Ep567: Ana Melikian – Marketing Is Essential, but Not Enough to Get the Client

Andrew Stotz 00:02
Hello fellow risk takers and welcome to my worst investment ever stories of loss to keep you winning in our community. We know that to win in investing, you must take risk. But to win big, you've got to reduce it. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm on a mission to help 1 million people reduce risk in their lives to reduce risk in your life, go to my worst investment ever.com today, and take the risk reduction assessment I created from the lessons I've learned from more than 500 guests, fellow risk takers, this is your words podcast hosts Andrew Stotz, from a Stotz Academy, and I'm here with featured guests, Anna Malik and Anna, are you ready to join the mission? Yes, I am excited to have you on and I want to introduce you to the audience. Anna is an optimist, who had to overcome to bounce with cancer, to learn that pursuing happiness is a fallacy. To choose happiness is a much more powerful strategy to tap into our highest human potential, either by working with leaders and their teams, or other coaches and consultants, Anna supports her clients to break through their mindset limitations, and upgrade their psychological operating systems so that they achieve better results than ever in work, and in life while enjoying the process. And take a minute and tell us about the value that you bring to this wonderful world.

Ana Melikian 01:32
At my core, I'm a learner, I love to learn. And one of the best ways of learning is to teach. So my gift to the world is being a good teacher. Because I love to learn.

Andrew Stotz 01:50
Hmm. That's interesting, because I think we have that same thing in common. You know, it's, I remember, I started teaching finance 30 years ago, and I was like, I know nothing. And I just felt like I had to, I had to study hard, I had to work hard, even though I had studied the topic. And now as I look back and think about all that, I know, I just feel sad for those students that were learning from me 30 years ago, because I just didn't know. But I had a lady that came up to me, you know, I don't know, 10 years ago that said, you were the best teacher I ever had. I said, I knew nothing. And so I really respect the journey and what we learned in the journey.

Ana Melikian 02:30
Absolutely. And as a student, and that was a good student, we learned a lot. And we have to take responsibility and urgency in our own learning, in my opinion. But when I started in my professional career as a teacher in the university, then when I realized that the ideas could not be just Oh, I get this, I really have to understand the back and forward the inside out. Because there was that question. Oh, okay. I never thought about that way. And connecting the dots and trying to find the patterns, and that I find wonderful and fascinating.

Andrew Stotz 03:11
Yeah, it's interesting, because I remember, I was so terrified, by getting questions that I didn't know the answer to. And but I learned early on, I would just ask the student, what do you think? You're asking the question, what do you think the answer is? I don't know. Let's talk about it. And I think that I'm certainly more comfortable doing that now. But I know that was kind of an only way out sometimes when I just really needed to think something through more and see more examples I learned through examples. So my next question for you is how do you learn?

Ana Melikian 03:47
I love for reading. I love the listening. And seeing visual, I'm very visual in terms of organizing the information that I was telling to a friend the other day that the publishing house, my staff, my photo somewhere in there boards, because I'm the person that if I heard about the book or about the topic, I go and get the book in audio format, and will be listening to it while I'm doing other things. Then if I really liked the book, I will get it in that same book in the Kindle because then I can annotate and find things. And if I really like it, I will get it in the physical book and in hardcover, if there is that version, because I like the kinesthetic sensation of the book. And I like to make the notation to put the little my paws sticks and tabs because then if I need to go back visually I know where the information is and allow me to go really deep into it. So I buy I can I have many books that pay off the three formats. And I can take a step farther. Because if I ever have the opportunity of having that book signed by the author, I will be getting that signature.

Andrew Stotz 05:11
That is interesting. In fact, I just think if you went back and told my father 3040 years ago, dad, you know what, in the future people are going to buy the same book three times? Are they going to lose their memory? They don't even remember that they had that book? Nope, they're gonna buy it in three different formats. That would just be unbelievable. But I know the feeling I've done the same exact thing. So now let me ask you, I had two questions that I wanted to ask, before we get into the big question. The first is, what type of people do you serve? Like what type of people come to you for your services? And the second thing is like, what did they get from that maybe you can share kind of your, you know, what you've learned or some tips that you've gained over the years,

Ana Melikian 05:56
I really love to work with people that are in a mission to make a difference out there creating a positive impact. And this my own way, because I'm also in that mission. And it's my own way of creating the ripple effect, that my action can affect in a positive way, another person that will affect many other people. So in that category, I love to work with coaches and consultants that are there in a mission to help mainly executive and leadership coaches that work with organizations. And then now I'm also bring directly working with the small business to big business, in terms of the mindset work, really, for the coach and consultant with their own business, that own their own business, a lot of the challenges that they face, they have to learn how to overcome by doing some personal development work. And I think that principle affects everybody. So if you are working as a leader in organization, or as a team member, in organization, in the factory flooring or in any manufacturing company, you can learn about yourself, and now to leverage your talents, your strengths, to be a part of the solution part of the transformation for everybody. And of course, as higher you go in organization, more responsibilities you have and in my opinion, more you have to work in yourself to fine tune what is going on within your two years to be able to leverage all the resources that you have around you.

Andrew Stotz 07:52
Right. And you are also a podcaster maybe you can just tell us that what your podcasts and also tell us like what do we get when we go to listen to that podcast?

Ana Melikian 08:03
So my podcast is the mindset zone. And as the name says, it is about mindsets. And the way that I see mindsets is like the lenses that we use to understand and see the world around us. And we have different set of glasses to look around us. I follow a lot the work of Dr. Carol Dweck on mind outgrow mindset and fixed mindset. But the main thing about my podcasts that I try with my solo episodes and my interviews I wanted at the end of the half an hour that people are listening, they I never thought about this this way. I see more possibilities. That is my thing there. Help us to create a space because everybody speaks about mindsets. Mainly in the coaching world is mindset. You have to work your mindset that how do we work our mindset? Where is the gene that we go to, to exercise our mindset to be to allow it to become more flexible, by listening to other people having interesting conversations. That is a way of exercising our mindset, by deconstructing a concept breaking things down and then putting everything together again, is a way of exercising our mindsets. So that is my mission in the mindset zone.

Andrew Stotz 09:31
That's exciting. I'm just looking at. I was listening to your recent one peripheral thinking with Paul Daniels, but I've just seen that you have I don't know how to pronounce your last name properly. Gina Bianchini Bian que mi Bian kini and she's she the one that that came up with mighty networks is that yes,

Ana Melikian 09:51
she's the CEO and founder of mighty network.

Andrew Stotz 09:57
That's what I want to listen to because I built an online communities and I downloaded mighty networks. And I love to learn more. So, ladies and gentlemen, go and listen to the mind set zone. And I'll have links to that in the show notes. Well, now, Anna, it's time to share your worst investment ever. And since no one goes into their worst investment thinking it will be tell us a bit about the circumstances leading up to it, and then tell us your story.

Ana Melikian 10:25
So it was in the beginning of my own line, business adventure. So I like so many coaches and consultants, coaching was not my first life professionally. I start the back in Portugal, that is my country of origin, teaching in a university or several universities, and then having my private practice as a psychotherapy. My background is psychology, I was a clinical psychologist at the time. And so that was working. And I had an entire intrapreneurial spirit, I saw the trainings and organizing things and intrapreneurial. within the organization, I led many initiatives there. But then by reasons of the art, I moved here to the United States, and I had to reinvent myself professionally. And I decided to become a life coach and a coach, I started as a life coach. And I was having starting a family, my daughter was younger. So I was wanting to have an online business and okay, how can I make there are people out there that are making this work, I can find the formula and the system to make this work. So I was, but honestly, in the beginning, I was just throwing spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks. And one of the things I did they are two things that I think I think backwards and I say how did I did this? When I was contacto. I did my website, I start to hoping that people will find the website. And the first people that find you whenever you are online are not clients, but are other salespeople. And so somebody contact me with this gray. And we are speaking in 2009 2010 That was just going to be the next Google. And we have to give some context here because I'm from a generation I remember the AltaVista, I remember Yahoo. That was the big thing that everybody will be or and then Google when you start and all of that. So I knew that these things wise Google's going to be so many years around, I have seen others come and go. So they show me these great and there was features on the that search engine that was really cool and well done. And they did me a demo. And if you invest now in a placement and we will secure the placement always there. So if people are looking for a life coach, you show up in the top and I say oh, if I show up in the top, I'm going to have all the business in the world. So I sign up to them I put money down and oh gosh, this is going to be great. And any business came from that none the that they were needs to disappear in the internet. Not to say I think they were it was not a hoax, nothing like that. They really were trying to make their thing, the next big thing, but they were not the next big thing. And I was looking to the investment with no return. And I say what, why? Why? And the same app and again, and then other people contact me online about oh, if you write the book and you have a book out there, they will position yourself as an expert allow you to get clients and this can be very easy. We just interview you. And then we put everything together and it's a chapter on the book and in the cover you can have your photo and you can buy many copies the ual one. So I thought okay, why not? So bought that put more money out and they fulfill their promise they interview they transform in a nice chapter. But then when I received the book and walk out the good the presence but then I didn't realize that the people that were in the book, The quality was not the quality that I want to be associated with. So the books stay in a box or the books they are in a box and they are still in a box somewhere in storage here in the house. And they thought was gonna come on you could have thought this through and they have asked more questions, and all that kind of regret kind of thinking that happen after a bad investment.

Andrew Stotz 15:10
It's interesting to like, when we're starting out, I know in my own business, we're trying to find clients, we're trying to find, you know, the ways to reach the market. Let's just say that we've got something good that we want to bring out there. But it's so hard. And I tell young students and my interns and other people that work me, is it finances easy. I mean, it's numbers and calculations and all that. But marketing is hard. And just curious, like, how you felt when you realized, you know, I guess the first thing I want to think about is just how you were feeling when you signed up for this? Because I think that a lot of people out there listening, probably are feeling that same way. Right now. And they're looking for answers.

Ana Melikian 15:56
Yeah, when I sign up, that was a hopeful feeling. I was hoping, and I really hope, okay, this is the thing that will make the difference. And yes, I'm going to invest on this, this an investment in order to be in front of more people. And if people see me they had because I was having success with people that I knew in person in my sphere of influence. And I was having clients that way. But I was in expanding more online. And I thought, okay, if people find me, if they are looking for a life coach, and they type life coach, and I show up there, they are going to check me out and fall in love with me. Come on, I'm good on what time though. Or if they, if I have a book, then I can leverage the book. And they read that, and they are going to resonate with it, and become a client, that I really was naive, not understanding that, that things doesn't mean that they have value and marketing as value. But it just the starting of the process.

Andrew Stotz 17:06
So how would you summarize the lessons that you've learned?

Ana Melikian 17:10
The big lesson is marketing, this not get you clients. And I like to repeat when I speak about this marketing does not get your clients. Yes, you have to because really what marketing is, is a way of creating awareness to our people become aware that you exist and that you have something to offer. And that is absolutely essential. That is not enough for somebody to become one of your clients. If they don't know that you exist, they are never going to consider you as somebody that can support them. If they know that you exist, but they don't have any idea about what you do. Possibly they don't know that what you do can help them solve a problem. So they have to know that you exist, they have to be clear about what you do. And then as to be Oh, you help people like me get the results that I'm trying. So there is essential, but not enough to get the client. Because after that, they are going to check your foundation. If they feel that there is resonance, if they feel that you are trustworthy, and then they give you opportunity to build more trust. And if you have a system to build trust, then is when you can create the opportunity to have the conversation about their goals and about how you can help them to achieve their goals that can lead to a client the partnership of okay, I can help you arrive to where you want to go. But it's a process. It's not that this is building relationships. And we are not dealing with a commodity I want the pen let me look a pen with certain characteristics. Oh, this one is a good price, let me get if we are speaking about services is a little bit more complex. And once in a while a person is going to know about us and know that we can help people like them. And this really urgent and they go very quickly to that process, that they still go through the process.

Andrew Stotz 19:24
Well, maybe I'll summarize I mean, the from what I took away, I think the biggest one is you just like slap me in the face basically, by saying that marketing doesn't get you clients and it made me just think and I think for the listeners out there, you know, what are you saying, you know, I mean, I thought marketing gets me clients, but what you're telling me is that marketing is an essential step. But if I think that just doing marketing is going to bring me clients, I'm going to fail. Absolutely. And I'm also thinking about you know, it made me think while you were speaking about The difference between sales and marketing you know, in there is a process, there's a sales process, you know, which guiding a customer through that buying process. And that's different from marketing. And sometimes it's just much more fun to do the marketing, you know, like, write the text and all that, but reaching the market and guiding them through that journey of, you know, building know like, and trust is a whole different thing. So I tell you a story. I have a group of interns that from university that are working at my home office here and they're working on helping me with my marketing my valuation masterclass, boot camp, young people, they, but you know, what they always go back to is marketing, they always go back to this make a new graphic, let's make more text, let's do this. But then what I'm going to tell them after this call, is I'm going to walk out there, and I'm going to tell them that a very wise person said to me today, that marketing doesn't bring you clients. And I'm gonna ask him to think about that. What does it mean? And I think for the listeners, this is a valuable lesson.

Ana Melikian 21:03
And so I do a lot about and I work a lot with coaches. And he's we are very giving, and marketing, you can give amazing content, amazing information, build things is beautiful is a given kind of giving content, create content, we can people the problem, we have to balance that if there is a bridge, from the moment that somebody knows us to the moment that they buy from us becoming a client, how do we bridge that gap? If there is that gap? How do we create a bridge there? And there's a lot to do with giving activities, marketing activities, making aware of what we have to offer. And at the same time, we have to ask to and ask is the sales okay? How can we make this happen? And if it's unbalanced, the bridge loads of giving a no asking becomes like, inclined plan that nobody's going to cross that bridge. The way around, you have also examples in social media, mainly, that they even they don't say a lot they say you want to buy from me. So there is no nurturing no giving is just okay, I'm going to ask and this is a numbers game, I will go into ask 1000 people, one maybe will buy from me. So how do we balance these two things, doing marketing to create awareness, but also ask for opportunities to wear for sales conversation. And, and like you were saying, in a big organization, they have a marketing department and they have a sales department, we need both.

Andrew Stotz 22:40
Valuable it reminded me of the story when I was maybe 30 or so I went to my father what my father took me to his university, Cornell in this case, and there was a big anniversary for students. And he was telling me the story of one of his friends. He said, I had a friend in university and every girl he met, he said, Would you like to sleep with me tonight? And my dad said 99 women said no. But one said yes. And it was kind of like, you know, it was not the normal style of doing it. We want to attract people, we want to use marketing, we don't go out and just ask people, buy, buy, buy, get this, you know, you know, send your money. And I think that what you're talking about is that balance. And it just really made me think a lot, you know, in my own business, how much am I giving? How much am I asking? And how is that balance? So let me ask you another question. I want to think about a young man or woman out there that they've got a product service, they're trying to expand, you know, they're struggling, they need those revenue out there. So they can't not engage. But based upon what you learned from this story, and what you continue to learn what what action would you recommend our listeners take to avoid suffering the same fate?

Ana Melikian 24:03
Don't wait to, for people to come and say, oh, I want to work with you. Create opportunities to have conversations. And not all the conversations are not going to result in clients but just get used to start conversations, bring people on the phone, bring people on Zoom, and learn about them. And if you ever can help them, they say it. I think what I do can help you arrive, help you achieve your goals, and a percentage of them will become clients.

Andrew Stotz 24:47
Great advice. So what is a resource that you'd recommend for our listeners?

Ana Melikian 24:52
I will recommend the mindset zone podcast as a great way of expanding your possibilities and the just check the episodes there and see if there is some topic that is relevant will be the first place to start.

Andrew Stotz 25:10
Fantastic. Well, last question. What is your number one goal for the next 12 months?

Ana Melikian 25:17
Interesting enough, he's writing a book, I spoke about the my horse thing, the being the book chapter that now 10 years after that, I'm in a place that writing a book makes sense, because I know what I want to say. And I know that I have to have a plan to marketing and sale the.

Andrew Stotz 25:40
That's great. I think you're in a good spot for that. I remember when I press publish of my first book on Amazon, I thought, all right, that's it. I'm done. And what I realized was that Oh, no, actually, I'm just starting the whole marketing process. So well, we're looking forward to seeing that book and reading it and learning more from what's in your head. Well, listeners, there you have it another story of loss to keep you winning. If you haven't yet taken the risk reduction assessment, I challenge you to go to my worst investment ever.com Right now, and start building wealth the easy way by reducing risk as we conclude and I want to thank you again for coming on the show and joining our mission and on behalf of a stocks Academy I hereby award you alumni status for turning your worst investment ever into your best teaching moment. Do you have any parting words for the audience?

Ana Melikian 26:33
Be gentle with yourself and keep moving forward.

Andrew Stotz 26:38
Fantastic. And that's a wrap on another great story to help us create, grow and protect our well fellow risk takers. Let's celebrate that today. We added one more person to our mission to help 1 million people reduce risk in their lives. This is your worst podcast hose Andrew Stotz saying. I'll see you on the upside.