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Reflecting on the past is one of the best ways to plan for the future. Dean and I always take the time after Christmas to reflect on the previous year and set goals for the next. There are four questions we use to reflect, that drive the upcoming week, month, quarter, and year. To learn our strategy (and how we feel 2019 fared) listen to this episode of Just the Tips! Outline of This Episode [2:20] Starting the new year off right [4:00] Planning for an entire year is unrealistic [7:15] Focus on what went right and celebrate [9:30] Double-down on your strengths [12:30] How to structure your team meetings [17:50] Strategic planning activities [19:15] What James did right in 2019 [22:15] What Dean is proud of from 2019 [25:50] 4 Questions to guide the process [26:20] What could’ve been better for James? [28:50] What could’ve been better for Dean? [31:00] Planning, reflection, and course-correction Why an annual plan is unrealistic I’ll be honest, there needs to be a little give and take when you try and make a plan for the upcoming year. Time is complex and there is no way to truly foresee what could happen. Things will be thrown your way that you can’t prepare for. So make sure as you’re planning your expectations aren’t too rigid. Incorporate a measure of dynamic flexibility in your planning. Control what you can, but plan for the unexpected. Dean spent a chunk of his year working on his book—that he’s FINALLY completed—but didn’t expect the level of disasters that were thrown his way. What came up shifted his timeline, but he still accomplished what he set out to do. A strengths-based approach is always the right move I firmly believe that you need to stop focusing on improving your weaknesses. You will make the biggest strides in your life and business when you focus on your strengths and double down on what is working. You can go from being great at something to being the best. Wouldn’t you rather accomplish greatness instead of only becoming slightly less-than-mediocre at your weakness? We all have a superpower. Something that we excel at and do like no one else. So mitigate your weakness and stay in your zone of genius. Identify the strengths in others and build a team that leverages their strengths to make up for your weaknesses. How to structure reflective team meetings First of all, there is power in recognizing the fact that you cannot always be the smartest person in the room. It is beneficial to get input from 100% of your staff so you can hear everyone’s perspective about your year. I typically structure it by making a list of the questions I want my team to think over before the meeting. It gives them time to reflect and not put them on the spot. This allows for a more conversational—and less stressful—meeting. Above all, it’s important that everyone feels like they have a voice and that they’re contributing to the ongoing vision of the business. The meeting is extremely valuable for team-building and goal-setting. Keep listening to hear what our big wins were this year, and where we missed the mark and want to improve in 2020. The 4 questions that help you reflect on the past year There are 4 questions that we use to help guide the process both personally and in our businesses: What went really well? What am I proud of? What could’ve been better? What do we need to do more of? What do we need to do less of? If you continue to ask yourself these questions consistently, you’ll start to catch issues before they go too far. You’ll limit your risk. If you’re not constantly course-correcting as you are carrying out your plan for the year, you won’t reach your destination. The planning and reflection cycle can make a world of difference. Listen to the whole episode as Dean and I walk through the process. Resources & People Mentioned Hiring Like a Boss Managing Like a Boss The Iceberg Effect: coming soon! Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
What’s your superpower? What makes you tick as an entrepreneur and a human being? Entrepreneur’s in the early stages of building a business reach a “no man’s land” where they struggle to move forward and gain traction. Joe Trodden joins us in this episode of Just the Tips to talk about changing your mindset—and finding your superpower. After following a traditional path and getting a degree in Law, Joe Trodden changed his life and studied Psychology. Joe is now the CEO of Mindset Experts and specializes in helping entrepreneurs change their mindset and find their superpower. If you’re ready to level-up and scale-up your business, listen to this episode! Outline of This Episode [2:30] Joe Trodden guest stars! [3:50] You must focus inward [7:15] You’re shaped by your beliefs [10:45] What is mindset? [14:15] Why is Dean Ebenezer Scrooge? [17:55] Core strategies that help guide you [22:40] Set an alarm to practice mindfulness [25:55] It’s about knowing yourself [27:10] Cognitive diversity: multiple valid perspectives [30:35] Connect with Joe What’s your superpower? What is your unique ability? What sets you apart? What gets you in a state of flow? Joe spent years working with entrepreneurs working to launch their businesses. He found that it’s so much easier to identify strengths in other people, but hard to figure out your own. To create a strategy that will propel your business forward, you must leverage your superpowers. To do that, you need to know what they are. You need to focus on a couple of things that you do best—and build a team around you to handle the rest. Keep listening to hear some of Joe’s strategies for determining your superpower. Change your entrepreneurial mindset According to Joe, “Mindset is every cognitive function that goes on inside your head that is shaping your entire perception and lens on the world”. It is everything that makes you who you are. Joe points out that there are 100 trillion potential (neural) connections in your brain. You are actively shaping your perception of the world and how it works. I love the mantra “The world you live in is shaped by the beliefs you have. Change your beliefs and you’ll change your world”. What belief is holding you back? Is it motivated by fear? Are you afraid that if you step back from doing everything in your business that it will collapse? Or that you’ll never find qualified people to join your team? It’s not just a thought experiment. You need to shift the way you see the world and change your mindset to see progress in your leadership abilities and your business. Core strategies that help change your mindset I believe that multiple perspectives can be had in any given situation. Knowing your superpower gives you a deeper appreciation of what others see. So how do you begin to learn your superpower? And how to change your mindset? Here are a few tips from Joe: What puts you in a state of flow? Joe points out when you’re in a state of flow you feel energized, focused, and lose track of time. You’re at the height of your ‘superpower’. Take the Myers-Briggs test. Learn how you tick and what drives you. Be hypervigilant. When emotions kick in, learn to take a step back and evaluate what is causing those emotions. Getting to know yourself on a deeper level is key to change your mindset and worldview. It allows you to focus on what you do best. Then you can focus on building a team and scaling your business. Learn how to counteract your triggers Joe points out that to become an effective leader you need to be mindful of your emotions. Do you feel yourself getting defensive? Take a moment to step back and identify what’s triggering you, and change the course of the conversation. Take progressive action to become more consciously aware of what’s going on. Joe knows himself well. He knows his triggers and has learned to take moments throughout the day to check his emotions, figure out what’s triggering those emotions, and move forward. In the end, a business is a group of people working together to reach the same goal. If you know yourself and know your superpowers, you are better equipped to help others find theirs. You’ll be primed and ready to become a better leader. Joe talks in detail about mindset, flow, cognitive diversity, and so much more. Be sure to listen to the whole episode of Just the Tips! Resources & People Mentioned Joe Trodden’s Website Joe’s LinkedIn Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed MBTI Personality Assessment Steven Kotler on the basics of Flow 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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Are you trying to launch a business or sell a product, and need some tips to help you launch successfully? Are you wondering if you should engage in email marketing? What about offering subscriptions? Kurt Elster joins us to cover how to launch a business successfully and how to engage with and grow your customer base. Don’t miss this great episode of Just the Tips! Kurt is known in the industry as “The Shopify Guy”. Before he became the preeminent Shopify expert he spent years building websites. In 2011 he started working with Shopify and found success—and a passion. So he doubled down, made Shopify his primary focus, and branded himself. Alongside being a successful Shopify consultant, he is the host of the ‘Unofficial Shopify Podcast’ (with over a million downloads). Outline of This Episode [0:45] Ecommerce Pro Kurt Elster joins us [3:00] How to sell a product online [5:20] Stop operating in stealth mode [9:25] How Kurt became a Shopify consultant [13:35] Successful Facebook advertising [18:30] Should you offer subscriptions for your product? [23:50] Strategies for gaining return customers [27:30] Outsource when you’re doing well [31:35] The process of building a brand [33:10] Connect with Kurt How to launch a business successfully Kurt points out that the biggest mistake people make when launching an online business is doing it in “stealth mode”. They keep the product and website “hush-hush” and when they launch, nothing happens. The cornerstone of a successful launch is building an audience for your product. Share on social media the product you’re developing. Get them to sign up for emails on your website. See if they’re interested in pre-ordering! Kurt shares that the goal is to get a feel for who your customer is. Connect with them as a business owner and a person by sharing everything you’re doing. Only then should you build out a brand and your Shopify store. Are subscriptions effective or do they miss the mark? Dean and I have noticed that many subscriptions for products tend to completely miss the mark. Or they were a fad (i.e. box of the month) that are dying out. So we asked Kurt point-blank how to package subscriptions effectively. He has ONE rule: anyone who has a consumable good needs to do a subscription. Kurt also believes you shouldn’t try to sell a subscription to a new customer. However, once they’ve purchased a product enroll them in an email follow-up sequence. You could send them educational content or recipe ideas. Then, in the email sequence, you can offer a subscription for the item(s). Once they’ve gotten a chance to try your product, and your emails are timed correctly, they may very well become a return customer. Keep listening to find out why Kurt believes it’s hard to push subscriptions in other niches. A better way to run ads When big brands started taking Facebook ads seriously, they began dumping money into the ad medium. When Facebook tightened up ad placement, this drove ad costs up so big brands could easily still afford the cost, but it pushed small businesses out. You don’t want to waste ad budget and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make hundreds of thousands in revenue, only to have little to no profit margin. Kurt recommends tracking your ad spend and making sure you’re getting a 1.5x return on your investment. Instead of throwing money away in generic advertising, he notes that you must get to know your customers and increase the quality of your traffic to increase conversion rate. The immutable truth of digital marketing Instead of spending your marketing budget on cold traffic, Kurt recommends retargeting warm/hot audiences. If people have interacted with your posts or ads on Facebook or Instagram, target your ongoing ads to them. It’s far less expensive and a better return on your investment Kurt calls this concept the immutable truth of digital marketing: repetition builds trust. 10 touchpoints or interactions with a brand—or more—builds trust and makes the person more likely to become a customer. Another way to get them in your email funnel is by implementing a pop-up when they leave your site to subscribe to your emails. If your ads on Instagram and Facebook are targeting them AND they’re receiving emails from you, you can gain a new customer in as little as 6 days. Keep listening as Kurt, Dean, and myself chat about what to do when the business is thriving, the lifetime value of customers, and much more! Resources & People Mentioned Kurt Elster’s Website Kurt on LinkedIn Kurt on Twitter Kurt’s business: Ethercycle Set up a Shopify store The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Gorgias app for Shopify Klaviyo Growth Marketing Platform Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Creating an online community sounds easy in theory—but what does it take to build a thriving community? How do you interact with your group? What are some of the best ways to add value? If you’re struggling to answer these questions, Lori Kennedy is here to answer them. Lori is the founder of the Wellness Business Hub, a business consultant, and host of ‘The Business of Becoming’ podcast. She’s been in the health and wellness industry since 1999 and is passionate about helping entrepreneurs in alternative medicine learn how to run successful online businesses. Outline of This Episode [0:40] How to build a community [1:55] I introduce our guest, Lori Kennedy [2:40] Lori’s background as an entrepreneur [5:55] Why Lori created her first online community [9:40] How do you cultivate a thriving community? [18:40] Mistakes people make in FB groups [20:25] You get to be the leader and the expert [25:50] Where should you be most active? [30:30] What holds people back? What is the ‘why’ behind your online community? Lori was completely honest in this episode: she launched her first online community because she felt alone. Her friends were school teachers or worked in an office. No one truly understood her entrepreneurial journey when she launched her nutrition practice in 2007. It was just her, diving into the unknown. When your path is so different from everyone around you, it’s important to find somewhere you belong. Her mission was to create a community where she could collaborate with clients as a leader and a peer. She wanted to help others in her industry not feel so alone. Of course, being able to learn from each other was an added bonus. You must be intentional about your community’s structure Lori pointed out to us that you must be intentional about your community. If you have your why in place, how do you want it carried out? She didn’t create her first group to make money or be a lead gen pool—even though it does do those things. But she wanted a judgment-free zone for colleagues and peers to come together. That’s pretty powerful stuff. So she recommends writing a vision statement. At the time, hers was to “Create a community of alternative health practitioners that are 100% supportive of each other (where they can) be totally and completely honest and vulnerable”. What vision do you have for your community? What is its purpose? Do human beings lack the ability to be real? Honesty and vulnerability are the cornerstones of what makes Lori’s Facebook community so successful. If you desire to have a community where people are real—then YOU have to be real. People see through false bravado, sales techniques, and know when you’re being fake. So Lori shares silly photos and embarrassing stories to create an atmosphere of playfulness and comfort. Whatever you do, be sure you’re being real with your group, even with ‘touchy’ subjects. Speaking of, Lori’s mission is to change the stigma around making money. She wants her group members to celebrate their milestones. To share their wins and show new members what is possible. You should be proud that your business is succeeding and making money. Be sure to listen as Lori chats with us about mistakes to avoid making! The balance between connecting and selling Even if the primary goal of your Facebook group is to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs in your space, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for selling. It IS your business after all. You get to be the leader and the expert—so share your expertise. Lori publishes high-quality teaching content and tutorials. She does Facebook Live rapid-fire coaching sessions. She always prefaces the ‘selling’ with a disclaimer but follows it with powerful content that compels you to work with her. It goes to show, if you are consistently offering value in a community that shares its successes and failures, you’re doing something right. If your job hinges on helping your community find success, do it! Everyone needs a little accountability and support. Don’t be afraid to dive in and give it a shot. To hear how Lori is active in her community and her tips for success, listen to the whole episode! Resources & People Mentioned Lori Kennedy on Instagram Lori’s LinkedIn The Wellness Business Hub Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Are you interested in professional coaching, but worried you don’t have the necessary experience? Is it something you are passionate about, but you just don’t know how to market yourself? Lucas Rubix, a coach to the coaches, joins us to talk about coaching, how to get started, and mistakes to avoid. Lucas Rubix started his career working on oil rigs. After a dangerous bout of depression and self-medication, he hit a breaking point that almost led to suicide. But he stopped himself, and the next morning he woke happy to be alive. He hadn’t felt like that in ages. So he began to focus on his health and fitness, started reading personal development books, and began studying philosophy. He wanted to find his purpose. He developed a passion for marketing and coaching, which led him to where he is today—running a business to help coaches launch their careers. Outline of This Episode [2:40] Why did Lucas Rubix choose to become a coach? [7:50] What is Lucas’s coaching philosophy? [12:25] Mistakes to avoid when growing your coaching business [17:50] How to develop your skillset and market yourself [25:05] Get in Touch with Lucas You don’t need years of experience to be a coach Lucas’s philosophy on coaching is this: just get started. If you’re passionate about it and believe that you can make an impact, do it. Lucas wasn’t certified when he started but was committed to answering any question his clients asked—even if it meant staying up all night doing research. You don’t have to represent yourself as having years of experience, but simply be honest and passionate. Everyone knows something that can help someone else. It’s a mistake to have the ability and drive to coach others, but not do it. If you know you’re the type of person who will find the answer no matter the time it costs you, you can learn and grow as you go. Mistakes to avoid when growing your professional coaching business If you’re diving into coaching because you think it will be a short-term “get rich quick” path, it’s time to reevaluate. Lucas points out that if you don’t see yourself coaching in 10 years, question why you’re doing it in the first place. The road will be full of obstacles and challenges and it is far from easy. You need to love and be passionate about what you’re doing. Secondly, Lucas notes that many coaches let their ego get in the way. You need to make what the client needs and wants the priority—not what you think they need or want. You also need to make sure that you’re not detached and that you’re focused on your clients. What do you need to create for them so that they’re 100% on board with the program? How to use social media marketing properly Stop making your marketing all about you. It comes naturally for Instagram or Facebook posts to be about yourself, what you’re doing, where you’re going, etc. That’s fine, but Lucas recommends taking every post you put online and flipping it: turn an event in your life into a lesson or a story that provides value. Your content can’t be so blatantly focused on you. It’s not about getting people to look at you and touting your success. An easy fix Lucas points out is to start removing “I” from your copy. Your social media will develop into a relationship-building tool. It can be a great way to connect with potential clients. How do you begin to market yourself? Lucas established that social media can be a great tool to boost your presence and connect with people. But how do you drive traffic to your website? The first thing Lucas has his coaching clients do is create videos. One video a day for 30 days. It allows you to develop how you deliver your message and pushes you out of your comfort zone. He also has his clients create 9 blog posts immediately. Not only do these practices allow you to develop your voice, but it begins to build content to gain organic traffic. Lucas also advocates for paid advertising as a great driver of traffic. Above all else, he wants you to create content, speak your truth, and in doing so it will speak to your ideal client. If you have the passion and drive necessary, the skills can be developed. Put yourself in uncomfortable circumstances that will help you grow—because comfort kills progress. Resources & People Mentioned Lucas Rubix’s Website Lucas on Instagram Lucas on Facebook Lucas on YouTube Check out his Podcast! Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Mental toughness is something that can benefit every entrepreneur, but how do you develop it? Why is it important? Having the right mindset can be the difference between success and failure. To develop mental toughness, you must be prepared to focus on personal development. You have to remember that the foundation that your business is built on is you. Outline of This Episode [2:05] The importance of mental toughness [4:00] It’s not easy being an entrepreneur [5:30] Business is an exchange of value [7:00] Without stress it’s impossible to grow [14:35] Where do you start? [20:00] Nothing will beat practice [23:20] Your mental diet is critical to mental toughness [25:15] Top 3 strategies to develop mental toughness The life of an entrepreneur is not easy When you run your own business, everything begins and ends with you. You are the fixer of all things. What we want to point out is that you’ll be in no position to help others if you don’t help yourself first. We all hit points where we just want to run away from our problems instead of facing them head-on. The first principle we want to touch on is this: no one has it easy. We all have different challenges that we face, no matter who you’re looking at. The keys comes down to a quote by an unknown author that I love, “Don’t wish that it were easier, wish that you were stronger”. So how do you become stronger? Make like a lobster and break out of your shell Stress. Nobody loves stress, yet we are faced with it day in and day out. But Dean and I believe that without it, it’s impossible to grow. Without being faced with pressure and challenges, you stagnate. You coast. Running away from stress robs you of the opportunity to become stronger. Did you know in order to grow, lobsters must first break out of their shell? They can’t physically grow without going through pain. It’s the same for individuals. Going through tragedies, challenges, and difficult situations allow you to achieve a new level of growth. Stop backing down from challenges and become comfortable with being uncomfortable! Bring the struggle into conscious awareness If you’re struggling with dealing with stress and challenges being thrown at you, the best thing you can do is acknowledge it. Bring it to conscious awareness. If what you’re doing isn’t pushing you towards your intended result, it’s time for a change, right? Identify and confront what you’re facing. Secondly, you need to mitigate your stress levels. Stop taking on more than you can handle. A weight-lifter can’t start with heavy weights—they must condition themselves to withstand heavier and heavier weight. In the same way, you need to condition yourself to handle challenges. Start small and build your resistance. To hear more about our strategies for handling difficult situations and becoming mentally tough, be sure to listen! Top 3 Strategies to develop mental toughness It’s time for some tips! These are the top 3 strategies we recommend to build mental toughness: Practice meditation: It strengthens your mind and it builds mental resilience. We hope to cover this more in an upcoming episode! Focus on mental “nutrition”: Limit the “mind rot” that you consume. Focus on listening, watching, and reading things that lead to personal development and aren’t wasting your time. Who do you spend your time with? You become the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with. Are you spending time with people you want to be like? Implement these three things into your life immediately, and you will begin to see results. To hear all of the details about building mental toughness, listen to the whole episode! Resources & People Mentioned Les Brown Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
A collaborative culture in the workplace is becoming a foreign concept. We all strive for innovation and creation, right? But we forget that building relationships with coworkers is an essential piece of a business's success. Jason Treu joins us to discuss the importance of building relationships within your team—and how to do it efficiently. Jason Treu has worked with some of the biggest names in business, from Mark Cuban to Steve Jobs. He has been a coach for over a decade, helping 30,0000+ people reach significant change and breakthroughs in their business. If you’re ready to build a more cohesive and thriving team, listen to this episode of Just the Tips! Outline of This Episode [2:00] Jason Treu and the importance of relationships [6:00] Every successful venture involves a team [8:25] Building a relationship begins with trust [10:35] Reliability, sincerity, competency, and caring [16:35] Develop personal “manuals” to share [19:15] Cards against Mundanity [22:10] Why don’t people connect? [23:40] How do you weave this into an organization? [28:10] How do you introduce this to your team? [32:00] Meaningful work and meaningful relationships [32:30] Connect with Jason Any successful venture begins with a team “Team-building” is a phrase and practice that is thrown around but seldom understood. Many just roll their eyes, or shudder at the thought of team-building. Or it evokes a desire to call in sick to work that day. What people don’t understand is how important building relationships with your team truly is. You want to get the most out of your team to give your business a competitive advantage, right? To do that, you must cultivate a team of people that aren’t just indifferent coworkers—they need to care about each other. The reality is that you need your team working efficiently and effectively, which means working through disagreements and differences of opinion quickly. Jason talks about the importance of building teams who care about each other and shares some personal stories. Keep listening! What is the number one thing you must prioritize? Dean and I agree with Jason here—you need to build trust with your team. You have to build rapport and feel safe with each other. If you don’t completely trust someone, you can’t take a leap of faith together! Trust doesn’t happen accidentally. To build trust you must be sincere, reliable, competent, and caring. Jason believes that of all those qualities, caring is the most important. If you’re reliable and do your job well, but show no outward signs of caring about your coworkers, they won’t trust you. Building trust requires something that very few of us equate with the workplace: being vulnerable. We don’t know how to cultivate that in the workplace, don’t do it consistently, or don’t do it in groups. So how do you change that? Keep listening for some of Jason’s tips! Applying Arthur Aron’s research to build a collaborative culture Arthur Aron conducted some pioneering research in the field of intimacy and interpersonal relationships. He found that 36 questions discussed between two people in a 45 minute time period could accelerate intimacy—the type of intimacy usually developed over time in deep friendships. Jason took this research and began implementing it in his coaching process. What ensued was like watching a reality tv show. People began to open up in ways that he never expected. The experiment served to break down barriers and open up lines of communication. People discussed deeply personal issues and over a short period of time, built relationships that usually take years to develop. Jason pointed out that 66% of start-ups fail because of people-problems. So what if you could erase those problems by building teams that care about each other? How to introduce the concept into your company culture Many successful people have an innate ability to easily build relationships with other people. But they struggle with teaching others how to emulate their process. So what’s the secret sauce? What are some practical ways we can implement this in our own businesses? “How to work with me” manuals: instead of trying to predict and analyze new additions to a team, who don’t we just ask questions? How do they communicate? What is the best way to approach them with hard conversations? What helps them get out of a bad mood? Develop 10-question “manuals” that help people get to know the basics about each other. Cards against Mundanity: A fun play off of Cards Against Humanity that Jason developed utilizing Arthur Aron’s research. Get your team together, and ask some questions to foster a deeper understanding and connection with each other. Stop looking at your coworkers in a transactional way. If your teams are struggling to work together, perhaps they need to find some common ground. Implementing relationship-building activities is one of the best ways to build a collaborative culture. Resources & People Mentioned Jason’s Website Jason’s Book: Social Wealth Cards Against Mundanity Arthur Aron’s Research Study Principles by Ray Dalio Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
What is a content experience? How does it apply to entrepreneurs? Customer engagement is a driving force that leads to sales and our marketing needs to be on-point to remain competitive. So how do we focus on customer engagement through the content we create? Randy Frisch joins us in this episode of Just the Tips to educate us on creating customer experiences through content. Randy is the CMO and Co-Founder of Uberflip and a best-selling author. He is an expert in content experience and using content to connect with customers, drive demand, and increase your revenue. His focus is on how to deliver content targeted to a specific audience to generate results. Don’t miss this evocative episode! Outline of This Episode [2:30] I introduce our guest, Randy Frisch. [3:30] Creating a Content Experience [7:10] How did Randy get into this field? [10:40] How to deliver personalized content [14:30] Marketing is a balance between art and science [16:35] Randy’s Content Experience framework [24:30] Where do you focus your content? [27:00] The best approach to curated content Great content doesn’t necessarily equate to great sales Great content is important, but it isn’t always a driving factor for sales. Everyone knows that valuable content is essential. Because of that, everyone and their mother are producing great content. The ‘If you build it they will come’ mentality is outdated and no longer a viable option to lean on. Customers expect that you will deliver content curated for them. Randy uses the example of Netflix—when you login, they propose suggestions just for you (based on your history). Spotify delivers the same user experience with playlist suggestions. Randy’s premise is that we need to stop creating content without a strategy. It needs to be hand-picked for a specific audience. We need to create an experience that feels like it’s just for them. Organize content based on how your audience is searching The needs and interests of your audience need to be taken into consideration. How do you answer their questions? What is their intent behind a Google search? We need to stop producing content and start producing stellar content based on what our audience desires. Randy points out that devices—such as Alexa—answer questions by pulling answers from the #1 search result. If all of these devices are excluding all results other than the #1 slot, it’s a huge problem. #2 is no longer good enough. So you need to begin to analyze buyer intent, what questions they’re asking, and how you can best answer those questions to rank #1 and sell your product. Randy’s Content Experience Framework Randy has a 5-step framework that he believes will help you narrow down your focus and deliver a quality content experience: Centralization: Blog posts, videos, infographics, etc. need to be able to be found in one location—your website. Not just scattered across social media platforms. Organization: Tag your content so that it can easily be found in a search, internally by your team and externally by users. Personalization: Build a user experience by creating collections of your content, with personalized messaging, images, and more. Build a customer journey. Distribution: How do you get in front of your audience? Email, ads, social media must link back to your binge-worthy content. Generate Results: If you’re distributing content that is valuable to your customer base, and you’ve engaged them, you should generate sales results. We talk about Randy’s framework in detail in this episode, be sure to listen to the whole thing! Further resources are linked below. Stop driving traffic away from your channels Obviously, you want to be on the channels where your audience is (Facebook, Instagram—you get the drift). Randy insists that you stop entertaining your customers on channels that you don’t own. For example, YouTube is designed to keep the user on their platform. Not only do they suggest videos to keep you watching, but they may even market the content of a competitor! What if you directed that traffic directly to your site and retained the audience? Do not direct traffic away from your website to a different platform. The customer will get lost in the social media funnel and in most cases, forget that they navigated to your site. If you utilize social media—you need to—have a strong call-to-action to drive customers to a content experience designed just for them. Randy, Dean and I continue to discuss where to focus your content, the best approach for content creation, and the difficulty of podcasts. Resources & People Mentioned Randy’s Content Experience Framework Randy’s Website Randy on Twitter Randy on LinkedIn F#ck Content Marketing by Randy Frisch Sirius Decisions Salesforce CRM Snowflake Data Warehouse Content Marketing Institute Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Data-driven decision-making is something many entrepreneurs struggle with. Many of us aren’t adequately tracking and analyzing data. But If Shark Tank has taught us anything, it’s that you need to know your numbers. In this episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I discuss tracking the steps in your process, analyzing data, and taking action steps to solve problems. Don’t miss this solution-packed episode! Outline of This Episode [2:15] Pugging holes in your sales process [5:45] Dean’s experience tracking data [11:30] Advertising to strangers is a different game [14:00] Where is the customer finding you in their life cycle? [16:20] James framework for data-driven decision making [24:40] Tracking data over time becomes more significant [28:05] Steps to take from here [34:35] Don’t make it overcomplicated Why do you need to start tracking? Dean has operated for the last ten years simply on word-of-mouth and referrals for his business. Recently, he started spending time learning the ins and outs of Facebook advertising. He began spending 5 figures a month in ad budget and it has been a profitable move. So for the last 3 months, he’s been tracking whatever he can in the sales process: impressions, clicks, items added to the card, book purchases, and more. Tracking the data for this length of time allowed him to begin noticing trends. The metric that stuck out to Dean the most in this process was that of the people that purchased his book, only 11% filled out the application to work with Dean. That 11% did so within 12 days or less of ordering his book. No one started the application process after day 12. Tracking the data allowed him to pinpoint where their system was lacking and where changes needed to be made. You have to build a relationship to make sales Dean learned that it takes time to build relationships with strangers. His team would reach out in the first 7-10 days after a purchase was made—but they were lacking in systems and processes for 10 days and beyond. Fostering relationships and building trust needs to be done over time. You can’t expect to convert sales well when a customer knows nothing about your brand. He decided to focus on the 89% of people who didn’t show interest in his program by continuing to market, advertise, and follow-up with them. You have to build a bridge. Dean and I talk about the different factors that affect the process, so keep listening. My framework for data-driven decision-making I love creating and building out frameworks. It helps me make sense of the world in a meaningful and analytical way. I developed a pyramid for making decisions that helps you take actionable steps to optimize your business. The base of the pyramid is data. Put a tracking mechanism in place to track data that can put it into graphs, show trends, etc. Take that information in the form of graphs or reports and arrange it in a way that you can interpret the data. Take the data and your interpretation and turn it into actionable steps. The longer you track and the more things you track, the more will be revealed to you. You’ll begin to see where your process is thriving. Perhaps you’ll narrow down even more holes that you can go in and fix. But you’d never have known any of it if you hadn’t simply started tracking where your money is being spent. Where do you go from here? This episode is packed with information and we don’t want to overwhelm you with details. If you take away anything, we want it to be what is summarized below. Figure out the most important things you want to start tracking. Start with the one thing that drives the most sales or is a higher-ticket purchase and follow the sales process. Become familiar with the numbers. Analyze the data you’ve tracked. Are the trends that you’re seeing normal? Get a clear and complete picture of what needs to be done. Take actionable steps to rectify gaps or mistakes. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be. The goal is to work smarter, not harder. Tracking your data can be one of the easiest things you can do. It will give you a clear indicator of steps you can take to propel your business forward. Musicfor “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/ Site: www.jamespfriel.com Site: www.jamespfriel.com/hiring 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
When you think of creative design, what comes to mind? Something visual? A design show on HGTV? What people don’t often realize is the depth of psychology and science that’s behind every aspect of design. Our guest today, Ross Johnson, turns everything you think you know about design upside down. Ross is the owner and CEO of 3.7 Designs, a full-service digital marketing company. His goal is to provide innovative solutions that incorporate his 6 layers of design. He’s an expert on web design, web development, SEO, and much more. Listen to this episode of Just the Tips for his utilization of psychology in design. Outline of This Episode [2:00] We introduce Ross Johnson [3:30] His background in design [6:00] Why did he get into web-design? [7:15] Does design matter and why? [10:30] The 6 layers of design [20:00] Applications in everyday life [25:00] Everything you do needs to be by design Everything is by design, even if it’s not by design I’m not trying to be cryptic here, I promise. Ross pointed out that every decision you make—or don’t make—is the process of design. Waking up, brushing your teeth, scheduling appointments and doing your job is part of the process of designing your life. Ross defines design as intentionally taking steps towards a desired outcome. The process of design, then, is defining the steps you need to take to reach the desired outcome. If you’re building a website—what is the purpose of it? What do you want to get out of it? As you ask yourself defining questions it helps you reach your goal. The 6 Layers of creative design Most often, people think of creative design as just that—a creative process. Design is certainly the process of creation, but there is a science to it. Design isn’t just what something looks like. In fact, according to Ross, design mirrors the scientific process. You define a hypothesis, test it, and make changes to achieve your desired result. Ross defines 6 layers of design, which he refers to as the “design hierarchy of needs”. It’s based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Functionality: Does it function as it’s supposed to? Reliability: Does it produce the outcome I want? Usability: Is it easy to use? Proficiency: Does it provide something useful? Communication: Is it communicating what I need it to? Emotion: Does it evoke the emotion desired? Ross, Dean and I talk about his concept in-depth, so keep listening. What emotions do you want to evoke? The emotional layer of the hierarchy can be further broken down into three layers: Visceral, Behavioral, and Reflective. When designing a website, Ross breaks every piece of the process down by the 6 layers and dives deep into the emotional layer. Visceral: This is a “gut” response that you immediately have when you experience something. It’s a central nervous system response, such as fear, disgust, joy, etc. Behavioral: The emotional response when actively doing something—the sense of satisfaction you get when being productive. Reflective: This is a conscious reaction. How does your website create a sense of identity, prestige, nostalgia, etc.? Knowing what emotions you want to evoke as you’re creating your website affects every layer of the design process and what it looks like visually. This includes layout, color, wording and more. What do Fireball and Swedish Meatballs have in common? We chat about IKEA, and how they are a great example of using design to differentiate themselves in the industry. Their showroom is unique and one of a kind. But they could certainly benefit from applying the design hierarchy of needs to their business model. The instructions to build a piece of furniture leaves you wishing they sold Fireball with their furniture. But they’ve sure nailed their design process with their Swedish Meatballs! But if IKEA took their process and adjusted it ever so slightly to create detailed and understandable instructions it would positively impact their business. Everything you do has to be designed with the user experience in mind. There is always something you can do to tweak your designs to better meet people's needs. Resources & People Mentioned 3.7 Designs 3.7 Designs Blog Project Panorama Abraham Maslow Ross on LinkedIn 6 Layers of Design Kayak ADT Floyd IKEA The Power of Design by Richard Farson Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Dean and I are strong advocates of attending events for entrepreneurs. It could be a mastermind group, a yearly conference, or any sort of entrepreneurial live event. You need to get out and mingle with some of the greatest minds in the business world—and learn from those who are next level businessmen and women. This episode of Just the Tips is dedicated to what we learned from the event we recently attended. Outline of This Episode [2:00] Attend Events for Entrepreneurs [5:30] Deans #1 takeaway from the week [7:25] The benefits of social media [14:30] Deliver an experience to remember [18:45] Customer journey mapping [21:10] Celebrate your accomplishments [23:45] Sales funnel order bump tip [27:30] Service as a service [30:10] Choose key events to be a part of Why attending events for entrepreneurs can be so powerful Attending events with other like-minded individuals allows you to be around people who truly understand you. They’re on the same entrepreneurial journey as you are. You’re able to learn from the best of the best. You get a break from the day-to-day of your business, be creative, and focus time on thinking strategically. It could lead to some of your biggest breakthroughs. Dean struggled when he was building his business. It was an event he attended that helped him break through that struggle. Being surrounded by people on the same level as you and learning from each other—it’s powerful. We are putting on an event coming up in 2020, check out the link in our show notes! The importance of social media cannot be emphasized enough I’ll admit that I haven’t been on board with the social media craze. I’ve been hesitant to let it take over my life. I realized this week that I can create systems to leverage my time and find ways to serve my tribe—social media doesn’t have to consume all of it. The more visible you are the more you can help people come together to solve a common problem. Dean—amazingly—pointed out that you are doing a disservice to your market by not allowing them to find you and consume the content that you provide. Dean delivers a stunning example that demonstrates this concept well. Keep listening to find out what that is, and some examples of what you can do. Deliver the best experience possible Russell Brunson talked about how they go about planning their events, and how they delve into every minute detail in the process. Down to the mindset attendees are in when they arrive at their conference. Was their flight delayed? Did they leave a sick child at home? Did they take time off from work? What can you do—from the moment they arrive—to deliver the best experience they could possibly have? You want them to believe attending your event was the right move. This doesn’t just have to apply to an event—how can you deliver the best experience on your website? On social media? Keep listening as Dean and I chat about customer journey mapping and real-life examples of the strategy in play. Is it time for a Hustle Detox? We got to hear Stacy Martino speak on the topic of celebration. As entrepreneurs, we forget that we need to celebrate our accomplishments. We can’t just set them aside and continue hustling. Take time to detox from the hustle and truly celebrate reaching your goals. Also, you need to remember why you started your business in the first place. You probably didn’t become an entrepreneur to spend all of your time working. Maybe you wanted more time with your family. Or you wanted more time to focus on things you are passionate about. Think about what your goals were (and are) and make sure you’re still in alignment. This episode is packed with some of the best tips we gather. Listen to the whole episode for the full spectrum of stellar advice. Resources & People Mentioned Russell Brunson Stacey Martino Dr. Anissa Holmes Poop 911 Hustle Detox Live Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
To offer people something of value that solves a problem, you must know your audience. You can’t market correctly, offer the right solution, or adequately gauge how customers will react if you don’t know them. So what does that learning process look like? Listen in as Dean and I chat with Spencer Lum—The Big Vision Guy at ExtraBold—all about your audience. After years of being unable to hold down a steady job, Spencer found himself building websites. This morphed into helping people with branding. Eventually, Spencer realized he could help others best by solving their very specific problems. He understands how to create and market addictive content. Listen to this episode of Just the Tps for insight into his mind! Outline of This Episode [0:45] We introduce our guest of the day, Spencer Lum. [3:05] How he learned business the hard way [6:00] Becoming his own boss [10:20] Launching his first business [12:20] Developing a framework [15:40] Look at the symptoms to narrow down the problem [20:20] What is the solution to the problem? [24:00] Understanding practical and emotional pain [26:30] How to build your unique mechanism [29:40] Back to the basics: know your audience [31:50] The part psychology plays [36:30] Spencer’s special Just the Tips offer! There’s always a “but”... When Spencer was a teenager, his Dad told him “You can achieve anything you want...BUT I really don’t know if you’re going to”. It was meant to be a pep-talk and it fell miserably short (but luckily he can look back on it in a humorous light). After years of starting and quitting jobs and becoming a lawyer (it didn’t stick), he finally realized his dad was right. So what was the logical next step? Spencer became a serial entrepreneur. While he was working in an HR position, he started building a website for himself. He soon realized that there was a market for that kind of work, and his first business was born (and he subsequently quit his HR job). Keep listening as we chat about his transition from job-to-job and finally landing on something that stuck. Develop a framework that meets people’s needs We know if we offer something to the market that nobody needs, it’s not going to succeed. It’s simple: what you offer has to be something that is needed. Spencer lays it out like this: Offer what people need. Find the right way to convey your message. Make sure you’re speaking to the right audience. He fully embraces Gary Bencivenga’s “persuasion equation”. The equation, in its simplest form, looks a little like this: Problem + Promise + Proof + Proposition = Persuasion There is a problem only you can solve that you promise to solve for your audience. You show proof that you can solve it (data and case studies) and propose how you shall do it. The simplest means of persuasion. Know your audience better than they know themselves To sell an idea and appropriately pitch to your audience, you need to understand who they are and what problems they need solved. Spencer points out that most audiences don’t actually know what their problem is. Your job, then, is to figure out their problems based on the “symptoms” and provide a solution. You need to be able to get in your audience’s head and offer to solve their very specific problem. Are their pages not ranking in google? Do they have low conversion rates? Do they have enough cash-flow from their conversions? Take their measurable problems and find a way to give voice to a solution. Once you’ve identified the symptoms of their problem, narrowed down the issue, and marketed the solution—then you develop the system to solve their problem. You must 100% understand your market before creating anything. Develop your own secret sauce You have to take everything that you’ve learned about your audience and their problems and develop your own unique and oh-so-special mechanism for solving that problem. You cannot attempt to solve “all the problems” for “all the people”. Spencer advises finding your niche—an audience that you connect with better than anyone else. Solve the problem in a way only you can accomplish. Everyone has something particular that works for them. Your vernacular won’t reach or speak to everyone and that’s okay. Every word you choose and every bit of what you do needs to match with your audience and how they want things done. Everything you do MUST align with who your audience is. Resources & People Mentioned Special offer for Just the Tips Listeners: Free 8-day course! Spencer’s website: https://goextrabold.com/ Spencer’s Twitter Spencer’s LinkedIn Spencer’s Photography site Make sure this “music” paragraph is intended in the Libsyn post Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
You know you need to protect your brand as you’re building a business—but where do you start? As an entrepreneur you need to protect your intellectual property and what you’re working so hard to build. It begins with choosing a brandable name and getting it trademarked. The process is lengthy and daunting, but Andrei Mincov is here to make it easier. In this episode of Just the Tips, we interview Andrei Mincov, founder of the Trademark Factory®. He began his career in Russia and had the opportunity to work with big names such as Apple and Microsoft. When he relocated to Canada he had to start from scratch and go through law school again. So he decided he wasn’t going to go the route of working for a major corporation. Instead, he took his love for trademark law and entrepreneurial spirit and started his own business. Outline of This Episode [0:42] Protect the brand you’re working to build [2:30] Andre’s journey in trademark law [6:20] The journey from Russia to Canada [7:10] Why he started his own business [9:00] How do you protect your intellectual property? [10:50] How to know you have a trademarkable brand [14:50] When do you start the trademark process? [19:40] Your trademark is your insurance policy [22:50] Typical costs associated with the trademark process [26:00] Dean’s personal story of having to re-brand [30:40] Check out Andrei’s business: trademarkfactory.com/tips 3 simple tips to make your business brandable The only way to compete in the industry is to have a brandable name that you strive to protect. Your business name is your intellectual property and you need to protect your ideas. To do so you need to build a protectable brand. So what does that look like? Your brand needs to be unique. Your name needs to be innovative and what you offer needs to be different than (or a better process than) everyone else. Your brand needs to be memorable among your target market. Getting a trademark for a brand that makes no impact is useless, right? Your brand needs to be well-protected. This is where trademark law comes into play. A small business doesn’t have the money to dispute a trademark issue. It’s far better to spend the money on the front end, then lose thousands of dollars in legal fees—or your business. Don’t DIY your trademark research: Hire a trademark attorney Look, there are ways that you can research a brand name and find out if you can claim it. You can find a domain name and snag it. Great. You can do a trademark search or pay a 3rd party website to help you through the process. Inevitably, they will let you down. You can search the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) but the results tend to be pretty overwhelming. The bottom line is—it is not wise to do the legwork yourself. Even if you deem that the brand name is available, the back and forth process of getting your trademark registered is exhausting. So what does Andrei recommend? Hire a trademark attorney—or consider working with his company, The Trademark Factory®. Don’t wait for a sign from above—start the process now People often ask Andrei when to start the trademark process. His answer? Immediately. You can’t build a business and choose an arbitrary number and say “When the business is making (insert dollar amount here) then I will invest in the trademark”. There will be no good external validation. Uber filed a trademark application 2 months before launching the business. Now it’s worth over 50 billion. Jeff Bezos registered ‘Amazon’ and ‘Amazon books’ at the very beginning—he built an empire. Andrei said Coca-Cola started as a “lemonade stand with a dream”. Now it’s a soft-drink know world-wide. All of these brands started small but understood the importance of protecting what they knew they could build. A trademark is your insurance policy—you hope to never have to use it, but it’s there when you need it. Is it going to cost me an arm and a leg to hire a trademark attorney? If you’re doing the work yourself, it can cost a few hundred dollars (for specific numbers, check out USPTO.gov) but it will cost you a lot of time. It’s typically a 14-month process in the US and even longer in Canada—sometimes over 2 years! It’s worth your time to invest in a trademark lawyer. Andrei’s business gives you a unique alternative to working with a traditional trademark attorney. They charge a flat fee that is 100% refundable if they do not get you your trademark. If your desired name is taken and they cannot complete the process, there is no charge to you. Listen to the whole episode of Just the Tips as we chat about Andrei’s experience, how Dean had to rebrand his business, a unique mechanism system and so much more! Go to TrademarkFactory.com/tips to book a call with a strategy advisor and start the conversation about your business, brand, and trademark process. Resources & People Mentioned Andrei Mincov on LinkedIn Andrei Mincov on Facebook The Trademark Factory® TrademarkFactory.com/tips Trademark Factory® on YouTube United States Patent and Trademark Office Todd Brown and the concept of a Unique Mechanism Jeff Bezos Amazon Office Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Are you ready to start hiring like a boss? Are you ready to grow your business but unsure what the process should look like? In this episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I unpack the hiring process. We cover what not to do, clarifying the position you’re hiring for, and asking the right kind of questions. This is one you don’t want to miss! Outline of This Episode [2:40] Launching ‘Hiring Like a Boss’ [3:35] Transitioning to growing a team [9:00] The wrong way to start [13:50] Clarify the job description [18:20] People don’t just know what needs to be done [22:45] What next steps to take [26:00] A resume paints an incomplete picture [29:30] Craft an application that asks the right questions [34:30] Does your vision of success line up? [37:40] Create a magnetic hiring funnel [39:15] Hire Like a Boss course Don’t wait until you’re desperate to start hiring How much will it cost you to hire the wrong person? Too often, entrepreneurs get to a place where they are desperate for help and ready to hire the first person they come across. Take it from me—I literally recruited a cashier from Bed Bath & Beyond—as I was checking out—to come work for me. Shocker, she didn’t work out in the long-term. On the flip-side, one of James’ first hires was a friend. Mid-conversation he was all “Hey, it would be fun if you came to work with me!”. While hiring friends can work out, it’s the easy way out—and it’ll either work really well or destroy your friendship. When you’re under pressure and hiring out of desperation you make the worst decisions. You can’t wait to hire until you’re hurting. Do not find yourself trapped in the ‘anyone will do’ mindset. Keep listening as we strategize what you should be doing instead. Hiring like a boss starts with clarifying the role It may seem like the logical approach but is surprisingly overlooked quite often. You need to take a few minutes and clarify the role you’re hiring for. What does it look like now and what will the role look like in the future? What type of person would be the best fit for the role? What type of company culture are you building? Clarify the exact job description and day-to-day tasks for the role because—guess what—you can’t expect someone to just know what they’re supposed to do. If you clarify someone’s job description well before hiring you’re setting yourself up for success. Want to hear more? You know what to do. A resume is only a snapshot of what you need to know So what does the next step look like? This one is easy! Take your job description that's properly laced with your clear expectations and send it out into the world. Let it be known on social media that you’re hiring. Post on sites like Indeed, Monster, or ZipRecruiter. Wait for those resumes to pour in! But realize you’re going to need so much more. Because a resume is an incomplete picture of what you need to know—you’re only seeing what the candidate wants you to see. A large number of people have admitted to lying (or stretching the truth) on their resume. So what do you do to better whittle down the pool of candidates? Create an application that asks the right questions So you’ve got your job description hashed out and the world knows you’re hiring. Now what? Your next very critical step is crafting an application that asks the right questions—to weed out the wrong people. Build non-negotiables into it. Choose questions where you know the answer you’re looking for. If the question is answered incorrectly—or below your standards—immediately discard that resume. This significantly speeds up the process of wading through hundreds of applications. Cover the questions you’d want to ask in a preliminary interview. What companies have they worked for? Does it fit your niche? Can they give you samples of their work? How do they handle project management? For more hiring tips, listen to the rest of the episode now! For some of my hiring secrets, check out my brand new course—Hiring Like a Boss! Resources & People Mentioned Hiring Like a Boss course ZipRecruiter Indeed Monster Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Are you wanting to launch a podcast but have ZERO clue where to start with podcast production? Do you know what your primary focus should be as you’re getting started? Admittedly, when we started our podcast we had no idea what we were doing—we just knew it would be fun. In this episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I chat with Ginni Saraswati of Ginna Media. Ginni is not only a witty and personable award-winning journalist but also runs a podcast production company. She specializes in getting your voice heard and has worked with celebrities and influential organizations worldwide. She knows what it takes to create and market great content—listen to this episode for her top tips. Outline of This Episode [2:20] How to create great content with Ginny Saraswati [5:30] The Secret Sauce to creating great content [11:20] Quality of Content trumps quality of audio [15:45] Set a realistic schedule for episodes [21:20] Why are you doing your podcast? [25:20] Promoting your podcast [30:00] Give people a way to search your podcast content [33:15] How to connect with Ginni Podcast Production begins with being unapologetically yourself The key to great content? According to Ginni, it’s authenticity. Authenticity is the backbone of great content. Maybe you’ve heard it a million times and the word doesn’t hold the same meaning it used to—but it’s important. Podcasting is an intimate space, and people gravitate to podcasters who are unapologetically themselves. Share your message and be true to your means of communicating it. You don’t need to change yourself to get more followers or listeners. This could potentially be a way to lose listeners! Gary V is a great example of someone who is unapologetically himself—with no desire to change—and delivers great content. So Ginni’s #1 tip: Focus on being yourself and delivering quality content. Create a realistic schedule you can adhere to When you’re getting started you need to be realistic of what sort of schedule you can adhere to. From day one of podcast production, you set the bar for what your listeners expect. Will you produce content once a month? Bi-weekly? Every week? Make sure you set a realistic goal you can keep up with. As you’re growing your audience, they begin to expect content from you. Honestly, they incorporate you into their daily lives. Every time you miss your release date you begin to lose credibility in their eyes. Humans are quick to judge and quick to lose trust—so the promises you make mean everything. So deliver what you agree to deliver. Why are you doing a podcast? I’ll admit, Dean and I started this podcast because we thought it would be fun. Dean had never listened to a podcast before. But we know so many amazing people and knew we could create content that would resonate with people. Just the Tips was born with no real intention in mind. We are just now beginning to dive into our ‘why’ and really develop our marketing. Some things you want to consider: Are you trying to build an audience? Are you trying to build brand awareness? Do you want to leverage yourself as a brand expert? Are you concerned with download numbers? Do you want to entertain people or build relationships? What are you hoping to achieve with your podcast? When you narrow down and define your ‘why’ it helps give you a clear direction on how to move forward promoting your show. Promote your podcast by repurposing your content Ginni tells us one of the easiest ways to promote your podcast is by repurposing your content. This can be accomplished in many different ways. She suggests recording video as well as audio—so your content can go on YouTube and be split up into video clips. Another easy way to repurpose content? Transcribe your podcast and make it available as part of your show notes. Source key quotes from the transcript and use them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Take business quotes and use them on LinkedIn. You can take your content and create audiograms. The possibilities are endless! There are so many ways to leverage social media to market your content. What can you implement as part of your podcast production process? Resources & People Mentioned The GaryVee Audio Experience Ginni’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ginnisaraswati Ginni’s Twitter: @theginnishow Ginni’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/theginnishow Ginni’s Instagram: @theginnishow Business Website: http://www.ginnimedia.com Ginni’s Blog: http://www.theginnishow.com Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Creating a successful business in the beauty space can be intimidating. With many powerful brands to contend with, how do you set yourself apart in the niche? Where do you even begin? Our guest star today happens to be none other than Dean’s better-half, Robyn Holland. She’s here to walk us through her greatest challenges and successes—and living proof that a small business can succeed against powerhouse brands. Robyn originally attended beauty school intent on being a makeup artist. She realized that there wasn’t a lot of money in her field of choice and veered into telecommunications sales. After 10 years in sales as a top-performer, she quit and started her own business in the beauty industry, which is now exploding onto the scene. This episode of Just the Tips walks through her winding entrepreneurial journey, so don’t miss it! Outline of This Episode [1:40] Robyn Holland guest stars! [3:50] Where her focus is right now [6:25] Running an e-commerce business in the beauty space [17:00] Lessons she has learned along the way [22:40] Challenges to overcome to scale your business [27:10] Your business will never be problem-free [30:40] Don’t be afraid to change and adapt Push beyond unrealistic expectations When Robyn finally had enough of her poor treatment at her sales job, she decided it was time to move on. Dean, being the husband that he is, encouraged her to consider starting her own business. Because of her experience in the beauty industry it was a natural choice to settle on that niche. So she dove in and began building her business. Everything she originally tried flopped completely. Selling her product on eBay didn’t succeed. Marketing on Facebook was a dud. She even hired models for her product, and their videos never gained traction. But her first paid ad exploded. With over 600,000 views and climbing, it catapulted her sales. But she could never get her continuing ads to reach the same success. Keep listening as we talk about what she was doing wrong, how her expectations needed to change, and what she did. Be the raw and real YOU Dean had helped Robyn build out this amazing studio with a green screen and all of the bells and whistles they could need for shooting ads. He even hired a videographer to help her produce high-quality videos. No matter what she did, the videos never found success. But they learned something important through this process. People want a human connection that is real and raw and lets them see who you are. After years of testing, their highest converting videos were of Robyn sitting at her vanity demonstrating the products—filming on her cell phone. The expensive highly produced ads made customers feel as if they were being sold to. Humans see through the fakeness. They desire connection. As an entrepreneur it is our job to recognize that! Scaling your business quickly Robyn’s product has taken off quickly in the last 6-8 weeks—so much so that they are completely out-of-stock. They’ve currently switched tactics from selling an in-stock product to allowing customers the option to pre-order. Here are a few tips she has to help you scale quickly (and avoid running out of stock): 1. Her product takes a while to produce, package, and ship to their warehouse. She recommends having at least a couple of different production channels so that running out-of-stock never happens. 2. To scale your business, you need to have a customer service and fulfillment team in place that doesn’t consist of just you. Your home can’t be a warehouse and distribution center forever! 3. Build a relationship with your customers. Create content that they’ll love. Offer them something of value that only you and your product can give. Interact with them on social media platforms. While Robyn didn’t predict her spike in sales in the last few weeks, she now has a better idea of how to be prepared. Listen in as we chat about her experience. Just keep moving forward—solve problems as they come Something that entrepreneurs don’t necessarily realize in the beginning is that your business will never be easy. Ideas will fail. Sales vary. Every problem creates a new challenge to overcome. Problems can be a good thing—especially when it’s because your product is selling so well that your stock plummeted overnight. Just keep pushing forward. Don’t be afraid to change and adapt as the market is changing. Robyn learned that you cannot be overly attached to anything, especially if it isn’t working. Sometimes, you will need to rebrand and start over—and that’s okay. Overcome worrying about people will think, ask for help when needed, and keep moving forward. Resources & People Mentioned Trey Lewellen Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Are you aware of the importance that content creation has in digital marketing? Though creating organic content takes time and doesn’t get the instant gratification that ad spend does, it’s one of the best ways to deliver value to your customers. Here to chat with us today about digital marketing is Aaron Agius of Louder.Online. 12 years ago, Aaron was on an extended vacation in Thailand with his girlfriend (now wife). They realized they wanted to be able to travel and work remotely—for life. Neither were happy in the industries they worked in, so they did some research and scouted out options. shortly thereafter, they dove into the world of affiliate and digital marketing. Now they consult for other businesses, helping them reach the same success they found. Outline of This Episode [1:45] I introduce Aaron Agius of Louder.Online [3:45] How Aaron started in the digital marketing world [6:30] SEO and affiliate marketing [8:40] Understanding what people actually want [10:20] How to craft great content [14:50] Insight behind people taking action [17:00] Email marketing is NOT dead! [21:40] Meticulously plan out your content strategy Affiliate marketing is a great starting point Aaron started in the digital marketing world with affiliate marketing (Dean agrees, if you’re just getting started, affiliate marketing is the way to go). After 4 months of hard work and dedication, they made their first sale: a whopping 4 cents. But the next day, they made $400. For years, they traveled the world and continued to do affiliate marketing. Then, people took note of their success and started reaching out, asking them to consult and help scale their businesses. So Aaron and his partner made the shift into consulting for clients around the world. They specialize in content and social marketing—truly embracing search engine optimization (SEO). The great thing about SEO is that if you have ZERO money for marketing, you just need to invest your time and craft great content. How to craft really valuable content The best way to write content that gets readers on your site is to understand what they’re searching for. Put yourself in the mind of your customer. What questions are they asking? What answers are they looking for? You need to provide content that speaks to the problems people are trying to solve. Above all, become consistent at providing value. With this in mind, also remember that you need a clear content strategy. If you’re answering a particular question, decide what the goal of your piece is. Is it cornerstone content that will link to another article? Will there be a call to action in it? OR is the goal to have the reader opt-in to an email subscription? Be clear about your goals while providing the answers people search for. Want more insight into content strategy and getting customers to take action? Keep listening! Email marketing is NOT dead! Email marketing is a channel that gives you one of the highest returns on your investment. Many digital outlets claim that email marketing is a dying strategy—but don’t believe everything you read online. Aaron has access to analytics for all of his clients, so he sees its success on a daily basis. Email marketing ranks even higher than organic search. Aaron notes that while they do not specifically offer the service, they help their clients tie it into their content and guide their approach. Most people who are part of the email subscription database are loyal customers. They read the emails, click on the links and call to actions, and make purchases. Why not take advantage of the valuable tool it is? Content creation remains a core strategy for success In the digital marketing world, we are often asked if there’s anything shiny and new being offered. What is the most popular platform or new toy that can be tested? The simple answer—that people may not want to hear—is that the same things we’ve always done are still working. The same fundamental platforms are still the best route to take. Channels and platforms come and go: providing value to humans will always remain. The conversation always comes back to what are you doing to provide ongoing value to your tribe? Aaron points out that it’s important to meticulously plan out the content strategy for your website. You need to give yourselves a structure and know where things will fit. Want to hear more about content strategy? Listen to the whole episode of Just the Tips now! Resources & People Mentioned Book: Faster, Smarder, Louder by Aaron Agius and Gián Clancey Aaron’s website: Louder.Online Musicfor “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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Many people don’t realize the impact having a company vision will have on the success of the business. A clear vision helps dictate what clients you take on board, influences the company culture, and impacts the morale of your team. If you want to steer your company in the right direction—and have some fun along the way—listen to today’s tips from our guest Chris Yoko. Chris’s Grandma taught him how to use a computer as a child. Throughout the years he learned how to code and how to build websites. Fresh outta high school—after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad—he decided to get his real estate license. He built a website for his business and soon learned he preferred that over Real Estate—and Yoko Co. was born. Outline of This Episode [0:42] What drives your vision of success? [2:10] How Chris Yoko got started in web design [5:00] Getting started building websites [7:00] How an advisory board can influence your vision [14:35] Be intentional about who you work with and why [19:45] The importance of company culture [23:00] Have criteria in place for choosing clients [29:20] Connect with Chris Yoko! How an advisory board can help shape your business Chris started his company because he enjoyed the creativity and flexibility the business allowed. He looked forward to meetings with most of his clients. A few bad apples started to derail company morale and they were dangerously close to shutting down and moving on. So he created an advisory board to help change the direction of the company. And in 2015, they fired about 25% of their clients. Why, you might ask? Because their advisory board asked a couple of simple questions: What do you want to accomplish with your life on a personal level? How can your business reflect that? These simple questions helped Chris and his team form a unified vision for their company that allowed them to forge ahead. In order to do that the right way, they needed to let go of the wrong clients. Allow your company vision to be fluid As you are starting out as an entrepreneur sometimes you just have to take whatever work will bring in a paycheck. It’s not ideal but we all have bills to pay, right? You want your company to grow and continue to flourish—but you don’t want to end up rich and completely and utterly miserable. You must learn that it is okay for your company to shift and change as it grows. After they cut the clients who didn’t align with their ongoing vision, the business performed better. Not only did their business perform better but so did their clients! They were only working with organizations who had a passion and purpose beyond making a profit. This, in turn, impacted their morale and allowed them to personally connect with their projects. Be intentional about WHO you work with and WHY So how did his team make this instrumental shift? With the influence of the advisory board and input from the entire team, they decided to be intentional. They all wanted to invest their time into something that was meaningful. So they set out ground rules for what exactly this meant to them and made sure they were all on the same page. Their goal was to be able to amplify the impact their clients were making. As they onboard new clients they talk about who they are, what their impact is, and what their aspirations are. The clients they work with MUST be working to make a positive impact and be willing to take direction as they’re building their brand. Chris has learned throughout the last ten years in business that learning how to say ‘no’ to the wrong clients can have a positive impact. The Importance of defining your company culture You need to care about the people you’re working with and about cultivating a culture where this is clear. Chris and his partner strive to create a working environment that they would want to be immersed in if they weren’t the ones controlling it. You need to have clear expectations for your team but create an environment where they feel motivated and passionate. Your team needs to know that you trust them implicitly. Much of their team works remotely with the option to come into an office if they choose. In allowing this flexibility, Yoko Co. treats their company like the adults that they are. They are completely trusted to do their jobs. They still have feedback mechanisms in place to keep projects on track and know things are being completed but have cultivated a level of trust. To hear more about Chris’s story and building a vision for his company listen to the entire episode of Just the Tips now! Resources & People Mentioned Yoko Co. Chris Yoko Chris on Twitter Chris on Facebook Chris on LinkedIn Principles by Ray Dalio Built to Scale by Marissa Levin Beartown by Fredrik Backman Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Learning in Action Technologies - Alison Whitmire Tim Ferriss 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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Finding a niche can be one of the most difficult tasks you take on when you’re building a business. If you want to be in a space where you’re competing with billion-dollar companies, how do you set yourself apart? Dean and I talk about the cosmetics business that he and his wife started—and how they found success when they finally zoned in on a particular niche. If you are ready to take your business to the next level this episode of Just the Tips will be right up your alley. Outline of This Episode [2:35] e-commerce lessons in cosmetics, with Dean. [4:22] The story behind their start in cosmetics [9:30] From the ground up: Alibaba and eBay [14:15] How the proper mentorship is a kickstarter [18:00] The importance of choosing a specific niche [25:00] Don’t be afraid to embrace change [26:45] How Facebook advertising catapulted their sales [31:20] Every problem solved creates a new problem to overcome The evolution from internet sales to cosmetics Dean’s wife, Robyn, worked in internet sales and was killing it with her commissions. But as she became more successful her bosses took notice—and ended up funneling away profits she was supposed to get. She would call Dean daily over lunch in tears because of what they were doing to her. He repeatedly encouraged her to quit. One day when she came home he handed her an envelope and told her to hand it to her bosses. He had written her a letter of resignation. She mustered up some courage and the next day handed in that letter. She finished the month out at her company, and that was that. She was free to do whatever she wanted. After a conversation with Dean, she decided to take her experience with cosmetics and build an e-commerce business. Keep listening as we walk through their experience with Alibaba, selling on eBay, and the struggle of a start-up. Trying to compete with a billion-dollar brand? Start by finding a niche. Purchasing a product from Alibaba and selling it on Amazon wasn’t proving to be as successful as they hoped. When they first launched, they were only making 1-2 sales a day—definitely not enough to earn a profit. Robyn joined a mentorship program and began learning the ins and outs of selling a physical product. She built a website, created sales funnels, and began developing unique products. People loved the products and she was getting stellar reviews. But they had only progressed to making a couple thousand dollars a month. They weren’t truly competing with other successful brands and something needed to change. They took a step back and realized their niche was too broad. The business was selling something everyone else sold! So they shifted from being a cosmetics brand to a brand that only sold the greatest product for any skin conditions. As an entrepreneur you have to realize you aren’t just selling a product—your product is the pathway for someone to get their desired result. In their case, they realized they were selling confidence. Overcome discomfort and embrace ‘Ch-ch-changes’ David Bowie anyone? You can’t be afraid to embrace needed changes. They may just be the turning point your brand needs! Robyn was hesitant to stop selling products that were getting good reviews and I don’t blame her. But Dean knew she would find more success narrowing down to a very specific niche. Being comfortable is the biggest reason you aren’t creating something spectacular. You have to be willing to abandon what is working just okay and constantly strive for excellence. There is never a finish line as an entrepreneur—every problem you solve creates a new challenge to overcome. This is the never-ending growth cycle that is business! And you know what? Once they chose their niche, things shifted for the better quickly. This year's success is ALL about the ads Robyn and Dean took her product line and began advertising on Facebook—the only ad medium they’re using right now—and watched product sales skyrocket. They had been averaging 30-50 customers a day and their peak sales day was approximately $600. Now? They’re averaging 200-300 customers a day. They spend $400 daily on advertising and are making a return upwards of $2,500 daily! They can barely keep up with the demand for their product! Robyn is making more in two days then she was during a good sales month at her previous job. They started at the bottom of the barrel but with three years of hard work and challenges to overcome they own a successful e-commerce business. So the thought we want to leave with you today is this: Figure out who you want to sell to and why. Then, find the ultimate solution for them, and find a way to get your product in front of them. Resources & People Mentioned Trey Lewellen Alibaba eBay 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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
Business taxes. Do you feel the same feeling of dread that most people do when they hear those words? Taxes are one of those things most of us find difficult - and the guest we’ve invited to be with us on this episode wants to give us reason to think differently about the issue. He actually believes that a tax return is a thing of beauty, something to be used for assessment and planning. He also believes it's when accompanied by the counsel of a professional who can help you understand what your tax return means. How’s that for a new way of thinking? Join us for this episode, where we speak with Anthony Mauriello, a tax accountant who specializes in business returns, leads a team of 11 people, and processes around 4000 tax returns every tax season. And he loves it. You’ll want to hear this one - Anthony is a guy who is excited about taxes, and he just might get you excited about your taxes too (Dean was). Why do most entrepreneurs get lazy when it comes to their business taxes? We have to admit there’s a stigma about business taxes, a strange way of thinking that convinces us that it’s not fun and that we should avoid dealing with the issue. Anthony says there is lots of psychological baggage - guilt, fear, etc. - associated with money and taxes, but that most of it is inaccurate and none of it has to control the way we handle our finances. Listen to this episode and you’ll be amazed at how Anthony can not only make your taxes sound like something you don’t have to dread, he’s also got a seemingly magical ability to make your business tax return into a thing of beauty that helps you more than it scares you. His advice is golden, so be sure you listen. Why your business tax return is a beautiful piece of art Anthony loves business tax returns because they are like a snapshot, a by-product of what’s happened in the past so you can plan in the present to make a better future. Not only do you want to understand and know your net profit or loss, your tax return will also enable you to pinpoint the categories where mistakes and choices were made that have impacted whether you were profitable or not. Using your tax return, you can chart a course for the future where you don’t have to be afraid of what’s going to happen financially. You and your accountant can co-create a path to a better future (the next year). By assessing your business tax return together, you have the opportunity to be proactive, considerate, and act with integrity to legally minimize your tax liability going forward. That’s something ALL of us want, but can only be accomplished by seeing your tax return as the amazing tool and opportunity that it is. What should a business owner do to be more in touch with her taxes? OK, if you’re convinced that you need to pay more attention to your tax situation, what should you do? Anthony wisely points out that a one-time change to the path of a boat can bring it back on course. He applies that analogy to the reality that you need to be speaking with the people who handle your finances regularly. It doesn’t take much to ensure you know where your financial ship is headed, and if you maintain the discipline of quarterly conversations, the changes you’ll need to make will be minimal. Anthony says that the worst clients he works with (though he loves them all) are those who come in after the year ends looking for ways to minimize their tax liability - and more times than not they receive a huge shock when they learn what they owe. There’s nothing proactive about that - and Anthony loves helping business owners make the changes needed to BE proactive and avoid that sticker shock at the end of the year. What should you ask your accountant to understand your tax situation? It’s not uncommon for CPAs or other accounting professionals to be a bit challenged when it comes to explaining the various approaches to taxes. Anthony says that you should make a point to interview the people helping with your taxes. You want to discover their experience working on taxes related to your industry and take the time to get acquainted on a more personal level. The better you know and trust each other, the better you’ll work together in proactive ways... and the more likely you'll be to get the right people on your team. You can even do this with someone you’ve worked with for a long time. If you tell them that you’re taking a greater interest in your tax situation, they’ll honestly be very glad to help you. As you have those conversations, be sure you understand what the various figures mean and how you can modify your financial habits to minimize your tax liability. Join us for this episode. You’ll not only be amazed at how helpful your business tax return can be, but you'll also be surprised at how giddy with excitement Anthony is about helping you use it to its fullest potential. Outline of This Episode [2:15] Anthony Mauriello - the tax-excited accountant [7:47] The first entrepreneurial venture: a paper route that he carried through college [11:03] Into accounting right out of college, becoming a CPA, then an enrolled agent [15:23] What the average entrepreneur should be thinking when it comes to taxes [24:50] Questions business owners should ask their CPA or Bookkeeper [27:58] How Anthony helped a woman in dire need address her tax issues Resources & People Mentioned Get in touch with Anthony - www.MyTaxFella.com Email Anthony at TheOldSchoolTaxFella@aol.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyTaxFella/ Cy Simms 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/ 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/ Audio Production and Show notes byPODCAST FAST TRACKhttps://www.podcastfasttrack.com
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