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Most people think selling high-ticket offers means being aggressive and pushy—but that couldn't be further from the truth. In this episode of The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex, I break down how to attract premium clients without chasing or begging. You'll learn:
September is crunch time for B2B sales, and Jess is on hand to remind you of the importance of building your pipeline and setting the stage for Q4 and the new year. If you're feeling overwhelmed, behind on your lead generation, or stuck in a bit of a sales rut, Jess dives deep into the common “mindset wobbles” that can really sabotage your B2B sales progress—no matter how experienced you are. Jess covers the six most frequent mindset roadblocks she's observed over 18 years in sales: from worrying about being a burden to clients, to feeling desperate or pushy when you follow up, questioning whether you're “allowed” to use specific outreach strategies, and wrestling with the fear of rejection or failure. She's not claiming to be a mindset guru, but Jess combines real-world experience and practical advice to help you recognise when you're stuck in your own head—and how to overcome it with the right strategies, a solid plan, and a bit of resilience. Whether you're new to selling your services to corporates, feel stuck in a sales plateau, or routinely find your confidence drained by ghosting, fear of follow-ups, or rejection, this episode is packed with wisdom, compassion, and motivation to help you move forward. The Six Mindset Wobbles That Sabotage Progress (and How to Handle Them): "Am I a burden?" This common fear often crops up during follow-ups, whether after outreach, proposals, or when leads go silent. Jess explains that internalising others' lack of response is a trap: adults are responsible for their own communication, and follow-up—done consultatively—is respectful, not intrusive. "Do I look desperate?" The fear that multiple follow-ups or transparent expressions of interest make you look needy is pervasive—even among seasoned professionals. Jess reframes this: actively selling and wanting clients who align with your values is not desperate; it's professional, and focusing on earning money is a legitimate business goal. "What if they think I'm pushy?" Many worry about coming across as pushy, especially after being ignored. Jess shares that how you follow-up—courteously, transparently outlining your process—matters more than how often. Being clear and thoughtful in communication removes the ‘pushiness' from proactive sales. "Is it okay to...?" (The Permission Problem) For newer salespeople, uncertainty can cause procrastination—should you send another email, try a different approach, raise your prices? Jess argues that recurring doubts usually indicate a lack of robust sales strategy, not a deep-seated mindset issue. Get the right strategy, and the second-guessing subsides. "What if it doesn't work?" This mindset block arises from a fear of failure but paradoxically guarantees failure by causing analysis paralysis and inaction. Jess encourages listeners to focus on data and evidence—what works for others can work for you if you commit to the right strategy and take action consistently. Handling Rejection ("No" as a Trigger) Jess dispels the fear of rejection, reminding us that "no" is inevitable in B2B sales, and resilience is a muscle built through experience. A rejected proposal or ignored email isn't a personal failure—it may just be the timing or fit. Actionable Takeaways: Prioritize sales activity now to reap rewards in the coming months—don't wait. If you feel stuck in your process, reach out for targeted advice (including Jess's offer to recommend episodes tailored to your current stage). Consider external tools like the Expert Services Directory to supplement your lead generation, especially if you struggle to keep it consistent yourself. As Jess reminds us, the more you take action with a proven sales strategy, the more normal these “wobbles” will feel—and the less they'll hold you back. Mindset matters, but activity and resilience matter more. Don't let another quarter slip by—listen, take action, and watch your B2B sales process transform. Summary of Top Tips and Tough Love from Jess: You're not a burden: Adults in corporate roles are responsible for their own responses. Your job is to be professional and consistent in your follow-ups—period. You don't look desperate for wanting the sale: Selling is your job. Wanting to be paid for your expertise is healthy—and necessary for business! Pushy or just clear? The difference comes from being transparent, courteous, and up-front about your process. Constant “is it okay...?” or “what if it doesn't work?” Those are usually signals of a strategy gap—not a flaw in you as a salesperson. Rejection is a normal part of the process: The more “no's” you get, the closer you are to hearing more “yes's.” Don't let a single “no” stop your momentum. Action beats overthinking: The more sales activity you commit to, the less power these mindset wobbles hold over you. Want regular, qualified corporate leads handled for you? Don't forget—the Expert Services Directory categories and locations are filling up fast. If you need your pipeline rocking for the next 12 months, snag your spot before your niche fills. Key Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Click https://expertservicesdirectory.com/ to check out The Expert Services Directory. If you want to learn more about The Expert Services Directory, click here: http://bit.ly/4f3ch1I If you've enjoyed listening to How educating decision makers is screwing your sales process check out these other episodes that may be of interest. Creating your best B2B sales mindset (and generating more revenue!) https://bit.ly/SellingToCorporate112 Surprising ways your 30 day sales mindset is impacting your revenue https://bit.ly/SellingToCorporate146 What to do when you get ghosted by corporate stakeholders https://bit.ly/SellingToCorporate013 The Art of Follow Ups when selling to corporate companies https://bit.ly/SellingToCorporate004 Converting Corporates is the B2B sales event of the year for service based entrepreneurs, if you want to join the waitlist for 2026 click the link https://smartleaderssell.vipmembervault.com/cc2026waitlist If you would like to sign up for our weekly newsletter to stay in touch with the latest B2B sales tips and techniques click https://sellingtocorporate.com/newsletter/ Content Disclaimer The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article, video or audio are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article, video or audio. Jessica Lorimer disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article, video or audio.
Hey Winner, Struggling to turn free calls into paying clients? You're not alone. In this session, John Meese—founder of the SOLD OUT Coach Club and author of Serve to Sell—shares how to ditch pushy sales tactics and use Serve Calls instead. It's a step-by-step method to turn free coaching conversations into premium program sales—authentically and effectively. Rooting for you ~ Gabe New to the podcast? Start here: https://redhotmindset.com/podcast-start/ LISTEN TO HEAR HOW TO: Replace sales calls with trust-building Serve Calls that convert. Use market research conversations to enroll clients with ease. Overcome objections and close high-ticket sales—no socials required. LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE:
Francois Daost is a W3C staff member and co-chair of the Web Developer Experience Community Group. We discuss the W3C's role and what it's like to go through the browser standardization process. Related links W3C TC39 Internet Engineering Task Force Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) Horizontal Groups Alliance for Open Media What is MPEG-DASH? | HLS vs. DASH Information about W3C and Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) Widevine PlayReady Media Source API Encrypted Media Extensions API requestVideoFrameCallback() Business Benefits of the W3C Patent Policy web.dev Baseline Portable Network Graphics Specification Internet Explorer 6 CSS Vendor Prefix WebRTC Transcript You can help correct transcripts on GitHub. Intro [00:00:00] Jeremy: today I'm talking to Francois Daoust. He's a staff member at the W3C. And we're gonna talk about the W3C and the recommendation process and discuss, Francois's experience with, with how these features end up in our browsers. [00:00:16] Jeremy: So, Francois, welcome [00:00:18] Francois: Thank you Jeremy and uh, many thanks for the invitation. I'm really thrilled to be part of this podcast. What's the W3C? [00:00:26] Jeremy: I think many of our listeners will have heard about the W3C, but they may not actually know what it is. So could you start by explaining what it is? [00:00:37] Francois: Sure. So W3C stands for the Worldwide Web Consortium. It's a standardization organization. I guess that's how people should think about W3C. it was created in 1994. I, by, uh, Tim Berners Lee, who was the inventor of the web. Tim Berners Lee was the, director of W3C for a long, long time. [00:01:00] Francois: He retired not long ago, a few years back. and W3C is, has, uh, a number of, uh. Properties, let's say first the goal is to produce royalty free standards, and that's very important. Uh, we want to make sure that, uh, the standard that get produced can be used and implemented without having to pay, fees to anyone. [00:01:23] Francois: We do web standards. I didn't mention it, but it's from the name. Standards that you find in your web browsers. But not only that, there are a number of other, uh, standards that got developed at W3C including, for example, XML. Data related standards. W3C as an organization is a consortium. [00:01:43] Francois: The, the C stands for consortium. Legally speaking, it's a, it's a 501c3 meaning in, so it's a US based, uh, legal entity not for profit. And the, the little three is important because it means it's public interest. That means we are a consortium, that means we have members, but at the same time, the goal, the mission is to the public. [00:02:05] Francois: So we're not only just, you know, doing what our members want. We are also making sure that what our members want is aligned with what end users in the end, need. and the W3C has a small team. And so I'm part of this, uh, of this team worldwide. Uh, 45 to 55 people, depending on how you count, mostly technical people and some, uh, admin, uh, as well, overseeing the, uh, the work, that we do, uh, at the W3C. Funding through membership fees [00:02:39] Jeremy: So you mentioned there's 45 to 55 people. How is this funded? Is this from governments or commercial companies? [00:02:47] Francois: The main source comes from membership fees. So the W3C has a, so members, uh, roughly 350 members, uh, at the W3C. And, in order to become a member, an organization needs to pay, uh, an annual membership fee. That's pretty common among, uh, standardization, uh, organizations. [00:03:07] Francois: And, we only have, uh, I guess three levels of membership, fees. Uh, well, you may find, uh, additional small levels, but three main ones. the goal is to make sure that, A big player will, not a big player or large company, will not have more rights than, uh, anything, anyone else. So we try to make sure that a member has the, you know, all members have equal, right? [00:03:30] Francois: if it's not perfect, but, uh, uh, that's how things are, are are set. So that's the main source of income for the W3C. And then we try to diversify just a little bit to get, uh, for example, we go to governments. We may go to governments in the u EU. We may, uh, take some, uh, grant for EU research projects that allow us, you know, to, study, explore topics. [00:03:54] Francois: Uh, in the US there, there used to be some, uh, some funding from coming from the government as well. So that, that's, uh, also, uh, a source. But the main one is, uh, membership fees. Relations to TC39, IETF, and WHATWG [00:04:04] Jeremy: And you mentioned that a lot of the W3C'S work is related to web standards. There's other groups like TC 39, which works on the JavaScript spec and the IETF, which I believe worked, with your group on WebRTC, I wonder if you could explain W3C'S connection to other groups like that. [00:04:28] Francois: sure. we try to collaborate with a, a number of, uh, standard other standardization organizations. So in general, everything goes well because you, you have, a clear separation of concerns. So you mentioned TC 39. Indeed. they are the ones who standardize, JavaScript. Proper name of JavaScript is the EcmaScript. [00:04:47] Francois: So that's tc. TC 39 is the technical committee at ecma. and so we have indeed interactions with them because their work directly impact the JavaScript that you're going to find in your, uh, run in your, in your web browser. And we develop a number of JavaScript APIs, uh, actually in W3C. [00:05:05] Francois: So we need to make sure that, the way we develop, uh, you know, these APIs align with the, the language itself. with IETF, the, the, the boundary is, uh, uh, is clear as well. It's a protocol and protocol for our network protocols for our, the IETF and application level. For W3C, that's usually how the distinction is made. [00:05:28] Francois: The boundaries are always a bit fuzzy, but that's how things work. And usually, uh, things work pretty well. Uh, there's also the WHATWG, uh, and the WHATWG is more the, the, the history was more complicated because, uh, t of a fork of the, uh, HTML specification, uh, at the time when it was developed by W3C, a long time ago. [00:05:49] Francois: And there was been some, uh, Well disagreement on the way things should have been done, and the WHATWG took over got created, took, took this the HTML spec and did it a different way. Went in another, another direction, and that other, other direction actually ended up being the direction. [00:06:06] Francois: So, that's a success, uh, from there. And so, W3C no longer works, no longer owns the, uh, HTML spec and the WHATWG has, uh, taken, uh, taken up a number of, uh, of different, core specifications for the web. Uh, doing a lot of work on the, uh, on interopoerability and making sure that, uh, the algorithm specified by the spec, were correct, which, which was something that historically we haven't been very good at at W3C. [00:06:35] Francois: And the way they've been working as a, has a lot of influence on the way we develop now, uh, the APIs, uh, from a W3C perspective. [00:06:44] Jeremy: So, just to make sure I understand correctly, you have TC 39, which is focused on the JavaScript or ECMAScript language itself, and you have APIs that are going to use JavaScript and interact with JavaScript. So you need to coordinate there. The, the have the specification for HTML. then the IATF, they are, I'm not sure if the right term would be, they, they would be one level lower perhaps, than the W3C. [00:07:17] Francois: That's how you, you can formulate it. Yes. The, the one layer, one layer layer in the ISO network in the ISO stack at the network level. How WebRTC spans the IETF and W3C [00:07:30] Jeremy: And so in that case, one place I've heard it mentioned is that webRTC, to, to use it, there is an IETF specification, and then perhaps there's a W3C recommendation and [00:07:43] Francois: Yes. so when we created the webRTC working group, that was in 2011, I think, it was created with a dual head. There was one RTC web, group that got created at IETF and a webRTC group that got created at W3C. And that was done on purpose. Of course, the goal was not to compete on the, on the solution, but actually to, have the two sides of the, uh, solution, be developed in parallel, the API, uh, the application front and the network front. [00:08:15] Francois: And there was a, and there's still a lot of overlap in, uh, participation between both groups, and that's what keep things successful. In the end. It's not, uh, you know, process or organization to organization, uh, relationships, coordination at the organization level. It's really the fact that you have participants that are essentially the same, on both sides of the equation. [00:08:36] Francois: That helps, uh, move things forward. Now, webRTC is, uh, is more complex than just one group at IETF. I mean, web, webRTC is a very complex set of, uh, of technologies, stack of technologies. So when you, when you. Pull a little, uh, protocol from IETFs. Suddenly you have the whole IETF that comes with you with it. [00:08:56] Francois: So you, it's the, you have the feeling that webRTC needs all of the, uh, internet protocols that got, uh, created to work Recommendations [00:09:04] Jeremy: And I think probably a lot of web developers, they may hear words like specification or standard, but I believe the, the official term, at least at the W3C, is this recommendation. And so I wonder if you can explain what that means. [00:09:24] Francois: Well. It means it means standard in the end. and that came from industry. That comes from a time where. As many standardization organizations. W3C was created not to be a standardization organization. It was felt that standard was not the right term because we were not a standardization organization. [00:09:45] Francois: So recommend IETF has the same thing. They call it RFC, request for comment, which, you know, stands for nothing in, and yet it's a standard. So W3C was created with the same kind of, uh thing. We needed some other terminology and we call that recommendation. But in the end, that's standard. It's really, uh, how you should see it. [00:10:08] Francois: And one thing I didn't mention when I, uh, introduced the W3C is there are two types of standards in the end, two main categories. There are, the de jure standards and defacto standards, two families. The de jure standards are the ones that are imposed by some kind of regulation. so it's really usually a standard you see imposed by governments, for example. [00:10:29] Francois: So when you look at your electric plug at home, there's some regulation there that says, this plug needs to have these properties. And that's a standard that gets imposed. It's a de jure standard. and then there are defacto standards which are really, uh, specifications that are out there and people agree to use it to implement it. [00:10:49] Francois: And by virtue of being used and implemented and used by everyone, they become standards. the, W3C really is in the, uh, second part. It's a defacto standard. IETF is the same thing. some of our standards are used in, uh, are referenced in regulations now, but, just a, a minority of them, most of them are defacto standards. [00:11:10] Francois: and that's important because that's in the end, it doesn't matter what the specific specification says, even though it's a bit confusing. What matters is that the, what the specifications says matches what implementations actually implement, and that these implementations are used, and are used interoperably across, you know, across browsers, for example, or across, uh, implementations, across users, across usages. [00:11:36] Francois: So, uh, standardization is a, is a lengthy process. The recommendation is the final stage in that, lengthy process. More and more we don't really reach recommendation anymore. If you look at, uh, at groups, uh, because we have another path, let's say we kind of, uh, we can stop at candidate recommendation, which is in theoretically a step before that. [00:12:02] Francois: But then you, you can stay there and, uh, stay there forever and publish new candidate recommendations. Um, uh, later on. What matters again is that, you know, you get this, virtuous feedback loop, uh, with implementers, and usage. [00:12:18] Jeremy: So if the candidate recommendation ends up being implemented by all the browsers, what's ends up being the distinction between a candidate and one that's a normal recommendation. [00:12:31] Francois: So, today it's mostly a process thing. Some groups actually decide to go to rec Some groups decide to stay at candidate rec and there's no formal difference between the, the two. we've made sure we've adopted, adjusted the process so that the important bits that, applied at the recommendation level now apply at the candidate rec level. Royalty free patent access [00:13:00] Francois: And by important things, I mean the patent commitments typically, uh, the patent policy fully applies at the candidate recommendation level so that you get your, protection, the royalty free patent protection that we, we were aiming at. [00:13:14] Francois: Some people do not care, you know, but most of the world still works with, uh, with patents, uh, for good, uh, or bad reasons. But, uh, uh, that's how things work. So we need to make, we're trying to make sure that we, we secure the right set of, um, of patent commitments from the right set of stakeholders. [00:13:35] Jeremy: Oh, so when someone implements a W3C recommendation or a candidate recommendation, the patent holders related to that recommendation, they basically agree to allow royalty-free use of that patent. [00:13:54] Francois: They do the one that were involved in the working group, of course, I mean, we can't say anything about the companies out there that may have patents and uh, are not part of this standardization process. So there's always, It's a remaining risk. but part of the goal when we create a working group is to make sure that, people understand the scope. [00:14:17] Francois: Lawyers look into it, and the, the legal teams that exist at the all the large companies, basically gave a green light saying, yeah, we, we we're pretty confident that we, we know where the patterns are on this particular, this particular area. And we are fine also, uh, letting go of the, the patterns we own ourselves. Implementations are built in parallel with standardization [00:14:39] Jeremy: And I think you had mentioned. What ends up being the most important is that the browser creators implement these recommendations. So it sounds like maybe the distinction between candidate recommendation and recommendation almost doesn't matter as long as you get the end result you want. [00:15:03] Francois: So, I mean, people will have different opinions, uh, in the, in standardization circles. And I mentioned also W3C is working on other kind of, uh, standards. So, uh, in some other areas, the nuance may be more important when we, but when, when you look at specification, that's target, web browsers. we've switched from a model where, specs were developed first and then implemented to a model where specs and implementing implementations are being, worked in parallel. [00:15:35] Francois: This actually relates to the evolution I was mentioning with the WHATWG taking over the HTML and, uh, focusing on the interoperability issues because the starting point was, yeah, we have an HTML 4.01 spec, uh, but it's not interoperable because it, it's not specified, are number of areas that are gray areas, you can implement them differently. [00:15:59] Francois: And so there are interoperable issues. Back to candidate rec actually, the, the, the, the stage was created, if I remember correctly. uh, if I'm, if I'm not wrong, the stage was created following the, uh, IE problem. In the CSS working group, IE6, uh, shipped with some, version of a CSS that was in the, as specified, you know, the spec was saying, you know, do that for the CSS box model. [00:16:27] Francois: And the IE6 was following that. And then the group decided to change, the box model and suddenly IE6 was no longer compliant. And that created a, a huge mess on the, in the history of, uh, of the web in a way. And so the, we, the, the, the, the candidate recommendation sta uh, stage was introduced following that to try to catch this kind of problems. [00:16:52] Francois: But nowadays, again, we, we switch to another model where it's more live. and so we, you, you'll find a number of specs that are not even at candidate rec level. They are at the, what we call a working draft, and they, they are being implemented, and if all goes well, the standardization process follows the implementation, and then you end up in a situation where you have your candidate rec when the, uh, spec ships. [00:17:18] Francois: a recent example would be a web GPU, for example. It, uh, it has shipped in, uh, in, in Chrome shortly before it transition to a candidate rec. But the, the, the spec was already stable. and now it's shipping uh, in, uh, in different browsers, uh, uh, safari, uh, and uh, and uh, and uh, Firefox. And so that's, uh, and that's a good example of something that follows, uh, things, uh, along pretty well. But then you have other specs such as, uh, in the media space, uh, request video frame back, uh, frame, call back, uh, requestVideoFrameCallback() is a short API that allows you to get, you know, a call back whenever the, the browser renders a video frame, essentially. [00:18:01] Francois: And that spec is implemented across browsers. But from a W3C specific, perspective, it does not even exist. It's not on the standardization track. It's still being incubated in what we call a community group, which is, you know, some something that, uh, usually exists before. we move to the, the standardization process. [00:18:21] Francois: So there, there are examples of things where some things fell through the cracks. All the standardization process, uh, is either too early or too late and things that are in spec are not exactly what what got implemented or implementations are too early in the process. We we're doing a better job, at, Not falling into a trap where someone ships, uh, you know, an implementation and then suddenly everything is frozen. You can no longer, change it because it's too late, it shipped. we've tried, different, path there. Um, mentioned CSS, the, there was this kind of vendor prefixed, uh, properties that used to be, uh, the way, uh, browsers were deploying new features without, you know, taking the final name. [00:19:06] Francois: We are trying also to move away from it because same thing. Then in the end, you end up with, uh, applications that have, uh, to duplicate all the properties, the CSS properties in the style sheets with, uh, the vendor prefixes and nuances in the, in what it does in, in the end. [00:19:23] Jeremy: Yeah, I, I think, is that in CSS where you'll see --mozilla or things like that? Why requestVideoFrameCallback doesn't have a formal specification [00:19:30] Jeremy: The example of the request video frame callback. I, I wonder if you have an opinion or, or, or know why that ended up the way it did, where the browsers all implemented it, even though it was still in the incubation stage. [00:19:49] Francois: On this one, I don't have a particular, uh, insights on whether there was a, you know, a strong reason to implement it,without doing the standardization work. [00:19:58] Francois: I mean, there are, it's not, uh, an IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) issue. It's not, uh, something that, uh, I don't think the, the, the spec triggers, uh, you know, problems that, uh, would be controversial or whatever. [00:20:10] Francois: Uh, so it's just a matter of, uh, there was no one's priority, and in the end, you end up with a, everyone's happy. it's, it has shipped. And so now doing the spec work is a bit,why spend time on something that's already shipped and so on, but the, it may still come back at some point with try to, you know, improve the situation. [00:20:26] Jeremy: Yeah, that's, that's interesting. It's a little counterintuitive because it sounds like you have the, the working group and it, it sounds like perhaps the companies or organizations involved, they maybe agreed on how it should work, and maybe that agreement almost made it so that they felt like they didn't need to move forward with the specification because they came to consensus even before going through that. [00:20:53] Francois: In this particular case, it's probably because it's really, again, it's a small, spec. It's just one function call, you know? I mean, they will definitely want a working group, uh, for larger specifications. by the way, actually now I know re request video frame call back. It's because the, the, the final goal now that it's, uh, shipped, is to merge it into, uh, HTML, uh, the HTML spec. [00:21:17] Francois: So there's a, there's an ongoing issue on the, the WHATWG side to integrate request video frame callback. And it's taking some time but see, it's, it's being, it, it caught up and, uh, someone is doing the, the work to, to do it. I had forgotten about this one. Um, [00:21:33] Jeremy: Tension from specification review (horizontal review) [00:21:33] Francois: so with larger specifications, organizations will want this kind of IPR regime they will want commit commitments from, uh, others, on the scope, on the process, on everything. So they will want, uh, a larger, a, a more formal setting, because that's part of how you ensure that things, uh, will get done properly. [00:21:53] Francois: I didn't mention it, but, uh, something we're really, uh, Pushy on, uh, W3C I mentioned we have principles, we have priorities, and we have, uh, specific several, uh, properties at W3C. And one of them is that we we're very strong on horizontal reviews of our specs. We really want them to be reviewed from an accessibility perspective, from an internationalization perspective, from a privacy and security, uh, perspective, and, and, and a technical architecture perspective as well. [00:22:23] Francois: And that's, these reviews are part of the formal process. So you, all specs need to undergo these reviews. And from time to time, that creates tension. Uh, from time to time. It just works, you know. Goes without problem. a recurring issue is that, privacy and security are hard. I mean, it's not an easy problem, something that can be, uh, solved, uh, easily. [00:22:48] Francois: Uh, so there's a, an ongoing tension and no easy way to resolve it, but there's an ongoing tension between, specifying powerful APIs and preserving privacy without meaning, not exposing too much information to applications in the media space. You can think of the media capabilities, API. So the media space is a complicated space. [00:23:13] Francois: Space because of codecs. codecs are typically not relative free. and so browsers decide which codecs they're going to support, which audio and video codecs they, they're going to support and doing that, that creates additional fragmentation, not in the sense that they're not interoperable, but in the sense that applications need to choose which connect they're going to ship to stream to the end user. [00:23:39] Francois: And, uh, it's all the more complicated that some codecs are going to be hardware supported. So you will have a hardware decoder in your, in your, in your laptop or smartphone. And so that's going to be efficient to decode some, uh, some stream, whereas some code are not, are going to be software, based, supported. [00:23:56] Francois: Uh, and that may consume a lot of CPU and a lot of power and a lot of energy in the end. So you, you want to avoid that if you can, uh, select another thing. Even more complex than, codecs have different profiles, uh, lower end profiles higher end profiles with different capabilities, different features, uh, depending on whether you're going to use this or that color space, for example, this or that resolution, whatever. [00:24:22] Francois: And so you want to surface that to web applications because otherwise, they can't. Select, they can't choose, the right codec and the right, stream that they're going to send to the, uh, client devices. And so they're not going to provide an efficient user experience first, and even a sustainable one in terms of energy because they, they're going to waste energy if they don't send the right stream. [00:24:45] Francois: So you want to surface that to application. That's what the media, media capabilities, APIs, provides. Privacy concerns [00:24:51] Francois: Uh, but at the same time, if you expose that information, you end up with ways to fingerprint the end user's device. And that in turn is often used to track users across, across sites, which is exactly what we don't want to have, uh, for privacy reasons, for obvious privacy reasons. [00:25:09] Francois: So you have to balance that and find ways to, uh, you know, to expose. Capabilities without, without necessarily exposing them too much. Uh, [00:25:21] Jeremy: Can you give an example of how some of those discussions went? Like within the working group? Who are the companies or who are the organizations that are arguing for We shouldn't have this capability because of the privacy concerns, or [00:25:40] Francois: In a way all of the companies, have a vision of, uh, of privacy. I mean, the, you will have a hard time finding, you know, members saying, I don't care about privacy. I just want the feature. Uh, they all have privacy in mind, but they may have a different approach to privacy. [00:25:57] Francois: so if you take, uh, let's say, uh, apple and Google would be the, the, I guess the perfect examples in that, uh, in that space, uh, Google will have a, an approach that is more open-ended thing. The, the user agents has this, uh, should check what the, the, uh, given site is doing. And then if it goes beyond, you know, some kind of threshold, they're going to say, well, okay, well, we'll stop exposing data to that, to that, uh, to that site. [00:26:25] Francois: So that application. So monitor and react in a way. apple has a more, uh, you know, has a stricter view on, uh, on privacy, let's say. And they will say, no, we, the, the, the feature must not exist in the first place. Or, but that's, I mean, I guess, um, it's not always that extreme. And, uh, from time to time it's the opposite. [00:26:45] Francois: You will have, uh, you know, apple arguing in one way, uh, which is more open-ended than the, uh, than, uh, than Google, for example. And they are not the only ones. So in working groups, uh, you will find the, usually the implementers. Uh, so when we talk about APIs that get implemented in browsers, you want the core browsers to be involved. [00:27:04] Francois: Uh, otherwise it's usually not a good sign for, uh, the success of the, uh, of the technology. So in practice, that means Apple, uh, Microsoft, Mozilla which one did I forget? [00:27:15] Jeremy: Google. [00:27:16] Francois: I forgot Google. Of course. Thank you. that's, uh, that the, the core, uh, list of participants you want to have in any, uh, group that develops web standards targeted at web browsers. Who participates in working groups and how much power do they have? [00:27:28] Francois: And then on top of that, you want, organizations and people who are directly going to use it, either because they, well the content providers. So in media, for example, if you look at the media working group, you'll see, uh, so browser vendors, the ones I mentioned, uh, content providers such as the BBC or Netflix. [00:27:46] Francois: Chip set vendors would, uh, would be there as well. Intel, uh, Nvidia again, because you know, there's a hardware decoding in there and encoding. So media is, touches on, on, uh, on hardware, uh, device manufacturer in general. You may, uh, I think, uh, I think Sony is involved in the, in the media working group, for example. [00:28:04] Francois: and these companies are usually less active in the spec development. It depends on the groups, but they're usually less active because the ones developing the specs are usually the browser again, because as I mentioned, we develop the specs in parallel to browsers implementing it. So they have the. [00:28:21] Francois: The feedback on how to formulate the, the algorithms. and so that's this collection of people who are going to discuss first within themselves. W3C pushes for consensual dis decisions. So we hardly take any votes in the working groups, but from time to time, that's not enough. [00:28:41] Francois: And there may be disagreements, but let's say there's agreement in the group, uh, when the spec matches. horizontal review groups will look at the specs. So these are groups I mentioned, accessibility one, uh, privacy, internationalization. And these groups, usually the participants are, it depends. [00:29:00] Francois: It can be anything. It can be, uh, the same companies. It can be, but usually different people from the same companies. But it the, maybe organizations with a that come from very, a very different angle. And that's a good thing because that means the, you know, you enlarge the, the perspectives on your, uh, on the, on the technology. [00:29:19] Francois: and you, that's when you have a discussion between groups, that takes place. And from time to time it goes well from time to time. Again, it can trigger issues that are hard to solve. and the W3C has a, an escalation process in case, uh, you know, in case things degenerate. Uh, starting with, uh, the notion of formal objection. [00:29:42] Jeremy: It makes sense that you would have the, the browser. Vendors and you have all the different companies that would use that browser. All the different horizontal groups like you mentioned, the internationalization, accessibility. I would imagine that you were talking about consensus and there are certain groups or certain companies that maybe have more say or more sway. [00:30:09] Jeremy: For example, if you're a browser, manufacturer, your Google. I'm kind of curious how that works out within the working group. [00:30:15] Francois: Yes, it's, I guess I would be lying if I were saying that, uh, you know, all companies are strictly equal in a, in a, in a group. they are from a process perspective, I mentioned, you know, different membership fees with were design, special specific ethos so that no one could say, I'm, I'm putting in a lot of money, so you, you need to re you need to respect me, uh, and you need to follow what I, what I want to, what I want to do. [00:30:41] Francois: at the same time, if you take a company like, uh, like Google for example, they send, hundreds of engineers to do standardization work. That's absolutely fantastic because that means work progresses and it's, uh, extremely smart people. So that's, uh, that's really a pleasure to work with, uh, with these, uh, people. [00:30:58] Francois: But you need to take a step back and say, well, the problem is. Defacto that gives them more power just by virtue of, uh, injecting more resources into it. So having always someone who can respond to an issue, having always someone, uh, editing a spec defacto that give them more, uh, um, more say on the, on the directions that, get forward. [00:31:22] Francois: And on top of that, of course, they have the, uh, I guess not surprisingly, the, the browser that is, uh, used the most, currently, on the market so there's a little bit of a, the, the, we, we, we, we try very hard to make sure that, uh, things are balanced. it's not a perfect world. [00:31:38] Francois: the the role of the team. I mean, I didn't talk about the role of the team, but part of it is to make sure that. Again, all perspectives are represented and that there's not, such a, such big imbalance that, uh, that something is wrong and that we really need to look into it. so making sure that anyone, if they have something to say, make making sure that they are heard by the rest of the group and not dismissed. [00:32:05] Francois: That usually goes well. There's no problem with that. And again, the escalation process I mentioned here doesn't make any, uh, it doesn't make any difference between, uh, a small player, a large player, a big player, and we have small companies raising formal objections against some of our aspects that happens, uh, all large ones. [00:32:24] Francois: But, uh, that happens too. There's no magical solution, I guess you can tell it by the way. I, uh, I don't know how to formulate the, the process more. It's a human process, and that's very important that it remains a human process as well. [00:32:41] Jeremy: I suppose the role of, of staff and someone in your position, for example, is to try and ensure that these different groups are, are heard and it isn't just one group taking control of it. [00:32:55] Francois: That's part of the role, again, is to make sure that, uh, the, the process is followed. So the, I, I mean, I don't want to give the impression that the process controls everything in the groups. I mean, the, the, the groups are bound by the process, but the process is there to catch problems when they arise. [00:33:14] Francois: most of the time there are no problems. It's just, you know, again, participants talking to each other, talking with the rest of the community. Most of the work happens in public nowadays, in any case. So the groups work in public essentially through asynchronous, uh, discussions on GitHub repositories. [00:33:32] Francois: There are contributions from, you know, non group participants and everything goes well. And so the process doesn't kick in. You just never say, eh, no, you didn't respect the process there. You, you closed the issue. You shouldn't have a, it's pretty rare that you have to do that. Uh, things just proceed naturally because they all, everyone understands where they are, why, what they're doing, and why they're doing it. [00:33:55] Francois: we still have a role, I guess in the, in the sense that from time to time that doesn't work and you have to intervene and you have to make sure that,the, uh, exception is caught and, uh, and processed, uh, in the right way. Discussions are public on github [00:34:10] Jeremy: And you said this process is asynchronous in public, so it sounds like someone, I, I mean, is this in GitHub issues or how, how would somebody go and, and see what the results of [00:34:22] Francois: Yes, there, there are basically a gazillion of, uh, GitHub repositories under the, uh, W3C, uh, organization on GitHub. Most groups are using GitHub. I mean, there's no, it's not mandatory. We don't manage any, uh, any tooling. But the factors that most, we, we've been transitioning to GitHub, uh, for a number of years already. [00:34:45] Francois: Uh, so that's where the work most of the work happens, through issues, through pool requests. Uh, that's where. people can go and raise issues against specifications. Uh, we usually, uh, also some from time to time get feedback from developers and countering, uh, a bug in a particular implementations, which we try to gently redirect to, uh, the actual bug trackers because we're not responsible for the respons implementations of the specs unless the spec is not clear. [00:35:14] Francois: We are responsible for the spec itself, making sure that the spec is clear and that implementers well, understand how they should implement something. Why the W3C doesn't specify a video or audio codec [00:35:25] Jeremy: I can see how people would make that mistake because they, they see it's the feature, but that's not the responsibility of the, the W3C to implement any of the specifications. Something you had mentioned there's the issue of intellectual property rights and how when you have a recommendation, you require the different organizations involved to make their patents available to use freely. [00:35:54] Jeremy: I wonder why there was never any kind of, recommendation for audio or video codecs in browsers since you have certain ones that are considered royalty free. But, I believe that's never been specified. [00:36:11] Francois: At W3C you mean? Yes. we, we've tried, I mean, it's not for lack of trying. Um, uh, we've had a number of discussions with, uh, various stakeholders saying, Hey, we, we really need, an audio or video code for our, for the web. the, uh, png PNG is an example of a, um, an image format which got standardized at W3C and it got standardized at W3C similar reasons. There had to be a royalty free image format for the web, and there was none at the time. of course, nowadays, uh, jpeg, uh, and gif or gif, whatever you call it, are well, you know, no problem with them. But, uh, um, that at the time P PNG was really, uh, meant to address this issue and it worked for PNG for audio and video. [00:37:01] Francois: We haven't managed to secure, commitments by stakeholders. So willingness to do it, so it's not, it's not lack of willingness. We would've loved to, uh, get, uh, a royalty free, uh, audio codec, a royalty free video codec again, audio and video code are extremely complicated because of this. [00:37:20] Francois: not only because of patterns, but also because of the entire business ecosystem that exists around them for good reasons. You, in order for a, a codec to be supported, deployed, effective, it really needs, uh, it needs to mature a lot. It needs to, be, uh, added to at a hardware level, to a number of devices, capturing devices, but also, um, uh, uh, of course players. [00:37:46] Francois: And that takes a hell of a lot of time and that's why you also enter a number of business considerations with business contracts between entities. so I'm personally, on a personal level, I'm, I'm pleased to see, for example, the Alliance for Open Media working on, uh, uh, AV1, uh, which is. At least they, uh, they wanted to be royalty free and they've been adopting actually the W3C patent policy to do this work. [00:38:11] Francois: So, uh, we're pleased to see that, you know, they've been adopting the same process and same thing. AV1 is not yet at the same, support stage, as other, codecs, in the world Yeah, I mean in devices. There's an open question as what, what are we going to do, uh, in the future uh, with that, it's, it's, it's doubtful that, uh, the W3C will be able to work on a, on a royalty free audio, codec or royalty free video codec itself because, uh, probably it's too late now in any case. [00:38:43] Francois: but It's one of these angles in the, in the web platform where we wish we had the, uh, the technology available for, for free. And, uh, it's not exactly, uh, how things work in practice.I mean, the way codecs are developed remains really patent oriented. [00:38:57] Francois: and you will find more codecs being developed. and that's where geopolitics can even enter the, the, uh, the play. Because, uh, if you go to China, you will find new codecs emerging, uh, that get developed within China also, because, the other codecs come mostly from the US so it's a bit of a problem and so on. [00:39:17] Francois: I'm not going to enter details and uh, I would probably say stupid things in any case. Uh, but that, uh, so we continue to see, uh, emerging codecs that are not royalty free, and it's probably going to remain the case for a number of years. unfortunately, unfortunately, from a W3C perspective and my perspective of course. [00:39:38] Jeremy: There's always these new, formats coming out and the, rate at which they get supported in the browser, even on a per browser basis is, is very, there can be a long time between, for example, WebP being released and a browser supporting it. So, seems like maybe we're gonna be in that situation for a while where the codecs will come out and maybe the browsers will support them. Maybe they won't, but the, the timeline is very uncertain. Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Media Source Extensions [00:40:08] Jeremy: Something you had, mentioned, maybe this was in your, email to me earlier, but you had mentioned that some of these specifications, there's, there's business considerations like with, digital rights management and, media source extensions. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about maybe what media source extensions is and encrypted media extensions and, and what the, the considerations or challenges are there. [00:40:33] Francois: I'm going to go very, very quickly over the history of a, video and audio support on the web. Initially it was supported through plugins. you are maybe too young to, remember that. But, uh, we had extensions, added to, uh, a realplayer. [00:40:46] Francois: This kind of things flash as well, uh, supporting, uh, uh, videos, in web pages, but it was not provided by the web browsers themselves. Uh, then HTML5 changed the, the situation. Adding these new tags, audio and video, but that these tags on this, by default, support, uh, you give them a resources, a resource, like an image as it's an audio or a video file. [00:41:10] Francois: They're going to download this, uh, uh, video file or audio file, and they're going to play it. That works well. But as soon as you want to do any kind of real streaming, files are too large and to stream, to, to get, you know, to get just a single fetch on, uh, on them. So you really want to stream them chunk by chunk, and you want to adapt the resolution at which you send the stream based on real time conditions of the user's network. [00:41:37] Francois: If there's plenty of bandwidth you want to send the user, the highest possible resolution. If there's a, some kind of hiccup temporary in the, in the network, you really want to lower the resolution, and that's called adaptive streaming. And to get adaptive streaming on the web, well, there are a number of protocols that exist. [00:41:54] Francois: Same thing. Some many of them are proprietary and actually they remain proprietary, uh, to some extent. and, uh, some of them are over http and they are the ones that are primarily used in, uh, in web contexts. So DASH comes to mind, DASH for Dynamic Adaptive streaming over http. HLS is another one. Uh, initially developed by Apple, I believe, and it's, uh, HTTP live streaming probably. Exactly. And, so there are different protocols that you can, uh, you can use. Uh, so the goal was not to standardize these protocols because again, there were some proprietary aspects to them. And, uh, same thing as with codecs. [00:42:32] Francois: There was no, well, at least people wanted to have the, uh, flexibility to tweak parameters, adaptive streaming parameters the way they wanted for different scenarios. You may want to tweak the parameters differently. So they, they needed to be more flexibility on top of protocols not being truly available for use directly and for implementation directly in browsers. [00:42:53] Francois: It was also about providing applications with, uh, the flexibility they would need to tweak parameters. So media source extensions comes into play for exactly that. Media source extensions is really about you. The application fetches chunks of its audio and video stream the way it wants, and with the parameters it wants, and it adjusts whatever it wants. [00:43:15] Francois: And then it feeds that into the, uh, video or audio tag. and the browser takes care of the rest. So it's really about, doing, you know, the adaptive streaming. let applications do it, and then, uh, let the user agent, uh, the browser takes, take care of the rendering itself. That's media source extensions. [00:43:32] Francois: Initially it was pushed by, uh, Netflix. They were not the only ones of course, but there, there was a, a ma, a major, uh, proponent of this, uh, technical solution, because they wanted, uh, they, uh, they were, expanding all over the world, uh, with, uh, plenty of native, applications on all sorts of, uh, of, uh, devices. [00:43:52] Francois: And they wanted to have a way to stream content on the web as well. both for both, I guess, to expand to, um, a new, um, ecosystem, the web, uh, providing new opportunities, let's say. But at the same time also to have a fallback, in case they, because for native support on different platforms, they sometimes had to enter business agreements with, uh, you know, the hardware manufacturers, the whatever, the, uh, service provider or whatever. [00:44:19] Francois: and so that was a way to have a full back. That kind of work is more open, in case, uh, things take some time and so on. So, and they probably had other reasons. I mean, I'm not, I can't speak on behalf of Netflix, uh, on others, but they were not the only ones of course, uh, supporting this, uh, me, uh, media source extension, uh, uh, specification. [00:44:42] Francois: and that went kind of, well, I think it was creating 2011. I mean, the, the work started in 2011 and the recommendation was published in 2016, which is not too bad from a standardization perspective. It means only five years, you know, it's a very short amount of time. Encrypted Media Extensions [00:44:59] Francois: At the same time, and in parallel and complement to the media source extension specifications, uh, there was work on the encrypted media extensions, and here it was pushed by the same proponent in a way because they wanted to get premium content on the web. [00:45:14] Francois: And by premium content, you think of movies and, uh. These kind of beasts. And the problem with the, I guess the basic issue with, uh, digital asset such as movies, is that they cost hundreds of millions to produce. I mean, some cost less of course. And yet it's super easy to copy them if you have a access to the digital, uh, file. [00:45:35] Francois: You just copy and, uh, and that's it. Piracy uh, is super easy, uh, to achieve. It's illegal of course, but it's super easy to do. And so that's where the different legislations come into play with digital right management. Then the fact is most countries allow system that, can encrypt content and, uh, through what we call DRM systems. [00:45:59] Francois: so content providers, uh, the, the ones that have movies, so the studios here more, more and more, and Netflix is one, uh, one of the studios nowadays. Um, but not only, not only them all major studios will, uh, would, uh, push for, wanted to have something that would allow them to stream encrypted content, encrypted audio and video, uh, mostly video, to, uh, to web applications so that, uh, you. [00:46:25] Francois: Provide the movies, otherwise, they, they are just basically saying, and sorry, but, uh, this premium content will never make it to the web because there's no way we're gonna, uh, send it in clear, to, uh, to the end user. So Encrypting media extensions is, uh, is an API that allows to interface with, uh, what's called the content decryption module, CDM, uh, which itself interacts with, uh, the DR DRM systems that, uh, the browser may, may or may not support. [00:46:52] Francois: And so it provides a way for an application to receive encrypted content, pass it over get the, the, the right keys, the right license keys from a whatever system actually. Pass that logic over to the, and to the user agent, which passes, passes it over to, uh, the CDM system, which is kind of black box in, uh, that does its magic to get the right, uh, decryption key and then the, and to decrypt the content that can be rendered. [00:47:21] Francois: The encrypted media extensions triggered a, a hell of a lot of, uh, controversy. because it's DRM and DRM systems, uh, many people, uh, uh, things should be banned, uh, especially on the web because the, the premise of the web is that the, the user has trusts, a user agent. The, the web browser is called the user agent in all our, all our specifications. [00:47:44] Francois: And that's, uh, that's the trust relationship. And then they interact with a, a content provider. And so whatever they do with the content is their, I guess, actually their problem. And DRM introduces a third party, which is, uh, there's, uh, the, the end user no longer has the control on the content. [00:48:03] Francois: It has to rely on something else that, Restricts what it can achieve with the content. So it's, uh, it's not only a trust relationship with its, uh, user agents, it's also with, uh, with something else, which is the content provider, uh, in the end, the one that has the, uh, the license where provides the license. [00:48:22] Francois: And so that's, that triggers, uh, a hell of a lot of, uh, of discussions in the W3C degenerated, uh, uh, into, uh, formal objections being raised against the specification. and that escalated to, to the, I mean, at all leverage it. It's, it's the, the story in, uh, W3C that, um, really, uh, divided the membership into, opposed camps in a way, if you, that's was not only year, it was not really 50 50 in the sense that not just a huge fights, but the, that's, that triggered a hell of a lot of discussions and a lot of, a lot of, uh, of formal objections at the time. [00:49:00] Francois: Uh, we were still, From a governance perspective, interestingly, um, the W3C used to be a dictatorship. It's not how you should formulate it, of course, and I hope it's not going to be public, this podcast. Uh, but the, uh, it was a benevolent dictatorship. You could see it this way in the sense that, uh, the whole process escalated to one single person was, Tim Burners Lee, who had the final say, on when, when none of the other layers, had managed to catch and to resolve, a conflict. [00:49:32] Francois: Uh, that has hardly ever happened in, uh, the history of the W3C, but that happened to the two for EME, for encrypted media extensions. It had to go to the, uh, director level who, uh, after due consideration, uh, decided to, allow the EME to proceed. and that's why we have a, an EME, uh, uh, standard right now, but still re it remains something on the side. [00:49:56] Francois: EME we're still, uh, it's still in the scope of the media working group, for example. but the scope, if you look at the charter of the working group, we try to scope the, the, the, the, the updates we can make to the specification, uh, to make sure that we don't reopen, reopen, uh, a can of worms, because, well, it's really a, a topic that triggers friction for good and bad reasons again. [00:50:20] Jeremy: And when you talk about the media source extensions, that is the ability to write custom code to stream video in whatever way you want. You mentioned, the MPEG-DASH and http live streaming. So in that case, would that be the developer gets to write that code in JavaScript that's executed by the browser? [00:50:43] Francois: Yep, that's, uh, that would be it. and then typically, I guess the approach nowadays is more and more to develop low level APIs into W3C or web in, in general, I guess. And to let, uh. Libraries emerge that are going to make lives of a, a developer, uh, easier. So for MPEG DASH, we have the DASH.js, which does a fantastic job at, uh, at implementing the complexity of, uh, of adaptive streaming. [00:51:13] Francois: And you just, you just hook it into your, your workflow. And that's, uh, and that's it. Encrypted Media Extensions are closed source [00:51:20] Jeremy: And with the encrypted media extensions I'm trying to picture how those work and how they work differently. [00:51:28] Francois: Well, it's because the, the, the, the key architecture is that the, the stream that you, the stream that you may assemble with a media source extensions, for example. 'cause typically they, they're used in collaboration. When you hook the, hook it into the video tag, you also. Call EME and actually the stream goes to EME. [00:51:49] Francois: And when it goes to EME, actually the user agent hands the encrypted stream. You're still encrypted at this time. Uh, encrypted, uh, stream goes to the CDM content decryption module, and that's a black box well, it has some black, black, uh, black box logic. So it's not, uh, even if you look at the chromium source code, for example, you won't see the implementation of the CDM because it's a, it's a black box, so it's not part of the browser se it's a sand, it's sandboxed, it's execution sandbox. [00:52:17] Francois: That's, uh, the, the EME is kind of unique in, in this way where the, the CDM is not allowed to make network requests, for example, again, for privacy reasons. so anyway, the, the CDM box has the logic to decrypt the content and it hands it over, and then it depends, it depends on the level of protection you. [00:52:37] Francois: You need or that the system supports. It can be against software based protection, in which case actually, a highly motivated, uh, uh, uh, attacker could, uh, actually get access to the decoded stream, or it can be more hardware protected, in which case actually the, it goes to the, uh, to your final screen. [00:52:58] Francois: But it goes, it, it goes through the hardware in a, in a mode that the US supports in a mode that even the user agent doesn't have access to it. So it doesn't, it can't even see the pixels that, uh, gets rendered on the screen. There are, uh, several other, uh, APIs that you could use, for example, to take a screenshot of your, of your application and so on. [00:53:16] Francois: And you cannot apply them to, uh, such content because they're just gonna return a black box. again, because the user agent itself does not see the, uh, the pixels, which is exactly what you want with encrypted content. [00:53:29] Jeremy: And the, the content decryption module, it's, if I understand correctly, it's something that's shipped with the browsers, but you were saying is if you were to look at the public source code of Chromium or of Firefox, you would not see that implementation. Content Decryption Module (Widevine, PlayReady) [00:53:47] Francois: True. I mean, the, the, um, the typical examples are, uh, uh, widevine, so wide Vine. So interestingly, uh, speaking in theory, these, uh, systems could have been provided by anyone in practice. They've been provided by the browser vendors themselves. So Google has Wide Vine. Uh, Microsoft has something called PlayReady. Apple uh, the name, uh, escapes my, uh, sorry. They don't have it on top of my mind. So they, that's basically what they support. So they, they also own that code, but in a way they don't have to. And Firefox actually, uh, they, uh, don't, don't remember which one, they support among these three. but, uh, they, they don't own that code typically. [00:54:29] Francois: They provide a wrapper around, around it. Yeah, that's, that's exactly the, the crux of the, uh, issue that, people have with, uh, with DRMs, right? It's, uh, the fact that, uh, suddenly you have a bit of code running there that is, uh, that, okay, you can send box, but, uh, you cannot inspect and you don't have, uh, access to its, uh, source code. [00:54:52] Jeremy: That's interesting. So the, almost the entire browser is open source, but if you wanna watch a Netflix movie for example, then you, you need to, run this, this CDM, in addition to just the browser code. I, I think, you know, we've kind of covered a lot. Documenting what's available in browsers for developers [00:55:13] Jeremy: I wonder if there's any other examples or anything else you thought would be important to mention in, in the context of the W3C. [00:55:23] Francois: There, there's one thing which, uh, relates to, uh, activities I'm doing also at W3C. Um. Here, we've been talking a lot about, uh, standards and, implementations in browsers, but there's also, uh, adoption of these browser, of these technology standards by developers in general and making sure that developers are aware of what exists, making sure that they understand what exists and one of the, key pain points that people, uh. [00:55:54] Francois: Uh, keep raising on, uh, the web platform is first. Well, the, the, the web platform is unique in the sense that there are different implementations. I mean, if you, [00:56:03] Francois: Uh, anyway, there are different, uh, context, different run times where there, there's just one provided by the company that owns the, uh, the, the, the system. The web platform is implemented by different, uh, organizations. and so you end up the system where no one, there's what's in the specs is not necessarily supported. [00:56:22] Francois: And of course, MDN tries, uh, to document what's what's supported, uh, thoroughly. But for MDN to work, there's a hell of a lot of needs for data that, tracks browser support. And this, uh, this data is typically in a project called the Browser Compat Data, BCD owned by, uh, MDN as well. But, the Open Web Docs collective is a, uh, is, uh, the one, maintaining that, uh, that data under the hoods. [00:56:50] Francois: anyway, all of that to say that, uh, to make sure that, we track things beyond work on technical specifications, because if you look at it from W3C perspective, life ends when the spec reaches standards, uh, you know, candidate rec or rec, you could just say, oh, done with my work. but that's not how things work. [00:57:10] Francois: There's always, you need the feedback loop and, in order to make sure that developers get the information and can provide the, the feedback that standardization can benefit from and browser vendors can benefit from. We've been working on a project called web Features with browser vendors mainly, and, uh, a few of the folks and MDN and can I use and different, uh, different people, to catalog, the web in terms of features that speak to developers and from that catalog. [00:57:40] Francois: So it's a set of, uh, it's a set of, uh, feature IDs with a feature name and feature description that say, you know, this is how developers would, uh, understand, uh, instead of going too fine grained in terms of, uh, there's this one function call that does this because that's where you, the, the kind of support data you may get from browser data and MDN initially, and having some kind of a coarser grained, uh, structure that says these are the, features that make sense. [00:58:09] Francois: They talk to developers. That's what developers talk about, and that's the info. So the, we need to have data on these particular features because that's how developers are going approach the specs. Uh. and from that we've derived the notion of baseline badges that you have, uh, are now, uh, shown on MDN on can I use and integrated in, uh, IDE tool, IDE Tools such as visual, visual studio, and, uh, uh, libraries, uh, linked, some linters have started to, um, to integrate that data. [00:58:41] Francois: Uh, so, the way it works is, uh, we've been mapping these coarser grained features to BCDs finer grained support data, and from there we've been deriving a kind of a, a batch that says, yeah, this, this feature is implemented well, has limited availability because it's only implemented in one or two browsers, for example. [00:59:07] Francois: It's, newly available because. It was implemented. It's been, it's implemented across the main browser vendor, um, across the main browsers that people use. But it's recent, and widely available, which we try to, uh, well, there's been lots of discussion in the, in the group to, uh, come up with a definition which essentially ends up being 30 months after, a feature become, became newly available. [00:59:34] Francois: And that's when, that's the time it takes for the, for the versions of the, the different versions of the browser to propagate. Uh, because you, it's not because there's a new version of a, of a browser that, uh, people just, Ima immediately, uh, get it. So it takes a while, to propagate, uh, across the, uh, the, the user, uh, user base. [00:59:56] Francois: And so the, the goal is to have a, a, a signal that. Developers can rely on saying, okay, well it's widely available so I can really use that feature. And of course, if that doesn't work, then we need to know about it. And so we are also working with, uh, people doing so developer surveys such as state of, uh, CSS, state of HTML, state of JavaScript. [01:00:15] Francois: That's I guess, the main ones. But also we are also running, uh, MDN short surveys with the MDN people to gather feedback on. On the, on these same features, and to feed the loop and to, uh, to complete the loop. and these data is also used by, internally, by browser vendors to inform, prioritization process, their prioritization process, and typically as part of the interop project that they're also running, uh, on the site [01:00:43] Francois: So a, a number of different, I've mentioned, uh, I guess a number of different projects, uh, coming along together. But that's the goal is to create links, across all of these, um, uh, ongoing projects with a view to integrating developers, more, and gathering feedback as early as possible and inform decision. [01:01:04] Francois: We take at the standardization level that can affect the, the lives of the developers and making sure that it's, uh, it affects them in a, in a positive way. [01:01:14] Jeremy: just trying to understand, 'cause you had mentioned that there's the web features and the baseline, and I was, I was trying to picture where developers would actually, um, see these things. And it sounds like from what you're saying is W3C comes up with what stage some of these features are at, and then developers would end up seeing it on MDN or, or some other site. [01:01:37] Francois: So, uh, I'm working on it, but that doesn't mean it's a W3C thing. It's a, it's a, again, it's a, we have different types of group. It's a community group, so it's the Web DX Community group at W3C, which means it's a community owned thing. so that's why I'm mentioning a working with a representative from, and people from MDN people, from open Web docs. [01:02:05] Francois: so that's the first point. The second point is, so it's, indeed this data is now being integrated. If you, and you look, uh, you'll, you'll see it in on top of the MDN pages on most of them. If you look at, uh, any kind of feature, you'll see a, a few logos, uh, a baseline banner. and then can I use, it's the same thing. [01:02:24] Francois: You're going to get a baseline, banner. It's more on, can I use, and it's meant to capture the fact that the feature is widely available or if you may need to pay attention to it. Of course, it's a simplification, and the goal is not to the way it's, the way the messaging is done to developers is meant to capture the fact that, they may want to look, uh, into more than just this, baseline status, because. [01:02:54] Francois: If you take a look at web platform tests, for example, and if you were to base your assessment of whether a feature is supported based on test results, you'll end up saying the web platform has no supported technology because there are absolutely no API that, uh, where browsers pass 100% of the, of the, of the test suite. [01:03:18] Francois: There may be a few of them, I don't know. But, there's a simplification in the, in the process when a feature is, uh, set to be baseline, there may be more things to look at nevertheless, but it's meant to provide a signal that, uh, still developers can rely on their day-to-day, uh, lives. [01:03:36] Francois: if they use the, the feature, let's say, as a reasonably intended and not, uh, using to advance the logic. [01:03:48] Jeremy: I see. Yeah. I'm looking at one of the pages on MDN right now, and I can see at the top there's the, the baseline and it, it mentions that this feature works across many browsers and devices, and then they say how long it's been available. And so that's a way that people at a glance can, can tell, which APIs they can use. [01:04:08] Francois: it also started, uh, out of a desire to summarize this, uh, browser compatibility table that you see at the end of the page of the, the bottom of the page in on MDN. but there are where developers were saying, well, it's, it's fine, but it's, it goes too much into detail. So we don't know in the end, can we, can we use that feature or can we, can we not use that feature? [01:04:28] Francois: So it's meant as a informed summary of, uh, of, of that it relies on the same data again. and more importantly, we're beyond MDN, we're working with tools providers to integrate that as well. So I mentioned the, uh, visual Studio is one of them. So recently they shipped a new version where when you use a feature, you can, you can have some contextual, uh. [01:04:53] Francois: A menu that tells you, yeah, uh, that's fine. You, this CSS property, you can, you can use it, it's widely available or be aware this one is limited Availability only, availability only available in Firefox or, or Chrome or Safari work kit, whatever. [01:05:08] Jeremy: I think that's a good place to wrap it up, if people want to learn more about the work you're doing or learn more about sort of this whole recommendations process, where, where should they head? [01:05:23] Francois: Generally speaking, we're extremely open to, uh, people contributing to the W3C. and where should they go if they, it depends on what they want. So I guess the, the in usually where, how things start for someone getting involved in the W3C is that they have some
Sue Heilbronner, serial entrepreneur and conscious leadership executive coach, believes the strongest businesses are built when sales feel less like chasing and more like alignment. Joining Sarah Lockwood in this episode, she introduces the idea of “passionate ambivalence,” a values-based sales mindset that pairs genuine enthusiasm for your work with the ability to detach from any single outcome. How do you recognize when a client is the right fit? Sue points to conscious client qualification as the key. By asking clear, sometimes disqualifying questions, you invite the kind of honesty that builds trust from the very start. She also shares her perspective on pricing strategy, reminding entrepreneurs that protecting your time and holding your value are essential parts of sustainable growth. This episode invites you to reflect on your own sales mindset. Are you creating relationships rooted in clarity and confidence, or relying on pressure and persuasion? What would shift if you treated sales as a mutual process instead of a one-sided pitch? Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Radical Mindset Shift in Sales 02:07 Passionate Ambivalence Explained 04:15 Contrarian Sales Mindset vs. Traditional Selling 06:04 Never Ask for the Sale: Practical Examples 10:12 Startup Fundraising and Playing Small 15:08 Pricing Strategy and Early Sales Lessons 19:22 Fit Calls and Client Qualification 27:08 Overcoming Limiting Beliefs in Sales Connect with Sue Heilbronner: Hey Sue Connect with Sue on LinkedIn Connect with Sarah Lockwood: HiveCast Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur: The Conscious Entrepreneur Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast. Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Time kills all deals—but it doesn't have to. In this episode, you'll learn 7 tactical plays you can use right now to compress your sales cycle, keep momentum high, and close deals faster without being pushy.
In this episode of the Redefine Business Podcast, I chat with Lindsay Fletcher of Lindsay Fletcher Consulting about how to sell your offer with confidence and ease. We break down the difference between marketing and sales, explore buyer psychology, and share practical tips for turning conversations—whether in-person, via email, or through DMs—into sales without feeling pushy. Connect with Lindsay and her resources: Website: LindsayFletcher.co Facebook Community: Women in Business Community Free Sales Resource: Say This, Sell That Resources: The Meeting Place Membership Rock The Reels 1:1 Coaching Free Client Welcome Guide Additional Trainings and Resources Connect with Brittni: Follow me on the Gram - @brittni.schroeder Join my Facebook Group Visit my website Subscribe to my Youtube You can find the complete show notes here: https://brittnischroeder.com/podcast/mastering-sales-without-feeling-pushy-lindsay-fletcher
Does the thought of selling make you feel a bit uncomfortable? Today's guest will flip the way you think about sales and selling as a yoga teacher on its head and make you excited to go out there and start practicing how to sell. In this episode, we discuss: Sales as a spiritual practice Why it's essential and not at all sleezy Getting comfortable with selling your services The benefits of collaborations We even go through a sample sales script! At the end of this episode, we were talking about how we could have a whole conversation all about collaborations for yoga teachers, SO WE DID! Brytta invited me onto her new podcast, Yoga Entrepreneurship School, and we decided to release them together for a fun collab. After listening to this episode (it makes sense with the progression of our conversation), head to her podcast and listen to our chat too :). Links: Download the AI Prompt Workshop for Yoga Teachers and get more efficient output when working with AI: https://allmatstaken.com/resources Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AAYzlBzlr4A Connect with Adrianne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allmatstaken/ (new podcast account) Buy me a kombucha to support the show: https://fantastic-pioneer-1892.kit.com/products/support-the-podcast-tip-jar Check out Brytta's Website: https://www.bryttamoreira.com/ Connect with Brytta on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryttamoreira Listen to Yoga Entrepreneurship School Collaborations for Yoga Teachers Chat: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1CCX565esmQkYkIwTXgTO1?si=bda9df1d9e104201 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/yoga-entrepreneurship-school/id1824673993
"Do you have to ruin everything in life?" David Samson is no longer in the room where it happens, but he knows a thing or two about being in the room where it happens... and fraud. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why do some consultants and coaches land the strategic, bigger, higher-impact and higher-paying client engagements? Hint: it's not better sales or contracting skills. Pay close attention this episode where I'll share with you how to use the very skills that make you such an amazing consultant or coach (active listening, bringing order to chaos, relationship building) to shift your approach to landing clients from sales and contracting to partnership set up for greater impact and income. In this episode of Consulting Matters, I break down the essential shifts you need to make if you want to consistently land strategic client engagements without feeling pushy, manipulative, or “salesy.” What You'll Learn in This Episode Why giving clients what they ask for will keep you from strategic, high-paying engagements How to accelerate your shift from service provider to strategic partner, step by step (in a way that works with how your brain makes change) How to turn discovery meetings, proposals, and pricing from a source of stress into a foundation of influence Why It Matters If you're tired of chasing clients or feeling like you're stuck in a cycle of lower-paying work, this episode will help you reposition yourself for engagements that are more strategic, more rewarding, and more aligned with your expertise. Where to Dive In: (00:00) The Power of Partnership Setup(08:07) Service Provider to Strategic Partner Transition(15:37) Creating a Vision for Strategic Partnerships(20:17) Creating Vision for Client Relationships(30:18) Building Trust and Value With Clients(39:34) Mastering Strategic Consulting Skills Through Practice(46:32) Transitioning to Strategic Partner Roles(54:00) Embracing the Impact of Consulting Next Steps: Ready to master partnership setup and land more strategic client engagements? Check out my brand-new group coaching experience, the Impact and Income Accelerator. You'll learn how to position yourself for greater impact and income and help even hesitant clients see the rock-solid ROI of working with you.
In this episode of Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust, host Lindsay Dollinger embarks on a mission to reframe the concept of sales for women entrepreneurs. Lindsay uses analogies, such as planning a Disney World trip, to illustrate how sales can be a delightful extension of service, rather than an icky chore. She covers essential strategies, from social media engagement to storytelling via emails, to help listeners sell naturally and effectively. Lindsay also provides practical scripts for calls, DMs, and emails to ensure a seamless and authentic selling process. 00:22 The Power of Alliteration and September Themes 00:58 Reframing Sales as a Magical Experience 03:47 Effective Sales Strategies and Scripts 06:27 Inviting and Guiding Clients Authentically 08:20 Final Thoughts and Community Invitation Connect with Lindsay: Grab your FREE Travel Agent Marketing Starter Kit here:
⏳ Want to close more deals without coming off as “salesy”? It's all about creating urgency the right way. In this episode of The Level Up Podcast, Paul Alex breaks down how to get people off the fence and into action—without pressure tactics that kill trust. From leading with real value, to using deadlines authentically, to showing prospects the true cost of waiting, Paul reveals the strategies top entrepreneurs and sales pros use to close strong while keeping integrity intact. If you're tired of feeling like you're forcing the sale, this episode will teach you how to build urgency that feels natural, ethical, and effective.
If you hate sounding pushy, fake, or salesy… this is for you.I'll show you how to use these 7 methods of influence to close even more sales.Watch this new video: How to influence without being pushy.No sleaze. No tricks. Just real influence that feels natural and honest.I hope this helps you serve more people by being authentically you. P.S. Be a hero and share this on to your team. They'll thank you for it. P.P.S. My sales took off when I started being authentically me. I hope this video inspires you to be authentically you while applying these powerful principles of influence. I lead RSRA with the same philosophy. We empower each other to build profitable, future-proof companies by being authentic. Are you interested in joining us? https://www.rsra.org/join/=============FREE TRAINING CENTERhttps://theroofstrategist.com/free-training-centerJOIN THE ROOFING & SOLAR REFORM ALLIANCE (RSRA)https://go.rsra.org/join-podcastGET MY BOOKhttps://a.co/d/7tsW3Lx GET A ROOFING SALES JOBhttps://secure.rsra.org/find-a-job CONTACTEmail: help@roofstrategist.comCall/Text: 303-222-7133FOLLOW ADAM BENSMANhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSVx5TWX-m2dl6yuUVF05Dwhttps://www.facebook.com/adam.bensman/ https://www.facebook.com/RoofStrategist/ https://www.instagram.com/roofstrategist/ https://www.tiktok.com/@roofstrategist https://www.linkedin.com/in/roofstrategist/#roofstrategist #roofsales #d2d #solar #solarsales #roofing #roofer #canvassing #hail #wind #hurricane #sales #roofclaim #rsra #roofingandsolarreformalliance #reformers #adambensman
You know that gut-punch feeling when a consult feels like magic — she's nodding, laughing, vibing with you — and then… silence. No text, no email, just crickets.If you've ever replayed a consult in your head like a crime scene, wondering if you said something wrong or if it was “the price,” this episode is for you.We're breaking down why ghosting after a consult hurts so much for doulas (hint: it's personal, not just business), how to reframe silence so it doesn't wreck your confidence, and the simple shift that makes following up feel natural instead of desperate.Because here's the truth: the real magic of follow-up starts way before the consult ever happens. And when you learn how to do it with curiosity and care, it turns ghosting into genuine connection — and connection into clients.Struggling to grow your doula business? Tired of chasing pregnant mothers online? Imagine effortlessly attracting your dream clients and reaching the mamas you're meant to serve!? ⬇️ START HERE ⬇️FREE: Book Out Your Doula Calendar With These 3 Questions The Booked AF Doula Toolkit
Thanks for listening!I appreciate you taking the time to listen and subscribe to The Daily Sales Message. James====Got a specific Selling issue?Check out my actionable, affordable Practical Sales Training™ courses.Find it hard to communicate your offering?You might benefit from a Clear Sales Message™
With host retail coach Wendy Batten https://wendybatten.com/podcast-intro/ In This Episode: Struggling to improve retail staff sales training without turning your store into a pushy sales zone? You're not alone! Let's talk about it. In this episode, I'm sharing how independent retailers can flip the script from selling to serving—while boosting revenue. Learn how to build a positive sales mindset and create a sales culture in retail that feels good for everyone involved: for you, your staff, and your customers. Key Takeaways on Selling Confidently: Train your team to confidently engage customers without feeling “salesy” Shift from a pressure-based model to a service-first sales approach Create simple, effective strategies to support your staff's sales success Your Next Steps: Flip the Script Internally: Reframe sales as serving, not selling. Start using this language in team meetings. Train Your Staff with a Simple Framework using the 5-step approach highlighted in the episode. Practice Customer-Centered Language and coach confidence. Join the Retailer's Inner Circle! Related podcasts we think you'll like: Episode 252: Creating a Culture of Hospitality in Your Retail Business with Guest Expert Stephanie Miller Vincent Episode 266: Retail Growth Tips You Want to Try with Yarn Guru Cadence Kidwell Episode 268: Awesome Isn't Accidental: Raising the Retail Standards in Your Shop About your host, Wendy Batten In case we haven't met yet, I'm Wendy Batten, retail business coach and founder of the Retailer's Inner Circle. With over 30 years of experience running successful businesses, I now help independent shop owners grow profitably and sustainably—with more confidence and joy. I've had my own business columns in featured magazines, such as What Women Create and other top publications, worked with some of the top industry brands as retail care manager, and I've supported hundreds of retailers through coaching, speaking, my programs, and this podcast. For more support from Wendy Join Wendy's CEO Planning Session for Retailers Retailer's Inner Circle - Join Wendy inside the best retailer's community Free resources for shop owners Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG All of Wendy's current programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the Creative Shop Talk Podcast and get the tools, inspiration, and strategies you need to thrive as an independent retailer.Click here to subscribe to iTunes! Loved the episode? Leave a quick review on iTunes- your reviews help other retailers find my podcast, and they're also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!
You got the offer—now what? Chapters00:00 – Welcome to the Conscious Professional Podcast 00:52 – Why offer anxiety is normal (and what it signals) 01:38 – Signs you're ready for a bigger opportunity 02:27 – That moment when the job offer hits your inbox 03:12 – A real job offer story (and the inner conflict) 03:55 – When honesty and clarity feel uncomfortable 04:43 – Reframing negotiation: A new way to think about it 05:33 – It's not just about salary or benefits 06:24 – Why fear shows up during big transitions 07:09 – Negotiating without being pushy or awkward 07:54 – The “default yes” trap and how to avoid it 08:42 – You earned this offer—now own it 09:34 – Still feeling unsure? Start with these 2 questions 10:13 – The power of practicing your ask 10:58 – Ask these 2 questions before accepting an offer 11:48 – Why this negotiation strategy actually works 12:40 – Your ask signals clarity, strategy, and value 13:23 – A client story: Jess' turning point in negotiation 14:14 – What happens when you *do* ask 15:03 – Ready to stop guessing and start growing? 15:53 – Final thoughts and encouragement for your journeyIf you've ever felt awkward asking for more money, afraid to “mess it up,” or unsure how to even begin the conversation… this episode is for you. Renee Frey, executive recruiter and founder of TalentQ, is breaking down exactly what to say, how to say it, and why negotiating doesn't make you pushy—it makes you powerful. In this episode, you'll learn: What hiring managers actually expect when they extend an offer The psychology behind why we freeze up when it's time to negotiate Simple mindset shifts that make you feel confident and calm Exact scripts you can use for salary, PTO, and more A reflection exercise to help you get clear on what you really want Whether you're negotiating your first offer or your tenth, this is the episode that will change the way you advocate for yourself—starting today.
Have you ever wondered why some conversations effortlessly lead to a “yes,” while others fizzle out before they even begin? This episode is for you if you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Okay, I’ve got leads… now what?” Or if you’re putting out amazing content, getting engagement, but struggling to turn that attention into action—this is exactly where micro yeses come in. We’ll explore how to move someone from “Hi” to “I’m in” with simple, authentic techniques that align with who you are. These aren’t sales tricks—they’re human connection strategies based on how our brains are wired to say yes. So, if you’re ready to take the awkwardness out of follow-ups and finally feel confident guiding your prospects through the journey, grab your notebook—this episode is packed with golden nuggets. Let’s dive in! We’ll be talking about: ➡ [0:00] Introduction ➡ [4:13] Offer choices instead of open-ended questions ➡ [6:24] The assumptive close ➡ [8:00] Membership options explained (Accelerator, Academy, Inner Circle) ➡ [10:07] Use fear of missing out ethically ➡ [10:45] Time- or quantity-limited offers ➡ [12:42] Micro yeses and subconscious buying behavior ➡ [15:21] Confident pause and authority ➡ [16:45] The last person who speaks loses ➡ [21:35] Real-world application in parenting and life ➡ [24:50] Take ownership ➡ [26:45] Ask another question ➡ [28:34] Questions deepen connection and relevance ➡ [30:41] Recap of all tips ➡ [32:00] Final thoughts and how to implement Resources: Book: How to Listen by Oscar Trimboli: https://bit.ly/3Hp8L56 Free Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialmediafordirectsellerswithgregandsam/ Are you ready to keep growing? Learn more about joining the Auxano Family - https://go.auxano.global/welcome Connect with Direct Selling Accelerator: ➡ Visit our website: https://www.auxano.global/ ➡ Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DirectSellingAccelerator ➡ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxanomarketing/ ➡ Sam Hind’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/samhinddigitalcoach ➡ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auxanomarketing/ ➡ Email us: community_manager@auxano.global If you have any podcast suggestions or things you’d like to learn about specifically, please send us an email at the address above. And if you liked this episode, please don’t forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Are you ready to join the Auxano Family to get live weekly training, support and the latest proven posting strategies to get leads and sales right now - find out more here: lhttps://go.auxano.global/welcomeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join us as we sit down with our friends Mike, Michelle, and Harley for a few good tips, great laughs, and fun times.
In this episode, we help a caller explore how to balance persistence and pushiness in sales. She doesn’t want to be pushy, but she wants to close the deal! Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week. Show notes: SideHustleSchool.com Email: team@sidehustleschool.com Be on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questions Connect on Instagram: @193countries Visit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.com Read A Year of Mental Health: yearofmentalhealth.com If you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes.
If you want to learn more about The Expert Services Directory, click here: http://bit.ly/4f3ch1I Converting Corporates is the B2B sales event of the year for service based entrepreneurs, click here to join the waitlist for 2026! Join our weekly newsletter if you want to stay in touch with the latest B2B sales tips and techniques. Content Disclaimer The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article, video or audio are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article, video or audio. Jessica Lorimer disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Disclaimer: Some of these links are for products and services offered by the podcast creator.
How many new clients does your business need next quarter?
Recovery Recharged with Ellen Stewart: The Pushy Broad From The Bronx®
Today, we’re diving deep into the world of sober socializing, how to stay grounded during social events like parties, weddings, on vacations, and managing emotional triggers along the way. With questions submitted by people across the country, let’s explore these scenarios and challenges together!Watch: https://youtu.be/_Cqlc0tb1_8
Grab the free Teacher Biz Starter Guide at teacherbiz.com/start Struggling to write sales emails that don't make you cringe? This episode is here to help! Selling doesn't have to feel sleazy. In fact, when you shift your mindset, it can feel just as natural (and fulfilling!) as teaching. From reframing your emails as conversations to using storytelling and simple teaching moments, this episode gives tips to help you connect with your audience and sell with confidence. Learn how to highlight benefits over features, write emails your readers actually want to open, and boost your sales without sounding like a robot. Hit play and start writing emails that truly serve and sell!Key Takeaways:(02:25) Shifting your mindset; selling vs serving(04:00) How to use storytelling to sell authentically(08:00) What really converts; features vs. benefits(11:00) A simple challenge to get you startedConnect With Heather:teacherbiz.com/aboutinstagram.com/teacherbiz
Ray breaks down a real coaching scenario where an MSP salesperson lost a deal to an inferior provider despite proving compliance issues and security vulnerabilities. The prospect chose to give their current provider "one more chance" instead of switching to better service.//Welcome to Repeatable Revenue, hosted by strategic growth advisor , Ray J. Green.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Tired of pushy sales tactics? Discover how to master the art of selling high-value CFO advisory services without feeling sleazy as Michelle Weinstein takes the hot seat opposite Adam Lean, CEO of The CFO Project. We delve into strategies for financial professionals to communicate their value, overcome the fear of rejection, and build a thriving practice with high-paying clients. Michelle shares insights on creating empowering sales conversations and achieving work-life balance while teaching firm owners to charge premium fees and focus on value-based interactions. If you're ready to transform your approach to selling, and build the confidence to grow your business without compromising your integrity, this is a must-listen.
This week we welcome a new sponsor Discreet and dirty.com check out the link below. This week we talk about tags no one wants, Aggressive, Creeper and more. Perception is so key to these tags. Give the show and listen and tell us if you agree with us.https://www.basisdx.org?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=124&utm_campaign=z&utm_content=y&utm_term=xhttps://discreetdirtyco.com/http://www.motorbunny.comhttp://www.asnlifestylemagazine.comhttp://www.fullswapshop.comhttps://www.onlyfans.com/msamandakasbh: http://www.krazykasbh.com: http:// www.youtube.com/kasbhTwitter: @TruthKrazySupport the show
This week, horse expert Mark Langley gives advice to help with horses that can be particularly pushy or mouthy/ bite. Listen for training solutions to help improve boundaries with a mouthy horse without saying "no"; advice for a pushy yearling who doesn't want to return home and a horse that grabs hay. Mark offers a Value-Packed, affordable Online Membership Subscription for those keen to advance with his renowned techniques that are at the forefront of Emotive Training. 7 day free trial! Find out more: www.marklangley.com.au/join
Send us a textEver frozen up when you spotted your CEO at the company summer picnic? You know it could be THE moment to make a meaningful connection, but your brain goes blank. Should you talk about work? Keep it casual? Pretend you don't see them? If you've struggled with that awkward tension between wanting to network and not wanting to be "that person" who turns every summer gathering into a LinkedIn opportunity, this episode will change everything.What This Episode Is AboutThis episode reveals why summer is actually one of the best seasons for building meaningful professional relationships—and exactly how to do it authentically. Host Kele Belton breaks down her proven 3 R's Framework for Summer Networking, which helps ambitious women advance their careers without the hustle, sleaze, or awkwardness that typically come with traditional networking approaches.What You'll LearnIn this 20-minute episode, you'll discover:The 3 R's Framework: A simple system for building relationships without feeling pushy or opportunisticExact scripts and templates for reaching out naturally on LinkedIn and via text/emailThe strategic article share method that keeps you top-of-mind while providing genuine valueThe 2-text rule that prevents you from seeming desperate or overwhelming contactsSeptember follow-up strategies that turn summer connections into career opportunitiesHow to make valuable introductions that benefit everyone involvedA simple tracking system that prevents summer networking efforts from falling through the cracksPerfect for women in leadership roles, aspiring leaders, and anyone who wants to build authentic professional relationships that actually advance their career, especially if you're tired of networking that feels transactional or inauthentic.Connect with Kele for more leadership insights: Want to create your personalized networking strategy? Connect with Kele on social media or schedule your free leadership strategy call on her website.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kele-ruth-belton/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetailoredapproach/ Website: https://thetailoredapproach.com
How do you make back-of-the-room sales without being pushy?
Send us a textIn this episode, we kick off our July series, Email Marketing that Ministers and Converts. Alyssa shares how to consistently connect with your email list in a way that builds trust, encourages your audience, and reflects your faith — without feeling pushy or salesy.You'll learn:Why nurturing your list mattersHow to reframe email as ministryThe difference between nurturing emails and launch emailsWhat types of content keep you top of mindA simple email structure you can use right awayWhether you're an author, speaker, or coach, this episode will help you write emails that serve your audience and reflect your heart.
You're back from holidays (or the flu), the inbox is quiet, and suddenly you're wondering—“Where is everyone?”We've all been there. Life happens, you go quiet for a bit, and then the rebooking feels… weird. But it doesn't have to be. In this episode, we cover how to reconnect with clients after a break without overthinking it. You'll hear why waiting isn't a plan, how to invite clients back with simple, kind messages, and why your 2pm Thursday slot might be your new best friend. Don't overcomplicate it. I've created a downloadable PDF with email, SMS, and social media templates ready to go. It's short and sweet, just a few pages. Download it here: https://www.geraldineheadley.com/podcast-downloads.
Welcome to the Art of Value Whispering podcast Today, I'm diving into something I believe lies at the very heart of sustainable business growth—but that so often gets overlooked or oversimplified: your message. And more specifically, how the right message can quietly do the heavy lifting for you—helping you get noticed, attract aligned clients, and grow your business without the constant push, hustle, or getting stuck over-explaining yourself. Last week, I ran a poll on LinkedIn asking what people find hardest about attracting clients. The top answers? Getting noticed and explaining what I do. I hear this a lot—and I've been there myself. So today on the podcast, I'm sharing how to stop feeling stuck, and start shaping a message that reflects your true value—so that every time someone experiences you, they feel something meaningful. Join me in this episode to discover how to craft a message that doesn't just get attention, but builds trust, connection, and sustainable momentum in your business. “You don't have to change who you are to grow - you just need a message that reflects your true value and resonates with your dream clients.” - Melitta Campbell In this Week's Episode... You will discover: Why getting noticed isn't your real goal—and what to aim for instead How to identify your value sweet spot and use it to attract your dream clients The reason messaging struggles often stem from having too much expertise, not too little A simple mindset shift that helps you show up with more confidence, consistency, and ease What to expect in the upcoming Magnetic Messages Challenge
What do you do after a great message… and then silence? Most leaders lose momentum not because they don't know who to call, but because they don't know how to follow up when they don't get a response. In this episode of Recruiting Conversations, I break down my 7x7 follow-up framework, seven meaningful touches over seven weeks, and how to build a system that helps you stay consistent without ever feeling pushy. If you want to win at recruiting, you've got to stop chasing and start building trust over time. Episode Breakdown [00:00] Introduction – Why most recruiting efforts stall out after the first unanswered message. [01:00] Prospect Every Week – Block protected time to research and build your short list of 10–20 candidates. [02:00] Focus on Depth, Not Volume – Personalization wins. Transactional messages don't. [03:00] The 7x7 Framework – One value-based touch per week for seven weeks: Week 1: Affirmation message Week 2: No-pressure email introduction Week 3: 60-second video with perspective Week 4: Share a valuable resource Week 5: Silent call (register as a missed call) Week 6: Friendly text follow-up Week 7: Creative personal touch (e.g. voice memo, handwritten note, small gift) [06:00] Move to Nurture Mode – After week 7, slow the cadence but stay on the radar with light, regular touches. [07:00] Use a Tracking System – Don't manage follow-up in your head. Use a CRM, spreadsheet, or board to keep cadence consistent. [08:00] Train the Right Mindset – Recruiting isn't a sales cycle. It's a trust cycle, and trust takes time. Key Takeaways Follow-Up Is Where You Win – Great recruiting isn't about who you reach out to first. It's about how you show up after silence. Use a 7x7 Cadence – Seven weeks, seven touches, each adding value, not pressure. Be the Consistent One – When their world shifts, they'll remember who stayed in front of them without selling. Build the System – Set it and stay with it. A tracker turns good intention into real execution. Lead Your Team Into This – Coach your recruiters to play the long game, not the instant results game. The leaders who win at recruiting aren't sending more messages. They're sending better messages, on purpose, over time, with value. Want help building a personalized recruiting follow-up system for you or your team? Subscribe to my weekly email at 4crecruiting.com or book a session at bookrichardnow.com. Let's build your cadence, and your confidence.
“I just want what’s best for them.”That’s what every loving parent says. But sometimes, in our desperation to protect our kids from failure—or secure their success—we push too hard, and it backfires. In this conversation with psychologist and parenting expert Professor Wendy Grolnick, we explore the hidden costs of being a pushy parent and how to guide our children in healthier, more empowering ways. Drawing on decades of research and her landmark book The Psychology of Parental Control, Wendy shares practical, compassionate strategies that help parents avoid power struggles and build confident, capable kids.
Leadership Genius status cannot happen alone; it takes a team to make a great leader. SEASON 10 The Learning Leader Daily Leadership Tips and Discussions Thank you for listening. I'm Paul Grau Jr., the host of this show, and I'm excited about Season 10. We now have over 150 episodes in Season 10, and we will continue with the focus of “The Learning Leader” and/or as we refer to it here at The CLC Team, “The Expanding Leader. Every episode will primarily focus on the lifelong journey of expanding your knowledge of leadership, and I will try to give you a daily takeaway to put what you learn into action. My goal is that you learn something that you can take immediate action on and see how powerful expanding your leadership can be. Today we dive into the vault and go all the way back to Season 1. Enjoy this vintage episode! Here at The CLC Team, we work with Christian Business Owners to help them create a High Performing Team that thrives in all areas of life and produces higher performance, productivity, and profitability so they make a greater impact in the world. We are starting up a Brand New Podcast called “The High-Performing Team Podcast for Christian Business Owners” and it is now available on the links below (and wherever you listen to podcasts). Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-high-performing-team-podcast-for-christian/id1797855031 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/36a33c17-fa45-4392-9701-ec78e365b9e2/the-high-performing-team-podcast-for-christian-business-owners Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/71bhJNppqhTsmEjj0Rze0P
Selling doesn't have to feel pushy or awkward — in fact, it can feel natural and empowering with the right approach. In this episode, Sally walks you through a practical, step-by-step framework for leading high-converting sales calls that build trust from the very first “hello.” You'll learn how to start the conversation with warmth and confidence, ask for permission as you guide the call, and uncover your prospect's real pain points without ever feeling salesy. This call structure is designed to help you qualify leads, build rapport, and confidently decide whether someone is a true fit for your program — all while staying in alignment with your values and purpose. Stay Connected & Get Exclusive Access: Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins
Nikki Rausch shares her journey from working in her family's tool store to launching her own sales training business. She explores overcoming self-doubt, the power of strategic sales conversations, and how generosity and resilience shape her evolving definition of success.Making It! explores the lives and stories of entrepreneurs as they share their unique perspectives on their success and the path to making it.“Most people are one question away from hiring you. And you have to give them the opportunity to ask you the question.” — Nikki RauschGuest Bio:CEO of Sales Maven, Nikki Rausch has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of “selling.” With 25+ years of experience selling to prestigious organizations like The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and NASA, Nikki shattered sales records and received “top producer” awards along the way.Today, entrepreneurs and small business owners hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically. An engaging speaker, she shares the secrets of her sales success through keynote speeches and business-changing workshops. Her robust Sales Maven Society ignites game-changing outcomes for clients.Nikki has written three books, all available on Amazon. And she has a podcast called “Sales Maven,” which you can find on your favorite podcast platform.Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:MiraseeNikki's website: YourSalesMaven.comFree training for podcast listeners: Seal The Deal: Questions That Close SalesCredits:Producer: Michi LantzEditor: Michi LantzAudio Editor: Marvin del RosarioExecutive Producer: Danny InyMusic Soundscape: Chad Michael SnavelyMaking our hosts sound great: Home Brew AudioMusic credits:Track Title: The Sunniest KidsArtist Name: Rhythm ScottWriter Name: Scott RoushPublisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONTrack Title: Sweet Loving WaltzArtist Name: Sounds Like SanderWriter Name: S.L.J. KalmeijerPublisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONTrack Title: IslanderArtist Name: Simon FolwarLicense code: IDEZOXF1YZIT3FTHPublisher Name: UppbeatTrack Title: FreedomArtist Name: SondaLicense code: KQ9HONJDUS73EZKRPublisher Name: UppbeatTrack Title: PendingArtist Name: Monument MusicLicense code: VBB2CJFHDMZXGRVTPublisher Name: UppbeatTrack Title: The Story BeginsArtist Name: Pecan PieLicense code: AD2O7TA7DWVNUZLXPublisher Name: UppbeatSpecial effects credits:24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market.To catch the great episodes coming up on Making It, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channelor your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.Episode transcript: Confident Sales Without Feeling Pushy (Nikki Rausch).
If you've been told never to sell in your welcome email, think again. In the latest episode of The Blogger Genius Podcast, I sat down with email marketing expert Kylie Kelly, who shares a powerful, unconventional strategy: selling in your very first email. And guess what? It works. If you're trying to grow your email list, convert subscribers into customers, and make sales without waiting weeks or months, this post is for you. Show Notes: MiloTree Kylie Kelly AI Ebook Prompt Generator Free Canva ebook template AI Freebie Prompt Generator Email Sales Templates Join The Blogger Genius Newsletter Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group Subscribe to the Blogger Genius Podcast: YouTube iTunes Spotify Why Most Creators Get Email Wrong A common myth in email marketing is that you need to “warm up” your audience before making any offer. Kylie calls this out. Why wait, she asks, when your new subscriber is most engaged right now—immediately after signing up for your freebie? This is the moment they're most open to hearing from you. They've just said, “Yes, I trust you.” So why not show them exactly how you can help? Here's What to Do Instead Kylie breaks it down simply: ✅ Send a single, value-packed welcome email Instead of a 5-part welcome sequence, Kylie delivers the freebie and introduces herself and sells—all in the same email. ✅ Include your offer in the PS She doesn't hit people over the head with it. She simply adds a quick, “P.S. I also have this membership—check it out if you're ready to go deeper.” That's it. And it converts. ✅ Follow up with a short nurture sequence After that first email, she sends a few value-packed emails that build trust and explain the benefits of her offer. This works because it's honest, direct, and respects the reader's time. Want to Build Your Email List Fast—Without Social Media? You don't need a huge following or a complicated funnel to grow your list.
Have you ever wondered why your Instagram content gets love from other doulas—but silence from the pregnant and postpartum moms you actually want to serve?In this episode, we will cover:The content mistakes most birth workers make that repel inquiries—and the simple doula marketing strategy shift that changes everything!Why your doula content ideas are speaking to your peers instead of potential clients—and how to refocus your message to magnetize your dream moms.How to position yourself as the go-to birth worker by creating trust-building content that leads directly to doula inquiries and sales. … and a whole lot more!If you're ready to finally create strategic, soul-aligned content that attracts pregnant and postpartum women ready to hire you, then this episode is for you!
Pushy roommates are the worst. Katherine's are stubborn and demanding… but they're also dead and disembodied. And she doesn't know how to get rid of them.Thank you, Katherine, for sharing your story with us! If you like cooking as much as supernatural storytelling, check out Katherine's amazing project, No Cookbook Left Behind.Produced by Chris Hambrick, original score by Doug Stuart, artwork by Teo Ducot.
Pushy passengers – we'll all come across them. The people who get up the minute the plane lands and race to the front in a bid to get off the flight first... they've been dubbed ‘aisle lice'.It seems that airlines are cracking down on bad behaviour on board, and now Turkey's Civil Aviation Authority have announced they will be fining impatient passengers skipping the queue and standing up before the airplane officially comes to a stop at the gate.Joining Seán to tell more is Consumer Journalist Siobhan Maguire.
Tune in for an exciting announcement! You'll also learn how to: ► Refine your marketing message ► Stand out from competition online ► Convert more of your ideal prospects (authentically) If you want to authentically grow your practice while staying true to who you are, you'll enjoy this episode. *** CRAVING MORE MARKETING CONTENT? Check out the Advisor Marketing Made Simple podcast! Every Wednesday, we discuss successful marketing strategies in a simple, relatable, and practical way. We also feature real advisors on-air, troubleshooting their marketing challenges and providing solutions LIVE, so you can learn from real-world examples. Whether you're new to the industry or a seasoned veteran, each episode will help you improve your marketing and grow your business—without the guesswork or frustration.
Performers often hear they have to “network to get work,” but how can they do so without it feeling awkward, forced or just plain transactional? In this episode, host Duncan Crabtree-Ireland talks with performer-producer and SAG-AFTRA NextGen Performers Committee Vice Chair Rudy Solis III about building genuine relationships in the industry. From union events to everyday encounters, Rudy shares mindset shifts and practical tips to help performers connect with confidence. *The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organization or SAG-AFTRA. Any mention of products or services does not imply endorsement.
Ever wonder how some people effortlessly build powerful networks, while you're still stuck in surface-level small talk? In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend and publicity powerhouse Selena Soo to spill the secrets behind creating rich relationships — the kind that skyrocket your dreams, expand your inner circle, and nourish your soul.We dive into Selena's signature Six Circles of Connection framework, why introverts can be relationship ninjas, and how to set boundaries with grace (no ghosting required!). Whether you're an entrepreneur, creative, or just craving deeper connections, this episode will shift how you show up in every relationship you have.What you'll get out of this episode… Why building deep, aligned relationships matters more than ever right nowThe secret framework to help you sort your friendships (without guilt)How to ask for what you want — endorsements, collaborations, support — without feeling ickyHow to navigate awkward boundaries and requests with eleganceWhen it's time to forgive… and when it's time to let goWhy your personal growth is the foundation for building your dream networkHow to stop self-sabotaging your relationships and become a magnet for connectionKey Timestamps00:00 – Welcome, fam! Let's talk rich relationships & why you need them03:14 – Selena shares her intention card to set the vibe04:33 – Why you don't need to be an extrovert to build an incredible network06:09 – Breaking down Selena's Six Circles of Connection (this is
Welcome to Loan Officer Leadership, your #1 podcast for Loan Officers who are looking for structure and success. What if just $5 a day could keep your name in front of every past client and referral partner—without annoying anyone? In this episode, your host, Steve Kyles is joined by targeted ad strategist Chelsea Gardner to break down how loan officers can stay top of mind using low-budget, high-impact Facebook and Instagram ads. You'll learn: • Why most LOs lose business from past clients without knowing it • How to humanize your ads with lifestyle content that converts • The simple formula for rotating fresh ads that people actually engage with • How to use “Dynamic Creative” inside Meta to find what works best • What kind of content gets the most response (and how to generate it with ChatGPT) Whether you're just getting started or looking to level up your ad game, this episode will show you how to farm your list the right way—and make your marketing work on autopilot. Want hands-on help? Visit fullyalignedmarketing.com to grab one of Chelsea's limited private coaching spots. Don't forget to subscribe to the Loan Officer Leadership Podcast so you'll never miss an episode!
FOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS: Position yourself as a partner, not a decision-maker, during negotiations. Frame your CFO or leadership as the final approver to deflect pressure and control the conversation Use a sliding scale for discounts based on timeline. Offer steeper discounts for faster signatures to create urgency without arbitrary end-of-month pressure Steer discovery and demos toward problems that matter. Don't get stuck solving small issues—recommend workflows tied to real business impact and executive priorities Drive deal velocity without discounting by pre-scheduling the implementation call. Lock in post-sale steps early to create natural pressure toward closing PATH TO PRESIDENT'S CLUB: Head of Sales, Unified GTM Strategic Accounts, Lattice Enterprise Account Executive, Lattice Mid-Market Account Executive, Lattice Business Development Representative, Lattice RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal
On this episode of Nemo Radio, I'm sharing powerful sales psychology secrets that completely transformed my approach to handling objections - and help me scale to 7 figures in revenue as a result.After logging countless hours in the sales chair over the past decade, I've discovered that most objections aren't really about the surface-level reasons people give you.When a prospect says "I'll hire you once I make more money" or "I need to talk to my spouse first," there's almost always something deeper going on.During this episode, I'll reveal the specific psychological techniques I use to get past these initial "no" responses - without ever coming across as pushy or aggressive.I'll also share a (painful!) personal story about how I lost $45,000 USD on Facebook ads and what this taught me about handling objections around risk and guarantees.What You'll Discover: