If you could be a fly on the wall in one of our Half a Bubble Out staff meetings over the past several months, you might hear phrases being thrown around the table like lean and classic survey results, or hyper-responsives, SMIQs and DDS. It might sound like we are speaking in code, but this fun new vocabulary all stems from learning a powerful marketing strategy known as the Ask Method®. Are you scratching your head wondering what could be so revolutionary about ‘asking,’ or curious how it is growing businesses? In this interview, Michael Redman, Half a Bubble Out CEO, shares his personal journey of becoming a certified partner of the Ask Method® and how it’s transforming the marketing industry.
How did you first get connected with the Ask Method®?
I was trying to find another book for my library about good question asking. I came across the Ask Method® book on Audible.com, not long after it came out. I started listening and said, "This isn't what I wanted. This isn't what I wanted at all." Though, the concept was intriguing to me because it was about how to ask questions to better optimize a website and make it more profitable for your company. I thought, "Okay, interesting. I'll put it away."
Then, later, I discovered the Ask Method® course, and in 2016, I ended up trying out their educational material. I thought, "This is good stuff." So, I started pursuing it a little bit more. I took a step, and I liked it. I took another step, and I still liked it. I started pursuing their opportunities to connect. I spent a day with a small group of people and Ryan Levesque (the creator of Ask Method®), in Texas, in January of this year. I thought, "I really like this guy. I like his team. I like his people. I like his CEO." His wife's a partner in the company and works in the company, so that resonated with me too.
Tell us more about the Ask Method® and why you think it's a successful model for businesses:
One of the biggest challenges in doing any kind of marketing is the research. There are lots of companies that spend a lot of money doing research and selling it. As an agency and marketing company, we can buy research from such companies. Sometimes, these pre-made research packets are $2,500 to $10,000. Custom research could cost you $30,000 to $40,000… which is kind of crazy. So, you buy the research and you gain a bunch of data. But I still hear companies saying, "You know what? At some point, we're still guessing what it is our market wants." If you don't know your market, if you haven't interacted with the customers a lot, you're flying blind. That's a problem.
What Ask Method® does, right off the bat, is it introduces a systematic way that they've tested and refined that allows you to do effective research with a lower budget that works really, really well. It’s because they know how to ask the right questions. They know how to process and mine those questions for actionable data. When I think about everything I’ve learned about digital marketing, and what we do for our clients, this was one of the biggest gaps over the past 10 years.
For me, I want my staff to have a predictable system that makes sense. Ask Method® helps us have an entire digital funnel process of selling online. It really fits that niche of research. But they didn't just say, "Here's a research model. Now go figure out how to apply it." They actually took the model and figured out how to apply it for more conversions and profit.
A lot of the companies that use the Ask Method® grow tremendously, correct?
Yes. Ryan Levesque, who started the company, ran his own agency for almost 10 years. He’s a very smart guy, went to Brown University. He worked for a big international insurance company in China for five years and he speaks fluent Chinese. He studied neurology and biology at school, because he was pursuing medicine. So, with Ask Method®, he's got a real systematic approach. He understands analytics.
You're in the Ask Method® partner certification process. What has been one of the highlights?
One of my highlights would be the first day when all 25 of us in the certification process came together. We spent two days together in Texas. The room was full of so many smart people who were also nice, kind people. Sadly, you meet a lot of people in this industry who are either sketchy or they're just out for themselves or want to make a quick buck. To be in a room with 25 people that Ryan chose—people who had to apply—it became very clear very quickly that we all had become part of a community. I don’t typically get excited about being a part of one of these groups. But I find that these people are just cool, genuine people, and I can build relationships with them. That was a huge highlight.
Looking ahead, how are you planning to use the Ask Method® with your Half a Bubble Out clients?
I look forward to offering our clients a consistent process that provides even better results. I'm always on the prowl for ways to improve our results, without just taking a machine gun and spraying it into the bushes hoping we catch something. I want to be methodical, systematic, because we only have so much time and energy. I think the biggest thing I'm hoping for is improving on our promise to our customers. We are always learning and growing and The Ask Method® is improving results.
Any final thoughts about the Ask Method®?
I'm excited because I know it's a system that's understandable and can be learned, allowing my staff to be better marketers. I'm excited to look at a client and say, "This is a really good investment, and it will pay off.” Sometimes internet marketing is trial and error. The Ask Method® is way less trial and error. I'm excited to use it with our clients, because I know that the money they're investing with us will be well spent. They’re going to see a return on investment, more often than not.
References:
Ryan Levesque and the Ask Method®
Ask us about the Ask Method®
If you are interested in learning more about the Ask Method® and how this revoluntionary process can benefit your business and grow your bottom line, don't hesistate to contact us for a consultation.
