the dreaded "what's next" loop
Entrepreneurs can be some of the unhappiest people in the world - but does it have to be that way?
do with those feelings
Let's talk about the inherent dissatisfaction that comes with running a growing business, and how to turn those feelings into action that propels you forward
16
You'll want to save this one for future reference once you've finished reading it. 4
8
Oh, we're going there with this one. Prepare to go perhaps a little bit deeper than you're used to.
Taylor digs into why so many business owners struggle with anxiety and mental health, how these feelings are actually there to HELP you and not hurt you, what to do with the responses you have to those feelings, and what that means for growing your business in the future.
Editor-in-Chief: Mike Walker
Regular Contributors:
Taylor Welch
Gabrielle Goude
Dane Mohrmann
VORTEX MARKETING
Dane takes you on a journey through multi-touch marketing methodology, lead stages, and crafting marketing that ascends high value clientele consistently.
Lauren Medley
Payton Welch
Alex Herndon
Mike Walker
Dean Kozora
Design: Dane Mohrmann
Editors: Mike Walker, Gabrielle Borman, Dane Mohrmann
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EDITOR’S LETTER FROM MIKE WALKER
EDITOR
Mike Waker
“Once I hit $100k per month…” “As soon as we launch this project…” “When our team can finally…”
Sound familiar? It should. These phrases encapsulate the mental loop entrepreneurs often find themselves in—a relentless pursuit of "what's next." While goal-setting is a universal human trait, for entrepreneurs, the obsession with future milestones can be especially acute. After all, entrepreneurs are visionaries, constantly charting courses toward opportunity.
It’s a noble pursuit, but seldom do we talk about the dark side—the emotional toll that comes with always chasing the next peak.
No matter how long you've been in business, the entrepreneurial journey is an emotional rollercoaster. The highs can be exhilarating, but the FUD—fear, uncertainty, and doubt— is ever-present, from the rookie startup founder to the seasoned veteran.
Many well-meaning dreamers are drawn from the sidelines into the entrepreneurial arena, lured by visions of financial freedom and the thrill of being in control. But it doesn’t take long to discover that the world of business plays by its own rules, with no regard for your feelings.
I know many talented, passionate entrepreneurs who’ve been crushed by the harsh realities of trying to turn their skills and expertise into a thriving business. You can be a genius in your field and still fall flat when faced with the market’s unforgiving nature.
So, what separates the successes from the failures?
Certainly, there are countless factors—market fit, the uniqueness of your value proposition, the strength of your systems and team, to name a few. But all of these hurdles can be overcome with iteration, practice, and persistence. The real challenge lies in knowing when to stick to your vision and when to adapt.
It’s a delicate dance—being stubborn enough to stick with your idea and persistent enough to let time work its magic, without ignoring the signals the market sends. As one of my favorite authors, Price Pritchett, writes in You²:
“Trying harder isn’t always the solution. It may not offer any real promise for getting what you want out of life. Sometimes, in fact, it’s part of the problem.”
The solution lies in the subtleties—your mindset, the quality of your thinking, and the mentors you surround yourself with. There’s no cookie-cutter formula for success, but one thing is universal: the ability to persist through the hard times with grit and adaptable resolve is non-negotiable.
But here’s the kicker—this constant pursuit of "more" often leads to a dangerous mindset: the “I’ll be happy when…” syndrome.
The problem with this mindset is that it postpones happiness indefinitely. Entrepreneurs often find themselves trapped in this cycle—believing that happiness lies in the next milestone, the next win, the next financial goal. But here’s the truth: that
sense of achievement will always be fleeting, and the finish line keeps moving.
It’s easy for even the brightest minds to fall into this trap. The busyness of business creeps in, and before you know it, you’re living for tomorrow and completely missing the joy of today.
This is why entrepreneurs, despite all their freedom, can be some of the unhappiest people on Earth. No matter the level of success or wealth they attain, if they’re always looking ahead to “what’s next,” the present moment becomes inconsequential.
The real danger here? Tomorrow isn’t promised. Dwelling on the future breeds anxiety; dwelling on the past invites regret. The only thing we truly have is the present moment. That’s why the pursuit of happiness—something we all seem to chase—is actually a mirage.
The real goal isn’t happiness. It’s joy.
Happiness is a destination, something we believe we’ll achieve once we hit that elusive goal. But joy is different. Joy is the ability to find contentment and fulfillment in the process—regardless of the circumstances.
When entrepreneurs can learn to appreciate the now while still pursuing the future, something remarkable happens. They become more adaptable, more confident, and more attractive as leaders. People are naturally drawn to those who exude certainty and contentment—qualities that are in short supply in a world of unmet expectations and anxiety.
Why? Because so few have mastered the art of living fully in the present while still striving for more.
Those who do are like lighthouses in the storm—offering safe harbor to those adrift in a sea of uncertainty. Clients and customers naturally gravitate toward businesses that operate from a place of joy and fulfillment. That’s why success often breeds more success—because like attracts like.
You may be thinking, “So am I supposed to just be satisfied with what I have and stop striving for more?”
No, not at all.
Contentment isn’t the absence of ambition; it’s the refusal to let the lack of what you want steal your joy.
As soon as one centers their joy on the process rather than the illusion of some distant end goal, they become truly unstoppable. They no longer chase fleeting happiness—they embody an enduring state of fulfillment. And when that shift happens, something remarkable takes place: business success becomes a byproduct, not the sole driver of their existence.
This doesn’t mean abandoning ambition. Far from it. But it does mean understanding that joy is found in every step of the journey—in the lessons, the challenges, the moments of both triumph and struggle. Entrepreneurs who master this mindset don’t just weather the storm; they thrive in it. Their ability to persist isn’t driven by the hollow promise of future happiness, but by an inner strength that grows through each experience, good or bad.
This subtle but profound shift is what makes an entrepreneur unstoppable. When your state of mind isn’t tied to external outcomes, you become resilient. And resilience, especially in business, is the ultimate competitive advantage.
So no, it’s not about giving up your dreams or settling for less. It’s about finding your power in the present, because the joy is already within you—and when you bring that energy to your work, it ripples outward in ways you can’t imagine.
To new levels and enjoying the ride.
- MW
Be more than just a reader - engage with an entire community...
Becoming unstoppable and resilient as an entrepreneur is rarely (if ever) a born trait. It’s a muscle that needs to be exercised, used and developed over time. One of the best ways to do so is to feed the necessary nutrients - which in the case of operating a business - starts with the mind. There is no better source for high caliber “brain food” than the resources we’ve assembled for all Digest subscribers over in our online community. In-joying the ride becomes significantly easier when our brains are calibrated correctly (which by the way is a daily task).
If you need assistance, reach out to Support@WealthyConsultant.com
A BUSINESS OWNER'S EXAMINATION OF TRAUMA, MENTAL HEALTH, AND EPIGENETICS
BY TAYLOR WELCH Chief Executive Officer The Wealthy Consultant
Two things:
First - I completely rewrote this entire digest because it’s important, and I needed to tell you something different than what I had written and prepared to send you.
Second - Slow down. We’re going there…
I need to get something off my chest:
Fear is not something you outgrow with money.
You cannot. It doesn’t work that way.
This is a subject I am particularly — uniquely — gifted to discuss. My body of work spans eight loosely organized categories of expertise.
• Sales
• Marketing/advertising
• Offer development
• Team/management
• Finance/Investing
• Life/balance/purpose
• Service/client retention
• Mindwork
Notice the last one: mindwork. Mindset makes no sense. You don’t set it and forget it. That is a fallacy. Wouldn’t it be great if you could? No such thing; the mind moves. It roams. It seeks to find weaknesses, patterns, and threats. This is why the Bible says (Romans 12:2 NIV) to“be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It implies a daily practice…
Another translation I like (TPT) makes it more personal: “Be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.” I don’t care if you’re a Bible person or not. It’s one of the oldest messages in history (maybe, in fact, the oldest), and it is a recipe for winning.
A few weeks ago, I was at an event, and someone walked up to me afterward and told me, “I’m not sure if I believe in God.” Not believing in math doesn’t make you more enlightened than the people who do. But you do you. What I’m after is helping you WIN.
Part of the problem with society today is that all the “teach-
ers” are not teaching anything. They’re coping with their own trauma by talking about pseudo-psychology to others. Let’s talk about it, and then we’ll go deeper in October.
Interested in attending an event with us? We teach a range of topics that follow the categories listed above. If you are interested in learning a particular subject, fill out a form, and we’ll send you details.
Speaking of events, here’s the calendar for SEPTEMBER:
September 2
MONEY MINDSET CALL (register for this in Circle)
September 3
Sales Clinic
September 4
Coaching Call w/Taylor (for Chamber members)
September 5
Technical Call for Ads & Tech (for Chamber members)
September 9
MONEY MINDSET CALL (register for this in Circle)
September 10
Sales Clinic
September 11
Coaching Call w/Taylor (for Chamber members)
September 12-13
Branding & Messaging Event in San Diego, CA
September 23
MONEY MINDSET CALL (register for this in Circle)
September 24
Sales Clinic
September 25
Coaching Call w/Taylor (for Chamber members)
September 26
Chamber SCALE call
September 30
MONEY MINDSET CALL (register for this in Circle)
Our topics (both regarding my team’s expertise & our events) match the dials we’ve set up for Chamber members.
Maybe you’re reading this, and you feel like you have had your sh*t handed to you. I have something important to tell you about this issue.
We will tackle the mind in a way you’ve probably never heard of before.
First, let me say this: please do whatever you must do to preserve and save this section of the issue. If you read on a physical newsletter, rip the pages out when you are done and store them for recall later. If you’re on a digital device, export and print them (or store them somehow). If you ask me about my “entire life,” I would not say it has been chronically stressful.
But I crossed a threshold sometime in 2016 when something was noticeably triggered. That is how this works. You may not have felt it initially, but you were programmed for it. It just required a trigger. The body packs small snippets of code that are passed along through your ancestry.¹ Your mind might not remember, but your body does.
This is further complicated by the fact that your body is also storing things that happen to you regardless of whether you’ve suppressed them or not. We have two files: one from your life (actively chronicled as it happens) and one from the generational “code” passed along to you at birth.²
Science supports this, but so do stories. People believe ‘wive’s tales’ for a reason. The only reason mythology has lasted as long as it has is because it pays homage to a source. Things that do not hold some semblance of truth are often short-lived. In Greek mythology, there was a man named Tantalus. The gods cursed him, and his house — House Atreus — experienced this curse through violence. Generational curses work today just like back then, but science can now find them, peer-review them, and substantiate them.
Keep in mind that not all “curses” are spiritual. Studies have shown that children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors experience heightened anxiety and stress responses despite never having been exposed to the atrocities of the Holocaust.³ Why? Because the body keeps its records.
This is not a bad thing — the sword cuts both ways. When something works, the body keeps the score. When something hurts, the body keeps the score.
The bloodline exists to preserve the bloodline. And nature has one chief objective: to keep the bloodline alive. When something is seen as existential, it prints the data into your epigenetics so that if a trigger presents itself, you rev up and
escape. It also wants to transfer data so that when you are good at something, your line is also good at it.⁴
Here is where it begins to get good again.
None of your anxiety is trying to hurt you. It’s trying to help you. Part of what makes this so challenging is that we begin to fight it.⁵ When we fight it, we create a tug-of-war. Keep in mind that I will be going deep on this rabbit hole in October. I want to get the information to you now, but to PROGRAM it, we need to sit in it and exercise it.
I’ve spoken at events with hundreds of people and reprogrammed them all simultaneously (at least the people willing to participate). It is not weird or invasive. But it does require you to go through a set of prompts that can get your mind to think freely and openly about them. Bonus points if you know Jesus because that speeds it all up — but regardless, there is a way this stuff works. And the way through it is not by fighting it. In 19th century England, Florence Nightingale began to feel a strong urge to take up nursing. It led to intense anxiety and depression.⁶ The societal “rules” of the day disqualified her from such a role due to her gender and social status. This pressure led to self-doubt, disbelief, and worry. She described this as her “demons” coming home to roost. She pushed through and created revolutionary improvements in healthcare — which then made way for the establishment of modern nursing.
In the last 10 years, I have helped thousands of people create wonderful businesses that they dreamed of having. A constant theme is not the “outcome” but the precursor. Do you know what precedes these brilliant entrepreneurs stepping into their power?
Not always, but usually, it is pressure, worry, anxiety, and unfavorable circumstances that act to push a person out of their comfort zone. If you haven’t read my latest book, “Winning At Sales,” you need to know that it is not just a book about sales. It is a book about life — all of life is influence. You’ve never accomplished anything significant without influence. The trick is learning to read the rules and then creating new ones.
Anxiety is a sophisticated “looping” mechanism that is showing up to protect you. Just because it’s there with a good motive doesn’t mean we want it there, though.
We are still going to remove it. What do I mean by “looping?”
I mean it’s trying to avoid the future repeating itself.⁷ I teach a framework that works to rewire this looping mechanism so you can use it. We cannot just delete it, we must rewire it first.
It goes like this:
Something bad happens
We feel whatever our beliefs tell us to believe (this is what you are hearing when people talk about assigning ‘meaning’ to a situation)
We affirm (or deny) the meaning (if we affirm it, the loop gets stronger; if we deny it we get to rewrite it again later until it sticks)
The choice (or behavior) is exhibited
Clinically they all have different terms, but this is the simplest way that I can explain it.⁸
You may be in a period of your life where everything is going wonderfully for you. My hope is that you are! The world is changed for the better when we build great things and pump value into ;.the marketplace. But mark my words: you cannot cover up deficiencies forever or indefinitely. I’ve seen the “trigger” event happen with people, and it was not what you would have thought. A great thing happens, but epigenetically, that is coded with an inadequate response.
When people talk about “self-sabotage,” this is usually what they’re referencing.⁹
When we have conflicting values, the most painful one wins. Today, we had a coaching call for a group of clients. One had an interesting question.
He has an 8-month-old and is learning the ins and outs of being both a parent and an entrepreneur. He made the statement, “My business was built to be kidless.” And we all laughed because it’s true. Every business is built to be kidless until you have kids!
The key to moving forward is two-fold:
1st, we must remove the ‘false dichotomy’ of feeling like it is a choice to either have a large (successful) business OR be a great parent.
That isn’t how this works. But if you believe it’s true, then you will make it true.¹⁰
2nd, we must put into practice a series of rules that protect the main value (in this case, being a great parent) without cannibalizing the second value (in this case, growing a fantastic business).
If you do not do this work at the infrastructure, your brain will try to chase both simultaneously. And this is where the problems begin.
It doesn’t “rule out” the first or the second priority. It chases them both with a bias towards the most important one. The fact that you even believe the two goals are in conflict is why there is an issue in the first place!
Here is my recommendation as we close:
1. Come to the event in October
2. If you cannot do that (especially if you cannot), then consider getting into an environment that can find & fix these areas in your psychology
3. Bonus points if the business material is world-class, too (marketing, sales, operations, finance, etcetera — it’s all here)
I’m not interested in me… I’ve already won. The rest of my life is now dedicated to helping others create multiplication in their lives and businesses. This is how we change the world!
Already an Amazon #1 Best Seller!
1 "Trauma May Be Passed Down Through Generations, Study Suggests" (Scientific American, 2018)
2 "Epigenetic Transmission of the Impact of Early Stress Across Generations" (Biological Psychiatry, 2010
3 Yehuda, R., et al. (2016). Holocaust Exposure Induced Intergenerational Effects on FKBP5 Methylation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(5), 372-380
4 "Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Myths and Mechanisms" by Edith Heard and Robert A. Martienssen, Cell (2014)
5 Carbonell, D. (2016). The Worry Trick: How Your Brain Tricks You into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do About It. New Harbinger Publications
6 McDonald, L. (Ed.). (2010). Florence Nightingale: The Nightingale School. Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
7 Wells, A. (1995). Meta-cognition and worry: A cognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23(3), 301-320.
8 Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International Universities Press.
9 Zannas, A. S., & West, A. E. (2014). Epigenetics and the regulation of stress vulnerability and resilience. Neuroscience, 264, 157-170.
10 Feltz, D. L. (1988). Self-confidence and sports performance. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 16(1), 423-458
Get Taylor's new book, "Winning at Sales: How to Get So Good People Say 'Thank You' for Letting Them Buy" right now on Amazon for just 99¢
As soon as you grab your digital copy, open it and find one of the many QR codes spread throughout the book to unlock over 20 hours of bonus trainings that will help you crank up your sales game!
RORY SUTHERLAND
If you haven't read Rory Sutherland's book, "Alchemy," I really can't recommend it enough. Rory is one of the most renowned ad execs on the planet, and he thinks about marketing in unique (sometimes seemingly illogical ways) that set him apart from most of the world.
I was listening to a podcast he was on recently, and I wound up furiously scribbling notes - some of which I want to share with you, in the hopes that you'll find them as illuminating as I did.
1 Distinctiveness really matters.
Humans are often more interested in the evolution of ideas than they are in complete re-invention. What seems "inconsistent" to you inside of your business or your model, may be a signal to the market to pay attention to you... simply because it is different.
2 MAYA - Maximally advanced, but acceptable
In a world full of patterns, our minds are trained to notice the bizarre. However, those bizarre elements must include just enough of what is familiar for us not to tune it out entirely. The trick is in being just "weird enough."
3 The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea.
We're often taught that rationality is the key to stability and growth. But in reality, we can often unlock exponential growth by simply thinking irrationally - by doing the opposite of what is expected. Especially if the rest of the industry only knows one way.
4 Real life decisions are not multiple choice.
There is no single right answer to most decisions in both life and business. However, most of us treat our most critical decisions as multiple-choice questions - where there are 3 wrong answers and 1 right answer. Many of our absolute worst decisions spring from an unexamined belief that there is only one right way to do something, build something, scale something, etc.
5 Behaving somewhat erratically can sometimes serve you.
When a rabbit is being chased by a dog, it adopts completely erratic behavior in its patterns as a means of survival. Behaving predictably would make it too easy to kill. Always doing exactly what is expected of you is a recipe for never breaking beyond your current level.
6 Balancing logical and illogical ideas.
Herodotus wrote that the ancient Persians, when deliberating, would debate every issue twice - once while drunk, and once while sober. Only if they could agree in both states would they proceed with a course of action. A rational idea that doesn't appeal to you emotionally, or an emotional idea that doesn't appeal to you rationally, requires balanced thought and consideration.
7 Beware of "survivorship bias."
We often fall prey to survivorship bias - or the belief that the only things that need to be studied and examined are our successes, not our failures. If an idea worked, we hold it up on a pedestal and try to make it the "norm" rather than seeking new ways to do it that might work better... simply because of the fact that they might fail.
8 Most of your marketing is 4X as valuable as you think it is.
Marketing is too frequently measured by linear metrics - but the value of consistent marketing in building a bulletproof brand over time is exponential. It's an amalgam of several pieces that, in and of themselves, are catalytic. They feed the machine over time, producing a compounding effect on the business.
BY DANE MOHRMANN Marketing Director The Wealthy Consultant
People are usually shocked when I tell them that our average “days to close” (the measure of time between someone’s first interaction with our marketing and when they become a client) is over 150 days.
Really think about that.
On average, each brand new lead or customer - whether they click on an ad, join our free FB group, stumble on us organically, or get referred to us via word of mouth - sits inside of our ecosystem and “marinates” for as much as 4 months before taking any moves toward ascending.
What we have consistently found is that our top ICPs (ideal client profiles) jump into our ecosystem and then spend weeks quietly watching, observing, and soaking in what we teach.
They consume our content. They buy one product, then another, then another. They read the Digest (like you’re doing right now). Eventually, something “clicks,” and they realize that they not only want this… they NEED this. From there, it’s simply about presenting them with the opportunity.
I call this the “value vortex.”
See, in most businesses, leads over 3 months old who haven’t converted are treated as “rotting opportunity” and are assumed to be decreasing in value over time.
Because of the power of our demonstration at middle of funnel, every lead in our system is getting more valuable as time goes on.
And, if I may be so bold, I think this is the beginning of a shift in the market that is going to define the next decade (easily) of client acquisition.
Transactional marketing is dead. Your market is moving into an era of relationship-based buying and trust through demonstration.
And if your plan for growing your business is to shove a sexy funnel in people’s faces and hope that they’ll throw their credit cards at you before they actually TRUST you… make no mistake, you will get left in the dust.
So, let’s talk for a second about holistic, multi-touch marketing, and how to create a vortex that prints high value clients.
Inside of the Wealthy Consultant, we’ve built our marketing ecosystem around 4 “categories” that our audience members consistently fall into.
Any time we create a product, direct offer, book or other demonstration asset, we are always building it specifically for one of these groups.
Exploring Opportunity
Identifying Problem
Making Selection
Removing Objections
A holistic marketing approach is designed to take people from the far left to the far right through effective re-engagement at strategic points in their journey.
Prospects in the “Exploring Opportunity” stage are the coldest segment of your market. These are people who just opted in or purchased, haven’t engaged with much else, and aren’t ready for a sales conversation. Our goal with this stage is simply to nurture and edify. If we try to push this crowd towards a conversion too early, we damage trust and build up defensiveness that will make the job of the sales team much more difficult later.
If you’re running lead generation funnels, or even an SLO to cold traffic, this is probably the largest portion of your warm market lists.
When crafting marketing for this segment, I always recommend a 4:1 ratio - in other words, out of every five interactions you have with them, 4 should be pure nurture, and 1 should be an opportunity to move to the next stage (whatever that looks like for your particular offer).
This is where content comes into play. Blogs, podcasts, Youtube videos, free upgrades, tools… anything that nurtures and educates.
“Identifying Problem” is the category where most of our front end product sales come from. My philosophy when it comes to building SLOs is that we are always creating a product designed
to solve a singular problem for a specific person. The Revolving Price Method book is a perfect example of this in action.
The Revolving Price Method helps expert coaches and consultants generate more and more money each month without the stress of having to constantly enroll new clients. It does this by teaching them how to build a 2-part Revolving Price offer that collects a high-ticket fee upfront, followed by a recurring monthly fee that stacks with each new client they take on.
Boom - a solution to a singular problem for a specific person.
The benefit to designing products this way, is that each new purchase serves as “data enrichment” for us, making the sales follow-up simpler, and making future marketing that much smarter.
Once a prospect moves from problem identification to “Making Selection,” this is when we typically start being able to engage them with sales opportunities. Maybe it’s a direct offer with a booking link, or a ticket to either a virtual or in-person event that speaks specifically to the problem they’ve identified.
A great example of this was our recent TWC Growth Summit - a one-day virtual event we put on with over 130 people in August. The purpose of the event was to educate on our systems and models that have allowed us to quickly (and sustainably) grow our business.
We aimed to ensure, through our marketing, that the majority of people on the call had at least made it to the “Identifying Problem” stage and were now ready to move into the “Making Selection” stage.
Another great example would be Champion Programming. In the Fall of 2023, Taylor and I put together a powerful bundle of mindset trainings (some of which had never been released before) out of a response to feedback we were getting from the market. We were seeing a lot of confusion and lack of clarity when prospects would get on calls - some of which was clearly being generated from unexamined trauma and failures. So we pulled together a group of trainings that we knew was capable of creating “championship caliber” DNA in entrepreneurs.
Within 48 hours, we had sold over $20,000 of this low ticket product, and had effectively moved several problem aware people in our market into a “Making Selection” stage by demonstrating immense value.
(Note: This also serves as an example of why you should ALWAYS have an open feedback loop between Marketing and Sales. Knowing what issues and objections are coming up repeatedly on Sales calls will create a nearly endless queue of ideas to use in your messaging.)
The final phase is where the handoff from Marketing to Sales usually takes place - “Removing Objections.” Marketing to this phase is typically focused purely on inbound call bookings, trying to move people into the buying pocket who are clearly ready for that step. The biggest caveat is - we are ONLY going to push people in that direction if it is the right timing, and if we feel that it is what is best for them. Not for us.
Okay, time for some nitty gritty real quick. Inside of each of the ascension “groups” we just broke down, there are lead stages - Leads, MQL, PQL and SQL. Some of these you are no doubt familiar with, but some might be new to you.
A lead is anyone who has signaled interest in your brand via exchanging their personal info as part of an interaction with your marketing. Tying it back to our categories of ascension, these would be your “Exploring Opportunity” folks.
MQL stands for Marketing Qualified lead. These are folks who have taken the step of enriching their data and self-identifying as a quality prospect (again, through interaction with your marketing). MQLs can reside in either the “Identifying Problem” category, or the “Making Selection” category.
PQL stands for Product Qualified lead. What makes these leads
unique is that they have paid money to purchase some sort of product from you - which automatically brings them into the “Identifying Problem” category. However, like an MQL, they can also sit inside of the “Making Selection” category based on the data you have collected from them.
Lastly, SQLs are your Sales Qualified leads. SQLs are either in the “Making Selection” category, or the “Removing Objection” category (based on how far into the buying pocket they are - if you’re unsure what I mean when I’m talking about the buying pocket, go pick up Taylor’s book, “Winning at Sales”... you can thank me later).
One of the primary ways that we tee up Sales for success, is by creating opportunities for MQLs to ascend into PQLs and SQLs through consistent follow-up. Email marketing, re-targeting, re-marketing, communities (like FB groups and Circle groups) and product/promo campaigns are all ways that we strategically guide MQLs toward the “Making Selection” stage so that sales conversations (usually via a Sales Development Rep making a set) can happen.
One quick final note on Ideal Client Profiles (ICPs), and knowing who exactly you’re creating for when you build your marketing ecosystem.
Quick overview:
ICP1 - Top tier clients that you absolutely love to help and align with you on basically every level
ICP2 - Bread and butter clients who take a little more work, but who you can consistently help get awesome results
ICP3 - The lowest quality clients you can accept - they are needy, requiring a ton of hand-holding and bandwidth, but you can help them
My personal philosophy for both top of funnel and middle of funnel marketing is that I always craft with ICP2s in mind. Your ICP2 is your bread and butter client - the person you are capable of consistently helping to get stable results.
I also don’t build for ICP3s because (if I’m smart), I know that I have a cap on how many ICP3s I can actually ascend into my program before it starts to negatively impact the quality of that client community.
Since the ICP2s are likely to be largest segment of your client base, I usually build products, promos, and campaigns with them in mind.
If you want deeper training on ICPs, ascension zones, and crafting powerful marketing, we have entire playbooks built precisely for this (not to mention hands-on help from our team to build it with you).
If you’re interested, go to wealthyconsultant.com/call.
See you next month!
- Dane
The reason for this is that ICP1s (while the most desirable clients) likely represent the smallest segment of your market. This is where the philosophy of marketing to the “top 3%” who are ready to buy right now comes from. But, if your goal is to build out your base and to create conversion over time using an ecosystem, you don’t want to only go after the smallest segment.
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