Category: Authentic Deal-Making

Using social media influencers may not be the first strategy that comes to your mind when you think about getting more deals. However, in my most recent podcast episode, Influencer and Sponsorship Deals, Ramon Ray, a bestselling author and four-time entrepreneur, gave us some great insight into how influencers can be a big asset to your marketing strategy.

Ramon’s career has been about helping entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses. He also has personal and first-hand experience in the areas of marketing, sales, technology and personal branding. He has spoken before the United States Congress, invited by the Office of the President of the United States to speak at the White House on personal branding and produced many events including the “Smart Hustle Small Business Conference”, “Small Business Summit”, “Small Business Technology Tour”, “Small Biz Big Things” and more.

On this episode of Fueling Deals, Ramon and I talk about influencer and sponsorship deals, why they make sense for businesses of all kinds, and how they can have a powerful return on investment. Ramon shares his own experiences of closing a deal to sell his business, and he details his experience of setting up a business partnership and how it was structured. Listen to our conversation and learn why deals aren’t just mergers and acquisitions, they can be smaller arrangements… with huge results.

Why Influencers?

Social media influencers are a relatively new phenomenon, so why would you turn to one for your marketing? The answer is simple. An influencer already has an established relationship with his or her audience and has already done the work of building trust and growing their community. You can tap into that ready-made market for far less money than you would spend working with a traditional celebrity.
Social media influencers are also a great way to tailor your marketing efforts. You already know the kind of content the social media influencer is making, and you know who their target audience is. Finding and working with an influencer whose audience is your exact demographic can reap rewards you wouldn’t find with traditional marketing methods, and for far less money.

The Variety in Deals

As I have stressed before, deals aren’t just about mega-mergers and acquisitions. Working with smaller deals can provide significant benefit to your business as well. Influencer and sponsorship deals can be a powerful tool to connect your business with a premade audience, expose your products or services to new people who are more likely to be interested, and allow you to connect to your customers and build brand trust.

And that’s just one of the many types of deals at your disposal. If you haven’t done a deal before, just remember: everyone started with one deal. Perhaps working with an Instagram or YouTube star or, more applicable to some businesses, a LinkedIn Influencer is a great first deal to help give you a sense of how powerful deals can be in growing and scaling your business.

Learn more about Influencers and Sponsorship Deals by listening to my episode on Fueling Deals podcast.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!

I’ve been working in the business of deals and negotiations for more than 30 years, both as a successful entrepreneur and as an attorney. My goal is to help you strategize, plan for, find, and complete deals that will help your company grow more rapidly and strategically. This is called “inorganic growth”, and it differs from the traditional often slow, organic growth you’re probably familiar with.

On this episode of Fueling Deals, I discuss the key concepts and important terms you need to be aware of before you consider a merger or acquisition. I outline and define the various types of other deals available to businesses of all sizes, and I discuss how each has its own benefits, drawbacks, and pitfalls to avoid. Listen and learn the difference between angel investment, private equity and venture capital, and find out how inorganic growth can fuel your business.

Deals for Everyone

No matter how big or small your business, you can benefit from deals with other companies.

There’s a type of deal for almost every situation and new opportunity. The point of my podcast is to expand your understanding of what options are available to you and give you the knowledge you need to make informed choices.

As I highlight in the episode, deals are about more than just mergers and acquisitions. Maybe you need to generate capital for your business and would consider an equity investment. Maybe you’re looking to add new talent to your team and you are in a position to acqui-hire them. Maybe there is a client vendor or industry partner with which you can enter into a strategic alliance. The multitude of options mean that you have a tremendous number of tools available to you to help you scale your business.

Definitions Matter

The business of deals has a lot of lingo. In this episode, I take the time to explain what these keywords mean in layman’s terms. I even go a step further, breaking out concepts like joint ventures into the two different types (company joint ventures and contractual joint ventures) and explain the difference.

At its simplest definition, a deal is just an agreement that (ideally) benefits both parties.

Deals can be a great way to lean into the strengths of your business, or shore up its weaknesses. I hope this episode helps you better understand the dynamic growth opportunities available to your company and gives you the confidence to take action and do deals that help you achieve your dreams and objectives.

Learn more about The Language of Deals by listening to my episode on Fueling Deals podcast.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!

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In the latest episode of the Fueling Deals podcast, I interviewed David DeVoe about the ins and outs of different types of deals and how each one has its advantages and disadvantages.

David’s work with DeVoe & Company makes him a true expert on the pros and cons of deals. Through the extraordinary depth and breadth of experience his team brings to their clients, they work to smooth the process and transition of deals and to maximize the benefits their clients reap.

On this episode of Fueling Deals, David and I discuss services his company provides; everything from succession planning to governance, investment banking, and valuation services. One particular and interesting area of David’s work is in serving as an objective third party to help companies facilitate their deals in a way that benefits everyone involved – the buyer, seller, clients and employees. Listen to our conversation and learn from David’s impressive insights.

Telling the Right Story

As David explains, it is critical to have all of your ducks in a row when courting buyers. This means identifying areas where you are weak, cleaning up your records, making sure contracts are signed with all your clients, and doing the necessary background work to tell the right story.

If you are a seller, look at things from the buyer’s perspective. And tell the right story. Be clear and communicative, respond to requests for information, and be honest. Trust is a big component in any deal, and so it is important to take steps to foster trust with your prospective buyers.

Buy, Sell or Merge?

As a buyer, it is vitally important to understand the needs and capabilities of your organization. One of the functions DeVoe & Company serves for their clients is to help identify if an organization is even in a strong enough position to consider buying another firm. You need to make sure you have enough capital to complete the deal you’re looking for, and you need to be certain the seller will be a good fit for your organization.

Additionally, it’s important to be sure you’re buying another firm for the right reasons. Does the acquisition address a specific need or problem, or would you be better served by merging with another firm? Or would you possibly even be better off selling? Maybe the problems you’re trying to address can be taken care of through other strategies rather than a merger or acquisition? These questions are important, and David and his team at DeVoe & Company help their clients find the answers they need.

Listen to the full interview in David’s episode on the podcast, Greasing the Wheels of Deals.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!