Josh Latimer recently joined Liz Trotter and her guest host Olu Auguste on Smart Business moves to share some Marketing tips, talk about the importance of having courage, and share his thoughts on the four levels of value.
Josh is the absentee owner of a multi-million dollar SaaS software company and owns equity in 7 other successful ventures ranging from local home services, commercial real estate, marketing, and video production. In his interview, he shares that with his latest venture, he now has over ten businesses. Josh spends most of his time showing his clients how to quickly find millions in hidden revenue using asymmetrical marketing concepts that often go unnoticed by the naked eye.
Josh Latimer is someone who has been able to face his fears time and time again and grow successful businesses from his ideas; you don’t want to miss his tips. Keep reading to hear some of the insight he shared during his time on Smart Business Moves, and be sure to take a look at the full video to see the interview in its entirety.
Josh believes that the first thing you need in order to grow a successful business is courage; he says courage is simple, but in his family, their definition of courage is “doing what you know is right even while you feel afraid,” he acknowledges that anyone who has a business has probably at some point been afraid, whether it’s financial or emotional, but moving through your fear and doing what you feel is right anyway is what makes a person brave. So before we dive into anything else, remember the first step to starting a business, or scaling a business, is having that courage within yourself to take the next step, whatever that may be. In a marketing sense, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, stand out, and be different.
What are the Four Levels of Value?
During the interview, Josh talks about the Four Levels of Value, which he learned from his friend Myron Golden. The four levels of value are implementers, unifiers, communicators, and then finally, those with imagination and ideas. The goal for many is to move from the lowest level of value to the highest, but in order to do that, sometimes you have to face your fears. Let’s talk about what these levels of value are for a moment.
The lowest level of value are your implementers, these are also the people who make the lowest amount of money. These are the people doing the hard work, implementing it, but when you’re an implementer, your one resource you have is your muscles. The third level is made up of unifiers, these are your managers and supervisors. These people are paid higher than the implementers, though are still required to use their muscles here, and also still have a cap on their income.
The second level of value is called Communication. Josh poses a question everyone should think about: “How you become articulate? Witty? Quick? How do you learn to emphasize your words [and] use tonality and pacing…” he goes on to explain “because it’s a superpower.” Communicators can move people and become an influence, no matter the size of the company. Communicators both inspire and motivate.
Lastly, the highest from of value creation is Imagination, these your inventors (the Elon Musks and Walt Disneys of the world). The idea for many is to move up the value ladder, most get their starts as implementers, with the idea that you can gain skills and a voice along the way to eventually make it to the top level and become the one with the ideas.
Josh says “everything that you are destined for, everything you could ever want is on the other side of hard things … everything shouldn’t be hard forever, but if you’re not willing to just get a little dirty, nothing is going to change… you’ve got to go for it and stop apologizing for wanting more.” So take the advice, don’t hold back, and go after what you want. It all starts with a little courage to scale your business.
Non-Verbal Marketing and Crafting Your Best Job Ad Yet
Now, if you wish to start a business or grow a business, then you will need to think a lot about how you want to market yourself and your company. When you’re thinking about Marketing your business, Josh says non-verbal signaling is something many people overlook, but it really needs to be considered. There are signals that many don’t consider that are communicating ideas about your business to its consumers, this can be things as simple as how many rings did it take before you answered the phone, or what did your email signature look like. Every little thing can make an impact on your potential clients or employees.
He says “Marketing is a deep rabbit hole and behavioral psychology plays into it,” using the example “German beer sales go up if they play German music in the background,” and if you’re curious what this has to do with your cleaning business, the answer is everything. Every signal that you put out can be received by your consumers, even if it is subtle and non-verbal. This is relevant to any business, because non-verbal signals are equally as important, so Marketing needs to be thought about as a strategy in everything that you do.
As a business owner, it’s important to remember that even you’re recruiting process is marketing, so put a lot of thought into the structure and the content of your job’s advertisements. For example, instead of putting “Cleaning Technician Needed Part Time,” consider a hook in your job ad. A hook will make you stand out; just like any other ad, you need something that will encourage people to click.
He then says the only thing you should see under the hook is a Stack, and this is highlighting everything the employee would get by choosing your company. Think “When you work with us, you get this…” and below that, you list every perk and benefit you can imagine, even if it seems obvious like Holidays off or your own desk. Most job ads that we see start with a description of the job, which is important, but what your potential employees are looking for are what benefit will they get from this partnership, and putting every single benefit they have at the top of your job ad will make you stand out, and will answer a lot of important questions they have before either of you go further.
Another Marketing Tip offered by Josh Latimer in his interview is use video as a strategy. He says if you can create a simple, funny video that is viral in the area you service, it can totally change your business by getting more people in front of you. People are now growing successful businesses faster than ever by growing and changing with technology and using technology to their advantage. He encourages business owners to think of their business as a marketing business; for those of us in the residential cleaning industry, he would suggest thinking of your company as a Marketing Business who specializes in Residential Cleaning. With that mindset, growth is more than possible because you are standing out and getting your name in front of more people.
Josh closes out his interview by saying, “I just want to tell people that you’re meant for way more than you think. You’re valuable, you’re irreplaceable, you’re indistinguishable, you ARE one of a kind. Think bigger, move faster, and have courage.” To listen to the full interview, you can find it here. If you prefer podcasts, you can also search “Smart Business Moves” anywhere you listen to podcasts to catch up there.
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