Failing at Communication? The Real Reason People Don't Listen

Communication: Why You're Failing and the Real Reason People Don't ListenMost business owners think they communicate well. They're wrong. In this Business Growth Podcast episode, powered by ActionCOACH UK, former Apprentice candidate Frederick Afrifa, who trains Fortune 500 executives, reveals why your communication fails under pressure and exactly how to fix it.What You'll Discover:Learn the two psychological phenomena sabotaging your communication: explicit monitoring (overthinking automatic actions until you forget how to speak naturally) and distraction theory (focusing on audience judgment instead of your message). Frederick shares exact techniques to overcome these barriers, drawn from his background as a 10.3-second 100-meter sprinter who understands performance under pressure.Discover why practising in front of a mirror is worthless and what professional athletes do instead. Frederick reveals the "race simulation" approach that transforms nervous speakers into confident communicators in just 12 hours of intensive training.Master the four-part storytelling framework that made Frederick's Apprentice presentation go viral: relate to your audience, explain the challenge, resolve it, and deliver the moral. He demonstrates this live with examples for different audiences.Understand why listening, not speaking, is your most powerful business tool. Learn the Chinese philosophy of listening with your eyes, heart, and ears, treating every conversation partner as if they're the only person in the world. This single shift reduces resistance in negotiations, sales calls, and leadership situations.Build unshakeable confidence through evidence, not affirmations. Frederick explains why confidence is activity-specific and how to systematically develop it in any area where you currently struggle.Learn Frederick's biggest lesson from The Apprentice: energy management. He reveals how ignoring his introverted need for alone time, due to fear of judgment, depleted his decision-making ability and ultimately cost him the competition. This lesson applies directly to business owners burning out while trying to be everything to everyone.Discover the "Brian" technique for managing your inner critic. Frederick shares how naming the negative voice in your head and working with it, rather than fighting it, transforms anxiety into actionable focus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI-Enhanced Email Marketing: The ROI Revolution with Matthew Montoya | Constant Contact InterviewMost small businesses are leaving money on the table with their email marketing. Matthew Montoya from Constant Contact knows better. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCoach UK, we reveal the strategies that actually work for business owners and entrepreneurs looking to maximise their digital marketing ROI.Matthew brings 15 years of experience from the world's number one email marketing platform, having taught over 14,000 small businesses face-to-face. His insights? Email marketing delivers £36 return for every £1 spent, with an average 2% conversion rate that outperforms nearly every other marketing channel at a fraction of the cost.Discover why click-through rate is the ultimate KPI that matters, not open rates. Learn the exact email structure that captures attention in just 9 seconds: no more than 25 lines of text, 3 images maximum, and 3 calls to action. Understand why 80% of your content should educate and only 20% should promote, and how this balance keeps your audience engaged rather than teaching them to ignore you.Matthew debunks the biggest myth in digital marketing: that email is dead. Despite the flashiness of TikTok and social media, email marketing has thrived for 30 years because it works. The secret? Strategy, segmentation, and understanding that your audience is talking back to you through their behaviour. Are you smart enough to listen?This episode reveals how AI has transformed email marketing from an eight-hour manual process into a minutes-long strategic exercise. Constant Contact's AI builds entire omnichannel campaigns, identifies target segments, determines optimal send times, and creates content that mirrors your brand voice. The friction that once prevented small businesses from competing with large corporations has been removed.Learn why you should never buy email lists, how to grow your database organically, and why owning your email contacts gives you control that social media platforms never will. Understand the critical importance of relevance, timing, and personalisation in an era where audiences expect tailored content and have increasingly short attention spans.Whether you're a small business owner just starting with digital marketing, an entrepreneur looking to optimise your email strategy, or a content creator seeking better engagement, this episode provides the blueprint for email marketing success from real experience growing campaigns to millions of subscribers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Paralympic Silver to Building a Purpose-Driven & Life-Changing Business | Dr Mark Williams Limb Art InterviewMost people who face life-changing adversity spend years coming to terms with it. Dr Mark Williams turned his into a superpower within months. After losing his leg in a cycling accident at age 10, Mark became a world champion Paralympic swimmer and world record holder. Following 25 years climbing the corporate ladder at Ecolab, a chance encounter in a Morrison's car park changed everything. A 4-year-old boy spotted Mark's prosthetic leg cover and begged his mum for one. That moment birthed Limb Art, a company transforming how amputees see themselves. Today, Limb Art operates in 15 countries and has won the King's Award for Enterprise. One ex-para who'd lost three squad mates and his leg in an IED explosion had their memorial tattoo recreated on a leg cover. When he clipped it on, he said "my mates are back," a moment that left everyone in tears.Dr Mark Williams lost his left leg in a cycling accident at age 10 in 1982. He broke British swimming records, won silver at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, and became world champion in 1989. After 25 years at Ecolab, he founded Limb Art in 2017, now operating in 15 countries and winning the King's Award for Enterprise in 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TV Advertising Demystified: Insider Secrets for Business GrowthMost business owners believe TV advertising is reserved for corporate giants with bottomless budgets. Kurt Edwards knows better. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by Action Coach UK, we reveal how businesses of any size can leverage TV advertising to build trust, scale rapidly, and achieve extraordinary results.Kurt Edwards brings over 20 years of media experience leading business development for the UK's most iconic media brands. Now working with AdSmart from Sky, the world's leading addressable TV platform, he shares exactly how modern TV advertising has transformed to level the playing field for small businesses.What You'll Learn:Why TV Advertising Builds Trust:Discover why trust has become the second most important factor in consumer purchasing decisions post-pandemic, and why TV remains the most trusted advertising environment whilst social media ranks as the least trusted.The Real Cost of TV Advertising:A six-week TV campaign on Sky starts at just £3,000, with creative production around £2,000. Kurt shares a case study of a local bed retailer spending just £1,000 per month who saw customers mentioning his TV ads within two weeks, compared to eight years of Facebook advertising where not a single customer ever mentioned seeing an ad.Sophisticated Audience Targeting:With Sky's access to 9 million customers and approximately 1,200 data points per customer, small businesses can now target audiences with surgical precision using data matching—competing on the same playing field as multinational corporations.The Science of Creative Effectiveness:Learn about System One research on "The Price of Being Dull" and the concept of "Compound Creativity" that explains why the best brands stick with what works rather than constantly chasing creative refreshes.10-Second vs 30-Second Creatives:With attention spans now between 10 and 20 seconds, discover how brands are creating impactful short-form content alongside traditional formats.The Power of Audio Branding:Fascinating research on sonic logos and how music influences consumer behavior in ways people don't consciously recognize. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

YouTube and The Secret To Getting More Views with Rob Wilson from VidIQMost people treat YouTube like a lottery. Rob Wilson knows better. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by Action Coach UK, we reveal the strategies that actually work for business owners and content creators.Rob built his channel to 100,000 subscribers before VidIQ hired him to grow their channel from 1,500 subscribers to over 2.2 million subscribers and 250 million views. His secret? Understanding your audience and creating content that genuinely changes how they feel.What You'll Learn:YouTube Strategy for Business Owners:Discover why 70% of content is discovered through browse and suggested features, not search, and how to leverage this for exponential growth.Finding Your Niche:Rob's proven framework for identifying your ideal viewer and niching down effectively. He made 150 videos on a single topic and built a loyal audience that followed him on his content journey.The Four-Step Growth Framework:1. Define your ideal viewer (understand their pain points, fears, and goals)2. Find your niche by identifying what content resonates3. Double down on that niche to build authority4. Take your audience on a journey to expand your content Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding Meaning in Life After 15 Years Battling Cancer | David Smith MBE🎙 Powered by ActionCOACH UKThe help you need to grow your business: https://business.actioncoach.co.ukWhat happens when everything you’ve built your identity around—success, strength, achievement—is suddenly stripped away?In this deeply moving episode of The Business Growth Podcast, David Smith MBE shares his remarkable story of resilience, recovery, and rediscovery after 15 years of living with cancer.David isn’t just a survivor. He’s a seven-time surgery veteran, a Paralympic gold medallist, and a man who’s redefined what it means to win at life.From the outside, David’s story is about sport and survival.But listen closer, and it’s about something even greater—how to find meaning, gratitude, and connection when life tests you to your core.“Cancer stripped away my identity. It forced me to ask: Who am I when there’s nothing left to prove?”What You’ll Learn in This Episode- The truth about resilience – and why it’s not about strength, but surrender.- How to live as a human being, not a human doing.- The role of emotional intelligence in healing, leadership, and growth.- Why awareness is the real gift—and how to use it to make better choices.- The four legs of life – a simple model David uses to stay grounded.- How to build a life that matters even when the plan falls apart.David opens up about life in and out of hospital wards, the voices that kept him going, and the unexpected teachers he met along the way—including world-class coaches, Buddhist monks, and his own inner critic.“I realised I’d spent my life trying to be somebody, when all I needed was to be me.”For entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone facing uncertainty—this episode isn’t about illness.It’s about living. About slowing down long enough to hear your own truth.And about discovering that growth doesn’t always come from winning—it often comes from letting go. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode #137 Mr Motivator's Blueprint for a Overcoming Adversity & Living a Fulfilling LifeWhat do you do when life knocks you down, again and again, but you refuse to stay there?In this powerful episode of the ActionCOACH Business Growth Podcast, Derrick Errol Evans MBE, better known as Mr Motivator, shares a story that goes far beyond Lycra and lunges.From sleeping in homeless shelters to becoming one of Britain’s most loved TV icons, Mr Motivator reveals what it really takes to bounce back, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually too.At 72, he’s still full of energy, joy, and purpose. But his message today is about far more than fitness. It’s about finding peace, creating space, and making time for yourself and for others.🎙 Powered by ActionCOACH Business Coaching — the help you need to grow your business.💡 Sponsored by Constant Contact – helping small businesses build relationships that drive growth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it take to build a travel business from nothing?How Two Backpackers Built A Travel EmpireIn this powerful episode of The Business Growth Podcast, recorded live at Sky Studios, Alastair Donnelly and Simon King, co-founders of Inside Travel Group, share how they went from teaching English in Japan to leading an £80 million global company employing nearly 300 people and sending tens of thousands of travellers around the world each year.This isn’t a story of overnight success. It’s a story of grit, friendship, purpose, and doing whatever it takes to survive.Alistair and Simon open up about:- The moment a life-changing trip inspired their business idea- Building a company from a spare bedroom with no experience or money- Surviving financial crashes, inefficiencies, and a pandemic that almost wiped them out- Finding the right systems, advisors, and people to create sustainable growth- How purpose and profit can coexist when you truly care about people“Business is about people. You have to care about them - your customers, your team, your suppliers, your community. If you really care about people, success will follow.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Your Marketing Strategy Isn't About You - Lessons from Neil MartinIn this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCOACH UK, host James Vincent speaks with Neil Martin, Director of Marketing & Edutainment at ActionCOACH UK, a multi-award-winning coach and author of Done Beats Perfect.This is more than a conversation about marketing. It’s a deep dive into why most strategies fail, what really drives results, and how personal resilience shapes professional success. Neil opens up about his early life, the impact of losing his father, and the lessons he learned about building businesses that can survive without depending on a single person.Alongside his personal story, Neil shares practical marketing strategies that every business owner can use today. From understanding attention spans to balancing creativity and analytics to building campaigns that connect through story, this episode is packed with insights you can put into action.Key Insights from Neil MartinOn attention:“Attention spans are shorter now than they’ve ever been. If you’ve got 4 million views and only 12 of them are your ideal customers, are those 4 million views worth anything other than vanity?”On marketing as strategy, not chance:“Marketing is like going to the casino, only this time the odds are stacked in your favour. But until you place your bet, you can’t win.”On storytelling:“The best presentations are built of two things: frameworks and stories. Frameworks give the structure, and stories fill in the gaps.”On edutainment:“All business needs some show business. People don’t just buy products; they buy emotions. Education through entertainment makes your message unforgettable.”On ego in communication:“If you make it about you and making yourself look good, it disconnects. Ego doesn’t connect. Confidence attracts, arrogance repels.”On resilience and growth:“My life has been both a warning and an example. Every morning, I remind myself, I want to live today as an example.”On marketing’s true purpose:“The purpose of marketing isn’t to sell. The purpose of marketing is to start the conversation. Sales is what sells—but you can’t sell to someone if they’re not talking to you.”Why You Should WatchThis is more than marketing theory. Neil’s journey—from being made homeless at 18 after his father’s business collapsed, to later losing his dad at just 56, to becoming a successful entrepreneur and coach—shapes the way he sees business.He reminds us that:- Businesses too often depend on one person, and when that person goes, so does the business.- Real marketing success isn’t about vanity metrics; it’s about connecting with your customer.- The line between confidence and arrogance is intention, and people feel the difference.- Success doesn’t guarantee happiness; you have to choose happiness along the way.As Neil puts it:“The hardest lesson I’ve had to learn is that it’s not about me.”👉 Subscribe to the Business Growth Podcast for more conversations with leaders and experts.👉 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear why marketing is never about them- it’s about their customer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Squibb: Money is Not as Important as You Think | The Business Growth PodcastWhat really matters in business and life - money, purpose, or freedom?In this episode of The Business Growth Podcast, Simon Squibb shares the raw truth behind his entrepreneurial journey. From starting his first business at 15 to building, selling, and investing in over 100 companies, Simon brings decades of wisdom. But he insists: “Money is not as important as you think.”Simon opens up about the biggest misconceptions entrepreneurs face:Why most people believe you need money to make money, and why that belief is wrong.How limiting beliefs, often shaped by education and society, stop people from taking risks.Why purpose and freedom should come before profit.He also unpacks his mission to fix the broken education system and why teaching financial literacy, creativity, and resilience matters more than traditional classroom learning. As Simon puts it: “School taught me nothing about money, but debt taught me everything.”You’ll also hear Simon’s take on AI, the future of work, and why owning your time is the ultimate wealth. This is more than a conversation about business growth - it’s a roadmap for redefining success on your own terms.Whether you’re a start-up founder, an experienced CEO, or someone questioning the way society defines success, Simon’s insights will challenge the way you think.About Simon SquibbSimon Squibb is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and the founder of HelpBnk. He is on a mission to give away his knowledge, network, and money to help others start businesses for free. With over 3 million followers across social platforms, Simon inspires people to challenge old systems and take control of their futures.Some of his core beliefs include:- Money is just a tool. What matters is how you use it.- Freedom of time is real wealth.- Entrepreneurship is for everyone. You don’t need permission, funding, or the perfect plan to start.- Education needs disruption. Real-world experience and problem-solving matter more than rote learning.Why Watch This Episode?- To rethink your relationship with money.- To learn why purpose-driven businesses outperform profit-driven ones.- To discover how AI and technology will reshape entrepreneurship.- To hear how community, role models, and love all tie into success.As Simon says:“If you want to change your life, change what you believe about money.”💡 If you’re serious about business growth, purpose, and building a life on your own terms, this episode will give you insights you won’t find in textbooks.🎧 Subscribe to The Business Growth Podcast for weekly conversations with top entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders.This episode is sponsored by COnstant Contact: Digital & Email Marketing Platform.https://www.constantcontact.com/uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.