The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sales and Branding with Bridget Hom

Bridget Hom: the people that don't look at you, don't focus on those people. Focus on the people who are looking at you and then focus on empowering the people who are wanting that more and better that you have to offer. .

[00:00:11] Welcome to Sales Made Easy, a podcast for business and personal growth. Join Harry Spaight, as he hosts sales experts and business owners who share their journeys of personal growth and business success now, here's your host, Harry.

[00:00:26] Harry Spaight: Bridget Hom is joining us on the sales made easy podcast. Bridget. So great to see you. I appreciate the small conversation and warm up here in the beginning. And what is the good word?

[00:00:40] Bridget Hom: Harry, it's always a great day to empower the person in front of you. No matter what.

[00:00:45] Harry Spaight: Oh my goodness. I feel empowered. So Bridget, tell our friendly audience what it is you do and who you serve. To get us rocking and rolling here.

[00:00:56] Bridget Hom: You know, the people who hire me are typically entrepreneurs or [00:01:00] leaders or coaches who want more and better.

[00:01:03] Bridget Hom: They want the one stop shop for entrepreneurship and sales, branding, marketing, mindset, and social media so that, well, they can empower more people with their solution and monetize their influence.

[00:01:15] Harry Spaight: Ah, I found out my challenge is my battery is low. All right. We're going to have to, we're going to have to edit some more.

[00:01:22] Harry Spaight: I'll be right back. Let's see. Come on now. Battery, don't do this to me. Oh no.

[00:01:29] Bridget Hom: You know, I hate when my internet tells me I'm unstable.

[00:01:32] Harry Spaight: Have I done this before? No.

[00:01:34] Harry Spaight: Is this like my first podcast ever?

[00:01:37] Bridget Hom: I think it is. You're a podcast

[00:01:39] Harry Spaight: virgin. Okay. Alright, great. So, I don't need to go back because I can edit it all out with Descript. So, starting again. So, Bridget, as you work with various entrepreneurs on their journey, what would you say is one of the challenges you're seeing more and more of these days that maybe we could help [00:02:00] some people out here today?

[00:02:01] Bridget Hom: You know, I was actually doing a marketing show this morning and, and we started talking about how most of us in the entrepreneurship world, we focus on the wrong things first, right? We want to launch, we want to launch a website. We want to have the business cards, even though we're doing business all virtually.

[00:02:17] Bridget Hom: We want to have everything set up perfectly in the structure for us to successfully sell and market ourselves. But the truth is in the world of entrepreneurship, we build the plane while we're flying it. And so the number one business blind spot that I'm seeing this year and with the hundreds of entrepreneurs that I've worked with is that we put on blinders.

[00:02:39] Bridget Hom: We don't want to look at our competition because if we look at them in the face, we're going to feel like the imposter. There's always someone more successful than us. There's always someone who's making more money than us. But the truth is you need to look your competition dead in the eye and say, you know, what are you doing that I can do better?

[00:02:56] Bridget Hom: You know, what are you doing? Well, that I can say, man, that [00:03:00] is awesome. Instead of saying, Oh, poor me, you know, I I'm, I'm becoming the imposter. I can't be enough. I can't be better. I can't compare with that person. Doing organic market research is one of the biggest strategies that entrepreneurs and coaches want to master to successfully monetize their influence and really serve their target market.

[00:03:24] Bridget Hom: That's what I would say. Harry. Yeah. I

[00:03:25] Harry Spaight: love it. And this whole concept of the imposter syndrome, I was listening to a Mel Robbins podcast one time, a big fan of hers. She's brilliant. And she was talking about, I think she was talking to her daughter. I mean, her kids being around her all the time are actually pretty bright too.

[00:03:45] Harry Spaight: And her daughter, who is a musician, went to this show and she's been a musician, but then she's around all these paid performing artists. And her challenge was, she said, I felt like an imposter [00:04:00] just being around these people. So she was in the club room. And then she said, it dawned on me. This is like a 22 year old, which I love brilliance from such young people.

[00:04:12] Harry Spaight: She said, I realized I wasn't an imposter. I was just new. And it just was such a light bulb moment for me when I compared myself to, you know, people like okay, let's throw out Zig Ziglar or I'll never be Zig Ziglar. Somebody like that. Right. So talk to me. What's your thought on that? Well, and you wouldn't

[00:04:35] Bridget Hom: want to be.

[00:04:36] Bridget Hom: You know, like the best business advice I have ever received was actually from my first business partner. When I had a placement agency and he said, Bridget, just be you, I'm like, what do I have to do? How, what do I have to say? What is, you know, when you get into that mode, like starting out your business, I did a lot of things wrong.

[00:04:52] Bridget Hom: But, you know, this is one of the things that I was able to get right most of the time, which is just be you [00:05:00] when you're building your brand, you're building your brand based on who you're being, when you're doing. And so that advice that I got every time I go back into that place where I'm like, all right, how am I going to show up on this podcast?

[00:05:15] Bridget Hom: How am I going to show up with the person in front of me? You know, when I get to that next level, when I get on stage, how am I going to show up? And just that little voice in the back of my head says, Hey, Bridget, just be you.

[00:05:26] Harry Spaight: Yeah. And you're pretty good at being you.

[00:05:29] Bridget Hom: I think so. I think I might've mastered that for 99 percent of the time.

[00:05:33] Bridget Hom: Yeah.

[00:05:33] Harry Spaight: Yeah. I mean, it's I remember getting the same advice. And when I started in sales, it's funny, but my sales leader said, just be yourself. When you can be yourself, that's when you'll succeed. And I'm like, Hey, how do I be myself? Right. It just, it's like you start questioning it, but eventually you just kind of relax and then you can be who you are.

[00:05:57] Harry Spaight: And then you don't care so much about. Not [00:06:00] in whatever, not knowing something or, you know, something is new to you. You can say, what's that? Or what did you, do you mind repeating that? Didn't quite catch it. Things like that, where you just say, I don't have to look like I am a doctor to help somebody buy something.

[00:06:15] Harry Spaight: Right. So what's your thought?

[00:06:17] Bridget Hom: No, I agree. And if we try to look like our competition or like a doctor, when we're clearly not, it's going to actually repel our prospects for more work with us. You know, I was just talking about going back to the whole attracting prospects because we talking about sales, right?

[00:06:36] Bridget Hom: Our favorite topic, right? Harry sales people, business people, people leveling up. It's so exciting. You know, getting people to get in that place where they're like, I see success as possible, or I see success as inevitable. I think that's what drives us to, to stay in this lane of. You know how we're inspiring and empowering people in the coaching consulting the speaking [00:07:00] area.

[00:07:00] Bridget Hom: It's like knowing that whatever we do or say is it authentically will help someone else to show up authentically and sit in their area of genius. I would say that's what really propels us every single day because honestly, sales is very simple. You would agree,

[00:07:18] Harry Spaight: right? I would agree. Because if someone like me could do it, trust me folks, it's simple,

[00:07:26] Bridget Hom: right?

[00:07:26] Bridget Hom: Or me when I launched into entrepreneurship, you know, I, I tell the story, I was on my way to getting zoom divorced. I just moved out of my big, beautiful home. I was in an apartment with my three young savages, my sweet children. And I, I mean, I got a, they're getting larger, they're larger, savages and hairier and smellier.

[00:07:42] Bridget Hom: And the thing with boys,

[00:07:44] Harry Spaight: it's not pretty for a while, but they come around again, eventually they go from cute to really awkward and then they'll come around later.

[00:07:52] Bridget Hom: Oh my gosh. Well, I adore them. I adore them a hundred percent forever and ever. But when I was launching my business, I was like, they're, they're going in the laundry [00:08:00] basket.

[00:08:00] Bridget Hom: Putting 10 pairs of socks on, and I'm like trying to work with the people who are in the zoom world with me. And it was just a beautiful mess when I launched into entrepreneurship. But what I learned from sales was this, just having the conversations, just taking imperfect action, scheduling 25 appointments a week based on your hours of operation, very important to have hours of operation as an entrepreneur, just like employees do.

[00:08:27] Bridget Hom: So you can be intentional with your head space with. That there is an end to your workday, right? So you can honor your roles and your goals, but having that, that time intentionally to serve others with solutions, 25 meetings a week, and then realizing all you're doing in sales is just problem solving, helping the person in front of you to become problem aware and solution seeking.

[00:08:49] Bridget Hom: That's all you have to do. That's the foundation of sales strategy. What do you think, Harry?

[00:08:55] Harry Spaight: I so love it. And if people are not problem aware, no [00:09:00] matter how great your product is, there's nothing magical that you can say that's going to get them to buy because they don't need you in their mind. And if they don't need you, there's no point in trying to put the pressure and trying to close them.

[00:09:17] Harry Spaight: So I love it.

[00:09:18] Bridget Hom: And people always buy your authority, your credibility, and your relatability first and foremost. I was just talking about this in open office hours. I said, listen, if you're not relatable, you're not referable because most people we talk about, you know, I would say everyone in front of you is a prospect, a client or a referral partner because the brain can only focus on one thing at a time.

[00:09:39] Bridget Hom: And if you're sitting there with someone in front of you trying to figure out, Oh, should I sell to them? Should I not sell to them? No, no, no. The goal is to make them aware of how you serve others with solutions and vice versa. But are you referable? Because people also, you know, I was talking to someone in my program, they do it, everything, the it guy.

[00:09:58] Bridget Hom: Right. But also a [00:10:00] Trekkie. And so I was saying, you know, are you, are you blending that into your marketing strategy? Are you, are you talking about star Trek? You know, my, my, one of my sons is James Tiberius. So I was like, Hey, I understand you. He's captain Kirk of the enterprise. But are you blending, you know, who you're being when you're doing so that your prospects can relate to you?

[00:10:22] Bridget Hom: Because once you're relatable, you become referable in

[00:10:28] Harry Spaight: the world of sales. Yeah. I mean, so the. Like this thing, cause I do similar things. It's like, when you're having a conversation, you can't really overthink what you're trying, what the end game for you is in that conversation. So I always default to, I'm just going to be a really good listener here.

[00:10:49] Harry Spaight: And help this person. And this is the Maya Angelou type thing where people remember how you make them feel more than what you [00:11:00] say. And so this, I feel has gotten me referrals just because. You know, people feel like, you know, whatever the term is, if it's safe or this guy's a good listener or you provide some good insight, whatever it is, I don't ask, but they give the referral.

[00:11:15] Harry Spaight: So, is that kind of what you're talking about there?

[00:11:18] Bridget Hom: Sure. And there's nothing wrong with saying. You know, like John Maxwell says, who do you know that I should know? There's nothing wrong with asking. The only thing that's wrong is that for many of us as entrepreneurs, we're selling ourselves limiting beliefs.

[00:11:32] Bridget Hom: And then we sell the person in front of us are limiting beliefs about, Oh, I'm not going to say this because they're going to think I'm salesy. And well, they. Buy our limiting beliefs and that costs us, right? Right. They're expensive when you sell them limiting

[00:11:46] Harry Spaight: beliefs. They do. They are very expensive. And like, so what you just said is so much better than, you know, the traditional, who can you refer to me that might need what I.

[00:11:58] Harry Spaight: Right. [00:12:00] Instead of who should I know, and it's just, then it just leaves the door open for the person to interpret

[00:12:05] Bridget Hom: that. Yes. The goal is to be, to create an experience with the person in front of you. You know, conversations create clients and closings, but I will say content, consistent content creates curiosity.

[00:12:20] Bridget Hom: So when you're marketing, you want to be utilizing something like social media platforms so that you're visible. Because when you're visible on social media platforms, where everyone's scrolling in between talking to clients in between, you know, coaching their teams, et cetera, right. There's so if they can feel like they can relate to you and know you before they hop on your calendar or even have a conversation with you, well, then you're going to get much more, you know, like, Hey, DM saying, Hey, I'd like to talk to you.

[00:12:49] Bridget Hom: Because it's going to be easy. They feel like they already know you and like,

[00:12:54] Harry Spaight: and this is where this whole thing that we're talking before about the imposter thought is that [00:13:00] you already have people liking you, you already have new friends and there are, there's a whole nother community of people that aren't even commenting or liking your posts.

[00:13:12] Harry Spaight: So if you have people, whatever, if you get 500 views on something on LinkedIn and you've got four comments. And seven likes. Well, does that mean the other, 489 people don't like you? Or they're just not going to raise their hand and say, I like this guy's post or this gal's post or something like that.

[00:13:33] Harry Spaight: So it's really a lot bigger than we might think. Thoughts?

[00:13:37] Bridget Hom: Well, a couple of thoughts, actually social media, LinkedIn guru was telling me that only 4 percent of the billions of people on LinkedIn post only 4%. So LinkedIn is really the next hotbed for prospecting for LinkedIn ads, similar to Facebook ads.

[00:13:53] Bridget Hom: But the other component I love about LinkedIn community I love my LinkedIn community. That they're all go [00:14:00] getters who are focused on personal development and professional success. And it's like, you know what the conversation you're getting into, because it's going to be real authentic. And we're all in the growth mindset.

[00:14:10] Bridget Hom: So I would say something, the people that don't look at you, don't focus on those people. Focus on the people who are looking at you and then focus on empowering the people who are wanting that more and better that you have to offer.

[00:14:23] Harry Spaight: So true. I just had a conversation with someone today who I've not really had a conversation with and we've been connected for a few years and we are in similar circles.

[00:14:34] Harry Spaight: We comment on the same posts. And then she commented on my post. I'm like, why, you know, I scratch my head sometimes like what my thinking I don't know really hardly anything about this person, other than we are. We have similar interests. So, of course, it was a stellar conversation. Right. Once you do this.

[00:14:55] Harry Spaight: So, Let's go back. I'm trying to stay on track, but my mind is [00:15:00] going a lot of different directions, which is pretty normal for me. But you brought up this going to other people's websites, right? Competitive websites. What, what would someone do? Like, who is just kind of uncomfortable, like they're spying.

[00:15:16] Harry Spaight: It's like, I don't want to copy this person. They're going to find out I'm even more of an imposter. So walk me through maybe what someone could do to kind of get over that and take the steps they need to take when they do it.

[00:15:30] Bridget Hom: Well, understanding the role of organic market research to monetize your influence, putting those two things together.

[00:15:38] Bridget Hom: Most entrepreneurs say, I don't know how to create contact or content. I don't know how prospecting conversations. I don't know how to become the authority on my area of expertise, right? Because if you want to make an impact. And bring in an income. You really want to represent the authority in your industry.

[00:15:57] Bridget Hom: So, for example I was talking to a mindset [00:16:00] coach and I, obviously I do mindset coaching as well, but I was talking, I was talking to her and I said, who are, according to the Google, go on the Google and search the top mindset coaches. Ed Milak came up, Brendan Bouchard came up, Mel Robbins came up and, and so they all came up.

[00:16:18] Bridget Hom: So what you do in order to prospect, to network, to brand yourself is you go and look at their Facebook groups, look who's following them, add them as friends, and then do some social media presence with their videos. Start to align yourself with their market. So you love mindset coaching. If you're looking to break into that industry, or if you're looking to break into the it field, look at the top it companies, look at how they're branding, look at their color schemes.

[00:16:47] Bridget Hom: Look at their marketing strategy. Do they have a funnel? What words are they saying? What are the other people commenting about them in social media? So that's how you do organic market research in order to [00:17:00] monetize your influence because then you are able to make it your own.

[00:17:04] Harry Spaight: Does that make sense? Yeah.

[00:17:05] Harry Spaight: I'm, I'm really liking this. I'm going to give you an example. I have a friend who does stuff that's similar to me. It's been doing it for longer. And it's a make believe friend. It's a make believe

[00:17:18] Bridget Hom: friend. And she may have three boys and she may be in coaching. I'm not talking.

[00:17:25] Harry Spaight: Okay. I, I, I have been to your website.

[00:17:29] Harry Spaight: It's beautiful by the way, it's red and black. I think if I recall red, black, and white, All right. So this person uses this word throughout their marketing. And the word is, I don't even want to tell you what the word is because they, they're going to own, they're going to listen to this podcast.

[00:17:45] Harry Spaight: They're going to say, you've been spying on me. The word is trust. Okay. Okay. So you might've heard no like and trust, things like that, right? Trust comes up quite a bit in sales. And I was staying away from the word because I didn't want to [00:18:00] look like I was. Taking from the person.

[00:18:03] Bridget Hom: You can't copyright the word.

[00:18:05] Harry Spaight: I know it was silly. Isn't it? It's just like, come on, Harry, there's a vocabulary. We all use it when we're speaking English. No one owns the trust word. So you have permission to use the trust word as well. So that would be one of my little hangups that I had in the past that, you know, over time you say, wow, this is really silly.

[00:18:27] Harry Spaight: Is there anything else that's silly that people might do that? You know, without picking on me too much.

[00:18:34] Bridget Hom: Well, it's, well, actually it was beautiful what you said, cause it was relatable. Oftentimes we look at what other people are doing in our industry and we say, Oh, we can't use that word. It's a generic word.

[00:18:46] Bridget Hom: Trust is a generic word, but you're attaching it to a program in your headspace. You're walking through a whole bunch more data and information about this, this person's website and comparing it and trying to, you're, you're all in their [00:19:00] brand versus stepping out of their brand and stepping into your own.

[00:19:04] Bridget Hom: So you want to ask yourself, even on paper, how can I apply the word trust? What's important about that word trust? And how would I apply it to the people that I want to be known for? I always say, you know, when it comes to branding yourself, you want to, you will only be known for one thing. So what do you want to be known for?

[00:19:25] Bridget Hom: I want to be known for empowered entrepreneurship. And it's something I can never run out of, of gas talking about, you know, I will literally until the cows come home, I can talk about every aspect of entrepreneurship and the beauty and the freedom and, and the, the limitless potential in entrepreneurship.

[00:19:43] Bridget Hom: So you always want, when you're in a place where you're a startup entrepreneur or you're rebranding, because that's what we do as entrepreneurs, we rebrand, ask yourself again, what do I want to be known for? In the target market. What do I want to be the authority on?

[00:19:56] Harry Spaight: How often does one think [00:20:00] about rebranding or re or pivoting or repositioning?

[00:20:05] Harry Spaight: What's normal, would you say?

[00:20:08] Bridget Hom: I would say I noticed organic market shifts every three to six months. Based on what people want. I, I noticed that because I've always, you always want to have your, your finger on the pulse of the industry changes. As an entrepreneur, as a coach, you want to see how it's shifting.

[00:20:26] Bridget Hom: Typically in the new year like for example I was in a networking group and there was a poll on what do people want to focus on in the new year, 70 percent of people said personal development. So what did I do? I added personal development to my LinkedIn profile, but I also do focus on that in my programs.

[00:20:42] Bridget Hom: So you always want to, you want to become a search engine, become a search engine. And then you'll never run out of content to create, you'll never run out of new prospects to meet because you're constantly evolving because your business is based on you. So your business will continue to evolve. It's [00:21:00] not something like a stop button, like every three months I'm going to rebrand.

[00:21:04] Bridget Hom: It's, it's a constant evolution of business growth based on your organic market research.

[00:21:09] Harry Spaight: Yeah, I, I'm just thinking as you say this is that you're one is constantly being aware of what's going on in the marketplace. So it'd be kind of silly just to say, well, I'm good for the next several months because I saw something today.

[00:21:27] Harry Spaight: I made, I made an edit and now I'm good and I can reevaluate in six months or whatever, but things are changing constantly. So just being in tune with that allows the flexibility. I see that you want to say something, so go.

[00:21:42] Bridget Hom: Anytime that we share together, Harry, I want you to know you're one of my favorite podcasts.

[00:21:47] Harry Spaight: Awesome. I'm saying that it's very easy to yeah. Good banter.

[00:21:52] Bridget Hom: But gosh, I, I totally got stuck on just enjoying your presence. But when it comes to entrepreneurship,[00:22:00] what did you say before this?

[00:22:01] Harry Spaight: I have to go. Well, we were talking about switching every few months and not having a pulse on what's going on around you.

[00:22:07] Harry Spaight: Okay. You said that.

[00:22:09] Bridget Hom: I got it. I lost it for a second. Yep. It's, it's, you know, I could say, I want to focus on mindset today. Say I want to focus on, sales strategy today. But then when I look at what entrepreneurs are seeking, if I go in Google and say, what do entrepreneurs want to focus on today in 2024 right now, and if it's not marketing, but I'm going to focus my efforts on my marketing, email campaign, blasting everything, but they say personal development.

[00:22:36] Bridget Hom: Or they say social media, then I'm gonna miss the boat. Because it's like, we're not connecting. So it's not really about what I would like to focus on. It's always about the person in front of me. What do they want to focus on? And that's how you create your sales strategy. All of your communication strategies, your branding, it's always about what your [00:23:00] prospect needs and wants, not about what I think they should want, right.

[00:23:04] Bridget Hom: Or what I'm inspired by at this moment doesn't really matter.

[00:23:07] Harry Spaight: Yeah, dang. That's really good. I was. Yeah, because we can get really comfortable with what's in our comfort zone and say, well, I like to talk about this. I'm really good at this is what I love. I'm passionate about this, but it may not be resonating.

[00:23:21] Harry Spaight: And maybe there's a time for a little bit of a shift. Which may have something to do with it. Is there a title in your book has a word is there a word shift in the title of your book?

[00:23:31] Bridget Hom: I say, give yourself a shift, a mindset shift whenever you'd like.

[00:23:35] Harry Spaight: Yes. So, so how does this all work, right? Where Yeah.

[00:23:41] Harry Spaight: Yeah. Yeah. People are busy. They're really in the zone. They're doing what they think is right nose to the grindstone, so to speak. How do you step out of yourself with the blinders that are on and where you can say, look, I've got to, I just want to see where I am, where I'm going [00:24:00] and kind of remove myself from myself.

[00:24:02] Harry Spaight: Was there a way of doing that? I used to just start with if you

[00:24:06] Bridget Hom: have zero clients.

[00:24:07] Harry Spaight: All right. So I lost you for a second. So can you just came back. So I apparently froze up. So can you just start from how, if you heard me and how you started to respond?

[00:24:19] Bridget Hom: So let's start with if you're an entrepreneur or a coach.

[00:24:22] Bridget Hom: And you have zero clients. If you have zero clients, choose what you want to be known for, brainstorm about how many different offshoots of that topic you can speak about based on your area of expertise, and then start immediately researching those top authorities in the industry and start to model your stuff, your content.

[00:24:43] Bridget Hom: Your marketing, your branding, even just color schemes after the ones that you find you identify with the most. Now, if you do have clients, this is going to be gold and easy for you. You're going to ask them, you know, what was the reason [00:25:00] you wanted to work together? What was it that I said? What was your biggest takeaway?

[00:25:04] Bridget Hom: If you have video testimonials, see what people are consistently saying about you, about the takeaways from your program, about the takeaways of your skill set that will help to dictate your brand and see who you're attracting. Right. There have been so many different times based on my branding. All of a sudden I'm working with seven

[00:25:24] Bridget Hom: graphic. That's that I wouldn't have thought I, but there, that's what I'm attracting right now. I'm working with more entrepreneurs or more coaches, like, so it's, it's very different, but the way you figure out what you should be speaking about or how to build your brand or your new marketing strategy is looking at your testimonials.

[00:25:44] Bridget Hom: Look at the clients that you're already working with or the prospects you're attracting, the people who are following your posts.

[00:25:49] Harry Spaight: Yeah. And then, you know, maybe do you ever ask your, social media followers what is interesting to them? Or do you just throw stuff out and see the [00:26:00] reaction of a post for instance?

[00:26:02] Bridget Hom: Oh, well, coming from a journalism background, I really enjoy writing. So I kind of do both. So I've got to like, I throw this out there and I'm like, Oh, I'm seeing, I'm going to see what sticks. I also like fishing. So I'm like fishing. Right. But oftentimes, especially when I'm trying to honor, like. Honor people and honor their intentions.

[00:26:20] Bridget Hom: Like when I chose the book title stuck on ready, I asked so many people across all platforms, LinkedIn, alignable, Facebook my email blast. What do you think of this title? And then it's interesting. And then the subtitle as well, I had 197 responses in one group. And that's how I chose the subtitle.

[00:26:40] Bridget Hom: And that's also a way of promoting yourself because people now know you have a book. So I. Bye. So, when rebranding comes around, like, when I create a new self paced program. It is all about the prospect. It's all about what's in their headspace, their heart space, and what they want for their destination of their future successful self.

[00:26:58] Harry Spaight: Yeah, so you're really [00:27:00] using and this is, you know, a slightly different topic, but it's all about marketing and branding is the value of a book. A lot of people are intimidated by that. But what's do you think people need to be intimidated that a book is only for a certain few or.

[00:27:17] Bridget Hom: I highly recommend that people at least entrepreneurs and coaches or consultants or leaders in any industry do a coauthoring project, which is very easy to do, or write your own book.

[00:27:30] Bridget Hom: Even if it's a tips book number one, it's, it's, it's a level of self actualization that you hit as a business owner. And so it's very, you just feel fulfilled. When you write your own book, right? You know, Harry, I have it on my shelf. So I highly recommend that people get into sharing their thoughts, their words of wisdom and their inspiration through writing a book and coauthored projects are great.

[00:27:55] Bridget Hom: I just finished two.

[00:27:57] Harry Spaight: Yeah. And I mean, what's the, what did [00:28:00] you like about the coauthoring?

[00:28:01] Bridget Hom: Well, It's extremely cost effective, and you don't have to go find an editor you don't have to publish it, you don't have to do anything, you just submit what you're writing in your area of expertise, and then they take care of the rest.

[00:28:14] Bridget Hom: Ah, yes. That's what I love about it.

[00:28:17] Harry Spaight: Economical and probably gets done a little bit easier so Oh, just write it and hand it off. I was talking to someone recently about marketing the book and how I know you're not like this because I've seen you with your book and giving out copies or providing E different things.

[00:28:41] Harry Spaight: Right. I see you doing that. Some will feel that they're too busy to do that and they're just, you know, they want to write the book and be done with it. If you're, if it's a nonfiction book and you're in business, I mean, where's the wisdom in that? [00:29:00] How,

[00:29:00] Bridget Hom: so how to market your book essentially, or get it into people's hands?

[00:29:04] Harry Spaight: Yeah, you want to be doing that right in the first place. You shouldn't just, I mean, if you, you mentioned about like, it's kind of a, you didn't say badge of honor, but it's just, it kind of brings you to a point where you could say, I wrote this book based on my experience and it is a great feeling, but you really can do a lot more with it.

[00:29:21] Harry Spaight: Right. Is it, get that message out. And some will say things like throwing this out there. Well, I don't really like to self promote. I was taught not to be braggadocious or whatever the term is, right? So you go, what's your what's your line of thinking here?

[00:29:39] Bridget Hom: Well, after coaching so many individuals, the reason that I coach is that I know the strategies that I give people are going to help them to have a romance with life, but also know how to sell brand and market themselves to grow their business.

[00:29:55] Bridget Hom: So I wrote the book hoping that I could [00:30:00] inspire more people and equip them for business growth apart from talking to me. So I get really amped up about like, Oh. You should look at the law of deservability in this book or go to how to talk about closing, always be closing. Like, let me show you a different way of thinking about this because what, what like gets me more excited than anything is when an entrepreneur looks at me and says, Hey, look at, I, I started working with, you know, two clients, five clients, 10 clients, and says I did it, Bridget.

[00:30:32] Bridget Hom: I did it. Like I'm actually able to monetize my influence, which is self actualization as an entrepreneur. Once we're able to bridge that gap and create consistent sales cycles to empower the person in front of you, no matter what, I mean, it's just the most incredible feeling. So I knew that the book. Is providing solutions for people to utilize.

[00:30:53] Bridget Hom: It's not a book to read. It's a book to do. So the more hands that I can get on that book and, and practicing [00:31:00] those strategies, I know they'll become an empowerment generator and they'll start creating that culture of connectivity around them.

[00:31:05] Harry Spaight: Yeah. And do you ever feel like the world is going to get tired of Bridget home with all of the stuff that you're publishing and producing and the videos that you're creating?

[00:31:18] Harry Spaight: Does that ever cross your mind?

[00:31:20] Bridget Hom: Well, I don't think about myself that often, Harry. Like, that's my first thought. I don't really think about myself that often. Even when I'm working with someone, I'm not thinking about it as my solution that's going to help them. I'm not thinking about it as me, Bridget Hom, helping them.

[00:31:40] Bridget Hom: I am just all in. Their problem and knowing what the solution is, and I get to be the bringer of that solution. So now I don't think I'm constantly focusing on what do people need next? Like, so I'm constantly having conversations figuring out what speaks to people. So I I hope that,[00:32:00]

[00:32:00] Harry Spaight: yeah, I think it's a great answer.

[00:32:01] Harry Spaight: I mean, not that I'm judging your answers because they're all great. But for someone like me, who used to think similarly, less similarly, I would say, well, there. I'm even sick of looking at myself. And so I would slow down on social media as a little self deprecation there. I realized that I, if I was selling Harry Spate and I was Jim Smith, it'd be real easy for me to sell Harry Spade.

[00:32:35] Harry Spaight: Cause that guy's lived it. He's been there. He knows his stuff. The issue I had was Harry Spade telling Harry Spade is, Oh, that's all self promotion. So removing myself from myself there realized that I wasn't self promoting. I was promoting a solution to people's problems, not promoting this persona. It's [00:33:00] here.

[00:33:00] Harry Spaight: Your problems can be solved. You can live a better life. That's a lot easier to promote than, oh my God, people are going to get tired of me because I'm promoting myself again. It's not, it's not even a thought anymore. It used to be though. No. Did you ever

[00:33:15] Bridget Hom: have that? That's funny. It's probably, probably at some point, Harry, for sure.

[00:33:21] Bridget Hom: I think that's sort of when you start selling yourself, especially as a coach or product manager service, it's easy to, to feel like you're in that setting. Nowadays. Absolutely not. I don't even see myself. I see the power lies in the connection between someone's problem and the solution that I'm offering them.

[00:33:37] Bridget Hom: And I know the way I could deliver it and the power in the delivery and that person's going to get it. So that's where I get inside. Like, that's where I go. It's not that Bridget Holmes giving the solution. That's funny. I'm saying that to you. I don't think like that. I'm just. When I do a video, I am thinking of the person who's watching it.

[00:33:58] Bridget Hom: I'm thinking of the struggling [00:34:00] entrepreneur who was an employee, who doesn't know how to make ends meet. I'm thinking about the coach who desperately wants to help people and has an amazing message, but they don't know how to sell brand and market themselves. Like that's what I'm thinking of. Whenever I create a video or content, I'm thinking about you.

[00:34:15] Bridget Hom: I'm thinking about the person watching it. And how I want you to feel and think and believe about yourself. And that's why I never run out because I'm never thinking about myself at all. It's not, it's not a

[00:34:28] Harry Spaight: thing. Right. Yeah. I think this is, well, we get there. I get there. I've gotten there. I feel, I remember someone recently said, how do you come up with all of this content?

[00:34:40] Harry Spaight: It's like, I don't know. I don't know. It's just, it's part of living. It's there. It's like everything that we do in life can be easily be content for me, but it wasn't always the case.

[00:34:51] Bridget Hom: No, it's practice. Yeah. It feels it's like a muscle. Like if I go to the gym tomorrow and expect to live the heavyweights that my husband's lifting it's not going to [00:35:00] happen.

[00:35:01] Bridget Hom: You've got to practice sales every single day to grow that muscle till it becomes a natural awareness for you. And it becomes natural for you to have. Someone in front of you become problem aware and solution seeking, and it just is second nature. That's what you want to get as an entrepreneur.

[00:35:19] Harry Spaight: Problem aware and solution seeking.

[00:35:24] Harry Spaight: Yes. So freaking awesome. So that means you have to have meetings with people. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So I, so just take this. I'm not a good closer. I have a lot of conversations. I'm not a good closer. If I said that to you, what would you, I mean, what would be the first thing that you would pick up on if I said, I'm not a good

[00:35:48] Bridget Hom: closer.

[00:35:49] Bridget Hom: Well, I pick up on first, you said you have, you're having a lot of conversations. Yes. Awesome. Second thing I would ask you where, what part in the conversation do you get stuck? Yeah. So [00:36:00] what you're selling yourself in your headspace. Yeah. So I,

[00:36:02] Harry Spaight: it's the first thing is really what is a lot. Right. There's the first thing that comes to my mind when people say, what is a lot?

[00:36:08] Harry Spaight: It's like, if we assume that a lot for them isn't a lot for us, then yeah, there's a problem. But if a lot for them is twice a month, there's not enough. Right. I make it. I remember telling my sales manager. I make a lot of calls and I didn't realize that my calls are being tracked and he pulls out this report and he says we're tracking your calls.

[00:36:31] Harry Spaight: Do you want to change your answer? I'm like, no, I'm good. He says, how many calls do you think you made this week? And I said, I don't know, a hundred, a hundred and fifty. He says, how's 22 sound? That cannot be my number.

[00:36:44] Bridget Hom: Oh, funny because, well, it's, it's because what we're listening to the mental chatter and it's not our headspace.

[00:36:50] Bridget Hom: And so oftentimes we get exhausted or overwhelmed or burnt out because of the mental team that we've hired. And so you feel, and I always say, feelings aren't your [00:37:00] friends in business growth. You feel like you've made a lot of calls. You feel like you've put in the work. You feel like you're doing your best effort.

[00:37:07] Bridget Hom: But the truth is, until we actually look, quiet the noise. Pause with a purpose and write down exactly what we're actually doing, or have a real raw conversation with ourselves. And maybe with someone who can help, you know, figure that out, say, like, get some clarity. Right. Exactly.

[00:37:24] Harry Spaight: There might be a coach or two available.

[00:37:27] Bridget Hom: Well, exactly. And most coaches offer a 30 minute call. They do. Most of them do for, for prospecting, but also, I mean, just to empower, like, you know, I mean, anyone who's been on a call with me, I will give them as much value strategies based on where they're at as possible because I want them to succeed so much, so much.

[00:37:47] Bridget Hom: That's just my number one goal. If they want to partner with me and it's in alignment, then, then we have a conversation. But that's not my number one goal. My number one goal is to show up well and authentically. My number two goal is to empower the person in front of [00:38:00] me, no matter what, no matter what.

[00:38:03] Harry Spaight: So Bridget, this has been phenomenal. I knew it would be whenever we get together, it's incredible brilliance. Just a brilliant light is shining from the mountaintop and it's just filling me up with ideas and thoughts and so much to apply from this podcast.

[00:38:23] Harry Spaight: It's been a real blessing to have you on

[00:38:24] Bridget Hom: Harry. I could do podcasts with you daily. Let's

[00:38:29] Harry Spaight: do it. We need to do some stuff together. We'll have some fun. It's been a blast.

[00:38:36] Welcome to Sales Made Easy, a podcast for business and personal growth. Join Harry Spaight, as he hosts sales experts and business owners who share their journeys of personal growth and business success now, here's your host, Harry.

[00:38:52] Thank you for listening to Sales Made Easy. If you found value in our conversations, please subscribe and leave a review. [00:39:00] Our goal is to provide practical strategies for growing your business while staying true to your values. Remember, six. Success in sales is about serving your clients. Serve first and the selling will follow.

[00:39:12] Thank you for listening to Sales Made Easy. If you found

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