Tom Wanek is the author of Currencies That Buy Credibility. A great little book for finding some unique ways to give your business sound credibility in the eyes of your customers.
On the podcast this week, we discuss the chicken and egg scenario of customer experience vs strategy and core values. Which should you focus on first?
Tom is one of those guys who I’m always having interesting conversations with about marketing, branding and strategy. This time, I had the recorder running and you get to listen in.
Pamela Yellen opening up the very first box of Bank On Yourself books.
This week I interview Pamela Yellen, founder of Bank On Yourself and NYT best-selling author of the book of the same name.
Have you ever had a banker tell you “NO” just when you needed the money most? Of course, when else would they ever say “no?”
Pamela is a client of mine. She used to be a trainer in the financial services industry. She traveled all over the country teaching financial advisors how to market their practices. When she needed a sound financial plan for her own investments, you would think that she could have easily found an expert, huh? Well, after investigating 400 or so systems, she finally found one that worked to her satisfaction. She ended up quitting her training business to start Bank On Yourself. She’s made a believer of me in the nearly 3 years we’ve been working together.
It’s a financial concept that is foreign to many…and contrary to what some of the biggest gurus recommend. Of course, those gurus don’t seem to have very good answers for the average Americans who lost 40% of their retirement in 2008 and who are getting seasick watching the markets this month. In addition to providing guaranteed growth (and no loss of principle), her clients sleep like babies at night. Not a bad deal.
I snapped this pic back in February of 2009. I was at her home outside of Santa Fe, NM working on the beginnings of her web site when her first box of books arrived from her publisher.
Congratulations to my friends Rich Christiansen and Ron Porter, who have sold their SEO firm, Castlewave and will now proceed to take life easy until the next business-building bug starts to itch.
As all of you know, this business was created with $5,000 to prove the principles in the book. CastleWave indeed was profitable from day one, generated over $1MM the first year at 50% margin and this past year did apx $1.4 MM. We have offices in both NYC and Utah and presently have 23 employees and apx 30 active clients ranging from smaller companies like Bank On Youself to large customers such as OpenTable and IMax.
It's been a lot of fun and quite educational enjoying their friendship and working with a few mutual clients. I can't wait to see the next chapter in their lives unfold!
Tom Wanek is the author of Currencies That Buy Credibility. A great little book for finding some unique ways to give your business sound credibility in the eyes of your customers.
