Joe is Founder of the Content Marketing Institute and co-founder of the Orange Effect Foundation, providing resources to children with speech therapy needs.

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Resources Mentioned:

• Your Big Idea: Successful Entrepreneurs have One Big Idea. Follow JLD’s FREE training & you’ll discover Your Big Idea in less than an hour!
• Audible – Get a FREE Audiobook & 30 day trial if you’re not currently a member!
• Marketing Profit – Joe’s Latest Book coming out in September 2017
• Content Marketing Institute – Joe’s website
• Connect with Joe on his website and podcast
• The Freedom Journal – Set & Accomplish your #1 goal in 100 days!
• The Mastery Journal – Master productivity, discipline and focus in 100 days!

3 Key Points:

1. Niching down is easy if you focus and dominate what you’re good at first.
2. Don’t baby your companies – if it’s time to say goodbye, let go.
3. When you’re starting out, it’s always a “yes” to every opportunity—but when you’re in a place of success, if it’s not a “hell yes!”, then it’s a “no”.

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Time Stamped Show Notes

(click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.)

• [00:54] – Joe became an entrepreneur in 2007
• [01:00] – Joe has 20 years in the content marketing industry and just had an exit
• 01:29 – Joe was on Episode 71 and Episode 341 of EOFire
• [02:43] – Joe’s current area of expertise is content marketing
• [03:00] – The best way to start a business is to build an audience first
• [03:35] – Let’s not fall in love with your product or your service, but fall in love with your audience, first and foremost
• [03:50] – Your audience will tell you what they want to buy
• [04:36] – “Simplify the strategy”
• [05:20] – “Consistency is more important than frequency”
• [05:26] – Find what you’re good at and do it everyday
• [05:58] – It takes awhile to build a loyal relationship with your audience
• [06:03] – The 4 simple ingredients of content marketing
• [06:20] – Focus on what you do really well
• [06:48] – Remember KISS: keep it super simple
• [08:15] – One of Joe’s goals is to sell a company
• [08:40] – Joe started his company with multiple ideas and the initial idea was to be a matching service for content marketers and agencies
• [09:08] – The company was successful at matching brands with content marketers
• [09:27] – In 2009, Joe had a problem with the company
• [10:38] – Joe was feeling down after a client dropped them
• [11:20] – “When your best case study doesn’t re-up, you’ve got a problem”
• [11:30] – Joe realized a couple of things
• [11:40] – One of Joe’s mentors asked him, “How are you going to be great for your customers if you’re going in 3 different directions?”
• [11:58] – Joe had a belief that he needed several startups to be successful
• 12:20 – Joe decided to focus on one thing which was a Content Marketing Institute
• [13:35] – In May 2010, Joe launched Content Marketing Institute just 6 months after selling his first startup
• 14:14 – In September 2010, Joe started planning Content Marketing World, which is a big event for content marketing
• [14:43] – A year later, 660 people came to the event
• [14:48] – This year, Joe is expecting 4,000 people from different countries to attend Content Marketing World
• [15:54] – Find your initial momentum and get the ball rolling
• [16:16] – Joe shares how he decided to sell his company
• [16:50] – Joe looks at his goals everyday
• [17:12] – An entrepreneur needs to have an exit plan
• [17:59] – In 2014, Joe was looking at a valuation
• [18:30] – Most companies are valued by earnings
• [19:11] – Entrepreneurs need to evaluate their salaries, as that will be their replacement value
• [20:07] – Joe didn’t go directly to the bank, but hired a CFO instead
• [20:33] – It took Joe a year to get everything in order
• [21:04] – Joe went directly to companies who might be interested in the business
• [22:00] – There was a negotiation and Joe started to choose the one that made the most sense
• [22:54] – The process was completed and the company seemed to be the right fit
• [23:15] – 2 weeks before the sale, Joe got cold feet and his gut told him to back out
• [23:40] – Joe was 98% sure he wouldn’t sell, but his wife told him to call his mentors and asked for advice
• [24:30] – Joe’s mentor told him to take his head out of his rear and get the deal done
• [25:28] – Joe told his mentors his hang-ups and his mentors said to negotiate
• [25:55] – One of Joe’s hang-ups was his time left with the company, and the other one was that Joe wanted his employees to be taken cared of
• [26:30] – Joe negotiated and his business was sold
• [27:10] – Don’t let your ego and product get in the way of your goals
• [27:40] – People have to have mentors
• [28:10] – Joe shares how to start a business you can exit from at some point
• 28:08 – Joe is reading Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
• [28:11] – Don’t read Tools of Titan at night because it will pump you up
• [29:25] – Start thinking about what an exit strategy looks like for you
• [29:50] – If Joe hadn’t had that goal, he wouldn’t have taken the path he took for his business
• [30:25] – Another question is: what will it take for me to exit and be happy with my decision for the rest of my life
• [30:43] – Joe’s newest goal
• [31:00] – Joe thinks about the time that he still has left with his kids before they go out on their own
• [31:40] – Joe’s goal starting January 1^st 2018 is that he will spend his time with his kids
• [33:23] – “If it is not a hell yes!, it’s a no”
• 34:30 – Follow Joe on his website and podcast
• 34:50 – Joe is into The Orange Effects Foundation with his wife
• [35:10] – Joe’s latest book, Marketing Profit, will be out in September 2017

Killer Resources!

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