Running a business is easy

Plus, the 5 meetings every CEO should lead ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  The Memo | Issue #57 Monday, August 23, 2021 Presented by... Welcome back to The Memo! Your business doesn't have to follow your first great idea. Sometimes, you may come across a bigger problem or a better solution that outshines the idea that spurred your business. When that happens, [go build that.]( Now, let's dive in... 3 Steps to a Ridiculously Persuasive Brand Story "Determine who you want as a customer, and who you don't. Your product, website, marketing, and sales will all be stronger if you can point to a specific group of people and say that's who we want." Your brand is your story. When it comes to scaling a business, you have to be able to tell a compelling story that gets potential customers to buy into your brand and product. But a lot of businesses make a crucial mistake with their story: they think it's about them. Andrew Holliday—marketer and founder of Special Sauce Branding—sees that mistake all the time. And he knows how to counteract it. In this quick read, Andrew breaks down the [3 steps brands need to follow to build a persuasive brand story]( that sells. Related: Check out the [Brand Script Template]( The 5 Meetings You Need to Lead "I've noticed a striking pattern: I can predict many of the leadership's key concerns just by seeing the CEO's meeting schedule. When certain meetings are missing, the consequences are often inevitable." Today, it seems like every professional calendar is full of meetings. For the CEO, those meetings can stretch from wall to wall. But are you, as the CEO, spending time in the meetings that really matter? There are meetings that help grow the company and there are meetings that waste time. Founder and CEO coach Dave Bailey wrote this article to help CEOs tell the difference. In this article, Dave outlines [the 5 kinds of meetings every CEO should lead]( including: - Status updates - All-hands - One-on-ones - Retrospectives - Friday wins Related: [7 questions CEOs should ask themselves every month]( Sponsored What are you hoping to get from your ad campaign? Paying customers, right? (Obviously) Our friends at Wicked Reports want you to get more than just getting paying customers. They want to show you how to scale campaigns that convert into HIGH-VALUE repeat customers. How do they do it? Through better data. We've all experienced the frustration of relying on bad data in Ad Manager. But there's a better option out there. Wicked Reports' independent attribution tracking solution keeps conversion data honest and makes marketing decisions easy. This translates into increased revenue for every advertising dollar you spend. Not to mention a distinct marketing advantage over your competition. With Wicked Reports, you'll be able to: - Measure iOS opt-out user conversions - Credit conversions from longer attribution windows - Optimize ads based on actual customer value What does all that mean? It means that Wicked Reports is staying one step ahead of all the changes and restrictions happening right now with Facebook, Google, and iOS. Seeing is believing. Let us show you what we can do. [Book a free demo TODAY.]( How We Do Strategic Planning At Scalable "Building a plan based on broad, subjective themes means we get to think big. Breaking down those themes into actionable initiatives ensures we get achievable, measurable results." Strategic planning in a lot of companies is broken. Annual plans are unpredictable, unfocused, and uninspiring. And more often than not, rank-and-file teams end up struggling to see how they fit into broader company objectives. At Scalable, we've built [the Scalable Planning Process]( based on the Quarterly Planning Canvas we complete every 90 days. The process includes two phases—planning and approval—and ensures we create focused, flexible goals and plans that generate buy-in at every level of the company, so the work actually gets done. Related: [Airbnb and Eventbrite's secret to great planning]( Running a Business Doesn't Have To Be A Struggle "The hard-work attitude that landed me a spot on the Business School dean's list scored me a respectable job and earned me an early promotion, created problems when I entered the entrepreneurial world." What if growing your business could be easy? Our culture glorifies hustle, but struggling doesn't always lead to success—sometimes, it's just a one-way ticket to burnout. While aspects of scaling a business will always be hard, the right mindset can make the process a lot easier. Entrepreneur and launch strategist, Steph Taylor, shares the [3 tips that helped her stop overcomplicating the business.]( Related: [The Scalable Time Management System]( One Last Thing... Remember: it's okay to pivot. - The Scalable Team --- We hope you enjoyed this week’s issue. If you didn’t, we’ll try to do better next week. If you did, could you do us a favor and share it with 3 friends and colleagues? It would mean the world to us. Thanks. :) Share The Memo Step 1: Click the button below Step 2: Share the Memo with friends Step 3: Earn Rewards Refer 3 friends and get listed on our site as a "Founding Subscriber," plus some mystery gifts we know you'll love... :) [Share The Memo]( Or copy & paste your referral link to share directly with others: What is The Memo (a.k.a. the thing you’re reading right now)? Every week, my partners and I send an email memo to our internal executive leaders (the people running our companies) sharing news and insights we believe they should know. Sometimes it's an interesting article...sometimes it's a new thought or idea...but it's always something timely, tactical, and actionable. Now, you can get the same memo... and you don't even have to sell us your company. 🙂 What is The Scalable Company? The Scalable Company is a collective of founders and entrepreneurs who have no idea what they’re doing, and are willing to admit it. You can read our "Accidental Entrepreneur Manifesto" [here]( and peruse our internal "wiki" of resources and best practices [here](.  Sent to: {EMAIL} The Scalable Company, 4330 Gaines Ranch Loop, Ste 120, Austin, Texas 78735, United States Don't want future emails? [Unsubscribe](