Create Disruptive Client Openings

Time-Stamped Key Points

0:00 – Opening and Welcome
Courtney opens the Advanced Strategy Mastermind and checks in with Scott.

1:09 – What Problems Are We Solving Today?
Courtney invites the group to bring client issues, opportunities, and questions to the call.

1:36 – Scott’s Bookkeeper Outreach
Scott shares that he cold-called a bookkeeper after finding her card and positioned the conversation around potentially referring clients to her.

2:20 – Book the Appointment Immediately
Scott realizes he should have booked the meeting on the call instead of sending a calendar link afterward.

3:04 – Lock It In Before Hanging Up
The lesson is to suggest two days, then morning or afternoon, then specific times before ending the call.

3:39 – Keep the Appointment Soon
The group discusses keeping the meeting within a week so people do not forget or lose interest.

4:27 – Coffee Shop Business Cards
Scott explains that he visits local coffee shops, picks up business cards, and calls the owners.

4:45 – Bad Postcard Marketing Example
Scott found a poorly printed postcard that was cut off on the edge and used it as a conversation opener.

5:15 – Coffee Invite From the Postcard
He called the owner, referenced the coffee shop, mentioned the postcard, and secured a coffee meeting for the next morning.

5:28 – Bad Email on the Postcard
Scott later discovered the email address on the postcard bounced back, adding another visible marketing problem.

5:52 – Prospect Pushback
The business owner texted that he had a marketing team, owned multiple businesses, and was not sure he needed help.

6:07 – Reduce the Pressure
Scott replied that he was not sure he could help either and simply wanted to have coffee.

6:38 – Show the Broken Email
Scott sent a picture showing the email bounced and told the owner that the postcard email was wrong.

6:59 – Name the Missed Money
Scott suggested the wrong email could have cost the business tens of thousands of dollars in missed leads.

7:16 – Prospect Responds With Correct Email
The prospect did not book yet, but he responded with the correct email, keeping the door open.

7:43 – Trash Can Disruptor
Zoe shares a strategy where a coach crumples up a bad marketing piece, puts it in a trash can, and mails it to the business owner.

8:14 – Pitch Back to Pitchers
Zoe says when people pitch her, she often pitches them back, turning cold outreach into potential leads.

8:55 – Use the Prospect’s Own Language
Scott notes that the postcard invited people to give 30 minutes, so he used similar language when asking for 30 minutes.

9:31 – Crumpled Letter Strategy
The group discusses sending the bad postcard back with a handwritten note explaining why the piece may be costing them money.

10:59 – Old School Direct Mail Works Again
Zoe shares that postcards, handwritten notes, small gifts, and brownies can work because people are flooded with generic AI messages.

11:51 – Human Element Wins
The group agrees that face-to-face conversations and trust matter more as automation becomes more common.

12:19 – Same Coffee Shop Connection
Scott explains why the coffee shop approach works: it creates a simple shared connection and a natural reason to meet.

12:28 – Chamber Rack Strategy
Zoe suggests using chamber racks full of business cards and postcards as another source of prospects.

13:04 – Chamber Member Lists
The group discusses using chamber member lists carefully to identify businesses and create outreach opportunities.

13:52 – Printer JV Idea
Gary suggests contacting the printer that produced the poor postcard and potentially developing an alliance or JV relationship.

14:01 – Use Someone Else’s Distribution
The group connects this to the broader idea of partnering with complementary services that already have access to business owners.

14:14 – Mark’s Fast-Moving Prospect Question
Mark asks how to handle entrepreneurs who are always spinning, always busy, and hard to slow down.

15:52 – Food and Coffee as Re-Engagement
Scott suggests using coffee, lunch, or dinner to reconnect because food lowers resistance and feels less intrusive.

16:15 – Use Existing Relationships
If someone already knows you, re-engage personally before putting them into automated follow-up.

17:33 – Busy Can Mean Opportunity
The group notes that very busy prospects may have a bigger pot of gold at the end because they are running real businesses.

18:21 – Lead With Curiosity About Them
Gary suggests asking to understand the business better so you can potentially refer business or connect them with the right people.

19:04 – Website Audit as Value
Gary explains that he often offers to take a quick look at a prospect’s website and provide a helpful observation.

20:09 – Walk-In Website Audit Strategy
Zoe shares that one coach targets local businesses, runs their websites through AI, creates a report, walks in, and has closed clients from that approach.

21:09 – Billboard ROI Opener
Christopher shares an example of a coach calling a business after seeing a bad billboard and asking if they think they are getting their money’s worth.

22:15 – Website Audit Prompt Discussion
The group discusses how to analyze a website using AI tools, screenshots, copied website text, metadata, and visible page content.

23:07 – Human View vs. Search Engine View
Gary warns that screenshots show what humans see, while copied text or metadata may show what search engines see. Both can matter.

24:13 – Use the Right Dojo Agent
The group discusses using Digital Sage or Vera the Validator inside the AI Coaching Dojo to analyze marketing materials.

25:13 – Live Website Audit Example
Scott begins testing an example using a local restaurant website.

27:38 – Audit Prompt Setup
Scott frames the prompt around improving the prospect’s website and social marketing to increase sales.

31:11 – Website Audits as Lead Gen
The group notes that a coach could run several of these audits per day and use them as a lead generation tool.

31:35 – SBA Referral Example
Gary shares that he ran a website report for a business owner through an SBA contact, copied the SBA rep, and that led to another referral and a coaching client.

32:35 – AI Content Concern
Scott raises the concern that prospects may dismiss reports as “just ChatGPT.”

33:13 – Human Element Differentiates
The group agrees that AI can create content quickly, but the coach must add human insight, context, and interpretation.

33:58 – Web Development Has Burned Many Owners
Christopher notes that many business owners have had bad experiences with web companies, so coaches should avoid sounding like another web vendor.

34:44 – Find the $45,000 Problem
Instead of saying the website is bad, find the specific missed-money issue that supports the business case.

35:27 – AI Plus Human Ability
Gary shares the idea that AI can create decent outputs, but the person who adds human ability, nuance, and judgment will rise to the top.

36:58 – Harsh Scoring and Action Plan
Gary explains that his audit produces a harsh score, but also gives specific recommendations, rewrite examples, and an action plan.

37:42 – Business Owners Do Not Know What to Say
When a business owner asks for a website or postcard, vendors often ask what they want it to say. The problem is the owner usually does not know.

38:24 – Coach as Translator
Gary positions the coach as the middle person who translates what matters to the customer into clear direction for agencies, printers, and web teams.

39:06 – Dojo Plus Conversion Equation
Mark points out that this is not generic AI. It is AI formed through the conversion equation and Focused.com frameworks.

39:33 – Food Photography Example
The group critiques the restaurant’s food photography and notes that poor images may hurt conversion.

41:58 – Competitor Comparison
Ann suggests using AI to compare nearby competitors and show how better websites may be winning customers even with worse food.

42:25 – Better Meatball Line
The group jokes about telling the restaurant, “Thank God this meatball doesn’t look like the one on your website.”

42:36 – Messaging, Not Just the Website
Scott notes that the audit is not really about the website. It is about the business’s overall messaging.

43:08 – Restaurants Cheap Out on Marketing
Christopher explains that restaurants often operate on thin margins and underinvest in food photography and conversion assets.

44:22 – Symptoms vs. Ailments
Gary compares business owners to patients who keep getting prescriptions for symptoms instead of diagnosing the real ailment.

45:02 – Prospect Has a Marketing Team
Scott connects this back to his prospect who said he already had a social media person and marketing team, even though the visible marketing was not working.

46:10 – Discounted Money Frame
Gary reminds coaches to keep the frame around “discounted money,” meaning the client should make more than they spend.

46:38 – AI as Genius Intern
The group shares the quote that AI is like a genius intern or eager grad student: smart, but lacking real-world application and judgment.

47:43 – Claude Proposal Example
Gary shares that a client used Claude and got a bad proposal, but Gary’s trained Claude produced a better version because it knew his sales and marketing style.

48:24 – $100,000 Offer Reflection
Scott connects the discussion to the recent training about needing a $10K or $100K offer before you can sell one.

48:46 – Santa Photo Experience Proposal
Scott describes creating a $114,000 proposal for a Santa photo experience business that wants to grow into multiple locations.

49:20 – Ultimate Santa Positioning
Scott positioned himself as the right partner if they wanted the ultimate Santa photo experience.

50:28 – Build the Bigger Offer
Scott says the shift was realizing that if he does not have the $10K or $100K product, he cannot sell it.

51:29 – Les Introduces Himself
Les shares that he is a newer coach and this is his first time on the Friday call.

52:02 – Les’ Background
Les explains that he spent 23 years with the California Department of Corrections and also teaches firearms and use of force.

53:03 – Logo Story
Les explains his logo combines patriotism, a rifle scope reticle, and his faith.

54:32 – Ann on the Human Aspect
Ann says the human element is more valuable than ever because AI lacks discernment, lived experience, and pattern recognition.

55:28 – Understand the Real Problem
Ann adds that coaches need to focus on core issues, not quick solutions or surface-level fixes.

56:10 – Gary’s Elevator Pitch
Gary shares his “business owner in a hole” networking pitch.

57:30 – I Know the Way Out
The punchline of Gary’s pitch is that he jumps into the hole with the business owner because he knows the way out.

58:15 – Closing
Courtney wraps the call and wishes everyone a strong weekend.

Five Key Takeaways

• Bad marketing can be a strong conversation opener when approached with curiosity, tact, and a clear value point.
• The best outreach often starts with a visible, specific problem: a cut-off postcard, bad email, poor food photo, weak website, or unclear message.
• AI can help create audits, reports, content, and proposals, but the coach’s judgment is what turns that information into transformation.
• Business owners may already have a marketing team, social media person, or web vendor. The coach’s role is to diagnose the deeper issue, not sell another random tactic.
• Premium offers become easier to sell when the coach actually creates the offer, names the transformation, and positions themselves as the right partner for the outcome.

Notable Quotes

“Lock the appointment in before you get off the call.”

“FOMO is the best way to close a client.”

“It’s a disruptor.”

“When people pitch me, I pitch them back.”

“I think what we’re lacking right now is that human element.”

“People buy from people, not from weird outbound messages.”

“Use somebody else’s distribution list.”

“If you’re talking to somebody and they’ve got nothing but time, why does this guy have so much time?”

“Here’s a quick Santa Claus freebie.”

“We’re the middle people.”

“It’s not about the website. It’s about the overall messaging of the business.”

“AI is either a genius intern or an eager grad student.”

“It’s not information. It’s transformation.”

“I know the way out.”

Action Steps from the Call

1. Visit local coffee shops and collect business cards or postcards.
2. Look for visible marketing issues, such as cut-off print pieces, bad emails, poor images, or unclear offers.
3. Call the owner using the shared-location connection as the opener.
4. When interest appears, book the appointment before ending the call.
5. Offer two day options, then morning or afternoon, then specific times.
6. Keep meetings within one week when possible.
7. Use a real observation instead of a generic sales pitch.
8. Send proof of the issue, such as a bounced email or photo of the marketing piece.
9. Name the possible missed-money impact.
10. Consider using a handwritten note or physical mail disruptor.
11. Use chamber racks, postcard displays, and member lists to find prospects.
12. Look for printers or complementary service providers as potential JV partners.
13. Reconnect with past contacts through coffee, lunch, or dinner.
14. Ask to understand their business so you can potentially refer or connect people.
15. Run quick website or marketing audits for prospects.
16. Use screenshots, copied website text, and/or URLs depending on the tool.
17. Use the AI Coaching Dojo to analyze websites and marketing materials.
18. Add human interpretation before sending any AI-generated report.
19. Avoid sounding like just another web vendor.
20. Identify the specific missed-money issue, not just the generic website problem.
21. Use competitor comparisons when helpful.
22. Frame recommendations around business impact and ROI.
23. Use AI to support proposals, but train it on your voice and methodology.
24. Build a $10K, $100K, or higher offer if you want to sell at that level.
25. Create a clear premium offer tied to a real transformation.
26. Practice a short, memorable networking pitch.

Resources & Tools Mentioned

• Advanced Strategy Mastermind
• Coffee Shop Outreach
• Business Cards
• Postcard Marketing
• Chamber of Commerce
• Chamber Member Lists
• Printers
• JV Partners
• Handwritten Notes
• Physical Mail
• Trash Can Disruptor
• Direct Mail
• Website Audits
• Billboard Audits
• AI Coaching Dojo
• Digital Sage
• Vera the Validator
• Marketing Asset Audit
• Conversion Equation
• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Claude Project / Trained Claude
• FBS / Focused.com Business Suite
• SBA / Small Business Administration
• Social Media
• Restaurant Website
• Food Photography
• Competitor Comparison
• $10K Offer
• $100K Offer
• Santa Photo Experience
• Premium Offer
• Networking Pitch