Grow Without Hiring

[00:00:00] Ken: There's a point many entrepreneurs hit where something that used to drive business just stops, not overnight, not suddenly, but enough that it is noticeable and you start paying attention. I know this feeling well because I've lived it, and without fixing this, it's nearly impossible to grow without hiring
[00:00:26] Ken: well over a decade ago, and in fact much longer than that. I decided to invest heavily in content marketing and thought leadership. And this was back when people didn't even know what that meant.
[00:00:37] Ken: They didn't even know what SEO was. So needless to say, I was early and then I doubled down, and then I tripled down. As a result, I owned almost. Every meaningful search term related to building apps, and this is when I had formed my app agency and I was one of the first ones to do that. So if you Googled, how much does an [00:01:00] app cost, or what platform should I build for first?
[00:01:04] Ken: Or how long does it take to build an app? Not only was I ranking. Competitors literally sent my articles to their own clients to educate them. Obviously that didn't work out well for them, and so it was that channel and that engine that I built that helped me build and bootstrap my $5 million a year agency.
[00:01:23] Ken: And then this happened, and maybe it's a story that you are facing today. one day. Google decided they didn't like websites like mine anymore. Directories started taking over. The aggregators started to win. We used to joke and call this the Yelpification of the B2B service industry,
[00:01:41] Ken: and the short version is that it worked really well until it didn't.
[00:01:46] Ken: and that is the risk when your primary marketing channel is controlled by algorithms. And you are overexposed to channels you don't own.
[00:01:55] Ken: Now, at that time, this was not an abstract lesson. [00:02:00] I had a $300,000 a month payroll and very real pressure to figure out how to keep. My team busy and working and I'll tell you this, I wasn't surprised. I knew that this risk was there. I just didn't know it was gonna become that big of a problem that quickly or how to fix it. And I had tried a lot of different things.
[00:02:22] Ken: So that moment really changed how I think about go to market strategies. And I made a very clear rule in my brain that I now teach my clients today,
[00:02:32] Ken: and it was around the fact that I will never overly be reliant on algorithms. Again.
[00:02:38] Ken: Fast forward to where we are and this kind of philosophy, this decision matters even more for you today.
[00:02:45] Ken: Over the last two years, and I'd say especially the last six months, we've watched free distribution dry up across platforms, and you've seen what's happened firsthand possibly to you, but definitely if you're paying [00:03:00] attention. Those with large audiences pivoting hard.
[00:03:03] Ken: Some of them no longer even have the business they had before creators disappearing. Well-known names. Going back to roles they didn't expect to return to.
[00:03:13] Ken: Now this isn't my first rodeo, but I see a lot of entrepreneurs do this when one platform stops working. The instinct is to do this, find another one. And that's why so many people have rushed to places like Substack. And I'm not down on Substack. I think it's interesting and something I've studied myself.
[00:03:31] Ken: But all they're really doing is trading one algorithm for another And we know how the story ends. We've seen this movie before.
[00:03:38] Ken: So this is what I mean when I talk about algorithm proof marketing. It means that when distribution changes, you still have a way to consistently land clients, not just getting a client or feeling like you're getting lucky. Because once is easy.
[00:03:57] Ken: knowing how to get your next a hundred clients, as [00:04:00] I discussed in episode 15, even when things change, is the difference between a business and a temporary win.
[00:04:08] Ken: What I want for you is that you can reliably get in front of the right people without fighting feeds, without relying on viral moments, and without needing tens of thousands of followers to be taken seriously.
[00:04:22] Ken: one example that comes to my mind is a client who recently wrote a book. No, not because it was easy. No, not because it was fast, but because it was work worth keeping, which was the focus of last week's conversation. And I'll be sure to link that up in the show notes.
[00:04:40] Ken: So now this person, instead of worrying about whether an executive might see a post that disappears. He puts himself somewhere far more durable in their briefcase, in their backpack on a plane where it's just them and his thinking. That's algorithm proof,
[00:04:59] Ken: but I'm [00:05:00] also very aware, especially with the kind of people that follow me and work with me, that. Writing a book right now may not be accessible for you. You're thinking, I need leads yesterday. I need new business tomorrow.
[00:05:14] Ken: And this is where nuance matters. I'm not making an argument against posting to LinkedIn or sending emails or reaching out via dms.
[00:05:25] Ken: In fact, part of my work is to show you how to do that work more effectively. I do it myself. So obviously those things matter and they are part of distribution. But here's the shift. If you wrote a book and never told anybody about it, it wouldn't matter either.
[00:05:42] Ken: and that's the thing with this client, I'm not saying that they didn't think about marketing, but they definitely didn't think about it at the level that I suggested, and that's where distribution supports work worth keeping.
[00:05:55] Ken: The problem instead is when distribution is the [00:06:00] work you stress about the next post. You stress about the next newsletter you focus on the distribution, not on the work itself.
[00:06:09] Ken: So I also want you to understand that algorithm proof marketing can look much simpler. The idea that I go through in my offers framework is to define that. Lighthouse client and to find out where they actually already are. And then here is the change.
[00:06:28] Ken: Engage them in a way that takes you out of the noise, signal based outreach, intentional one-to-one conversations. And also taking advantage of prospects that may be in your own backyard.
[00:06:44] Ken: When done with signals, when done with intentionality, you go from a catch up or a coffee chat to giving yourself a way to have algorithm proof marketing.
[00:06:55] Ken: What I've seen across my client base and working with lots of [00:07:00] entrepreneurs is that many, if not most people do some version of this accidentally, but very few do it intentionally.
[00:07:08] Ken: So no, this shift will not be easy.Today, you're trained around dopamine. You're excited by reactions
[00:07:16] Ken: your brain gets. Excited when you see a lead reply, and it's all because we have trained ourselves to crave what's easier.
[00:07:27] Ken: So here's what I'd actually want you to do after this conversation. Take some time this week. Maybe it's just 30 minutes. And write down every way new business shows up for you. Then circle the ones that would still work if the feed disappeared tomorrow. Don't try to fix it yet. Just notice.
[00:07:47] Ken: awareness comes before a leverage, what many entrepreneurs notice will be this. If you're spending 90% of your time on distribution and 10% on something [00:08:00] durable, please flip that. Build something that still works when the algorithm changes.
[00:08:05] Ken: Build something that you can refer to outside of the feed. That's work worth keeping. That's the environment that creates algorithm proof marketing. Because if your business only works, when the feed does, that's not strategy. It's a risk.
[00:08:22] Ken: As always, appreciate these conversations. Hope you got a nugget today and I can't wait to help you continue to grow without hiring.