927 – Why I Deleted My Business

Podcast: Download (Duration: 12:40 — 15.4MB)

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Podcast highlights:

The very personal work that James does for his clients warrants a personal brand. [02:15]

Going back to the first domain James ever registered has its own nostalgia. [02:57]

SuperFastBusiness provided a structure that was needed at the time. [03:20]

When you have less sites, your real purpose and function becomes clear. [03:37]

Sometimes, it’s a case of having outgrown something. [04:15]

When your current business model demands a better, more updated brand… [05:42]

Instead of selling, why not put that time and energy elsewhere? [06:06]

Because it’s just so much simpler… [06:54]

There’s integrity in actually using the platform you promote. [07:38]

How do you get such passion, clarity and purpose? [08:53]

Maybe it’s time to get out from behind the scenes. [10:02]

Discover your ideal business model with James’s help

SuperFastBusiness has become JamesSchramko.com, and James explains why.

The decision, first of all, didn’t come overnight. James spent months considering it, making notes and asking himself questions, as if he were his own coach: Who am I? Who do I serve? How do I help them? What would a simple and effective website platform look like for me now, given everything that I know? If I could wave a magic wand, what would be the ideal situation?

In the process, he spoke with close contacts, business partners, and clients whose opinions he trusted, and then let it sit. And he feels really good about what he decided.

A personal brand for very personal work

Reason one for the change: What James does with his clients is quite personal, so there’s no point hiding behind a business brand when he is the sole operator.

People tell his podcast guests, I heard about you on Schramko’s podcast. They don’t say they heard of them on SuperFastBusiness. So bringing his material back to his personal brand makes the meaning simpler, because it’s just him.

Seventeen years ago…

Reason number two, says James, is nostalgia. JamesSchramko.com was the first domain he ever registered. Now, 17 years later, he’s back to that domain, which is nice.

A structure that was then needed

Number three, SuperFastBusiness came about when James still had a job and needed a structure to put things on that was not tied to him, a way to roll up a bunch of his websites.

Less sites, clearer function

Back when James had various services – ATLWeb, SEOPartner, BuyWithBonus, FastWebFormula, and Internet Marketing Speed, they were all incorporated into SuperFastBusiness. But as he progressively sold them off, giving them their own sites, his own function became clearer.

He really just publishes a podcast and provides coaching. That’s the main thing. And now he has partnerships that make up a good chunk of his income.

When you’ve simply outgrown the thing…

Reason five, says James, is he’s outgrown the SuperFastBusiness phase. At the time he started it, there were three things one could choose from in the online business space, and you could pick two – you could be good, you could be cheap, you could be fast.

James didn’t want to be cheap. He’d come from Mercedes-Benz and did quality work. He did want to be good, and fast is good, people say. As he’s matured, however, he’s realized that speed is not everything. For him, it’s far more about sustainability and the long term.

And the super part is just kind of cheesy, and doesn’t resonate with him. He wants a brand he can love, and he’s quite partial to the name his mom gave him. So he’s stopped wanting to be super fast.

A better brand for a current business model

James’s sixth reason is, a personal brand is better for his present business model, which is helping 10 business partners grow their businesses. He believes he can attract a bigger audience by being him. It also gives him better focus.

There’s no need to sell

Reason seven is James doesn’t need to sell SuperFastBusiness. That option would probably take him two or three years to extract himself from the business. Why not put that time and effort into his partners, instead?

It’s much easier, he says, to take all the energy, tip it into a strong brand, his personal name, and move forward.

There’s much to be said for simplicity

The eighth reason is, it’s just so much simpler to change names. With one website, there’s so much clarity. Less administration, less website updates.

Used to be, too, there were two sets of social media accounts – one business, one personal, except for LinkedIn. James’s personal instagram and business Instagram had thousands of followers. Had he just had one, they might have had more.

Supporting a platform I love

Then, too, James really wants to support the platform he’s been helping to develop for years. This, of course, is 10XPRO, which he’s been using on SuperFastResults.

James wants authenticity. He wants the integrity of saying to people, Listen, this is the product I recommend, and I use it. So his whole back end platform, and all of his front funnels, will be built on 10XPRO. He’s currently building it out now, and is excited about the way it functions.

The inspiration of Steve Irwin

Reason number 10 was something James saw on social media. There was a video of Steve Irwin, and what struck James was how much passion and clarity and purpose Steve had. James wanted that clarity, and he didn’t have it because of the plethora of channels and properties and sites he used to have.

James craves the simple mission – to be excited and know exactly what he’s doing. And now he does. He’s creating content that’s useful for people, and solving business problems for his partners and his coaching students. That’s it. That’s his business model.

It’s time to be visible

And James’s 11th reason: after years of working behind the scenes, he’s ready to be front and center. He’s been the guy behind famous guys, who he won’t reveal, and now he’s done sitting on the sides. It’s not about a fame grab, however. It’s about clarity, purpose, simplicity.

James did chance to stumble across, in his research, an old blog post from about 2010. It was about the 50 best blogs on the internet. And somehow, he’d landed a position on the list, together with such names as Tim Ferriss and Lewis Howes.

These people have really leaned since into the personal brand, and gained monster followings. James might be late to the party for the personal brand. But maybe he’s not. We’ll see what happens.

He does feel that changing his company name was the right thing to do. He’s had good feedback from his audience, and has a great-looking new website design by Greg Merrilees. His podcast is ranking well. So it’s a delight to him to say now, James Schramko here, welcome to my podcast. It sounds right. And hopefully, you’ll continue the journey with him.

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