Hope that our nation will heal. Hope of reconciliation in so many areas where we are lacking. Hope that the vaccine will help us return to a state of some normalcy without endangering ourselves, our families and our neighbors.

It’s fitting that the first vaccine, and possibly a second one, is coming out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanskgiving is a time to reflect on gratitude when many of us were isolated, alone and not feeling very thankful. And Christmas is the time when our country and many of our religious traditions point to the ultimate hope.

This is the time we look to the Christ child and the promise of salvation coming. We celebrate the miracle of the oil, candles illuminating our lives, our homes, and our remembrance of past promises fulfilled. And we come together, as family and friends, whether in person or virtually, to make merry, exchange gifts and prepare for the next year.

It is our fervent desire that, despite this long, troublesome year, you will see and embrace HOPE. In the midst of being with family – or in spite of not being able to come together – we hope you will discover the promises of faith. The joy of the season. And the expectation that as we start a new decade that 2021 will be everything we thought this would be – and more. From all of us here at Grow the Dream, we wish you a very merry Christmas!

We could put our expertise to work to develop a new program to help small business owners. Small business owners and entrepreneurs helped us grow and build over the years.

The TL:DR is that every Wednesday, starting September 30, 2020, at 1pm Eastern time, we will host a free online training – the same training we’ve charged thousands of dollars for in the past. Now, you won’t get the same one on one hands-on experience that those folks paid for. But you will get actionable information that you can use to build a strategic marketing solution that will help your business grow – even during a pandemic – and continue to thrive after.

That’s the deal – free training from a team of digital marketing leaders, every week, in your home or office, for free. No strings.

If you’d like to learn more about the process and its efficacy, the details are below. But first, a story…

Beginnings That Can’t Be Despised

About 14 or 15 years ago, I was attending a seminar in Ft. Myers, Florida, presented by Michael Pink, of Selling Among Wolves. I had encountered Michael and his sales approach and products a few weeks prior at a motivational seminar presented by John Maxwell.

At the Pink seminar, I signed up for a special breakout session the following day with Justin Destoppelaire, of C Service Consulting, and David G. Johnson – the founder of Grow the Dream, which was still called Epiphany Marketing at the time. Both men impressed me and I had the opportunity to work with them several times over the years.

At the time, I was transitioning from being a full time employee in Law Enforcement to starting my own business in financial services to eventually leave me more time and income to pursue my acting and creative writing careers.

Life happens, as it often does, and in 2008, I drove 2 hours North to join a face to face class with David that focused on principles of digital marketing. This was during the early days of Facebook and Google – at least in the public’s eye. The Internet had transformed from a series of interconnected databases and chat rooms into a full-fledged, well, something – we were still figuring all that out.

One of the wildest (west) frontiers was finding and connecting with customers. Most businesses at the time had very little Internet presence, if any. But the ones that did were finding new markets and opportunity – often ones that translated to their brick and mortar stores as well as online.

Modern Takes on Timeless Truths

David, almost always on the bleeding edge of technology – or fairly close – had developed a digital marketing process that helped you target and attract not only more customers, but highly qualified, motivated-to-buy customers. And unlike some of the more traditional means of marketing and advertising, your past efforts helped to propel your business forward exponentially.

The process itself was (and still is) based on timeless strategic principles, but taken up a notch. And with practically unlimited, nearly free to acquire and utilize Internet geography, you would have been stupid not to take advantage of it.

I immediately invested in the process and, even using the most inexpensive tools (they were free), and what I learned in the 3 hour class, I was already ahead of the game. So I took a chance and went all in.

While the price of David’s expertise wasn’t cheap, it was absolutely worth it and the training program helped me build my own business, as well as those of several other clients and friends. One I even managed to multiply to the point that the owner sold it for more than three times what its value had been when I started.

I’ll be honest, we often get clients who question whether strategy applies to their business.

Grow the Dream has helped countless businesses – from floral shops to oral hygiene companies to pest control solutions to motivational training. I personally have used the process to build strategic marketing for third party Amazon booksellers, tax prep and accounting services, as well as non-profit professional organizations.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I took a lot of classes on actor marketing and writer audience building. They were perfectly fine, but badly flawed – because they taught a formula, rather than a process where you build a unique strategic approach.

One Size Fits Nobody

That’s the beauty of strategy. We don’t hand you a plan – we tell you what questions to ask yourself and your existing customers – that reveal the specifics for your business. Then you apply the timeless strategies to your unique needs.

Let’s be honest, we all know that the idea that one size fits all is a stretch – literally. You’re stretching into the clothes or to fit in the clothes. Sizes aren’t the same from brand to brand, let alone year to year. You need a pattern you can adapt to use however much cloth you need or want.

Okay, enough with the clothing analogies.

As I mentioned at the top, #StrategyStream is a FREE training program. A do it yourself approach to the marketing strategies we’ve taught and implemented at Grow the Dream for more than 20 years now. And if you need detailed, specific assistance, we can provide that too. This material is easy to grasp, sometimes a little harder to implement. That’s why we’ve worked with some clients for years. Because they still need and value our assistance to keep them on track.

The crazy thing is… we now have so many voices competing for our attention online – at least 10 times what we had back in 2008 – and these principles work even better now.

For everyone – we’ll walk you through our program for determining the strategic decisions you need to make and implement. We’ll show you how to figure out an action plan that you can actually act on – even if you’re stuck at home.

And we’ll give you a solid foundation for succeeding in the midst of the pandemic. A foundation you can construct that will help you build momentum now, so you launch higher and faster when the world returns to some semblance of normalcy.

Imagine the Benefits

What will your business look like when we reemerge? Will you have two or three times the numbers of qualified customers finding your business? Will they be qualified people who are looking for what you are offering and are ready to buy right away?

Will you know and be able to measure where the customers are coming from? Where they are finding you? Why they chose you over your competitors?

Instead of trying to ramp up after 6-12 months of doing next to nothing, with no income… You’ll start well ahead of the game. If you attend.

It’s only going to be an hour – maybe an hour and a half with questions afterwards. But we want to limit the impact on your day. And leave you ample time during the days between to start answering those questions and implementing the strategy as it grows and develop.

I hope you join us. Let us bless you with the best tools we’ve found for online marketing success. And you can be a blessing to others.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 16 ounces white chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3/4 cup crushed candy cane

Directions:

1. Place the semisweet chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. Stir until smooth
2. Spread the chocolate into a roughly 9″ x 13″ rectangular pan on a piece of parchment paper. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set
3. Place the white chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. Add the peppermint extract and stir until smooth
4. Spread the white chocolate over the semisweet chocolate layer. Top with crushed candy canes. Let harden in fridge for about 20 minutes, then break into pieces and serve.

The Meaning of the Season

This week and next we will be celebrating the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020! And next year we get an extra day – it’s Leap Year! As we all pause to reflect the past twelve months and make resolutions for the coming twelve, we should remember that the week at hand represents hope and new beginnings. Regardless of what happened in 2019, 2020 represents a fresh start.

Whether it is the Star over Bethlehem, the Menorah lamp that stayed bright for eight days, the tradition of the harvest and unity or just time spent with friends and family, this is the time of year that brings light and joy to multitudes around the world. For some, it is a difficult time, whether it be due to health issues, financial difficulties, the loss of loved ones or just being alone. We hold you in our hearts and prayers, and hope that you find peace and joy.

All of us at Grow the Dream wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. May love and peace surround you and those you love this holiday season and may the coming year bring you health, prosperity and much happiness.

We are committed to helping local business owners grow revenue through higher closing rates, greater sell-through, and more referrals, and avoid wasting valuable time and resources on unmeasurable and ineffective marketing campaigns with our Strategic Business Growth Assessment.

David G. Johnson

“We believe that behind every business is a dream. We exist to help bring those dreams to their maximum potential,” said David G. Johnson, founder of Grow The Dream.

Infusionsoft’s Certified Partner Program provides powerful solutions for small businesses such as web development, copywriting, marketing consultations and other professional services. This powerful combination has allowed Infusionsoft and its partners to be dominant forces in the small business success movement.

“Grow The Dream has undergone an intensive training program at Infusionsoft’s headquarters and passed very difficult qualification standards to become certified,” said Andy Simmons, VP of Global Partner Programs at Infusionsoft. “We don’t certify just anyone who wants to join our community, Certified Partners meet our exceedingly high standards to ensure our small business customers are working with only the best. Today we congratulate and proudly welcome Grow The Dream to our thriving community of Infusionsoft Certified Partners who are helping more small businesses everyday achieve new levels of success.”

To learn more about how Grow The Dream and Infusionsoft are helping small businesses like yours, take a moment to check out our eBook, The Ultimate Guide for Maximizing the Value of Leads.

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About Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft is on a mission to simplify growth for millions of small businesses worldwide. Built for growth-minded small businesses, Infusionsoft provides the leading cloud-based CRM platform with 145,000 users worldwide. Unlike single-purpose tools that don’t work well together, the platform organizes all customer interactions in one place, integrating with thousands of other apps to empower small businesses to deliver more personalized service and close more business. The privately held, eight-time Inc. 500/5000 company is based in Chandler, Arizona and is funded by Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures and Signal Peak Ventures. For more information, visit www.infusionsoft.com, or the Infusionsoft blog.

About Grow The Dream

Grow The Dream helps business owners and their teams avoid wasting time and valuable resources on ineffective and unmeasurable marketing initiatives. Through a mix of strategy consulting, content marketing services, and training and coaching, Grow The Dream helps business owners, entrepreneurs, and small business CEOs achieve high rates of return on their marketing investments. Based in Sarasota, Florida since 1998, Grow The Dream is a family owned and operated business serving businesses from local “Mom & Pops” all the way to multi-national conglomerates, and even household names like Ziglar, Inc. For more information, visit GrowTheDream.com or the Grow The Dream blog.