In this episode of Marketing Without Rules, Lewis Vandervalk sits down with Kasim Aslam, serial entrepreneur who built and sold Solutions Eight (the world's #1 ranked Google Ads agency) for eight figures to a SoftBanc-backed company. 

Kasim reveals why most service business owners struggle with hiring and retention, sharing his counterintuitive approach that peak performers care more about growth than compensation once financially satisfied. He walks through his proven 7-step hiring system that has helped him build six multimillion-dollar businesses, including how to create job postings that attract top talent, implement "flytraps" to filter thousands of applicants down to the best candidates, and run trial projects that reveal true performance before making hiring decisions. 

Kasim introduces his "Black Box Delegation" framework for managing high performers without micromanaging, explaining why the traditional approach of trying to "retain" top talent is backwards, instead focusing on creating a flywheel that benefits from peak performers while they're with you. 

The conversation also covers the emerging field of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and how local service businesses can leverage authority-based content strategies. Throughout the episode, Kasim emphasizes treating employees as "miracles" rather than commodities, sharing real examples from his agency where individual employees managed 40% of revenue and became millionaires through equity partnerships.

Get Kasim's Free Hiring Book: https://thehirebook.com/#section-IHYOSLuNCP

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Marketing Without Rules

02:24 Kasim's background: From $100M Google Ads agency to serial entrepreneur

04:17 The power of collecting books as "traps for future learning"

07:17 Why service business owners struggle with hiring and delegation

12:45 The Pareto Principle in hiring: Finding your 20% peak performers

18:30 Why peak performers choose growth over compensation

22:15 The flywheel approach to top talent retention

25:19 Step 1-2: Mindset shift and creating irresistible job postings

27:19 Step 3: Distribution strategy for maximum applicant flow

29:08 Step 4-5: Flytraps and trial projects to filter candidates

35:00 Step 6: Interview techniques that prevent future complaints

37:09 Step 7: Onboarding for peak performance from day one

40:45 The Black Box Delegation framework

44:49 Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for local service businesses

48:33 Final thoughts and resources

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