November 27, 2024Suneet welcomes Kasim Aslam, a trailblazing entrepreneur renowned for building high-revenue service agencies, including the largest Google Ads agency in the world. Together, they dive into actionable strategies for scaling businesses by leveraging international talent, with a focus on hiring top-tier professionals from emerging markets like Latin America. Kasim reveals the immense value of founder-led branding, shares why podcast guesting is a powerful yet underutilized marketing tool, and introduces Pareto Talent, his innovative venture connecting businesses with world-class executive assistants. Packed with insights on business growth, digital marketing, and operational optimization, this episode delivers game-changing strategies for ambitious entrepreneurs.
Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – A Powerful Introduction to Growth Strategies
- 00:00:15 – Meet Kasim Aslam: The Mastermind Behind 8-Figure Successes
- 00:00:50 – How Driven Mastermind Redefines Business Growth
- 00:01:19 – Secrets to Building and Selling 8-Figure Agencies
- 00:03:21 – Unlocking the Full Potential of Mastermind Membership
- 00:08:37 – Podcast Guesting: The Ultimate Marketing Hack
- 00:14:17 – Why Local Podcasts Hold Hidden Opportunities
- 00:17:31 – Be Useful: A Blueprint for Entrepreneurial Success
- 00:18:26 – Unlocking Global Talent to Power Your Growth
- 00:20:21 – The Pareto Principle: The Key to Team Building
- 00:22:47 – Elevate Your Operations with International Employees
- 00:26:20 – Navigating Cultural Differences for Business Success
- 00:27:44 – Seizing Opportunities in Emerging Markets
- 00:31:23 – Final Thoughts and a Look Toward the Future
Links and Resources:
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Episode breakdown: podcast guesting and hiring international talent
Kasim Aslam built the largest dedicated Google Ads agency in the world and sold it in October 2022. He also co-owns the Driven mastermind and runs Pareto Talent, which trains and places executive assistants. On his return visit with Suneet Agarwal, he makes the case for two things most real estate teams underuse: appearing on other people’s podcasts, and hiring skilled people outside the United States for real work.
Treat podcast guesting as your best traffic source
Kasim, who sees a lot of paid ad spend, calls podcast guesting the biggest opportunity in traffic. Paid views are measured in seconds. A podcast listener may stay with you for an hour or more, and because most shows are niched, that listener is already the kind of person you want to reach. Even a dozen people hearing your full message is worth more than it sounds, and it costs nothing.
He told Suneet he had done four podcasts the day before. Getting booked is easier than people expect. Kasim says most podcasts are accessible, and writing a book or doing something mildly notable helps. Once you’ve been on three shows, you can point to them and new hosts treat you as vetted. The episodes also keep working, since he still gets traffic from appearances that are years old.
Go out, be a good podcast guest. Give first, give last, give more.
Kasim Aslam
His one rule for the appearance itself is to give the full answer. Holding back half of it and pointing listeners to a QR code undercuts the trust the format builds.
Go after local shows as an agent
Suneet translated the idea for agents. Sacramento, where he lives, has local podcasts about sports teams, things to do downtown and parents’ groups, and those hosts would welcome a local agent. Kasim’s condition is that the agent has to know their market: builders, neighborhoods, schools, interest rates and why things are slow.
He pointed to his own agent in Phoenix, who sends him news about restaurants opening nearby. To Kasim, that’s the job.
The realtor can be the community hub if they choose to.
Kasim Aslam
Put a founder’s face on the brand and post daily
Kasim argues that in small business every brand needs a face and a voice. If the owner won’t be that person, they need to find someone who will stick around, because competitors are willing to show up. He praised Suneet’s content for sounding like Suneet rather than an over-produced audition.
Suneet’s baseline for any agent who says they need more leads is to post on social media once a day. Kasim noted that it takes about 10 minutes.
Hire internationally for knowledge work, not just grunt work
When Kasim sold his agency, he had almost 100 employees and six of them were in the United States. He says many entrepreneurs outsource only low-level tasks and keep all the knowledge work at home. His own assistants grew into senior roles.
My first EA became my director of automations. My second EA became my director of social.
Kasim Aslam
His third assistant became his CTO and managed the sale of the business. Today his personal CFO is an economics professor in Argentina. Kasim’s view is that there’s nothing more expensive than a cheap employee, so he recruits for quality, pays more than people would earn locally, offers flexible remote schedules and gives them meaningful work. Suneet credited Kasim with widening his own view beyond the Philippines. Kasim favors Latin America because it’s close to U.S. time zones, and suggested Canada’s smaller cities for friendly customer service roles.
Give your best people room instead of flattening them
Kasim says output inside any company is lopsided, with a small number of people producing most of the results. At his agency, one employee managed 40 percent of the revenue. His warning is that many businesses try to spread that load out to reduce risk, which pulls everyone toward average.
He would rather give strong people autonomy and skip the micromanagement, such as screenshotting desktops or making them clock in and out. If someone doesn’t work out, he moves on quickly.
Key takeaways for team leaders
- Pitch yourself to local podcasts. Their audiences are targeted, they listen for a long time, and it’s free.
- Give complete answers on air instead of teasing the rest behind a link.
- Know your market well enough to act as the community hub: builders, schools, rates and what’s opening in town.
- Be the face of your brand and post once a day.
- Hire international talent for skilled roles, pay well and give them meaningful work.
- Let your top performers carry more instead of flattening the team to average.
