[Beers with Max 1] Digital, Scalable, Residual revenue for B2B companies

The inaugural episode of Beers with Max is in the books! Beer was drank, fun was had, and lots of great marketing and sales ideas were discussed. Here's what went down:

Introduction (0:44)

I introduce the video-blog-inar format (patent not pending) and explain what we'll be doing in these 20-minute sessions: discussing one burning question around marketing or sales, taking insight from guests, and most importantly, drinking beer! Each episode includes one "action item" to help you make progress towards the goals we talk about.

Today's Question: How can B2B companies increase revenue with less time investment? (3:16)

Everyone wants to make more money, but time is precious: it's the only commodity we can never get back. We could sell more products or services, but products require an investment, and services are work-intensive with low margins.

My Solution: Digital, Scalable, Residual (4:05)

My father, Jebediah Traylor, always told me that there are three keys to increasing revenue without investing more time:

• Digital (5:19): Whether you're providing agency services, graphic design, video services, or something else, you have a process for what you do. When you document that process and make it into a digital format - a blog post, video, eBook, etc. - it's called a knowledge product. Example: the Content Marketer's Blueprint
• Scalable (7:42): A knowledge product must be repeatable, easy to communicate, easy to deliver, and easy to share. You've got to be able to do it over and over, explain it to multiple buyers within a customer organization, and deliver it without hours of blood, sweat and tears (especially tears). Many knowledge products fit this description naturally.
• Residual (10:21): Most B2B marketing service providers follow one of two service models: the project model, where you sell once, deliver once, and get paid once, or the retainer model, where you sell once, deliver multiple times, and keep getting paid. The residual model combines the best of both worlds: sell once, deliver once, keep getting paid through passive income. By increasing revenue and decreasing our time investment, we free up more time to focus on our personal or company brands. Or work on our long putting game.

Big thanks to Jon Mehlman for creating this chart and sending it to me after the call!

A Quick Example: Leanbox (14:08)

Leanbox is a Boston-area B2B company that sells and stocks food kiosks in office kitchens and breakrooms. How could a business like this come up with a residual income model? By selling their proprietary process - how they choose the right foods for an office, acquire government assistance, source foods efficiently, and so on.

Max's Action Item (15:25)

Write down what your company does best, then give it a name. The idea (and the name) will stick in your head, and when you get some time, you'll devote more brainpower into thinking about your product and fleshing it out further.

For the rest of the session we opened it up to Q&A. We had some great insights from our lovely panel, which included freelance writers, agency owners, and B2B company representatives.

Join us for our next session by signing up using this link: Beers with Max. Until next time - keep your beer cold, your brain warm, and let the inspiration (and suds) flow freely. Cheers!

See all "Beers with Max" episodes.