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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
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Book Review: Step Up Your Decision-Making With ‘Game- Time Decision Making’ Are You Ready to Learn From Your Successes — and Failures? Keep Communication Open on All Sides What Social Media Marketers Should Learn From Gymshark How PhoneSoap Promotes Health and Peace of Mind
THE BEST WAY TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS
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What does “change and adjust” mean? Also, how can it bring equal opportunity for you? And what will be a major cause of business failures? CHANGE AND ADJUST! I recently sat down with a pen and paper and just brainstormed what I would do differently if I could. This exercise was literally a brain dump of things I would change about The Newsletter Pro, given the ability to make any change I wanted. Of course, many of the ideas aren’t possible, practical, or even
good, but a few were gems and will have a massive positive impact on sales and profits in 2020.
Good news! It appears the end of the world has been postponed. What now?
My next exercise was looking at all of our systems and processes — especially those that seemed to be sacred cows. What systems and processes needed to be updated or changed? Which systems and processes simply needed to be done away with? I also looked at our product offering, lead generation, and even our sales process. What needed to be improved? What wasn’t working? What was working but could be working better with some adjustments? I went through all of this and would strongly suggest you do as well. Even if you’re in a business with many other competitors that you may think can’t change or be different … that is no longer true. People are expecting change; people are more accepting of change now, and if the change is good for you and for them, then why not? How do you know what to change and adjust? A few weeks ago, one of my sons was complaining about a critical thinking assignment from his school. Continued on Page 2 ...
I’ve talked to dozens of my entrepreneur friends — some running companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars but most running multimillion- dollar companies — and the consensus is that tough economic times are ahead. Now that can seem like horrible news, but for those of us who can change and adjust, it can mean major opportunity. Of course, that begs the question:
“SOMETIMES TAKING A STEP BACK ISN’T A BAD THING. TO BE FAIR, A PANDEMIC ISN’T THE STEP BACK I WOULD HAVE ASKED FOR.”
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dot-com crash of 1999, but a pandemic is what we all got, so I’ll play the hand dealt to me.
others won’t and a few reasons they will fail — even ones that, before all of this, appeared to be having major success. Far too many businesses are really houses of cards. They look cool and big, and can even be flashy, but they can be knocked down with ease. Some of the following are telltale signs of a business without a stable foundation: single sources of leads into the business (e.g., Facebook marketing only); little or no marketing; few systems and processes; massive cash outflow; horrible gross margins; no focus on customer service, relationships, communication, etc.; poor sales follow-up; massive churn; word of mouth as a primary marketing strategy; no, or very limited, customer data; and massive personal and/or professional cash burn rate and/or debt. Another issue is that far too many businesses don’t know their numbers. You have to know your numbers. Sometimes the numbers suck, and it’s not fun to see problems in your business, sales process, or operations. But this is the language of business, and by looking at and understanding your numbers, you can figure out where the problems are and what you need to do to fix them before something like a pandemic hits and wipes out your company. Another area that will cause people to fail is just a bad business model. For example, if you’re in a business that only allows you to have a 30% gross profit margin and you have to spend 28% on overhead, you’re screwed. That would be a business model issue. If you have a low transaction value and a high customer acquisition cost, then that would be a business model issue. If you can’t hire people unless the economy sucks because you can only pay $10 an hour or else your business breaks, then that is a business model issue. So many people fall in love with the idea, the product, or the service and then struggle for years trying to make a business work that was doomed from the start because no customer is willing to pay what the business needs to charge in order to make the whole thing work. Or, the market is so small you can barely find customers. One major challenge that will be the nail in the coffin for many is they have no relationship with their customers or prospects. As I’ve been preaching for years, building relationships is crucial, and many business owners are really just annoying pests to their customers and prospects. They have zero relationship with them, and the only
I remember when I was about his age feeling like those were worthless assignments. Now I get what they were trying to teach me: Ask questions. One of the best ways to get to the right answers, I’ve learned, is to first ask the right questions, and from the questions you ask, determine the right answers. This is so important for long-term business success. One way I use those critical thinking skills as an entrepreneur is by working on what questions I should be asking myself, and once I have the answers, I play devil’s advocate to try and make sure I’m not missing any holes. This is why working in a mastermind can be very beneficial — you have someone who has their finger on the pulse of business, can ask good questions, and guide you to the right answers. Then they poke a few holes in those answers to make sure they truly are correct and, hopefully, even help you implement some of those correct answers. At the start of the pandemic, I went through a major review of my business. What’s working and what’s not working? What do I like and what don’t I like? How do I wish things would work? What would make The Newsletter Pro a better company for employees, customers, and shareholders? In my review, I found areas of opportunity that at one point had me scratching my head asking, “Why didn’t I see these things earlier? What do I want for myself in the future?” Sometimes taking a step back isn’t a bad thing. To be fair, a pandemic isn’t the step back I would have asked for. My vote would have been for a long sabbatical followed by a week at a spa with some friends or maybe even a normal recession like the
As a quick side note to the above statement, the weekend before I wrote this — but well after doing the initial exercise I talked about above — I asked one other question I think is important for all entrepreneurs to ask: What holes did this pandemic show you that you can fix in both your personal and professional life? You can plan all you want, but the moment the rubber meets the road, not everything is going to go as planned and you may wish you’d done more, spent less, made different decisions about something like not shorting the market as aggressively as you should have, etc. OPPORTUNITY AND FAILURES One thing I know about any recession is that there is a major opportunity. So many businesses won’t make it. Before I go into the opportunity I see, I want to point out why so many businesses will fail so that when the opportunity comes your way, you don’t make the same mistakes that doomed the folks before you. FAILURES The most likely reason for business failures after this will be some combination of a poor business model and an ineffective entrepreneur. I’m not trying to be a jerk here, but those will be the broad categories. Let’s drill down a bit and look at the why in more detail. First off, far too many people are leveraged to the max. I was chatting with a friend a few days ago about why some businesses will make it and
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time they communicate is when they want something from their customers or prospects (i.e. buy more stuff). Relationships are going to be even more important going forward, as there will be fewer dollars in the marketplace due to high unemployment, which means managing customer cancellations, and minimizing that number so it’s as low as possible, will be paramount to long- term success. Then, you’ll need to maximize the dollars each customer spends with you (ethically, of course) because it is far easier and cheaper to make the second sale than the first. This will be critical to thriving in the new economy. Finally, you’ve got to close more prospects and lower the overall customer acquisition cost, meaning you have to have a machine that follows up, adds value, and builds relationships so your sales people and/ or sales process can close more deals. Without these components, many will fail. They will blame COVID-19 and, to an extent, they will be right, but in many cases, the real reason for the business failure will be the entrepreneur who was unwilling to take the necessary steps or was uneducated about what those steps were. OPPORTUNITIES As companies fail and this new economy gets going, there will be massive opportunity. One of the easiest areas to see and capitalize on will be companies that are going out of business, especially a competitor. There will be businesses "FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE CONFUSE FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND SHINY OBJECTS."
how people spend their money, at least over the next few years and maybe even over a decade or more, like the housing crisis did. One thing that won't change is the ability to grab market share just by helping your customers and prospects, having a good relationship with them, and having a good sales system. If you’re wondering why that won’t change, I’ll give you the short answer: Foundational principles of what works and what doesn’t work rarely ever change. The shiny object stuff changes daily, weekly, or monthly. Far too many people confuse foundational principles and shiny objects. With all the changes coming, you’ll be able to look at your business model and make massive changes to systems and processes or how you operate, which may have previously been too risky. Maybe it goes against the way you and your competitors have done it in the past. But people are going to be very accepting of change right now, so now is a good time to make adjustments that would benefit you and your company.
you can buy for pennies on the dollar. In some cases, you’ll be able to pick up assets, like the customer and prospect list, the telephone number and domain name, equipment, etc., all for cheap. With competitors closing, the opportunity will open up for the right entrepreneur, who is willing to build that foundation and do what needs to be done from a marketing and business standpoint, to grab market share. Here is the key, though: You will need to invest in marketing and a sales system and process that can capitalize on this opportunity. People are going to be a bit nervous for a while after this. If you remember back to the 2008 housing crisis, the news talked — up until COVID-19 — about how millennials were scared to buy houses and that we were going to become a society where everything was rented, etc. Why the sudden shift in consumer behavior? The millennials were kids when they watched their parents and friends’ parents get foreclosed on. They saw homeownership as risky, so they rented. You may see a shift in that now, as renters didn’t get bailed out and homeowners did, but that is still to be determined. So this nervousness will change
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CLIENT SUCCESS
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“We have used The Newsletter Pro for several years. They are really easy to communicate with and do beautiful newsletters. Very professional. “We began using them because we were using the cheapest option available and were not getting anything from it. The cheapest option did not look good, and our patients were not opening it up and reading it. It looked so terrible that no patients ever opened it. What a waste! “Now our patients talk to us about what is in our newsletter. They love how personal it is. It really grabs their attention. We decided to spend a little more money and actually get something for it!” -David Roach David Roach Family Dentistry
“I truly believe The Newsletter Pro is one of the best ways to jump-start a direct mail marketing program, especially when it’s a brand-new marketing strategy for a business owner, which it is for a lot of small-business owners. Case in point, we had never done a mailed, monthly newsletter before, and had we not gone with The Newsletter Pro as our vendor of choice to start that project, I know for a fact that the project would not have succeeded as well as it has.” -Jenny Stevens The Stevens Law Firm
OUR BOOKSHELF
Being a small-business owner comes with plenty of challenges, and there’s one challenge we’ve all struggled with: decision- making. We all have to make decisions. Some of them are quick and easy, and others, not so much. There are times when we may find ourselves struggling to make a decision that will impact our bottom line — a decision we don’t want to make — and as you go through the motions, a voice in your head repeats, “Am I making the right decision?” David Meltzer knows the feeling. Meltzer, the author of " Game-Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies from the Biggest Names in Sports," is the CEO of Sports 1 Marketing, a renowned sports marketing firm. He’s an entrepreneur and executive with 25 years of experience in MAKE EVERY With David Meltzer’s 'Game-Tim
Schedule a call with us! Visit NewsletterPro.com/schedule or call 208.297.5700
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internet. I’m telling you the truth about what really works and what doesn’t. I don’t have a get-rich-quick scheme for you. I learned long ago the tortoise always wins the race, and the well-constructed brick house the little piggy took longer to build was the only one still standing in the end. You can survive this and even thrive over the next few weeks, months, and years, but not if you don’t do the work. Not if you won’t do the basics like build relationships, maximize the number of prospects who become clients, and have a system and process to upsell your happy customers. Not if you won’t deliver on what you promise and provide good customer service. If you won’t do those things, then it is unlikely your business will be around much longer. I’m never a big fan of ending one of these articles on a downer note, but in this case, I’ll make an exception, as it is that important for you to work on your business foundation right now before it’s too late.
the insert, you’ll discover that now, instead of $1,149 per month as a starting price to get a custom print and digital newsletter, we’ve lowered the price to $799! In addition, I’ve personally been working with my team to make massive changes to the content so we can take our product to the next level and, as luck would have it, we started implementing those changes in April. If you want our help building out the foundational marketing systems in your business, including a print and digital newsletter to help you build those relationships, upsell, and turn more prospects into paying customers, then now is the best time ever. Schedule a call with my team, and they will be happy to answer any questions you have. If you want to start building out your company’s custom strategy for thriving in this new economy, then you can call 208.297.5700, go to NewsletterPro. com/schedule, or text “APPOINTMENT” to 208.269.9111 to schedule. P.P.S. Exclusively for our clients, we are offering a complimentary copy of my “Stop Losing Customers” book. Just text "GIFT" to 208.269-9111.
Before all this, we were seeing a trend of more one-stop shopping preferred by consumers, and I think that trend will continue and intensify for the right businesses, as people are going to be less trusting overall. Once you gain their trust, they will simply want to do more with you because they already trust you. When the average person is scared, they don’t want to take a risk — and working with a new company is a risk. If you can build those relationships and offer more products and services to the same customer base, then you’ll see a huge increase in sales, customer lifetime value, and your customer retention rate. As I write this, I realize some of you reading this won’t listen, won’t adjust, and won’t be in business in the coming weeks, months, or years. I understand you have many choices about who to listen to, but the difference I want to point out is that I’m giving you the same foundational advice that you know deep down is what you should be doing and is how you should be running a business. I’m not pitching you the shiny object that is going to “quadruple sales overnight with no work required and no money down,” like so many snake-oil salespeople are selling on the
–Shaun
P.S. Make sure you look at the free-standing insert we have in this month’s newsletter. On
Have You Heard the Good News?
Y DECISION A SLAM-DUNK me Decision Making'
like coaches. They have to manage people and navigate the challenges thrown at them. They can find themselves up against stiff competition, which means they may need to make quick, decisive calls in order to achieve success. So how do you do that? Meltzer answers that question and gives readers tools and insight they can use to build their confidence and improve their decision-making skills. Meltzer also brings in lessons learned from a number of sports greats, such as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant to get his points across. There is no shortage of examples. He weaves all this together and leaves readers with a better sense of how they can be more effective decision-makers and leaders within their own business.
sports and entertainment. He knows about having to make tough calls. Now, he wants to help other entrepreneurs navigate making those tough calls and more. The best decisions are made with confidence, as Meltzer asserts in "Game-Time Decision Making," but there is a lot more to it than that. You need to build cohesive teams within your organization — people who support your decision-making and can be a sounding board for discussion. You need to change your mindset — the most confident decision-makers tend to have a positive outlook. In other words, if your thinking is clouded by negative thoughts, it will be challenging to move forward.
James 5:13 — “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” Philippians 4:6 — “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” John 16:22 — “ So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
Being a sports guy, Meltzer leans heavily into the sports analogy — business owners are
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3 ACTIONS TO TAKE NOW
To Survive And Thrive During And After The Pandemic
distraction from all the Facebook isolation updates. This will help you connect with them — which ties in perfectly to the second action. 2. Build Relationships. Right now, we are going through a shared experience that everyone can relate to. Build relationships on that foundation. Your customers will connect with your newsletter stories about how you and your family have found a renewed love of board games. They’ll relate to your struggle to exercise during quarantine. Get a little vulnerable if it feels right for you. People want to know you’re human, and even more, they want to know you care and that you get it. When someone goes through a major change like having a baby or going through a divorce, their lives are in a massive state of flux. Everything is up for renewal. Right now, our entire world is in a massive state of change. As a result, customers are open to opportunities. You’d better be reaching out to remind them you still exist. Referral partners are crucial right now. They should be on your mailing list. How can you help one another out during this time? If you’re a dentist looking to expand the cosmetic side of your business, partner with a medical spa. Send out postcards and goody bags to their customers. Trade or purchase leads from referral partners. You have to get personal so people feel like they have a connection with you. Be able to pass the “I’d like to grab a beer with that person,” test. People vote for president based on who they’d like to get a beer with. People also make purchasing decisions with that mentality. People want to do business firstly with people and secondly with people they like, know, and trust. 3. Follow Up With Prospects. Maybe you could get away with this over the last few years, but you can no longer afford to take your prospects for granted. No sales rep should be ending a call without a follow-up plan in place. This will require that you get prospects’ full contact information. Use customer
relationship management software to capture this and follow up with prospects by email, text message, phone call, and direct mail. If a prospect connects with you and isn’t ready to buy, don’t just let them drop off. Reengage them and give them something fresh. Send engaging postcards and get them on your weekly good news email list. Show them what your company is about. Make sure you’re including all prospects in this communication or else you’re missing out on thousands of dollars in revenue. The reality is that even when the economy reopens, customers will rethink so much of what they do. Some of it will be because their income has changed. Some of it will be due to this shared experience we are all going through. What has gotten you here is not going to save you or get you to the next level. If you continue to operate in the same manner, in the same flippant way toward customers and prospects, it’s not going to work. You’re about to see a huge economic shift. We need to prep ourselves today, right now, for this change. The way to do that is by cultivating personal connections with people. Communicate and build relationships to ensure your business not only survives this but also thrives afterward. If you’re not sure where to start, reach out to us. Go to TheNewsletterPro.com/schedule to set up your complimentary consultation.We’ll help you get your communication to customers dialed in so you can survive the pandemic — and thrive after. Scan the QR code to schedule a call with a pro!
Legend goes that after one of his Super Bowl wins, when asked if he’d be taking the next day off, Emmitt Smith said, “Nope. I’ll be getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym.” If you’re going to survive and thrive through this pandemic, you have to adopt Smith’s attitude. Now is not the time to sit back, binge-watch episodes of “Tiger King,” and wait for the economy to return to normal. Here’s the thing — it’s not going to return to normal. It’s going to be a new economy, and if you want to survive in it, you need to lay the groundwork now.
Now is the time to build a foundation that can get you through this and help you thrive afterward.
Here are three actions you need to take now to build a foundation that can weather any storm.
1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate.
You need to be in communication with your customers, prospects, and referral partners to let them know that you’re open. Even if you’re closed, you still need to communicate with customers. Update your website and social media so they know your availability. Back that up with direct mail pieces. Use multiple forms of media — print, digital, and phone calls — to stay in touch with people. Your newsletter is one piece of this puzzle. Use your print and digital newsletters to their full advantage. Make sure your lists are up to date and that you’ve gotten rid of incorrect addresses and out-of-date contact information. Send a postcard to check in with your customers between newsletters. Follow up with email. If you’re not sending out a weekly “good news” type of email piece, start now. People are craving entertainment. Customers will welcome
MARKETING HOW-TO
ARE YOU READY TO LEARN FROM YOUR SUCCESSES — AND FAILURES?
bring it to a close, you have hard data you can reference to answer these types of questions. Here’s another few things to keep in mind as you work through a SWOT analysis. Strengths and weaknesses represent internal factors — things you have more direct control over. These are various resources like money, equipment, products, services, space, and manpower. They are also your internal systems and processes. Opportunities and threats are external factors — the things you have little or no direct control over. This is anything from market trends to economic forces. There are also demographic changes as well as laws and regulations that impact your industry. Conducting a SWOT analysis gives you a solid foundation when setting your big picture marketing goals for the next year, so you never have to start from scratch. When you understand the four SWOT elements in the context of your current marketing initiatives, you can apply them to the future for even better results.
establish your next initiative. Now, here’s what each element of SWOT should include: What were the strengths? Where did you see the most response? Highest referral rate? Highest conversion? Pinpoint exactly where (and why) your marketing shined. What were the weaknesses? Where did you see the least response or no response at all? The least engagement? What problems did you note? Where was the disconnect? What about the opportunities? Is there a group/demographic you can be targeting? Is there a need your competitors aren’t fulfilling that you can? Always listen to customer feedback and use it to adapt. What are your greatest threats? Are your competitors doing something better than you? Are there economic factors that are influencing your sales or strength in the marketplace? Track as much as you can when you roll out a new marketing campaign so that when you
If the answer is yes (and it should be), then there is one tool that can make your life easier. It’s a tool you might have used in the past and is invaluable when making decisions about your next steps. It’s the SWOT analysis. It’s all about understanding your S trengths, W eaknesses, O pportunities, and T hreats. There is no right or wrong time to conduct a SWOT analysis; it’s just important that you do it. It’s something you want to do before you put any new initiatives in place — but you can use it to refocus initiatives you’ve already rolled out. If you’re going to make a decision that is going to impact your business, then it’s time for a SWOT analysis. What does a SWOT analysis look like? Let’s say you’re talking about your 2020 marketing initiative. Get your team together in front of a large whiteboard and divide it into four quadrants for each part of the SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Then go through each of these and be as thorough as possible. The more data you can compile, the better. It means more information as you pivot or
RESOURCE OF THE MONTH KEEP COMMUNICATION OPEN ON ALL SIDES
Solve Your Remote Work Problems With
moving forward, is Zoom Phone. While Zoom is known for its fantastic remote meeting capabilities and videoconferencing, its Zoom Phone option is also extremely beneficial for phone calls. This feature allows our team to easily transfer and forward calls received from our office line to our team members at home. If a client is unable to reach the team member they were calling for, then they can leave a voicemail with Zoom Phone’s voicemail feature. The client’s message can then be accessed by our team members no matter where they are. Additionally, Zoom Phone allows our team members to record their calls, which is useful for taking notes and recalling specific conversation details. Zoom has allowed our team to branch out in more ways than we ever thought possible, and it can do the same for you. If you find yourself looking for an easy solution for meeting remotely, making client calls, and ensuring smooth team communication, then Zoom Phone is the right choice. No matter where you are, whether you’re working remotely or in the office, this app will ease the minds of clients and team members alike.
The phrase “working from home” has never been more understood than it has in the past few months. Due to COVID-19, hundreds of workers have had to adjust from going into the office each morning to working straight from home. Despite the scramble of setting up at-home workspaces, ensuring everyone had the proper equipment to work from home, and securing company networks, new methods of connecting, communicating, and working boomed. The once useful app Zoom suddenly became a necessity for many businesses across the country. This was certainly true for us here at The Newsletter Pro. Even before Idaho issued a stay-at-home order, our team was using Zoom to hold meetings with clients and team members who were traveling. However, as we transitioned to working remotely, Zoom took on an even bigger role. From our marketing department to our writing team, everyone began depending on Zoom as a tool to talk to other team members and clients on a daily basis.
One of Zoom’s best features, which our team has taken advantage of and will continue to use
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THIS SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY IN THE SPOTLIGHT Made a Fitness Clothing Brand Synonymous With Health
Founded in 2012, Gymshark generated $128 million in annual sales in just six years, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in the world. Gymshark achieved its staggering success by pairing stylish, quality workout clothing with a clever marketing strategy that utilizes social media influencers. Gymshark currently has over 4.2 million followers on Instagram, 255,000 followers on Twitter, and 1.7 million followers on Facebook. Any company can change their social media handle during a pandemic. What makes Gymshark’s strategy remarkable is that they didn’t just “tweet the tweet” by reminding followers to stay home on social media. The clothing brand made it easier for their fitness-enthusiast followers to stay home while staying fit by posting free home-workout videos online. Gymshark also aimed to help combat COVID-19. For every post-workout photo posted to social media with #NHSSweatySelfie, Gymshark donated £5 to
A company that sells workout clothes to people who want to look good while at the gym will tend to profit more when folks are actually going to the gym. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept around the world, Gymshark Ltd, a United Kingdom-based fitness clothing brand, was on the social media front lines, encouraging their followers to stay safe by staying home. On March 27, Gymshark changed its various social media handles to “Homeshark.” The change came with a tweet explaining why: “We changed our name to Homeshark, ‘cause some of you needed reminding to stay home.” On Instagram, a screenshot of the tweet was shared to the brand’s account with the caption, “This ain’t no joke. Stay safe, Gymshark fam.” This was a bold move. Suddenly changing your company’s social media handles risks appearing unreliable. However, Gymshark has always been extremely social media savvy. KEEP UP With Our If you’re looking for more great content — like what you’re reading in this newsletter — to drive your business forward, take a look at these articles on our blog. 3 Business Growth Strategies To Steal From Amazon Newsletterpro.com/business-growth-strategies/ How Prioritization Leads To Growth And Clarity In Your Business Newsletterpro.com/prioritization-leads-to- growth/ What Four Legendary Presidents Can Teach You About Leadership Newsletterpro.com/legendary-presidents- leadership/ How An Idaho Nonprofit Is making A World Of Difference Newsletterpro.com/idaho-nonprofit- difference/ BEST POSTS
United Kingdom’s National Health Service with a goal to donate £175,000.
Changing their name to Homeshark might not have convinced all of Gymshark’s followers to stay home during the pandemic, but it highlighted the brand’s commitment to health and safety. The social media strategy cemented Gymshark’s status not just as a fashionable clothing brand but also as a company that genuinely cares about the health of its customers. That’s the kind of goodwill that lasts for years to come.
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BUSINESS PROFILE YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOUR CELLPHONE HAS BEEN So Clean It With PhoneSoap
Since its feature on “Shark Tank” in 2015, PhoneSoap has sold over 1 million units and launched multiple versions and models of their products, as well as an array of additional cleaning products. But they started from humble beginnings, and like the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, LaPorte and Barnes got to where they are today by recognizing a problem that many people have and setting out to fix it. I own PhoneSoap for myself and my family at home, and we love it. We might not be able to see the cleaning process as it happens — nor can we see all the bacteria it’s eliminating from our phones — but the value of this product, like many of the best out there, isn’t always about seeing a tangible difference but about feeling the good that comes from using it. Business Insider puts it best: “It’s more than just peace of mind. PhoneSoap gives real results that’ll keep you and the people around you healthier. Germaphobe or not, if you’re going to treat your phone like your third hand, you should clean it like one too.” While PhoneSoap’s science and applications are captivating, it’s really the story of perseverance by LaPorte and Barnes that made the company what it is today. Now, PhoneSoap models are so quickly sold out that they require preordering for delivery. The tremendous success of Dan Barnes and Wes LaPorte’s business has been shocking for some, but the ingredients to their success were present from day one. You can see it in their considerations
The men gave their pitch to the sharks and millions of other Americans. PhoneSoap is a small and sleek device equipped with a chamber into which you safely seal your phone. During a 10-minute cycle, the device emits powerful UVC light that kills 99.99% of household pathogens, viruses, and bacteria. While UVC light is harmful to the human eye, it doesn’t produce any heat, so it’s not harmful to your device. PhoneSoap products are designed so the UVC light emitted inside the chamber never reaches your eyes. That makes it incredibly safe and, thanks to its small size and portability, easy to use. Some investors passed because, like some consumers, they had doubts about whether the ease of using PhoneSoap was enough to convince consumers to buy it. One investor who passed on their product pointed out a surprisingly common concern: “The average consumer is relatively lazy, and I’m not sure they see this as a major issue that they’re willing to spend money on.” That shark had a point. Despite statistics, PhoneSoap is $79.95 and a luxury to many. But then, the cousins gave a critical counterpoint: PhoneSoap isn’t just for residential consumers but also for commercial use, such as in hospitals. This caught Cuban’s attention right away. “This is not something that everybody’s going to buy, but on the commercial side, that’s interesting,” he said. By nature of their job, a health care professional is prone to transferring bacteria or viruses to their phone, but this device could help hospitals, and those working in them, become much cleaner. Eventually, after receiving three offers of partnership from millionaire investors, LaPorte and Barnes made a deal with Lori Greiner, the self-proclaimed “Queen of QVC.”
Imagine saying no to a $300,000 offer by Mark Cuban on “Shark Tank” and having that decision pay off better than you could ever imagine. That’s exactly what PhoneSoap founders Dan Barnes and Wes LaPorte did. Their journey is a prime example that great ideas don’t come to fruition and find success overnight. Their story begins with science-based health concerns around cellphones. From early implementation to our modern day, smartphones have become such a natural extension of our bodies that we don’t realize how often we handle them or set them down in questionable places. While it’s hard to put an exact number on it, some surveys suggest that on average, people wash their hands up to eight times per day. But how often do people wash their phones, an item their hands touch nearly nonstop? For many, the answer is never. In 2009, researchers found that the average smartphone is crawling with 18 times more bacteria than a public restroom. Cousins Wes LaPorte and Dan Barnes stumbled upon these staggering cellphone statistics by chance, and when they saw the numbers, they couldn’t drop their phones fast enough. Because they had degrees in life science and business marketing, they knew they had the power to explore ways to decrease those numbers and thus felt an obligation to do so. That’s how the initial concept of their company, PhoneSoap, was born in 2009. The future of PhoneSoap wasn’t nearly as certain back then as it is today. They began their initial testing and business planning in 2009, but they endured a lot of trial and error, struggles with crowdfunding, and many ruined cellphones before their product finally went to market in 2014. When PhoneSoap was featured on the CBS show “Shark Tank,” their hard work finally paid off.
of their craft, faith and tact in their business, strong visions for the product’s applications,
and compassion for the everyday well-being of the people who use it.
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