Episodes

  • Tariffs Aren’t the Problem. Here’s Why…

    Tariffs Aren’t the Problem. Here’s Why…
    Jun 24 2025
    Here's why tariffs aren't the problem. Because there's always someone who's buying. Sometimes it's harder to find them. Sometimes it's easier to find them. So if, as a result of tariffs or anything else, it's going to be harder to find people, we understand that. But it doesn't mean that business is over and it doesn't mean that we can just sit and stew, because that just doesn't work. David: Hi. Welcome back. In today's episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist, and I'll be discussing the fact that tariffs are not the problem. Welcome back, Kevin. Kevin: Good to to see you, David. How you been? David: Been doing great. Great to see you as well. Kevin: Yeah. We're talking about a topic that is in the news a little bit these days. You introduced the topic as tariffs aren't the problem. What do you mean by that? David: Yeah. I mean, if you're watching the media, you would think they are, but... Kevin: Yeah, I would say so. David: What I mean by that, and I'm not saying they're not a problem. What I'm saying is they're not THE problem. Okay, difference in the title. Tariffs aren't the problem. Okay? The reason this came up is I was having a conversation with someone in the promotional products industry who was talking about some of the issues that she was dealing with, and she mentioned the tariffs, and how the tariffs really had her very concerned. And I said, well, it's understandable because it creates a level of uncertainty that people are generally not happy with. I said, Kevin: Sure. David: How many orders have you actually lost as a result of the tariffs? And she said, well, none. I'm like, okay. Well that's a good start, right? If you haven't lost any orders so far as a result of it, that's a great way to start. And we just talked about the fact that everyone is dealing with this, everyone in the United States, anyone is dealing with this. And so, we're on an even playing field with any competitors, right? Because any competitors that we have are likely dealing with this as well. When we focus on things that are not the problem, like the thing that's actually keeping us from getting clients or getting reorders, or getting referrals, when we focus on those things, we're going to be a lot more productive in terms of being able to accomplish more things in less time, without focusing on the things that are not the immediate problem for us. Kevin: I mean, are business owners using tariffs or other external factors as as an excuse, if maybe they're having poor sales or things like that? David: Probably not consciously, I don't think they're consciously using it as an excuse. But it's easy to see it happen. And it's not just tariffs. Anytime anyone is concerned about the growth of their business, not being able to get enough new orders through the door, not able to get enough new customers through the door. Whenever they're not doing that, they're looking for reasons. And when you think of it logically, you'll look at the reasons that are actually happening. Well, what are the reasons this is happening? But when there are any sort of scapegoats in the market, people are likely to look at them, or point to them, or express concerns about them. Very often the concerns are about the things that could happen, that might happen, that could potentially happen, as opposed to what is actually slowing them down right now? Kevin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I think, it's dangerous to blame outside forces, like tariffs, instead of addressing in ternal issues. Because if you do that, you're going to potentially either ignore or downplay maybe some internal issues that you might have within your company. Is that a fair assessment? David: Yeah, and it's just not productive. When we're having interactions with clients, and let's say a client does raise the issue that they have concerns about pricing or they have concerns about how tariffs are going to impact their pricing and all that sort of thin...
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    14 mins
  • Why Clients Shop Your Ideas — and How to Fix It

    Why Clients Shop Your Ideas — and How to Fix It
    Jun 10 2025
    It’s no fun when clients shop your ideas. If you ever came up with a brilliant idea for a promotion, only to have a prospect think it over, say they’d get back to you, but then ghost you and buy it from someone cheaper, you know the pain of being the unpaid consultant in the room. Being the brains behind a competitor’s sale is not ideal. You’re the one who did the work, thought it through, created the ideas, sourced the products, and made the recommendations only to have someone else place the order and cash the check. What’s up with that? Why are some ideas purchased immediately, while others are stolen, ghosted, shopped around, or just ignored completely? That’s what we’ll explore in today’s episode. If your best ideas keep ending up on someone else’s commission report, you may think you have a pricing problem. But it’s more likely you have a positioning problem. And it starts with the way you build out the experience of doing business with you. You're Not Just Selling Products—You're Selling a Process and an Experience You already know that prospects and clients can buy promotional products from ANY of a never-ending lineup of distributors, both online and off. That’s not what sets you apart. What sets you apart is the experience you create for them, from your First Contact through every other aspect of dealing with you and your organization. This includes: The clarity you bring to the project The confidence they feel in your guidance and The relief of not having to think through all the moving parts themselves Those are just a few of the differentiators, and none of them happen by accident. Instead, they’re the result of: The Messaging you use to position yourself as a valued resource, instead of just another product peddler. The marketing Vehicles you use to reach, impact and motivate recipients to get the desired response from them, and of course… The People you are proactively choosing to engage with. Not just anyone, but those who are less likely to shop and more likely to buy. If you don’t have those three pieces firmly dialed in: Your Messaging, your Vehicles, and your People, then the right experiences are far less likely to happen. Why the Experience You Create Beats Product Alone Every Time Let me ask you this. What does it feel like to work with you? Years ago, salespeople had a much easier time getting away with selling features and benefits. “Here are the features of what the product is, and here are the benefits of what the product does for you.” But in the information age, that doesn’t begin to cover it. A spec sheet can do it adequately. They don’t need you for that. So what are your best clients actually buying from you? More often than not, it goes way beyond features and benefits. It also goes way beyond branded merchandise. It’s: The confidence they get from the recommendations you make The trust they have in your ability to deliver what you promise The experience they have when interacting with you Ultimately, it’s the emotion they feel as you bring all that together for them, taking the stress off their plate and knowing you’ll make them look like a star to their target audience. It’s very difficult to shop that, because so few businesses deliver it consistently. But that’s what they’re buying from you. Clarity. Confidence, and Certainty. If your messaging doesn’t communicate that, then your value is invisible. Without that, you end up with people asking for ideas, shopping them around, and awarding the business to the lowest bidder. Not Every Prospect Wants or Needs Your Full Process, and That’s OK Of course, not every prospect needs a full consulting experience. Some just want a quote on a pen. Others want pricing on 50 business cards. Still others will just ask you to put together your best ideas and tell you they’ll get back to you. All of that comes with the territory.
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    5 mins
  • Stop Undercharging: Get Paid What You’re Worth

    Stop Undercharging: Get Paid What You’re Worth
    Jun 3 2025
    Want to stop undercharging and get paid what you're worth? In our last episode, we talked about the dangerous disconnect between effort and results. How being busy isn’t the same as being profitable, and why aligning your actions with your outcomes is the only sustainable way to grow. But what happens when you do align your actions… You do deliver real value… And you’re still not making what you feel you're worth? That’s what we’re getting into today. It's a big blind spot related to pricing and undercharging. So if you already know your work is worth more than what you’re charging for it, this episode could be the game-changer you didn’t even know you needed. The Hidden Problem: Undercharging Isn’t Just About Numbers Most business owners don’t consciously undercharge for their services. No one wakes up in the morning thinking, “How can I leave money on the table today?” But undercharging is not usually about neglect. It’s also not about generosity. More often than not, undercharging is related to fear. Fear of losing to lowball competitors. Fear of being seen as too expensive or greedy. Fear of not getting the order. It's also about perception: Their own perception, and the market’s perception. Many people base their pricing on what they think their clients can afford… or what competitors are charging… or worse, what a particularly cheap prospect once told them they were worth. But consider this: Pricing isn’t just math. It’s strategy. If your price doesn’t reflect your expertise, your results, and the transformation you create for your clients, it’s not just undervaluing your work. It’s sending your market a message that says: “The work I do isn’t really worth all that much.” Your Pricing = Your Market Position In business, price signals value. So when you charge like a commodity, you get treated like a commodity. And when you price like a strategic partner, you tend to get treated like one. It’s not just about numbers, it’s about how your prospects and clients see you. Are you the kind of person they value and are grateful to work with? Or are you just someone they’re trying to squeeze for discounts? That gap often comes down to three things that many business owners tend to overlook: How they define their work. Who they present it to. What they allow themselves to charge for it. It’s not about buzzwords or branding jargon. It’s about clarity. Are you describing your work in a way that makes prospects lean in or glaze over? Are you putting it in front of people who already get the value—or those who need convincing? And are you pricing it in a way that honors the transformation you deliver… or just typical industry pricing? In a free market system, everyone gets to set their own pricing. We all get to decide. By saying this, I’m not suggesting you should overcharge for the products and services you offer. I’m just encouraging you to consider what your time, effort, and life energy are worth to you when calculating your prices. Clients Are Willing to Pay More When They Understand Why You already know that in every market, there are price-shoppers who always make their buying decisions based solely on price. They’ll get ten quotes. That means ten people will do all the work of pricing out the job, only to lose that order to the one person who is willing to work for the least amount of money. Are those the people you want to be basing your pricing on? Another important consideration is that in every market, there are always people who are willing to pay more. You just need to target them, know what to say to them, and be able to reach them effectively. That’s the essence of the monetization strategy that is missing from most businesses. So when you have it, and others don’t, you win. When providing a reason for your ideal clients to choose you, it can’t be the usual, “we do great work.”
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    8 mins
  • Busy Doesn’t Equal Profitable

    Busy Doesn’t Equal Profitable
    May 27 2025
    Busy doesn't equal profitable. We got a lot of great feedback from our last episode, in which we talked about how many business owners still cling to outdated methods that used to work, but don’t work anymore. We addressed the hard truth that more of the wrong activity won’t fix a broken approach. We looked at the reasons typical performers feel stuck, waiting things out, hoping for a turnaround that may never come… And we pointed out how smart, focused professionals adapt and move forward now, in a way that differentiates them from less-profitable, average businesses. Today, I’d like to pick up that conversation by talking about one of the biggest sources of frustration that I hear from business owners and salespeople across the board: Why am I working so hard and still not making enough money? If you're grinding all day, doing "everything you're supposed to do," but still not seeing results, you’re not lazy, and you’re not crazy. But it’s likely you got caught in a trap that drains your time, energy, and income. I’m talking about… The Effort Trap: Busy ≠ Profitable At one time or another, we’ve probably all bought into the idea that if we just work harder, the results will come. More hours, calls, emails, and outreach. In some cases, it works. But not always. More effort does not automatically equal more income. Sometimes it just means more exhaustion. You can do all the things you think you need to do: chase leads, follow up, create quotes, juggle accounts and still feel stuck. Because it’s not always about how much you’re doing. It can also be about how well you do those things, and how well you communicate your value. Effort alone doesn’t create income. So it’s not just actions that create value in the eyes of your clients, and revenue for your business. Only aligned actions can do that. When that alignment is missing? You can work 24/7 doing everything you think you need to do, and still come up short in the money department. The Illusion of Progress: Mistaking Motion for Momentum And that leads into the second trap—the illusion of progress. This is where the to-do list becomes a badge of honor, and the packed calendar provides a false sense of security. It feels productive, but at the end of the month, you still might not have enough in the bank. Because movement alone is not progress. It’s like the rocking chair, or the hamster wheel. It may keep you moving, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. Same thing with being busy. It doesn’t guarantee forward momentum. And that can be extremely demoralizing. You’re checking all the boxes, showing up, doing the work… and you may still feel stuck in the same place. That’s where burnout sets in, doubts creep in, and even really good people can start to wonder whether all of it is worthwhile. Because even when you do great work, you still might not get paid based on your worth. Value vs. Revenue: When Great Work Goes Unrecognized Let’s say you’re someone who’s not just spinning your wheels. You’re producing results, making your clients happy, and solving real problems for them. If your income still isn’t where you feel it needs to be, it’s one of the most frustrating disconnects in business: Doing valuable work… but not being paid in proportion to that value. There’s a reason this happens. It’s because the market doesn’t reward effort. And it doesn’t always reward value. In fact, it’s more likely to reward perceived value and perceived results. Meaning, that If your clients don’t understand the value you provide, and the results you create for them, then your revenue can still fall short of your value. It’s not a reflection of your talent or the work you do. It’s a reflection of how your prospects and clients perceive that value. And much of that is about your communication. The Strategic Shift: Replace Hustle with Alignment
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    6 mins
  • Is It Time for a Shift in Your Business?

    Is It Time for a Shift in Your Business?
    May 20 2025
    Time for a shift in your business? There was a period of time when getting print and promotional product clients was a lot easier. People loved and appreciated your work. They answered and returned your phone calls. They placed orders proactively. Sometimes they even referred enough new clients that your customer base practically grew all by itself. Sounds like a fantasy! But does that still happen? It can. But nowadays? Not so much... Today, too many people in our industry are fighting against reality. They're pounding away on activities that used to work, but don't work anymore. Instead of changing their actions, they blame the prospects, or the marketing method, or the economy, or the tariffs. You'll see them complaining in industry groups, saying things like "People aren't answering their phones." "Social media's a waste of time." "No one's returning phone calls." "Networking events are worthless." "This economy stinks!" And while people may be experiencing those things, the people who are making money in our industry right now are not doing any of that. They know that all the whining, blame-shifting and scape-goating is not going to fix problems that are partially caused, at least, by taking wrong or ineffective actions that no longer work. So instead, they're adapting their approach, refocusing their efforts, eliminating ineffective tactics, and engaging in the tested, proven, strategic methods that work right now. You know, the gap between where you are right now and where you want to be is not going to magically fill itself. And you can't count on the actions that used to fill those gaps to continue to do so in the future. Because they won't. They can't. It is literally impossible. Of course, very few motivated people will sit around willingly and do nothing, as the things that used to work for them continue to lose their effectiveness. But very often, they just double down and try to do more of it with brute force effort. Putting in more time, more energy, making more calls, and overcoming more objections, while continuing to fall behind. It's exhausting to watch, and it's even more exhausting if you have to do it! So why doesn't that work? Because taking ineffective actions more aggressively does not create the results you want. Yes, in business, particularly when you're facing challenges, speed of implementation is critical. But that only works when you're taking the right actions in the right order. Doing the wrong things faster won't get you to your goal. It's like speeding off in a racecar that's going in the wrong direction. So while TYPICAL businesses try to fix the problem by running faster, working longer, pushing harder, and sacrificing more -- to try to make the hamster wheel turn faster, and faster, and faster, while still getting them nowhere -- smart, focused business owners are changing their approach to suit the times. You probably already know that if your business is struggling, and you don't change your approach, your results cannot possibly change. It's like Einstein's definition of insanity, doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. And since so much has changed in such a short period of time, you can't even expect the things that DID work well -- even a few months ago -- to work well now. So what do you do? Well, it's likely that if you knew what changes to make -- if you knew exactly what to do, and exactly how to fix it -- you would have done it by now, right? Because, who wouldn't? What I'm talking about today is not for the majority of typical business owners who are just going to sit it out, wait it out, or worse yet, whine it out on social media. It's also not for average performers who take average actions to create average results. That's going to happen by default. When things get tough, average sales inevitably decline. Those of us who have been through these cycles before?
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    6 mins
  • Arguing with Reality in Business

    Arguing with Reality in Business
    May 13 2025
    Arguing with reality in business is a huge waste of time. If you've got clients who are in that head space where they're sort of scared, they're not quite sure what to do next. If you call them and you're in that same head space, then you're not helpful to them. But if you call them with some thoughts or ideas on how you can help them to accomplish the things they want to accomplish, now you have value, and they're going to be happy to talk to you. They're going to want to talk to you because they understand that you may have the solution to some of the problems they're facing. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist, and I ask the question, are you stuck arguing with reality? Welcome back, Kevin. Kevin: Good to see you, David. Normally, I feel like I'm stuck arguing with virtual reality these days. With Chat GPT or the like. What are we talking about when you say "argue with reality?" David: We touched on this in a previous podcast, and it's a quote that I heard from Byron Katie. She wrote a book called Loving What Is, and she had this quote in there where she said, "Whenever I argue with reality, I lose, but only 100% of the time." And I loved that quote because it just seemed so completely true. Anytime we argue with whatever is actually happening, whatever's going on in the world, whenever we argue with that reality, we lose. And if you go to social media, any social media platform, you will find millions of people, every day, arguing with reality. They'll be talking about things they have no control over, that they wish weren't the case. And you can waste so much life doing this, that I thought it would be good for us to have a conversation about it. Kevin: Well, we talked a little bit about controlling what you can control and accepting what you can't control, so it kind of fits into the same category. And it feels like we tend to resist what's happening, instead of adapting to it. Is that fair to say? David: Yeah. I think a lot of people do that, and not that we're even doing it intentionally. A lot of times we don't even consider this idea of what is reality versus what am I looking at on a day-to-day basis? We tend to go into experiences, whether it's conversations with people, whether it's posting something on social media or replying to someone on social media, doing any of these things, and we just feel like we're having a conversation and we don't necessarily take into consideration what are the things that are just real and true, that I might be arguing against, right? Kevin: Mm-hmm. David: So when people go online, particularly now, and they're on there and they're talking about tariffs and all the terrible things that are going to be happening to their business, I look at that and I'm like, okay, well, the tariffs, that's true. The uncertainty in the market, that's true. Everyone is dealing with that. But if I talk about that without looking for solutions, without looking for the ways to get around those problems, then why am I even doing it? Isn't that not just wasting time, but wasting our lives and other people's lives? Kevin: Mm-hmm. What other ways, you know, we mentioned tariffs, there's plenty of big stuff out there that's happening that affects the business world. But as far as, you know, just getting into the sales process, the business process, what other ways do you find that people argue with reality? David: Ghosting. Sales in general? Cold calling. I mean, every aspect of sales requires us to deal with different aspects of reality every single time. Right? "These people won't call me back." Okay. That may be a reality with those people. Another part of reality though, is that there are people who will call you back. There are prospects who are responsive. There are people who need to buy your products and services right now. All of those things are also true.
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    13 mins
  • No More Unfinished Business

    No More Unfinished Business
    May 6 2025
    We'll say things like, "oh man, there's just so much going on. I'm so busy. I'm just busy, busy, busy every day." When you're saying that sort of thing, it's a strong indication that you've got a bunch of unfinished business. You've got open loops, and maybe you're not capturing it. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist and I will be discussing the topic of no more unfinished business. Welcome back, Kevin. Kevin: Good to see you, David. How you been? David: Been doing great. And you? Kevin: Good, good. So unfinished business. What do you mean when you say that? David: Well, I learned this somewhere, a number of years ago, and when I first heard, I was like, "oh man, this is me." They were talking about the fact that in business there are starters and there are finishers. And very often they're not the same person. Right? There are some people who are very good at starting projects and other people who are very good at finishing them. A lot of entrepreneurs, and some salespeople as well, are very good at starting projects. We're all excited and we're very happy to dive in, and then we tend to lose interest as we go. Kevin: Mm-hmm. David: And what that creates is a lot of unfinished things all around. And when you've got these unfinished things, they weigh on you. Right? And so when I talk about the idea of no more unfinished business, what I'm saying is that we should look at the things that are out there, that are stuck in the back of our minds. It's like, "I know I need to do that. I know I need to finish it. I haven't done it yet, but I don't feel like it," or whatever it is that's keeping us from getting it done. Kevin: Is it possible that you need to look at it and say were these things really that important in the first place? David: That's a great way to approach it. Right? Because there are things you just say, you know what? I started that, but no, that's not worthwhile. Kevin: There's a reason I didn't finish it. Yeah. David: Exactly. And it's good to eliminate that sort of thing. Whenever you're able to do that. If there's something that you're working on, you decide, look, this is not generating the results I'm looking for. Yes. Just make sure that you don't cancel it because you don't feel like doing it, right? You got to cancel it for the right reasons. If you're going to eliminate it, make sure that you evaluated it first. One of the things that I've talked about a lot in terms of just the things that we do in our projects is looking at things, I refer to it as the RADD method, RADD. It stands for Remove, Automate, Delegate, or Do. Okay, so we start with the R. Remove. And there's a reason these are actually in this order, which I'd nearly forgotten. But the reason is that if you do it in this order, you're going to end up a lot better off. If you start by removing the things that don't have to be done, then wow, that's a big relief. You're able to, essentially, Kevin: Your list just got smaller. Yeah, yeah. David: Yeah. You just eliminate it before it even becomes a problem, so that's the first step. You basically remove it. Second step is if you can automate it, right? If it's something that can be automated, then you don't have to do it. You don't have to have anyone else do it, and it will happen automatically going forward. So simple things like email autoresponders can allow you to create responses to something once and then have them happen again and again and again. So anything that can be automated, ideally should be automated. Third step is delegating. Can I delegate this to someone else? Can I delegate it to someone else in my organization? To a virtual assistant? Can somebody else do this effectively? And then the fourth one the second D is Do it. Then you actually do it. And if you go through this in that order, you remove things first. You automate them second,
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    13 mins
  • Creating Certainty in Uncertain Times

    Creating Certainty in Uncertain Times
    Apr 29 2025
    I've been having conversations over the past couple of weeks about this very topic of creating certainty in uncertain times. So much of it boils down to the specific steps I can put in place in my business. Reach out to the right people, say the right things, in the right order, consistently. That will not only improve your confidence in yourself. It will improve their confidence in you and their certainty that you can do the job for them. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist, and I will be discussing creating certainty in uncertain times. Welcome back, Kevin. Kevin: Great to see you again, David. Wow, uncertain times. There's an understatement of the year, huh? David: Yeah. There's been so much discussion on the forums and inside the social media groups and everything like that. A lot of people are uncertain about a lot of things, and that does not generally bode well for businesses. Kevin: No, no, it definitely doesn't. So what does it really mean to create certainty? When everything around you feels unstable. David: Yeah. We had talked in a previous podcast about our circles of influence. Like the things we can control and the things we can't. It really does circle back in a lot of ways to this. When we talk about creating certainty, we can only ever do that within the realms that we control. We can create certainty in specific aspects of our business. So when we're talking about things like tariffs, which obviously is a big topic these days, a lot of our clients are in the promotional products industry, and a lot of that product tends to come from overseas. Much of it is coming from China. So in those situations, we're not able to create certainty with that, right? That's not within our sphere of influence. So what we can do and what our clients can do is to look at the specific things we can create certainty around. Can we identify suppliers who are can provide products for us that are not impacted by that? Can we look at more domestic suppliers? What are the specific things we can do to create a level of certainty for our customers? Something our competitors might not be able to provide? Kevin: And I think there's a level of authenticity too that has to go with it, right? Because certainty you can sort of project certainty. but you don't want to pretend to have all the answers when you don't. So how do you balance that? David: Yeah, you can't really fake certain, well, I guess you can fake certainty. Kevin: You can try. Yeah, David: You can pretend you're certain, but I'm not really talking about that. I think there's certainly an air of confidence that you want to be able to convey to your clients, and sometimes when you're conveying confidence, you may still not be certain about things. But in this conversation, I'd like to look at, okay, what are the things that we can do? What can we be certain of? You know, are we certain that we can help our clients? And if so, how are we certain that we can help our clients? What are the things that we know that we can do that will help them? And if it's about sourcing things that are more in line with exactly what they're looking for, trying to get around the obstacles for our clients. If we're certain we can do those types of things. Just identifying the very specific steps that we can take, what can we be certain about, and then focus on those things. Kevin: You mentioned that, a lot of our listeners are in the promotional product space. There's still a lot of uncertainty that's coming our way. A lot of flipping and flopping going on with tariffs and whatnot. What do you recommend businesses do to sort of like help prep? David: Well, first thing you should do is recognize that your clients are not unaware of this. Like they are aware of the fact that this stuff's going on. Kevin: Right. David: And I've talked to a lot of business owners recently who are just really conc...
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    14 mins