area that wouldn't resonate with people, that people won't plunk down money for because they don't believe it would actually benefit them, you don't want to be that different. You want to be different in the right way.

Gotcha. Now when it comes to different, is it in our branding is different in the product? Product is different in the logo. Like what makes up different?

Yeah, I'm so glad you said logo because your brand is not your logo. Your logo is not your brand.

Okay.

Your logo can represent, you know, who your brand is to people, but it doesn't make it. We've had like lots of people come to us and say, I want a logo like, like Nike or like Apple. I'm like, dude, that, that is just, it's just an Apple or it's just a swoosh. Like didn't mean anything.

Yeah, that's true.

The brand mean something and that just represents it. It could be the crappiest logo in tell my clients this, but it could be, it could be a bad logo. But if you have a great brand, people can even telegraph like, oh, I like that it's crap. Because it shows the kind of brand they are. They really care about this and not about their logo. So you know, the brand is a much bigger element. And I think that being different as a brand then lets you define what your product offerings will be. You know, you decide will we actually do this or not do this based on the kind of brand you are. That's what a really truly differentiated brand does.

You know, thinking of logos, I think of like IBM, like that was the lamest. I don't know if they even still have it, but it was just the letters IBM with lines through it. Basically it was a horrible logo. But because it was IBM, the logo took significance. It was basically the code word for the brand behind it. I'm curious, how do you extract different from a business? So we have a lot of small business listeners right now. They want to be different, but how they find what makes them different and how to leverage that.

Yeah, sure. We have a proprietary process we call our brand elevation process. It's a three step thing. And the most important element of it is a workshop that we do where we bring brands through very scientifically put together exercises that are hands on and get them thinking they have to think differently to be different. Right. You can't just do the same thing over and over again, definition of insanity, all of that. But it really stems from starting with the basics, Looking at the whole SWOT analysis. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your opportunities? What are your threats? And pushing those much further than the first things that come to your mind. I'll give you an example. We were working with a snack food company and they kept thinking about, okay, who's our competition in terms of our threats and things that are happening out there. They were talking all about other kinds of snack foods and things like that. People are eating more this kind of snack or that kind of snack. All of a sudden we said, you're just talking about packaged goods. What about apples? If people are eating healthier snacks and this was a healthier snack company, what about bananas? What about drinking a protein shake or whatever? You have to push it beyond that and then think about who is really going after eating these or consuming the kinds of things that you offer. Are those the only kinds of people that can do it? Are you just going after the same people everyone else is thinking about? All the kinds of ways you can get in and be different in serving a market. When people work from home moms or stay. Stay at home moms or millennial moms, all the moms, Moms, moms. Everyone wants to go after the people. The brands that started going after the dads had a very welcome audience of a group that was being ignored and wanted to be nurtured and would respond to people reaching out to them.

So different doesn't necessarily mean you're odd or funny. That's why I think of different. I think of, like, Savannah Bananas, this baseball team that's just doing, like a Harlem Globetrotters variant in baseball. But it sounds like you can go after underserved markets. That's different. You said the dads versus the moms.

Absolutely. But then come out and say it. You know, really own it. You know, we are all about, you know, stay at home dads, and we are sports for stay at home dads or whatever it is that you are and really go all in on that. So, oh, no, not for moms. You know, moms can do it too, but that's not who we're going after. Everything we show is about dads. All our content is about dads, all the events we do, every product we develop, all of our PR efforts, our marketing efforts, everything about it. And it's hard. It's hard because then someone has an idea and goes, I have this idea about, like, stay at home moms, and it's hard not to jump on that idea, right? Because you want to say, like, we could just expand and maybe start a different company, have a different brand. Don't, don't like, throw the idea away, but don't muddle what's special and different about your brand.

But it's a bold thing to say. I'm only for dads. What if I'm wrong? What's the consequences of picking the wrong different?

Yeah, well, then you change, right? That's why you don't want to do it just in a flip way. You really want to do like a scientific analysis of what are my opportunities? What is the underserved market? What is special about us? Sometimes it's just, what do you do? You look at all of your offerings. What's special about you? What are the things that you're missing because you're trying to do all these other things instead of focusing in on the things that are special.

Do you have some shortcuts from our listeners where they can start looking at the data on their own? Is there anything they should be looking for at least?

Yeah, absolutely. We actually offer kind of like a DIY guide on our website, which is if people email us@infohes3agency.com I can certainly send that out or I don't have a great link to give you right now on our website because we have it there. But I don't know the link, so.

I'll like your different. Very few people ask about emails. That's a good one to get the communication going. So info the s3agency.com for a DIY system.

Yeah, it's. It's our brand elevation system and it just kind of takes you through how you can do it yourself.

Okay.

And if you have questions about it, you know, feel free to, to send an email and someone, one of our brand elevators will get back to you and help you.

Okay, so everyone just email info@thes3agency.com and say, I like the brand elevation DIY system and their team will get it to you. Okay, so give me a little bit of insights like, what can I do specifically now even without looking at that system necessarily, is there certain data I should be looking for within my business?

That's a great question. So many people think, oh, what am I going to do for my brand? I need to invest in all this research. And actually you can digest. You have so much data that you don't even think about between the people that are on the team. Existing research that you can Google in five minutes. That's. That's relevant to your field. And if you take all that together and you sit through and you start going, okay, again, the SWOT analysis, I can't emphasize enough how important that is. And going through and then looking what is the weird threat? A threat really can be an opportunity. Turn that door into that wall into a door. That kind of thinking, it's about being different with your thinking and then taking it. The competitive grid, that's another thing we love to do. If you take two kinds of things, inexpensive, premium, very fast, takes a long time. Those kinds of ends of potential axes and XY them and put your brand against others and keep trying different axes, that is a great one. It's timely, it's evergreen. Those kind of things. Start looking for where your brand starts naturally pulling away from others and then where you can push it even more, that can open up a tremendous amount of possibilities.

You know, one consideration now this is going to broadcast not until May. We're recording this right in the thick of coronavirus. The environmental impact. We see the Dow Jones dropping by day. There's change afoot when. When there's economic change and economic shift. Is this an opportunity different or am I being opportunistic here?

No, I completely agree. In fact, many brands are concerned about even having marketing going on right now because they don't want to seem like they're being exploitative and they're also nervous. It's about the message that you put out there. You still want to do it within your brand tonality, but you want to figure out how can you be either helpful, what's something that you can do that's helpful or for instance, we have a client and they do health and beauty care items. What we're about to put out there for them, which will already have happened by the time this airs, is really focusing on hand moisturizer. America is washing its hands and sanitizing its hands more than ever. And you know what? That's going to do a job on our skin. I don't know if you're noticing a difference yet, but you will depending on how long this happens. And it's not just women, right. Men, kids, we all need to be moisturizing our hands so that we're not going to have these red, scaly, cracked hands that we really don't want to be showing everyone when we're on Skype or Zoom or wherever else we're connecting with each other.

Yeah, that's actually super smart. Like so what's the consequence of the consequence? Right, Right. What are people Doing now? What's going to be the next thing down the road? What. How do we. When something's not going well with branding, we've positioned ourselves incorrectly. Maybe we've make a mistake. How do we recover from a different. When it was actually working against us?

Well, I mean, depending on how bad the mistake was. Honest brands, authenticity is absolutely key. It's key just in general. People want to know about authenticity when it comes to brands, and especially the younger you go, I mean, millennials. But Gen Z are teenagers and early 20s. They want people brands. It mixes. I say people because that completely mixes for them. They want the brands and the people they work with to be honest. So if you messed up, you messed up, own it. You know, you can explain it if you need to tell them how it's going to be different and, and move on from there. I think trying to sweep things under the rug, I think those days are gone.

Yeah. It reminds me of like when Coca Cola came out, the new Coke. They finally owned it. They didn't own it right away, but they finally owned it. And there's these other companies that just go into denial and skirting and dancing around and it crushes them. What about this, the fear of different. I just want to talk more about the mindset. A lot of people, like you said, they want to be differentiated, but they don't want to do different. If I have that fear, is there something can push me over the edge to get me actually doing this?

Well, yeah, I mean, I think that if your fear of survival as a brand eclipses your fear of trying something.

Turn fear on itself.

I think that's really the way to look at it, thinking, what happens if we don't change anything? Almost always you can see how you're going to fall off the cliff of not being relevant and not having customers.

Yes.

So to be able to, if you can do it ahead of time, to proactively do it, that is the best time. But if you can't, if it's Hail Mary, then that can push you even further. Either way, again, it's the middle. It's the middle. People who either aren't about to go out of business, who aren't just starting out, the ones who are in the middle, who are kind of comfortable, it's hard to go out of that space of comfort. None of us like being uncomfortable. That's by definition, right?

Yeah. I love this time. And one last question before we let you go. Is is S3 agency, you are working with these large brands, you've made A specific shift to start helping smaller based businesses. What's the compulsion behind that? Why work with the $1 and $2 million companies as opposed to the $100 and $200 million companies?

We're very fortunate. We're not giving up our bigger clients. But what we've seen, you know, over the last 20 years that we've been in business so many times, smaller companies have come to us and we just weren't tooled to help them. And we felt like it was very unfair. These big companies have access to a lot of things that we do that help them maintain their competitive advantages. We wanted to figure out how to bring that system that we have found to be the most effective to smaller businesses. I think it's really like giving back for us. We love the direct feedback we get when we work with smaller companies and the fact that we have tweaked our system so that it can work for smaller companies and they remind us of us, you know?

Yeah, exactly.

Help the other people like us.

Right, exactly. Well, thank you for supporting us because a small business is the backbone of our economy. Where can people learn more? Denise, about S3 agency.

Just go to the S3 agency.com. that's t h e letter S like Sam 3 like pigs.com agencies 3 like pigs agency.com.

So the S3 agency.com. all in the show notes. Denise, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thanks so much, Mike and everyone. See you soon.

We'll see you. Be safe, be well.

You too.

All right, that's the new departing words. Be safe, be well. Used to be like, hey, wishing you good, good times. Now it's like wishing you washed him.

Is that what you always said?

What did you always say?

Wishing you good times.

I always said that?

That's always. I've heard you so many times say.

That, you know, I'm wishing you good times, Kelsey. Dude, how many times I've left you messages, I'm like, hey, Kelsey, I started to doubt my own judgment. Whenever I leave you a voicemail, I usually say, wishing you good times.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I could pull one up from the record.

You saved my messages. What do you say when you say goodbye? It's nice. Be safe, be well. Is it always that you say goodbye, but now you're saying, oh, yeah, you do. Okay, bye.

I love the hand gesture that way.

Well, she does. She goes, okay, so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna recap what we learned from Denise. We are going to. Are we gonna play another Game today.

Yes.

Wow, you've really put a lot of work into this, man. Thank you for what you're doing.

I have more games than rolling out.

Oh, dude, you're just a stud.

Because. Because I want to switch it up a little bit.

But before we do that, I do want to thank our corporate partner, nextiva. Voiceover IP phone system. You know, they're different in their own way. They're different to do the quality of service and their concentration on small business. A lot of those phone companies, they say, you know what, we're going to go disco big. It's a high end technical system. Might as well charge clients a high end price and go big. But they said no. Our focus is in small business. And actually their story is so powerful. The founder, Thomas Gorney is fighting for the small business guy. I actually wrote about his story and fix this next, my newest book. At the very end. It's such a compelling story. He has a hick. A hick. He has a thick hick accent. He's got a thick accent. Polish, German combination. He was born in Poland, moved to Germany. It's a thick accent. And people in the US when he was trying to build a business here, thought because he spoke slowly and had difficulty with some words, that he was, you know, not the sharpest guy and would think slowly. And his response, not to them, but he's like, because I think. Because I speak slowly does not mean I think slowly. And he would use that to his advantage. He used that perception of a weakness to become a strength and won over business. Now they are, I think, the third largest phone provider in the country. It's a powerful story of using your weakness, that swat, as an opportunity.

I thought you were going to say that that was their newest feature. Gets rid of his accent. When. Could you imagine through the phone. Yeah, dude.

If it actually could fix slurred and messed up words, I'd use that phone system to do our podcast.

Did they yell at you or something? Because you haven't done any of their features for a long time.

Oh, I haven't done that in a while. No, no, I've just been lazy. I've been lazy. All right, so what do we learn? You want to push the what we learn button? Is there a button for that?

Oh, we don't have that one.

Okay.

Yeah, I need to. I need to get that one.

Okay. Jay Bone, why don't you start us out?

I mean, really simple. Be authentic. Yeah. I mean, I think that that matters more today than. Yeah, than ever.

Yeah.

Because people are smart and they can. They can read through you. You see, like these companies that think they're falling people, they're not fooling anybody.

That's so true. Right? Yeah, you're. You can't hide behind lies. Be bold. I love that. And she said, don't muddle your idea.

Yeah, that's what I said.

Oh, sorry, guys.

That's mine.

That's why I'm so happy.

Oh, how does it feel to have my take?

I thought that was really powerful because I think that is the execution of different. You can say we're caring for dads. You can say it on your website, you know, saying, hey, we care for dads and moms.

You.

You can muddle it and blend it, or you can say definitively this is dad zone, period. And I think we're so afraid of alienating some people that we're alienating everybody.

Yeah, I agree.

That's a good one.

Okay. What was your skills?

I liked when she said you have to take action when your fear of survival as a company eclipses your fear of taking the risk. Right. I think in today's market.

Yeah.

Our biggest threat is just complacency. Like, it moves so fast. Our younger generations have such a. Their attention moves so quickly that I feel like you have to be constantly on to the next thing and doing it the best and being ahead of the curve. So I think it's really important that we take those risks.

Good takeaway.

I'm repeating what you said, Mike. Don't muddle what makes you different. And I also was. Was thinking that a logo is not a brand. I had never thought of that before. And it's really, really true and really important.

I. With my first company, I spent at a thousand dollars to start the business. I spent a thousand dollars in getting a logo designed. And no one gives a crap.

Right?

No one gives a crap.

Yeah.

It's amazing. But you don't think of that. I mean, I wouldn't think of.

No. I'm like. I'm like, this is such a defining piece, but it's all ego for me. It was important, but not single client. Nobody's know recalled it, remember it. They could barely remember the company name.

A logo matters. When you. When you stand for something and you get to a certain point.

Yes.

Where it can reference back.

Yes.

But until then, it's a symbol.

Yeah, it's a great symbol, but that's all. It doesn't stand behind something that doesn't matter.

Right.

Yes. It has to symbolize something. Right. It's the lies part, the symbolize part, that people miss it.

It's the lies.

I wish I had a symbol, but.

Not an L, I, E, S, L, I, E, Z.

Which is funny though. You said it's the lies.

Symb. Lies. I spell symbolize. S, Y, M, E, L, Z, E, I, Z, E I, Z, E. Oh. What I say I, Easy. I, E, Z, D, R. They are silent. Okay, easy, easy, easy. Actually, when Amy started dating Chris, that was her line. Easy, easy.

Why are you encouraging him?

That was a good one.

What the hell?

That's the worst. And you're wondering why you should have worn that fake mustache from a few episodes ago and why. So that youth weren't. You said you're easy. This is not against Chris.

He's gonna come here and kick your ass, Mike.

He will kick my ass.

He's gonna.

I'm trying to befriend him before he destroys me. Either that he's. He's gonna love on me or he's gonna destroy my life. It's one or the other with Chris, you know, I. Easy. And if. But listen, if even with that line that you use to pick up guys, if you had a mustache on, you have been protected, if you were in.

Your mustache wearing my mustache and grunting, I. Easy.

Here's the challenge. Here's the challenge.

How did the next time it turn into an anti assault safety measure?

It's a great safety measure. I am telling you, I dare you.

I dare you to go into a dark alley.

Yeah. All you need is the safety.

It's called the safety stash. You've heard of the safety stash?

Yeah.

I'm gonna order some safety stashes for you all and we'll just test in the office.

Yeah.

So next time, suspect, next time we have a guest come in, I want Amy to sit there and just go I easy with her mustache on. And let's just see how people respond. I bet you no one approaches her. That's my guess.

I would actually like to do a poll. I think it takes a very special woman who can say that they want a man with a mustache.

Just a mustache.

Just a mustache.

Yeah.

No. Yeah.

Oh, really?

Beard?

Yeah.

I don't think that exists.

Yeah. I don't know. The beard works though, right?

I have a. Yeah, I love beards.

I have a friend, Joe. He wears just the mustache and he rocks it.

He rocks.

There's somebody who is like, historically had it for a long time. They can get away with it, but yeah, yeah.

Tom Selleck, he pulls it off Like Tom. Who's Grant? What's his last name? No, no, Old generation. Didn't Craig have like a pencil mustache or my thing?

No, you're thinking of Butler.

Butler Rap Butler.

Rhett Butler from Gone with the Way. Yeah.

Oh, nice acting. She throws her hand up in the air. Charades. Wow. Even your scarf went flapping. Republic. That did that work or was that. It looks a little.

I don't know, maybe for that time. If somebody did that now I'd be.

Like, no, Tom Selleck. It works though, right?

Yeah, but he has a thicker mustache.

No, he's a very bushy. Yeah, that's not the right choice of words. There's certain words. He's got a bushy mustache. It's not.

It.

It's a thick mustache.

Yeah.

Do you know that Amy thinks that she has a mustache?

Really?

Why are we bringing that up? Kelsey?

So she got a matching microphone to mine and I said we could be shunning Sunny and Cher and I would be Sunny because I'm shorter than her and I think share is. Is taller than Sunny.

I said that's absolutely ridiculous because clearly she has the sher hair and I'm already sporting the mustache.

That's. Oh, you have a mustache?

No.

So what do you do? How do you maintain? Cuz I don't see a mustache.

I just brush it every morning.

Oh, you do you bleach it?

No.

It's there though. I just don't want you to getting any closer than you are right now.

We need a light on either of.

You get any closer than you are.

We'll get a close up picture for the social media scene.

Most of my late 40s.

Are you in facial hair?

I think so. I. I think everything's just fall in the pot.

Wow. Wow.

Well, there's another thing. We talk about hair popping up.

Back hair, chest hair.

I'm trying to grow the hair on my head. My wife actually said. She says see it?

Turn around.

Oh, let me hear it. Look at my head. Tell me if you think there's more. Be honest.

Okay.

I think there's less. Seriously?

You think I've lost.

Oh, I've never.

Without a side by side, I can't.

Yeah, yeah. It's definitely, I mean thin and going away. Do you think it's less?

It looks. It looks less.

Okay. So Chris accounted me a few weeks ago and she was. I think you're getting your hair back. I'm like, I don't know.

Chris is just wise.

Yeah. She could just be saying that.

Yeah, yeah.

It doesn't look it. It's.

You've got a lot of coverage, like, you know.

No, dude, don't. Don't. You're. Dude. I appreciate the integrity. That was a tough conversation we just had. Remember last week's episode?

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

How's it make you feel that I have less hair?

Not good. I don't want people to be in my position. I appreciate when people have thick full hair.

Oh, I don't have thick full hair, dude. Yeah, I. I'm trying to get that. I'm hoping a pill comes out or something. Will someone invent something for this?

I know somebody. Get on it already.

I think the purpose.

Or maybe we do a transplant from your mustache.

My head?

Yeah. No, from your mustache to my head.

So if your testostero levels weren't high, you wouldn't be. You wouldn't be losing your hair.

I thought higher testosterone.

Yeah, because it converts to dht.

I believe it's so. I wonder if I need to throttle down my testosterone.

Well, there. You got too much.

Add more fl.

You're too much. Too manly, too.

I don't know if testosterone translates.

Why do you keep saying.

Is it testosterone? Testosterone.

Testosterone.

Testosterone.

Toyota, Toyota, Toyota.

We are. We are going to be so over.

All right, let's see. Let's roll. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

So do you want to do the. We got a question.

Oh, yeah, let's do it. Okay. So play the game. Do we even play the game yet? Do it live. I can all write it and we'll do it live. Yes.

Okay. So this question is from. Oh, she's got the best email address. I won't. I'll tell you later. But she says she sells candles. Her name's Jillian and she's. She does very well in person, but she needs to increase her online sales and reach a wider audience. So basically she just is looking for advice on how to close the gap. Gap between doing well in person and getting better online.

Julian came to our office, right.

She didn't, but she's making us candles.

Oh, I was. Who came to our office that made those candles? Because. Because that's what I'm thinking of. When? Two years ago.

Oh, Neylana.

Your memories. Unbelievably. Yeah. You are sharp.

She is our people.

So Nailana came to our office and she.

Elena.

I think it's Nilana, but Nilana Nayelina came to our office and she made. They're called mad hat or with the hatter. What was the hat from Harry Potter. What they Call that the selecting selection.

The choosing hat, the selective hat. The what is that?

Something like that.

I forget.

Let's call it the selecting chooser hat. It's both. Have you ever worried about not having enough cash on hand? You know what I'm talking about. A line of credit from Financing Solutions is the ultimate cash backup plan because it costs nothing when not being used, and it's easy. Get in place. As a loyal listener to my podcast, if you visit fscreditline.com today and put Mike in the referral section, Financing Solutions will give you a $250 credit on file. You never know when you might have an emergency. You know what I'm talking about again. So don't wait. Get your line of credit in place today. So she made these selecting chooser hats that you'd burn the candle and at a certain point when it melted down, it would tell you the type of house you had.

Effective.

Yeah.

Cool. That's what I suggest Jillian does is you have to create something that's very unique for a specific established community. We've actually had conversation with her and there's an entrepreneurial community. So the idea we threw her way. You want to tell the idea?

Yeah. So I said, I mean, because we give out gifts to folks like when Mike will speak at events, or they just do something nice for us, we'll send them a gift. And so I asked if she could make special labels, customized labels just for us that are sort of entrepreneurial minded. So I think I forget what I told her, but something like about creativity and whatever that kind of spurs when somebody's in that space that can help them. In that. In that.

Yeah. So the idea is start speaking, doing something specific to a community. So not just candles for everyone, candles for a specific community, and then start speaking to that community. That's how you build your list. The second thing is, if they're already being gifted, how do you capture that momentum? I would include a card with it saying, enjoying this candle. We'd invite you to get another candle for on us or half off. Because the thing is not the candle, but it's the contact with that person. So I'd say, hey, why don't you get a free candle from us? And now you start building a list from people that have your candle, you know.

Cool.

Yeah. And Elena's. Her company is called Book Sense. It's cool. So she bases around, like different books. That's Howlander is one of her, one of the other.

The selector. Chooser hat.

Yeah. Yeah. So it. She really niches down into these markets that have, like, fandom, and they want these products around these established communities.

Go into established niche communities.

That's awesome.

That was rock and roll.

Cool. All right, guys. Well, we got.

Did you make a candle that grows hair on my head? I just drip the candle wax on my head. This big mat that'll work.

Or it'll dry, and then we just stick hairs right into it.

I like that.

That's a good one. Oh, all right. Do you guys want to do a game?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

So what is.

What's the fake one? So good.

All right, here's the thing. This one's, I think, going to be one of the toughest ones.

I think they were all pretty tough.

Yeah. All right, number one, cell phone horn. If your phone is like most of the speaker phones, it's not loud enough. The solution, Giant horn speaker for cell phones. Just like those famous alphorns of Switzerland in the recall ads. The phone horn comes with a wooden stand and will amplify your phone speaker by up to 30 decibels.

I wonder how. How long is. Is there any dimensions? Is that included in the description?

Oh, I didn't include dimensions.

Okay, okay, that's fair. That's fair. I wonder if it's the size of the wrinkle, the horn where you'll be across the room from your cell phone. That'd be awesome. I want two of those now.

I actually heard. I actually heard those horns when I lived there. It was amazing.

Really? And they're very bassy, right? Yeah, yeah, they're huge.

They're. They're.

Does anyone ever go up, like, when you blow the horn, it always goes. I never hear him go, like, when you blow a Ricolo horn, it's always dropping. Did you notice. Did you notice most horns of that size? It's a drop in at least one octave. Yeah.

I like how you speak so authoritatively about things that you have no idea experience with.

Do I look convincing at least? He's so adamant, he started to doubt my own judgment.

All right, number two, build your own power strip. Ever buy a power strip? Only to fill it up and run out of outlets with the builder strip. Power strip. Each piece is a standalone piece that can be added to another, much like a set of Legos.

Good idea.

Never get caught with your cord down again.

Oh, cute. That's a Jeremy ad right there.

Well, the copy is always.

Yeah, that was good. Sounds a little dangerous. I just want to add that.

Yeah, and I wonder how it, like, works for, like, connectivity in terms of electric itself.

Oh. But you know, you know what I'm like, It's like they.

I understand. Yeah, I think it's a good concept.

And finally, we have the long distance pillow. Solving the problem of loneliness and missing your significant other while away on a work trip or through a long distance relationship can be tough.

Yeah.

The long distance pillow gives a sense of comfort knowing your lover is sleeping at the same time you are. Using a series of sensors, the pillow will light up softly when the other person is lying on it along with yours, so you feel like you're sleeping right next to them.

Interesting. Weird.

Yeah.

A little gross.

I thought you were going to do that boyfriend pillow again.

Oh, no, that's been done.

So, the long distance pillow. So say you and I have a long distance pillow because it could be guys.

Yeah.

And you put your head down, all of a sudden it's like yours lights up. Oh, just lights up. It just lights up. Yeah, I'm trying to, I'm like, just falling asleep. You put your head down?

Yeah.

Oh, I don't like that.

No.

I want one anyway. All right, I'm gonna go first. I, I.

What if you, like, get up in the middle and I go to the bathroom and then go back? Like, go off and on and off?

Yeah, it probably does, right?

Or you're moving away on a trip and, like, your pillow starts flashing.

Yeah.

Oh, there's somebody's house sitting for you.

Your significant other's cheating.

Oh, it's a cheat detector.

Yeah.

Oh, it's flashing. I like that. That's fun.

You didn't get the visual as soon as he said that?

No, he totally got the visual. My mind was already going to the cell phone horn.

Yeah.

I think I've set myself up for a trap here. I was gonna say the cell phone. Cell phone horn is nonsense. And the reason I can say that, the reason I was going to say that is because I visualize this massively long Ricolo horn. I think it might be a short horn.

Right.

So that's. Now I'm back. Like, that could be real.

Yeah.

I think the pillow is so ridiculous that it probably is true. So I'm gonna say it's false, though.

Okay.

So I say the horn. The pillow is false.

The pillow is false. Okay.

I feel like you're setting us up. I feel like that's the whole point of the game. I'm gonna say the power strip one. I think that's really great, actually. Maybe it makes sense if you just, if you just plug into the other One. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm just gonna go with the pillow.

Okay. Pillow.

I say the power strip is for false, and I think I've seen the pillow.

Okay, hold on.

Wait. She said the power strip is forced. And you're like. If I said that, you'd be like.

Didn'T I fix it, though?

You did, yeah. I try to recover within a second too, but this one starts maniacally elderly.

So she gives me a little bit of a.

Is it her mustache? Is it her mustache?

I feel bad.

You feel bad.

All right, the winner is Amy.

Whoa.

Surprise.

You're dominating.

So the build a power strip is fake.

How can that be fake? That's such a good idea.

I know.

That work, people.

Well, if it's an actual plug on the other side. So, like, you know how the microphone.

I couldn't hear you.

So if it's like a prong, like the prongs plug into the next prong. I feel like electricity could still flow without there being some kind of wired connection. Right?

Yeah. So when I looked this up, I was actually amazed that it's. It's not a real thing.

Yeah.

Like, because all you would need is the one. The last one in the chain would have the cord, right?

Yeah.

And then you can just connect as many. But I think people would do it.

And have 30 of them on problem.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, the fire risk. Amy, you are good.

Yeah. But the. The long distance pillow is real.

Yeah, I've seen it.

That's crazy.

It's so weird.

I want it. I wanted it for all those years that Christopher was on the road. It would have been nice to know when he was going.

Yeah. And when I was going, wait, would you really know?

Yeah. But here's the thing.

Yeah. He puts a book down. You're like, oh, he's going to sleep. He's like, I'm out smoking cigars.

So that's what I was thinking. So, like, let's say you talk a bit little. The phone, and you're like, all right, I'm going to sleep. All right, love you. Good night. And then you. You lay down, but your pillow doesn't light up. And you're like, wait a second. Did he just go out? Like, what is he doing?

Yeah, we could have had a lot of partying. That's true.

Yeah. What if it doesn't synchronize? What if you actually are sleeping but it's not connected via WI Fi?

It's almost like, I don't care when you're sleeping? Like, I gotta get my sleep.

I don't care.

Yeah, we have enough fights about, like, if the location services aren't working properly, like, sometimes it'll say. He's like, why are you in Princeton? He's like, I'm not in Princeton.

Oh, yeah.

And I'm like, no, that's a real.

Thing you guys do.

Oh, Krista.

I feel like I always see that on tv. I'm like, who does that?

Yeah.

So Krista, she's like, I got a text one day. She's like, I was at the airport. She goes, enjoying Baskin Robbins. I'm like, what? I look up, I'm right next to a Baskin Robinson. You can zone in. Yeah. I was like, this is. Oh, my God, this is gross.

Mine just gets it wrong. Apparently. Apparently.

And I punched my pillow and she's like, ah.

In the distance, the funny thing, the cell phone horn is real. And it does come on a wooden stand. It's about this big.

Yeah, I feel like I've seen that.

Yeah. And so you just put your phone in it and then you can play music in it. Yeah, it'll like, fill up this whole room. It's great. Pretty cool.

I'll take two. Yeah, we better get the hell out of here.

Yeah, let's get out of here.

Okay, so I want to first thank our guests for listening in. You know, we're wrapping up the entrepreneurship elevated show. We're starting a brand new show called all up in your business. It's the the best of the best content, short, concise, actionable, and subscribe right now. So look for all up in your business and subscribe. We'll see you over there. And I also want to encourage you to check out my brand new book called fix this Next. It launched April 28th. It is a game changer if you want to find what your business needs you to address. You know, you need to know what to fix next. So read Fix this Next. You can go to Fix this next dot com. Let's get out of here.