Passion to Profit: Next-Level Marketing, How to Dominate Any Market for Sales Success | Marketing | E3 | Presented by Intuit

Now on Spotify Video! Want your business to cut through the noise in today’s crowded marketplace? It all starts with having the right marketing strategy for your offers. In this final episode of the Passion to Profit series, presented by Intuit, Hala Taha reveals the core strategies entrepreneurs need to effectively market their offers. From compelling messaging to storytelling that resonates, gain insider secrets from digital marketing experts like Russell Brunson, Tom Bilyeu, and Donald Miller on how to stand out and drive explosive sales. In this episode, Hala will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (01:12) Marketing Tips for Attracting Ideal Buyers (05:42) The Power of Storytelling in Marketing (10:04) Building a High-Converting Marketing Funnel (16:39) Choosing the Right Platform for Your Business (22:23) Building Trust Through Authentic Engagement Intuit, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, is expanding its world-class network of tax and bookkeeping experts. Whether you want a side hustle or a career pivot, Intuit offers the tools to help you grow as an entrepreneur. Their supportive team, mission-driven culture, and Intuit Academy—a free, self-paced training platform—mean you’re set up to succeed, even if you’re just getting started. Learn more or apply now at intuit.com/expert. Sponsored By: Intuit, The Maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks. Learn more or apply now at intuit.com/expert. Resources Mentioned: YAP E292 with Julie Solomon: youngandprofiting.co/MakeMoneyInstagram YAP E312 with Russell Brunson: youngandprofiting.co/Million-DollarFunnel YAP E327 with Tom Bilyeu: youngandprofiting.co/Billion-DollarMindset YAP E214 with Donald Miller: youngandprofiting.co/MakeFirstMillion YAP E318 with Rudy Mawer: youngandprofiting.co/ScalingMillion-DollarBrands YAP E348 with Kipp Bodnar: youngandprofiting.co/InboundMarketing YAP E339 with Adam Schafer: youngandprofiting.co/OrganicSales YAP E155 with Kelly Roach: youngandprofiting.co/ConvictionMarketing Passion to Profit E1 - ⁠youngandprofiting.co/PassiontoProfitEp1⁠ Passion to Profit E2 - ⁠youngandprofiting.co/PassiontoProfitEp2⁠ Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap YouTube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Disclaimer: This episode is a paid partnership with Intuit. Sponsored content helps support our podcast and continue bringing valuable insights to our audience. Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, SEO, E-commerce, LinkedIn, Instagram, Social Media, Content Creator, Advertising, Social Media Marketing, Communication, Video Marketing, Social Proof, Marketing Trends, Influencers, Influencer Marketing, Digital Trends, Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Marketing Podcast

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Hala Taha?

  This episode of Young and Profiting is brought to you by Intuit, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks. If you're looking for a flexible career opportunity that lets you help others while building your own path, Intuit is inviting Yap Gang to join its world-class network of tax and bookkeeping experts. Visit intuit.com/expert to learn more or apply now. Young and profiteers, welcome back to episode three of our Passion to Profit series. And in the last episode, we spent time on how to build your offer, step by step, from identifying the pain points to testing, pricing, and refining what you're selling. And so you're ready to build something real, something worth sharing. But now, how do you actually get this offer in front of the right people and then get them to care? Now we come to the part where we truly change the game. That's marketing.

• 0:45Hala Taha?

  Marketing is what separates passion projects from scalable businesses and where real entrepreneurs set themselves apart. In this episode, we're diving into how to attract the right audience, build trust fast, and turn attention into action. And we've got some top-tier minds joining us to break it all down, including Julie Solomon, Adam Schafer, and Tom Bilyeu. Let's do this.

• 1:12Hala Taha?

  To attract the right audience, it's not enough to just identify and address their pain points. You need to also understand their desires. The most powerful offers don't speak to people's problems. They speak to their potential. That's why marketing expert and influencer Julie Solomon encourages entrepreneurs to shift to what she calls desire-based marketing.

• 1:31Speaker 01

  I am a huge believer, and I coach people on getting away from pain point marketing, which is what you're talking about, and more into desire-based marketing. So what I mean by that is that someone that is currently in pain doesn't necessarily mean that they're ready to get out of it. So a lot of, and the reason why is because a lot of times, people don't really know what they may be looking for. They don't know why they're in pain. They don't know why this is happening. And I'll give you an example. Like, let's say that there's someone who, maybe they want to...

• 2:06Speaker 01

  You know, lose weight. We'll just say that because that's like an easy example. So they may be, they may Google search like, you know, how to lose 10 pounds in a healthy way. And then maybe that takes them to a podcast or maybe that takes them to an opt-in. And then they'll find something there and then they're like, oh, well, you know, maybe it's because I need to be on keto. And so then they start searching like how, like, examples of a keto diet are, and then they'll research some of that. And then that will lead somewhere else. And what happens is that these people are still kind of in this analysis phase. They're still in the phase where they're just trying to figure out why this is happening and, and how could I find a solution? And is there a solution available? If you talk to that person that's kind of in that pain,

• 2:50Speaker 01

  it takes so much longer to poke the pain and poke the pain and poke the pain until they're ready to make a buying decision. Versus somebody that, that has had what I call their enough is enough moment. So what I mean by that is that there's some, there's other kinds of buyers out there that they've already done the research. They've already listened to the podcast. They've read the books. They've tried this, they've tried that and they're, and they're done. Like enough is enough. I need a solution and I need it yesterday and I need to pay someone to help me fix this problem now. That person is going to be way easier and way faster to convert as a buyer. And so the best way to call those people in when we talk about attract versus repelling,

• 3:36Speaker 01

  and it makes sense, right? If you just focus on pain point marketing, who are you going to attract? A lot of people that are in pain. Versus if you start to really hone in on desire-based marketing and future pacing people into the desired existence they want to be in. Yes, you're in this pain reality now, but this is what's possible on the other side. Then you're going to start attracting people who are actually looking for a transformation. They're actually looking for a solution. They're not just looking for more validation of their pain.

• 4:07Hala Taha?

  And if you want to inspire that action in people and move them towards transformation, you need to actually understand what motivates people. And desire alone doesn't always convert. The online marketing expert Russell Brunson explains the secret is often lying in something even deeper: Status.

• 4:23Speaker 02

  Everything we do or we don't do in life is because it's also status. If you do something, it's either going to increase your status or it's going to decrease your status. So we do things because we hope it's going to increase our status, or we don't do things because we're feared that it's going to decrease our status. So for example, somebody sees a nice car, like, "I want to buy a Ferrari." And the reason why I want to buy the Ferrari is because if I buy this thing, it will increase my status. My people around me will think that I'm better. So that's what drives us to want to buy something, right? If I'm going to buy a course from somebody, there's two weird things, right? If I buy something from you, I'm taking money out of my bank account and giving it to you. So what happens immediately is my status is decreased because I'm losing money. But I have a hope that by giving you this money, it's going to increase my status by the result you're giving me, right? And so they're always weighing like, "Ah, if I give you this, it's going to decrease my status temporarily,

• 5:06Speaker 02

  but by doing so, I will learn, I'll figure out this thing which will increase my status. Therefore, I'm willing to take that risk." And so when I'm selling something or making an offer to somebody, I'm always thinking about that. Like, by them giving me money, it's going to decrease their status. But I have to help them see the vision of like, over time, this will actually increase their status if they buy this thing. And status could be, they're going to make more money, they're going to lose more weight, whatever that thing is they're trying to get, right? And if they believe that the increase in the status will offset the decrease by paying you, then they're more likely to buy the thing.

• 5:33Hala Taha?

  Status is such a huge driver. And if you want to tap into that and what really drives people to buy, don't just sell them features, sell them a future. That's where storytelling comes in. A compelling story connects your offer to the version of themselves they aspire to be. Tom Bilyeu, co-founder of Quest Nutrition and host of Impact Theory, knows firsthand how powerful stories are in both business and life. He shared with me why storytelling is the ultimate marketing superpower and how the right message can turn customers into true believers.

• 6:04Speaker 03

  Stories simplify things? And they focus attention. And that is the magic of storytelling. This is exactly how humans are able to come together in these gigantic, flexible groups with people they've never even met and cooperate. You have shared stories. It could be a shared story of a nation state, could be a shared story of a religion. But you need some sort of shared story to pass on values, to pass on identity, to give people a unifying narrative. So for better or worse, humans are a meaning-making machine. And stories allow you to transmit meaning. So they're just a mechanism by which you simplify things enough to extract meaning from. So we do it all the time.

• 6:47Speaker 03

  When we stub our toe on the coffee table, we tell a story. We're an idiot because we don't pay attention enough to our surroundings, and that's what stubbing our toe means. Or you could tell yourself the story of, man, I'm so hardcore. I probably broke my toe just now, but I don't stop, I don't quit. I'm the kind of guy that keeps pushing forward. Right? So it all comes down to what's the story that you tell yourself about that thing? So it isn't what happens, it's what it means. And once people understand what it means, you're telling yourself that story. Someone may have said it from the outside, but you decided that that's what you were going to repeat, that's what you were going to adopt. So whether you're a marketer, whether you're just trying to lead your own team, you've got to tell them a story. This is why every company needs a mission. Your mission statement is about galvanizing your team.

• 7:31Speaker 03

  It's about telling the consumer what it means to buy your product, what they're sort of becoming a part of. And then in your marketing, you want to tell something that's simple enough that people can remember it like it's a story. And oftentimes, just literally telling a story inside of your marketing is one of the most useful things that you could do. A couple of times in this interview, you've asked me to tell stories from my childhood or whatever. And so we all just resonate to stories. So in the same way that when humans look at an image, we look for eyes.

• 8:03Speaker 04

  When people are hearing, okay, uh, this thing happened, they're looking for the story in it. And so if you reveal character through it, if you reveal a moral through it, people are gonna remember it way more than if it's just a list of facts. This is why humans get so bored in high school history, only to later discover through, you know, like a hardcore history episode. Actually, history is amazing, but history is only amazing when you tell it like a story. If you tell it like a story, it's fascinating. You tell it like disembodied facts and figures, not interesting at all and hard to remember, because that's not the architecture of the human mind.

• 8:35Hala Taha?

  And this aspect of human psychology is why in marketing, the best stories don't spotlight the seller. They center on the customer. When people hear a story, they automatically try to place themselves into that story. So if your marketing makes you the hero, you've already lost your customers. Donald Miller, the bestselling author of Building a Story Brand, explains why great marketers don't just tell stories. They invite customers into one.

• 8:59Speaker 04

  Story is the universal language. And when you're having any kind of conversation, whether it's getting together with a friend, to catch up, or it's a sales conversation, or even if it's a conversation with your therapist, what your brain is doing the entire time is trying to organize events into the structure of story. Your brain is subconsciously figuring out who the hero is, what the problem they're up against is, how they're gonna get out of that problem, what the happy ever life will look like if they do get out of that problem. So because most people are not actually very good communicators, that it's very hard to figure out what the story is actually about. But if we actually lay out our communication in the form of story,

• 9:43Speaker 04

  the person that we're talking to doesn't have to use any mental bandwidth in order to understand what we're talking about. And that gives the brain a really pleasant feeling. Because the brain doesn't have to work hard to organize the information. We tend to follow leaders who are able to do that. And we tend to buy products from account executives who are able to do that.

• 10:04Hala Taha?

  Now, if storytelling is what grabs your audience's heart, a funnel is what guides their feet. Without a clear path, even the most powerful message can get lost. A marketing funnel gives structure to the buyer's journey, from curiosity to conversion. So you're not just inspiring people, you're actually leading them somewhere. Russell Brunson breaks down how a great funnel is both art and architecture.

• 10:24Speaker 02

  The first part of the art is just understanding the psychology. If I'm taking somebody from a cold ad, where am I taking them? What's the first step? What's the second step? What's the third step, right? So that's kind of the first part is the structure. Kind of similar in my mind, like the structure of a house, right? Like, here's the framework that we're taking somebody through. But then, on every ad and every page, there's always three things I look at. Like, every ad will have a hook, a story, and then an offer. And every landing page has a hook, a story, and an offer. And then every sales page has hooks. Like, those elements are on every single page. So I always look at that. Okay, what's hook, story, offer of this part of the funnel? What's hook, story, offer of this part? You know, and I look at those kind of things. And then I like looking at, you know, how they tell their story and how they're doing it in a way that gets me excited to want to buy their product. Or to, you know, how does this, how does this story increase the perceived value of the thing they want me to buy?

• 11:09Speaker 02

  And so for me, like, that's the art. Like, I love studying it and looking at, I look at everybody's funnels, what everyone's doing. And then I just learn from that. And then from there, when I'm building my own funnels, you know, I'm looking at, here's all these ideas. Here's all these things people are doing. And I try to bring the best of those things into my funnels. And I always tell people who come into my world, I'm like, if you want to buy something from me, like, you, like, please buy it because I want you to buy the product, right? But more importantly, I'm like, buy things from me very, very slowly. Because I'm like, if you look at any page inside of any of the funnels, like, this is not me just throwing up something and hoping it works. This is like me, I will go look at, like, let's say I'm doing a book funnel or a webinar funnel. I will go through and look at. Fifty to a hundred webinar funnels before I build my next webinar funnel. Every time I'm studying and looking and putting the best practices in. So like when I'm building out my webinar funnel, it's it's like the best art in the world.

• 11:54Speaker 02

  Like it's all the best practices you can dream of in every single page. And so, um, yeah, that's the art for me.

• 12:01Hala Taha?

  A good funnel structure alone, however, won't move the needle unless it's paired with messaging that grabs attention and drives action. Rudy Moore, a direct response marketing expert, talks about why immediate click-worthy messaging still matters, especially for new creators.

• 12:15Speaker 05

  Direct response marketing has been around for many years. It's like the underlying sort of type of marketing behind a lot of big brands. Okay. And I think marketing, you can always split into two sides. You've got like more like organic branding, fluffy social media marketing and branding. And then you've got what I call more hardcore direct response marketing. And to give you an example, if you're listening, direct response marketing is, you know, where it's a big promise or a big claim or it's very clear. It's like lose 27 pounds in 27 days with this two-minute, uh, two-minute morning meditation. Right? So that's like, well, that's what direct response is because it's a clear, hey, do this and you will get this outcome.

• 12:56Speaker 05

  Branding would be more, you know, this fitness influencer that talks about weight loss and and and kind of has, you know, all these different ads and social media content and something that they're known for. And you know, eventually the goal of a brand is to build more like a Coca-Cola or Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton doesn't need to say, buy this handbag and everyone will think you're rich and famous and this is what all the celebrities and it's a status symbol. That would be direct response for Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton doesn't need to do that because it's spent a hundred years or whatever building a brand. But when most of us start out, we're not Louis Vuitton or Gucci or Coca-Cola or Nike as much as we wish we were and want to be.

• 13:38Speaker 05

  So I think more beginners actually need to learn some level of direct response because it's what gets attention and it gets people to click and it gets people into your world, which is where you can then start impacting them.

• 13:50Hala Taha?

  Mm hmm. So just to break it down, there's direct response and there's brand. The other way that I think about it is direct response is like immediate, right? You're looking for immediate conversions, immediate leads. Branding is more of like awareness, long tail. You might get the leads later on, but it's more about getting people familiar, getting people warm. So what are the main ways that people do direct response? Like, what are the main channels?

• 14:14Speaker 05

  Yeah, well, I mean, at any platform that you can advertise and get some sort of an instant reaction is is great for direct response. So for me, I wouldn't, I don't do much in SEO. I don't know much about it. I think it's a good like a background thing to run. But if I build a new website today, there's a very, very small chance that I'm going to instantly rank number one on Google for a keyword. But what I can do is build a website today, build a social media, Facebook and Instagram handle and profile and set up an ad and I can get genuine leads, customers and clicks to my website that same day or the next day, maybe. So that's the big difference, right? And it's a lot of people say, really, well, what's better? It's like, it's like asking what's better, diet or exercise? Yeah, you kind of need both long term, right?

• 14:57Speaker 05

  But you might start with one to really kind of get going and then add in the second one and refine over time. So yeah, I think direct response, any social media platform where you can reach people instantly, advertising on Facebook, Google Ads, YouTube Ads, all of those LinkedIn Ads. And then most of the time you'll see direct response more with cleared landing pages and what we call in our world funnels. I like to call them more like sales processes where there's a clear angle, right? Someone's going to click that link on a social media ad, they're going to give their email, they're going to get redirected to a five minute video. And then at the end of the video, it tells them to book a sales call or it tells them to buy a $200 product. That's more direct response.

• 15:40Hala Taha?

  All right, Yap Gang, you've got a funnel in place and a compelling message for your offer. But how do you decide where to share your message? And how do you actually build engagement once people find you? In the second half of this episode, we'll explore the platforms that matter the most for entrepreneurs and creators today and how to show up in ways that keep people coming back. At Yap Media, we've trusted Intuit products for years. We started with QuickBooks to keep our business finances organized from the ground up, and it's been instrumental in helping us track our growth and manage our finances effectively. And now Intuit is expanding its world-class network of tax and bookkeeping experts for TurboTax and QuickBooks, whether you're looking to work full-time, part-time, or Simply supplement your income, Intuit offers flexible schedules that fit your lifestyle,

• 16:24Hala Taha?

  helping you build a personalized career path on your terms. And you won't be doing it alone. You'll have the support of a credentialed team. Plus, you'll get free training through the Intuit Academy to build confidence and develop your skills in tax preparation and bookkeeping. This means whether you're already experienced or just getting started in the field, there's a path for you. Intuit's passionate about helping people, customers, and experts alike create meaningful impact through financial clarity. If this sounds like an opportunity that you've been waiting for, head to intuit.com expert to learn more and apply now. That's I N T U I T dot com slash expert. Welcome back, everybody. In this first half of the episode, we broke down the art and science of storytelling and funnel design and how to grab attention in a crowded market.

• 17:07Hala Taha?

  Now, let's talk about where that attention should actually go. Because no matter how good your message is, it won't land unless you're showing up in the right places consistently. And if you're just starting out, don't worry, you don't need a massive ad budget. You just need clarity, consistency, and content that speaks to people already looking for it. Here's HubSpot CMO Kip Bodnar with a roadmap to platform success. So you are a brand new entrepreneur.

• 17:32Speaker 06

  Yep.

• 17:33Hala Taha?

  You might be, I have like a little bit of money, but you mostly you have time. So you have time to invest. What would you do for your marketing strategy launching a new?

• 17:42Speaker 06

  All right, if I'm time-rich and money-poor, what would I do?

• 17:45Hala Taha?

  Yes.

• 17:46Speaker 06

  Um, the first thing I am doing is I am figuring out what type of creator I need to be. Right? Am I going to be YouTube, LinkedIn? What's my product? What's my market? And I got to start creating and I got to create on the daily. Because I'm time-rich. I got the time to make every day and I got to make something every day. And I got to, I'm going to use AI tools to help me keep up the pace of production. And they're free to very low cost. So I can, I can take advantage of that. And then the second thing I'm going to do is I'm going to find one area where my target audience spends a lot of time. That I might be able to reach them in a very interesting way. Like, an example of this is like, the early days of LinkedIn groups.

• 18:29Hala Taha?

  Yep.

• 18:29Speaker 06

  Right? What you could do in the early days of LinkedIn groups is sponsor messages to that the group owner could send to the entire group. And we would go and we would spend money to do that. And nobody else was doing that. And we got hugely efficient lead generation by doing that. And it's just like, oh, a million marketers in this group. Nobody is really going after them. How do we get them?

• 18:51Hala Taha?

  Just because you're showing up doesn't mean you're being heard. As Kipp Bodnar emphasized, platform consistency is key. But platform fluency matters just as much. Every channel has its own culture, expectations, and unspoken rules. What works on a podcast might flop on YouTube. A story that kills on Instagram might fall flat on email. Adam Schafer talked to me about some of the hard-won lessons from Mind Pump Media's early YouTube missteps, and how learning to adapt their message made all the difference.

• 19:21Speaker 07

  What I have realized over all these years of doing this now is that they're different. They're different, they're different monsters. And every medium is that way, too. So for the people that are entrepreneurs are listening, it's very, very clear that I have a Spotify audience. I have a YouTube audience. I have an Instagram audience. I have an email audience. Now, there is definitely a crossover on all these platforms. There's a problem. And if I had to put a number on it, I'd say 5% or 10% of these people maybe cross over all platforms. But for the most part, most people stick to the platform. They consume all their content out. And that's, they would consider themselves a YouTube person or an Instagram person. And so it's important to learn your voice on each platform. And know like, how you communicate on email is a little bit different than how you communicate on the podcast.

• 20:05Speaker 07

  I remember when we first learned this mistake, when we started the YouTube channel, we'd already been, we'd already been doing pretty well with the podcast. And we weren't on YouTube yet because we kind of thought, who the hell wants to watch three idiots talk in a chair? You know, fitness for an hour and a half. So we were like, that's ridiculous. We won't do that. But we did go, well, we are personal trainers, and so we can give out exercise videos. So let's, that and that add value, right? How do we add value? Our listeners already, let's teach them visually like exercises. That's a good way to bolster business. Agreed. Okay. We all did. Well, this worked for the podcast. So let's do this on YouTube channel. So if you go back on our YouTube channel, you'll see how we used to start every YouTube episode on the, on the exercise channel.

• 20:47Speaker 07

  And it was literally the three of us making jokes and talking all silly and goofy and being ourselves. And Doug would swoop in with a camera and like the first, I don't know, two minutes of the YouTube video, which is supposed to be exercise tutorial videos was us, you know, joshing each other and having fun and teasing and kind of like talking, you know, telling a story. And then we would get into the exercise demo. And we just thought because that was the formula for the podcast that, okay, it'll work on YouTube. It like, it kept falling on its face and people were commenting like crazy. This is stupid. Who are these idiots? I don't, get to the exercise. Tell us how to do this. And we kind of ignored that for a while and it took a while before we realized like, oh, wait a second. And it was funny because when I look back, it was so obvious, right? It's like, how do I use YouTube?

• 21:32Speaker 07

  If I want to learn how to, you know, bake a cake and I YouTube that recipe, do I want the person to be talking five minutes about jokes in their personal life before they get to it? I'm going to skip and I'm going to go right to the, give me the guy or the girl that gets right to the recipe and teaches me. That's why I searched for this. What are these idiots doing talking? And why do I need all three of them? Like, I mean, looking back, I go like, oh, of course, but we didn't know that. And I didn't know that until we, we tried that and we realized like, oh, okay. Wow. These platforms are really different and everybody uses it in different ways. And so learning how to take your overall arching mission and voice and, and shape it into whatever medium that you are using.

• 22:12Speaker 07

  How we write long form content like white papers is so different to how we do short form emails. It's so different to how we do one minute reels is so different to how we do hour and a half long podcasts. And it took a while to kind of really figure out how we change those, but yet stay um, on brand, authentic to who we are and continue to communicate the message that we're trying to do. But understanding that on each platform, we're speaking from a different voice.

• 22:40Hala Taha?

  When you've identified the right platform for you, it's time to focus on what really builds an audience and a business. Trust and connection. I've experienced this myself. When I stopped trying to please everyone and leaned fully into my direct, high-energy style, that's when things really took off for me. And that's partly because authenticity attracts alignment. It's easy to get caught in chasing vanity metrics like likes, views and follower counts. But the truth is, you don't need a massive following to build a massive impact. You need an engaged one. As Julie Solomon told me, many brands are shifting their focus away from clout and towards connection.

• 23:16Speaker 01

  A large following does not equal more money. It just doesn't. And I think a lot of times, people, for some reason, just people make up and tell themselves that. And what's interesting about this too, Hala, is that Instagram has now come out and said that a large following does not necessarily equal more monetization. Brands have come out and said, we actually want to work with nano and micro influencers over the macro and the celebrity influencers. Because they have a more engaged audience, they convert more consistently for us. You know, their audience trusts them more. They're more engaged in the content that they're creating. And so that's just a huge myth that needs to be busted. Like, higher following does not equal more money. In fact, in my Pigeon Perfect program,

• 24:01Speaker 01

  the majority of people that are landing paid brand deals consistently, daily, weekly, have less than 3,000 followers. They're making far more than the ones that spent all of their time trying to get to some magical 100K number or something like that. And it kind of goes back to what you said, Hala, about, you know, you may not have the biggest podcast in the world, but where your genius really lies is understanding what the podcast sponsors need and want and what's going to actually get the deal done. And that's where you spend your time. That's what you invest your relationships in. That's what you make sure that you're educated on and you're on the tip of the arrow on. That's what you hustle for, not only for your podcast, but for your network of podcasters and the people that work for you. And that's why you're able to get that done.

• 24:47Speaker 01

  It's really about the intention, because where your intention Goes, the energy and the money will flow. And that is just kind of a mindset shift that I think people need to really reframe for themselves. Because two, each level of growth is going to require a different mindset level. And to me, I like to think of it more about money. It's like, the following ship is great, but it doesn't really matter if no one's engaging with you. I would rather have, you know, a thousand followers who are literally eating up everything that I say and buying everything that I offer versus a hundred thousand followers that could give two flying craps about what I'm doing.

• 25:29Speaker 01

  And that's just me personally, because the thousand followers that are buying and showing up every day, that's more sustainable than the hundred thousand that aren't.

• 25:37Hala Taha?

  Consistency earns attention, but generosity earns trust. Offering useful tools, templates, or content for free doesn't just capture leads. It proves your value before money ever changes hands. That kind of generosity builds credibility fast. Kipp Bodnar explains why giving away great things for free can actually accelerate your business.

• 25:56Speaker 06

  Remember that marketing is just, is kind of a lesson in economics. It's what do you want to sell versus what do you want to give away to sell a bigger thing down the road? And like, how do you, how do you offset? How you think about that? About 10 years ago, we were like, hey, you know what? The world is changing and trust is becoming the most important thing. And one of the things, ways you can build trust with people is to let them try before they buy. Right? And like your webinar is a great example of that. It's like, hey, if I'm on a 30, 60 minute webinar with you, I probably have a pretty good idea about what your course is going to look like, how, what the quality is going to be, what it's going to feel like, the experience. And so I'm much more likely to have trust and go buy that course. So if we, if you use our free version of HubSpot CRM, you're much more likely to buy a paid version because you're like, hey, you know what?

• 26:41Speaker 06

  I'm up and running on this. I've closed a couple of deals with it. I understand the features that if I pay for them, that I would get. And you know what? I kind of need them because I think I would make even more money if I paid for those features. And it's a whole different game. Right now, like, we all have access to infinite knowledge with AI. Knowledge is a complete commodity. So in that world, trust becomes everything. You can, people can know who you are, but they can still not trust you at all. And giving that value away is how you build trust. And so for us, like, the free version of our product, so we do it, but you know, you have webinars. There's a, there is a version of that for any business.

• 27:17Hala Taha?

  Yep, and finally, let's talk about how to cement that trust with your audience. While giving value is essential, how you deliver that value matters just as much. People don't connect with perfect, they connect with real. Being open about your struggles, mistakes, and learning curves invites your audience to see themselves in your story. The business strategist Kelly Roach and I discussed why authenticity is one of the most powerful tools in marketing, and how emotional resonance is what truly makes messages stick. What are some other actionable ways that we can bring this emotion to our branding, aside from the obvious ones, which is like, social media posts, and, you know, having a podcast where you tell your personal stories?

• 27:56Speaker 08

  It's literally, you can do it with anything. I mean, you can tell stories. I mean, for me, a lot of times, even when I do like Instagram stories or Facebook stories, like, I'm literally just giving like encouragement. It's encouragement, it's, you know, it's sharing mistakes, it's sharing setbacks that you work through. I think one of the things that's most endearing when you're a teacher that, you know, wants people to want to work with you is not when you just show your highlight reel of all of your greatness and all of your wonderful accomplishments, but instead, when you say, "Listen, I failed at this, and I failed at this, and I failed at this, and this is what I learned from it, and this is who I became, and this is why I'm successful today, and these are all the things that you can skip over, that you don't have to go through, because I did, and I'm going to tell you what to do instead."

• 28:40Speaker 08

  So, I think it can be in podcasts, it can be in live streams, it can be in videos, it can be in emails, it can be in posts on social media stories, right? It can be from the stage, it can be from behind the microphone, anywhere that you connect with your audience. It can be in a book, right? And, you know, in a book, any way you want. But the bottom line is, it's going from transaction, which is non-emotional, and it doesn't have staying power, to relational, which now is what creates that desire, that stickiness factor in the brand for people to want to stay with you.

• 29:18Hala Taha?

  In today's worlds of algorithms and attention hacking, it's easy to chase the noise and forget what actually moves the needle, and that's trust. Real marketing is not about gimmicks, it's about showing up with your heart, leading with value, and staying true to your story. That's how you turn a product into a brand, and passion into real profit. So don't just chase attention, build connection, serve, show up, and stand out. That's how you're gonna win. All right, Yap fam, this concludes episode three of our special three-part series of turning your passion into profit. We talked about getting into the mindset of entrepreneurship, building your offer, and now, marketing your offer. Now that you guys have all the tools and resources to get started, I expect you to hit the ground running and turn your

• 30:00Hala Taha?

  passion into profit. This is your host, Halataha, AKA The Podcast Princess, signing off. I've got to give a huge thanks to Intuit for sponsoring today's episode. Intuit is inviting our Yap fam to join its world-class network of tax and bookkeeping experts. If you've got experience in tax and bookkeeping, or even if you're just getting started, this is an incredible opportunity with flexible scheduling and the chance to make a real impact in people's lives. It's a perfect side hustle or main hustle. So if you're ready to get started, visit intuit.com expert to learn more or apply. That's Intuit, I-N-T-U-I-T dot com slash expert to get started.