Carl Gould #70secondCEO

No Seminar Teaches You What to Do After You Hit Your Goals Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  And you don't wait until you sell, but a lot of people do, unfortunately. All the seminars are about how to get my goals. You know, how do I pursue a goal? Well, nobody told you what to do when you get them. You know, how many times... The easiest way to see this is to see it in sport every single day. It won't matter. Pick your sport. One team gets out to a big lead, and then what happens? And they're like, I go into the prevent defense, or I get complacent or I put in the wrong people. Because no one told you what to do with a big lead. And then the announcers are like, oh, they're going to pull their players. We should rest them now. No, no, you keep doing what got you the lead when you have a lead. Because if you do that, your lead will expand, and then no one will catch you. But what do they do? They forget themselves when they get a lead and the other team catches right up. And you're like, how do they let that happen? I mean, it happens every day because there is no class to what do you do when I get my goals? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 When You've Built Yourself Out of a Job Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  One of the things I learned very early on in my coaching training and when I, I started out my career as a life coach. One of the first things that we learned was that the two top areas of distress you will deal with the client is number two, which is I have a goal. I know what the goal is. I just don't know how to get there, you know, and I need help and I lack the strategy and, you know, maybe the education or the attributes, or there's something that's missing. Help me fill the blanks. And, you know, and that's the number two distress. The number one distress is answering the question. Now what? So I've hit my goals. I've gotten the things that I set out to get, but I now don't know what to do with myself. That's the number one distress. And so what we need to do is we need to step back from the business for a moment and create their life plan because the business, as you said, is tied to their identity. It's tied to their feeling of self-worth. You know, what do you need me for now? Well, in the business, maybe nothing, or in the business, maybe just your insights and your history, some legacy knowledge, but no, we don't need you for the business. Why? Not because you're not needed. It's because you trained us really well. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

I Accept Your Resignation Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   As an owner, not everybody's going to come with you and they don't want to. So stop trying to drag them along. Get used to this. I know it's hard, Ed, and you and I talk about this. It's a hard expression to say as an owner. You don't like to say it, but when somebody's giving you the, I think it's time to go, just say this. I accept your resignation. I accept your, and like some of them out there are like, no, take it out, right? Just let them go. They don't want to be here. And they probably stayed longer because of their lawyer, but they're miserable. Let them go. Tell them we're a better company for you being here. Let's stay friends. I'll still invite you over for Thanksgiving. You can come to the company picnic, but let's go. Well, we got to get you another job somewhere else because you hate it here, you know, and they'll be all the happier, but just have the expectation that people are going to serve you for a window of time. They are not going to serve you after that. And then it's time to move on. I know it's hard because you build trust and relationship and loyalty and all that, and that's all still present, but they're just not ready for the job anymore. And they don't want to be there. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

To Grow and Scale, Commitment Is Non-Negotiable Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   A lifestyle business, convenience and comfort will be the champion. And so they'll come back, and they'll say, ah, this growth is uncomfortable. You need to be committed if you're going to grow and scale. It's one of the world's greatest challenges, and it's almost one of the world's greatest rewards. If you can get a business to scale, you are unfairly and exponentially rewarded because you're in the top 4% of all businesses. You get the 10 million or more, you're less; it's less than 1% of businesses on the planet are over 10 million in US equivalent, $10 million. So you are unfairly rewarded if you get the $10 million or more and you know, you get market share, you don't always deserve and you get, you know, you get the benefit of the doubt when you don't always deserve, and you know, your brand kicks in and all those things, but you gotta be committed. And there's, you know, it's a graveyard between one and 10 million because you've gotten to that point and you figure, okay, and I'm like, no, no, it's time to turn the jets on again. There's no jet back there. There wasn't before, but that was 20 years ago. So it's, I do feel for business owners because they really, really thought they, once they got to a certain point, they can coast and they realize that you don't always have to work harder, but you do have to be more clever. You have to have intellectual property. Your how has to be as compelling as your why, you know, how you do things, your secret sauce, your differentiation. There are elements that you need to put in place or you're simply another me to a business that can be ripped off way too easily. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

You Can Always Out Hustle Somebody Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  That's why business in many ways, especially in the entrepreneurial world, I love it so much because you really do get out what you put in and you can out-hustle somebody. They can be better at what you do, but you could beat them on that day because I can get to that networking event five minutes before you, I can stay 10 minutes later. I can get that extra business card. I can get you, you know, and there's always someone who's watching you that says, Hmm, I think I could do it a little better. I can automate this. I can add a system there. I can put a little tweak on it, and I can do an end around, and I can get you. So we hear that all the time. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Comfort Over Commitment Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  In the lifestyle business and in many businesses, convenience wins out over commitment. You know, comfort wins out over commitment. Growth is insanely hard. It's relentless. And I get, this is the question I get all the time. So I get a client, a CEO, and they're 40 plus, which means they've been at this 10 years or more. And at some point, cause they're always embarrassed to ask some point, they'll pull me aside and they'll say, um, um, when does it get easier? Like, when does it, like, I've been at this a decade. I've been at this for 20 years. I've been doing this stuff. Like at what point do, uh, does, do my close rates go up? Do the leads, like, does the brand kick in and people come to us, and I'm like, oh, you want the date? I got it. I said, never, never. I said, it doesn't get any easier. This is a competitive sport, you know, and everyone's out for your job, and it becomes more and more sophisticated and complicated to get the same result going forward. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

A Non-Family CEO Might Be the Healthiest Hire You Make  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  Best of all worlds, if that's the case. If you can get that CEO to take the job because they, in all seriousness, they'll come in and if they're a pro, they've been through situations like this, and they kind of know family dynamics. But if you can get that person who knows the dynamics and can come in and run the business, it's the best of all worlds because they're emotionally neutral. They don't get caught up in the Thanksgiving day baggage, the Easter or Hanukkah or family dinners. And they'll be invited to the barbecue now and again, but they're optional, they're not mandatory and they can be a good voice of reason. And so from that standpoint, that's a very healthy hire. That's a really good point. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

You Can't Be Both President and CEO Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   And I love this, when I see this in email signatures and I tell my clients, I'm like, you gotta stop this because it shows you don't know what the role is. I love it when a small business owner says, I'm president, CEO, and founder. I said, those are two different, like the president and CEO are two totally different jobs. I said, the CEO is much more of the ambassador, sovereign, face of the company role. President is a lot more tactical. So if you're gonna be CEO, and there's no way around that, then let's hire a president. Let's hire a president, they'll run the day-to-day or make them COO or VP of ops or something along those lines, GM, managing director, managing partner, something along those lines. But get somebody in here who knows how to run the business because you can. And that's a hard pill to swallow, but if they're bringing in somebody to give them guidance, there's a part of them that knows it's true. They just don't know how to exit gracefully with dignity and also reassure the company that they're on a good trajectory. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

The Chances Your Kids Want The Family Business Is Low  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  Conversation with a good friend recently, well, a few years ago. He was talking about his three sons and two, these two are coming into the business. And I had met the two, I'd never met the third, and I said, about the second, I said, there is zero chance he will come into the business. Zero. He's like, oh no, I've already talked to him and we've assigned him a role. I said, he's saying yes to appease his dad and his mom, but he will do it. And I said, I guarantee, I said, this one is so easy. There is no chance he wants part of this business. And it's got nothing to do with anything else, but he's just not passionate about it. And his interests lie in other areas, and it's just never gonna be this business. And that was a hard pill to swallow because the parents forever were positioning this business as a legacy multi-generation business, and as more options for what you can do in your life evolve, like, I hate to say it, but when you and I were younger, there weren't as many options. And there were like 10 things you could be. Well, today, there's 10 things you can be today. Tomorrow, there are 10 more things you can be or do. So, with technology and remote working, I mean, forget it. There's so many varied interests. The chances that your kids want your business is really low. It's really low. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 In Family Businesses, Roles Are Assigned by Convenience Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. In family-run businesses, we assign a role based on convenience or need, not talent and skill, and propensity for the job. And so, you know, we make people managers when they're not really managers. We put people in certain parts of the business because that's the opening that is there. And you do your best to try to match the, you know, some skillset to what they're doing. In that dynamic, it's more important that the person has a job and is busy than they can do the job, at least, you know, for the family survival, if you will. And so it's oftentimes very mismatched who's working in the business and where. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

You Can Hustle to $3–5 Million — Then What? Pt. 2 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  Pinch point in that three to five million dollar range, where having a bunch of generalists, nobody knows marketing well enough to know how to do Google Ads. Nobody knows logistics well enough to get the best trucking and rates other than just calling around like, how much will you be, how much will you, no. They don't know how to synchronize routes and points of origin. It's not point of destination, it's the point of origin that almost always reduces your shipping. So they don't know a lot of these things and they're scrambling, and they're generalists in almost all areas, so that means there are challenges in almost all areas. So all of us being entrepreneurial and scrappy, while those are good attributes, they're not good techniques when you get to three to five million. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 You Can Hustle to $3–5 Million — Then What? Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   Now this is common in all businesses, not just family business. And here's part of what the challenge is, but I'll take family business for starters. Two family members get together and say, let's do it, whatever it is. Let's do it. We're on, game on. And like every business, we all start out as generalists in the business. We wear multiple hats. Well, you're pretty good with people, and you're in marketing. I'm pretty good with numbers. I'll take finance. Great. But who's going to move the pallets in the warehouse? Well, what's wrong with your arms and legs? That'll be both of us. Right? And so we wear multiple hats and then you can hustle your way to three to 5 million in almost any business. And just by sheer grit and determination, get there and listen, three to $5 million is nothing to sneeze at. That's you're in the top 4% of all businesses worldwide. That's a lot to be proud of. But you realize that you hit a wall pretty easily because there's only so much of you to go around and what was working for you when you had $250,000 in revenue, as opposed to 4.5 million in revenue, that's where you're getting stuck because you now need specialists. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

The Real Reason You're Not Scaling Pt. 2 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   I am of the belief that if somebody in your organization is not performing, to start with, it's not their fault. It's your fault as the leader. I would say, listen, first things first, let's take 100% responsibility for the performance of our team. If they're not performing, let's assume it's us, we haven't given them the tools, we haven't given them the resources, we haven't given them the coaching or mentoring in order to be successful. So first things first, let's look in the mirror and what do we need to provide them in order to be successful? And then let's put those things in place so that way there's no excuse later and it truly is their responsibility. So that's the first place I'll start. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.

The Real Reason You're Not Scaling Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  So they bring me in and they say, all right, we want to grow. We want to go to the next level. That's code for there are issues internally. Either there's some internal strife, or there's a partnership issue, or there's somebody who no longer aligns with the goals and there's just nothing you could do about it. You know, at this point, I've dealt with it so many times. First off, I remind the client that everything's confidential. I said, look, we could talk freely and then I'll just say, all right, who's the issue? Who are we talking about? Who are we talking about specifically? And sometimes the owner will, and the owner will say, well, it's me. I'm the bottleneck. Okay. And that's fair enough because most owners become a bottleneck at some point or another. It doesn't mean they're the whole problem there, but they'll say, you know, I've got somebody about to come into the business or I bought somebody into the business, and we had some initial vision, but it's not really working out. There will be some family dynamic or some personal dynamic that is no longer viable or aligned. So we have to learn that right away. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Family Business: Great Idea, Tough Reality  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  Interestingly enough, even though there might not be blood in every family, blood family in every business, almost every business has some family dynamic. Here's the first thing that changes. Now one, you know, it's on paper. It's a great idea to work with your family. Who else would you want to support? Who else would you want to be around all the time? And you say, wow, wouldn't this be amazing? We can have this legacy business, and we can all be around each other all the time. Wouldn't that be great? You know, and it's great right up until it's not. And well, one of the things that changes immediately is accountability, right? It's the first thing that is sacrificed. You can't, I'm sorry. You're not going to Thanksgiving dinner and singing Kumbaya and then holding somebody accountable the next Monday. On the sales meeting, because they didn't make as many calls. You're not going to punish them financially because of it. It's simply, it's just almost never works. And so a family-run business really struggles with accountability at first and foremost. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Consistency Closes Deals Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   In business, if you tell me you wanna work with me, here are my rules to the game. Once you say I wanna work with you, I have my team, we'll follow up with you every single week, every week. And we will offer you three times to talk and then I'll always have my calendly link. If you miss those three times, you will get an email the next week. Sorry you couldn't make it last week, here are my times for this coming week, also my calendly link, can't wait to connect. You miss it three times, then we make a phone call. Hey, is everything all right? And every time we send an email, we back it up with a text. I also wanna find out, are you a call person, are you a text person, or are you an email person? What is your preferred? And so if I email you and then I send you a text and you reply to the text, it's gonna be a text. But I'm doing every, I'm doing it each week, right? What I've learned over the years is people don't say, stop it, you're bothering me. They tend to say, wow, you're doing a great job, I really appreciate all the work you're doing, we're just not ready. And what I'll say is, what would you like the next steps to be? Can we talk next year, can we talk in the fall, can we talk in the summer? Absolutely, and when they find out that I really care and I will respect those boundaries, they'll tell me what's going on. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Maintain the Conversation Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   I don't mind when somebody says, here's my timeframe, let's meet the timeframe. I have clients today, I have franchisees today, I have deals today, that took two years to just date. Year one, they weren't ready. In a past life, guys, I used to build log homes as a custom home builder. Yeah, you heard me. All of you get rich in your niche, people. I built log homes in New Jersey for a decade. So, you want a specialized niche, I got one for you. But people used to come to me. I used to do this one trade show in New Jersey that was very popular. It was called the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show. Used to generate about 250,000 people to it over 10 days. I had a log home construction company. I used to exhibit every year. And I'd have people come in year one, and they're like, I'm looking at the land. Year two would be like, I think I got my model. Year three, it's like all the finishing and soft goods. Carl, I think I'm ready. And I'd be like, really? I didn't think I was gonna live long enough, but okay. You've got, you know, it took you three years, but we got here, right? I used to do half million to a million dollars a year out of that show. And there were some people who would walk in with their file, like I'm good to go, I got the land ready to rock and roll, cool. And then every year it would be, I'm ready, finally. You know, I had this one family that used to come in every year. The guy used to bring his family like, hey, this is the guy that's gonna build our house. And I'm like, Jeff, you know, if we live long enough, like, when are we gonna get there? But I just maintained the conversation. And my big thing was, what would you like the next steps to be? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

What would you like the next step to be? Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  Hi Bob, hi Jane, hi Janie, hi Joey, hi Jimmy. All right, hope you had a great holiday season. As we're entering the new year, many of my clients are revisiting their goals that they paused in December. Okay, I'm sure your prospects can relate. I have found the last sentence is a very, very good one that will help understand where your client is at any given time. And here it is. What would you like the next steps to be? Now they know what that means. In our working together, you know, Kirk, are you still looking at that same concept? And are you still looking at multi-unit? And are you still looking to have this as part of your 2026 goals? If somebody comes back to me and says, you know, Carl, I'd like to talk about this in September of next year. Q1, Q2, I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to start thinking about it in Q3. Let's talk in September. I'll be ready to go then. I'll put that right in my CRM and say, okay, that's totally cool. Kirk, let's talk in September. I don't mind people doing that. Now, could they just be pushing me off? They could be. But if they're a client or a deal later, they're already draining my resources.Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Alignment Creates Opportunity Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. 24 conversations with concepts, where you're saying, how can we work together better? What can we do more to align? I wanna hear about what's going on with you guys and how we can work together. We have found that if you have 24 meaningful and some sort of cadence of conversation, once a month, once a quarter, twice a year, I see you at these four events. However it goes, that you tend to get one referral per month, per brand. What does that mean? Somebody says, you'll get a call from somebody that says, hey, we found somebody that I think is good, but they're not a good match for us. What else you got? Yeah. Have you called a franchisor and said, what do you do with all your dead leads? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.

High-Level Prospects Don't Keep Banker's Hours Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  My business consulting services, I text my prospects before 7 a.m. Why? Because they're up and they're on their phone. And I had to reschedule somebody that I'm supposed to meet with tomorrow, and he said, and they always say the same thing, I don't normally like to do this, Carl, but I'm available Saturday if you want. So I have a couple of calls on Saturday. My point is, use personalized check-in, right? And if you've got somebody right now on your list that's a business owner, they think about this sort of thing in non-traditional hours. Right now, they're busy. And I'm not saying don't call them during the day. Of course you do that. If I could, I would try to get them before the day started. And I would call on Saturday, and I have long stopped pretending that Sunday's off limits. So I will call and text because I know that they're on their phones. I know what they're thinking about. I know they're thinking about their year. Now's the time, okay? I love the holidays. People always say to me, I can never get to these decision makers. I know where they are, off hours.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stop Selling on a Banker's Schedule Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Until they tell you to stop, contact them every week. we were kind of planning out our calendar. And I said, block off Wednesday night through Sunday night, Thanksgiving weekend. And she said, okay, that's fine. And so as we're getting close, I have a nine hour day on Friday. So even though I blocked out the day, my assistant said, hey, can you talk to so and so about this? Can you talk to so and so about that? This one's interested in this. And I kept saying like, well, you know, that's supposed to be a day off for me. Well, you know, that's supposed to be a day off for me. You know, I'm not supposed to be doing that on that day. My day starts at 7 am and it ends about 530, right? And I've got an hour break here and a little bit of break there. But I started out with a day that was supposed to be open to a day that's full. Why? Because business owners work non-traditional hours. If you have a multi-unit person that you're talking to, if you've got somebody who's a business owner, I guarantee you, you can get them on a week like this.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Position Yourself Before They Position You Pt 2 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. But I would be telling them, here are my goals, right? So for example, one of the techniques that I'll do is I will take essentially personal responsibility either for a brand or a territory, and I would say, listen, there are a few brands that I work with very, very closely, ABC, DEF, and GHI. And I want to really help them with their launch, or with their Northeast expansion or with their non-traditionals that they just introduced. And I'm going out to the people that I think would be a good match. You're among the first that I'm contacting. So that could be a nice reset message. I'm looking to work with this kind of person. I've got these kinds of goals. I'm working with these sorts of brands and here are their goals. So I'm looking at people who want to partner in that. You are among my first calls, okay? Now, based on our categories, if we believe they are a client or deal now, we want to be talking to them every week. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Position Yourself Before They Position You Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. That you position yourself with your prospects, What I would be doing is I would be going out to our prospects as you're engaging with them and letting them know what your goals are for the coming year. Let them know what you'll be doing differently in the coming year and how they can be part of it. So, for example, I'm committed to hitting a goal of one deal per quarter. I believe in the franchising world the average sales cycle is 105 days. So that means theoretically you would have, on the last week of a quarter, if you were to bring in a lead, that would close by the end of the following quarter on average. I know some go quick. I know some take a while. I just sold two units of a franchise company within 60 days. The buyer was very ready and the deal went through very quickly. So that was very nice. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Is It Really a Deal Yet? Pt 2 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Are the ones that are going to close. Maybe they're doing this to educate themselves on the process. It's all good. It's just they are going to drain our resources. And we want to be very, very careful not to spend too much time with client laters. Client laters and deals later, they take a lot of resources. So what do we want to do? We want to focus most of our energy on the deal now people. The deal now is that we should be speaking to just about every week. We should be sending them gifts. Have you guys read the book Giftology by John Rulon? If you haven't, check it out. It's a really good book. It's how using gifting is a way to build. It's good for nurturing existing clients. And it's also good for winning new ones. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Is It Really a Deal Yet? Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Is categorize who it is in our pipeline that we're speaking with. or a deal now, meaning somebody is engaged, they're talking, they're going to all the steps, they're asking all the right questions, they are liquid, they are rolling over their 401k into an entity that can fund a deal, they are applying to the SBA, they're taking all the steps and they're making all the moves that are indicative of somebody that's serious and that is moving forward. I call that person a client now, or in your case, a deal now. There's either a deal now or everybody else goes into the deal later bucket. Okay, here's the mistake we all make. Mike doesn't make this mistake, but Scott does, I'm sure of it. I'm kidding. So here's a mistake that we make as salespeople. We think if we're at least talking to them, we're in the game. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Why Now Is the Time to Raise Your Prices Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   Your good clients expect your prices to go up. So put them up, right? And I get you might have a certain cadence to it, but I would encourage you all, and if you wanna talk offline about how to do it, I'm happy to do it, but I would encourage you guys today, look at what segment of clientele or what segment of services or what segment of product and raise those prices today.   I don't care if you just did them in September or January 1, whatever. Wherever you think you can raise your prices, raise them. Because if you're not getting the yes, but, you have not gotten to where your clientele is willing to, the upper end of where they're willing to pay. So I'd highly recommend that you guys do that. OK? All right? And so just keep asking the question. Get with your team. If we raise it 1%, a supermarket can raise it a quarter of a point. can go from 1.3 of assets under management to 1.6 or 1.4.   Whatever it is for you, look at where you can raise it and raise it, right? Because you will get to the place where you'll have your best clients, and you'll use pricing as a qualifier and you'll start to differentiate, here's why it matters. During volatile economic times, buyers defer to experts.   Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Progress Beats Perfection  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  Or in business history, have you been rewarded for just trying, right? So more than ever, we–we have the opportunity to just get out there and be (unclear follows), right? Not only is it okay that you make a mistake, but it's actually rewarded when you do, because you're not perfect, right? Social Media for the most part, is the highlight reel is like, you know, when you see somebody at a networking event, how's it going? Good, busy, busy, yeah busy, so the family likes everything's pretty good, we're really good, that social media. So somebody's actually authentic enough to say, Hey, I tried this didn't work well, that was because what I–I try never to do that again, more and more, they're rewarded for it. So we live in an age where performance is rewarded almost as much as the result. Now you're highly skilled people. I mean, think about it. If you tried something three times, you're likely to get it right. If I gave you five times or 20 times to get something right? Do you think you'd get it right? I've even told you what it is and you still like, give me 20 I'll get it, right? You're too skilled not to get this stuff, right? So it's not like you're gonna be fumbling your way through social media for the next year. You might get it wrong or not perfect, like two or three times then you're like, alright, everybody, hey everybody, check it out. Nail it, right? And you're going to show the result.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Why Letting Go Is the Hardest Part of Growth  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one-minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. I was just reading an interview, an old interview with Bill Gates where he said in the early days of microsoft he--he wrote all the code and then when they bought in coders, he had to sign off on all the code before it went out and then they bought in Steve Ballmer and Steve was like Bill does anything happening that's it, you're not doing that anymore and--but Bill Gates had a hard time letting go of the coding because that was his area of competency, right? And so it's usually the main problem tends to be the founder because we got off the ground and we prove our concept based on the founder's drive but now we've got to--we've got to let go of that, let the next generation take over. This is very very common in family-run businesses, where parent(s) won't let go, and so a family can't scale and have it grow beyond--have it grow beyond what the founder first envisioned and they hold on to the point where their family members are scattered. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Schedule It or It Disappears Part 2 Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results.  Sometimes when you're in the jar, you can't read the label, alright, so I know it sounds silly, but we're out here reading the label for you. Ok, so do yourselves the favor of holding each other to getting it on your calendar. So, if we wrote November 1st, 2023 at 12 oclock put it in your calendar as an appointment and invite the person you're doing it with to that appointment, that's our weekly meeting to talk about PTO approvals, so this is our weekly meeting, if I have to send a marketing budget draft to somebody, make an appointment with that person, on that moment I'm going to send it. That's when we're going to have that meeting. So, you know you have the right action item if you can put it into your phone as an appointment. When we talk about leveraging technology later, whoever is in that session, we're going to talk about how to use your calendar as your ops manual. The calendar, the old thinking that that's my appointment calendar. That is like so last week, we're not doing that anymore, it's your ops manual. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Schedule It or It Disappears Part 1 Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. This is the one thing, the main thing that trips up your progress is scheduling conflicts. That's why we developed the Annual Milestones Planning the way we do. Where you put it on the wall, and you step back and you're like, you're going to do that? At the same time, we're doing that? That sounds crazy! That's just a macro example of how you're not managing the resources. This is just a micro example, alright? So, absolutely have your device with you, go to that time, if it's November 1st on this day, make sure there's nothing else going on. I guarantee for a number of you, you're going to find out there's a scheduling conflict. I want to spend more time with my family, cool! What time's your family home? Oh, 4-6. I want to hit the gym, got to go to that class, what time's the class? 5 o'clock….You see a problem? No, put it on your calendar...oh, right...oh, ok, so, unless we make you do it, one of them is just going to fall off. Well, I can't do that because that's right in the middle of family time. Well, did you think about putting it on in the morning? That's a good one, good one. Good one, 5, yeah, got a lot of time in the morning.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Exit or Evolution—You Need a Plan-Part 2 Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. You're gonna say, you're gonna say, all you're gonna say is, "There's a seat for every one of you on the bus." And over your head on this, over this shoulder is going to be today's organizational chart with all the names in it, and tomorrow's, or your five or ten-year plan, or whatever. And, for example, the job you're in right now you won't be in that in five years. Alright, so if you're a CEO now, you might be a Chairman of the Board then. So, in the future org. Chart you're gonna write CEO, question mark. So you'll be here, your team is there, that's all you'll have to say. They will get the fact that there's an opportunity to grow within the company. All you gotta do. "There's a seat for every one of you on the bus." Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Exit or Evolution—You Need a Plan - Part 1 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. An exit strategy. As a matter of fact, when I first started my business, my landscaping company, very community-based, very local, I never left 30-50 miles of radius around my house. And I used to do snow removal as well, and that's Latin for, you never get to take a vacation, 'cause you never know when it's gonna snow. Right? So, I could never go anywhere, it's very very local. But, since then, since I started coaching and speaking, I have now spoken in 68 countries. And what I have found is that in every country I've gone to, no matter what the translation for the word is, every employee of a company has the same word for exit strategy. You know what that word is? I'll give you a hint, it starts with the letter 'R' and it rhymes with detirement. Right? Retirement. Okay? So, this, what I highly recommend is that you, is that you create your exit or evolution plan and share it with your team.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Why People Must Feel Safe Before They Act  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Let's talk a little bit about how we can influence another person. Because at the end of the day, we're gonna go from potential to performance. But the idea here is that you will be influential to another person, alright? Now building rapport and ultimately influencing something, somebody, it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, that's a bit of an automatic reflex. In other words, wired into our central nervous system is a safety mechanism that tells us if are we in rapport with our surroundings or not. Are we safe in our surroundings or not? Okay, so if you want to influence another person to your point of view or influence them to so they take action in any way, you have to make them feel safe and the way that they do that is they have to decide if they like you, or not in the way that you're thinking like, you know, not like I like to spend time with that person. But on some level am I like that person? Do we have something in common? Right? So on some level, your audience has the feel that they are like you. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Success Puts You in Uncharted Territory  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  You know, one of the first things I learned as a coach was that there are two types of distress you're going to deal with a lot as a coach. And the number two type of distress is, I know what I want. I haven't gotten there yet and I'm not either. I'm not sure or lack of strategy, or I don't have the resources, or whatever the number one type of distress is, I've achieved my goals, I set out to achieve certain things. And I've done that now. And the question I'm asking myself is, now what? Or what's next? Right? You see in sports all the time, a team gets out to a big lead, and then they give it back, right? The team that's catching up always has a target to go after. But the team out in the lead never knows what to do with themselves. And they almost always pull back. And so it is happens in life and in business because I promise you this. There are people out there, most of the people out there that have achieved a fair amount of success in business. At some point, they've achieved more than they thought higher than they thought they would be like, Wow, I never thought it would get this big. I never thought it would go that fast. I never thought it'd be this successful. And then they're in uncharted territory, and they're standing outside their identity, their definition of themselves. Wait a minute, I'm just a small-town boy or a small-town girl. Now I'm in the big city. I must be an imposter shortly someone's going to expose me.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Writing a Book Isn't About the Book Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Okay, so you write a book for three reasons, one of three reasons: I want to get rich, I want to get famous, or I want to get something off my chest, right. So most of the people I believe you're working with are trying to get rich or trying to get famous. Some might be writing something to get off their chest, but I suspect that's probably not the case. I want to get rich, meaning not just from the book, but I want to use this to catapult my next part of my career, or I want to be famous. I'm using it as a brand building opportunity. Is that fair to say that it probably falls in those two, three?  Yeah, I would agree.  Okay, so there you go. So they're likely not 100 years old, they're likely not over 70. What is their age group likely? I'll give you a hint. The average age of an entrepreneur is 42 years old. I was just gonna say about 45.  There you go. So who are you really talking to? You're talking to that group right in their, in their 40s looking to, you know, start to grow their thought leadership, right? They've gone to their 20s and 30s. They've done all the hard work. And now they're looking to take advantage of that experience and wisdom and start to help others and scale and expand their business. So I might–now again, somebody at 60 years old comes to you and says I want to get something off my chest. God bless them, take them all day long. But if you nail that group who's trying to get rich, trying to get famous, you'll get the I want to get something off my chest. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stop Letting Your Heart Kill Your Sales  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. In the game we're in, we sell us as good as anyone, and we have to sell us, alright. Now- Nobody does (unclear word follows)  Nobody does, right? However, I've learned a few things after certifying and helping 7,000 people like you launch their business, is you are heartless servants. You want to change the world, you want to help people, and you will work for free to help somebody else rather than make them uncomfortable by charging them. And before you tell me no, that's not me, right? It's all of us. So we need a system to be the bad cop. You need some bad cops in your life. You are the good cop. The good cop is the one who delivers on the content, who delivers on, right. So the bad cop sells, the good cop delivers. So you say, wait, does it have to be the bad cop? Your job is to magnify their emotion beyond their capacity to handle it. Yes, you are the bad cop. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Consistency Beats Intensity in Growth   Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Now, as a general rule of thumb, we say 90 minutes a day of business development. Whatever these five are to the best that you can, do 90 minutes a day. If you can't avoid it, try not to do more than that. Unless you're like, I'm at a networking event. It's eight hours long. Like when I'm at Board of Advisors, Ray and I are members of Board of Advisors in Minnesota, you know, it's an all-day event. So I'm, you know, networking more than 90 minutes those days, but then there are some days I don't do it, right. You know, if you stick to 90 days, it's not too much. It's enough that you stay consistent. Right? And so you could build 90 minutes a day, or 90 minutes into a day, reasonably. Reasonably. Now, you might say, Well, can I leverage that up to my team? Yes, you can. However, I would say don't yet. Until you nail your– you nail. Like you walk into a room and you're like, where are my bad four-quarter Johns? 1,2,3,4 I could tell by your dress how bad that quarter was. I know exactly what to ask this one. Like you walk into a home and you know that room. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Urgency Starts With Knowing Their Pain  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. What you do want to ask yourself is what keeps them up at night? Because if you're going to solve the problem of what keeps them up at night worrying, and what exists in their life or their business right now that makes calling you a necessity today, then you are really well dialed in to who your ideal client is, right? So you know, I live in the northeast, I live right near our ski resort. There's probably two weeks left of the ski season. Skiers know this. This is a problem for skiers. Skiers want to get that last couple runs in before the end of the year. So if you're a skier, what exists right now. It's a sunny day. I walked out today and like oh, you know, I feel like I missed the whole ski season. I'm a skier. I live near the ski resort. What do you think that company ought to be doing right now? Right. Trying to push that pain button, alright. Hey, two more weeks. That's it and the season's over. One last chance, come on out. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

If You Won't Guarantee It, Why Should They Buy? Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. The issue is who has the guts to take the mark? Because you all know the answers to, right. So I trade now. So I use this in all of our businesses, and I use this with all of our clients. So I've trained over 7000 business coaches, right, to that long and a have a business coaching and consulting business. And so one of the things that I teach is for them to give you. So think about this next time you hire consultants of five to one guarantee, which means if they are not making your saving five times the amount of the fee, their fee, then the whole thing is free. How much advice do you have currently that offers a five to one ROI guarantee? Now, how many of you do you think could offer you that? How many could offer? All of them. They all could. They don't do their job, they can't give you your money back? They can all do it. How many of them do? None. I offer a five-to-one guarantee, so who am I competing with? Nobody. We'll know what the problems are,right? Who has the guts to just say, I'll stand up, and I'll deliver your money back. Oh, I don't know, what if they don't take the action? And what if they don't follow through and I can't hold them accountable and I'm short that meetings. That's a problem with you--then your programs not compelling enough that they want to show up on a phone call, that's not their problem. That's your problem, right? Well, how am I going to control my supply chain? Right, I have yet to meet now by coach a lot of you types already. You will fall in love with your supply chain and very efficiently at the best price and you stick with it. I've yet to find a company where the diversity of their supply chain is their problem, if you know what I mean. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Stop Selling Positives—Solve Problems Instead  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Now, I know the biggest mistake you kick your way, I want to know what the biggest mistake you are making in your business is, so we can go and fix that problem. Here's the biggest mistake. Talking about the positives of your business too much, or giving it too much airtime, right. That's not what it is in a current client working. In the season of business that we're in cold winter, people defer to experts, right. Experts are people that can do two things: solve problems no one else can solve and then charge what no one else can charge. Those are the two things that will determine whether your clients will keep you as an expert or not, right. So here's what we start. So for those of you out with the last one, we'll do a little bit last time, is first thing we want to do is we want to hear, what are the top complaints that you are getting from your prospects and your clients? And what are the top complaints about your industry, not just about you, and some of these complaints that might not even be about your company. But take a moment, write down what are the top five complaints you are hearing from your prospects and your clients about working with a company like yours. What I used to hear is people will start on time, tell me you're going to start (unclear follows) You say you're gonna be done by April 1st, you're not done by April 1st. Tell me one price and there are complaints, change orders or you don't have, you know, you quote them with one price, but then you're short on supply, but you can find it from another source as long as they're willing to pay more. And in my service business, the complaint was we didn't give enough, long enough guarantee on the hardscape and landscape materials. And there wasn't a senior manager on site, those are the top five I heard. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

How Structure Creates Scalable Systems  Part 1  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Buy a system i.e you buy a franchise before that franchise can be successful you must have a structure in place, so what's the difference? Structure means you're taking people and putting them in certain roles and giving them certain task, now that is different than a system because in the beginning you are not controlling 100% of everything they do, this is one of the hardest things to grasp in a business because you need to put people in place and with minimal training they have to serve the client and use initiative and their flexibility and along the way of putting people in place, putting people in that structure out of that you will begin to develop your systems. Much like an airplane that sits on a runway,  awaiting its time to take off. The pilot must use his common sense and the maximum amount of flexibility in order to get the plane, the cargo and the people in it in the air. He is given a system in the beginning, there is a system for having a plane take off, and there is a structure and a checklist in order for that pilot to launch that plane into the air. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Before he does that, there must be a structure in place and he is given that structure, that structure is called the standard day, meaning the ideal conditions in order to take that plane off, based on weather and weight and wind he–there is a very specific structure in order to take that plane off, off and get it off the ground. If the pilot waited for that ideal day to come around, the standard day, how long do you think the pilot in that plane would remain on the runway waiting to take off? If you guess 6 to 9 months? You'd be close. Now we get upset when we wait an extra 15 minutes in a plane, imagine the pilot announcing that we have to wait for the perfect conditions in order to take off because the systems says so, we cannot exercise any common sense or any judgment whatsoever so therefore we will wait for the ideal day in order to take off and hope we don't run out of water and hope we have plenty of batteries because it might be a while. And that standard day that ideal day, comes around a few times a year. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

How Structure Creates Scalable Systems  Part 1  Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Buy a system i.e you buy a franchise before that franchise can be successful you must have a structure in place, so what's the difference? Structure means you're taking people and putting them in certain roles and giving them certain task, now that is different than a system because in the beginning you are not controlling 100% of everything they do, this is one of the hardest things to grasp in a business because you need to put people in place and with minimal training they have to serve the client and use initiative and their flexibility and along the way of putting people in place, putting people in that structure out of that you will begin to develop your systems. Much like an airplane that sits on a runway,  awaiting its time to take off. The pilot must use his common sense and the maximum amount of flexibility in order to get the plane, the cargo, and the people in it in the air. He is given a system in the beginning, there is a system for having a plane take off and there is a structure and a checklist in order for that pilot to launch that plane into the air. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Stage 7 - Have You Reached the Final Stage of Growth?  Hi Everybody, Carl Gould here, author of The 7 Stage Growth Method and your #70secondCEO, where you invest a little more than one minute a day for a lifetime of results. Today's topic is - Stage 7 The Succession Stage We're ranking your business right now, where are you in this growth trajectory? 1 is, huh? 10 is, we got it! Alright, The Succession Stage, to what degree do you have a: Management team in place? Tight controls?  Solid operations?  You're running like a finely tuned machine? You have a lead generation machine? A sales team that's closing it?   Clients are happy ?  And you're on the leading edge of product development?  This is rarified air folks. We gotta make sure that you're fully there, if not, put a comment in the bottom, what do you need to do to maximize your 7th Stage here? Rank yourself on a scale of 1-10, tell me your score, and where is your area of improvement? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stage 6 - Can Your Business Run Without You?  Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here, I am your #70secondCEO and the author of The 7 Stage Growth Method.  Just a little bit more than a one minute investment each day for a lifetime of results.  Are we ranking your business on the 7 Stage Growth model OK? Stage 6, give yourself a ranking on a scale of 1 to 10. This is the Stage of Salability. Remember way back to Stage 3 when you're building your implementation team? Now you're building your management team, OK? You need to have in place a consistent resource for a lead generator: Your chief marketing or lead generation officer Your VP of sales  Your director of operations who handles all things fulfillment  At a minimum, that's got to be your management team. To what degree do you have those three in place, and they are running the day-to-day operations so you don't have to be there, and you can start to maximize the salability of your business? Also, you need to be cash flow positive on a monthly basis and have enough buying power to take advantage of an opportunity should it present itself. Give yourself a rank. Huh? That's a 1, 10, NAILED IT!  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

 Stage 5 - Are You Known Beyond Your Product? Stage 5 - Sustainability Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO, I'm also the author of The 7 Stage Growth Method. Today's topic- Stage 5- The Sustainability Stage  This is the stage when you can first start considering scaling your business. You've laid the foundation in stages one through four. Let's see how you doing in Stage 5, give yourself a rank on a scale of 1-10, 1 low, 10 high. Stage 5 is when the systems have taken over to the point they've created such a consistent experience for your customer base that you are now known for something other than your product and service. Starbucks- the experience, McDonald's- convenience and real estate. They are known for things other than their core product and service. Are you? Give yourself a score on a scale of 1 to 10. One, we're not known for that at all, 10, we are, all the ancillary benefits people really know and know really well. Put your score in the comments section.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stage 4- Systematize for Growth Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here, author of The 7 Stage Growth Method and your #70secondCEO,  just a little bit more than a one minute investment per day for a lifetime of results. Today's topic - Stage 4. Rank yourself on how well you have created your systems. This is the Systems Stage, where you decide on the ecosystem or the type of business you're going to be. Up to this point you've been an entrepreneurial-run business; now we're making the switch to a professionally managed business, where you systematize every single aspect of your business. Little hint, start with the most frustrating part of your business and work your way back from there, because any frustration in your business means that you lack a consistent and viable system in that particular area of your business. Give yourself a rank, 1-we haven't figured out what we want to be when we grow up, 10- we've nailed it! Put your score in the comments section below.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stage 3 - Building a Team That Believes Stage 3 - The Synergy Stage  Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here, author of The 7 Stage Growth Method and your #70secondCEO, a little more than a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Today's topic -Stage 3.  Give yourself a rank on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 low, 10 being high. Stage 3 is the Synergy Stage. This is where you're building your implementation team. If you have a great plan you're an authority in your niche now you're busy and in demand, and you need people to help you. They have to be fully aligned and bought into: Your mission Your vision Your values  Your purpose for your business Give yourself a ranking on a scale of 1 to 10, how aligned and enthusiastic is your team about your mission? All right, because that'll tell you how dedicated they are to the long-term goals of your company. Put a comment below, what's your score? I wanna know, all right?  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stage 2 - From Unknown to Industry Expert Stage 2- The Specialty Stage  Hi Everyone, this is Carl Gould author of The 7  Stage Growth Method and your #70secondCEO, just a little over a one minute investment each day for a lifetime of results. Today's topic is stage 2 the specialty stage.  Alright, here we're judging how much of an expert in your niche are you? How much of an authority? Give yourself a ranking on a scale of 1 to 10. One, nobody knows who I am. Ten, I'm an ABSOLUTE authority in my niche. Here's how you know. Somebody unsolicited comes up to you at an industry conference or somebody in the industry contacts you and says, "hey, can I can I bug you a little bit can I ask you a few questions? Buy you a cup of coffee and pick your brain because you've figured out some things that I just haven't been able to figure out and you seem to really have that worked out." So, how often does that happen to you and how much of an expert are you in your niche? One, you're a Houdini, nobody knows who you are, you're a disappearing act, 10, you're a celebrity in your niche. Put a comment at the bottom, let me know what your score is.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Stage 1 - Ranking Your Business  Hello Everyone, this is Carl Gould, author of The 7 Stage Growth Method and your #70secondCEO just a little over a one minute investment per day for a lifetime of results. Today, we are going to start ranking your business according to the 7 Stage method.  Stage 1- give yourself a ranking, one low, BORING! 10 high, inspiring and compelling. To what degree are your strategic planning documents, all those great ideas you got out of your head and onto paper, not only are they documented they are inspiring and compelling. What you do, how you do it, why you're doing it, all that together has to be a 10, a 10 in each one, so give yourself a ranking. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.   We've coached about 150,000 people now. And we ask everybody, how did you ever get started in your business, if they're a business owner? Or how did you choose this career path if you work for an organization? The number one answer that we get as the reason why somebody chose a career path is that someone else believed in me. Someone else said, hey, you know, you're really good at this, or you have a, I went into accounting and finance. This is how the meeting went, senior year in high school. My guidance counselor said to me, Carl, your math scores are really high. You should become an accountant. And I was like, well, that sounds cool. I should do that. So I went to school for accounting and finance, and I had no clue what it was. But I did it because my career counselor said to me, well, you have a proficiency in that area. Your scores are really high. You should go into that field. So I did. I had no clue what accounting and finance meant until I got to college, right? But it's the most common answer we have is somebody believed in me. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.