What Does Combat Aviation Have To Do With Digital Marketing?

It’s 2022, and I decided to leave the Air Force.

I had just been appointed Squadron Commander, leading over 100 people, one of the high points of a military pilot’s career.

 I decided that career wasn’t serving me.

There were several reasons, but I won’t bore you with the details.

I had an amazing career.

And I owe much of who I am to the Portuguese Air Force. 

I am beyond grateful, as it shaped who I am today.

But it was the end of a chapter for me.

We moved to Portimão, a small city in the Algarve (South Portugal).

We already had 3 kids and a 5-month-old baby.

As I write this, we just had our 5th, now 3 months old.

Your Vision is Yours

When I quit my career, neither my family nor friends could understand.

I couldn’t explain it either.

I just felt I had to be somewhere else.

I know it seems weird.

But…

The most important decisions of our lives don’t necessarily need to be understood by others.

I believe we don’t even fully understand our own lives until the day we leave.

I also had no idea what I was getting into…

We started by living in a two-bedroom hotel apartment as a family of 6.

It wasn’t easy with a newborn, but it led to our current home.

Baby Steps Into Digital Marketing

My first step into Digital Marketing was learning how to leverage social media to find clients.

I learned the theory behind setting up a good profile and how to grow and write.

I’ll be honest, I’m still learning.

Even after I grew my Instagram page from 0 to 700 followers in three months.

It might not be super impressive, but for me, it was a great win.

How much would your business benefit even if you grow your audience by 10 people a day?

What if most are interested in your offer?

What if 10-20% actually buy?

Yes, social media is exciting if you want to make money.

I started on Twitter (it was still Twitter at the time)

I brought it to LinkedIn,

And I’m now starting on YouTube

Want to see what I have in store? You can follow me here.

Social Media Was Not How I Got My First Client

There are a lot of people living from their social media audiences.

But this is not the avenue I took.

My first client was closed in an in-person event, my second client was through a Webinar, my third client was from cold email, my fourth client was from active prospecting, and my fifth client was from my personal network.

Not one from my Social Media.

But I can guarantee that most of them were influenced by my social profiles in deciding to buy from me.

And that’s how we use social media in our Jetivize System

1. Handle objections

2. Show your real personality

3. Build authority

Ordered from the quickest to slowest to achieve.

But this was just the beginning, as Digital Marketing is much more than Social Media.

My secret superpower for success in life

I’ve been successful in different areas, aspects, and times in my life and there’s a reason why.

It’s a good Friend of mine, the BEST of friends.

And to all fairness, I fail Him

I FAIL A LOT

But My Friend stays there, He never leaves.

My superpower has always been having God in my corner.

But it allows me to have the certainty of the outcome, before I even start.

You see, like every entrepreneur, I went through a lot of struggles to start, and I still go.

And probably so do you.

But this superpower is what allows me never ever to give up, never ever quit.

And this, my friend, is how you win.

It’s definitely how I’ve won in life.

And I’ve won.

I’m not the richest, yet.

But everything I’ve achieved has been achieved through having a clear vision of the outcome and a relentless pursuit until I see it through.

Have you ever worked with people like this?

I’ve worked with a few as a fighter pilot, and I can tell you, it’s amazing working with people who see beyond the scope of possibilities.

That’s what you might get, if you so choose to accept this mission.

“Marketing Is Strategy”

This is a quote from Seth Godin, and I agree with him

The problem is not all marketers are strategists.

To be a good strategist, you need perspective.

And trust me, it’s very different to fly at 400 knots and 500 feet AGL (or above ground level), than to fly the same 400 knots (indicated no true, for the aviation enthusiasts out there) and 20 thousand feet.

How about at 50 thousand feet? It’s even different, but you just can’t fly that fast unless you’re in a rocket.

In the weeds at 400 knots

400 knots is 460 mph or 740 km/h,

flying that fast and close to the ground, you must spend 80% of the time looking outside

to make sure you don’t hit the ground, or anything attached to it.

That’s how I’ve seen many businesses being run.

From one crisis to the next, you just focus on making payroll, taxes, and whatever other expenses they can’t delay.

You might think this isn’t you because you have profits.

You’re like the pilot flying over the sea, getting confident there’s nothing out there, once your start getting distracted and that “far away” water starts creeping in…

Air superiority is fought at 20.000 feet and above

In combat aviation, if you want to stay in control, you fly high and fast.

You have perspective

You have excess energy

You can react by exchanging kinetic for potential energy or vice versa

Your radar picks everything up

But flying high and fast is not granted.

There are defenses in place, other threats, and that’s why so much has been invested in stealth.

Digital Marketing facilitates the business game at 20.000 feet

To stay in control in business

You also need perspective - looking ahead and having market insight

You need energy

Kinetic energy is achieved by having leads, sales

Potential energy is achieved by having cash

With the right leverage, you become unstoppable.

The US Air Force motto was/used to be (not sure) “to fly, fight, and win”

This should be the motto in business as well.

And that’s what all the big brands and companies have understood.

Set your Digital Marketing Strategy before it’s too late

I’ve worked with a turnaround situation, which used to be my dream…

The stakes are unimaginably high.

It’s hard observing desperation setting in, people losing sleep, decisions becoming increasingly hard to make, and your options disappearing.

This is when you’re flying low, out of an engine, and slow.

You “get behind the power curve”

In aviation, this means that you need as much power to fly slow as you need to fly fast, and there’s a sweet spot somewhere in the middle.

But when you’re low and slow, you are out of options.

In business, the same applies. 

You change power for cash flow and speed for lead generation and conversion (aka sales).

If you’re low on both, you’re going for trouble.

That’s why the best time to invest in customer acquisition and sales systems is when you don’t need them.

As companies start going down, the cost of money becomes unbearably high.

You just might not be able to acquire customers at the rate you need them.

In Digital Marketing and life, you never stop learning

I knew a bit about social media.

But I didn’t stop there.

I also learned Marketing and Sales from my M&A mentor Roland Frasier, who is a partner in Digital Marketer and has organized an event called the Traffic and Conversion Summit…

He and Ryan Deiss are references in the digital marketing space.

However, I also combined my unique skills from years in the Air Force.

Have you ever considered that sales are about influence?

And leadership is influence as well?

I’m not talking about the nonsense theoretical books on this or that leadership style.

They are the same because both are about influence and psychology.

Negotiating an acquisition is very similar to a sale.

Negotiating and sales are all about influence.

I loved it; I got to speak with business owners and understand their fears, doubts, and challenges.

I don’t have a marketing degree, but I learned Digital Marketing in practice

By sourcing my deals and clients online.

By learning to identify an ideal client profile.

A fundamental question in business is to understand the Cost of Acquiring a Customer or CAC

Because there’s always a cost!

No free lunches and no free clients.

Maybe you don’t advertise, and you have people cold calling.

Their salaries are the cost.

Maybe you use referrals. Your referral fee is the cost.

And time is always a cost.

Taking years, months, or days to acquire a client is very different.

Big companies understand this.

Do you know how much you pay to acquire a customer?

In dollars and time?

Digital Advertising, or Pay-per-click (PPC), is a great way to accelerate lead generation. However, it requires skills, knowledge, and constant iteration.

This can become expensive without a validated offer.

But so can be cold calling, as it takes a lot of time, but can be great as market research.

A combination of cold calls for market research, paid media, and cold emails has worked best for me.

And…

I learned the hard way Never to Stop Lead generation

After getting my first client,

A couple of weeks in, he lost his main client (over 90% of his revenue revenue)

Do you know where this is going?

I had just literally thought I had it and immediately lost it…

Business 101, right?

Before getting hired, I was weeks from giving up…

I had a family to feed.

A home to pay.

Schools to pay.

So, within a few months, I was in the same situation with a recently pregnant wife. It was not fun…

What did we do?

We doubled down on what we knew…

Cold email and social media content.

Soon enough, I got a couple more clients.

“Okay, now I’m safe…”

But you’re never really “safe,” are you?

At that time, I was so desperate that I onboarded, in hindsight, two unqualified clients.

I didn’t do any lead generation during the period we worked together…

Our baby was due in 2 months, and I had let go of all my clients.

I was starting from zero for the second time this year.

It wasn’t easy.

So I got back to working on customer acquisition, this time through advertising.

What is my biggest digital marketing mistake that I would hate you to make?

Stopping lead generation and sales when you’re busy.

It doesn’t matter how big or small you are. 

You just can’t afford to stop generating new clients.

Click here to make sure you don't make the same mistake as I did!

And as I look back a couple of years later, did I win?

I can’t say that I have.

I’ve won some battles and lost others.

But I’ve learned a ton.

And that’s what I’m here to share with you.

Maybe you’ve already done this, or perhaps you’re just starting.

Either way, we can always learn from each other, and that’s my goal.

I can tell you that if this was it for my life…

I’d be unbelievably grateful for everything.

But I’m still hungry…

I’m hungry to make you more money.

And if you think…

“You are a pilot…”

Let me tell you…

I am a pilot, and I love flying.

I’m also a father and love being home daily for my family.

I’m also a people person who loves helping people achieve their goals.

Most importantly, I’m a person of faith and would love to light your heart on fire.

So why not have it all?

Can’t see a reason not to.

And that’s why I wake up every day to serve you to the best of my ability.

Is it perfect?

No

But the goal is constant improvement, not perfection.

I haven’t won the game of life, but…

Watch this…

It’s going to be wild and mildly entertaining.

There is money to be made.

A lot of money.

Just be grateful.

And have Faith.