Hands-Off Growth

Mandi Ellefson’s guests are Josh LaMar and Marcelo Chinellato, co-founders of Amplinate, formerly known as Authentique UX. Amplinate is committed to promoting cross-cultural understanding and deepening human connection through ethical product design. With almost two decades of cumulative experience across 18 countries, they help tech companies fast track domestic and international product growth w...

Mandi Ellefson discusses how to get out of the entrapment cycle in this solo episode of Hands-Off CEO. You’ll hear Mandi talk about: The entrapment cycle seizes many CEOs. “There's this dynamic where you need to hire more experts to help you deliver the growth, but then you need more cash flow to be able to hire them. So you need more sales to generate more cash, but then you need more capacity to...

Mandi Ellefson discusses the characteristics of rapid growth companies in this solo episode of Hands-Off CEO. You’ll hear Mandi talk about:  Two things rapid growth businesses have in common. “[Rapid growth businesses] usually have an offer that’s really valuable in the market, and are willing to position themselves in such a way that it’s a lot easier to sell.” [1:19] “Our top-level clients who a...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Jamie Birch, CEO and Chief Incremental Officer at JEBCommerce, an organization that helps retainers maximize their affiliate sales. He has extensive experience in all facets of online marketing. This has enabled Jamie to thrive and become a market leader in these unprecedented times. Jamie and his team help clients grow their revenue and gain an additional $10M in sales i...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Aaron Krall, founder of SaaS Visionaries and the SaaS Accelerator,  a proven system that adds $500,000 of revenue to SaaS companies in just 12 months. He is also one of Hands-Off CEO’s Scale to Freedom clients. You’ll hear Mandi and Tim talk about: “It’s a really specific program we’ve designed,” Aaron says.  “We come in, and we rehaul everything.” He briefly lists the fo...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Tim Francis, founder of ProfitFactory.com and Great Assistant, two organizations dedicated to making the entrepreneurial journey easier. After noticing that entrepreneurs desperately needed support in running a business, Tim started Great Assistant to help them hire an assistant, retain them for years, and make them really profitable.  You’ll hear Mandi and Tim talk about...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Jason “Wally” Waldron, CEO of Exitology, the agency that can create 33% annual growth and guarantee to add at least $1M of new growth using existing resources for logistics, supply chain and industrial companies. Wally’s unique profit acceleration strategies have helped companies grow faster and maximize the value of their business, as well as buy back their freedom when...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Tom Shapiro, the founder and CEO of Stratabeat, a digital marketing agency that helps businesses grow via branding, design, and strategic thinking. He is a marketer who understands what businesses need and crafts strategies to fill those needs. .  You’ll hear Mandi and Tom talk about: "What we're seeing is that a lot of businesses are struggling with lead generation and s...

James Schramko, bestselling author and host of the SuperfastBusiness podcast, invited Mandi Ellefson on his show recently. This is a cross-post of their enlightening conversation about scaling a service business. You’ll hear Mandi and James talk about: How soon to start building a team and becoming a Hands Off CEO. “Please don’t build a solopreneur business if you can avoid it!” James cautions lis...

Mandi Ellefson discusses how to make growing your consulting agency simpler in this solo episode of Hands-Off CEO. You’ll hear Mandi talk about: “It’s not that something is wrong with your business; it’s that you’re working way too hard.” Mandi shares why CEOs sometimes struggle with growth. [0:23] Mandi shares an example of a client who struggled to find a reason to scale. “It can’t just be about...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Ron Friedman, the founder of ignite80, an organization dedicated to teaching leaders practical, evidence-based techniques for working smarter and elevating their team's performance through keynotes, workshops, and consulting. He is also CEO at Friedman Strategy Group, where he fuses psychological insight with cutting-edge research to deliver actionable marketing recommend...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Mark Arnold, President of On the Mark Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in branding and strategic planning. Mark has written several books, and is an acclaimed speaker who specializes in personal growth, leadership, marketing, and strategy.   You’ll hear Mandi and Mark Arnold talk about: “When I started, I couldn’t see everything that others could see,” Mark admi...

Mandi Ellefson’s guest this week is Nathan Kievman, a world-renowned demand generation expert and business growth strategist. He is the CEO of Linked Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in measurable client and talent acquisition campaigns. Nathan is an entrepreneur, executive engagement specialist, and a digital marketing strategist. You’ll hear Mandi and Nathan Kievman talk about: “I’ve a...

Mandi Ellefson is discussing mindset shifts with Laura Cook, who is Director and CEO at Teal Vision Ltd, an organization dedicated to unlocking profits, accelerating growth, and helping CEOs get their lives back. Laura is passionate about supporting 7 and 8 figure businesses to predictably grow with less stress, more money, and secure a bigger exit. You’ll hear Mandi and Laura Cook talk about: “My...

Mandi Ellefson shares how leaders can drive rapid growth in their company beyond themselves in this solo episode of Hands-Off CEO. You’ll hear Mandi talk about: Convincing someone to do something: they have to want to do it, and money isn’t the most reliable incentive. [1:32] The food chain of passion. “If you don’t have a lot of passion, then neither will your team.” [3:43] The secret to growing...

Mandi Ellefson discusses global shifts in marketing with John Jantsch, the founder and President of Duct Tape Marketing. John has been featured in multiple publications including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Inc. Magazine, and USA Today. In addition to training and licensing independent consultants and agencies using the Duct Tape method, John is also the author of several books focuse...

Mandi Ellefson is discussing why popular scaling advice is terrible for consulting agencies. She shares insights about marketing, systems, and what you should actually do to scale. You’ll hear Mandi talk about: “Do you really want to systematize and accelerate a process that's just getting okay and mediocre results?” Mandi shares a story about a company that grew from referrals, but was challenged...

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED November 2018. How much could you grow if you could guarantee results for your clients? Because many custom service providers only market their clients’ successes and aren’t honest about the rest, there are a lot of burned clients. And ethical providers tend to be less forward because they’re nervous about over-promising and under-delivering. You can stand out in the crowd by...

Do you rely on persuasion to make sales? Yes, it works and that is why people continue to rely on it to grow their businesses. But what if you could move beyond these old school tips and tricks? And honestly discuss with your clients their challenges and help them see what is possible. On this week’s episode, I talk about the five steps that will help you to update the way you sell to clients. Use...

What got entrepreneurs to a certain point in their business may now work against them and it now holds them back from achieving more - Paradox Resistance.

Ramp up client acquisition in your consulting business without making it complex. You can grow your company without having to slow yourself down with all of the tactics that you see all over the web. Many online gurus promote complex funnels, but these funnels actually add a level of complexity. Instead, you can make sure that you are doing the steps of scaling your marketing and your sales at the...

Transitioning from working in the business to working on the business can be hard, but there are three simple steps you can follow to get unstuck. In today’s episode, we’re going to look at Tom. Tom was a marketing agency owner who had a relatively successful business, but became  stagnated for years because it was just too stressful for him to keep scaling. He ended up scaling up and then scaling...

A lot of agencies love having retainers - they are the Holy Grail. Having clients on long-term retainers, consistently paying you month-after-month gives you a strong, consistent cash flow so you can scale your business from that. It can be very challenging to get to the point where clients are going to commit at this level, and it can take months or even years of testing with small projects to be...

Buying patterns have been changing for hundreds of years, but what has changed recently is how quickly those buying patterns have changed. The trend happens any time there’s a recession or downturn in the market. Only the toughest and strongest businesses are going to rise to the top. But the $1,000,000 question is: How are you able to position your consulting agency so that you not only survive,...