Episode 152: BEST OF BELLA: They Ask, You Answer with Marcus Sheridan

This episode is part of the "Best of Bella" series. Bella chose this episode with Marcus Sheridan as one of the best for many reasons. Marcus is one of her favorite human beings, they go on a deep dive of content marketing and his book "They Ask, You Answer". She doesn't want you to be making the mistake that she sees others doing when blogging, even if you've listened to this episode before you'll want to give it another listen. Bella and Marcus discuss: The philosophy of "They ask, you answer" Why business owners are afraid of just giving honest answers to potential customers The five subjects that move the economy. The dangers of "Ostrich marketing" How important video is becoming to the marketing process Assignment selling Face-to-face sales appointments without you being there. Show Highlights How did Bella and Marcus meet? [2:50] Who is Marcus Sheridan? [3:55] How did Marcus realize he needed to slow down and start answering questions? [8:45] What are the five subjects that move the economy? [12:05] What is "Ostrich Marketing"? [13:35] How important is video to the marketing process? [15:20] What is assignment selling? [20:05] How are face-to-face sales changing? [23:20] Original Show Notes On this episode Bella speaks with Marcus Sheridan, a former pool guy turned digital sales and marketing expert. He is the President of The Sales Lion and a Partner at River Pools and Spas. Links Marcus Sheridan's book: They Ask You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today's Digital Consumer (available on Amazon) You can find out more about Marcus at https://www.thesaleslion.com. Transcript: This is episode 152 of Bella in Your Business, The Best of Bella. Today we’re taking you back to episode number 36 with one of my favorite human beings in the marketing space — maybe even in the world — my good friend Marcus Sheridan. If you’ve never heard his name, stop what you’re doing right now and look him up because this man is not only knowledgeable but inspiring, and he’s influenced numerous pet sitters and dog walkers to take action. We go on a deep dive about content marketing and what that really means. Content marketing is basically anything you put out there — video, audio, written, or pictorial — and how that can help your business. I picked this episode for The Best of Bella because I don’t want you to make the mistake I see so often. People finally start blogging, but they’re not blogging to help themselves. Their blogs are, frankly, useless. They don’t help, and they end up competing with big generic blogs like “Pet Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe This Summer.” Snooze. In this episode, Marcus helps you understand how making content more local and answering the real questions people are searching for will help tremendously. I don’t want you to blog just to blog. I want you to understand what creating good content really means. Without further ado, here’s my interview with Marcus Sheridan. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where I’ll discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready — I’ve got your chute. Let’s jump! Welcome to Bella in Your Business! I’m so excited today because I’ve got Marcus Sheridan with me, the self-proclaimed “used-to-be pool guy” turned digital marketer. I remember the first time I met him — at a small conference in Las Vegas back in 2012 with maybe a dozen people. I remember how captivated everyone was and how he knew everyone’s name in the room. That moment changed my life. At the time, I was still running my pet sitting company, and Marcus told me I could do anything. Fast forward, I sold that company and now run my coaching business — and it’s largely because of that one conversation. Marcus says he started a swimming pool company with two friends in 2001, and things were great until the 2008 market crash nearly bankrupted them. By early 2009, he had 16 employees sitting at home, was three weeks overdrawn, and had maxed out all the credit cards. Desperate, he turned to the internet and started studying inbound and content marketing. What he realized was simple: if he obsessed over the questions customers asked every day — their fears, worries, and concerns — and answered them honestly on his website through text and video, he might just save his business. That’s how They Ask, You Answer was born. By obsessively addressing customer questions online, his company became the most trafficked swimming pool website in the world, pulling in 600,000 to 700,000 visitors a month during the summer. That success led to manufacturing pools and building a national dealer network. Other businesses began asking him to teach them how he did it, and soon he was speaking around the world about marketing, sales, and trust. Marcus says he’s proud not only of the business but of how he’s maintained balance with family. He even started a video series called The Balance to show what it looks like to win both at work and at home. He said he got the idea after watching Gary Vaynerchuk and realizing that while Gary’s energy is great, not everyone can live at that pace. When he asked a group in Scotland if anyone ever felt depressed watching Gary’s DailyVee, hands went up. They said they wanted to “win big at home” too. That’s when Marcus decided to show what real balance looks like — not perfection, but progress. We laugh about his “wall tiles” for his show and I tell him I want to earn one. Then I ask how he realized the power of simply answering people’s questions. Marcus says most businesses still act like it’s the 1990s, hiding information until a customer shows up. Back then, a car salesman could say, “Come on in and I’ll tell you the price.” That doesn’t work anymore. Today’s buyers are the most educated in history, and businesses that ignore that are doomed. He says his lack of formal business training was actually a blessing — it kept him from overcomplicating things. He just asked, “What do my customers want to know?” and answered it. For pools, that meant tackling questions like “How much does a fiberglass pool cost?”, “What are the problems with fiberglass pools?”, or “Fiberglass vs. concrete pools — which is better?” Competitors avoided those questions, thinking if they didn’t mention alternatives, people wouldn’t notice. Marcus laughs at that — of course they’ll find it! So why not be the one to teach them? I relate it to pet sitters who say, “I don’t want to talk about other companies.” But transparency builds trust. That’s when Marcus shares his “Big 5” — the five topics that move every buying decision: cost, problems, comparisons, reviews, and “best of” lists. Every single industry can use these. People always research how much something costs, what the problems are, how it compares, reviews, and what’s the best. He says it’s amazing how few companies actually use that because they’re afraid. Marcus talks about the “ostrich effect” — how businesses bury their heads and hope customers don’t ask tough questions. But ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away. Addressing them builds trust and can even turn weaknesses into strengths. Then I bring up the part of his book about video, because Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has said video is the future. Marcus agrees, saying by 2019, 80% of online content will be video. People consume information visually now. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like being on camera — your customer does. If they want video, you must give it to them. He talks about creating the “80% video.” In every sales meeting, 80% of the questions are the same, so make one video that answers them all and send it before the meeting. Then the prospect sees your face, hears your voice, and learns your approach before they ever meet you — it builds instant trust. He tells a story about how, before video, when he showed up for appointments, kids would yell, “Mom, Dad, the pool guy’s here.” After video, they’d yell, “Mom, Dad, the guy from the video’s here.” And eventually, “Mom, Dad, Marcus is here.” That’s when he knew video had changed everything. I remind him how he used to confirm appointments by asking, “Did you get a chance to watch the video I sent?” If they hadn’t, he’d reschedule — that flipped the dynamic completely. Marcus calls that “assignment selling.” Both sides have skin in the game. He compares it to marriage — both must contribute. For years, he thought prospects asked dumb questions, until he realized they were only uninformed because he hadn’t taught them yet. Once he required clients to consume content first, his close rate skyrocketed. Marcus says it’s incredible how much people will read or watch before buying. Most businesses think customers only view two or three pages, but serious buyers — especially pet parents trusting someone with their dog — will read or watch everything. I point out how in his book he showed that after a visitor views 12 pages, the closing rate soars. Pet sitters often say they don’t know what to blog about, but his five topics alone give endless content. I tell him how I applied it — embedding videos and links on my service pages — and it worked. Marcus says that’s the goal: become the best teacher in your industry. When customers have a question, they should think of you first. He reminds us to “embrace the messy.” Everyone has to go through being bad before becoming good. Too many wait for perfection. Progress beats perfection every time. I tell him I hate to wrap up but can’t wait to see him again at Social Media Marketing World. He says it’s one of the most energizing events out there. I mention I’ll be leaving my daughter Olivia for the first time, but I know investing in myself is worth it. We laugh about how many pet sitters will be there — it’ll feel like a dorm full of sorority sisters. Before we end, I ask how listeners can get the book.