I’m rather hesitant to tell you what it is because its a rather simple thing and I’m pretty sure its going to make me sound like a real jerk.

Either way, hear me out!

Ready?

I stopped being bashful about wanting to sell you my services

In the beginning, when I first started Castain Training Systems, I held back because I didn’t want to lose readers.

I was hesitant because I didn’t want to lose people in my social network.

I was hesitant because I didn’t want to come across as a pest.

That attitude almost bankrupted my family!

I did, however, have lots of people who liked me (who knows, maybe even loved me) but they they basically “friendzoned” me.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to liked, but the bank doesn’t accept “likes” and “followers” and “friends” as currency when you try to pay your mortgage.

So I started making some changes . . .

• I started ending every one of my blog posts with some sort of call to action. Sometimes it was a link to an upcoming course or webinar, other times it was to my coaching page or the Castain Training Systems page of my website.
• I killed my “Free Stuff From Uncle Paul” page on the website. Again, I’m all for having a giving attitude, but I felt like I was already giving so much that I was worried that I was discouraging people from buying. And that’s something you have to be careful of when you give . . . It can condition a behavior of taking and NOT buying.
• I put up one of those obnoxious pop ups that asks you to subscribe. Truth be told, I always thought those were annoying, but on the other hand, I’ve grown my subscribers by an additional 2500 since I installed the pop up back in 2015.
• On a similar note, I now have an auto DM, when you follow me on Twitter, that let’s you know that I have over 1500 blog posts waiting for you for free. By the way, this has dramatically increased both my web traffic and my opt ins. I would have never done this before, simply because I was too worried about annoying someone.
• Whenever I offered a free webinar, I made it crystal clear that I would, in fact, try to sell you something at the end of the webinar. I know, truth in advertising, right? Just to be clear, I actually made a promise that out of the 30 minutes we’d spend together, 28 would be pure, all caps AWESOME and the last 2 minutes would be a quick overview of an upcoming course. Did I discourage a few people from attending? I’m sure I did (although I typically get a nice turnout) but I believe I scared away the people I’m not really interested in. And who are those people? The people who just want more free sh*t, that’s who.
• In my LinkedIn network, I created a “90/5/5” rule. Once a month I send out some kind of free resource. 90% of the time, it has nothing to do with me or Castain Training Systems. 5% of the time that resource is something that I am giving you from Castain Training Systems. Now because I’ve given 95% of the time, I now take a 5% liberty and promote one of my upcoming courses. When a small handful of people complained, I removed them from my network, not to be a dick, but because I’m not looking to court someone who doesn’t understand give and take.
• Whenever people ask me for free advice, I’ll let them know that in fairness to my coaching clients, I would need to charge them. This resulted in a number of people saying “I didn’t know you offered coaching. How do I go about hiring you?” Again, sometimes we condition people to only see as a “friend” so it’s our job to let them know that our best advice, resources etc, are given once we’re “married”.
• When people join my LinkedIn group they get an automatic email that welcomes them to the group, offers a link to my FREE app and a link to my upcoming courses page on the website. I never would have done something like this in the past. I was afraid people wouldn’t like it. I make more money now that I’ve gained the courage to include the link. And for those who don’t like, they can go join another group.
• When I connect with people on LinkedIn, I send an email thanking them and listing all the other places we can connect. I now include a link to the “Hire Paul” page on my website. This one tiny tweak to the email has resulted in over $80,000 in sales for me. Additionally, I created a communication map that I use to keep my name in front of them, demonstrate my expertise and create top of mind preference.

In short, its really about the old saying

If you don’t ask, you don’t get

Let’s Be Crystal Clear About A Few Things

Just because I want to make it really clear that I’m NOT a not for profit, doesn’t mean that I have to be a jerk about it. You know, like those people who tell you that they “call it like they see it”, when all they’re really doing, is trying to justify the fact that they’re an asshole.

What I’m really trying to say is that . . .

People aren’t sitting around wondering who they can buy from today so;

While we’re offering tremendous value to our prospects, readers, network, followers, subscribers etc;

We also need to remind them that they can actually hire us and enjoy ALL of these things;

At a premium level by becoming our client!

And when you’re ready to work with me at a premium level, email me paul@yoursalesplaybook.com and let’s schedule some time to talk!