Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: You're listening to the Brand Alchemy Podcast with your hosts, Jared Asher and Jared Break, where we uncover the stories and truths of real entrepreneurs and their journeys of growth and brand transformation. For more information, go to www.timelesscreative.com.au/boardroom
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Hi, everyone.
[00:00:35] Speaker C: How you going? Welcome back to the Brand of Podcast where we uncover the stories of entrepreneurs who've transformed their vision into reality. I'm Jared Asher Herring, joined by my co host, Jared Break. Hey, everyone, Jared here.
[00:00:48] Speaker D: Thanks for coming along to another episode.
[00:00:51] Speaker C: Great to have you here, guys. We've got a special guest, a very good friend of mine. I've had years and years and years of back and forth between us. We've got a long history in business together. Very excited to share his story and unpack that with him today.
Right. Welcome to the podcast, Mr. Aaron Witness. How are you, buddy?
[00:01:09] Speaker B: I'm fantastic, mate. It's very exciting to get to chat to your fine self and to Jared. It's going to be easy to remember names today.
[00:01:17] Speaker C: So for, for you guys listening in today, Aaron Witnish, just a bit of an introduction for who he is. He is a Melbourne based entrepreneur, co founder of a brand called Content Only, specialising in the concept of 30 days and 30 minutes, which is a very powerful content creation system. I've seen it in action and it is great. Aaron's in his 15th year of business, running an agency, collaborating with the likes of Grant Cardone and other notable influences along the way. A lot of reputation there and it's very exciting to see where he's come from. He's also spoken at 100 plus live events, been interviewed as an expert guest on 50 plus podcasts, and host the weekly content marketing podcast of his own with which has over 75 live episodes. Welcome, Aaron Witnish.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Thanks, mate. I guess you can put anything in a bio these days. That actually made me sound pretty good. Thank you.
[00:02:10] Speaker C: I was reading, going, wow, I want to know this guy.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Awesome. It's really nice to be able to have this conversation. I'm excited to see where it goes.
[00:02:19] Speaker C: That's awesome, mate. Well, look for the guys that are listening in today.
Yeah. Do you want to give us a bit of a snapshot for your background? I want to know more into the Aaron Witness journey and the story behind the master mastermind in the industry here in Australia. As I said, we've known each other for a long time, but for the listeners listening in.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: Do you want to elaborate more on that, please?
[00:02:41] Speaker B: As going back, it's always like, I need my therapist here to revisit Some of the things that have happened, it's always a bit of a bumpy ride when you go down the path of entrepreneurship. But it all started 2008 is probably the year that stands out. And back then the Internet was a very different place. A lot of the social media platforms that exist today were either in their infancy or they weren't live yet. And back then what I did was I brought the licensing rights to digital products in very narrow niches and I would run these Google Ads to sales pages that I would write because you could get very cheap traffic back then and sell the products directly. And that's how I kind of cut my teeth into online marketing. And then how the agency side came about is people knew that I was advertising and doing these things online and generating very small amount of sales, I'll say, and asked for a bit of help getting themselves and their businesses online. And that was kind of the catalyst for what's become 15 years later and still been in the agency space today.
[00:03:44] Speaker C: Fantastic. And you know, obviously you and I, we've known each other for a long time. Aaron and I could go into the nuts and bolts of our journey. But look for everyone listening in, I'll just share with you. We, we met each other at Australian Institute of Coaching which is very passionate days for me. There's a lot of profound learnings and lessons back then. But for you, as what was it like for you to share, share some insights to, to that journey?
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Well, I met the great man Jack Murray and I remember we're on level seven of this building in South Melbourne and we both had the same strategy. We're actually at a company just learning the ropes and seeing how it ran at that time to some intel. And the first words that came out of Jack's mouth were how can I contribute to your success? And I thought, geez, I got to get around this guy. And we started hanging out, we'd go out for lunch and we had businesses and we were supporting each other and we decided to go and co found a venture of our own and Jack had built a really strong foundation in the coaching space and there weren't too many options of people that wanted to go and study and get qualified in the life coaching space. So we set up a joint venture with a rto, a registered training office and we sold diplomas was the product for life coaching. And so that was a business that we co found and got off the ground together. And that's how we crossed paths, mate. So that's, that's kind of the backstory to AIC.
[00:05:12] Speaker C: It was. It was an exciting time and I got a lot of personal things that was. That was profound for me. And I left the corporate world during that time and you guys helped me make that transition. And I really and dearly appreciate and thank you, both of you, for helping me do that. Because it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here today where I am. I can. I can tell you that right now. As so, mate, thank you for that.
I. I do remember lots of things being in that, that time, and I was involved in AIC as well, in helping grow the business with both you guys for. For a period of time, too.
But for everyone listening in, do you want to share, you know, more about the diplomas and I guess some of the case studies that you personally found and people entering into the coaching journey?
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Back then, we had a very simple marketing strategy and it worked really, really well. And in today's current landscape of marketing, I think you can draw a lot from the simplicity of this. So we had a information pack about the diploma. We had a few consultants that would liaise about the course and helping people get started, and we just ran Facebook ads and people would download the information pack for the course via our website, and then we would call them up and have a chat, see what their goals were, what they wanted to achieve as a coach, and that was a business model. Then people would enroll, come, study and do their diplomas. Now, through that process, as you mentioned, met a lot of incredible people. Yourself right at the top of that list. My wife, funnily enough, Paula, was actually one of the people that showed up to a webinar where we were teaching how to get qualified as a life coach. But also the business side, how do you get coaching clients? And one thing led to another and there was an application call and we ended up meeting up in person. There was clearly chemistry, and we ended up going down the path of started dating and got married. But there's just so many incredible people that came from that part of my life, and there's plenty of them that I'm still connected with on social media that were just basically taking. Making a transition from, say, a corporate setting like you were jazz into. I want to create a life where I'm designing it. I'm my own boss. And seeing what they've created, think it was probably 2014, 2013 were the years that we were really driving AIC back then. And to see them have done that, step out, build these empires and have these incredible lives with incredible families it's really rewarding to know that you're somewhat of a catalyst in, in those parts of their lives that have come together today. So there's a lot of stories, but it's very fulfilling to look back and see what's happened for a lot of those people.
[00:07:58] Speaker C: Absolutely, mate. And what you just mentioned then about Paula, I actually, I remember the conversation you and I had on the phone as. Because we had numerous conversations and the first one we had was like, oh, yeah, one of the, one of the students, Paula, we're going to go out on a date. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. And then we had a conversation about maybe I'd know a year later. I'm like, oh, we're going to get married for sure. I'm going to marry this woman.
It's just amazing to see, you know, just those amazing things that can come out of those journeys. Hey, and one of those is, is obviously Paula. So that's awesome. And now you've got a young family too, Aaron.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I got little Bailey, 7, and he's at school. And your life changes a lot from when you're just a young man in business on your own, sort of punching the clock and doing whatever it takes to now having all these additional responsibilities. And I think being a parent is one of the biggest teachers that I've had in life. And it's a really good mirror for yourself as a human being and as an adult and definitely the most fulfilling and rewarding part of my life. But like anyone that's been. Been a parent, it also is. Is quite challenging and that's what I love about it. And all of a sudden the world doesn't center around, you know, you anymore. This beautiful little creature that you'd never met comes in and all of a sudden everything to you. And I just love how you see someone that hasn't been a parent go through that experience where now they've got a child and it completely turns their purpose, their priorities and their whole world upside down in a really, really beautiful way.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: Amazing, mate. So 15 years essentially, is the journey you've been on for quite some time. And over that period, no doubt you've seen the highs and lows of running a business or being in, as an entrepreneur in the, in the game. What have you personally found as maybe an experience you can share for people that are listening in? That has been like a, a pivotal moment for you and your family and, or your family. That's been something that's really shaken you up, but you've come through.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: On the other side with business, I think the challenges never really dissipate because you're always expanding, always growing with that. You need to become a person that's capable of managing that next tier of growth. So the lessons keep showing up. And the deeper I go into business, the more I realize I don't know about it, which is why it's so important to surround yourself with people that are playing at that next level, because you can take the shortcut of learning from their mistakes. But there's numerous occasions where I found myself in situations where the business is not producing enough profits. And I've also lacked opportunity and I've lacked the answers. And that can be a very distressing place. When you're in an eat what you kill dynamic, you're not bringing money in and profit in. You've got to feed a family. That can be quite confronting. And those are the moments where you really get tested and you kind of get to see whether you're serious about entrepreneurship and what you're made of. And I remember one particular incident where I was making a $5 decision about a sushi roll. And I think that might have been, to the extent of money, my net worth at the time that I actually had in my bank account.
And I just remember just feeling sick to my stomach about how I felt and where everything was. And I literally couldn't see any prospects. But what happened was I did buy the sushi. It was delicious and treated myself.
And I remember I went home and I just had this epiphany. What if I just put a post up and I just asked people if they wanted a particular problem solved? I think the lesson here is if you're ever not sure what to do, just go to the marketplace and just put a post up. Say, hey, does anyone want help with X? Because I did that. And within 24 hours, I had seven people that had put their hand up saying, yes, I want to have this particular problem solved that I posted about. And I think six of those seven actually came on board as clients. So we can be in these really dark places, places where we don't feel like there's a way out. And then a simple action that took 10 seconds. Putting up a sentence and saying, hey, does anyone want to help with X? Completely changed the trajectory of everything for the next year or so. So I've been to those places. I've made mistakes with taxation. I've made mistakes with managing the money. I've brought too many people on inside my companies, and I've been Through the heartbreaking scenario where you have to tell someone that it's your fault as the owner that they don't have a position or job anymore and that they're some of the hardest conversations I've ever had to have. But also, if you don't have those conversations, everyone can go down with it. So just about every scenario in business that can go wrong, I've, I lived through it, I've experienced it and they keep showing up. So it's just about building that resilience muscle and having the mindset that, look, at the end of the day, you're going to be okay, you're going to be able to get food, you're going to be able to get shelter. If you live in a country like Australia and you have friends and you have a network and the business doesn't define you and if you do fail as an example, you can rebuild because you've got the skills, you've got the knowledge, you got the networks, you got the contacts. So it's just understanding that the worst case scenario in business really isn't that bad at the end of the day. But you're certainly not aspiring to find yourself in that position. It's about building smart, watching the numbers, having a great team around you. And if you do that really, really well and get the right support, you can build a great company that produces profit and allows you to do some of the things in life that you want to do. So, yeah, it's an adventure and I'm sure it's still going to get bumpy at some points, but I love it at the same time.
[00:13:45] Speaker C: Amazing, mate. It's a really, really good insight there and I'm sure a lot of people are hearing the gold nuggets in that one. Aaron, you know, I can relate to that and Jared can relate to that. You know, there's been times with where we've been at where it's literally like, oh crap, can I borrow five bucks if you do?
[00:14:03] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:14:04] Speaker C: You know, and, and sometimes you sit back after you've gone through that, you're like, how the hell did I survive in those times? You know, I've had to like even occasionally borrow, borrow money off, off my parents just to pay the overheads of the business, just to keep it running, you know, so I fully can relate and Jared can relate to that as well. But it's interesting, isn't it? Like, like you said, it's those times where you've been there, you can actually relate to it. So when people are going through it you, you can resonate and understand what they're truly going through in business because it's, it isn't for the faint hearted and if anyone tells you that it's easy, they're, they're really lying to you. And I think for me personally what I've learned is like you said, it's building that resilience muscle up. And you know, one of the things that you guys actually taught me a long time ago was it's all 80% mindset, 20% strategy. And, and I've always recognized that and drawn upon that as one of the key learnings I've learned in the game is, is mindset really trumps the execution and you know, knowing that the outcome will always be, be there as long as you're able to maintain a, a level of stability in your, in your, in your, in your mentality. So mate, I can fully, fully resonate with that. Is there anything as, that you can personally draw upon that you know, when you're working with your clients and we'll, we'll talk about, you know, your clients in a moment in, in more detail, but one experience where your clients have benefited from the work that you've done with them on a mindset level, not just a practical business level in the marketing area at least.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: One of the biggest challenges that my clients face is they're putting themselves out there. So we specialize in content creation and a large portion of that centered around video. And I'm yet to meet entrepreneurs that are really psyched up about the idea of putting their name, face and voice out there online where they can get exposed, they can get called out, where everyone can, can see them. So we're in the position most days where talking to people that really don't want to put themselves out there and get on video, but they understand on some level that in this day and age where all the attention is on phones for two and a half hours a day, I think the average person spends on social media that they kind of need to do it. So we have to really get them comfortable with the idea that they're going to be on video.
They're going to be able to be seen by their family, friends, their competitors, everyone online. And they're open for criticism. And I understand the weight of that. I understand what it's like to have someone say something about you on the Internet. I understand the fear around putting yourself out there. We all have the same insecurities. So one of the rewarding parts of what we do is when we see someone go through their first recording session. And the way that we've been able to help people deal with getting on video is we use a conversational approach. So just like you and I are chatting right now, when people are in conversations, they're not trying to stare down a camera and do a take and mess it up, Be in their head, read off a teleprompter, which is where it can get really awkward when they're having a conversation. They're authentic. They're their natural selves. And once we can disarm them and they feel like they're just having a conversation, they forget it's being recorded. You see the most organic, beautiful version of themselves come out, and you create this content that is the ultimate representation of who they are and their brand, which really attracts the right people in and repels the people that don't vibe with that. That brand. So we've got to get people over that fear, that imposter syndrome, that doubt, that overwhelm that comes with content creation. And it's a daily battle because I would say 95% of our clients do not want to do it. They just understand that if they want to get to where they need to go in their business, that it's a necessary part of the marketing journey. They need to jump on board and grab with both hands.
[00:18:02] Speaker D: I guess it comes down to vulnerability, isn't it? Like, people aren't, you know, aren't. They aren't that comfortable with it in general. It doesn't. Doesn't feel nice, but it's the. It's a thing we've got to get through to be able to go to where. Where we need to be.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: I agree with that. And if you think about it, most businesses are going to be a logo with a picture. And if you have your name, your face, your voice showing up on camera, online, all of a sudden you're unique, you're different. And you've also built that human connection piece. And I think in a world where content's getting more synthetic, there's more and more generated content out there. When you are yourself, you're a human being, and people can see that you instantly separate yourself from the competition and you build that connection piece, which I think actually gives you an edge in the modern marketplace. And the more people that show up as themselves versus synthetic AI content, they're the ones that are going to stand out in a sea of vanilla AI posts that are circulating in the newsfeed. Absolutely true.
[00:18:57] Speaker D: And like you talked about, the importance of authenticity, resilience, we. We mentioned about vulnerability. You also talked about, like foundations and the foundation of marketing, like the things that you used to do, how they're still relevant today, like those, those core strategies. And in some ways, that's why Jared and I called the business timeless. Because, you know, there are parts of marketing which are timeless. What you know, what do you take back from what you learned back then, which is still relevant today, that you would, you know, maybe pass on to people listening to today that didn't come from that time that didn't know those things.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Jaz mentioned the 8020 principle. So when it comes to marketing, the headline and the hook is still the foundation of advertising of a video and whether or not you get people's attention so you can write the best copy. But if you don't get the headline to get someone to click and read the post or to press play and watch the video, then most of the marketing effort is wasted. So for me, it's understanding that what actually moves the needle is usually that hook and what gets people attention. So if you're looking at marketing and you don't have a background or a lot of experience with it, understand it's that those first few seconds, for example, I'll use a case in point. We have clients that are local businesses, so their clients are in a fixed service area. And when you put content out online, it's easy to have global appeal and to write very general. But imagine if I'll use where I live as an example in Box Hill. If I see a headline that says Box Hill Dads in my newsfeed and then it talks about a particular problem that I have, it's instantly going to get my attention. Whereas if it just is a very general headline, it just says dads or whatever, it's probably not going to click with me as much. So if you've got customers in a fixed service area location and you actually call them out, then you're going to get the targeted attention. So box your dads that own businesses as an example. That's me. I'm going to instantly resonate and cast my eyes on whatever that video or post is. So little nuances like that can make a big difference with actually capturing the right audience and getting the right attention. Because it's not about the amount of people that see an offer or see an ad or see a piece of content about who sees it. Because you're better off getting in front of 10 potential clients that have the problem you can solve than a million kids in a basement in India that are watching it on their parents computer. So it's all about understanding, understanding quality over quantity and those 80% principles that make all the difference when it comes to marketing.
[00:21:25] Speaker C: That's amazing. With you know, content, content only, which is your brand, you, you've got the, the system that is the 30 days.
30 days and yeah, pardon me, pardon my incorrect wording here, you called it the 30 days and 30 minutes content creation system.
Can you elaborate what that means for anyone that's listening in on this? What does that actually mean for them? Please.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: As most business owners, the last thing that they have time for is content creation. They got client demands, they've got leads coming through, they got projects to manage. So we had to come up with a system for business owners that eliminated all those moving parts and all the overwhelm so they didn't have to worry about what to say, what to post, what to talk about, being on camera, all those things, what equipment to have. So the 30 days in 30 minutes is basically a model where we find what their target clients are searching online. So what questions are your customers typing into Google Places like YouTube and there's a people also ask section on Google. So let's say you wanted to see what people are typing in about weight loss. As a, as an example, if you type in weight loss into Google, you scroll down the page a little bit, there's a people also asked. So you can see the exact queries and questions that people are typing in. So you can see start creating content that solves people's biggest problems. So we use that tool, we use a tool like Vidiq to get about 300 content ideas in a couple of seconds based on how many people are searching these queries into platforms like YouTube and what the competition looks like. So we get all the content ideas and then we just set up an interview style conversation with the client. And this is the 30 minutes concept. So they just show up to a chat, whether it's on Google Meet or zoom or teams once a month on their iPhone. They've seen the questions in advance so they need to take a few notes. They can. But then we just have a conversation. It's just like they're talking to myself on FaceTime. And that's the only part of the process that they have to do. So they're answering questions that their target clients are searching online. We interject a few brand story questions. So we build the journey and the personalization and a bit of the background so it's not just one dimensional content. But then once that part's done basically take that record recording and then repurpose it. And there's so many different ways you can do that using either AI or editors and, and other resources. So we figured if we could get business owners to, to have a 30 minute conversation once a month, then we could handle all their content, get all their video done. So we just repurpose that 30 minute chat into branded reels and shorts with all their captions and everything that they need on it to represent their brand so they can just focus on growing their business and then just meet us at again the next month to that 30 minute chat and all their content gets created from that conversation.
[00:24:07] Speaker C: That's amazing. That is absolutely amazing. And I can see there'll be so many businesses out there that struggle having the time to do that content piece and, and 100% Aaron, me and Jared struggle with that. Like that's how that's our biggest weakness is being able to provide content. Because we're so busy, Jared running, you know, operations and taking care of the back end, taking care of clients, me focusing on front managing strategy for the business, working on strategy for clients, things like that. We always fall over in the content side of things, being able to take our business more online. And thankfully up until thus far, a lot of our businesses come from referrals and, and brand ambassadors that we have in our network. So that's been good. But you know, where we know that we need to scale and grow the business for Timeless has been being able to take our business more online and be able to scale out the content plan. And that is our biggest weakness. So mate, for for us here, what can you share with me and Jared that can help us today?
[00:25:11] Speaker B: I think that again it's having the strategy you can create content, but if you're creating content for the sake of creating content, then you're not really taking care of the bigger picture. So again, if I cycle back to say a local business, there's no good reaching people in India. You need to reach people in your local service area. So it's knowing about who you're target clients are. So depending on who your audience is depends very much how you create content and then how you post and distribute that content. So you need to know which platform your audience is on. A lot of people will post on redundant platforms. Whereas if you can focus 80% of your efforts onto the platform that has the attention of your target customers and you're posting at the right time, you're using some of those tips that we spoke about with the headlines Calling out who the target client is, you're using the right hashtags, particularly if you're a local business. Throwing in local hashtags is really important. But one of the things that most people do is they leave their content up to chance and they're relying on organic and that's very hit and miss. Whereas if you are willing to just invest a few dollars into boosting a post, you can actually say, hey, meta, for example, I want moms that are between the ages of 30 and 40 to see this particular. So one of my clients is a blonde hair salon in Tamworth. So we can create an audience of females that are in a 20k radius of Tamworth and we can make sure they're the ones seeing the reels and the video. So all of a sudden we're getting thousands of target customers in Tamworth to see the content versus just leaving it up to the algorithm and chance, which could show it to anyone anywhere in the world. So it's understanding that, yes, creating content is one part, but then there's also the strategic side where you use it to actually grow your business. And that's about getting in front of the right audience at the right time. So the YouTube gentleman, it would be a combination of, okay, who is that target audience again? What are they typing in? What are their problems? What are they searching online? And it's going, which platform is their attention? Let's make sure that we schedule the content to go out at that time of the week. So they're on the platform, they've got time to engage and interact with it. And then let's put some steroids on that content by actually circulating it to the audience. We want to see it. And those are sort of the key ingredients that build a content strategy. It actually helps grow a business versus I'm just going to post content, put it out there and then complain because no one's seeing it. I'm in the 200 view jail or I'm not getting followers because the reality is so many people are posting content at any given time. You're competing with a lot of different people fighting for the same attention in the same newsfeed. I'm not a big proponent, especially if you haven't got an audience, of leaving that up to chance. You control who sees it. You put the distribution out there and you'll actually get a much higher ROI in your content than if you're just sort of posting and hoping it's fantastic, mate.
[00:27:57] Speaker C: Thank you for sharing that. And that's, that's a That's solid strategy. Right from the man, Aaron Witness, mate. And just I'm on your website right now and I can see you've got a, you've got a course that can help people three, a three step. You call it the three step local Business Social media strategy course.
You want to share about that? How does that work for people that want to download that?
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Yeah, so in marketing, that's one of the best strategies that's worked for me over 15 years is you give away your system. You give away whether that's a case study, a demonstration, a tutorial, a sample, a free trial, whatever it is, because then people can just come and see what you do and see if it works for them, whether they like it. So what we do is we give away the system, the 30 days and 30 minutes content creation system and then those additional steps that I spoke about reaching your target audience. How do you then turn that attention into clients? So I basically walk through the entire process. How do you set it up? How do you get your content ideas, how do you record the content, how do you cut it into all your videos, how do you get in front of your target clients? And then how do you generate new customers through that process? So we give that away and then obviously the people that want to do it themselves, they implement it internally. They just follow the training. Then there's the other side, the people, hey, you just do it for me. You've clearly got the systems, they're the ones that apply to come and work with us. So you can get exactly what we do for free, see how it all works and we just give that away. And it's been a very successful marketing strategy for our agency.
[00:29:20] Speaker C: That's fantastic, Jaz, for you here being, you know, you speak a very, very similar language in terms of your background with paid ads, predominantly in meta and your background with SEO and, and even Google Ads, you guys speak a very, very similar language. Have you got any thoughts as to what's Aaron saying here, mate?
[00:29:40] Speaker D: Yeah, probably just to add to what Aaron said. He's correct in what he said. It is kind of a, we live in a pay to play kind of environment when it comes to ads these days. And I think the important thing, you know, with the, the work that you do, Aaron, is yes, we, we know that the targeting is inside is Facebook, but you know, these days it really is the creative, like the algorithm is the creative and you, yes, it's important to, to do your targeting properly but you know, if your creative isn't on point and that isn't dialed in, your ads aren't going to reach the right people. So I think, you know, not having your creative dialed in, when you're, when you're doing that paid kind of stuff, it's just not going to work these days. It's not like I was five, six, seven years ago prior to the Apple updates. You know, you put anything up and get conversion, get sales. It was like a gold rush back in those days. But these days, yeah, like creative is the algorithm.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more with that statement. As I say, terrible content. Terrible content. And that applies to advertising, it applies to video. So if you're spamming the newsfeed with creatives that just don't get attention or they aren't relevant, they don't attract the right audience, and then it's all going to fall apart. So it's an understanding, I guess, the key foundational ingredients that make it all come together. And I think one of the great things that content does is even if you're running campaigns and advertising, if someone then wants to go check you out on social media, which they'll often do if they're considering using your business, is if you've got content there, especially content that solves some of their biggest problems in advance. You create this goodwill dynamic where they feel like they've already gotten value upfront. So that creates heightened trust transference. So if you're just advertising and you're not putting content out, sometimes when people go check you out on social media, they feel like there's a missing piece. So it can lower that trust and it creates more resistance to buying. However, if you're just doing content and you're not advertising, you don't have campaigns running, then it's very hard to get an input to output ratio where you can actually measure the effectiveness and the ROI in your marketing, actually scale that. So you kind of need to have that holistic approach to marketing because if you're missing one of the pillars, it can bring the whole thing down. Certainly from, from my experience, love it.
[00:32:01] Speaker C: So question for you, Aaron, Being that you've got a long history here in marketing and business and entrepreneurship as a whole, you know, you, you've seen it all essentially right? And we've talked about before the highs and lows and all the mindset stuff, but in terms of like the more practical aspect of running a business, what have you found has been, you'd say your aha moment when it, in terms of running the business, growing the business, what do you found that's been your number one asset outside of the mindset side of things.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Well, interestingly enough, when you start a business, you're technically a freelancer or you're creating a job, especially in service based industry. So most people are technicians and they don't know how to run a business and they're learning as they go. No one gives you an MBA or business diploma when you get an ABN in Australia. You kind of just have to work it out as you go. And for me, it was really understanding the power of team. But then what I realized was that the way that I operate is I am a technician, so I get in the trenches and I just do the work. And I didn't understand that not everyone has the same human design as me. So my leadership style lacked and I just assumed that other people thought like me and behave like me. And that created a business where things weren't getting done, expectations weren't getting met because I just assumed that people just got in there, did the work and completed it. So for me it was understanding, okay, everyone's different and you've got to understand the team and the role that they play and be able to communicate their responsibilities, their role, their outcomes in a way that actually resonates with them. And that's something I'm still working on. But for me it was actually being very proactive. The biggest tip I can say is get on the front foot all the time. Don't wait for things to go wrong. If you see something happening, start the conversation, bring it to the table and start talking about it. Because if you get to that reactive stage in business where you're putting out spot fires, often it can be very late in the piece and the damage is already done. So I would say if you're not a competent business owner yet, in that you don't have that skill set, you just start out, make sure there's someone in your corner that has business skills to help you navigate through it. I still have a mentor to this day that, that looks at my business with me from that bird's eye view and can see the things that I can't see. And with things like hiring team and having conversations, they're actually able to help me steer through those parts that I'm not as strong in as a doer. So I think that proactive mindset, understanding that not everyone thinks like you and is the same as you. And at the end of the day, it's your responsibility as the leader. If you are in the business, everything's your fault and you. If you take that mentality into the business and you take full responsibility, then you can also solve all the problems. And I think a lot of people deflect blame and want to pass it on. But if your leadership's strong, then you shouldn't have too many challenges with getting performance, meeting your targets. And as long as you can communicate the vision as well. Why are people in the company, what are they building towards? So they've got a purpose that they're also contributing to. I think that's another important ingredient to. To build a very strong culture that's moving in the same direction.
[00:35:16] Speaker C: I really love that, mate. And you mentioned team there as like, how. How would you say, or first and foremost, how big is your team to this day? What are you. Where are you currently at with your team and culture?
[00:35:29] Speaker B: We had nine. I've actually had a few seats on the. The bus get removed recently. Now, again, this is me taking ownership as the leader in the business. So I put on people that were in positions that I wasn't really communicating the expectations clearly of what I needed out of them and probably left it a little bit later in the running to come and have the conversations with them about what was actually required in their roles. And consequently, a couple of people have had to move on. Not because I take responsibility for that, but basically what they were doing was not what we needed inside the business. So we've gone from nine, we've had two people remove so that seven, and we've put someone down to half hours. So a little bit of restructuring and resetting to move forward. But again, sometimes you have to make those decisions as a business owner. If something's not contributing to the direction you're heading in, your responsibility to you, because you're the one that needs to take care of your family. You can't just keep people there for the sake of keeping them there because you feel sorry for them. You have to take care of you, your family. If you're not eating first as the business owner, then there's no point having a business. The business is there to serve you and if it doesn't take care of you, then the whole thing falls apart. So you really need to have that mentality that, yes, I am in business to make money, we are here to make a profit. And you do have to make those decisions at times that do feel uncomfortable. And I've had to make a few them in, in recent months myself.
[00:37:00] Speaker C: I love that, mate. Well, you've shared so much, you know, so much wisdom today as. And I'VE really enjoyed this conversation and I knew it was going to be insightful. I knew we were going to get some incredible gold nuggets. Like we always have these conversations, always walk away with something new and, and I appreciate that. So, so thanks, man. And if there's anything else you want to share or anything that you can additionally say outside of what we discussed today, you want to, that you want to elaborate on. Yeah, the, the microphones in your hands.
[00:37:30] Speaker B: I think one thing that I've learned more and more, the deeper I've gone into business is where you focus on what you think about really does affect your energy and it's very easy to focus on what could go wrong. Put yourself in a scarcity frame and feel like it's all going to fall apart. I've been there many, many times and I can go there any day at any moment because something happens with a client or there's churn, there's things that happen. So what you focus on is really, really important. So having a clear picture of where you're heading. This is what I'm creating, this is my vision, this is how I want to build the business to serve me. So, and everyone's going to be different. So you don't necessarily have to go out and build this hundred million dollar empire because that might not be your vision. Someone else, they might want to build a billion dollar empire. So it's deciding what it is for you and then go build that thing. Because I, I know I've probably fallen victim to adopting other people's map. Oh, I should build a business. Business like they've done it, not actually thinking about my needs, my wants, my values, my purpose, my mission, all those parts. So really take that opportunity to step back and go, okay, if I get to write the script, what is the script? And actually write the script first and then go build the business to serve that script rather than just adopting someone else's view of the world. Because everyone's going to want a different business. And the more you can focus on where you're going and what you're creating, the more abundant your mindset is, the more productive you become and the better you show up. And that tends to create much bigger results. So if you can have that thing to focus on that steers you in the right direction and get your energy right, it's going to be much better than finding yourself focusing on what can go wrong and living in that scarcity and unresourceful mindset. So that's probably one that I've been sitting with and really leaning into in the last 12 months.
[00:39:11] Speaker C: Love that mate.
[00:39:12] Speaker B: That's.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: It's valuable wisdom right there. So guys, thank you for being here and listening to Aaron Witness. He's as I said, I've learned a lot from him personally and for you guys are listening right now, I'm sure you're taking away lots and lots of notes. I hope you are.
So. Yeah. So thank you. And Aaron, for those who are here today, listening in, tuning into this podcast, where can they find you? Do you want to share a bit more about that, please?
[00:39:37] Speaker B: Yeah, well if you head over to ContentOnly, you can jump in that free course and learn our system and create your content in 30 minutes a month. And I'm pretty easy to find on social media. I think I'm the only Aaron Witness that I know of. So if you want to contact me or follow me, I'm not too hard to discover. So there's a couple of ways to get in touch.
[00:39:56] Speaker C: Yeah, awesome. That's great mate. Always some awesome humor there too as a good laugh there. Well, you heard it from Aaron. Thank you for all of you tuning in. And if you want to contact Aaron, as he said, content only or hit him on on social, you'll find him. He's the only Aaron Witness on social media I'm sure.
So find him there. But for us, if you, if you feel that you need some support or guidance in regards to revamping your your online strategy such as more predominantly your SEO plan, having some thoughts as to unpacking the business where it's currently at and it's current landscape, and putting together a strategic plan that's going to help you generate more visibility online such as SEO and your communication for your branding. You can reach out to us on www.timelesscreative.com boardroom. That's it for today's lesson and learning with here and Aaron Witness. We're signing off today and look forward to seeing you next time. Cheers.
[00:40:59] Speaker A: You've been listening to the Brand Alchemy podcast with your hosts Jared Asher and Jared Break. For more information or to request your spot as a guest speaker, go to www.timelesscreative.com.
