How Sales Confidence Closed a $3,000 Deal Directly From TikTok in 2023 (Interview with CEO James Ski)

Introduction and Background

James Ski

00:00So a couple of weeks ago, when I was prepping for this talk, Nathan, I suggested some talks that I have actual experience in. And he didn't think they were a good idea. So either he was like, what else have you got to talk about? I was like, well, I want to get to 100,000 followers in TikTok this year. And he said, well, why don't you talk about TikTok? So this is the reason I'm now speaking about

00:24TikTok at a conference in another country I've only visited a few times. So hopefully, though, I do have some credibility in this. So just to give you a bit of background, I spent three point five years working for LinkedIn. And at LinkedIn, I was responsible for LinkedIn's biggest customers in Europe. So I had to advise executives at LinkedIn on how to leverage LinkedIn so they could scale their businesses. And often executives at FTSE 100 companies aren't

Sales Confidence: Mission and Community

James Ski

00:53that interested in social media. I then went to set on the largest community of sales leaders and salespeople in Europe, and that is my core business called salesconfidence. And our mission is basically to help salespeople and sales leaders at each stage of their career with their mindset, well-being and performance. And ultimately, I just want to help people with their confidence. So if you can take something away from today, I just want you to believe more in

01:20yourself. And if you can also use video to do that, think I you're going to grow your businesses faster even if you're an employee or if you're a Founder, good for you as well. So we're going to be talking about why TikTok is the best marketing channel for bootstrap startups and everyone in 2023.

01:41Okay. Oh, I'm going back the wrong slide. Here we go. I'm pressing the wrong button. That's quick, wasn't it? Good start. All right. God, I'm eating into my time here, getting you guys all excited. Can you just raise your hand? How many of you are actually on TikTok? Okay. So I've got to persuade 50% of you by the end of this to get on TikTok. How many of you are on LinkedIn? Okay.

Why Video Is the Most Important Medium in 2023

James Ski

02:06How many of you are on Twitter? How many of you are on Instagram? How many of are on Snapchat? Get out. Come on, Snapchat is way gone. You shouldn't be still not you, sunshine. Come on. All right. So over the next twenty minutes, I'm going to be talking about why video is the most important medium for you to grow any business in 2023. I believe TikTok has the biggest reach and I actually believe whatever business you

02:36can and you've got, you can make sales on TikTok. You can buy views very low cost, very low cost, low cost compared to any other platform right now. If you're posting regularly, you're to get more views. And where is your audience when you're not working during the day in the evening time? What are they doing? They are on TikTok, trust me. Even if they're a cat, they have to be the cat to be on TikTok. Like

03:05I've seen people that have got cat channels and I'm like, yes, but I'm on TikTok. My cat is no. For you to run your cat's channel, you have to be on TikTok, right? So everyone, mostly there's a lot of people that are on TikTok and they're lurkers, but they are going to see your content if you stop uploading video. And there's a way to kind of break the ice. And I've got five bonus tips at the

TikTok Journey: 6,000 Followers in 50 Days

James Ski

03:27end for you to take advantage of. So right now I kicked off my TikTok journey in like the January 10 and I've gone to 6,000 in like fifty days. My aim for this event was 10,000. So I didn't hit that goal. But my aim by the end of the year is to get to 100,000. So if you follow me on TikTok,

03:51you might help me get to 100,000 by the end of the twelve months. And hopefully, my journey will start to pay dividends as I grow it online.

Video as a Competitive Advantage

James Ski

04:02Just an important note about video. Video really is the key medium when you're trying to build trust online. And why is it a competitive advantage? It's a competitive advantage because it takes efforts and it requires you to focus and concentrate more so than writing a text post or just uploading an image. So whatever arena you are in, if you can differentiate yourself by uploading videos about what you do and how you do it, you are immediately

04:33going to stand out. Oh, question. So one of the questions is stand on and it's huge. Go straight into the questions.

04:54You've thrown that out there. So firstly, you're incorrect. Okay. That's why I'm here. That's your that is the perception. Okay. Yeah. Every demographic you can think of, even yours politely at 35, 35, 36, right, is on TikTok. I discovered that. And also I'm going to show you how I sold my product on TikTok to a demographic in that area. So it is a perception. Now I know this is odd timing because it just came out in

05:25The U. S. News that they're trying to ban TikTok. If you want to talk to me politically about why I think that's happening, we'll save that for after the show or the after party tonight. But for now, let's just concentrate on video being the important medium and that you should be doing video anywhere and at any time. It's just going to give you that edge as I talked about. And to your point, I'll answer that, sir,

05:46in a moment, it does drive revenue. Now, put your hand up if you recognize any of these individuals. Come on, all of you. I mean that's the rock at the end and that's Mr. Beast. Who doesn't know who Mr. Beast is in The U. S? Okay? You've got Russell Bronson, you've got Dan Martell, you've got Noah, and then you've got the guy of 20 VC, Harry Stubbings, okay? A Couple of people don't recognize them. Now in

06:11B2B SaaS, maybe not Mr. Beast, but in B2B SaaS, these four individuals dominate your channels 20 fourseven. I guarantee you if you go on Instagram, if you go on LinkedIn, if you go on TikTok, they will be on your feed every hour of the day. And the question you have to ask yourself versus your competitors, do you want to own the attention and do you want to be seen all of the time? Now you might not

06:43want to put in the work to do that and that's okay, but you need to figure out how you can build a team put you in a position so that you are being seen all the time. Because these individuals, yes, they have teams, they have hugely successful businesses, they already have big followings, but I believe you can start from zero and within a couple of weeks on TikTok, there's no other platform you could do this right

07:06now. You could be at thousands of followers influencing your market. Why is it different than Instagram? Why is it distant who asked that question? Oh, why is it different from Instagram in terms of the following right now? I just think from I don't know the details of the algorithm, but in terms of the reach that TikTok is giving video, it's more likely with the main feed to spread your message versus Instagram. And you've got to think

Nathan Latka

07:37now who's Instagram is owned by Facebook, right? So that advertising business and the way they manage and attribute reach is already sorted. TikTok is still growing and they still want you to get onto TikTok and get a good following because you're going to spend more money. So I still feel like they feed the algorithm in your niches. If you get up on there and you get onto video, it's going spread it faster. I quite like these

08:08questions come out at me, if you want to throw them at me, just keep going. Okay, so by the views, it costs it's low cost and it does work. Right now you could get a video that if you put it on any other channel, no one will see, but if you put it on TikTok and you spend $100 like I just spent, you will get 10,000, maybe 50,000 views. Another question.

Low-Cost TikTok Advertising and Social Proof

James Ski

08:34It did, yes. So I spent I started playing around with the advertising and I discovered that actually I could get views much quicker at a super, super low cost. So for me, what I did like on your featured section on TikTok, I made sure that all my videos had over 50,000 views. So if you look at my channel, you can see that the top three videos have got those views and that helps with social proof, right?

08:59And that helps with what you're doing. Now if you're really I don't know, what's the word,

09:08keen like I am, once you get to a thousand followers on TikTok, you can livestream and you can go live to your audience. Going live is very nerve wracking, but it trains the brain to be prepared to be on stage at any time. And also it drives up your following a lot quicker because again, TikTok wants to feed you with more views so you keep coming back onto it.

Going Live and Accelerating Your Following

James Ski

09:35And what I said earlier is that this is stuff I'm doing already. I'm speaking now, they're recording me on TikTok, they're recording me on video at the back, he's recording me on his phone. All this content is being produced anyway. So why don't you just put it up on TikTok? You're doing it anyway. Like this is just my podcast. I'm doing it anyway, right? You might do an all hands, film the all hands. You're filming content

09:59all the time. So just get it up on TikTok and get it up on all your channels and utilize video much more than you are right now.

10:10Anybody set up a TikTok account while we've been in this conversation? Yes, two. Thank you. Well done. Okay, eight minutes to go. Let's see how many more we can get on TikTok. I'm not even affiliated with them, but clearly I'm a fan. Okay. So I made this point earlier, your audience post 5PM. I've realized so on LinkedIn I've got over 30,000 followers, right? It's taken me probably ten years to do that. The reality is LinkedIn is

LinkedIn vs TikTok: Reach and Noise

James Ski

10:43so noisy for B2B professionals now. It's so competitive. Everyone's doing imagery, even video. And so I was like, okay, this year, how am I going to stand out to my LinkedIn followers? Well, I'm going to reach them when they're watching Netflix, when they're chilling, when they're at home in the evenings. And the best way to do that is on the other channels. Now today I am talking about TikTok, but I still feel that you could be

11:07getting people on the other channels as well. And I think there's a mindset in B2B that says after five p. M, no one's thinking about our business. That's BS, right? What happens after the five p. M? You just spend the evenings thinking about your day job and your problems. Well, you do if you're a Founder. So if I can get my message out and to reach people in the evening, when they log in to LinkedIn the

11:34next day where I'm more actively selling or being proactive, they're going to know my face, my business rather than anyone else's.

TikTok as a B2B Icebreaker

James Ski

11:45Also, I've learned it's a great icebreaker. Because so few people are doing it in B2B that people keep coming up to me and say, hey, you're the TikTok guy. I've only got 6,000 followers, but in B2B, like it comes across like I'm the TikTok guy. So in your industry, suddenly you're like the TikTok person and that will be a nice icebreaker for people to use. And I do believe that TikTok are going to figure out B2B.

12:10Even if you look at the feed right now and you see silly dances and I mean there's so much more that in 2020, I thought it was just silly dances. But now anything I like, music, fashion, parties, restaurants, dancing, whatever it is, is on TikTok. But I think they will start to design the feed around the B2B aspect of things and you will find more of what you care about related to business content. So it is

12:35going to happen. But think of your post 5PM audience and where they are and they're definitely on TikTok. Okay. So this is back to your question. So here this guy is a VP of sales and I sell to VPs of sales and they range from kind of 30 to, I guess, 50 plus and beyond. James, your handsome face keeps popping up on my TikTok, mate. That's English, that's friend. Mate means friend. Sounds like things are going

Closing a $3,000 Deal From TikTok

James Ski

13:05well for you. I need to upgrade my networking game and get back into it, he goes on to say. Can we have a conversation? A week later, I sold him a package for $3,000 That was directly related because he saw me on TikTok, but he messaged me on LinkedIn. That's the power of it. This guy, right, I've known him forever. He knows my business, but he's not been responding to my messages on LinkedIn. He doesn't respond

13:36to my emails. Suddenly he sees me on TikTok, it reminds him about my business and now we're actually in business. So that message for me has changed the game. I'm now all in on TikTok this year until or if it gets banned because that proves that you can generate revenue off TikTok. Okay. So over this last twenty minutes, I've talked about video being the most important format. Do you agree that video is very important? Put your

14:10hand up. Okay, great. TikTok has a bigger reach and your target audience is on there. Do you agree that your audience is on there? Put your hand up. Okay. Who doesn't? What do you do? Just tell me who you sell to. Go on. There's one thing I'm thinking of, I'm just creating negotiations.

14:30Okay.

Nathan Latka

14:58Okay. Just to that, but what if you spent one day at home or in a studio and made a 100 videos?

James Ski

15:06You answered your question. So

15:17to be fair to you, right now so

15:21like I do believe so right now on my TikTok channel, I'm posting all my videos. I have virtual assistants that help me. I haven't got the numbers totally. But a lot of this you can do with virtual assistants and virtual assistants are excellent at what they choose to do if you choose to trust them. So maybe you can email me. I'd like to know actually, I should know, but I haven't worked that out. Another question? Yes.

Personal Brand vs Business Brand on TikTok

James Ski

15:45Do you post under your name or under your business? So I post under my name and I do recommend that you build your personal brand up and then you build up your business brands before doing it. That would be my tip. Personally, I'm gonna go that way, yeah, I think so. Next question? What was the question? Okay, all right.

Nathan Latka

16:16Yes. So any video that I do goes on all channels with captions. I

James Ski

16:24do use Hootsuite, yeah. But I'll go on. That's for scheduling. How long are the videos? A minute or thirty seconds? Go on. I

16:40think you need to be in your own content. So you need to bring the people to you. I had the good fortune of sitting next to Neil Patel last night, thanks to Alex Fumer last. And he told me he just brings the content production team to his house, doesn't leave his house to make his content. You know, it depends how much money you've got obviously. But I do feel like you can create a lot more content

Bonus Tips: Setting Up and Growing Your TikTok

James Ski

17:02than you feel like right now. Okay, so I have got some bonus tips for you and then I'll take some more questions. Okay, so number one thing you have to do if you're going to get anywhere is you're going to have to set up a TikTok account, okay?

17:20Start following people first. You've done that on every other social media platform you've ever set up. You just start following people in B2B that you're interested in because that's going to help you learn what counts and what matters. And trust me, you will see some incredible content on there. It's really fascinating once you start to pick and choose and create your feed. Now the fun bit, and we've got forty seconds to do this. Can everyone get

17:46on their feet? Quick, I said this was going to be fun.

Live Exercise: Film Yourself Now

James Ski

17:50All right, get out your phones if you have a phone. That was a joke. Everyone's got a phone. So why did all you have to do now for the next twenty seconds or thirty seconds is film yourself, uh-oh, and just introduce yourself to yourself, Tell yourself what you do, what does your company do, and save it into your phone. Go.

18:23What do you do? Come on.

Closing Remarks and Call to Action

James Ski

18:45All right, we're at SaaS open. We've got everyone doing a TikTok video. Let's see how it goes. 2023, who knows? All right, guys, stop. I know I put you on the spot, but he's still going. Look, you can sit down. Sit down. The point I made there is you just have to start making videos. Forget your baggage in your head. Stop being shy. Don't worry about your face. Own it. Own your voice. Own your hair, whatever

19:11it is. Try and get to 1,000 followers. And number five, go live. And that's a wrap. I'm over time. Thanks very much.