Just The Tips, with James P. Friel and Dean Holland

Something magical happens when you get the right business partner. Plus getting it right can add a lot of zeros to your bank account and eliminate a ton of stress.   But getting that RIGHT person is not as easy as it sounds, because this topic isn't discussed enough.   This week's guest, Damian Lanfranchi, is Todd Brown's business partner, and they've been business partners for over seven years. Tune in to hear what makes their partnership successful and profitable as well as long-standing; and how to find the right business partner for you. Outline of This Episode 4:29 The first try (and why it didn't work) 11:14 The glue that holds it all together 18:58 How to tell whether you should have a business partner 26:15 The visionary and the integrator 31:14 Who's who in the partnership? 46:47 Successful implementation 51:57 Don't get “married” on day one What holds it all together? This might sound a little fluffy, but according to Damian, a business partnership cannot succeed without trust. Nobody's perfect, and you may not always agree with your partner, but you've got to be able to trust them to do right by you and have your back. Damian and Todd have bumped heads during their partnership, but there was never any doubt they had each other's backs. Don't fill the same roles as your partner One top cause of conflicts between business partners is both of them trying to fulfill the same roles. It's super awkward and inefficient, and leads straight to conflict. Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of each partner eliminates a lot of head butting; and of one partner feeling like they're doing all the work. Tune in for an example of how this aspect of a successful business partnership works in Damian and Todd's case. When NOT to bring on a partner Sometimes people bring on a business partner because they don't want to do it alone. “It's more fun to get lost in the woods with a buddy than to get lost in the woods with yourself,” as Damian says on the episode. But basing your business partnership on insecurity or loneliness isn't a healthy reason to work with a business partner. Tune in to hear more on this, plus other bad reasons to team up with a business partner. Be strategic, not desperate When Damian and Todd teamed up for their second crack at a business partnership--the one that succeeded--it was strategic. Both were running their own businesses, and found they each had a need for the other person's gifts. The partnership was strategic, not desperate, and definitely not based on insecurity or loneliness. A business partnership that doesn't make sense, strategically, is unlikely to go well. Who's the visionary and who's the integrator? Damian can function as both visionary and integrator. But since Todd is pure visionary, Damian serves as the integrator in their partnership. Todd sends him ideas, Damian helps bring them to life. The most successful partnerships operate like this, because it's unlikely two pure visionaries (unless they have identical visions) or two pure integrators will do well in a partnership together. In the case of two visionaries, what if one wants to sell marketing funnels and the other wants to sell sweaters to cats? The company's unlikely to get far in that situation. If you want a business partner, look at partnering with someone who's your opposite in this area. Resources & People Mentioned ToddBrown.me https://www.instagram.com/toddbrown/ https://www.facebook.com/ToddBrownMarketing/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWlIIwel956xVecFuBC80BA The Marketer's Mind Podcast Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

“How do I scale my business?” is a question on many entrepreneurs' minds, but there's a lot more to scaling your business than most entrepreneurs realize.   It's not just about whether your business is growing and successful. It's also about whether your business has all the pieces in place to scale without collapsing.    In this episode, James and Dean share some telltale signs your business is ready to scale. They also reveal how to avoid the many potential pitfalls of trying to scale before you're ready, and what being “ready” to scale actually means. (It's not what most people think.) Outline of This Episode 6:30 What does it actually mean to scale? 10:15 Growth and scaling are not the same thing 16:25 You've got a winner - what's next? 21:01 Find out what breaks 25:02 Get your ducks in a row FIRST 30:55 Scaling for the first time in a new business or industry 33:59 The most dangerous traffic source Growing is not the same as scaling The word growing is often used interchangeably with scaling, but they aren't the same thing. Growth is about getting traction in your business, creating predictable results from your sales, marketing, delivery, operations, and finances, and creating the infrastructure your business needs to be able to scale. Scaling is about adding more volume to what's already there. Some overlap is expected, but don't make the mistake of confusing growth with scaling. Success doesn't mean you're ready to scale Another mistake many entrepreneurs make is thinking that because their business is successful, it's ready to scale, but there's a lot more to being ready to scale than being successful. Scaling even a successful business without the right infrastructure in place is like putting up the walls of a house with no foundation under them. It's only a matter of time before everything comes crashing down. Tune into the episode to hear how to identify which areas of your business still need that infrastructure before you're ready to scale. Find the breaking points Odds are excellent that if you tried to scale right now, some parts of your business would “break” because they're not structured in a way that supports scaling. Before you try to scale, identify the breaking points, and a way to fix them. For example, if you're getting 100 orders a day now, and want to scale to 500 orders a day, could you keep up with inventory and delivery, or would something break? If you're a service-based business, do you have enough support and systems in place to serve all the people who want to work with you? These are the questions that have to be addressed BEFORE you try to scale. Beware scaling with one traffic source In light of the war between Apple and Facebook over who gets access to what data, along with other changes Facebook has made, business owners who depend on Facebook ads as their only source of traffic are experiencing rising ad costs and lower profit margins. The Google “slap” from years ago also illustrates the danger of depending on one traffic source. As you look to scale your business, make sure your plan includes additional sources of traffic. Simplicity equals scalability The simpler you structure every facet of your business, the easier it will be to scale. Look for ways you can make things simpler instead of more complicated. What that looks like for your business depends entirely on what you do and where you're at. It could be you need more software, or it could mean you need LESS software. It could mean you need another team member, or it could mean you have too many because you've overcomplicated the way your business is set up. Look for ways you can simplify. Resources & People Mentioned Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Freedom, time, and the ability to make more money are the top three reasons most entrepreneurs will give as their reasons for becoming entrepreneurs.   So how is it that so many entrepreneurs find themselves stuck in the hustle and grind, with LESS time and freedom than they want, instead of more?   That's exactly what James and Dean are diving into in this week's episode.    Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or already have a team, tune into this week's episode to hear how to detox from the hustle by turning your business into an asset that works for you (instead of the other way around). Outline of This Episode 2:54 Do you HAVE to “kill yourself” to grow your business? 6:06 Busy is not the same as productive 11:32 Unintended consequences of success 19:31 Where to focus to get results 23:59 Take action on the right things 28:40 The efficiency trap 35:47 Spread super thin You're not doing it right A false perception has taken hold of the entrepreneurial space--that you HAVE to hustle and grind 24/7, lose sleep, alienate your loved ones, and destroy your health. If you're not doing all those things, you're not “doing it right” and you don't want success badly enough. It's true that hustling has a place, especially when you're in a growth phase, but not how your business has to always and forever operate in order for you to become and stay successful. Think like a CEO, not like an employee Many entrepreneurs, without realizing it, think like an employee instead of like a CEO. It's a huge part of why they end up shackled to their business, instead of their business becoming a vehicle to freedom, time, and unlimited income potential. Growing and scaling your business without 24/7 hustling and grinding requires making intelligent decisions at a high level, and that comes from thinking like an effective CEO. Productivity vs. activity A lot of people mislabel activity as productivity. Activity is “being busy,” which may or may not grow your business. Productivity is focusing on what will move your business forward NOW. If you're active without being productive, you end up stuck in the grind with nothing to show for it. Make sure what you're working on is the next best step to help your business grow. Focus, then execute Step one is to identify where your focus needs to be right NOW. Where that is depends on your business and how far into it you are. Once you've identified where to focus, step two is to execute...but not just on any old thing. It has to be focused. Mediocre execution focused on the right thing is always better than perfect action focused on the wrong thing. When things that are proven to work don't work, always assume it's because there's a flaw in your execution. Then work on finding and removing that flaw. Are you efficiently doing the wrong things? Efficiency is not about doing more, better. It's about doing the right things better. A mistake a lot of people make when trying to systematize their business is efficiently doing things that don't need to be done at all. The quickest path to a more efficient business is to remove tasks that don't need to be there.   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Most people think of persuasion as selling a product or service. That's one use for persuasion, but there's so many more. If you're a parent, you're persuading your kids to take a bath and eat their vegetables. If you and a group of friends are deciding where to go to dinner, you may want to persuade them to choose your favorite restaurant.   Plus law enforcement officers need to persuade people out of hurting themselves or other people. Doctors may need to persuade a patient to participate in a scary but life-saving surgery. The art of persuasion is not limited to selling something in your business.    In this episode, persuasion master Kenrick Cleveland joins James and Dean to reveal his secrets to persuading people in a way that feels good to them--and to you--instead of resorting to outdated tactics like problem-agitate-solution and grinding away at pain points.   Kenrick is known worldwide for his charismatic teachings in sales, including what's known as conversational persuasion. If you want to get to Yes more often in your communications with other people--including your customers and clients--tune in to hear how to master the art of persuasion. Outline of This Episode 4:20 How to use persuasion for good 8:01 Why problem-agitate-solution is garbage 14:23 You don't have to grind people's pain points 18:24 What to do instead of “bring the pain” 25:17 Leverage without negativity 30:32 Help them realize it for themselves 38:09 How to inspire people to buy in a way they feel good about Persuasion Is Not Evil, It's Misused Like any tool, persuasion can be used for good or evil. Fire in the hands of an arsonist is dangerous, but to someone dying of hypothermia, fire is life-saving. A scalpel in the wrong hands can hurt people, but in the hands of a surgeon bypassing a clogged artery, it may allow you or a loved one to live for several more years. Use persuasion for good, and you can help a lot of people who might otherwise continue to suffer. Sooner Or Later, Pain Points Backfire In Kenrick's extensive work with a neuroscientist, he discovered that when you get people into a negative, depressed state, their ability to see solutions shuts down. If someone's not in a state to see or believe a solution exists, they're not going to buy. Even if someone does buy while they're in pain, they're only motivated long enough to get away from pain. When avoiding that pain is no longer motivating, you'll have to hit them with more to get them to stay. Eventually they'll tire of being around someone who's constantly reminding them of pain and suffering, and cut you (and your solutions) loose. Any way you slice it, grinding away at pain points will cost you the sale - either up front or in the long run. Ask The Right Questions Asking questions is a powerful way to persuade, but only if it's done the way Kenrick teaches. A lot of salespeople ask irrelevant or obnoxious questions that make them seem disconnected, pushy, or both. For multiple examples of how to ask the right questions at the right time, in a way that leads to YES, tune into this episode. (Do this part right, and in most cases you won't even need to close the sale, because your prospect is already persuaded.) Ditch The Scripts One of the worst examples of persuasion you'll ever encounter is someone reading off a cookie cutter script. Companies often hand their employees a “sales script” and instruct them to follow it. If you've ever been on the receiving end of a sales call where someone's reading from a script, you know how cringe-worthy it is. You don't feel heard or understood, and you definitely aren't inspired to buy. Ditch the sales scripts and instead do when Kenrick talks about in this episode. From Nice Guy To Creep One of the worst things you can do in persuasion is get needy and desperate. In this episode Kenrick shares a classic example of a guy trying to ask a girl out. The girl says no, she's busy. The guy pushes, saying he'd really like to hang out with her, and she says she's seeing somebody. The girl doesn't want to go out and she's trying to be nice in telling the guy no, while wondering what it'll take for him to get the hint. In her mind, he's gone from nice guy to creep pretty quickly. Many entrepreneurs resort to that same kind of behavior with their customers and call it persuasion, but it's not. Tune into the episode to hear what to do instead of beg, plead, or push for the sale. Resources & People Mentioned Kenrick Cleveland's website: https://www.kenrickcleveland.com/ Kenrick Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenrick-cleveland-b243b423 Kenrick Cleveland on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamKenrickCleveland/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Four years and 200 episodes later, Just The Tips has moved from “arguably” the best business podcast in the entire world to THE best business podcast in the entire world (at least, according to its “humble” co-hosts).   Seriously, Just The Tips was born after James P. Friel and Dean Holland met in the same mastermind and decided to host a podcast together. Both agreed that building a business could be fun AND profitable, and decided to bring that same mentality to a podcast.    Tune into this 200th anniversary episode for the guys' favorite tips, lessons, and insights from the past 200 episodes (along with plenty of jokes at each other's expense...because it wouldn't be a Just The Tips episode without them!). Outline of This Episode 7:20 Why James and Dean created Just The Tips 11:06 The difference between marketing and selling 15:16 The $300,000 decision 21:49 When thinking things through backfires (and what to do instead) 25:27 How to make your social media ads more effective 35:47 Why network marketing has such a bad rap 38:10 Always this before you start a business Business Can Be Fun Somewhere along the line it was decided business had to be “serious.” A lot of misery and burnout have resulted from business owners being afraid or unable to enjoy the business they've created. All this was a factor in why James and Dean created Just The Tips. They wanted to show their fellow entrepreneurs and business owners that business can be profitable AND fun. Stop Mistreating Your Audience One of the guys' favorite insights in 200 episodes came from direct response marketing master Brian Kurtz. Before email and the Internet, businesses had to mail their leads, and that cost a lot of money. For that reason, the most successful businesses put a lot of thought into every single piece of communication they sent out. To do otherwise was to lose six figures, easily. In today's world, you can post on a social platform and send an email for a fraction of that. As a result, a lot of business owners take their leads for granted, and easily forget they're talking to real people. Just because communication is on the Internet doesn't mean you've stopped talking to human beings. Just Do The Thing One of James and Dean's favorite mindset tips came from a guest who exploded his online presence over the last few years. There's value in thinking things through, but thinking about things can also backfire. If there's something you know you've got to do in your life, don't think about it. Instead, just do it. Whether it's pushups, making a sales call, writing and sending that email, just do it. It's A Scrolling Platform Every social media platform is designed for a specific user experience. YouTube, for example, wants people to stay and watch. Facebook, on the other hand, wants people to stay and scroll. The mistake a lot of business owners make is taking a piece of content that does well on one platform and repurposing it to another, without taking that platform's unique user experience into consideration. To get the most bang for your content buck on any given platform, take the platform's specific user experience into account. Network Marketing's Bad Rap There are people making millions of dollars in network marketing, and there are people going about it all wrong and giving network marketing a bad rap. Several networking marketing companies encourage them to do so! It's a shame, because networking marketing can not only be insanely profitable, it can help you develop foundational business and relationship skills...IF you learn it from the right people doing it the right way. Tune into the episode to learn about network marketing from a guest who does it the right way. Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

This episode was SO good, we’re re-airing it for you this week! If you’re ready to scale your company fast, tune in to hear how Brandon and Kaelin Poulin took LadyBoss Weight Loss from a startup to a company with 350,000 customers in just a few short years.    Don’t miss this in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to grow and scale a successful company like LadyBoss, which helps women lose weight, transform their health, and love themselves and was named number 4 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in the United States in 2019, in a few years instead of a few decades.   The strategies, the mindsets, the vision, the customer relationships--you’ll hear it all. Everything you do starts with you Brandon and Kaelin started in network marketing separately, before they ever met, and both found their way into weight loss, health, and fitness. Network marketing taught them how important developing and maintaining relationships are to success. It taught them how to listen and find out what people really want. It also taught them how to face rejection, over and over and over. Finally, it taught them about personal development, something they now know is critical to both their early success and their ongoing success. Everything you do starts with you, and if you’re tripping over the same issues within yourself, it’ll trip up everything you try to do. Dig in and do it When Brandon and Kaelin were ready to start their own company, it wasn’t the ideal time to pull away from the company they’d been with for five years. They were two months behind on rent, on their car payment - basically everything - and in danger of sinking even further into a financial black hole. With their backs against the wall, they locked themselves away from the outside world for two straight months, and worked around the clock to launch their company. It didn’t take stars aligning, or a fairy godmother waving a magic wand. All it took was the commitment to dig in and do it. How to get off the shiny penny highway With no shortage of tools, training, and strategies available in the world, Brandon and Kaelin often found themselves cruising along the shiny penny highway. Look, another awesome software we need! Look, another “new” marketing strategy we have to try! There was always something new to try. To avoid getting stuck on the shiny penny highway, Brandon and Kaelin developed a litmus test to help them decide whether “the next thing” was worth their time and energy: Was it what their customers and their company needed at that exact time? If not, they steered clear, because it was a distraction, not a step on the path to fulfilling their vision. Saying no to what didn’t align with their vision also allowed them to simplify, while simultaneously (and quickly) growing their company and better serving their customers. Don’t neglect the customer relationships A lot of companies fall into the trap of being cool and aloof with their customers. Brandon and Kaelin’s experience in network marketing helps them see it differently. They know, from years of experience, how crucial the customer relationship is to their success, so rather than shut their customers out, they encourage communication with their customers. Without customers, you don’t have a business. Don’t neglect them. A must-have mindset for all business owners Once your success reaches a certain level, it’s all other people see. But Brandon and Kaelin have been kicked in the teeth, made mistakes, and have had to get very resourceful to make it where they are. And it’s likely to continue to be that way, because that’s just the nature of business. Brandon and Kaelin are successful not because they haven’t faced challenges, but because they know they have the power, always, to overcome any challenge. Believing and accepting that no matter what comes your way, you have the power to deal with it and find another way forward, is a must-have mindset for all business owners.   Outline of This Episode 05:29 Backs against the wall 12:40 Trial by fire 20:56 Why the shiny penny highway goes nowhere 29:36 Never forget exactly who you’re serving 34:01 Are you doing this to your customers? 38:48 The secret to becoming and staying a team 46:15 How to handle it when the hits keep coming Resources & People Mentioned LadyBoss Weight Loss: https://ladyboss.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ladyboss/ https://www.facebook.com/LadyBossKaelin https://www.youtube.com/c/LadyBossWeightLoss Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Since the pandemic, a lot has flip-flopped including the fail rate of startup businesses vs. established businesses. Startup businesses went from having a 95% fail rate in the first five years to just 30% in the first five years.  Businesses with a decade or more under their belt, on the other hand, are at a staggering 70% fail rate.    To help business owners build a scalable and sellable business they love, and avoid becoming the next statistic, James and Dean welcome Michelle Seiler Tucker, a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and co-author of Exit Rich, as this week’s guest.   With small businesses making up 80% of the American economy (which heavily influences the world’s economy), Michelle is on a mission to save as many American companies as she can, by teaching them how to become sellable.   She’s personally sold over 500 businesses and her company has sold over 1,000! For more than 20 years, Michelle’s been in the trenches helping create a business that works for them, rather than the other way around. She’s helped thousands exit rich!   Tune in to hear exactly how to make your business sellable, including why a sellable business is your best bet even if you have zero intention of selling it. Outline of This Episode 4:01 Why established businesses are in more danger than startups 9:33 The #1 reason 70% of established businesses are failing 14:44 The most dangerous number of buyers 23:51 This determines whether a business is sellable 28:02 Where most companies go wrong with processes 33:00 Branding for a sellable business 43:21 Lack of profits is never the problem Premium Pricing For A Business That’s Not Premium? The number one reason most businesses don’t sell, according to Michelle, is probably not what you think: Denial! Business owners tell themselves, “It’s too much for me to do.” Then they burn out, or a catastrophic event hits (which is the worst time to try and sell), and they desperately need a premium price for their business. Yet they haven’t built their business to where buyers want to pay them a premium price. Businesses where the business is 1000% dependent on the business owner are a prime example of this. If you pull yourself out of your business, can it operate 100% independently? If not, you’re going to face buyer resistance to premium pricing. “This Is My Baby” A lot of business owners see their business as “their baby” instead of as an asset. When you treat it like “your baby” instead of like an asset, you’re going to miss things that would help you ensure it’s sustainable, profitable, and sellable, including the corporate veil. Even if you have no intention of ever selling your business, there are multiple benefits to structuring it like an asset instead of “your baby.” Tune in to hear these benefits (many will surprise you). You Don’t Build A Business, You Build This If you want your business to be sellable--or to continue if you need to step away for any reason--don’t build a business. Build people, because they will build the business. Michelle shares a story of a dentist, in business for 15 years, who approached her to sell his business. He was burned out and ready to be done. But because he was so mired in the day-to-day runnings and customer interaction, Michelle explained it would take two to three years before he could leave, because he built a business instead of building people. Blockbuster Or Amazon? Is your business going the way of companies like Blockbuster Video? Or is it in its prime, like Amazon? It’s really key to understand this, because if your business is going the way of Blockbuster and many other once-hugely successful companies, you’ll have a harder time selling it. Michelle shares three questions to ask yourself to help you identify whether your business, whatever its size or industry, is a Blockbuster (on its way out) or an Amazon (in its prime). The Customer Experience, Not Your Agenda Companies with the most long-term success design their business around the customer experience, not the owner’s agenda. McDonald’s is one of the most well-known examples of designing your processes around the customer experience. When they got started, the restaurant’s founders wanted to create a restaurant where a customer could get great-tasting food that’s fast and hot in under 30 seconds. Businesses who create processes around a customer experience are sustainable and sellable. Businesses that create processes around the owner’s agenda are not. Resources & People Mentioned Exit Rich book: www.ExitRichBook.com Michelle Seiler Tucker: https://seilertucker.com/ Michelle Seiler Tucker on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelletuckerinternational/ Michelle Seiler Tucker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleseiler The Exit Rich Podcast: https://seilertucker.com/podcast/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

In its nearly 200-episode (and counting) run, Just The Tips has welcomed several of the top marketing minds on the planet to share their best business-building marketing tips. In this week’s episode, James and Dean have gathered the best of the best of these marketing tips from recent episodes.   You’ll hear about everything from email marketing, to Facebook ads, to affiliate marketing, to SEO, and MUCH more. Tune in and soak up all the gold (including from James and Dean)! Outline of This Episode 0:10 How the “email marketing is dead” myth was born 8:02 When your page isn’t converting from an ad, check this first 14:26 How to use your competitors’ offer to your advantage 20:01 Successful brand-building for entrepreneurs 25:02 Are you making this huge email marketing mistake? 30:04 Getting and keeping GOOD affiliates 35:31 The single biggest online writing mistake Why People Incorrectly Assume “Email Marketing Is Dead” If you’ve ever gone fishing, you know the importance of the right hook and the right bait. You could be fishing in a lake full of fish, but with the wrong bait, you’re unlikely to get a bite. If you do, and your hook doesn’t work, you lose the fish. If that happened enough, you’d decide, “Fishing doesn’t work.” These days a lot of people try to do the same thing with email marketing. Their hook is ineffective or their bait is wrong. They send offers to their list, no one bites, and they decide, “Well, email marketing is dead.” No, it’s not. It’s that too many people are fishing with bad hooks and the wrong bait. Make Your Page An Easy Yes There are many reasons why a Facebook ad might not work. One of the top ones is lack of congruency. If there’s a disconnect between your ad and the page it sends people to--for example, it looks totally different, it talks about totally different things than your ad does, or it’s just so vague people can’t tell either way--your page will not convert. The goal of a page you send people to from an ad is to make the page an easy yes. Congruency is a key component of making that happen. Stand Out From Competitors With This People in today’s world have no shortage of choices, which means in order to stand apart from your competitors’ offers, your offer needs a unique mechanism. In other words, a unique way your offer solves your customer’s problems. One of the best ways to figure out your unique mechanism is to check out what your competitors are doing. Find the unique mechanism no one else is using, and make it yours. Make It As Easy Possible For Affiliates To Promote You Affiliate marketing, when properly utilized, is a proven and powerful way to bring more people into your business, and providing your affiliates with new products to offer is a powerful way to keep them coming back. Promoting the same offer over and over, with nothing else, ever, gets tiresome--for your affiliates and for their audiences. Creating three to five new offers a year gives your affiliates interesting new things to promote. New offers are just one way you can make it as easy as possible for people to promote you. Tune into the episode to hear other ways.  The Single Biggest Mistake People Make When Writing Online According to legendary ad man, David Ogilvy, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy of written content. That means, if the headline doesn’t even get their attention, they’re certainly not going to read the body copy. As far as they’re concerned, they have no reason to. Spend some time on your headlines, including on your sales pages, social posts, blog posts, and email subject lines (which are the “headline” of your email).   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Back in episode 193 of Just The Tips, James and Dean covered several foundational steps you need to have in place before you create a perfect sales pitch. They included: Who are you serving? Who are the RIGHT people for your offer? Why are they the right people?    And, of course, why selling isn’t selfish--it’s a service.   In this week’s episode the guys up where they left off, sharing their proven process to crafting a sales pitch your ideal buyer can’t resist, including: What to say first when you get on the phone with them, how to handle the conversation (and how NOT to), and how to ensure they never see you as “just trying to sell them something.”   If you want to get better at selling, don’t miss this episode! Outline of This Episode 5:15 Recap of part one 9:10 Managing the sales call freakout 13:13 Control the frame 18:50 Go into fact-finding mode 26:03 Ask questions, then keep your mouth shut 30:05 When to start your pitch 38:01 Leave them better than they found you Control The Frame The person who leads the conversation has the power. That’s why allowing your prospect to take the lead in a sales conversation is a huge mistake that can backfire in any number of ways. For example, if your prospect gets you telling them the price before they’re sold on the value, you could lose them. Prevent this from happening by controlling the frame, and keeping control of it for the entire conversation. Tune in for tips on how to do exactly that. Be The Investigator Your goal is not necessarily to make a sale on every call, and it’s not to force your offer on your prospect. Your goal is to find out if your offer is right for this person. To do that, go into fact-finding mode. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Show this person you’re paying attention and you actually care about helping them. One of the worst sales-killer mistakes you can make is to sound like you’re not listening. Ask your prospect questions about why they’re on the call and what they hope to achieve, and listen to the answers. You’ll need them! Speak As Little As Possible A common mistake James and Dean see in people new to selling is that they talk too much. It’s understandable. You’re nervous or excited, and you really want the sale. But your prospect, meanwhile, isn’t getting a word in edgewise, and isn’t feeling heard or understood. Remember that this person came to you because they have some sort of problem, and they’re hopeful you can solve it. The more they talk about their problem, the better. Ask questions, close your mouth, and let them tell you about their problem. In the episode you’ll hear exactly what kinds of questions to ask them. Don’t Sell What Won’t Help Them Once your prospect has talked about their problems, including other things they’ve tried, you can segue into explaining how you can meet their needs, and how your offer is different from the stuff they’ve tried that didn’t work. If you’ve done your job with the listening aspect, you’ll shine in this part. If you haven’t - if you just rattle off random benefits you think are great but have nothing to do with the problems they expressed - you’ll lose them. Find Out What They Want In addition to finding out what they’re struggling with, find out what they want. Find out their definition of success. Help them get really clear on that, so that even if they don’t buy from you this time, you’ll leave them better than when they started talking to you. You’ve served them even if you don’t end up working together, which puts you in a position of trust and authority. If they don’t buy, they’re SO much more likely to circle back and buy later. Plus they won’t be trashing you to everyone they know because they felt like you didn’t listen and “were just trying to sell them something.” Leave them in a better place for having spoken with you.   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Ever have days you can’t wait to leap out of bed, and before you know it, 12 hours have passed and you realize you didn’t even eat?   And how about days where, no matter how many hours you sit in front of the computer, nothing positive or productive happens?   How far up the success ladder you climb is determined by your mindset. Mindset is something everyone agrees is important, yet it has a way of tumbling down the list of priorities.   In this week’s episode, James and Dean are diving into what mindset means, exactly why and how it makes or breaks your success, and what you can do to start shifting yours if you still aren’t where you want to be. Outline of This Episode 5:50 How important is mindset, really? 9:20 The definition of mindset 14:01 Getting a different outcome than the one you have 20:05 Why a fixed mindset blocks success 26:30 Keep looking for the solution 32:10 It’s not a lack of resources, it’s a lack of resourcefulness 35:03 If you don’t have the knowledge, go get it The “Surprising” Secret To Success On a recent coaching call with clients, a client asked James about one thing that’s enabled him to acquire the success he now enjoys. The client was expecting James to share a marketing tactic, like Facebook ads or this podcast. Instead, James remarked it was his mindset, because without the right mindset, even the best marketing tactics will fail you sooner or later. Change The Filter Your mindset is how you perceive and interpret what’s happening, and what you choose to do about it. It’s a collection of beliefs that filters data from the outside world. When your actions aren’t leading to results, the problem is rarely a specific tactic. Usually it’s a belief “hiccup” in your filter that’s leading you to either AVOID the action required to reach your desired outcome, or to take an action that will pull you away from your desired outcome. To change your actions, change your beliefs. Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset Dr. Carol Dweck wrote a book about the Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset. The fixed mindset is all about refusing to do things differently, or even believe there’s another way. The growth mindset is about finding that other way. The fixed mindset blocks results, and the growth mindset creates them. If you struggle with the fixed mindset, remember this: You’ve had to evolve to get to where you are. If you’re unwilling to continue evolving, you cannot obtain or keep results you don’t already have. Doing so requires growth. If it didn’t, you’d already have the results you want. There’s Always A Solution James shares a story about a group vacation on Lake Powell, where he and his family wanted to stay an extra week, but had no plan figured out to return to civilization. They also had no cell service in most of the area. Figuring out how to stay when the people they vacationed with wanted to return was the challenge, and multiple times his attempts at a solution didn’t pan out. But James kept exploring options until he found one that made everyone happy. The other travelers got to leave, and James and his family got to stay and had a way to return when they were ready to leave. This is an example of the growth mindset in action. Instead of believing there’s no solution and giving up, keep going until you find one. Lack of resources or lack of resourcefulness? When somebody doesn’t have the result they want, it’s common to blame a lack of resources. As in, I don’t have the time, the money, the willpower, the help, the training - whatever it is. But when you’re resourceful, you’ll find a way to get the resources you need. Not having results is never a lack of resources. It’s a lack of resourcefulness. When you’re presented with a challenge, are you willing to do what it takes to solve it? Are you willing to get outside your current comfort zone, knowledge, and skills to get the resources you need but don’t have? It’s a question you’ll face over and over in your journey as an entrepreneur.   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Most entrepreneurs don’t start out thinking of themselves as leaders. Besides an entrepreneur, you might see yourself as a product creator, service provider, coach, marketers, copywriter, or any other number of titles.   Then your business hits a point where you can’t do everything yourself, you bring on a team, and next thing you know, people are coming to you with decisions that need to be made. Suddenly, you’re a leader.   On this week’s episode James and Dean welcome Melanie Parish, author of The Experimental Leader, to break down what makes a good leader and how to discover your leadership style. If you feel like parts of your business aren’t operating as well as they could be, tune in to hear what you, as the leader of your business can do about it (and hear the leadership mistakes to avoid that could be contributing to the problem). Outline of This Episode 4:50 Is leadership harder for entrepreneurs? 8:30 Characteristics of a good leader 13:03 The Experimental Leader 19:01 What it means to be neutral as a leader 22:02 How do we measure success? 27:13 Don’t try to fix everything yourself 33:02 Hiring and firing What makes a good leader? Melanie advocates a neutral leadership style, where you don’t react to what’s happening around you. It’s not that you shouldn’t have standards for your business and team. It’s that you stay neutral so that when your team brings you decisions that need made, you’re able to take things in, ponder them, ask questions, and send it back to your team. By approaching leadership in this way, you’re helping people move tasks forward vs. being a micromanager. Leaders are willing to experiment A lot of people get so attached to their ideas they’ll insist on sticking with the bad ones for months, even years, longer than they should have. Melanie, on the other hand, sees leadership as a willingness to experiment. Any time you want change to happen in your business, you’re trying something new to see whether it works. Whether it does or not, you have data you can use to conduct the next experiment. Approaching idea implementation as experimenting protects you from clinging to the bad ones and helps you flesh out the good ones. Pass the buckets to your team Think of the tasks your team members are assigned as buckets. For example: Scheduling out an email sequence. Your role as the leader isn’t to take charge of your team’s buckets (in this example, to schedule the email sequence). It might be to approve the sequence, or perhaps write it (if that’s something you handle in your business). But not to schedule it. When your team hands you a bucket, make the decision and pass the bucket back. Stop fixing everything yourself When someone on your team is responsible for certain tasks, and they aren’t fulfilling their duties in the correct way, it’s tempting to fix it yourself (i.e. put yourself in charge of the bucket). The problem with doing that is, your team member never learns how to solve the problem themselves. Remember: As the leader of your business, your job is NOT to collect buckets. It’s to make a decision and pass the bucket back. If a team member isn’t performing, they might need more training, more feedback, or it might just be they’re the wrong person for the job. Tune into the episode to hear where to draw the line between investing in more training for your team member and recognizing they aren’t the right person for the job. When firing someone is a gift In this episode Melanie shares a story about a job she once held that didn’t work out. She was good at the job and the money was good, yet she was miserable. Leaving the job was actually a relief. Firing someone on your team is uncomfortable, but if that person is miserable, and is bringing that energy to your entire business, you’re not doing them - or your company - any favors by holding onto them. Let them go so they can find a place where they are a good fit and enjoy what they do. Resources & People Mentioned The Experimental Leader physical book: http://book.experimentalleader.com/ The Experiment Leader digital book: http://digitalbook.experimentalleader.com/ The Experimental Leader podcast: https://www.melanieparish.com/podcast/ Melanie Parish on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieparish/?originalSubdomain=ca Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

You’re probably all too familiar with both ends of the sales spectrum. On one end are people unwilling to sell anything, because they feel slimy at the thought of selling. At the opposite end are people willing to sell you swampland in Florida if it means they can make a quick buck.   When you have something of legitimate value to offer--something you’re proud of that makes people’s lives better in a way that matters to them--it is your ethical and moral duty to learn how to sell.   Selling is not tricking people, or twisting their arm, until they buy a product or service they don’t need or want. True selling is a service, and in this episode, James and Dean reveal how to create the perfect sales pitch so you can get your solutions into the hands of people who need AND want them. Outline of This Episode 3:30 Two opposite ends of the sales spectrum 9:15 Do you believe in what you’re selling? 12:05 First, truly understand the problems you’re solving 17:10 What needs are your prospects trying to meet? 29:01 Putting your message together 38:07 When the close actually starts 43:02 Focus on selling on the right people, not to “everybody" Not Selling Is Selfish When you offer people something that genuinely improves their lives--where they’ll be better off with your product and worse off without it--withholding your solution because you “don’t like selling” is leaving them to suffer unnecessarily. It would be like you going to a pharmacy for cold medicine because you’re sneezing, coughing, and miserable, and the pharmacy staff not allowing you to buy because they “don’t like selling.” See selling as a service and get good at it so you can help people decide to buy your solution. Why Are You Selling That? Do you believe in what you’re selling? Are you excited about it? Do you care about the people your offer helps? If not, why are you selling it? It’s not that you can’t be successful at sales with a product you don’t believe in or a demographic of people you don’t care about. But selling is a lot more fun and effective when you believe in your offer and love the people it can help. We have more problems in the world than we do solutions, so if you’re not excited about a solution, find something you are excited about. Know The Problem You’re Solving No one buys your product. They buy the transformation your product creates for them. Remember that, because it’s SO easy to get focused on “having the best product.” Step one to creating an effective sales pitch is to become intimately familiar with the problem you’re solving. An example of this in action: Dean and his wife own a cosmetics company. It’s successful now, but it struggled initially because they focused on what a great product they had. Only after getting clear on the problems their cosmetics products solved did their company take off. Without clarity on which problems your product solves, your sales pitch isn’t going to land. Know The People You’re Serving Another must for an effective sales pitch is intimate knowledge of who you’re helping, and what needs they’re trying to get met. Knowing the problem you’re solving is critical, and so is knowing which needs your product helps your prospects meet. Only by listening and getting to know your prospects will you be able to hear their needs and pitch your product or service in a way that’s relevant to them. This episode is packed with examples from James and Dean on what kinds of needs people are trying to get met. Sell To The Right People Most people start out believing that if they do anything to filter out people who aren’t the best fit, they’ll lose money. The truth is, not everyone is your customer, and working with the wrong people wastes your time and money, as well as theirs. It’s also what leads to ticked off customers and poor results that can cause you to believe your offer doesn’t work. Not only do you owe it to your customers to sell them your solution, you owe it to them to make sure they really are a good fit for it. Remember, you’re not trying to trick people into buying. You’re here to get your solution into the hands of the right people. “Everyone” is not the right people. The right people are the right people.   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

There’s an epidemic facing today’s entrepreneurs--one that all struggle with at some point: Shiny object syndrome. You’ve heard of it and may even be intimately familiar with it.   Considering human beings are hard-wired to seek out the fastest, easiest way to get the best possible results, it’s not a surprise shiny object syndrome is a problem IF it’s not properly managed.   In this episode James and Dean break down exactly what motivates shiny object syndrome, then share simple tips to ensure it doesn’t come between you and hitting your goals.   If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve battled shiny object syndrome, and probably always will. Tune in to hear how to keep it from pulling you off course. Why Do We Do It? Every entrepreneur James and Dean know struggles with shiny object syndrome, but some manage it and some do not. Tune in to hear the differences between the entrepreneurs who master shiny object syndrome and continue growing their business, and the ones who don’t and get stuck. The differences probably aren’t what you think. When Shiny Object Syndrome Is Useful Shiny object syndrome is only a problem when it distracts you. Properly managed, it may even be an asset. For example: Brand new business owners have to explore a lot of different areas to find their product-market fit. Otherwise, they can end up married to an idea that’s never going to work. Once you find your product-market fit, however, your focus shifts. You still experiment, but with different things. You say no to things that won’t help you advance to the next level. It’s all about where you need to focus. Anything that pulls you away from where you need to focus to reach your goals is shiny object syndrome gone wrong.  No One Wants The Hard Way It’s ingrained in our DNA to seek out the fastest, easiest possible path to getting what we want. This wiring is responsible for some of humanity’s greatest inventions, but like anything, it can go too far. You can easily get so distracted hunting for the easiest possible path that you never get where you’re going. Parts of your journey will feel hard. Beware the urge to flee the hard parts at all costs. How To Stay Out Of The Rabbit Holes One way to prevent shiny object syndrome from distracting you is by answering this question: What’s your goal? It sounds so simple, but when you stay focused on your goal, anything that doesn’t move you closer to that goal is a distraction. The pull of shiny object syndrome is so strong you may still get sucked down a few rabbit holes. But reminding yourself of your goal will pull you back on track. What’s Your Driving Force? One reason shiny object syndrome is so alluring is the dopamine hit you get when you start something new and exciting. That new and exciting feeling is intoxicating, but eventually it wears off. When it does, having a real, raw driving force that motivates you even after the excitement of the new has worn off is critical to staying focused. Tune in to get the guys’ tips on identifying your driving force, along with their take on the myth of how motivated you have to be in order to succeed. Outline of This Episode There is no silver bullet [5:05] When you’re just starting out [11:01] The easy way or the hard way [16:10] Cure #1 for shiny object syndrome [22:25] Cure #2 for shiny object syndrome [25:06] Beware the entrepreneurial roller coaster [31:31] What no one wants to hear [35:35] Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

How is it possible to have a multi-million dollar business and not be making any money? Simple: Because sales are not the same thing as profits.   Everywhere you turn are businesses boasting about making six figures, seven figures, and up, but when you peek behind the scenes, are these businesses actually profitable?   If not--or even if they are--the best way to make them profitable may not be to simply make more sales. More sales can help, but only to a point. There are other key areas of your business influencing whether or not it’s profitable.    Neglecting these areas in favor of “more sales” is exactly how your business can make millions a year yet not be profitable.    Tune into this episode as James and Dean share three of these key areas, and how to use them to easily boost your profits. First, Reduce Expenses Here’s a little math to show you why “making more sales” in an effort to increase profits isn’t as always as effective as it seems. Let’s say you sell an item that grosses $100 per sale, but only $25 of that is profit because the rest goes to expenses and overhead. By selling two of that item instead of one, yes, your gross sales are up to $200 and profit is $50, but the percentage of profit--25%--is the same. That means the economics of your business haven’t actually changed. One way to change those economics is to first reduce expenses, so that, using our previous example, each $100 sale nets $50 in profit instead of $25. With a 50% profit per sale, you’ll get a lot more traction a lot faster than if you’d only focused on “making more sales.” How To (Potentially) Free Up Thousands A Month Pull up your bank and credit card statements and take a look at how many subscriptions and other products you’re buying or hanging onto “in case you might need them one day.” If you’re not even using them, odds are you can cut them and won’t even miss them. Even if it’s “just” $1,200 a year per subscription, those smaller expenses really add up when you’ve got a bunch of them. If you’re not using them, or can find an effective way to live without them, do it. You could potentially free up hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a month. Reduce The Most Expensive Cost Acquiring a new customer is typically among the most expensive parts of running a business. Many businesses lose money on customer acquisition on the front-end. It’s even expected. Even so, the lower your customer acquisition cost, the more customers you can afford to bring in. The best way to lower customer acquisition costs is to test, test, and test some more. Tune in to hear examples from James and Dean on which things you should test to reduce what it costs to acquire a customer. You’ve Got A Customer - Now What? So you’ve put in all this time and money to acquire a customer. Your customers have more problems to solve. If you aren’t solving them, they’ll find someone who will. Yet a staggering number of business owners do NOTHING once someone becomes a customer. We’ve already established that new customers are the most expensive to acquire. Instead of doing nothing, help your one-time customer become a repeat customer. Stay in touch with them, send more offers, and get a feel for what else they need help with. To do otherwise is miss out on potentially thousands upon thousands of dollars PER CUSTOMER. The Valuable Real Estate You’re Probably Not Using Yes, consistent followup is a must. Yet no matter how skilled of an email marketer you are, there will always be a percentage of people who rarely, if ever, open your emails. But nearly 100% of people who buy your offers will see the thank you page. Use that valuable real estate to keep people engaged, promote another offer, send people to your blog, or even watch a video. Give people who buy from you a compelling reason to stick around, even if they never open another email from you. Outline of This Episode The difference between sales and profit [6:05] The simplest way ever to increase profits [11:51] Freeing up thousands of dollars a month [21:45] Reduce customer acquisition costs [25:13] Are you completely missing this valuable real estate? [34:45] Deciding where to price your product [37:03] After you acquire a customer, do this [40:04]   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

If something’s not working in your business, tactics are the first place a lot of entrepreneurs look. As in, if you tweak a headline, get more views, or change a button color, you’ll make more sales.    If you’ve got your fundamentals in place, tactics like those might make a difference. If you don’t, focusing on tactics like those is like putting new hubcaps on a car that has no engine. New hubcaps won’t make the car run.   In addition to wasting time and money, the tactics-only approach can add unnecessary and overwhelming layers of complication to your business, especially if you haven’t mastered the three fundamentals this week’s guest, Tim Fitzpatrick of Rialto Media, is going to share with you in his 3-Point Marketing Method to simplify and scale your business.   Tim’s start in entrepreneurship came from partnering in a wholesale distribution company, where Tim and his team grew the company 60% in nine years before selling it. In that time, Tim learned exactly how critical the fundamentals are to success in business. Tune in to hear how Tim’s 3-Point Marketing Method can help you both simplify and scale your business.   There’s Always Another Whizzbang One of the top mistakes Tim sees business owners make is focusing on tactics when they don’t have the fundamentals in place. Tactics like “weird tricks” to get your emails opened, headline tweaks, the latest social media platform, and so on, may be a lot sexier to talk about, but here’s the problem: Focusing on tactics without your fundamentals in place is like building a house by putting up walls and windows before the foundation’s been poured. It just doesn’t work. Tune in to hear what you need to have in place before tweaks and tactics are of any use to you. They’re The Hero, You’re The Guide It’s not enough just to have a product. It’s got to be something people want, and that they KNOW they want. To show a prospect how your offer or product can help them, Tim advocates a storytelling framework where you position your prospect as the hero, and your business as the guide. Show them how your product or service helps them win, and how working with you is the key to making that win happen. Tune in to hear how this framework not only helps you sell more, but also helps you avoid getting so cute and clever that you confuse instead of convince. Succeed At Planning By Keeping Things Simple Most people are aware they need a plan--for their marketing, their business, their email strategy, and so on. But when it comes to actually creating the plan, a lot of people freeze, or move forward without one anyway. The most common reason Tim sees this happen is a false belief your plan needs to be long-term and complicated. Not the case! Tune in to hear Tim’s simple 90-day plan framework, along with his take on why 90-day plans are superior to year-long plans. Product Not Selling? Trace It Back Dean and his wife own a cosmetics ecommerce company that features top of the line makeup brushes. For nearly two years their makeup brush sales were less than expected, and they couldn’t understand why more people didn’t want them. Turns out the problem wasn’t with the products, it was with one of the three fundamentals Tim talks about in this episode. Tune in to hear which fundamental Dean and his wife traced the problem back to, and how doing so skyrocketed sales. Why Tactics Without Fundamentals Are Expensive Let’s say you’re paying an SEO expert $2,000 a month to drive traffic to your site, and this expert gets you 100,000 views a month. Impressive, right? On the surface you might think so. But if none of those views are leading to opt-ins and sales, can you really call it a success? Vanity metric “results” like these are just one possible danger of focusing on tactics when your fundamentals aren’t in place. Tactics like views, likes, and headline tweaks will not fix targeting the wrong people or a product no one wants.   Outline of This Episode The marketing mistake holding you back [4:00] Lessons from an artificial jellyfish tank [9:33] Why cute and clever = confusing [17:10] 90 days, six steps [22:01] The cause of most marketing problems [29:03] Math major to marketing consultant [32:02] Berkshire Hathaway business lesson [40:01] Resources & People Mentioned https://www.rialtomarketing.com/ https://www.rialtomarketing.com/just.the.tips.show/ Tim Fitzpatrick on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timpfitzpatrick/  The Rialto Marketing Podcast: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-rialto-marketing-podcast-tim-fitzpatrick-ghE_paC4uXn/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Social media’s been around long enough that more and more people are starting to view it as “required” for starting or growing a business.   Multi-million dollar businesses are regularly built on social media, so there’s no denying its power as a business-building tool.   Yet multi-million (and billion) dollar businesses existed long before social media did. There are also entrepreneurs with very successful businesses who do not rely on ANY social media platforms.   So, do you need social media, or not? If you decide to utilize it, how do you go about it?   In this episode of Just The Tips, James and Dean throw down the gauntlet with regard to how necessary social media is to build a successful business. And if you choose to utilize it, tune in to hear their tips on both how to get the most out of it, and how to avoid platform pitfalls that sabotage your business instead of build it. Nobody Cares About Your Business Card Collection The ability to network, engage with prospects and clients, and get your products and services in front of the right eyeballs is where social media really shines. You don’t even need to leave your house to do it. But just “being on social media” is no guarantee of business success, any more than collecting and having business cards means you have a successful business. Don’t use social media for the sake of using social media. Use it strategically, so it becomes an effective business-building tool instead of a time-sucking distraction. Is It Authentic For You? If you build a business doing things you hate, odds are you’re going to be miserable and more susceptible to burnout. Consider this when deciding whether to utilize social media. If you love going live on Facebook, or doing Instagram stories, or cranking out YouTube videos, then those social media platforms are probably great vehicles for you. But if social media just isn’t your thing, there are other ways to reach people.   Pick The Right Platforms It’s true that visibility is key if you’re going to use social media correctly, but don’t make the mistake of trying to master every platform you can get your hands on “just because.” Research platforms, choose the ones your customers use, and get good at those one at a time. Being a “social media influencer” doesn’t help much if the people you’re trying to influence aren’t on the platform you’re devoted to. Be Strategic With Your Efforts James hired LinkedIn experts to build up his LinkedIn profile. But the posts the guys he hired created weren’t cutting it. These guys were also “liking” and interacting with random things James would never like or engage with. It all built up his presence, but not in a way that attracted his ideal clients. Being everywhere “just because” will not grow your business. Remember to be strategic. Get Your People Off The Platform Love him or hate him, Donald Trump had a huge Twitter following...UNTIL Twitter kicked him off. Whatever your opinion on that, make no mistake: You don’t have to be as polarizing as Trump to be banned from a platform. It can and does happen to anyone. Sometimes it’s as simple as a bot misunderstanding an algorithm. Relying only on social media is risking your entire business. Use social media to bring people into YOUR world--someplace you have control over, like an email list you can download and back up. Outline of This Episode Colorado kiing mishaps [2:00] Is social media required to be successful in business? [9:10] Likes don’t pay for your house [15:05] Where social media excels [22:01] What not to do on LinkedIn [30:13] Anyone can be de-platformed [34:06] The mental pitfalls of our overly plastic world [39:02]   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

“How can I make more sales” is top of mind for most entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs can do even better in their business by focusing on valuation. Valuation has to do with the amount of money a willing buyer would spend to buy your business.   Even if you never intend to sell your business, increasing its valuation gives you access to creative ways to increase profits and take money out of the business without focusing solely on sales.   In this episode of Just The Tips, James and Dean welcome Aryeh Sheinbein for his second appearance on the show. This time Aryeh is sharing his best strategies for increasing the valuation of your business. Think of it like home equity Even if you don’t intend to sell your home, making improvements to it makes it more valuable. That may come in handy if you ever want to tap into its equity. It’s the same with your business. You may not intend to sell it, but making the kinds of improvements Aryeh reveals in this episode will make it more valuable (and more profitable). Raising prices isn’t the only way There are multiple ways to increase profit margins without raising prices. For example, making small tweaks to reduce expenses while maintaining quality and service can grow your cash flow without requiring customers to spend more money. Small reductions in expenses really add up. Tune into this episode for additional examples of ways you can increase profits without relying on product price increases. The power of recurring revenue Most people hear the phrase recurring revenue and think of subscriptions. Subscriptions are definitely the most common example, but they aren’t the only example. Any way you can inspire customers to spend money more frequently with you contributes to recurring revenue. It might be with ancillary products, bonuses, bundles, and any other number of strategies. Tune in to get more ideas of recurring revenue (plus hear why engaged customers, even if they aren’t your biggest spenders, still contribute to your business valuation). Scared of business debt? Reckless consumer debt and strategic business financing are often lumped into the “bad” category. But the truth is many of the world’s top entrepreneurs and real estate investors use strategic financing to their advantage and reap the rewards thousands of times over. Companies that sell physical products can especially benefit from strategic financing. Don’t settle for “sounds good” The higher your business’s valuation, the more attractive it is to potential investors. Even if you’re not planning to sell the whole business, you may decide you want to bring on investors. If you decide to do that, absolutely do not use spoken agreements or back and forth emails as your “agreement.” Get official terms drafted up, in writing, by a qualified expert. Yes, it’s more work, but it’s also for your protection. Outline of This Episode Even if you’re not going to sell, increase the valuation [8:01] How to improve margins without raising prices [12:50] Increase the average order value [21:55] A billion dollar valuation without a dime of revenue [26:15] How, why, and when to use financing [29:03] You don’t have to sell ALL of your business [35:13] Get it in writing [39:30] Resources & People Mentioned www.SolutionAdvisory.com www.InsideTheLionsDen.com On Instagram: @aryehthebusinessman Guest on YouTube Inside The Lion’s Den Podcast: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

If you judge the entrepreneur’s journey based on Photoshopped social media images, you’re getting only five percent (at most) of what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur..    One moment being an entrepreneur feels like the best day of your life. Five minutes later you could easily be asking yourself, “Why am I putting myself through this?” and questioning whether to stick with it.   Like anything else in life, being an entrepreneur has flip sides. Your ability to manage the rollercoaster of those flip sides determines how successful you not only become, but how successful you stay.   In this week’s episode James and Dean share their real world tips for managing the entrepreneurial roller coaster. Learn how you can avoid mistakes they made, and get the exact tactics and mindset they use to manage their own entrepreneurial journeys. Stop comparing yourself to slivers Most people don’t post on social media about the day to day challenges of running a business - the disappointments, the struggles, the moments where you’re terrified and failing. All you’re shown are the triumphs. Success is part of the entrepreneur’s journey, but so are the struggles. Remember that the next time you start feeling inadequate after encountering someone’s post about their amazing results or a trip they took. You’re only seeing one little sliver of their life, and none of what they endured to get there. Instead of comparing yourself to other people’s slivers, remember that their journey is theirs, and yours is yours. Eliminate overwhelm with clarity Years ago James and Dean realized that when they felt the most overwhelmed, it was due to a lack of direction. Without clarity on where you need to be focusing, it’s all too easy to get swallowed up by the day to day grind, where you’re making decisions but not making progress. When you find yourself in that situation, a sure way to burn out is to hunker down and try to hold out. Instead of sticking your head in the sand, face the situation. Take an honest look at what’s going on. Only by doing that will you get the clarity you need to solve your situation. Hustling isn’t your savior The 24/7 hustle disease is rampant in entrepreneurship, and many entrepreneurs are under the mistaken impression that if they just hustle long enough, everything will be okay. But believing you can hustle your way to success is like believing that new tires and a new coat of paint will fix a car without an engine. Without an engine, that car’s going nowhere. James and Dean know people who’ve been hustling for 10, 15, 20 years, and are no better off now than when they started. Yes, effort is required to grow your business. But it has to be focused on the right things. Otherwise, you’ll be what’s called the busy fool - hustling away with nothing to show for it. Say yes to the right things Don’t feel like doing the things you know will bring you closer to success? Do them anyway. People who get the result they want say yes to what moves them closer to their goals, regardless of how they feel in the moment. If you want fitness, say yes to going to the gym instead of an ice cream binge. If you want to grow your business, say yes to emailing your list instead of watching another Netflix show. This isn’t to say you have to hustle 24/7 and never enjoy your life. Just get into the habit of saying yes to what moves you closer to your goals - especially since, each time you say yes, it gets easier to say yes next time. That’s true whether you’re saying yes to the right things, or the wrong things. Say yes to the right things! The world is created by people no smarter than you James and Dean are experimenting with a new feature on the show: What’s going on NOW in the world of business. Tune in to hear their take on Jeff Bezos stepping down as Amazon’s CEO, including lessons they share pertaining to this week’s topic of managing the entrepreneurial roller coaster. You’ll especially want to catch the part about avoiding the pitfalls that come with comparing yourself to other entrepreneurs. Outline of This Episode You’re not seeing the whole story [7:10] Eliminating overwhelm [15:31] Don’t be a busy fool [25:22] Hustling won’t fix it [29:01] Your only REAL competition [34:00] Know your why and power through [40:41] What’s going on in the world of business [45:10] Resources & People Mentioned v2b.jamespfriel.com   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Cold outreach is one of the most misunderstood methods of growing your business, which is why it’s also among the most feared and especially, the most mishandled.    Whether it’s reaching out to get on a podcast or to start a conversation with a potential client, cold outreach has HUGE growth potential for your business. The key is doing it correctly, something Brandon Fong, our guest in this episode, is going to help you with.   After three years managing a 100,000-plus person email list and sending millions of emails, Brandon’s discovered a formula that compels people to take action. He even used it to get himself booked on Just The Tips!   Tune into this episode to get Brandon’s simple three-step cold outreach formula for inspiring even cold prospects to take action.   Brandon’s also got an exciting free gift exclusively for Just The Tips listeners that you can start using IMMEDIATELY to uncover hidden profits in your business with the use of cold outreach (and do so without sounding like a stalker). Is It Really Success If You’re Miserable? One thing Brandon teaches his students is how to grow your business while also enjoying happiness, health, and relationships. There are a lot of people in the world who, from all appearances, are successful, yet hate everyone and everything. Having “all the things” doesn’t mean you’ll feel successful, so tune in to hear how to avoid ending up with a business and a life you hate. The #1 Cold Outreach Mistake Everyone Makes A painfully high percentage of cold outreach attempts start the same way: With the person reaching out talking about how great they are, how many employees they have, what they do, their years of experience, and so on. Leading with you and your qualification is a surefire way to get your email or social post ignored by cold prospects. Tune in to hear why this method is destined to flop, and learn an effective way to communicate with cold leads. No One Calls Me James P. James gets loads of cold outreach LinkedIn messages, and it’s very clear which ones are generic (probably copy and pasted or automated), vs. from people who’re truly serious about working with him. One dead giveaway is when they call him James P. Though he’s listed as James P. Friel, nobody calls him James P. Systems definitely have their purpose, but when it comes to cold outreach they often backfire. Instead of automating or being generic, use Brandon’s three-step cold outreach system (which he’ll tell you all about in the episode). A “Backwards” Way To Get A Yes Inspired by an FBI negotiator’s tactics, Brandon teaches his students how to get a Yes by getting a No. It’s called a no-oriented question. Saying yes requires us to give away our time, our energy, and our effort. We’re committing to something. Saying no, on the other hand, feels much safer and much more secure, instead of feeling like you’re being backed into a corner. Tune in to hear exactly what a no-oriented question is, and how to use it to make prospects feel safe agreeing to talk to you. You’re Dealing With Human Beings The normal rules of social interaction seem to go out the window when we’re communicating virtually vs. in person, and it leads to bland, desperate, forced attempts to inspire action. Never forget that even when you’re contacting “a business,” what you’re really doing is reaching out to a human being. Tune in for Brandon’s tips on how to connect like a human being, while still being professional, and finally get a Yes instead of ignored or turned down. Outline of This Episode The Magic Connection Method [6:10] How to be rich and miserable [10:51] Overcoming your fear of cold outreach [16:01] Make it easy to say yes [20:05] Standing out in a sea of noise [23:58] Use no-oriented questions [28:03] Stop trying to force it [32:12] Resources & People Mentioned MagicConnectionMethod.com, use coupon code 7FM Visit bfo.ng/tips for a free gift for Just The Tips listeners Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Nearly everyone in the internet marketing world is spending ridiculous amounts of money on ads. Yet after investing so much money and time bringing someone into their world, these same business owners turn around and give their leads the cold shoulder.   Customer acquisition is a critical part of growing your business, but inspiring people to stick around is even more critical. New customers are the most expensive to acquire and the least likely to buy. When all you’re doing is chasing new customers, while ignoring the people you’ve already paid to acquire, you’re costing yourself obscene amounts of time, money, and energy.   Tune into this episode to hear from Yara Golden, an email marketer working with some of the biggest names in the Internet marketing space (including Russell Brunson), as she joins James and Dean for her third appearance on Just The Tips to show you how to grow and monetize your email list in a way that you AND your followers feel good about.   When done correctly and consistently, emailing leads you’ve paid to acquire can add several zeros to your bottom line. Check out this episode to hear the best way to get started, why list size matters less than you think, how NOT to grow your list, and much more! Invite Them To Dinner, Then Ignore Them Human interaction is often weirdly different online than it is in person. For example, most people don’t entice someone over for dinner only to completely ignore them. Yet that’s what a lot of business owners do online leads. You create lead magnets, tripwires, and other means of enticing someone onto your list, then ignore them. Instead of giving your leads the cold shoulder (and costing yourself a lot of money in the process), tune in to hear exactly how to start the conversation with your leads (just like you would if they were over for dinner). It’s Not What You Have, It’s What You Do With It One of the most common excuses Yara hears from people who aren’t emailing their leads regularly is, “My list only has XYZ people on it.” But the size of your list matters a lot less than you think. A small list of quality leads will outperform a giant list of leads who are “meh” about you and your products. If you have any doubts that quality trumps quantity when it comes to your list size, tune in for Yara’s story of a client who closed over $9,000 from a list of 500 people. Start With This Six-Email Sequence After someone opts-in, what do you do with them (after fulfilling whatever lead magnet or product they opted in for, of course)? Start with Yara’s six-email sequence that answers six questions anyone who opts into your list will have about you and what you do. Use these emails to build the know-like-trust factor, share how they can work with you, and set expectations right up front. It’s important to be yourself in these emails, so the people who are a good fit for you stick around, and the people who aren’t realize they’re better off elsewhere. Tune into to hear exactly what to write in these emails. Stop Climbing Mt. Kill-Them-With-Knowledge There’s endless talk in the internet marketing world about providing value, and when most people hear the world value, they think “I have to teach and show how knowledgeable I am!” But bowling your readers over with knowledge is rarely the best way to build a relationship with them and keep them coming back to your emails. Plus, if you share everything you know for free, why would they buy from you? Instead of trying to “Kill-Them-With-Knowledge” in your emails, build the relationship and increase engagement with the content strategy Yara describes in this episode. What If Your List Is Ice Cold? The thought of reaching out to a list you haven’t communicated with in months - maybe years - gets many an entrepreneur’s hackles up. But it’s not as challenging or terrifying as you think to re-engage a cold list. Tune in to hear a simple three-email sequence anyone can use to revive even an ice-cold list. Outline of This Episode What to do with leads once they’re in the door [5:30] Overcoming your fear of the unsubscribe [11:50] Be who you really are [18:00] They’ve opted in - now what? [24:01] Get off of Mt. Kill-Them-With-Knowledge [28:21] Start with this call to action [47:11] Re-engaging an ice cold list [50:12] Resources & People Mentioned www.YaraGolden.com Yara Golden on Instagram: theartofstoryselling Yara Golden on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCoachYara   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Robert Kanaat built a multi-million dollar business with one paid traffic source. Business was booming--so much so that Robert got complacent, as he puts it, “went off the deep end.” His customers started to complain, and that led to ALL of his ads getting shut down.   With employees and commissions to pay, Robert scrambled to figure out what he could do to not only bring in customers, but do so without relying solely on paid traffic.   His search sent him down the SEO rabbit hole, where he discovered the best ways to catapult your SEO rank fast. Robert’s since gone on to become one of the top SEO masters in the world, earning praise from Ryan Deiss, Roland Frasier, and many others.   Whether you’re brand new to SEO or experienced and looking to further improve your SEO rank, tune in to hear Robert’s top three world-class strategies to catapult your SEO rank fast. Beware The One-Legged Stool Sooner or later, most entrepreneurs learn the hard way that relying on one traffic source, whether free or paid, is like sitting on a one-legged stool. Sooner or later you’re going down. When you’ve got one traffic source consistently pulling in qualified leads and sales, get to work on another. You don’t need every traffic source on the planet, but having only one puts your entire business in jeopardy. Tune into the episode to hear Robert’s tips for adding organic SEO to your rolodex of traffic sources.  Reduce The Bounce Most people don’t have the patience to wait on slow websites, which means the faster your pages load, the less visitors bounce, and the better your organic traffic. Tune in for Roberts tips on setting up organic SEO without bogging your site down in mountains of links, banner ads, and other elements that drain your website visitors’ patience. Robert’s Top 3 Organic SEO Strategies As far as search engines are concerned, putting a new website onto the Internet is a lot like being a brand new business owner who wants a business loan from the bank. This is especially true if they don’t know you or have a relationship with you. If you don’t have a history of growing successful businesses, they’re going to be a lot more leary of lending you money. It’s the same with Google and other search engines. When your site first goes up, they’re waiting to see if you stick around, follow their rules, and prove yourself with quality content, and for most new sites it takes two years to hit that status. But Robert’s top three organic SEO traffic strategies can help you speed that process up. If your site’s already established, Robert’s strategies will improve your organic SEO even more. How To Use Videos For Organic SEO According to Robert, well-crafted, valuable written content is superior for organic SEO. That means a video with a blurb under it is unlikely to perform as well as a 2,000-plus word blog post. It doesn’t mean videos are useless for organic SEO. You just need to include one extra step (that you can affordably outsource if you don’t want to do it yourself) to ensure your videos pull their own SEO weight. Tune in to hear exactly what to do. Where Never To Put Your Blog A lot of free software, like WordPress, gives you a free subdomain to host your blog. The problem is, website subdomain URLs like blog.thebeardedwonder.com don’t perform well in search results. If you’re just starting out, spend a little extra cash for a real domain, so you can put your blog at, for example, the beardedwonder.com/blog. Otherwise, when you get around to buying a real domain to host your blog, you’re starting from scratch with your SEO ranking for that page. Do it correctly straight out of the gate and save yourself that frustration. Outline of This Episode All about paid traffic, UNTIL… [5:15] Instead of gaming Google, get better results with this [12:24] Don’t buy domains, buy established websites [20:01] SEO content dos and don’ts [26:10] Get more SEO from your videos by doing this [33:03] Never rely on one traffic source [38:05] To mask or not to mask the domain [46:52] Resources & People Mentioned http://outrankfast.com/ to get a free website audit from Robert. Mention you heard Robert on Just The Tips and he’ll send you a book. Robert Kanaat on LinkedIn Robert Kanaat on Twitter Robert Kanaat on YouTube Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Every year when January winds to a close, one of two things begins to happen: You dig in and surge forward on the goals you made at the start of the year, or your commitment to those goals starts slipping away.   Simply having a goal and trying to attain it is not a recipe for success, which is why even the most committed action takers often struggle to reach their goals.   Without clarity on what you want and a plan to get there, it’s inevitable you’ll spin your wheels at best, and give up at worst.   Whether your new year goals have fallen by the wayside, or you’re still pushing toward them, tune into this episode to hear James’ and Dean’s personal strategies for setting up your year for success. They’ll also reveal the most common mistakes people make when striving for business goals, and tell you exactly what to do instead. Stop Making The Same Mistakes There are two ways to avoid mistakes. The first is to learn from other people’s. The second is, if you do make a mistake, learn from it and don’t repeat it. Not repeating your own mistakes requires being honest with yourself, and this is something that trips a lot of people up. Being honest with yourself is uncomfortable, especially if you confuse it with beating yourself up. If that’s how you see it, don’t beat yourself up. Just take an honest assessment at what happened, and use that information to avoid that mistake moving forward. Know Where You’re Going FIRST A lot of people plan their present without considering where they want to go. That’s like trying to use a GPS without putting in a destination. Step one is to look at where you want to be a year from now, three years from now, even a decade from now. Once you’re clear on that, reverse engineer the actions and outcomes it’ll take to get there. Map out the destination, then your milestones, which will help you plan effective immediate actions. WHO Do You Need To Be? Who you need to be to reach your goals is a step most people save until last (if they think about it all). Getting clear on your lifestyle, your business goals, who your customers are--all of that’s important. But who you need to be is most important of all, because it makes or breaks the creation of the life and business you map out. You can create a meticulous, step by step plan for getting your business and life exactly where you want them, but if you don’t believe you’re capable of following that path and having those outcomes, you’ll be right. If your business is stalled out especially, take a closer look at who you are now vs. who you need to be to hit and sustain that next level. Focus On What Makes The Biggest Difference One thing a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with is thinking THEY have to be the one to do everything in their business. But there’s only so much YOU can personally do, which is why it’s critical to focus your time on the things that’ll make the most difference in growing your business. The rest can be outsourced. Always remember that the answer to more business growth may be to do LESS, not more. There comes a point when adding more splits your focus so much that you’re doing 50 things poorly, instead of five things impactfully. Beware Aimless Execution Yes, you’ve got to take action on your plans, but it has to be the right action. Some entrepreneurs get hyper focused on just “taking action,” but they’re acting on the wrong things. That’s like trying to drive your car from here to the store by randomly turning the steering wheel instead of following a clear path. Clarity on where you get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to taking action is an absolute must. Put your effort into the 20% that moves the needle, not the 80% that keeps you spinning your wheels. Outline of This Episode When goals start to slip away [4:20] How to stop making the same mistakes [7:15] Using the future to plan the present [12:50] The entrepreneur’s two paths [16:10] Identifying what’s holding things up [21:00] Stop stacking chairs [26:30] Check yourself before you wreck yourself [33:01]   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow

Standing apart from your competition is something we hear a lot about as entrepreneurs, but it can be easier said than done. This is especially true when you’re in a market with heaps of competition from industry giants.   Even so, there are people making it happen, including this week’s guest, Tyler Ornstein, founder of Tylers Coffees®. Coffee is the second largest industry in the world, second only to petroleum, so there’s no shortage of “giants” to compete against. Yet Tylers Coffees® has been around for sixteen years, is available in 500 retail locations as well as online, and now ships 40,000 units of coffee a month. Clearly, being the David in an industry packed with Goliaths didn’t prevent Tylers Coffees® from becoming a mass success.   Tune into this episode to hear Tyler’s tips, lessons, and strategies that any entrepreneur in any industry can use to successfully wage war on a business battlefield full of “giants.” It’s Not The Coffee, It’s The Acid Tylers Coffees® were conceived when Tyler was just 14 years old. He and his father often bonded over coffee, until his dad was told, by his doctors, that he couldn’t drink coffee anymore. It was due to his stomach issues. The acid in the coffee was  exacerbating those issues. Instead of simply rolling over, however, Tyler’s dad, a chemist, figured out a way to brew organic, acid-free coffee that he could drink. Validate Your Idea First Even at age 14, Tyler recognized that other people with stomach and digestive issues who had to avoid acidic foods might be interested in his dad’s acid-free coffee. So, he rode around the neighborhood on his bike, knocking on doors and offering free samples to neighbors. Tyler remembers following up with a particular little old lady, who told Tyler the coffee did not hurt her stomach. She asked how she could obtain more, and what it cost. Tyler continued to hear from people with similar experiences, which gave him proof of concept and inspired him to start selling Tylers Coffees®. What Tyler did--testing his offer’s viability--is a step new entrepreneurs often skip, to their detriment. In this episode, Tyler describes a simple, affordable way to test your product’s viability. How Do You Compete With Starbucks And Folgers? You Don’t! Attempting to directly compete with the “giants” usually leads to price wars, since there’s really nothing differentiating you from the competition. Instead of competing directly with the major coffee brands, Tylers Coffees® caters to health conscientious coffee drinkers--specifically, people with digestive issues who can’t tolerate the acid in normal coffee. As a result, Tyler can charge more for Tylers Coffees®, help people enjoy a beverage they may not otherwise be able to, and provide a superior product. You Don’t Need Money, You Need Customers When an aspiring entrepreneur tells Tyler they “need money,: his next question is usually, “Do you have customers?” These days there are lots of ways to acquire money for product creation, but what good is any product if there aren’t people willing to buy it? It may sound counterintuitive, but the more you focus on a market you can serve, the better your odds of creating a product people want to buy. Retail Is Dead...Or Is It? Because lockdowns and COVID restrictions make shopping at a retail location challenging, many retail sectors are suffering. Online shopping as a whole contributes to this dynamic as well. But that still doesn’t mean retail, as a whole, is dead. In this episode Tyler offers tips on getting your products into retail stores, including whether it’s currently worth the effort to do so with your particular product. He also shares what it took to get Tylers Coffees® into Natural Grocers. Outline of This Episode How to tell whether you’re “entrepreneuring” correctly [4:01] Why growing a business is like raising a child [7:24] Shipping coffee from a bedroom [14:21] The one question Tyler asks aspiring entrepreneurs [19:05] An easy way to test your product’s viability [27:17] The retail side of selling [37:17] From sixty employees to two [49:18] Resources & People Mentioned https://tylerscoffees.com/ Tylers Coffees on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tylersacidfreecoffee/ Tylers Coffees on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TylersCoffee/ Tylers Coffees on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tylerscoffees Email Tylers Coffees at contact@tylerscoffees.com Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Though a wild year, 2020 brought dozens of inspiring experts and entrepreneurs onto Just The Tips. In this week’s episode, James and Dean pack the show with gold from some of their favorite 2020 episodes. Tune in for actionable tips you can implement in your business right now. You’ll hear about marketing, sales, Facebook ads, leadership, scaling your business, sales calls, and so much more. Your Funnel Is Not A Business There’s a weird belief in the online marketing world that the magic is in having funnels and opt-in pages. As in, if I just have a funnel, I’ll have a business and get rich. Or, if I want opt-ins, I’ll just throw up an opt-in page and get opt-ins. What people who believe that always find, however, is that it’s never that simple.   Does your business have a mission? Does your team believe in it? Do you know exactly who you’re trying to serve? Do you have an offer people want AND are willing to spend money on? There’s more to business than funnels and opt-in pages. If you don’t have an offer or a market that wants it, no amount of funnels will help you.   People Don’t Want Your Mechanism, They Want The Result It’s really easy to get so obsessed with your mechanism - the way you help people get results - that you lose sight of one simple fact: People are buying the result, not the mechanism. This isn’t to say the mechanism doesn’t matter. It absolutely does. For example, if it’s clunky or hard to understand, then that’ll turn people off. But even with an excellent mechanism for helping your clients achieve results, always remember that the results matter most. Talk about the mechanism when it makes sense, but talk more about the results. $30 Won’t Make You A Facebook Millionaire If you spend $30 one time on Facebook ads, then no, they don’t work. If you’re advertising a broken offer, they won’t help with that, either. Successfully advertising on Facebook is like successfully advertising anywhere else. You need the right offer in front of the right audience, and enough money to get some data so you can tweak, refine, and scale your advertising. Get all those elements in place, and yes, Facebook ads do work. How To Connect Without Being Spammy The right person may grow your business faster than the right offer. But how do you connect with total strangers online and not be creepy, lame, or spammy - especially if the person’s an influencer with a huge following, and is bombarded with private messages every day? One of James and Dean’s guests last year shared several simple tips on how to do exactly that. This guest also shared what to do once you’ve succeeded in connecting with the person you reached out to. Tune into the episode to hear his exact methodology! You Are Not There To Sell When you get on the phone with someone to have a sales conversation, the worst thing you can do is see it as “selling.” Not because it’s wrong or bad to sell - it’s NOT - but because it’ll set you up to be needy, desperate, and not listen to your prospect. The point of a sales call is to facilitate a powerful decision for the person you’re talking to. That decision is this: Whether or not to work with you. When you approach a sales call with the intent of listening and helping the other person facilitate a powerful decision, it eliminates cringe-worthy “selling” mistakes you’re going to make if you get on the phone with the intent to sell. Get on the phone with the intention of facilitating a powerful decision. It’ll change everything for you. Outline of This Episode How to make selling unnecessary [1:19] A funnel is not a business [6:19] Don’t be an expert, be this instead [11:47] When Facebook ads don’t work [17:21] Rule number one for online networking [22:25] What would happen to your business if you took a month off? [29:07] The best mindset for sales calls [34:42] Resources & People Mentioned Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Even at the end of a year as dramatic as 2020, James and Dean make a point to review their year, and the many power lessons learned.   The year 2020 isn’t one most people will soon forget, which means it was packed with lessons you can use to move forward in both business and life.   Tune into this episode to hear the biggest and best lessons James and Dean picked up during 2020. You’ll hear about better ways to accomplish goals, a product idea you may never have thought of, improving productivity, why James thinks Dean should self-isolate for life, and much more. The Journal Exercise For People Who Don’t Like Journaling   Journaling is one of those things we’ve all heard is good for you, but not everyone sees the value in jotting their feelings down for half an hour. If this is a camp you fall into, tune into this episode to hear the two-sentence daily journal entry you can make every day, and the surprising results you get from doing it (including a product idea you may not have thought of). How To Accomplish Big Goals Without Freezing With all the talk of massive action, it’s easy to overlook the fact progress happens one small step at a time, too. Think of it like crossing a raging river. Yes, you can dive in and thrash your way across, but you’d get there a lot more smoothly with stepping stones.   Even a stepping stone that seems too small to bother with is still a step in the right direction. For example, if you want to work up to 100 pushups a day, start with one a day. It may sound stupid, as though it’s not even worth the effort, but remember that effort compounds.   Stepping stones also prevent you from freezing up when it comes time to take action on your goal, because they show you the path, and exactly how to get there. Your Car’s Going The Wrong Way You’ve set a goal, and you’ve put down your stepping stones. Your next step seems obvious, right? Follow those stones. Yet a crazy number of people don’t follow their own stepping stones, then turn around and complain that their goal is “unattainable.” It’d be like getting in the best, fastest car in the world, driving in the wrong direction, and complaining that the car’s a piece of junk. Focusing on the right things is how you get where you want to go. Tune in for tips on doing exactly that (including how James’ three-part productivity framework ensures you get where you’re going). Choosing The Right Partnerships Partnerships are a powerful and proven way to grow your business, but only when they’re the right ones for your business. When they’re not, then worst case scenario, your reputation and bank account take a serious hit. Best case scenario, you’re disappointed and waste your time.    Before entering into your next joint venture, tune in to hear what to look for when considering who you’ll work with. You can’t fix crazy, but you can prevent yourself from doing business with it.  When Your Expectations Aren’t Met Entrepreneurs see possibilities where others don’t. We don’t believe in glass ceilings, and we set big expectations for ourselves, our businesses, and even other people. When those expectations aren’t met, disappointment is a natural result. If you don’t properly manage disappointment, it can send you into an unnecessary spiral. Instead of going down that path, tune in for tips on evaluating and identifying why your big expectations aren’t always met. Outline of This Episode A simpler, better way to journal [3:39] Why to do the things that feel stupid [9:39] What to do when big goals are overwhelming [15:00] The three levels of productivity [20:31] Picking the right people to partner with [30:55] Identifying and managing unrealistic expectations [40:15] Remember your backend sales [47:01] Resources & People Mentioned Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Hitting your first $10,000 a month is a huge milestone. Even once you’ve surpassed it, who wouldn’t want an extra $10K a month every month?   In this episode James and Dean welcome Gina DeVee, entrepreneur and creator of Divine Living, to share her best tips for hitting your first $10K. She’ll also dispel the mindsets and myths getting in the way of that first $10K.   Growing up, Gina was raised to believe you go to college and get a job, so that’s exactly what she did. She got her master’s degree, but also walked away with $75,000 in debt and hating what she was doing. To add insult to injury, she was 30 years old and living with her parents.   Knowing there was more out there for her, Gina moved to Los Angeles to pursue her own dreams. Things weren’t going all that well until Gina accepted a friend’s invitation to attend an event where Bob Proctor took the stage and told everyone in the audience: There’s no shortage of money and there’s no shortage of clients.   That statement, along with everything else Gina heard at the event, blew up everything Gina thought she knew about money and how to make it...so much so that days after the event ended, she sold SIX of her first $10K packages.   Tune into this episode to hear how she did it, how you can do it, too, and MUCH more. Good And Broke Or The Devil’s Puppet The life-changing event Gina attended with her friend was called “The Science of Getting Rich.” Gina’s money beliefs at the time amounted to this: Be good and broke, or rich and sell your soul to the devil. What she learned at “The Science of Getting Rich,” however, profoundly transformed her mindset around money, to the degree that days after the event ended, she landed a $60,000 coaching gig. It really drove home that your mindset around money will limit you if you let it. Tune in to hear what Gina did to end her money mindset limitations. I’m Not Worth That Much Almost everyone who wants to grow their business battles imposter syndrome over and over. The same thoughts pop up each time, such as: “What I know isn’t worth that much. I don’t have enough experience. I’ll close clients. I won’t get clients. No one will pay that much.” If you’ve had thoughts like these about your prices, tune in to hear exactly why you ARE worth “that much,” and why there are people who’ll pay it. Why You Never “Over” Overdeliver Early-on, Gina felt she had to REALLY overdeliver when people paid her thousands of dollars at a time. This was especially true when she put together her first six-figure package. Even in this $100K package, where you’d expect the sun, the moon, and the stars, Gina stuffed so much into it that her clients felt overwhelmed. Tune into this episode to hear how to overdeliver to your clients without overwhelming them into inaction. How To Set And Raise Your Prices Most people have a comfort set point when it comes to their pricing, and the thought of charging more than that causes you to curl into the fetal position and procrastinate raising your prices. Gina’s got a simple tool to help you find your “financial frequency” and raise it. In this episode you’ll hear exactly what this tool is, how Gina used this tool to raise her own financial frequency, and the massive difference it made in her ability to reach her financial goals. Where Are The Clients? James and Dean get this question all the time, and in this episode you’ll learn Gina’s not-shocking answer, along with the one next step you need to take to bring in as many clients as you need. Gina will also reveal a huge social media marketing mistake to avoid, and dismantle the myth that more clients is always the answer to more money. (You’ll especially want to hear how many clients it took for Gina to make $1.2 million dollars from one offer.) Outline of This Episode Did everything right, still got it wrong [5:30] There’s no lack of money or clients [11:10] Making money is easy, struggling is what’s hard [19:45] $1.2 million from a 5,000-person list [26:45] How overdelivering can backfire [29:13] Where to find clients [36:35] Why you don’t need hundreds of people [40:40] Resources & People Mentioned The Audacity to be Queen: The Unapologetic Art of Dreaming Big and Manifesting Your Most Fabulous Life (https://www.divineliving.com/book/) www.DivineLiving.com/Audacity Instagram: @ginadevee Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ginadevee/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ginadevee Divine Living Podcast (https://www.divineliving.com/podcast/) Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

“How do I get new customers??” That’s what most people new to business focus on. It’s what a lot of business training focuses on, and what a lot of established businesses show to the world.   What most people don’t tell you is that there’s a huge problem with focusing only on new customers: It’s not only expensive, it’s not sustainable. New customers are just the tip of the iceberg. Without a backend to your business, you’ll hit a wall and you won’t be able to get around it.   In this episode, James and Dean dive into what has to happen below the surface of your business in order for you to grow it. Tune in to hear exactly why focusing only on new customers is a business death sentence, and what to put in place so you aren’t dependent only on new customers for every dime you earn. This episode will be especially helpful if you’re interested in affiliate marketing, but it applies to all business models.   You Need The Whole Iceberg New customers are an important part of business; however, new customers are not enough to grow and sustain a profitable business. They can get you off the ground, but in order for you to stay off the ground AND go even higher, you need the rest of the iceberg. Tune into this episode to hear what to do once you’ve acquired a customer.   Why The Tip Of The Iceberg’s Not Enough The cost to acquire a customer is going up all the time. James used to pay 30 cents when someone clicked on one of his Facebook ads. Now he pays $3.50. Costs in other marketing mediums are up, too. New customers are the most expensive to acquire. They don’t know you and they don’t yet trust you. When ALL your time and money are devoted to new customers--aka the tip of the iceberg--it’s only a matter of time before you end up spinning your wheels. The Break Even Point People new to business are often under the impression that if you’re not profiting from new customers, you’re failing. That’s simply not true. The tip of the iceberg--the front end of your business--is not about profit. It’s about getting customers in the door so you can offer them more solutions. If your front-end is profitable, it means you have room to scale your customer acquisition efforts.   Keep Solving Problems Profit happens on the backend of your business. That’s why the worst thing you can do is abandon people after they buy from you one time. You’ve spent all this time and money to acquire a customer. Instead of dropping off the face of the earth in pursuit of new customers, create and offer more solutions to your buyers.   When You Run Out Of Offers If you reach a point where you can’t solve any more problems for your customers--or they just need help with something you don’t know how to do and don’t care to learn--consider affiliate marketing and referral partnerships. Send your customers to people and products you use and believe in. Become your customers’ trusted guide, show you care about their success by doing what it takes to help them (including sending them to other people), and still make money.   Outline of This Episode Never focus on just the tip of the iceberg [5:45] Who will fold up and who will grow their business [15:05] Get to the break even point [21:30] He who can pay the most, wins [26:25] Money is made beneath the surface [30:05] Keep solving your customers’ problems [37:40] How to use affiliate marketing on the backend [45:03] Resources & People Mentioned The Iceberg Effect book: http://icebergeffectbook.com/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Jeff “Griff” Griffin calls himself the best unknown speaker you’ve never heard of. After a 40-foot fall from scaffolding crushed his spine, and his college football dreams along with it, Griff was faced with a decision: Stay down and wallow in self-pity, or dream new dreams.   Griff chose to dream new dreams, and has since gone on to become a Paralympic silver medalist and world-renowned inspirational speaker who helps people achieve impossible goals.   You don’t have to be paralyzed physically to be paralyzed by things like doubt, fear, and complacency.   If achieving impossible goals still feels impossible to you, tune into this episode for Griff’s tips for taking what seems impossible and making it reality. Where Achieving The Impossible Starts Griff’s dream was to play college football. But after falling off a ladder while painting a barn, Griff lost the use of his legs, and found himself at a crossroads with two clear choices: Let his new reality stop him, or find a new way forward. Griff’s gone on to do things people told him were impossible for a man in a wheelchair to do, because he chose to believe there was another way. Making the “impossible” your reality starts with what you believe. The Problem Isn’t A Problem When challenges pop up, most people focus on the problem and the excuses about why they can’t solve it. For Griff, it would have been to focus on the problem of being in a wheelchair. Instead, he focused on finding solutions. If your goal seems impossible, it’s because you’re focusing your time and energy on the problem. Shift to focusing on the solution. And tune into this episode to hear about Griff’s simple solution framework to solving any problem. When Others Say You Can’t James’ grandfather once told him, “When someone tells you they can’t, what they’re really saying is that THEY can’t.” Griff not only agrees, he’s proven over and over again that other people’s limitations about him aren’t really about him. Listen to this episode and you’ll hear incredible examples of where other people--even Navy SEALS--put limits on Griff that he went on to bust. What You Don’t Want Because it’s often easier to get clear on what you don’t want than what you DO want, what you don’t want is where your focus goes. But when you put all your energy into focusing on what you don’t want, that’s exactly what you get more of. That’s why Griff developed a technique to use what you don’t want to identify what you DO want, so you can focus on that instead. Tune into this episode to hear how it works and start getting what you want instead of what you don’t. Holy Habits And A Righteous Routine Entrepreneurs and peak performers eager for results come to Griff asking for the tips, tools, and skills they think it takes to get where they want to be. But Griff says there are two critically important areas you’ve got to address before you can even begin to go after your results. Listen to this episode for Griff’s tips on what these two areas are, and why achieving that “impossible” goal without them may very well prove impossible. Outline of This Episode The best unknown speaker you’ve never heard of [5:30] When the moment to perform has arrived [13:05] The P-Squared Mindset [16:30] Don’t accept other people’s limitations about you [23:00] The problem with not knowing what you want [28:31] The Law of Harvest [37:40] Freed by a prisoner [50:05] Resources & People Mentioned Possibility Principle: Text POSSIBLE to 1+801-316-8689 GriffinMotivation.com (coupon code LOVE for 50% off “I’mPossible” and “Endless Possibilities” books) Griff on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffgriffin10/ Griff on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/griffinmotivation/ Griff on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmIzd5hYflS_1mzSlTl1J_A Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

You have a dream: To serve people with your idea, make a lot of money doing it, and create the freedom to enjoy your family and favorite activities.   You get your business up and running, and even get some traction. Next thing you know, you dread getting up in the morning to face the overwhelming nightmare that your business has become.   Where’s the joy you expected to have? Where’s the freedom? How did you end up in this mess?   This is exactly where Dean found himself three years ago. He was overwhelmed, overworked, and living on the edge of burnout.   But after working with his secret weapon, Dean now enjoys the true freedom entrepreneurs expect to create when they start their business.   Tune into this week’s episode to discover how Dean’s secret weapon, aka James P. Friel, helped him move out of overwhelm and into freedom; AND how you can do the same in your business. Your first mistake? You’d never build your dream house by dumping a bunch of lumber into your yard, grabbing a hammer and some nails, and randomly nailing everything together. You’d get a blueprint drawn up first. It just makes sense to do that. Yet when it comes to bringing our business ideas to life, too many entrepreneurs skip the blueprint step. Without a blueprint to help you grow, strategically, it’s only a matter of time before the aimlessness sends you into a sea of overwhelm. Excitement and implementation are great. So is having a plan. Going from solo-preneuer to CEO When you’re first getting your business off the ground, hiring a team, or even outsourcing one or two tasks, may not seem like an option. So, you learn to do a lot of stuff yourself that’s not a great use of your time, until you finally reach a place where you cannot possibly do everything yourself. Yet you resist outsourcing, because all you can think about is what it’ll cost you to do so. This episode is packed with James’ premium tips to help you move beyond your hiring resistance so you can get out of the weeds and actually grow your business. What should you focus on? James teaches a business strategy called The Big Five. It’s where you identify the five things in your business that are the highest and best use of your time. As in, if you spent 80% of your time doing these things, your business would grow faster and things would be moving along with less friction. Not everyone’s big five will be the same, so tune into this episode for James’ tips on identifying your Big Five. Don’t mistake activity for productivity If you want to drive from your house to the golf course, but you point your car in the wrong direction, it doesn’t matter how fast you drive your car, or how many hours you drive it--you won’t get there. It’s the same with the time and effort you devote to your business. How hard you work, and how much time you spend, won’t help your business grow if you’re not working on the right things. Check out this episode for help identifying where and on what you should spend your time and effort. Where to start eliminating overwhelm Until you know where you are with your business, you can’t know where you’re going, or how to get there. Think of it like getting lost in the woods. You could wander aimlessly for an indefinite amount of time. But if, on the other hand, you got to high ground and could see both where you are, and the destination you want to reach, you’d know exactly how to get where you want to go. Tune into this episode to hear how James’ Five Pillars of Business framework can give you that 30,000-foot view of your business (including a free resource to get you started). Outline of This Episode From overwhelm to freedom [7:01] The #1 biggest cause of business overwhelm [13:31] When you don’t have the money to hire [16:55] How to tell what to outsource [22:00] The difference between activity and productivity [31:05] Start with The Five Pillars [34:32] You must pivot as you grow [46:40] Resources & People Mentioned https://audit.jamespfriel.com/free Hiring Like A Boss: https://jamespfriel.com/hiring Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

“Facebook ads don’t work!” is an opinion Jessica Walman, founder of the 5C Grow & Scale Method for digital marketing, knows is simply not true.   Jessica’s done $20 million in ad spend for everyone from entrepreneurs and product companies to local businesses and software companies. She’s seen it all, including what it takes to correctly and profitably grow and scale your business with Facebook ads. Yes, they do work, when you go about them the right way.   Tune into this week’s episode for Jessica’s tips on how to create a profitable Facebook ad. She’ll reveal how to tell you’ve got a winner, the variables that can make or break your ad’s success (it’s not just about the ad), and how to scale profitably when you do identify a winner.   Jessica will also shine a light on the mental challenges that come with advertising on Facebook, so you don’t dive for the cancel button before your ad even has a chance to get traction.   And, of course, discover the #1 thing that will make or break your Facebook campaign profitability.   If you’re convinced Facebook ads don’t work, or have had some success and want tips on how to get even more, you’ve got to hear this episode.   $30 Does Not A Millionaire Make When someone tells Jessica that Facebook ads don’t work, one of the first things she asks is how much they’ve spent. Very often it’s something like $30, and the person believed that was enough to make them a millionaire. If it were that easy, we’d all be multi-millionaires, right? It takes more than $30 to create and scale a profitable Facebook ad, but ad spend is only one piece of the pie. The messaging, the page your ad takes people to, the offer you’re sending people to, and many other factors play a role. Unless these other factors are all dialed in (and you’ve got more than $30 to spend on ads), your ad won’t work. Tune in to hear what does work. Be Willing To Experiment Because there are a lot of factors that go into a successful Facebook ad, you have to be willing to experiment. For example, maybe no one clicks on your ad to begin with. Or maybe you’re getting a lot of click-throughs, but those leads aren’t buying. It could be that your messaging isn’t dialed in. Jessica will walk you through each of these factors and reveal what could be wrong. She’ll also explain not only when to start experimenting, but how to experiment in a way that will actually help you identify the bottlenecks, vs. waste your time and money with random changes. It Has To Be The Right Audience Your ad and offer could be brilliant, but if your ad’s going to the wrong people, it won’t convert. Period. Tune in for Jessica’s tips to help you ensure you’re targeting the right people (including where to start if you’re brand new to Facebook advertising). Once you identify the right audience, the next step is to ensure your messaging is spot-on. Remember, it may not be one magic message that you need. People who profit from Facebook ads often have multiple messages to appeal to different needs and wants of their ideal audience. Why “Just Get The Click” Is Wrong If someone tells you the ad’s only goal is to get the click, run. The click is important, yes. But when you make ads only about getting the click, you’re much more likely to get clicks from people who don’t actually want your offer. They’re curious enough to click, but not sure what it is they’re clicking through to. Getting the click has to be balanced by a pre-frame in your messaging that draws in people who’ll actually buy your offer. Listen to this episode for tips on how to ensure you’re getting clicks from buyers instead of looky-loos. Scaling The Winners Once you’ve identified a winner, it’s time to scale. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to scale too quickly, which leads to financial stress and ads that stop working. That’s why Jessica recommends scaling realistically. Meaning, if you made $5,000, make your next goal $15,000 or $20,000, vs. $100K. Realistic scaling allows you to stay on top of ad spend, as well as any “leaks” that may spring up due to unexpected fluctuations in conversion rates (and other variables, like exactly who is clicking through). Once your ad’s proven it can handle this realistic level of scaling, and if you have the budget for it, then you can start scaling faster. But when you first start scaling, take it slowly. Outline of This Episode What NOT to do with Facebook ads [4:45] Who Facebook ads are good for [11:30] Have the proper expectations [17:00] The right (and profitable) way to set ad goals [24:50] When to nurture your audience with content [30:10] Why the pre-frame makes or breaks sales [34:30] Once it’s working, here’s how to scale [37:10] Resources & People Mentioned www.JessicaWalman.com/adkit www.JessicaWalman.com/agency www.JessicaWalman.com/Podcast Reset the Norm Facebook tribe: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1305397442969563/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

The idea of the “self-made” man or woman is pretty appealing. But it’s also a myth. None of us are born knowing everything there is to know. We learn what we need from experience, and most of that experience revolves around interacting with other people.   Given that it’s the holiday season and a great time to reflect on what you’re grateful for, James and Dean decided to devote this episode of Just The Tips to revealing some of the mentors and coaches who’ve made huge impacts in their businesses and lives. They’ll also reveal the epic pitfalls they fell into as a result of avoiding quality coaching because it was “too expensive.”   Building a successful business takes time no matter what. But there’s still a fast way and a slow way. Check out this episode to discover why the right people at the right time--especially qualified coaches--are the fastest way to grow your business.   The slow way or the fast way If Dean wanted to get from the U.K. to the U.S., which option makes more sense: Buy a plane ticket and fly, or build a 747 from scratch? It sounds obvious, but trying to figure your business out yourself with free information and the odd $27 ebook is like building the plane from scratch. It takes way more time and/or costs way more money than you think it’s going to. Figuring it out yourself is the slow way to build a business. The fast way is to hire a coach who’s gotten the result you want, and let them help you get that result for yourself. You pay with time or you pay with money Early in his entrepreneurial journey, Dean passed on an opportunity to invest in coaching because he thought paying $5,000-$10,000 for it was outlandish. That was money he could spend on ads and $37 training products, after all. But four years and $60,000 worth of training programs later, Dean’s business not only hadn’t grown, it went backwards. So Dean used his last bit of credit to buy coaching, and in 8 months was able to quit his job and go into business full-time. The whole experience taught him a very powerful lesson about the value of spending money on coaching NOW. Make it harder to fail Winning is never guaranteed, but you can stack the odds in your favor. The right coach, the right team, the right people in your corner, can elevate you to levels you’d never reach on your own. As appealing as the “figure it out on your own” fantasy is, the most successful people you know and respect had help getting where they are. They did the work, yes. But without the people they met and worked with along the way, they wouldn’t be where they are.   What you don’t know can hurt you The biggest problem with figuring it out on your own is that there are things you don’t know, and you don’t know you don’t know them. You go after what you THINK you need, not what you actually need. As an entrepreneur, you see this all the time with your customers. You offer them what they think they need, so you can get them in the door and offer them what they actually need to get the result they want. That’s the power of working with someone who knows what you actually need to get where you want to be. They see the blind spots you would never see.   It’s lonely, but you’re not alone One of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is how lonely it feels. Even people in your life who care about you don’t always get it, and you often feel like the outsider. Having a network of people who do get it, who push you, who are there for you, makes the journey a lot less lonely and a lot more worthwhile. It’s especially powerful on the days where you feel like quitting, or where you’re facing something you really don’t want to do. The people you connect with can mean the difference between giving up on your dream, or going all the way. Outline of This Episode Why have a mentor? [4:30] You pay with time or you pay with money [9:45] Hire the best help you can currently afford [14:01] $60,000 in training programs and still nothing [17:17] Why “self-made” doesn’t exist [24:01] Meeting the “Rich Dad” [33:23] You don’t know what you don’t know [40:10] Resources & People Mentioned “Who Not How” by Dan Sullivan “Tools of Titans” by Tim Ferriss and Arnold Schwartzenegger Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

“Do I need to change the font in my order button? Do I need a better upsell? Do I need a better picture on my Facebook ad?”   Questions like these are often the first to pop into a new marketer’s mind when their marketing campaign doesn’t fill their bank account like they hoped, and here’s why.   It’s a lot easier and a lot sexier to focus on tactics, like order button colors and how many upsells you have, than it is to focus on what REALLY inspires customers to buy.   But when you’ve got a truly irresistible offer with a spot-on marketing message, the color of your order button is the last thing on your customer’s mind.   In this week’s episode, master marketer Todd Brown, the secret marketing weapon even marketing legends turn to, joins James and Dean to show you what it actually takes to nail your marketing campaign.   From presenting your offers in a way that leads to sales, to writing persuasive copy that converts, Todd’s shining a light on the biggest mistakes he sees entrepreneurs make in their marketing campaigns.   If you’re struggling with anything marketing - strategy, copy, campaigns, you name it - this episode will point you straight at the money-sucking holes in your campaign, and show you how to plug them.   Everything Comes From Your Market Whether we’re talking ice cold prospects or piping hot customers, EVERYTHING has to come from your market. It’s not about you, it’s not about your product or service, and it’s absolutely not about what you believe your market wants or think they “should” want. This is 100% true even if you are your market. If your offers, and what you do and say to market them, are not rooted in what your market actually wants, your sales will never be as high as you want.  What Will NOT Improve Your Offer If your product’s a dud, it’s a dud, and no amount of clever marketing or positioning can save it. If your hard back book isn’t selling, making it paperback won’t fix the problem. A new upsell won’t turn an offer no one wants into a home run. Truly irresistible offers with mediocre copy and no upsells will outperform duds with slick copy and “killer upsells.” Things like tweaking your copy and using different funnel software comes AFTER you’ve got a proven offer. THE Top Two Ways To Make Your Offer Stand Out (And Which One To Focus On) There are two ways to stand out in the marketplace. The first is your promise, i.e. the unique benefit you offer that competing products and services do not. For the average entrepreneurial marketer, differentiating based on promise, though it can be done, is very difficult, which is why Todd recommends most people differentiate based on mechanism. In other words, focus on making HOW your offer delivers the result in a way that’s new and different. Being Different Isn’t Enough Highlighting how you’re different is how you get attention, but by itself it’s not enough to create a perfect marketing campaign. That part comes from part proving to your prospect why your product’s mechanism is superior. How will it get them there faster? Why will it work for them even if they’ve failed, or even if they have no experience? Remember, this isn’t about features and benefits. It’s about why the way your product delivers results is SUPERIOR matters to your prospects. Choose Copy Clarity Over Copy Creativity Clever, flowery copy is useless if your prospects have no idea what you’re talking about, because confused people don’t buy. Why would they, if they can’t tell what they’re getting and how it will help them? Instead of dreaming up slick, clever ways to talk about your offer, present it with clear, simple copy your prospect understands and relates. Clear, simple copy that proves your offer’s superiority in a way your prospects care about outperforms “creative” copy every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Outline of This Episode Why anybody can be a good marketer [3:13] The difference between marketing and selling [8:01] Stop trying to save a dud [13:03] How to make your offer stand out [22:00] Skip this and you’ll attract price shoppers [26:30] Show them why your offer is superior [30:15] How to write copy that actually converts [44:05] Resources & People Mentioned Visit Todd Brown’s website: https://toddbrown.me/ Todd Brown on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddbrown/ Todd Brown on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ToddBrownMarketing/ Todd Brown on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWlIIwel956xVecFuBC80BA The Marketers Mind Show Podcast: http://themarketersmindshow.com Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Black Friday is a huge opportunity to give your bottom line a shot in the arm and get your message or product in front of your customers. People are already in buying mode and eager to spend money.   Yet a lot of businesses hesitate to give their business that influx of cash because they believe one of the following myths:   My business isn’t the ‘right kind’ for a Black Friday campaign An effective Black Friday campaign requires rock-bottom pricing I have to create a brand new offer   It’s not as difficult as you may believe to craft an irresistible offer that compels people to buy. It doesn’t need to be new. And you absolutely do NOT need to “race to the bottom.”   This week’s episode is jam-packed with strategies you can use to create Black Friday campaigns from your current offers; with ideas for quickly creating new offers; and with real-life examples to tease your Black Friday offer in a way that creates scarcity and builds excitement for that influx of cash on Black Friday weekend.   Whether you need fresh inspiration to create this year’s Black Friday campaign, or just have no idea where to start with a Black Friday offer, find the answers you need in this week’s episode.   Avoiding The Race To The Bottom Slashing prices is the easiest way to create a Black Friday offer, but is it the best way? Not according to James! He actually calls it the WORST way. (What if you don’t have the margins to discount your products?) Creating a juicy and profitable Black Friday offer comes down to choosing something your customers want so badly, price becomes a non-issue. Catch this episode for examples of what that an offer like that can look like. Why There’s Still Time A killer Black Friday offer doesn’t mean you have to create entirely new products. That’s definitely a great option, but it’s not the only option. Consider a valuable live training--such as a masterclass--for anyone who buys a certain product. That product can be digital, but online trainings work great for physical products, too. Here’s Where To Start With Your Offer If you don’t yet have an offer together, first, sit down (with your team if you have one) and look at all the offers you DO have. What can you do with them? And make sure that whatever you’re doing, you’re equipped to handle the volume. Start mapping things out NOW, so you’re prepared for that influx. James and Dean go over this in more detail in the episode (including how to avoid aggravating your customers because you’re not prepared). Don’t Censor Your Ideas When you sit down to brainstorm, NEVER censor your ideas, or your team’s. Even if they seem beyond insane, let them fly. The point of brainstorming isn’t to share “the best” ideas. It’s to turn the creativity faucet on full-blast, which cannot happen if you’re judging your ideas. No, makeup brushes that include a hot pink zebra won’t be your winner, but it might trigger the WINNING idea for your Black Friday offer. Bring on those ideas! Build Excitement And Create Scarcity Dean and his wife have their cosmetic ecommerce company’s Black Friday campaign ready to go. It will be their third year running a Black Friday campaign, and they’ve got all sorts of strategies in play to create excitement and scarcity. There’s a LOT of great ideas you can model for your Black Friday campaign. Take notes on this part of the episode. Outline of This Episode When people are buying, they want to keep buying [5:15] Avoiding the “need” to discount [9:30] Combining physical with digital [15:15] Where to start [21:18] How to brainstorm ideas (and how not to) [24:45] Designing your campaign [34:49] Building excitement and scarcity [40:10] Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

When most business owners that this week’s guest, Teresa Harding, has done a billion dollars in sales, they assume it’s because of things like on-target marketing, “killer Facebook ads,” and a great team.    Those are all factors, yes, but they’re not THE reason. THE reason is because Teresa breaks the rules.  When someone tells her, “you HAVE to do it THIS way,” Teresa does it her way instead.   Tune into this episode of Just The Tips to get Teresa’s billion-dollar strategies for breaking the rules and creating your own so you can take your business to its next level. Two mindsets that sabotage both new and experienced business owners Teresa’s noticed the same sabotaging mindsets in both new business owners and experienced entrepreneurs: Limiting beliefs and fear of failure. These mindsets manifest in multiple ways, but the outcome’s always the same: Success is delayed or never achieved. Listen to this episode to ensure these mindsets aren’t holding you back. Their roots run deep. When affirmations don’t work Most successful people swear by affirmations. Yet a lot of people use affirmations and still aren’t experiencing the success they want. Since Teresa’s all about breaking the rules of what “everyone says” you “have” to do, she was pretty skeptical of affirmations. Then she decided to try them HER way. You’ve got to hear what she did to create affirmations that actually WORK (and the results she got because of them). Your biggest asset when closing the sale “You are your biggest asset.” We hear it a lot, but as far as Teresa’s concerned, it’s a lie when it comes to closing the sale. You are not your biggest asset--your confidence is. So what do you do if your confidence isn’t rock solid? According to Teresa: You assume the sale. Before you even get on the phone, or sit down to write the copy, you assume the sale is a done deal. For Teresa’s billion dollar tips on exactly how to do that, check out this episode. How to eliminate buyer uncertainty Fear of the unknown stops us in countless different ways, including making a purchase. That’s why ensuring your prospects feel comfortable buying from you is a must. One way Teresa successfully closes sales is by eliminating buyer uncertainty with her “action items” strategy. It works in webinars, on sales copy, on the phone, in emails - wherever you’re closing a sale. Tune in to hear exactly how you can implement Teresa’s “action items” strategy in your business. Why complication kills conversions A confused mind doesn’t buy, which is why Teresa advocates making it as easy as possible for people to buy from you. To drive this point home, James shares a story about a frustrating trend in one of his businesses. People ready to buy would add a lot of things to their shopping cart, yet few ever completed their purchase. After some digging, James figured out that the checkout process on this particular website was painfully complicated. That complication was costing him money in the form of lost revenue, because again, a confused mind doesn’t buy. Tune into this episode to hear how you can avoid confusing your customers into NOT buying. Outline of This Episode Why it’s never too late to start [6:55] Two things that stop most people [11:00] Failing your way to success [14:03] What to look at first when your business hits a wall [18:30] How to get better at failing so you can succeed [24:31] Your biggest asset in closing the sale [33:03] Tell your prospects what to do next [39:10] Complication is the death of sales [45:10] Resources & People Mentioned www.TeresaHarding.com/Masterclass Teresa Harding on Instagram Teresa Harding on Facebook Teresa Harding on YouTube The Teresa Harding Podcast Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Networking is still one of the most powerful ways to grow your business, yet a lot of people go about it the wrong way, or try to skip it altogether. The problem with that is, one person, when it’s the right person, is all it takes to explode your business to the next level.    This week’s guest, Jake Kelfer, has made a wildly successful career working with major brands like Adidas and the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s also helped his clients use networking to achieve the results they want, whether it’s to get booked on more podcasts, bring in experts for a summit, or create partnerships to grow their business to the next level.   In today’s Internet-based world, it’s easier than ever to connect with people. Jake will show you how to use that to your advantage in a way other people appreciate instead of run from.   Tune into this episode to discover exactly why your next level may be less about what’s next, and more about who’s next.   Plus get Jake’s framework for successfully networking with the right people for you and your business. I Want The Slow Path (Said No One Ever) Without other people, you cannot have a business. People are who buy your products and services. People are who tell their family, friends, and peers about you. People are also who you learn from. It’s true, you can slowly and tediously make all your own mistakes; or, you can learn from people who’ve already made them, and get where you want to be faster. Networking is another way to avoid the slow path and get where you want to be sooner rather than later.   Turn Your Style Into Opportunity Successful networking is about connecting with the right people for YOU. Doing that means combining your style with the right intention for reaching out to a specific person. No matter what, you’ll face rejection, but when you combine your style and personality with intention, it saves you a ton of time and energy reaching out to the wrong people. You’ll also dramatically increase the likelihood of connecting with people who are a good fit for you.   Don’t Be Spammy No one appreciates a total stranger getting in touch only to say, “Hey, here’s what you can do for me!” When reaching out to people for the first time, don’t lead with offers and requests. Instead, play the long game by building the relationship. Care enough to get their name right. Study their profiles and content to find commonalities you can use to relate to them. Everyone wants to feel like they matter, and you can inspire that feeling by taking time to learn about them.   Always Follow Up Just because someone doesn’t respond to your first contact attempt doesn’t mean they don’t want to connect. It could be they’re busy and they forgot. It could be they aren’t sure if you’re just another spammy drive-by, or if you’re someone who’s actually worth their time and energy. It could be a million other things. Instead of jumping ship if they don’t instantly reply, give them a little time, then follow up. Remember that the point isn’t to be a pest. It’s to open the door so they can take a step through it. Sometimes it takes more than one attempt before they’ll take that first step.   Focus on Quality, Not Quantity You don’t need a million followers to make a million dollars. You just need the right number of quality followers. It’s the same with networking. You don’t need to connect with everyone on the planet. You just need the right people. One right person will get you further than one hundred people who aren’t right. Sometimes it can take one hundred attempts to find the right people, so it’s important to keep reaching out. Just don’t get hung up on the numbers. Go for quality.   Outline of This Episode One new connection can change your world [3:05] The reason for our success [8:55] Meeting the right people’s not about luck, it’s about this [14:30] How to reach out (and how not to) [18:15] Once you build the relationship, maintain it [32:45] You don’t need quantity when you’ve got quality [38:30] You can reach ANYBODY [44:00] Resources & People Mentioned Visit Jake Kelfer’s website: www.JakeKelfer.com Connect with Jake Kelfer on Instagram: @jakekelfer Jake Kelfer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakekelfer Jake Kelfer on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakekelferjourney Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

This has been a pretty ugly year for most people, and the temptation to write this year off and start fresh in January is stronger than usual.   Curling up and riding it out is certainly one option, but another one is to put your foot on the gas and crush the fourth quarter.   James and Dean have been on both sides of this mindset. They’ve had years where they slowed things down, and years where they dug in and made December their best month of the year.   If this year hasn’t been your best year, and you’re thinking of curling up and hiding out, tune into this episode for James and Dean’s best tips on making the most of your fourth quarter, no matter what’s happened in your business this year. Be The Shepherd, Not The Dictator When Dean and his wife started their cosmetics e-commerce business, they held tight to the idea that they had to do what other cosmetics companies did. As a result, they struggled to even get a foothold, much less a profit. It was only after they stopped trying to dictate their idea to the market, so they could see what they were missing and fix it, that the business took off. Forcing your idea on the market NEVER works. You’ve got to be the shepherd of your idea, steering it where it needs to be based on market feedback. Instead Of Guessing, Ask The better you know your market, the better you get at reading between the lines and creating offers they want. But sometimes the fastest way to a profitable offer is just to ask your market. Remember to keep in mind that what people say they want, and what they’ll actually buy, are not always one and the same. But even if that’s the case sometimes, asking still provides invaluable intel on how you can serve your market. It could be that a significant percentage of your customers want help with the same thing, and aren’t sure how to articulate it to you. If you have no idea where to start amping up 4th quarter sales, start by asking your customers what they need.   Develop Relentless Solution Focus Recently James took a vacation on Lake Powell with a big group of family and friends. Everyone was on a big houseboat with no cell service. During the trip, James received an invitation to extend his trip by a week. The problem was, everyone had carpooled to the lake with some friends who lived hours away, and would not be extending their trip. That meant the only way James and his family could stay an extra week was if they found a rental car, so they could drive themselves to their friends’ house after the second week. James’ first several attempts at procuring a rental car fell through, but James remained relentlessly focused on finding a solution until he found it. Thanks to that relentless focus, he and his family enjoyed an extra week on the lake. Finding the right offer takes the same relentless focus, and so will dominating the 4th quarter.   Stop Predicting Your Own Failure “I’m just going to write this year off and start fresh in January.” That’s what several people have told James and Dean. That mindset is a symptom of mistaking yourself for a fortune teller, by predicting your own failure before you’ve even tried. It’s worth noting that the people who struggle most are masters at predicting their own failure, and it’s not because they try something and it doesn’t work. It’s because they assume it won’t work, so they don’t even try. Don’t fall into the fortune teller trap. Make your success inevitable by getting your ideas into the world and adopting relentless solution focus.   Be Mindful Of “Reality” Everyone wants to start with tactics and strategies. They’re important, yes. But even the best tactics and strategies the world has ever known won’t help you if you don’t have the mindset to properly implement them. Mindset is the foundation of your success, and one of the best things you can do for your mindset is to be mindful of what you allow to shape your reality. Those private jet photos you see on Instagram are probably staged in a warehouse. Those supposed loner entrepreneurs with no supportive family in their life don’t have to become YOUR success reality. Be careful what you allow to shape your beliefs about what’s possible. Outline of This Episode December, The Biggest Month Of The Year [3:46] Why You Have To Experiment [8:38] Avoiding A Race To The Bottom [16:30] Ask Your Customers What They Want [24:21] Have Relentless Focus On Finding A Solution [28:40] You’re Not A Fortune Teller [38:12] Mindset Before Skillset, Always [43:15]   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Success in business comes to those who can identify and follow through on profitable opportunities. The people who struggle most are both the ones who wouldn’t know an opportunity if it punched them in the face, and the ones who see opportunities everywhere, but struggle to identify and act on the profitable ones. Either they freeze, or they go down so many rabbit holes, they never get traction.   Jeremy Parker, CEO and Co-Founder of promotional product website Swag.com, has been identifying and capitalizing on profitable opportunities for over a decade, including during the Great Recession back in 2007.   Even with the pandemic happening, and companies cutting back on promotional product purchases, Swag.com had its best three months EVER. And it’s all because Jeremy understands how to identify and follow through on profitable opportunities. Tune into this episode to learn from Jeremy how you can do the same, because this is a skill that can ensure you succeed no matter how bad things seem.   The rise of Swag.com Originally Jeremy wanted to be a filmmaker. But after realizing how difficult it was to make a living doing that, and discovering he wasn’t all that passionate about it, Jeremy started a t-shirt business. It seemed like an easy way to begin. Turns out it wasn’t as easy as he thought, but still, Jeremy was enjoying some success. Then the Great Recession hit, and stores he’d built relationships with stopped buying what he was offering. Instead of folding, Jeremy asked, where’s the opportunity with this? One of his ideas--which he describes “as gimmicky” got noticed by Mark Cuban, which paved the way for the rise of swag.com.   Success during the pandemic The promotional industry is in shambles right now. Companies are letting people go instead of bringing them on, which means there’s far less need for branded company products. Yet Swag.com just enjoyed its best three months EVER. That is the power of identifying and following through with profitable opportunities. There are always problems that need solving, including some that are still coming down the pipeline. That is and always will be the case, no matter what’s going on in the world.   Beware idea attachment Marrying your ideas is one of the worst mistakes you can make. Remove your ego from the situation, because it’s not about you. It’s about what the market needs. You cannot make them need or want something they don’t need or want. Get your minimum viable product together and get it into the world quickly. See how the market responds, and adjust accordingly. If the minimum viable product doesn’t get traction, you’ve just saved yourself vast sums of time, money, and energy.   You’ve just got to start Where you start is rarely where you end up, which is why the most successful entrepreneurs in the world start fast. Another of the worst things you can do is drag out getting started. Whether you succeed or fail, you’ll learn from it. Very often, failing has more to teach us than success. No matter how good you are at identifying opportunities, you will not strike gold every single time. Get your ideas into the world quickly, get feedback, and learn and adapt. It may take several attempts to find your next (or first) big winner. But the only way you’ll ever find it is to just start.   The right way to network Networking is a proven way to connect with the people and resources you need to grow your business. It’s also something people tend to overthink. Jeremy’s best advice to get the most out of your networking efforts is pretty simple: Put yourself out there. Get your lines in the water and see who bites. The first few people you meet may not be who you need, but they may be connected to the right people for you. Since you can’t know for sure, get as many lines in the water as you can. The more lines you have, the better your chances of getting the right bites.   Remember the mission (and remind your team) A motivated, effective team can not only help you bring opportunities to life, they can help you identify more. And a team that believes in your company’s mission and vision is proven to perform better at even their day to day role. Reminding your team of your company’s mission is key to strong motivation, especially in tough times. Remember to stoke that fire.   Outline of This Episode Successful, but not excited about it [5:50] What not to do when opportunity punches you in the face [10:45] Why adaptation is key to success [14:02] Your best shot at avoiding the duds [17:05] What to do if you struggle to see opportunities [24:30] Stop waiting for “that one big idea” [27:56] How to create relationships that create success [31:10] Motivating your team AND yourself [40:40] Resources & People Mentioned Swag.com Connect with Jeremy Parker on LinkedIn Connect with Jeremy Parker on Twitter Guest on YouTube Check out his Podcast Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

In just a few short years, Brandon and Kaelin Poulin took LadyBoss Weight Loss from a startup to a company with 350,000 customers. In 2019, LadyBoss, which helps women lose weight, transform their health, and love themselves, was named number 4 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in the United States.   Tune into this episode for a behind-the-scenes, comprehensive look at what it takes to grow and scale a successful company like LadyBoss - the strategies, the mindsets, the vision, the customer relationships, all of it - in a few years instead of a few decades. Network marketing’s most valuable lessons Before they ever met, Brandon and Kaelin started in network marketing, and found their way into weight loss, health, and fitness. They learned succeeding in network marketing requires developing and maintaining relationships. It requires listening to people, and finding out what they really want. And it requires facing rejection, over and over and over. Network marketing also taught them about personal development, something they know is critical to both their early success and their ongoing success. Everything you do starts with you, and if you’re tripping over the same issues within yourself, it’ll trip up everything you try to do. Dig in and make something happen After five years with another company, Brandon and Kaelin were ready to start their own company. They were two months behind on rent, on their car payment - basically everything, and in danger of sinking even further. With their backs against the wall, they locked themselves away from the outside world for two months and worked around the clock to launch their company. It didn’t take fairy dust or unicorns - just the commitment to dig in and do it. Get off the shiny penny highway With the abundance of tools, trainings and strategies out there, Brandon and Kaelin often found themselves tempted by the shiny penny highway. Oh, another cool software! Oh, another marketing strategy to try! The barrage of things to try was constant. To avoid getting trapped on the shiny penny highway, Brandon and Kaelin always brought it back to what their customers and their company needed at that time. If what they were looking at didn’t fit with their vision, it wasn’t right for their business. It meant saying no to a lot of things. It also allowed them to simplify, while simultaneously (and quickly) growing their company and better serving their customers. Don’t shut out your customers A lot of companies think being aloof with and too cool for their customers is the right way to be. Brandon and Kaelin see it differently. They know, from years of experience, how crucial the customer relationship is to their success. Rather than shut their customers out, they welcome communication with their customers. They’ll take customers by the hand, so to speak, and help them walk to that next level. It’s a powerful reminder that your customers are your best asset. Without them, you don’t have a business. Don’t shut them out. You always have the power Brandon and Kaelin point out something a lot of successful people come to realize: That once you get to a certain level, your success is all other people see. But they’ve been kicked in the teeth, made mistakes, and had to find different ways of doing things. And they know it’s likely to continue on that way, because that’s just the nature of business. The reason Brandon and Kaelin have been so successful isn’t because they haven’t faced challenges, it’s because they know they have the power, always, to overcome them. Believing and accepting that no matter what comes your way, you have the power to deal with it and find another way forward, is a must-have mindset for all business owners.   Outline of This Episode Backs against the wall [05:29] Trial by fire [12:40] Get off the shiny penny highway [20:56] Remember who you’re serving [29:36] Stop pushing your customers aside [34:01] The secret to aligning as a team [38:48] What to do when the hits keep coming [46:15] Resources & People Mentioned LadyBoss Weight Loss: https://ladyboss.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ladyboss/ https://www.facebook.com/LadyBossKaelin https://www.youtube.com/c/LadyBossWeightLoss Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Longtime listeners of Just the Tips know that Dean and I are in an epic race to see who can finish their book first. It was a challenge set by Ken Dunn, our guest on episode 44, and as of this recording, there’s no real easy way to put this, I’m mopping the floor with Dean. I may even be able to finish my book and come back and write his. But aside from the friendly competition (which isn’t that friendly and which I am winning), putting my thoughts down in a book has been great for me to help organize my ideas around why entrepreneurs hit roadblocks. So on today’s episode of Just the Tips, I’m talking about the ideas I’m working through in my book, and hopefully this sneak peek will help all of you if you encounter a roadblock. The three false beliefs Some entrepreneurs feel like they need to do everything themselves. And not only can they not do everything themselves, they shouldn’t do everything themselves. And there are three false beliefs that drive entrepreneurs to take on too much. The first is a sort of hero complex, where entrepreneurs can feel like they are the reason the company exists, and everyone else exists to take tasks off of their plates. But once you build a team, you need to identify people who have superpowers that cover your weaknesses. If this sounds like you, you need to tune into this week’s episode of Just the Tips. What to do if you can’t afford to hire So let’s say you’ve convinced yourself that you are ready to delegate, what’s the next, inevitable roadblock? You’re not sure you can afford to hire anyone. I have a very detailed McDonald’s analogy in this episode that you just have to hear, but the short and long of it is that every hour you don’t have someone who can do something better than you can, you’re not making the money you think you’re making. You’re effectively losing money. It’s a difficult thing to wrap one’s brain around, and of course it doesn’t fix the problem of being cash-strapped, but I think this bit of advice could really help Just the Tips listeners. Buy back your own time When you’re thinking of hiring someone, don’t think of it as paying them for your time. Think of it as buying back your own time. Because every chance you have to buy back your time so you’re not working on low-value tasks frees you up to work on high-value tasks. And if that seems a little selfish to you, think of it this way: Anytime you are not optimizing your time and doing the highest-value work, you are restricting the flow of money to other people, too. As Dean and I discuss on this episode, payday is the best day for an entrepreneur, because you know you’re paying people who can then go on to have a good life Trust people to work for you So the third false belief, then, is that you can’t trust someone else to do a good job. And it’s not just that you’re a control freak and you want to do everything. It’s just that you don’t have a feedback loop set up so that you can verify that you’re spending your money well. You need to have accountability, and you need to have a way for both you and the person working for you to know they’re delivering value. If you have a system in place, then you can ease some of this anxiety. This week’s Just the Tips is all about the psychology of being an entrepreneur, and destroying Dean Holland in the book race. That too. Outline of This Episode [2:00] Currently owning Dean in our book competition [3:48] Why some people get stuck [6:40] The first false belief [13:10] The second false belief [20:25] Buy back your time [30:00] Stop being a control freak [36:45] Doing stuff because it’s quicker than training someone else [43:45] You’re a busy fool Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

How to consistently create offers your ideal customers find irresistible is a part of business that challenges even the most seasoned, successful entrepreneurs. And once you’ve got them in the door, how do you continue serving them, so they stick around, keep buying, and keep benefiting?   The one, the only, Bearded Wonder of the United Kingdom (aka Dean) discovered a powerful, profitable way to create an offer his customers bought, LOVED, and profited from, even after insisting they “didn’t have the money” to buy it! It was that irresistible!   Join James and The Bearded Wonder himself (aka Dean) for this week’s episode to get the inside scoop on Dean’s crazy-amazing and crazy-profitable offer creation strategy. Outline of This Episode Start with these basics [2:29] How Dean got the sign-ups [15:55] You must over-deliver [26:15] Everyone is a buyer [35:00] Talk to your customers [46:30] 3 major points discussed   Read between the lines. Your list of BUYERS is a massive gold mine when it comes to creating offers. Dean shares how he surveyed his buyers, and that they told him they’ve invested all they could, and didn’t have more money to put into yet another offer. Instead of assuming that was the real problem, Dean used this information to tailor his offers in a way that could truly help them. He also followed up with them to figure out exactly where they were stuck. WHY did they feel they didn’t have enough money for more offers that could help them? The right mix of reading between the lines and engaging with your customers allows you to serve them in the best possible way. Create the offer. Once you’ve discovered your customers’ real problems, get that solution created. It may be a training course, but there may also be a faster, more involved, more valuable way for you to serve them. After identifying his market’s need, Dean devised a fast AND powerful way to get his offer up and running and helping. Money loves speed, and so do your customers. Sometimes the best and most profitable way to help them is also the fastest way. Play the long game. We see it time and time again - businesses who value the long-term relationship with their customers over everything else are the ones that last. Most of your profits will come from your most loyal, long-term customers. Customers come and go, so new customers are essential, but neglecting your loyal, long-term customers is a guaranteed way to lose them, and miss out on staggering amounts of profit, both directly and from referrals. Tune in to hear how Dean served the people who took him up on his powerful offer, and used it to build a long-term, profitable relationship with them.   Resources & People Mentioned Guest’s Website Guest on Instagram  Guest on Facebook  Guest on YouTube Check out his Podcast Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

The ability to make decisions, and make them fast, is critical for any entrepreneur, because very often it’s the decisions you don’t make that will stall, or even destroy, your business.   Uncomfortable, intimidating decisions are the ones most likely to trip you up. It seems easier to kick the can down the road than to make a decision that might be wrong, or may hurt someone’s feelings.   But James and Dean will tell you, from difficult personal experience, that the cost of indecision is a LOT higher than you think.   Tune in to hear their personal examples of when NOT making a decision cost them money and time, and even handicapped their businesses.   Plus they’ll reveal how even a decision that turns out to be wrong is better for your business than indecision.   If you find yourself avoiding or procrastinating decisions because the cost of making them seems too high, too nerve-wracking, or too uncomfortable, this episode is exactly what you need to stop spinning your wheels and make those business-building decisions, no matter how intimidating or difficult they seem. Outline of This Episode What NOT making a decision costs you [6:00] When the gift of problem-solving backfires [12:30] The “perfect decision” myth [26:00] How other people factor into your indecision [30:10] The gift of wrong decisions [38:00] 3 major points discussed   How to tell when it’s decision time. This one seems VERY counterintuitive. But if you’re 90% or more sure of your decision, it usually means you waited too long to make it. Surprising, right? But when it comes to your confidence in your own decisions, there’s a sweet spot to shoot for. While no guarantee your decision is “right,” this sweet spot will ensure you’ve given a decision enough thought, but not more than it needs for you to make it. Tune in to discover exactly how to tell when it’s time to pull the trigger. Not all decisions are created equal. Some decisions aren’t worth the bandwidth we give them. For example, what to eat for lunch should be a much faster decision than whether to sell your company. Quickly identifying which decisions are worth the extra time and thought, and which ones are not, will skyrocket your decision-making speed. Tune in to get James and Dean’s tips for quickly discerning whether a decision is worth the extra consideration. You’ll NEVER please everyone. Avoiding hurt feelings is one of the top reasons we avoid making decisions. But the reality is, it’s not possible to make everyone happy every time. Case in point: James shares a horror story about a meeting he attended where dozens of people weighed in on a design project. It really got out of hand, and made arriving at a decision impossible. Tune in to hear exactly what happened, and discover the critical decision-making lesson James took away from the project. If a desire to please others impedes your ability to make decisions, just wait until you hear this!   Resources & People Mentioned Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Most entrepreneurs salivate at the thought of high-ticket offers. Make more money working with fewer clients. A dream come true, right?   But what does it REALLY take to create a high-ticket offer people want enough to pay a high-ticket price?   That’s what Tyler Kemp, this week’s guest, is going to reveal.   Tyler’s helped build multiple 7-figure companies, and he brings years of experience with both low-ticket and high-ticket offers.    He figured out pretty quickly that low-ticket and high-ticket are two different animals that bring in two different types of customers, and require two different sets of systems to build and scale.   So, if you’d love to create a high-ticket offer for your business, but you:   1) Don’t know what to offer 2) Are uncomfortable at the thought of charging more money 3) Believe your customers won’t want it   ...Then tune in to get the tactics and mindset you need to create and sell your high-ticket offer.   If you already have a high-ticket offer, you’ll want to hear Tyler’s secrets to making that offer even more desirable, so you can charge more AND sell more, while getting your clients the epic results they need from you. Lead gen and high ticket sales. Acquiring more customers, one of the easiest ways is to raise the value of what you’re offering.   Outline of This Episode The #1 barrier to making high ticket sales [8:25] Solve more problems to charge more money [16:00] Once isn’t enough [27:00] The perfect product-market fit takes time [33:00] What to do after creating your offer [39:15] 3 major points discussed It starts with your mindset. If your mind’s already made up that your customers would never go for a high-ticket offer, or you’re uncomfortable charging more money, you’ve shot yourself in the foot before even starting. With rare exception, most businesses have the makings of a high-ticket offer. But in order to see the possibilities, you’ve got to be open to them.   Beware the low-ticket value trap. We all want to give our customers as much value as possible, including in our low-ticket offers. The problem is, there’s a limit to how much value you can realistically bring to that many people at once before it becomes unsustainable money-wise, and time-wise. High ticket offers set you free from those constraints. Your clients pay more, making it cost-effective and time-effective for you to provide them with more AND remain profitable. Solve more problems. A lot of offers solve only one or two problems around the same topic, but most people have way more than one or two. That means, the more solutions you can provide to these additional problems, the more money the right clients will pay you to get those problems taken care of. Becoming someone’s all-in-one solution is your highway to profitable high-ticket offers.   Resources & People Mentioned https://www.leadroll.co/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/tjkemp Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Productivity and accomplishment--the double edged swords of entrepreneurship. Setting and hitting goals are an absolute must to build and grow a successful business. So is being productive.   Yet it’s SO easy to become so focused on goals and being productive, you end up anxious and miserable, because you’re always thinking about “What’s next.” It doesn’t leave room for the happiness and freedom you expected when you started your business. You end up feeling more like a robot than like a person.   But what if there was a way to make more and faster progress on your goals, AND feel satisfied as you go?   That’s what this week’s episode guest, Mike Liep, is going to reveal.   Mike fought his way back from Lyme disease, a traumatic brain injury, cancer, and panic and depression, and in the process, mastered the development of systems to help you get more done in less time, and actually feel GREAT doing it. Mike even developed the popular Panda Planner, a planner scientifically designed to help you become happier and more productive.   So whether you’re accomplishing a lot but NEVER feel satisfied, or whether you’re just looking to become more productive, and improve your day to day, check out this episode for the secrets to finding your flow. Outline of This Episode From brain injury to breakthrough [4:10] The dark side of goals [7:30] The battle for your attention [18:00] End goals vs. process goals [22:15] Non-negotiable habits for business owners [28:00] 3 major points discussed I’ll be happy “when.” Ever catch yourself thinking you’ll be happy and satisfied when you hit that next big goal, except when you get there, you aren’t? Instead, you kick the happiness can down the road in favor of achieving that next big goal. Hitting our goals rarely lives up to our expectations in terms of how good we feel getting there. Listen to this episode for the secret to being happy and fulfilled NOW, while still propelling yourself toward goal achievement. Develop your focus. There’s SO much competing for your attention these days. Ads are everywhere. Plus we’ve got email, apps, notifications, and the people in your life. Let’s face it--the Internet trains you to be incredibly lazy while feeling incredibly busy. You sit on your ass, move one finger, and presto, your mind’s consumed. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve got the added dynamic of a zillion trainings, products, and services all competing for your belief that they’re the next business success silver bullet. Mike’s going to help you cut through all that noise, so you get traction instead of distraction. Two tips for business owners. One reason we struggle with distractions is because an idea or to-do pops into our head, and we believe that if we don’t handle it right then, we’ll forget. Tune in to hear Mike’s tips for managing those moments without sacrificing your focus. Plus he’s got super simple productivity tips, and even a super simple morning routine framework you can quickly and easily implement to start the day off right.   Resources & People Mentioned PandaPlanner.com Mike Leip’s Ted Talk: “How To Stay Happy When Life Is Punching You In The Face” - https://youtu.be/JDlU0sHmuhY Mike Leip’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-leip-23a633b/   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

A lot of businesses had to close their doors in the year 2020, and for some, those doors will never re-open. Even outside of this year’s events, plenty of companies close up shop because things go south, and they have no idea how to fix it.   Sometimes throwing in the towel is the answer, but most of the time, a solution is out there, if only the business owner was aware of it. Most of the time, your problem isn’t a lack of resources, it’s a lack of resourcefulness (even in times like these).   To help you see for yourself that closing up shop isn’t your only option, James and Dean welcome Greg Spillane, aka The Turnaround Guy.   As his nickname suggests, Greg specializes in helping companies on the brink turn things around.   Greg will show you exactly where to start if your business is on the rocks, how to identify and use the resources you DO have, and ways you can think outside the box and keep the doors open.   Even if your company’s thriving right now, make sure you tune in for what Greg has to say. You may need these strategies at some point in your business journey. Plus, several of them apply even if your company’s not on the rocks. Apply them and watch your profits get even higher. Outline of This Episode Where to start turning things around [5:15] Why you need to be a survivor (and what that means) [11:00] Lack of company culture = death of your company [19:00] The characteristics to look for in people you hire [27:00] How and where to get capital [31:00] 3 major points discussed Identify your assets. If you were stranded on a desert island, the first thing to do is focus on what you DO have. What’s available to you? What do you have to work with? Turning your business around works the same way. Look at the assets you do have, like a raving fanbase, your product, your employees--anything you can use. A lot of people want to focus on what they can create, and that’s important, but what you already have is equally important. Create and clarify your company culture. Company culture may sound like foo-foo, but if so, it’s because you’ve got the wrong idea about it. True company culture gets everybody aligned with the company vision, mission, and values. When your team isn’t aligned in those areas, when they don’t believe in the same things, and aren’t working toward the same goals, it leads to drama, dysfunction, backstabbing, and poor productivity. Having a team who’s only there for the paycheck, and doesn’t care about your mission, makes it VERY difficult to be successful. Investment opportunities are everywhere. The right investor(s) can help plug the leaks in your sinking ship. And investing in other businesses can create additional revenue and take some pressure off. If either of those options leave you feeling squeamish, don’t rule it out without listening to Greg’s take on this. There’s a lot of opportunities to acquire capital now that there didn’t used to be. Greg will share several of his favorites, including what he’s used to help his clients turn their companies around. Resources & People Mentioned Fancy.com Twitter: @greg_spillane  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spillane/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

When it comes to new ideas, entrepreneurs are like machine guns. We can spit them out as rapidly as a machine gun sprays bullets. But when we get so excited about an idea that we don’t properly put it through its paces, we end up wasting exorbitant amounts of time and money trying to fulfill an idea that’s never going to happen. Then we blame our customers for not seeing the value, leap to the next “sure thing,” and repeat the process again. This exact cycle is one of the top reasons 90% of startups fail, and why even established businesses can waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on “sure thing” business ideas. Instead of letting idea excitement run the show, tune into this episode of Just The Tips with guest Dr. Adam J. Bock to learn what to do (and what NOT to do) once you’ve got a new business or product idea. Adam is a serial entrepreneur and academic researcher who’s mastered the ability to structure sustainable business models that give you a competitive advantage. Adam’s not only started multiple companies, he’s also sold multiple companies, in the venture capital space, for eight figures. When it comes to profitable, sustainable business models, he knows what he’s doing! Adam will reveal the most costly mistakes entrepreneurs the world over make with their business ideas; plus show you how to identify when you actually DO have a winner.   Outline of This Episode What is a business model, REALLY? [10:20] Cool ideas are the start, not the finish [16:50] Avoid this expensive problem-solution blunder [23:00] Choosing who to ask (and who not to ask) about your idea [39:30] Don’t confuse valuable with profitable [48:02] 3 major points discussed When lighting strikes, give it space. Yes, entrepreneurs have to take risks in order to get anywhere. But there’s a big difference between taking a risk and allowing idea excitement to blind you. When your latest big idea strikes, document it, but give yourself space to get beyond that initial burst of excitement. That way you can evaluate your idea with a level head (and potentially save yourself years of wasted time and money). It’s not your customers’ fault. When you test the waters with your product and don’t get the response you’re hoping for, it’s all too easy to decide you don’t have the right customers. Or that they’re clueless for not seeing the value in what you offer. Educating people who don’t yet understand the value in your idea is possible, but it works a LOT less frequently than most people think. If your solution isn’t a solution in their minds, no amount of educating them will change that.   Keep it lean when you test the waters. Instead of cannonballing into the water with your new idea, dip your toe in, especially when you’re gauging customer interest. Just because someone says they want it, doesn’t always make it so. It depends on who you’re asking, and whether you’re actually solving their problem, or just solving a problem you think they have. Keeping this phase lean is critical to stopping new idea excitement from running away with your time and money.   Resources & People Mentioned https://www.bizmodelbook.com/ The Business Model Book: Design, Build and Adapt Business Ideas That Drive Business Growth, by Adam J. Bock and Gerard George (available on Amazon) Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

You’ve probably run head-first into the following leadership myth: “If you’re not born a great leader, you’ll never be one.” That statement couldn’t be further from the truth! Great leaders are made, not born, because great leadership is a skill that anyone willing to put in the time and effort can develop.   To learn the truth about what makes a great leader, and get first-class tips for developing your own ability to lead, join James and Dean as they welcome world-renowned leadership expert, Peter Montoya, as this week’s guest.   Many people’s definition of a leader is someone who’s arrogant, controlling, and has to be right no matter what. But behavior like that has nothing whatsoever to do with being a true leader.   One way Peter defines a leader is simply this: Someone who does things differently. For example, back when most businesses were hung up on boring corporate branding, Peter became a pioneer in the world of personal branding. He even wrote a best-selling book on the subject (which you’ve no doubt heard of): The Brand Called You: Create A Personal Brand That Wins Attention And Grows Your Business.   Leadership skills are essential for everyone, not just business owners, because we’re all leaders in multiple areas of our lives. Listen to this episode to get Peter’s top tips for becoming an inspiring leader who gets results.

Growing your business without efficient systems in place is a disaster waiting to happen, because you can generate a lot of revenue and still end up broke. Having the right systems in place, on the other hand, gets you a fat bottom line, while also freeing up your time to focus on the best use of your time, in both your business and your own life. Plus you get to spend less time on the things that stress you out. Sounds great, right? But what is a “business system?”  Which business systems do you need?  Where’s the best place to start developing systems in your business? These questions, and many more, will be answered in this week’s episode of Just The Tips, where James and Dean welcome Dan Cuprill, founder of Renegade Advisor. Thanks to his contrarian and systematic approach to growing his financial advisor business, Dan’s developed a repeatable business system that consistently generates a million dollars (or more) in profits per year. If your business keeps hitting a wall, or falling short of your expectations in other ways, it’s probably a systems issue. Tune into this week’s episode for tips on identifying the profit-sucking leaks in your business systems.

Three action-packed years ago, James P. Friel and Dean Holland set out on a mission with one objective: Launch a fun, value-packed podcast full of cutting edge advice to help entrepreneurs take their business to the next level. The first few episodes of Just The Tips were rocky, as James and Dean, both podcast newbies, worked through the ins and outs and ups and downs of launching and growing a successful podcast. With three years of successful podcasting under their belts, you’d expect the guys’ podcasting experience to be smooth as silk. It’s definitely more efficient than it used to be, but technical fails and other issues still pop up, and do so for one unavoidable reason: Challenges are a part of life. If you want to get anywhere with anything, such as launch a product or grow your business, the ability to roll with the punches and find a way forward is a must. Yet an unfortunate number of people give up on their dreams when adversity swoops in. In this third anniversary episode, James and Dean reveal their top tips to keep going when your commitment to your dreams and goals is tested. Make no mistake: It will be tested. Not once, not twice, but over and over again. And each time, you’ll find yourself at a crossroads: Give up, or dig in your heels and keep going. If you want to be the person who digs in their heels and keeps going, check out this episode. Outline of This Episode What stops people from achieving their dreams [5:05] It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what you’re doing [12:01] Accidental selfishness is holding you back [13:30] How to move beyond imposter syndrome [17:50] When to zip your and lip and listen [24:03] 3 major points discussed   Don’t know what you’re doing? You’ll learn! When James and Dean launched Just The Tips three years ago, they had no idea how to launch and grow a successful podcast. But they went for it anyway. Due diligence ahead of time is always a great idea, but some things you can only learn as you go. Waiting to move forward until everything is “perfect,” or until you finally feel qualified, means you’ll never move forward. You’re never going to feel fully qualified, and nothing will ever be “perfect.”   It’s not about you. There are people you can help NOW. By procrastinating, or even giving up on, your dreams, you’re depriving them of your help. Imagine if you called an ambulance because you were in excruciating pain, and when the EMTs arrived, they just stood outside and stared at you through your living room window. When you allow your own limiting beliefs to derail you, you’re doing to the people you could be helping what the EMTs did in this example scenario. Your message is too important for you to keep sitting on it!   What matters more than great products? Concern that your product’s no good is a giant roadblock for a lot of entrepreneurs. Yes, product quality is important, but there are ways you can ensure it’s a great product, and still get it into the world before hell freezes over. James and Dean share one must-do and one must-have for creating profitable products that get people results. Tune in to hear all the details.   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

Due to social distancing measures, businesses the world over have unexpectedly found themselves forced to conduct virtual team meetings. What many quickly discovered is that virtual team meetings, like in-person meetings, can drag on and end up extremely unproductive - except even more so! Instead of getting to business and lining out next steps, virtual team meetings often turn into time-sucking social hours, feel pointless, or take three times longer than necessary, all because there’s no meeting framework in place. A recent study revealed that unproductive team meetings waste nearly $40 billion a year; and that regardless of company size, employees spent 15% of their time in meetings. That’s a lot of time and money down the drain! In this week’s new episode, James and Dean share simple, streamlined strategies to eliminate team meeting tedium, so you can get to business, get a plan in place, and get on with your day. Outline of This Episode Why virtual team meetings take way longer than they need to [5:35] What to have in place even before the meeting structure [10:40] Know your definition of success [25:30] What to do once everyone’s on the same page [37:27] James’ three-step approach to team meetings [41:41] 3 major points discussed Why do team meetings often feel pointless? Because most team meetings consist of these two elements: Catching up, and checking in, neither of which move your company forward. Without a clear, focused structure based around a clear, focused goal, team meetings can easily get and stay off track. It doesn’t mean you have to be a drill sergeant, but no consistent structure and clear goal, your meeting will end up unproductive and feel pointless. Setting your team meeting agenda. Before you even head into your team meeting, everyone’s got to be on the same page. For example, what are the big projects your company is focused on right now? What needs to happen in order for your team to complete those projects on time, and in a way that leads to the results you want? Once everyone understands what the focus of the meeting’s going to be, and the role each team member plays in creating that project outcome, it’s easy to get crystal clarity on your team meeting’s goal and agenda. On-point, productive meetings don’t happen without a framework. James uses a three-step approach to team meetings. Step one is about solidifying company culture. This isn’t a free-for-all social hour, but rather, an opportunity for you and your team to check in with why you’re all doing what you’re doing. After that’s done, steps two and three are about getting down to business: Where are we, and where do we go from here? All the details for exactly how to follow James’ three-step team meeting approach are in this week’s episode! Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

This year’s events have inspired more people than ever to seek out creative ways to earn more income. Whether it’s growing a side hustle, pivoting or expanding their existing business, or creating a business from scratch, online info products are a fantastic way to create a revenue stream, and do so without a lot of overhead costs.   Doesn’t matter if you’re online-only or brick and mortar, established or brand new - you have something to offer. For example, there’s something you do well that other people don’t do well, and would love to get better at. There’s something you know that can help people solve a problem, challenge, or pain in their lives. And if you sell physical products, you can offer digital products to improve your customers’ experience with your physical product(s).   You don’t have to know everything there is to know in order to have an info product. You just have to know more than someone else, and show them how to get a result they want.   “Anybody can build a business around any knowledge they have.” - James P. Friel Outline of This Episode Who can make money with info products [4:01] What stops most people from having an info product [11:25] There’s never been a better time to create an info product [17:20] How to choose your product topic [21:15] Validating and launching your info product [29:30] 3 major points discussed Don’t get ahead of yourself. Trying to micromanage every step of your info product from idea conception to launch will send you straight into paralysis by overanalysis. Whether or not your product is created is irrelevant if you don’t even have your idea nailed down. The software you use to create your info product is irrelevant until you’ve actually created it. Focus your time and energy on the step you’re currently on. THEN figure out the next step. Even crazy ideas help with topic selection. Before you can launch, or even create an info product, you’ve got to choose a topic. That’s where a “Knowledge Inventory” comes in. James and Dean use and recommend this simple brainstorming method to help you see what you have to offer. While taking a Knowledge Inventory, it’s CRITICAL you do not judge your ideas. Even if the idea sounds iffy, or just plain nuts, write it down. Ideas lead to more ideas. The point of a Knowledge Inventory isn’t to come up with a million winners (because it only takes one). It’s to fully unleash your creativity and brainstorming, which won’t happen if you’re in judgment mode. If an idea pops into your head, write it down. Only once you’ve got that unedited list of ideas will you sort them based on factors like how much you know about them, whether there’s people looking to learn them, and whether those people will pay you for your knowledge. Think you’ve got a winner? Then it’s time to validate it. Is there demand? Is that demand coming from freebie seekers, or from people who’ll spend money to get what you’re offering? Is your idea developed enough to help people? Your product doesn’t need to be “as good as it’ll ever possibly be” straight out of the gate, but it does need to be developed enough to help people get a result. There are a ton of ways to validate your idea, and James and Dean will share the best ones with you in this episode.   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: BulletProof Business Program: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/ Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Interested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog: www.DeanHolland.com FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/

As you make your way to success, you get this wave of overwhelm that takes you by surprise. You might try to think back and see if you’ve missed the signs, but it’s too late by then. Burnout is just around the corner! How do you avoid this monster of a situation? In this episode, James and Dean talk about their effective strategies to overcome overwhelm. It’s inevitable, but when you have the right systems in place, overwhelm is not as scary as you think!   “We're human beings, not human doings.” – James P. Friel   Outline of This Episode   -    Juggling multiple projects at the moment   -     As cliché as it sounds, “Health is Wealth!” Play the long game.   -     Finding the balance between work, health, relationships, and everything else!    -    Writing, good habits, and saying “no.”    -    Delete, Automate, Delegate, and “Do It”    Playing the Long Game You have to be prepared for the long game. Have strategies for getting things out of your head and prioritize your tasks accordingly. If you don’t take time to slow things down, you’re going to burn yourself out like an overheating car.   A Literal Brain Dump The human mind is not designed for short-term storage. If it has too many things going on, there won’t be much room to process in real-time! Set some systems in place for you to offload from your mind (i.e., journals, planners, or simple notebooks”).   The Magic of Automation Learn to avoid the things you hate doing the smart. Delete items that aren’t needed. Automate the simple activities that are a pain. Delegate more complex tasks. When you have all these in place, start doing your own thing!   Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License   Interested in being a guest on the show? Visit us at https://justthetipsshow.com/apply-as-guest/   Connect with James and Dean   James P. Friel:   - CEO Quickstart: https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/   - Facebook Group (The Hustle Detox): https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/   - Facebook Group (BulletProof Business): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/   - Site: www.jamespfriel.com   - Interested in being a guest on the show? - https://justthetipsshow.com/apply-as-guest/   Dean Holland:   - Blog: www.DeanHolland.com   - FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ   - Billion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/   JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/