This post is the finale to my 3-part series on Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft, the leading all-in-one sales and marketing software built for small businesses which is currently servicing over 30,000 customers and growing at lightning speed.
If you haven’t had a chance to read the first two posts, I encourage you to start with the first here.
I hope you have found this series as informative as I have, as it covered quite a bit of ground and hopefully has put you in the power of broke mindset!
Please continue the conversation in the comments section below and let me know how this series has helped you!
- We’re hearing a lot about the principles of Conscious Capitalism, what are your thoughts on this?
The principles behind Conscious Capitalism really resonate with me and what we are building here at Infusionsoft. We are a purpose-based, values-driven organization, and we are intentional about hiring people who are passionate about small business success. Great leaders realize that to become successful over the long term, your purpose has to inspire your people. Employees don’t want to work for a company that is just in business to make money; they want to work for a purpose-driven business that is having an impact on the world.
- The subtitle for Daymond’s new book, The Power of Broke is How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage. Can you give me the best example you can of how you have exercised The Power of Broke.
The struggle of the early days will stick in my mind forever. Christmas of 2003 was both a low point and a turning point for me. Broke with four kids and zero hope, my wife asked me what we should do for Christmas presents for our children. As a sign of support, she volunteered to make and sell bracelets to earn the money we needed.
I was overcome with guilt, so I went right upstairs to create an automated marketing email campaign using the software we sell. After I’d written the copy, I pushed the button and off went the first email in a campaign of 6 emails to 500 leads. I sent the second email in that campaign the following week, and something magical started to happen within the next few business days. The phone started to ring and people were wanting to talk to me about our product, instead of the other way around. I was able to close more sales from these inbound calls than I could from me spending hours and hours calling people. I immediately ran to my co-founders and said, “I think I’ve found magic.” That magic was personalized automated follow-up through email marketing. Sometimes being broke can lead to your biggest breakthrough.
- How does it feel to not only embody strong entrepreneurship traits but also have a product that communicates and empowers the power of broke message by allowing Infusionsoft users such great ease and low barrier of entrance into the marketplace?
I love the way software helps small businesses succeed by automating their sales and marketing. That is an art that most small businesses don't understand well enough, and frankly it stymies their growth and success. We've been able to help them create a process and then automate that process to achieve success. Helping people achieve their dreams and live the life they want – there is nothing more rewarding than that.
- With your company growing at such great pace, how are you instilling the Power of Broke to your company and employees?
At Infusionsoft, we demand that our employees grow quickly. You can’t go out with a vision to change the world for small business and expect that the world is going to let you do it at your leisure.
I’m not the CEO that Infusionsoft is going to need in the next twelve months, but you can count on the fact that by the time we get there, I will be. I read at least six books a quarter, I meet with mentors, advisors and a coach for advice and I’m constantly learning. Continuous improvement requires knowledge of current trends and future advancements and it starts with my actions and extends throughout the company.
Infusionsoft has to grow, and we expect that our employees do as well. Our employees are empowered to make decisions and have ownership spirit in everything they do.
- Can you give me an example of when you didn’t exercise the power of broke?
Receiving Series C funding allowed us to expand operations, pull in much-needed equipment and human resources and opened the door for faster progression. With more resources, it was sometimes easy to neglect the power of broke principles because we were willing to take on additional expense, where beforehand we couldn’t. We took on different risks and hired faster than we normally would for a chance at exponential growth. I think sometimes the access to cash didn’t push us to be as driven or innovative. It’s impossible to know how much more we would have accomplished in that same period of time with the Power of Broke working in our favor, but I’m certain we lost some of that power with the influx of cash.
- Is there anything special or new that you have coming up that you want to talk about or any last bit of advice you can give to the person who may be struggling in their entrepreneurial journey?
Infusionsoft is focused on changing the game for the modern small business. We have a lot of work to do, and I’m excited about the amazing things we’ll share this year and into the future.
The last piece of advice I would give entrepreneurs is to feast on positivity. You're going to get pounded with negativity every step of the way while you build your business. Master the 'game between your ears', and that comes down to eating positivity for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So that's it! Please enter your comments on the series below and I look forward to an engaging discussion!
Next week, we are going to begin our series on stories of how our community has exercised The Power Of Broke. To be eligible for this series please click here and upload your story on the bottom of the page.
Have a great day!- DJ
