Steve Schmidt 🧲

CEO and Founder 

University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business

Serving as one of six members on the University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business Counsel.

Senior Counsel at University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business

MAGNETIC (CONTENT-LED SALES)

MAGNETIC is a content-led sales consultancy where CEO Steve Schmidt works with CEO's and Founders, specifically, to establish original, non AI-based content across social channels.  

The MAGNETIC EATT Methodology.  


EXPERTISE

How confident are you that you are knowledgeable from a relatively non-biased standpoint?  
How can you display that prior to the first call?

AWARENESS

How do you build that constantly?

Multiple channels, research, and test. Don’t have time? Got it. Hire somebody. Don’t have the resources for that? You neither have time nor money, so that’s a lose-lose. Invest in the amplification of the voice of the founder, placing them, in time, as a trusted thought leader in their respective space.

TRUST

How do you build that before the first meeting?

Your POV matters. You, the person. The founder. One of the biggest problems in early-stage companies is getting what’s out of the founder’s head with systems and processes and onto paper. We help do that, both externally with prospects and internally with your employees.

TIMING

How do you improve timing?  Always be around with daily content drops in the social channels and feeds being connected with your prospect to proactively answer questions that your prospects are asking.


Additionally, we develop hyper-relevant messaging for all sales content across all personas within your Ideal Client Profile heavily tested, and then set to execution without burning through your TAM with cold, irrelevant messaging.  

Then, in a partnership with Regie.AI, there is also then the ability to teach personalization at point and at scale to the frontline reps.

Chief Executive Officer

The Maker Group

We’re a team of experienced commercial negotiators; all from industry, having cut our teeth negotiating complex, high-value deals in the real world. Each of our commercial negotiation consultants has spent years servicing some of the largest companies in the world, providing best-in-class solutions and support. We know your world, we understand your challenges, and we know how to help.

Advisor -  Revenue

Meritus Capital - Payroll Funding For Staffing Agencies

Advisor - Revenue

SellX

(TIDAL joined) SaaS and Service companies from all over the world, Sell X now has over 100 customers on the platform, all working with our teams to deploy top-of-funnel outbound lead generation campaigns.  2022 target is to have over 250 customers working with our teams to generate world-class sales funnels!

Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

TIDAL

(Exited)

TIDAL was the market leader for early to mid-stage companies to develop predictable revenue through our complete sales development approach. 

By leveraging the science of high-tech solutions with the art of human communication, our go-to-market omnichannel strategy provides solutions to outsourced sales needs and accelerates sales funnels even faster.

KINETIC

Director of Sales at an RG/A Incubated & Tech Stars VC funded tech company, KINETIC.

My team is developing the playbook and outbound execution for warehouse and industrial facilities to deploy and manage their experience to provide a positive impact to their workforce by reducing injury and increasing productivity.

KINETIC REFLEX is a smart wearable that reduces the incidence of workplace injuries. REFLEX automatically detects high-risk postures and provides workers with feedback whenever high-risk motions occur. Over time, workers can use REFLEX to improve their biomechanics, resulting in fewer injuries and improved well-being.

Sales Director

Marco Technologies

Tech Advisor

T-Mobile

Sr. Sales Director North Central Region SLED and HigherEd

Outreach

Enterprise Sales Director

Content Strategy and Revenue Architecture - Creator of SOS (Sales Operating System), for top of funnel


Hi there!  I am the CEO of MAGNETIC, a content-led sales consultancy that helps B2B CEOs, founders, and executives establish original and engaging content across social channels like LinkedIn and YouTube, amounting to life changing revenue growth. In addition, we launch a connection campaign using MAGNETIC MANAGED MAIL to go fully frontal with messaging that converts.  

We obsess over content and psychology and the two mesh perfectly in the way we treat every person’s brand and revenue growth in a unique way.

With over 25+ years of experience in B2B sales, I have worked with world-class organizations such as Outreach, AT&T, and T-Mobile, and successfully founded and exited TIDAL, the leading worldwide sales development company.

The mission - to empower B2B leaders to grow their revenue and influence through content strategy and outbound, together!

I look forward to seeing you become MAGNETIC! 


5 Milestones to Achieve BEFORE you invest in paid advertising 

1. Clarity on your ideal customer profile and your total addressable market

2. Strong brand positioning 

3. Effective messaging 

4. A great website that converts traffic to sales conversations

5. Enough happy customers to validate that your total addressable market needs your solution 

Once you have those in place, paid advertising programs can accelerate awareness, consideration and growth

If you start advertising too early, you will learn the expensive lesson that you didn’t have one of those figured out

To achieve those milestones, you need to be talking to your customers and prospects every day and leveraging organic social strategies to test and validate positioning and messaging to generate enough initial demand to get your first cohort of happy customers 

#marketing #b2b #demandgeneration 

Steve Schmidt 🧲 

There is one thing that separates 1 and 10 million dollar companies.  Know what it is?
 
I’ll give you a hint…

There are two indicators of a company's maturity. One is commonly known. One is not. 

People and companies brag about one of the indicators all the time. 

Money!  Revenue!  Funding!  BRO BILLS!

The second one is pretty dull. 

The second indicator of a company's maturity is the processes and procedures they have in place to help its daily contributors, managers, and directors succeed. 

Kevin "KD" Dorsey is big on this. 

Companies can make money if they have product market fit. 

They can change the world if they have systems and processes that enable their employees to give their best. 

I’m not saying you need to be as bureaucratic and defined as government. 

That kills innovation.

I’m still figuring this out. 

The more I dig into it, the better my company performs, the less stress I have, and the more productive my employees become. 

Dig into your processes and systems. 

It’s the difference between making $1 million a year as a startup and getting to $10 million a year.

#StartupSuccess #Entrepreneurship

Content produced 7 leads for us this week.

Also had 2 referrals.  

Also filmed 7 podcasts.  

Also one cold.  

It's never just one thing.

You gotta

Keep giving.

Keep grinding.  

Keep getting better.

It’s never linear.

But it works. 

If you work 

It

I see million dollar mistakes every single day.  Don't be fooled by likes. 

Deliver value quickly.

MISTAKES TO AVOID IN CREATING LINKEDIN CONTENT

Oh, Canada!

When I think of Canada and Communities, I think of Neil W.. 

Honestly, Neil is one of my favorite people that I've met in the revenue space.  He's a fierce advocate for immigration rights, community and revenue.  

That's a powerful combo. 

Last year, Neil started PORCH 💚, and his co-founder also happens to be his son.  

Grab the full episode in the comments! 

Subscribe today for weekly drops with the top revenue and content leaders in the world!

AI is good. Not great. 

Not yet. 

It’s game-changing but not quite where I’d like it to be. 

For instance, is there an AI email writing tool that can scale personalized emails?

I haven’t seen one. 

They’re just too salesy. 

You need an editor to make it better. 

At that point just have an email writer on hand or call to help spin some email copy up for you. 

AI can help elicit an emotional response like boredom, disgust, or frustration. 

If you want to generate interest, curiosity, and more, you’ll have to have a human behind it fixing things up. 

AI is here. It’s not going anywhere. 

In time, with more feedback, the LLMs will be masterful content creators. 

Until then, you’ll need a human to help you write cold emails that resonate. 

#ai 

People don’t buy from people. 

They buy when they feel understood. 

Right now, people are the best source of understanding. It’s what people create that generates that understanding. 

That feeling of being understood can come from anything.

It can come from a written text post, a picture, a video, or a referral from a friend. 

That’s the power of content. 

It generates a feeling of understanding. 

When you post something that clicks with someone else, they start following you.

They don’t buy right away. 

But after 2, 4, or even 6 weeks they start thinking, “Hey, this person understands me. I want to know more about their service.”

Then they reach out to engage in the buying process. 

People don’t buy from people. 

They buy an emotional experience. 

#contentmarketing #brandstorytelling

This is the easiest way to get clients on LinkedIn.  

Without investing a dime.





There is no easy way.  

It will cost you time.  

It will cost you your ego. 

It will force to think about the problem your solution solves.

It is a very crowded space.  

It is the world’s largest B2B social media platform.  

It likely will be something you start and stop multiple times.  

It will work, If you work it.  

I've built two companies to $1mm + in revenue sold from scratch in under 9 months.  

I'm still here.  

3.5 years later. 

And I'll be here in 3.5 years.

In 2020, I  got serious about posting, and I hired a ghostwriter - I had no idea about content. 

Neither its potential nor its complexities. 

Certainly not the time sucked. 

But I needed to generate a funnel, and content seemed like a great opportunity.

It was.

But it took 3+ months before I received my first DM regarding business on the platform, and another 3 months more before I closed my first deal.

But then came the 2nd, and the 3rd, 20th, 30th, etc. 

Posting on LinkedIn works. 

More people are doing it. 

The more people do it, the more you need to stand out. 

ChatGPT isn’t going to cut it. 

People are starting to notice what ChatGPT produces. 

It’s leaving a thumbprint. 

If you want to generate leads from your personal brand on LinkedIn you have to create MAGNETIC Content. 

If you don’t have the time to invest in it, then reach out. We can make it for you. 

#linkedin #linkedinmarketing #content

We have multiple clients closing over $100,000   this month, all by working that MAGNETIC method.  

They are reading this and they know who they are.  Obviously keeping that on the DL.  

Vultures;)

Client 1 - Month 10 - have had over 20 deals closed attributed to content and a very sizeable deal stating, “when I first started following you on LinkedIn.”

Client 2 - Month 9 - numerous deals before but this time, $118,000 of their $300,000 close in new contracted revenue cited LinkedIn as the source.

A 3rd client on month 12 just about ready to knock down a couple of Fortune 100 logos.  Again, content. 


<<<<————->>>>

ALL FROM CONTENT

<<<<————->>>>


We also had a client quiet and close shop before they could really hit their sweet spot.  Founder wanted content but didn’t want to participate, which makes it almost impossible.


It does take time.  

Most aren’t my patient enough.  

Or, they are addicted to perfect.  

Good luck with that.  

There can be lots of little wins along the way.  When it happens, you’ll know.  

Then, it’s consistency, strategy and execution.  

There is gold in them hills.

A lot of people don't believe it when they hear content works.  I get it. 

There is over $1 billion in personal development and education sales per day on youtube. 

Per day. 

Yes, per day.  $1 billion dollars per day. 

Yet in B2B, I'm confident that content alone isn't enough.  There are tribes and pods and all sorts of things that can tilt the algos.  

You need to go outbound with a strong message,

You need to connect with those same people on linkedin

You need to follow their companies and every single one of them daily on linkedin. 

You need to get active with video and voicenotes in the DM's.

If you are playing defense, you are about to find out how bad that can hurt. 

Content + strong outbound with strong messaging is the game.  

For more on the 2nd episode of SDR'ing, hosted by Gabe Lullo 🏀🙌 and myself, drops now!  

https://lnkd.in/gdkwB_QB

Sliding into a CEO’s DM’s can be the stuff of nightmares!

Here are my 3 tips on how to win big in the DM’s when prospecting into the C-suite.

1 - Give - don’t ask for the time don’t ask for anything.  

2 - Use Linkedin Voicenotes. 

3 - Video.  Just like this.  Nothing fancy.

There is a glaring problem with the LinkedIn algo.

Maybe it's an opportunity. 

After all, I've written 50+ weekly newsletters now with 8,000 weekly readers and growing. 

Yet, the LinkedIn numbers are going down and down. 

LinkedIn, you have a problem with the algo when 3x the amount of people you are "showing" a post to who are reading the article every week when they get the email notification.  

1,400-2,500 LinkedIn Newsletter reads per week is normal, and my readers have come to expect it every Sunday morning.  This is good!

Impressions?  

LinkedIn Maybe 500-750 per week.

There is one area here where I could be wrong, so next week we will test.  The theory here is that my audience of 8,000, made up largely of Founders and CEO's of $1-$20 million SaaS and Service companies, doesn't check the feed on weekends but DOES check their email.  

PS - yes, newsletters are back.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter below.  Get smarter, laugh a little and learn some cool content and sales hacks that will make you more money.  

Subscribe on LinkedIn https://lnkd.in/gJRHZ82c

Proof that I’ve been in the game a while…

This will shape your Perspective forever. Keep reading.

Imagine this.

You pull into a parking lot.

There is a prime parking spot near the front of the store.

While the person backs out, you patiently wait. You even wave.

Then it happens.

There is another car, also waiting for the person to back up.

Both of you aren't moving.

That's three cars, now stuck, all wanting to do something different than the other two people want to do.

So, you raise your hands and shout some interesting things, backing up to allow the person in the parking spot to finally back out.

You lose the spot.

In goes the other car.

You are furious.

If what you say next were to be recorded and played for your closest family and co-workers, they would be either disgusted or amazed.

---

What happened to the person in the other car?

That was an older lady. She recently had hip surgery and had her daughter had taken her handicap decal, and she couldn't wait for her to return home to get her medication. 

She was so grateful that she could find a spot so close to the store.

She is safe to drive, but she is slow to react, and her judgment has slowed a little with age.

She didn't see you.  

---

Her day was made.

Your day was ruined.

The person wanting to back up out of the parking spot? They thought you both were jerks;)

---

Three different perspectives.
Three different agendas.
Not one person felt seen.

---

Perspective is very difficult.

Bias is natural.

---

Two lessons.

=> You think your solution is untouchable and born to save the world. You may see it differently if you saw it from another's Perspective. You likely wouldn't see it at all. Maybe it's not truly a "must-have." There are likely 20 competing priorities with business and 12 more at home.

=> Perspective is everything. Make somebody feel seen, and you will build trust and be able to have the self-awareness to see the situation for what it is vs. what your version is, i.e., the narrative seen from the journey of your desired outcome.  

What I’m about to share may be the most important piece I’ve shared to date regarding actual real life LinkedIn results.  

As many of you know, my agency added Newsletter Design and Strategy to our offering 2 months ago and the results and have been nothing short of astonishing.  

Why?  See below.  

When you start to include keyword and SEO into your content strategy and it starts to take off, you start to show up on page 1 of Google next to the paid ads in a matter of weeks.  

This is where most talk of content on LinkedIn misses the mark.  

Design content not just around inspiration, but also with a planning and intention.  

The search?

“How to write a newsletter on LinkedIn.”   It was my newsletter on writing newsletters, and newsletters - if done properly - are the new tip of the spear for B2B personal brands.  

Key word, personal.  

In the business, we call this, “free advertising.”

Follow me and 8,000 others for the best advice on LinkedIn around data driven content creation and results https://lnkd.in/gSBA5WGv

—

To be found, you must be findable.

I've started two companies that did millions of revenue in their first year. And I almost lost it all twice. 

Setbacks as a founder can knock you off your feet onto your ass. 

I know, I’ve had quite a few…

Divorce, legal threats, and financial disasters: OH MY!

I’ve seen it all.   

When these things happened, I had a choice:

Jump up, get in and get back in it…

Or

Stay down.

I never stayed down. 

You’ll stay down if you don’t have a reason to get up. 

“I can make more money, so I can give more money to fund the church.”

That’s 🔶🔸Mason Cosby🔸🔶’s why. 

It’s fuel to his fire. 

It’s easy to sit back, hide, and blame everything and everyone for life not being the way you want. 

It’s harder to believe in your purpose.

I believe in what I’m doing and more importantly, what and who I'm doing it for.

Watch The MAGNETIC Podcast episode with 🔶🔸Mason Cosby🔸🔶 here: https://lnkd.in/gKvh4DdU

There is 1 reason why YouTube is crushing.



It’s a “show me” vs. “tell me”, channel. 

It’s meant to deliver value to the viewer quickly. 

It is easy for people on LinkedIn to tell people what to do in text.

That’s the echo chamber we all live in. 

YouTube forces you to show the viewers, and they absolutely eat it up.  

Gabe Lullo 🏀🙌 and I’s first episode of SDR’ing eclipsed 1,000 views this week, check it out and subscribe below!

Episode 2 drops on days!

Don't think you can finance that big idea?

Think again.  

Liquid Death’s CEO spent $1,500 to mock up photos, uploaded to the internet on a Facebook group and overnight, 80,000 fans and a heap of demand.  

Order after order came in and they didn't even have a product yet.  

Hell, he didn't even know where they'd source the water from.  

Test small. 

Dream big.

This will change the way you do Linkedin forever. 



...


Scroll through your linkedin feed on your mobile phone.  

See what stands out, stops you and makes you pay attention.  

Noise, noise and more noise.  


...



Take off your personal bias.


...



Now, you can see how much effort it really takes.



...


Keep going.

Taplio

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