---
title: John Warrillow, Create Automatic Customers With Content Marketing
description: John Warrillow has built multiple companies and sold them for millions. Now he teaches entrepreneurs how to create automatic customers with content marketing so you can build a company that is worth selling, even if you don't want to sell it. Tune in to learn how to build a valuable business.
image: https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Sales%20Books/Built-to-Sell.jpg
---

[Skip to content](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing#main-content)

[![Wes Schaeffer is The Sales Whisperer®](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/wes-header-lockup.png?width=1560&height=360&name=wes-header-lockup.png)](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/)

- Work With Me
  
  Show submenu for Work With Me 
  
    - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever)
    - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank)
    - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak)
    - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix)
    - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start)
    - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog)
    - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily)
- [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker)
- [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)
  
  Show submenu for Podcast 
  
    - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests)
- [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about)

Open main navigation

Close main navigation

- Work With Me
  
  Show submenu for Work With Me 
  
    - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever)
    - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank)
    - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak)
    - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix)
    - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start)
    - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog)
    - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily)
- [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker)
- [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)
  
  Show submenu for Podcast 
  
    - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests)
- [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about)
- [Take the Scorecard](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/score)

[Take the Scorecard](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/score)

 Jun 11, 2018

# John Warrillow, Create Automatic Customers With Content Marketing

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer)

Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing)

## Build your company to sell it...because eventually, you will

<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/4wJa5Ccehl35SvuumAQVkW?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>

 

***[\[ LISTEN NOW ON APPLE PODCASTS \]](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sales-whisperer-wes-schaeffer-hosts-the-sales-podcast/id655310847?mt=2)***

## [Sales Tips](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) you'll learn in [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)...

- He had a graphic design small business and was doing everything on his own without leveraging content marketing or systems
- He was told his business was worthless because it was dependent upon him (25 years ago)
- For your business to be valuable, it must be valuable without you
- We think top-line / bottom-line are key, which keeps us on the hamster wheel
- You need to narrow your focus so you can create training programs for your staff and remove yourself from the equation
- Use TVR 
    - **Teachable**—can I teach it to my team?
    - **Valuable**—is it valuable coming from me? 
          - Commodities are not valuable
    - **Repeatable**—how often do customers need to buy it?
    - Find one with the ability to sell

> Ask your customers "why do you buy from us?"

- Companies make a "build vs buy" decision when they look at buying you
- When you have all the money in the world like McDonald's you can add another revenue stream
- It's not easy to build a subscription but it's worth it
- Recurring revenue drives value 
    - Security companies have installation and monitoring revenue
    - You'll get 75 cents on the dollar for every installation dollar of revenue but you'll get $2 per every monitoring dollar
- How a chiropractor can create a subscription model
- Stop thinking, "I'll make my money when I sell," only to find out they created a job for themselves. Pull your money out as you go.
- Moved to a syndicated research model and sold it to what is now Gartner
- Six different forms of recurring revenue 
    - Simple consumables like coffee
    - Sunk money consumables like a Keurig machine
    - Subscription revenue
    - Sunk money subscriptions like the Bloomberg terminal for traders who also pay for the subscripption
    - Auto-renewal—in perpetuity with a storage facility like Iron Mountain
    - Contract revenue is the best—CRM [HubSpot](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-crms) subscriptions, etc. 

**Related Articles:**

- [Repurpose Your Content Marketing To Grow Sales](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/ana-hoffman)
- **[The Two Key Entrepreneurial Skills You Need Now](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/two-key-entrepreneurial-skills-you-need-now/)**
- **[Become a Black Belt in Inbound Marketing With Stephan Kesting](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/stephan-kesting)**

[![Score My Pipeline](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/443614/interactive-178194433547.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKSWzPWcSIXlBYFqGB9uXc8kSpU%2F3cvNloIhuYolH1uy3NP5ac8f0RZedA9ap9qqL76ElGzHrfhpJclkaB2SPP5z8iOXaGjpgQqhIZ4eAgef6kwQ8njYY9lwkq4iYhpHVNvKWpMBis3FH6u%2B1sUkXVhRrIarTiNT0R5xi84eSV1Eqm02zwp&webInteractiveContentId=178194433547&portalId=443614)

## [Sales Growth Tools](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/inner-circle) Mentioned In The Sales Podcast

- [Use These Tools To Grow](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-crms)
- [The Sales Agenda](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/joy-stress): take control of every sales opportunity like a pro.

**GUEST INFO:**

- Get John Warrillow's Books on Amazon 
    - [Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You](https://amzn.to/2LEqmEQ)
    - [The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry](https://amzn.to/2kvC740)
    - [Drilling for Gold: How Corporations Can Successfully Market to Small Businesses](https://amzn.to/2JtCtac)
    - [3 Minute Summary of Built to Sell Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow (thimblesofplenty 3 Minute Business Book Summary Series 1)](https://amzn.to/2JR6i3Q)
- Visit [Built To Sell](http://www.builttosell.com/)
- Visit The Value Builder System and take the free quiz 
    - Average score is a 59 (3.5x their pre-tax profit)

**PODCAST INFO:**

- Podcast website: [https://open.spotify.com/show/50j6rJ83PSXvNpLEa8pCnd?si=fa035874b8a14d1e](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)
- Apple Podcasts: [https://apple.co/3PeYzKL](https://apple.co/3PeYzKL)
- Spotify: [https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8](https://open.spotify.com/show/3rOqeGLXnniKOcCj5ZyftX)
- [YouTube Full Episodes](https://www.youtube.com/saleswhisperer)

**SUPPORT & CONNECT:** Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast

- Twitter: [https://x.com/fixerwes](https://x.com/fixerwes)
- Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/fixerwes](https://www.instagram.com/fixerwes)
- LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## Related posts

[![Build Extraordinary Teams With Juliana Stancampiano — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-29471159.jpg?height=200&name=pexels-29471159.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/juliana-stancampiano)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## [Build Extraordinary Teams With Juliana Stancampiano](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/juliana-stancampiano)

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) 

 Mar 25, 2019

How to build great teams .

[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/juliana-stancampiano)

[![Make Money with Membership Sites and Micah Mitchell — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-1888014.jpg?height=200&name=pexels-1888014.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/membership-sites-micah-mitchell)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## [Make Money with Membership Sites and Micah Mitchell](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/membership-sites-micah-mitchell)

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) 

 Apr 25, 2016

Micah decided to integrate Keap CRM and WordPress to sell membership services under the SaaS model....

[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/membership-sites-micah-mitchell)

[![Sebastian Rusk Shows: How To Stop Sucking At Social Media — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-5993648.jpg?height=200&name=pexels-5993648.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/sebastian-rusk)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## [Sebastian Rusk Shows: How To Stop Sucking At Social Media](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/sebastian-rusk)

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) 

 Aug 20, 2014

About Today's Guest onThe Sales Podcast Sebastian Rusk had a daughter at 22 and

[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/sebastian-rusk)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Wes Schaeffer",
    "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-07-11T21:30:37.966Z",
  "datePublished" : "2018-06-11T12:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "John Warrillow, Create Automatic Customers With Content Marketing",
  "image" : [ "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Sales%20Books/Built-to-Sell.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/john-warrillow-content-marketing",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/wes-header-lockup.png"
    },
    "name" : "Fixer Wes"
  }
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#organization",
  "@type" : "Organization",
  "founder" : {
    "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#wes"
  },
  "legalName" : "TSW Group, Inc.",
  "logo" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%20The%20Business%20Fixer%20white.png"
  },
  "name" : "The Sales Whisperer®",
  "sameAs" : [ "https://www.instagram.com/fixerwes", "https://x.com/fixerwes", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/", "https://www.youtube.com/@TheSalesWhispererWes" ],
  "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#website",
  "@type" : "WebSite",
  "name" : "The Sales Whisperer®",
  "potentialAction" : {
    "@type" : "SearchAction",
    "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string",
    "target" : {
      "@type" : "EntryPoint",
      "urlTemplate" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/search?term={search_term_string}"
    }
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#organization"
  },
  "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#wes",
  "@type" : "Person",
  "alternateName" : "The Sales Whisperer",
  "image" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/wes-suit-forward.jpeg",
  "jobTitle" : "Founder",
  "name" : "Wes Schaeffer",
  "sameAs" : [ "https://www.instagram.com/fixerwes", "https://x.com/fixerwes", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/", "https://www.youtube.com/@TheSalesWhispererWes" ],
  "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about",
  "worksFor" : {
    "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#organization"
  }
}
```