Adam Urbanski Show Notes

Adam Urbanski is a marketing strategist to coaches, consultants and other service professionals. I’m a small business change agent, marketing wiz, trainer, facilitator, speaker, and above anything else – passionate entrepreneur.

In 1989, Adam immigrated to the United States from Poland, with only $194 in his pocket. Since then, Adam has owned and co-owned several successful ventures. Some of his businesses generated millions of dollars in sales.

Today, Adam runs a multi-million dollar business that includes consulting, coaching, training, and information publishing.

Most passionate about

• My passion hasn’t changed in many years, my biggest passion is transforming lives and I’m always looking to express my passion to my business. My business is just a variable.
• Today, I’m most excited about creating this micro revolution I call ‘results revolution in a business coaching consulting industry’. It’s very common in consulting and coaching programs to have really high failures rates. In consulting, especially courses and groups’ programs, there are failures of 90% of the people or businesses that didn’t get the results they signed up for, and the industry is fine with that.
• I’m in a mission to reverse that rate. I’m proud to say that in the last years we really created some systems and processes that allow us to have over 90% success results with the promises our clients signed up for and I must say those were pretty big promises!

Adam’s Career

• Today, the company, The Marketing Mentor, trains solopreneurs in the art of marketing and sales; I started it on 2000. I started for one year with a different direction, but the current business developed from my own need, which I call “Just because you built it doesn’t mean they’ll come”.
• Prior to starting my coaching consulting internet business I built up a 7 figure company in the restaurant industry, starting with 194 dollars. And I said, well I know how to build a business, so its going to be very easy, but it wasn’t really so easy because I had to explain to people what I do to attracting clients.
• It all came from my need. Today it’s very common that young people are successful and can coach and guide other people, because of the internet, but 18 years ago people didn’t accept the fact that a person under 30 can be so successful and can guide them, and I hated the feeling that I have to chase clients and convince them.
• It’s actually quite simple; celebs don’t have to chase paparazzi, the paparazzi are chasing them, Authorities don’t have to chase customers; the clients chase them. The secret is you have to become a trusted advisor, a recognized authority, and thought leader in your market.
• People fail to realize that most celebrities and most authorities are manufactured and that actually in 30-90 days you could become “the go to” person in your market, if you choose to do so.

Adam’s best advice about approaching the customers

• Most people are building their businesses completely the wrong way. They fall in love with an idea instead of failing in love with a customers. They fail to recognize that the only person they have to impress is the customer and that the only way to impress the customers is to know and understand The customer in the first place.
• You must really truly understand your clients. First your market, then your niche and then your ideal clients. Can you describe to me a day in their life, can you describe when they walk up on the middle of the night with cold sweat what are their concerns.
• If you get to know your customers so well then everything become so easy.

Biggest failure with a customer

• It’s always a difficult question for me because I trained myself to look at things like I always tell my customers; forget the losses, but don’t forget the lesson. So, I don’t see the failures that way.
• Two years ago, I had this awakening in my industry. I built a very successful business, almost an autopilot client acquisition process, and things went very well. There was only one problem; my clients were not getting the results that they came to me for. I completely changed my business. We rewired everything from scratch.
• There are three differences between the business we had two years ago and what we have today: Number one was about becoming extremely client-centric, which means it’s not about what I would do, but what my client wants. Number two is becoming extremely responsible. And number three is extreme discipline with client selection. You can’t help anyone. And it’s not about whether or not they have the check, but whether or not we can create results to them.

Biggest success due to the right customer approach

• I really think it’s what we do today. We achieved, in less than two years, getting close to 100% success rate to our customers. That really is a big success for me. I’ve 18 years in this industry; I’ve seen so many people in my industry that could not make it or had to change what they do, and here we are, successful and stronger than ever!

Recommendation of tools for customer focus, marketing, or sales

• I can only recommend the tools that I use. We use InfusionSoft, which is a CRM tool, and it’s kind of old fashioned but it’s so effective.
• I want also to speak about Facebook, which is such an important tool for consultant and coaches for retargeting potential customers, and also Facebook live, which enables you to create the personal touch.
• And on the personal side, I would recommend things like Amazon Audible where you can listen to books, make things so much easier. The way I run my business is trying to keep it as simple as possible, it’s not about looking what to do with the new technology, but about actually find the most efficient elegant tools that will help you achieve your goals.

Recommendation of a person, or a book that impacts Ian’s “customer focus” and success

• For me a huge influence on everything I do was Jay Abrahams, still this to this day. Advising your customers in their best interest even and particularly when money hasn’t change hands.
• Another person which I enjoy looking at; there is a company called Thrive Themes and the gentleman that runs the company brings a fresh way of thinking and a very elegant way of marketing.
• Another company I would suggest is Groove. The way that they deploy content marketing is one of the most elegant content marketing companies ever, these people have documented their journey. It’s very inspiring to see a platform that markets effectively, but not aggressively and manipulatively.

The point when Adam stopped chasing after customers and started to attract them.

• I made this mistake very early on. In my first year, the turning point was when I decided that there must be a better way. My first claim to fame in my current business, Attract Clients like Crazy was all about reversing the client chase, rather than focusing on me – what I do here is changing everything in the business and start talking about here is what I know of you, what I know about your problems, and here are some solutions that can help you.
• For me, it starting to be all about serving other people’s problems, profitably.

What is your one key success factor?

• I simply care about other person. It doesn’t matter what I do, the end results must be that when someone interacts with me, they should left better off then before. The first and most important driver is all about how can I be of more service, more value to other people.

Adam’s Mountain

Since we believe that the best, or the right, way for entrepreneurs to get a fast, big, and sustainable success is by leading your (new) market category, which always reminds me of mountaineering, or conquering the mountain, so I want to ask you if there is a mountain you dream to climb or a mountain you have climbed already? 

• When I first started my current business, I had a screen save that said, “What are you doing today that takes you closer to Everest?”  But then I realized that A. Many people died while trying to climb Mount Everest, and      B. It’s cold, and I get cold so easily. So I realized this is actually not my dream. But I went on a cruise ship that had this crazy 45 fit rock climbing wall, and I got all the way to the top and I was very proud of myself. It was very challenging. And I want to talk about the metaphor, because when I climbed that wall, my arms were hurting, my legs were burning, and was scared of heights but I kept going to the top. Sometimes in business, it looks that it’s getting challenging, but if you keep climbing to get over these few moments of challenges, things will change for the better. But it’s through these moments of challenge that you are defined and find the best solutions for how to move forward.

Best way to connect with ADAM

• The marketing mentors – Learn the three core systems to turn your coaching practice into a million dollar business.
• Fastest path to cash – Remember those big New Year’s Resolutions? By now 90% of people have already given up on them! Not because they are lazy, but because they didn’t set their goals right.

Adam’s recommended tools

•  Infusionsoft – Use Infusionsoft to automate your small business sales and marketing, while combining your CRM, email marketing, lead capture and e-commerce in one place.
• Amazon Audible – Online shopping for Audible Audiobooks from a great selection at Books Store.

Adam’s recommended person and books

• Jay Abraham – Every business owner deserves the right to learn how to increase sales, multiply their profits and mine every hidden assets and overlooked opportunity in their world…
• Thrive Themes CEO Shane Melaugh
• Groove – these people have documented their journey.

More resources for Entrepreneurs

1. Don’t Miss – Customer Focus Strategy & Execution: Market Analysis for Fundraising
2. Hayut Yogev’s Latest post: The three free, most practical steps to researching and locating your market
3. Former interview: With Ian Anderson Gray is passionate about getting people to launch their live videos through Facebook Live