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Hosted by cody foster
6 episodes with cody foster
3 episodes with cody foster
2 episodes with cody foster
2 episodes with cody foster
What separates good leaders from great ones? Bestselling author, entrepreneur and leadership expert Dan Martell joins the Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast once again to break down the difference between transactional and transformational leadership — and why mastering the latter is key to scaling your business. Dan, author of “Buy Back Your Time” and mentor to countless entrepreneurs, shares actionable strategies for setting clear outcomes, coaching your team for success and empowering them to solve problems independently through his 1-3-1 Principle framework. If you've struggled with micromanaging or finding the balance between leading and doing, Dan gives you the tools to step into a leadership style that will help you “buy back your time.”
What's the difference between being great and staying great? Eric Thomas, considered by many to be the #1 motivational speaker in the world, joins The Business of Advice with Cody Foster to break down the power of the standard, building a legacy and what it takes to maintain long-term success. Plus, powerful moments on stage from his latest talk. A must-listen for financial professionals and leaders seeking inspiration!
Alex Cody Foster is one of the most successful Ghost Writers in the world. Having penned eight #1 Amazon best sellers, he's one of the most sought-after Ghosts in the field - a reputation that would eventually attract the attention of the highly controversial crypto magnate John McAfee. Alex's travels with Team McAfee would go on to inspire his book 'The Man Who Hacked The World: A Ghostwriter's Descent Into Madness with John McAfee', along with inspiring the Netflix documentary 'Running with the Devil' in which Alex himself would also star. Since then, Alex has continued writing, dancing along illicit lines with the story of Owen Hanson in 'The California Kid: From USC Golden Boy to International Drug Kingpin' along with his investigations into serial killers and murder theories. Recently he's taken a keen interest in one criminal conspiracy - the Smiley Face Murders, a serial killer theory alleging that the drowning of 45 men across the United States are actually the collected works of by a shadowy group of murderous individuals. It all makes for a killer conversation - now if only we had the perfect ghost to punch it up. --- Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 09:54 - Obsessed with the Craft 19:29 - Waking Up in Different Timezones 28:39 - Growing Up in the Woods on the Cape 37:13 - Nearly Expelled from High School 51:57 - Going Homeless to Hitchhike Across the Country 01:18:51 - A Homeless Documentarian on the Streets of L.A. 01:33:49 - How to Shoot a Documentary With No Money 01:47:31 - Meeting My First Serial Killer 02:02:00 - I Remember When I Lost My Mind 02:26:30 - A Memoir in Maine 02:33:43 - Ghost Writing in Bar Harbor 02:44:08 - Finding the Next James Patterson 02:50:14 - Then I Met John McAfee (Thanks to Jimmy Watson) 03:06:33 - Team McAfee Falls Apart 03:17:59 - The Man Who Predicted John McAfee (& Jeffrey Epstein's) Demise 03:25:21 - On Body Language - Detecting Killers with Predatory Intent 03:35:25 - Stepping into the World of Serial Killers 03:57:33 - Regarding the Smiley Face Killers 04:15:05 - Starting WHSK - We Hunt Serial Killers 04:19:01 - Writing the Owen Hanson Story in 'The California Kid --- Support Alex Cody Foster - Get Your Copy of Alex's Books 'The Man Who Hacked The World' & 'The California Kid' at https://shorturl.at/VP38G We Hunt Serial Killers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whskofficial We Hunt Serial Killers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WHSKOfficial Website: https://www.alexfosterghostwriter.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfosterghostwriter --- Sponsors: 120Life Go to https://www.120life.com - that's https://www.120life.com - and remember to use code, “DROP” D-R-O-P to support the show and save 15%! --- BUBS Naturals The BUBS namesake derives from Glen ‘BUB' Doherty, who was heroically killed in Benghazi, Libya in 2012. In addition to remembering Glen for the patriot he is, the BUBS ethos centers around the passionate and adventure seeking life that Glen lived. BUBS Naturals products are rooted in sustainably sourced ingredients and controlled consistency to provide our customers with the highest quality Collagen Protein & MCT Oil Powder that help you feel amazing and live a fuller life. Our mission is simple. FEEL GREAT. DO GOOD. 10% always goes back to charity, helping military men and women transition back into civilian life. Go to https://www.bubsnaturals.com/mike and use code MIKE for 20% off your order. --- TEAM DOG FOOD, TREATS & SUPPLEMENTS https://www.teamdog.shop TEAM DOG ONLINE TRAINING https://www.teamdog.pet SHOP ALL THE MIKE RITLAND BRANDS https://shop.mikeritland.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What can a humble postal carrier teach us about excellence and leadership? When Mark Sanborn moved into his first home, he met Fred Shea, a mailman who stood out by delivering more than just letters. Fred embodied exceptional service, taking a deep interest in the lives of everyone on his route. Inspired by Fred's kindness and commitment, Mark wrote his bestselling book, “The Fred Factor.” Now an internationally celebrated author and keynote speaker, Mark joins us for this episode of the Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast to share how small, thoughtful actions can ignite extraordinary growth in our personal and professional lives.
What happens when a nation finds trust and social skills in short supply? Lt. Col. Scott Mann, a decorated former Green Beret and founder of Rooftop Leadership, rejoins the Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast for a special Veterans Day episode exploring how financial advisors and other organizational and community leaders can lean on authenticity to bridge societal divides and make a meaningful impact.
Of the 10,000-plus public and private schools Scott Donnell's companies have served, not one properly teaches the financial skills tomorrow's generation needs, Scott says. So he's helping parents take those teachings into their own hands — quite literally, through the groundbreaking GravyStack app. An entrepreneur and author of the bestseller “Value Creation Kid: The Healthy Struggles Your Children Need to Succeed,” Scott joins the Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast to share his top three strategies for improving your child's financial knowledge.
When it comes to scaling and selling your business, few individuals are as qualified to provide insight as Matt Brinker, whose leadership helped grow United Capital from $300 million in assets to $25 billion before its 2019 sale to Goldman Sachs. Now a managing partner at Merchant Investment Management, Matt joins the Business of Advice with Cody Foster to discuss his biggest keys to business growth and transition.
Alex Foster describes what it was like working as John McAfee's ghostwriter and what others can expect from working in the business.
After Running with the Devil, ghostwriter Alex Cody Foster explores John McAfee's descent into madness with Foster's latest book, “The Man Who Hacked the World.” As one of the world's most sought after ghostwriters Alex has ghostwritten eight #1 Amazon Bestsellers, wrote for one of the U.K's most successful thriller writers, and worked as John McAfee's ghostwriter for six months, which is profiled in a new Netflix documentary. Foster closely with Gotham Ghostwriters and Reedsy, two of the top ghostwriting agencies in the world. Alex writes from New York City, telling true stories from the heart with an unmatched style and voice. From Amazon.com: Alex Cody Foster is a #1 Amazon bestselling ghostwriter. He's featured in the Netflix documentary, Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, and is the founder of Ghostwriting University, an online course that teaches writers how to become ghosts. He lives in New York City. In this episode, you'll discover: How Alex escaped a life on the streets Why studying masterworks can make you a great writer What to do when assignments become dangerous Links: J. D. Barker - http://jdbarker.com/ J. Thorn - https://theauthorlife.com/ Zach Bohannon - https://zachbohannon.com/ Christine Daigle - https://www.christinedaiglebooks.com/ Alex Cody Foster - https://www.alexfosterghostwriter.com/ The Man Who Hacked the World: A Ghostwriter's Descent into Madness with John McAfee - https://books2read.com/manwhohacked Ghostwriting University - https://www.ghostwritinguniversity.com/ Three Story Method: Writing Scenes - https://books2read.com/threestorymethodws Best of BookTook - https://bestofbooktok.com/ Story Rubric - http://storyrubric.com Nonfic Rubric - http://nonficrubric.com Scene Rubric - http://scenerubric.com Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life - https://kobowritinglife.com/ and Atticus - https://www.atticus.io/ and Ghostwriting University - https://www.ghostwritinguniversity.com/ Music by Nicorus - https://cctrax.com/nicorus/dust-to-dust-ep Voice Over by Rick Ganley - http://www.nhpr.com and recorded at Mill Pond Studio - http://www.millpondstudio.com Audio production by Geoff Emberlyn - http://www.emberletter.com/ Website Design by Word & Pixel - http://wordandpixel.com/ Contact - https://writersinkpodcast.com/contact/ *Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/writersink/support
mike and travis discuss the following topics.... r.i.p. kevin conroy..... eli lilly isn't giving away insulin for free.... assumed facebook identities.... after the break, we talk to ghost writer alex cody foster about his new book "the man who hacked the world" and his 6 months with john mcafee. check out alex's website here. potw: vengeance/gilla band celebrity life pool: al michaels (78/travis) robert duvall (91/mike) james earl jones (91/drunk) well, bye.
This wisdom-packed episode of the Montgomery Companies Podcast finds us spending time with the amazingly generous, humble, and kind Cody Foster. Cody is the co-founder of Advisor's Excel, a fast-growing and influential business dedicated toward helping good financial advisors become great business leaders. Cody also hosts the Business of Advice podcast, and has featured some of the top thought, business, financial, and faith leaders in the country. In this episode we talk about how to maintain a positive, supportive corporate culture, why hiring the right people is crucial, and how to do it well. Cody speaks about his faith, and how he leads for Jesus in a corporate setting. We also discuss the keys to maintaining excellence while delegating. We'll touch on the ever-expanding role of mental health in the workplace, and the importance of checking in on your own - and your team's - mental health. Learn the “how tos” of building a first-class enterprise, and why Cody feels that for leaders, personal development and growth is the most effective way to ensure growth in their business. Finally, Cody leads us through staying grounded while experiencing success, and how to focus on your top priorities while dealing with the demands of everything else. Cody's philosophy is that success isn't promised to any of us, but it is available to all of us, and this podcast episode will help on your way towards finding that success. Cody's goal is to make his town of Topeka, Kansas the greatest place on earth, and he is well on his way. If you want to have that same sort of impact in your town and your circles, this is an episode you won't want to miss! To connect with Cody: Twitter - @CodyGFoster Podcast - The Business of Advice Podcast Website - Advisorsexcel.com
Get inspired! This special edition of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast revisits some of the show's most motivational moments. Hear how Scott Harrison, Rory Vaden, David Nurse and other business and leadership legends overcame their biggest obstacles — and what they learned in those moments of adversity. When this episode is over, you'll be ready to run through brick walls — so check it out!
Alex Cody Foster’s next book, The Man Who Hacked the World: A Ghostwriter’s Descent into Madness with John McAfee, will be published November 15th (2022). In the meantime, the crazy story is told in the Netflix documentary called “Running with the Devil.” He’s ghostwritten eight #1 Amazon Bestsellers, written for one of the U.K's most successful thriller writers, and worked as John McAfee's biographer for six months. Before all that, Alex built a solar-powered trike, hitchhiked across America, was homeless in LA where he was nearly murdered, lost his mind, got it back, crewed on a yacht, and became a writer.Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. “The Mark of a Good Man,” by Bimini Road; Outro: “Smoke Alarm,” by Carsie Blanton.And now for something extra, just for Substack subscribers:If you prefer to watch, click through to the Substack page and you’ll find a video of our conversation (including extra bonus content I edited out of the podcast recording, including a look at his shiner and a reference to an orgy with Mick Jagger). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe
Lt. Col. Scott Mann contends our country's social skills are starting to look less like the U.S. and more like Afghanistan — and, as a decorated former Green Beret, he's more than qualified to make that observation. Hear what the actor, playwright and bestselling author says financial advisors and other business owners can do to reverse course on the tribalism and erosion of trust bubbling up in boardrooms across America in this episode of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast.
Our guest is Cody Foster, co-founder of Advisors Excel, one of the fastest growing and most influential financial services companies in the US today. He's also the host of the Business of Advice Podcast, interviewing thought leaders, captains of industry, and best-selling authors. We talk about building corporate culture, why hiring is crucial, how to maintain excellence while delegating, the power of connection, and much more. Plus, check out the list of 8 Podcasts You Should Know and Subscribe to Today. Make sure to visit H3leadership.com to access the list and all the show notes. Thanks again to our partners for this episode: Convoy of Hope—the trusted partner for delivering food and relief by responding to disasters all around the world. Donate today. Right now, Convoy is helping war victims in Ukraine, providing basic needs like food, hygiene supplies, medical supplies, blankets, bedding, clothing, and more—all through partnering with local churches. To donate, click here and support their incredible work. And, LEADR—a people development software that helps you engage and grow every person on your team, developing leaders at scale with consistent 1:1 meetings, clear goals, and regular feedback. Visit LEADR.com for more info and to request a free demo. Start better caring for and developing your team today at LEADR.com.
My guest today is Cody Foster, the co-founder of Advisors Excel in Topeka, Kan. His company has a mission of helping good financial advisors become great business owners so they can help people enjoy an amazing retirement. Since they were founded in 2005, they've grown from three founders to about 800 employees, making them one of the largest employers in Topeka. They've been named a great place to work for four years. 5:10 – Cody 101 Advisors Excel sits between financial advisors and insurance and investment companies they access products through. Cody dreamed of working with a professional sports team. But in college, his grandma declared bankruptcy on a business. He wanted to learn more about money and financial services. 7:20 – How does Advisors Excel work? It's the simplest business model, but hard to explain. Advisors Excel represents about 50 different insurance companies, like Nationwide, etc. Financial advisors go through Cody's company to work with the insurance companies. 13:53 – Healthy paranoia Cody has a healthy paranoia, knowing that he has to keep growing and developing. As the leader, you have to be the most committed to your personal growth and development. 20:50 – Lessons learned about money If you inherit money but haven't done things to develop as a person, you will struggle. You need to grow into a person who can handle major responsibilities. Cody didn't grow up with a lot of money, so he is able to be content no matter how much money he has. 26:44 – Being generous Financially successful people tend to be more generous. Instead of talking about being generous, show people how to do it. 38:47 – Employees and strangers Cody read a book about Andrew Carnegie, who did not treat his workers well but was very generous with strangers. It blows Cody's mind when bosses treat strangers better than their employees. 50:46 – College visits Cody was struck by how college visits with his son were so different. Some colleges took extra care to make potential students feel special. That can translate to your business. 56:30 – Jones Project Josh Jones was a close friend of Cody's and a key team member. He struggled with mental health issues and took his life last year. On June 1, the Jones Project launched to help more people. 1:03:00 – Get to know you Has he ever been nervous to interview anyone? Yes, President Bush Favorite TV show as a kid? Andy Griffith Show FEATURED QUOTES In my ideal, dream world, nobody would know who I am. I'm actually a lot more of an introvert than an extrovert. I have been able to model generosity in action and inspire other people. I wish we told more stories about the companies and the people that are super generous, because they outweigh those that are not. As the leader, you have to be the most committed to your personal growth and development. The happiest people tend to be the most generous people. CONNECT: https://www.advisorsexcel.com/?rel=Logo https://twitter.com/codygfoster Thank you to our partners of the show! Are you looking to clean up your household cleaning products this year? MamaSuds would like to help! The best way is to simply start with one product. Every time you run out of a specific cleaning product, replace it with a non-toxic one. Another tip, purchase a product that has multiple uses. The MamaSuds Collection has many multiple use products (castile soap or the toilet bombs are just a few!). Their blog has lots of great tips and a castile soap recipe that you can print and make a lot of your own effective cleaners! Give them a try at www.mamasuds.com and don't forget to use the coupon code MOLLY for 15% off your order! I'd like to thank our other partner of the show and that's Tradlands. Tradlands is an INCREDIBLE sustainable fashion brand that believes in clothing that you can live in NOW and love forever. Clothing that not only makes you feel like your best self, but also fits in a way that flatters. Their gorgeous dresses, pants, tops, and more are designed to move with you throughout your busy days. Their Nico dress is my dress in a love language —not only does it have sleeves, but also POCKETS and you know how I feel about dresses with pockets. I love how comfortable and stylish each piece - and they come in colors like classic neutrals or vibrant hues. One of the things I love most about Tradlands is their focus on sustainability and creating small batch clothing that lasts… they never over produce what they make and focus on only the highest quality materials. And you know how much I love supporting small businesses, too. Check them out at https://tradlands.com/businesswithpurpose and use the code MOLLY20 for 20% off!
Engage hearts, not hands. Grow your people, and your business will grow naturally. Avoid “Insider-itis.” Take a “vision inventory.” These are just a few of the gems that author and entrepreneur Jeff Henderson shares on The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast for financial advisors and leaders from all walks.
As host of The Impact Driven Leader Podcast, Tyler Dickerhoof has interviewed dozens of the world's authorities on leadership, entrepreneurship and making a difference. His latest episode with Cody Foster — co-founder of Advisors Excel and host of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast — checks off all three of those boxes. Be sure to catch this special crossover episode to learn more about the man behind the microphone!
Three powerful words helped Scott Harrison reimagine the charitable experience: “You did this.” By delivering that message to donors, along with tangible proof of the impact of their generosity, he's helped scale charity: water to $700 million raised in just 16 years. Hear what business lessons the groundbreaking nonprofit's founder and CEO says he's learned in that philanthropic journey on this episode of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast.
As president and lead visionary of Catalyst, Brad Lomenick helped craft thousands of young leaders. At the same time, though, the pressures of scaling that organization caused his own leadership to become so toxic that his closest allies gave him a dubious alter ego: “Darb.” Hear how the author, entrepreneur and sought-after business consultant pulled himself out of that dysfunctional place to reach even higher highs on this episode of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast.
How do great leaders improve and develop the environments they work in? Why do healthy leaders multiply success? Can you dedicate time to connecting with the people that inspire you? Cody is a co-founder of Advisors Excel and he leads an organization of over 700 employees who manage many millions of dollars of assets. Regardless of his success, Cody is easily one of the most humble, likeable, and approachable people I have had the pleasure of meeting. In this episode, Cody shares what's important to him as a leader; having the desire and heart to grow. Thanks for listening! I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram @impactdrivenleader SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: Click here Join the Impact Driven Leadership Community Sign up for The Impact Driven Leader Book Club WEBSITE: www.impactdrivenleaderpodcast.com
One of the most sought-after business minds in North America, Cameron Herold has helped build multiple $300 million-plus companies. It may be surprising, then, to learn money wasn't the main motivator behind his entrepreneurship success story. Hear what the bestselling author and growth guru says financial advisors and other businesspeople should be prioritizing (and how to get there) on this episode of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast.
The power of your personal story can be a huge differentiator in business, and nobody teaches the strategy behind this better than Bo Eason. Check out this episode of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster to hear a storytelling titan reveal the techniques financial advisors and businessowners can utilize to better connect with clients and their best prospects.
From humble beginnings inside a one-bedroom apartment in Harlem to a national platform on Fox Business, Charles Payne has followed this rule: Learn something new every day. The author, financial journalist and self-described student of the market joins The Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast to explain why, no matter what heights they reach in their career, financial advisors and other businessowners owe it to their clients to maintain a curious spirit.
One of the biggest obstacles keeping business leaders and financial advisors from scaling their firms? Micromanaging. Learn how delegation can be a key driver of growth in best-selling author, powerhouse pastor and leadership guru Andy Stanley's appearance on The Business of Advice with Cody Foster.
On this episode Cody Foster and I talk about how to safely overland by planning properly, knowing what recovery, medical, and communication gear you need to get yourself out of pickle. Cody also talks about lowering air pressure in your tires and basic survival skills everyone needs to know before venturing out by themselves. So whether you're an advanced overlander or just beginning, there's something for everyone to learn. You can find Cody and Xpedition America on his https://www.xpeditionacademy.com/ (website), https://www.facebook.com/Xpedition-America-240055999892624/ (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/xpeditionamerica/ (Instagram), and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4EfSmpTr_EPvwiKKRMOQg (YouTube) channel. Don't forget to check out and subscribe to STO Nation's https://www.stonation.life/ (website), https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4SgWAjtiCl1UoJjWqMM-TA (YouTube )channel, https://www.instagram.com/stonation.life/ (Instagram), and help contribute to our https://www.patreon.com/sto_nation (Patreon page) or you can buy us a https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stonation (beer)! A special thanks to our sponsors: https://voltapowersystems.com/ (Volta Power Systems) https://www.freedomvango.com/ (Freedom VanGo) https://owlvans.com/ (Owl Vans) https://kermavans.com/ (Kerma Vans) https://www.lamesarv.com/ (La Mesa RV) https://canyonadventurevans.com/ (Canyon Adventure Vans) STO Nation Production Credits: Audio Engineer: Stephen Grasso Marketing Director: Guillaume Golsong Original Music and Artist: Jason Walsmith and The Nadas Sound Designer: Lorenzo Interiano Web Designer Extraordinaire: Peng Shi
Referrals are great, but does your business go the extra mile to ensure your clients are passionate in their advocacy for you? A Hall of Fame speaker, bestselling author and renowned business coach, Scott is the foremost expert in providing the ultimate customer experience, a strategy he delves into on this episode of Business of Advice with Cody Foster.
Leaders across all businesses often face the same problem: There simply aren't enough hours in the week. But an unlimited resource, says world-renowned speaker and bestselling author Verne Harnish, is energy — and it's one that can truly trickle down into workplace culture. Hear Verne, Greg Brenneman, John Maxwell, Michael Hyatt, Inky Johnson and Darren Hardy share their wisdom on how financial professionals can boost office morale in this special episode of Business of Advice with Cody Foster.
One of the most effective forms of advertising right now comes in the form of third-party validation. Is your business going the extra mile to secure the five-star review? Phillip Stutts, founder of Win BIG Media and author of “The Undefeated Marketing System,” outlines this data-driven marketing technique that could prove a game-changer for your company in this special episode of Business of Advice with Cody Foster. Other guests on this “Best of” episode include Ben Newman, David Bach, Keith Cunningham, Geoff Woods, Michael Hyatt and Rory Vaden.
To truly connect with someone, the first step is to identify some common ground, says John Maxwell, author of “Leadershift” and one of the world's most outstanding leader-developers. Are you finding ways to connect with the members of your team? Tune into this “Best of” episode of Business of Advice with Cody Foster, which features leadership insight from John, Darren Hardy, Keith Cunningham, Michael Hyatt and Greg Brenneman.
A college education wasn't in the cards for Marc Sparks, the youngest of five kids raised by a single mom. But even from that young age, the soon-to-be business world behemoth exhibited an extraordinary knack for perseverance. Check out this edition of Business of Advice with Cody Foster to learn how Marc rose from those humble beginnings to become “the entrepreneurs' entrepreneur.”
We're all shaped by unique experiences. That explains why there are so many different thoughts about money and investing — why something that makes perfect sense to one person can be considered crazy by another. Listen to insights from Collaborative Fund partner and behavioral finance expert Morgan Housel in "The Business of Advice with Cody Foster", a podcast for financial advisors.
Breakthroughs sometimes seem like happy accidents. They're not! David Nurse, life coach, NBA coach and author of both “Pivot & Go” and “Breakthrough,” shares his formula for creating consistent breakthroughs in this episode of The Business of Advice with Cody Foster.
As a business leader, your first instinct may be to help everyone but yourself. Truth is, though, your company can only be as healthy as you are. Trusted life coach, speaker and author and founder of Build a Better Us, BJ explains why self-care is essential to scaling in this episode of Business of Advice with Cody Foster.
The Knobs get to spend some time with one of our own Grand Poohbah supporters Cody Foster. Cody is a guitar gear nut and a massive supporter of the guitar community. He also plays in a Cincinnati-based band called Armadeus and hosts That Vinyl Show Podcast. Enjoy the show! Hosted by Todd Novak with Jared Brandon and Tony Dudzik Guitar, electric guitar, guitar pedal, pedal effects, pedal fx, guitar amplifier, humbucker, single coil, P90, guitar pickups, guitar setup, fuzz, overdrive, delay, reverb, distortion, guitar player, guitarist, guitar tips, guitar repair, vintage guitar, guitar amp speakers, guitar cabinet, combo amp, guitar amp Visit us at theguitarknobs.com Support our show on Patreon.com/theguitarknobs
Cody Foster joins Phillip on this unique and super interesting episode of The Undefeated Marketing Podcast. Who is Cody Foster? He's co-founder of Advisors Excel (a financial marketing organization responsible for helping 500 advisors do $8.2 billion in annuity, medicare, and life insurance production in 2020) and host of “The Business of Advice” podcast... The post The Best Value Propositions and the Top Marketing Tips to Grow Your Business with Cody Foster appeared first on Phillip Stutts.
Cody Foster joins Phillip on this unique and super interesting episode of The Undefeated Marketing Podcast. Who is Cody Foster? He's co-founder of Advisors Excel (a financial marketing organization responsible for helping 500 advisors do $8.2 billion in annuity, medicare, and life insurance production in 2020) and host of “The Business of Advice” podcast... The post The Best Value Propositions and the Top Marketing Tips to Grow Your Business with Cody Foster appeared first on Phillip Stutts.
Cody Foster: Why Does Reconciliation Matter to Sports? by Browncroft Community Church
What You Will Learn: How Cody's career led him to become a financial advisor and co-founding a business, and what early challenges he faced, and lessons he learned as an entrepreneur How Cody and his teamwork to help small business owners who “happen to be financial advisors” Why the biggest challenge Cody faced as an entrepreneur was learning to let go of responsibility and develop his delegation skills How the process of learning to delegate worked for Cody, and why it's crucial to make sure that the person you're delegating to is able to do the job the way you want it done Why delegating responsibility also means offering accountability, and why Cody had to learn to clearly define expectations How Cody learned to work in the business less and to work on the business through strategic planning and looking to the future Why Cody attributes the growth and success of Advisors Excel to hiring great people and investing in their growth How the leader that manages all of Advisors Excel's digital marketing efforts started with the company as an intern, and why promoting from within has proven a winning strategy Why overhiring for a position is an unexpected pitfall, and why it's crucial that your new hires fit with your company's Culture Why it's usually obvious within a short time if someone isn't a great Culture fit for your organization, and why you need to address it quickly About Cody Foster Cody Foster is one of the co-founders of Advisors Excel. In 2004, after leaving a corporate job to partner with David Callanan to be independent financial advisors, he realized the support system for independent advisors was dramatically insufficient. So, in 2005, along with third partner Derek Thompson, they formed Advisors Excel with a goal of building a world-class support structure for independent financial advisors across the country. Today they have over 650 employees and are responsible for generating over $7 billion in annual sales. Their success in achieving this has led to their story being featured in Success Magazine, Darren Hardy's book “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster” and Tony Robbins' #1 New York Times bestselling book, “Money, Master the Game.” Cody graduated from Washburn University in 1999 and has made Topeka his home ever since. He is a big believer in the future of the capital city of Kansas – having served as the Chairman of the Greater Topeka Partnership and a leading investor and developer in quality of life initiatives including The Cyrus Hotel, The Pennant, and Iron Rail Brewing. As much as he enjoys business, his real love is family. Cody, and his wife Jennifer, a Topeka native and fellow Washburn graduate, have been married since 2001 and have two children, Dylan and Ella. Resources: Website: www.advisorsexcel.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cody-foster-9013637 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/advisors-excel/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/advisorsexcel/ Twitter: @AdvisorsExcel1 Additional Resources: Elite Business Health Assessment: https://growwithelite.com/health Email: info@GrowWithElite.com Website: https://growwithelite.com/
When Cody Foster was a junior in college, his mom called one morning and told him that his grandma was losing her café, and that she was going to declare bankruptcy. She was 64 years old, divorced, and was about to lose her sole source of income for the last three decades. This sent Cody on a quest to better understand money, which then led him to found Advisors Excel in Topeka, Kansas. Advisors Excel has grown from three founders to over 650 employees since 2005, working tirelessly to help the best financial advisors get even better. He is also the founder of AIM Strategies, where he uses his passion and knowledge for real estate and development to help others grow their businesses. Today, Cody joins the podcast to talk about how he first became interested in learning about money, how his mission is to make sure that what happened to his grandmother never happens to anybody that he cares about again, and the power of creating lasting success in people’s lives. Overcomer Playlist Recommendation Lecrae - Fear Pearls of Wisdom Be very aware and thoughtful about what you’re putting into your mind. Always pay yourself first. Automate and start saving money, as life inevitably gets tougher when you don’t. Live debt-free as much as you can. Show Notes To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/39 Get The Book! She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women Connect with Arwen Becker Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter Rate & Review If you enjoyed today’s episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device. You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!
Join a discussion led by Jeff Miller as Cody Foster, Manny Maldonado and Aaron Mann share their approaches to FCA Internships and provide guidance on how to get started!
Good Morning…I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host for Onward Nation. One of the things that I love most about my role at Predictive — is that every single day — I have an opportunity to talk with, work alongside with, and teach and share with business owners just like you. They might own a marketing or advertising agency as I do, or they might be a rockin’ awesome business coach, or maybe the owners of a consultancy — and they too love being in the trenches being helpful…sharing the best of what they’ve got with their audience…and as a result…they’ve started to — or have already — built a nation of true fans. All of the what, why’s, and how to’s for build a nation of true fans is what we’re going to focus on in today’s solocast. I’ll map it out in full transparency — and as always — please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I’m happy to help. As you’ll hear in a few minutes — your first step in building your nation of true fans has nothing to do with the actual content delivery platform — channel — or the type of cornerstone content you create — but has everything to do with the value and helpfulness of what you will be creating, sharing, and delivering to your audience, because your nation of true fans will be built on a foundation of valuable, super helpful content that your audience can use to be better at their jobs everyday. Your nation of true fans will know your heart and that your intention is to help them grow, to learn, and to be better. It never feels like a transactional relationship. They don’t feel like you’re trying to monetize them. Do they spend money on your services and what your team provides — yes — your true fans do. And the rest of your audience are there just for the golden nuggets — and that’s 100 percent okay. So let’s begin walking down this path — you and I are going to take a look at strategy and tactics for how you can build a nation of true fans from the cornerstone content you are creating on a consistent basis. The way you win long-term is by creating content that develops and nurtures long-term relationships with your audience. These relationships are what Wired Magazine founder Kevin Kelly calls “True Fans.” And in my opinion — true fans represent your ROI Scorecard’s ultimate vital metric. To paraphrase Kelly — any business owner can create a solid revenue stream around a community of approximately 1,000 people when they are “True Fans” of what the company sells and when there is a connection between the company and its fans based on the value provided. In this solocast — I will illustrate how a consistent effort toward creating consistent cornerstone content can create a nation of true fans for your business, too. Your nation of true fans will be fans of you, fans of your point of view, and fans of the helpful content you create and share. Your fans will support you because of the sacred bond you have built with them and because you consistently delivered massive value through your content. Okay — now let’s get dialed in on building your nation of true fans: a sense of community, collaboration, and profitability around your business. And could there be a more critical time than right now to do this for your business, Onward Nation? If you get this right — it will be a super helpful strategy to not only help you come roaring out the other side of this recession — but — this strategy will help you future proof your business for years to come. Let’s begin by breaking the phrase “Build a nation of true fans” into its three core ingredients. The first is “build”, the second is “nation”, and the third is “true fans.” Ingredient #1: Build…as in your platform. How would you begin to “build” a nation of true fans? You’d begin with selecting the form of cornerstone content where you intend to share your insights and wisdom with your audience — or eventual audience. Whether that’s a… Podcast Speaking Blog Video series Research project Writing a book Or something else The platform you choose is irrelevant from a tech perspective. Any or all of the above can help you build a nation of true fans. The tech behind it all is relatively easy. Is there a learning curve? Sure. Will you feel at times like you are trying to fly the space shuttle with so many knobs and buttons to push? Sure. How does Facebook Live work? What time of day should I create a story on Instagram? What kind of camera and mic are best if I want to be a serious YouTuber? All of these are tech questions — and within an afternoon with your best friend Google — you can solve those problems and find the answers as long as you don’t let the fear of the unknown become paralyzing to you. So let’s shift our focus away from the tech — and instead — focus on the value you will be providing through those channels? What’s your story? How will you serve your audience? How will you make what you are doing so valuable to their business or life, that they actually consider you to be indispensable? How will you become so consistent in the help, advice, recommendations, and over value that you are providing on a consistent basis — that you BUILD deposits in their emotional bank account? They begin to trust you — they begin to like you — and then because of them liking you and trusting you…they move even closer to you by truly KNOWING you. So, your first step in building your nation of true fans has nothing to do with the actual content delivery platform and has everything to do with the value of what you will be delivering — because your nation of true fans is built on VALUE. And if you get that right — the actual platform — or your conduit through which you share your value — will fall into place — and it will feel less stressful because the value you were called — put on this Earth to deliver — will then be in the driver’s seat. You, Onward Nation — will become unstoppable. Will there be profit to be made for your business because you built a nation of true fans? Of course. To date — Onward Nation has helped Predictive ROI generate over $4 million in revenue and we feel blessed and honored about that result outcome. And we believe that this result outcome was made possible because we never placed ourselves first. Ever. Now let’s shift our attention toward Ingredient #2: “Nation.” And I want to make sure we address this because we live in a world where bigger lists, bigger subscribers, massive downloads, huge customer lists, etc. etc. etc. is what attracts headlines and massive attention. You don’t need an email list of 100,000 people. You don’t need to have a podcast that gets a million downloads a month. You don’t need to have a customer list with 20,000 prospects on it. Nope. You don’t. That’s not your Nation. What you need — realistically — depending on the size of your business is somewhere between 100 to 1,000 high-qualified prospects. That’s it…100 to 1,000 of the very best prospects who precisely match your client avatar — in fact — your knowledge with some of these people is so deep that you can boldly claim them as your Dream 25 prospects. If you need a refresher on why your Dream 25 matters — go back to Episode 308 of Onward Nation — and I map it all out — how to figure out who your Dream 25 is — and — how to romance your Dream 25 so they understand how important they are to you. To take this point deeper — I want to share a very tangible example of a company that grew from zero to become a multi-billion a year company — yes — billion — with a capital B. My mentor, Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine…decided to interview my friend Cody Foster, co-founder of Advisors Excel and to share the interview on the SUCCESS CD that rides along with the magazine. During the interview with Darren, Cody shared several personal stories of very humble beginnings — and how those stories — helped shaped the kind of company Advisors Excel has become. A company packed full — wall to wall — of incredible people — a team whose sole focus is to deliver more and more value every day to the financial advisors around the country they are there to serve. And Advisors Excel team does it masterfully well. They have BUILT their platform — a platform that is indeed built on a solid foundation of value. But…did they build this platform by trying to serve the 60,000 financial advisors located in the state of Florida alone? No. How about all of the financial advisors up and down the west coast? Nope. Did they focus on spending large amounts of advertising dollars trying to reach everyone they could with their message of value, value, value? Not at all. Instead…they meticulously selected 1,000 of the very best financial advisors who they wanted to earn the opportunity to serve. Yes, Onward Nation, Cody shared with Darren that they built a list of 1,000 financial advisors — just 1,000 — and then they went to work to deliver more value than another other insurance marketing organization in the industry to the 1,000 advisors they wanted to work with. The 1,000 advisors became their Nation…and advisors outside of the Nation didn’t exist. Advisors Excel was solely focused on being the best they could be for this small group of prospects. So what was the result outcome? Well, in year 8 of the business…they reached over $8 billion in revenue. $8 billion, Onward Nation. When they are the right prospects — you don’t need 10,000…you actually only need a small number to make your business amazingly successful and profitable. 1,000 people — who you can love on — who you can support — who you can add value to — who then in turn are excited to do for you some of what you already shared with them. Okay — now let’s move to Ingredient #3 — True Fans We’ll begin by taking the number 1,000 — deeper — because it is a magical number and a vital priority for your business. According to Kevin Kelly, if a business created a base of customers who were more like fans — 1,000 True Fans — then that business could become sustainable and profitable by simply focusing on the needs of its true fans. And if you visit the Show Notes for today’s solocast…you will find a link to Kevin Kelly’s blog post as well as the long tail curve he created to illustrate the 1,000 true fans strategy. Kelly describes “True Fans” as customers who will help you mobilize and move your business onward to that next level. They are true fans of you — true fans of your message — true fans of your business. They will support you because of the sacred bond you have built with them. A bond that was built upon — and continues to be built upon — the foundation of the value you create, you deliver, and the value you share with them on a consistent basis. Whether you do that every day — every week — no matter what the schedule — no matter what the rhythm — the fact that you are consistent is what is important. According to Kevin, “A True Fan” is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to visit your location. They will buy the super deluxe version of your product even though they already own the standard version, too. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They have bookmarked your website. They come to your product announcements — or — ribbon cutting ceremonies for a new office location. They come to your book signings and ask for you to sign their copy. They cannot wait for your next webinar — your next podcast episode — your next event — your next release of whatever. And the best way to increase sales for your company is to connect with your True Fans directly…so you need to have a platform built on value…see? We keep coming back to that foundational truth. Onward Nation, 1,000 true fans is a very reasonable number. As Kevin explains in his brilliant blog post… “if you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating.” The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. And you do that through building your platform — delivering value — and making sure you are using the right conduit so it reaches your 1,000 true fans on a consistent basis. Again…it doesn’t matter if you use a podcast, blog, write a book, video series, or some other form of cornerstone content. What’s important to identify is not the form of content where you’re most comfortable — but — the platform your fans use the most. What’s the best conduit to them? For me — it’s this podcast, the books I write, the annual research we do, the webinars where I can teach longer form, and the videos we share every Sunday. But there is also another piece to True Fans…and that are the concentric circles of “Lesser Fans.” This segment of your audience will not purchase everything you produce, and may not seek out direct contact, but they will buy much of what you produce. The processes you develop to feed your True Fans will also nurture Lesser Fans. As you build your nation of True Fans, you will also add many more Lesser Fans. And as you are building…don’t avoid…don’t miss the opportunity to go deep…to develop intimacy with your audience…with your true fans. Onward Nation…that’s one of the reasons I ask for feedback so often. My team and I legitimately want to get better — but — I also want to hear from you — to get to know you — to learn from you — and to deliver even more value so Onward Nation becomes — and hopefully remains — your most favorite podcast. Okay…you now have a tangible recipe for building your own nation of true fans — and when you do — your nation will become this amazing, awesome, wonderful, beautiful, incredible community of people who are generous with their feedback and help guide your business in the right direction to deliver value. Consider Kevin Kelly’s lesson as you build out your cornerstone content. Ask yourself how you can continually add more and more value like Cody Foster and his team at Advisors Excel. Because when you build your nation — and focus on being helpful not transactions — your business, your team, and your life move onward to a completely new level. So with that…I want to say thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It’s always an honor to have you here. I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. That’s how we get better. Remember — now’s the time to double down — all of the data is on your side. Until next week — onward with gusto!
What's better then 1 superhero movie? How about 5,000 superhero movies! Well, sure, but we're nowhere near that, so you're going to have to settle for 20. 20 Marvel Movies. Tyler, Andrew, and their friend Cody talk all things Marvel, and then give you the recipes for two IPAs.Quick shout out to The Other Half Brewing Company, who inspired one of the beers in this episode as they released their recipe for other breweries to help fight COVID. Check them out: https://otherhalfbrewing.com/One-Eye-PA(90 min mash, 90 min boil)Grain:13.5lb US Two-Row6oz American Crystal Malt8oz Crystal 40Hops:1oz Magnum (90 mins)1oz Chinook (90 mins)1oz Columbus (15 mins)1oz Centennial (5 mins)Adjunct1 tsp Irish Moss (15 mins)Yeast: California AleAll In This Together IPA(60 min mash & 60 mins boil)10.5lb 2-Row1.5lb Flaked Oats0.5lb CarapilsHops:1oz Columbus (60 mins)2oz Mosaic (whirlpool)1oz Cascade (whirlpool)2oz Simcoe (dry hop)2oz Loral (dry hop)2oz Cascade (dry hop)4oz Mosaic (dry hop)adjunct: 1tsp Irish Moss (15 mins)Yeast:California AleMusic:Happy Strummin by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Artist: http://audionautix.com/ Christie TeknoAxe http://www.teknoaxe.com, and/or the webpage on http://www.teknoaxe.com
Coach P's Perspective | Where Coaching, Inspiration, and Faith Collide.
In this episode, Coach P has a conversation with businessman extraordinaire, Cody Foster, about starting a business, building up a city, being a family man, and sticking to priorities. Cody Foster is the Founder of Advisors Excel in Topeka, KS, and has built one of the most successful businesses in America. He is also a man of great Faith and takes philanthropy to the next level. To learn more about Cody and his work, check out the links below: https://www.advisorsexcel.com/ https://aimstrategiesllc.com/ http://www.aim5.org/ *** If you enjoy Coach P's Perspective Podcast, please consider doing a few things: Subscribe and then give it a 5-star rating on iTunes. Write an awesome review of what you love about the show. Please share the episode on your social media pages. Thank You and much love! *** Be sure to connect with Coach P on Social Media for more inspirational messages and coaching: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachchadparks/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachchadparks/ *** Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please e-mail Coach Chad Parks at coachchadparks@gmail.com *** Intro music by Gerald Gray, aka Twish Foaves. You can follow Twish Foaves at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twishfoaves/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristStillLives Music: https://www.reverbnation.com/twishfoaves https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ihETkx53RJujUl0nXg3gh?si=fgst7mo0TVyHZdETIoTk4g *** Check out the Lane Frost Brand at: https://lanefrost.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lanefrostbrand/ https://www.facebook.com/lanefrost89/ *** Coach P's favorite nutritional products: https://shop.teamxnd.com/coachchadparks/Home
I hope you enjoyed listening to this. Follow the channels and enjoy the content Instagram and Youtube Anton Poplett Website www.4x4outfar.com youtube.com/c/AntonPoplett Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/4x4outfar/message
Cody Foster is one of the Founders of Advisors Excel. In 2004, after leaving a corporate job to partner with David Callanan to be independent financial advisors, they realized the support system for independent advisors was dramatically insufficient. So, in 2005, along with Derek Thompson, they formed Advisors Excel with a goal of building a world class support structure for independent financial advisors across the country. Today they have over 500 employees and are responsible for over $7 Billion in annual sales. Their success in achieving this has led to their story being featured in Success Magazine, Darren Hardy's book “The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster” and Tony Robbins' #1 New York Times bestselling book, “Money, Master the Game.” Cody graduated from Washburn University in 1999 and has made Topeka his home ever since. He is a big believer in the future of the Capital City of Kansas, and has been a lead investor and developer in quality of life initiatives including The Cyrus Hotel, The Pennant, and Iron Rail Brewing. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Greater Topeka Partnership and was one of the five founding investors in Top Tank Topeka, a unique entrepreneur challenge patterned after the successful TV show, Shark Tank. As much as he enjoys business, his real love is family. Cody and his wife Jennifer, a Topeka native and fellow Washburn graduate, have been married for 16 years and have two children, Dylan and Ella. What you'll learn about in this episode: Cody talks about 2019 being his best year professionally and his most challenging year personally, the challenges this presented, and how his team responded How he and his partner intentionally developed their team to be able to carry-on if something were to happen to them Why it is so significant to prioritize our health Why it is important to figure out what is most important to you and then invest the most in it How to be conscious of not taking time for granted 70% of AE's workforce consists of millennials and Cody explains why he embraces this and how they let their people know that they are valued, that the work they do is important and that he and his partner are committed to their long-term growth. How they have grown from just over 47 employees on January 1, 2010 to 651 on January 1, 2020 and why Cody feels like they are now finally ready to realize the massive success they are capable of The rewards of their organization putting in over 7,000 hours of community service in Topeka and the rewards that brings each team member personally and professionally How consistency doesn't mean that their vision doesn't evolve, but that they stay true in the process to the core values and convictions that they built the company around Ways to contact Cody: Website: www.advisorsexcel.com Twitter: @codygfoster
The Knobs face The Jerks. No, It's not a Broadway Musical its a podcast! We interview Brian and Kyle of The Tone Jerks Podcast for some great gear talk and fun times. This show is dedicated to our Partreon supporter and Executive Producer Cody Foster Hosted by Todd Novak with Jared Brandon and Tony Dudzik Visit our website Connect with us and view our blog Visit our Instagram feed: @guitarknobs Join the conversation on our Facebook
In the last 26 years, Ed Molitor has developed his leadership skills in both athletics and business. From working as an NCAA Basketball coach at Texas A&M to becoming the Vice President of a national recruiting firm, Ed has taught countless athletes, coaches, and business leaders how to THINK, ACT, and EXECUTE at an elite level. Ed has a unique set of skills to deliver leaders across the country a purposeful, positive, energetic, and refreshing experience to unlock their true potential. In 2016, Ed launched his company, The Molitor Group, in order to reach and add value to a larger sphere of ambitious individuals and help them achieve their goals every day. Through The Molitor Group, Ed has guided all types of leaders to achieve success. From entrepreneurs and executives to teams and companies, The Molitor Group specializes in empowering individuals and groups to achieve at the next level. Through Leadership Performance training, coaching, and speaking, Ed's goal is to supply people and organizations with the necessary tools to move forward from where they are now to where they want to be. What you'll learn about in this episode: What benefits your business and your team can experience from having a strong sense of family in your team culture Why it is important as a leader to serve the people around you and to demonstrate that you are fully committed to your team Why a sense of family extends beyond a work relationship and can survive beyond people joining and leaving an organization What important steps you can take to create a family atmosphere and culture within your own organization What “collective awareness” means, why it's important for leadership teams, and how to facilitate a collective awareness in your own team Why the books “Trillion Dollar Coach” and “It's My Company Too!” are great, must-read resources for helping you build a family culture in your organization Ed shares several examples of how companies turned a commitment to causes and charitable volunteering initiatives into a strong sense of family Why tracking each other's lives, milestones, and significant events and taking time to recognize those important moments is a powerful step toward creating a family What positive changes will happen within an organization as the team moves closer to becoming a family Additional Resources: Email: ed@themolitorgroup.com Website: www.themolitorgroup.com Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle: https://amzn.to/2MLmVP6 It's My Company Too! by Kenneth R. Thompson, Ramon L. Benedetto, Thomas J. Walter & Molly Meyer: https://amzn.to/32P3Jpc The Athletics of Business episode 15 “Lessons From the Titans of Sport”, with Don Yaeger: https://theathleticsofbusiness.com/podcasts/don-yaeger/ The Athletics of Business episode 5 “Four Principles of Success”, with Cody Foster: https://theathleticsofbusiness.com/podcasts/cody-foster/
MAWP Tacoma presents MAWPCAST 1 Radio Program, Episode 39: They Live Hosted by Potter, Sound Man Chris & Ashlee Marie With special guest, Cody Foster for a minute. This week we discuss... Red "Licorice" dreams... Radio DJs... Laced weed... Buck Rogers in the 25th Century... Homelessness... Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift... Cover songs... Queen... Journey... Van Halen... The Grateful Dead.... Laced weed (part 2)... This show features these songs by the following bands: "Hard Times" Seaweed, Actions and Indications (Bandcamp) "Zero" Shannon Curtis, Revolutionary Acts of Optimism (Bandcamp) "It's You Alone" The (Fabulous) Wailers (Website) "Lucid Dream" Big John, The Author "Guillotine" Infinite Flux, Infinite Flux (Bandcamp) "C'Mon Let's Die" Psycho 78 (Bandcamp) "My Projector" Kirsten Wenlock (Bandcamp) "Psychic Sister" Thunders of Wrath, Thunders of Wrath (Facebook) "Eu De Toilette" Gold Sweats, Extended Player (Bandcamp) "Bright Light" Amina Yaqar, Not Your Average Soul (Bandcamp) "The Curse of Science" City of Spectres, The Curse of Science EP (Bandcamp) "Party Bus" Not From Brooklyn, Tuesday is the New Wednesday (Bandcamp) "The Witch" Lucky Me, Glue (French Walker) "Hand of Nothing" J. Martin (Bandcamp) "Post Shithole World" Giant Pacific Apparition, Demo Damp (Bandcamp) "Bridge to Nowhere" Offtrak (ReverbNation) "Get Away" Devil On a Leash (Facebook) "I Don't Mind" Goodbye Harry, I Can Smoke "Sunshine in Tacoma" Barleywine Review (Bandcamp) "Monster (DSK featuring Lektor)" Lektor, Collaborations and etc... (Bandcamp) "Whitestone" The Wizards Sleeve (Facebook) "Your Mistake" Crooks to Kings, Demo 2013 (Bandcamp) If you would like to support MAWP Tacoma you can visit our Patreon page. You can also check out the MAWP Tacoma website! Tweet us on Twitter! Follow us on Facebook! Look at us on Instagram Produced and Edited by Potter @mawpcast1 Video Recorded by Chris Pederson & Potter Audio Recorded by Chris Pederson Executive Producer Ken Johnson, Chris Pederson Technical Engineers Rick Casson, Chris Pederson © 2019 MAWP Tacoma
Cody grew up in a Stockton, a little town in western Kansas. His graduating class was 27 people. Though his upbringing rural, his grandparents were entrepreneurs. In a one stoplight town, they owned the bowling alley and cafe for the town. His entreprenurial grandparents started him on his path. Today Cody is the Co-Founder of Advisors Excel. In just over 10 years, his company has moved from the kitchen table to a nearly 8 billion dollars firm that employs over 100 people. Mark Pattison talk about how Cody layed his foundation...and what he's built on top of it.
Cody Foster is one of the Founders of Advisors Excel. In 2004, after leaving a corporate job to partner with David Callanan to be independent financial advisors, they realized the support system for independent advisors was dramatically insufficient. So, in 2005, along with Derek Thompson, they formed Advisors Excel with a goal of building a world class support structure for independent financial advisors across the country. Today they have over 500 employees and are responsible for over $7 Billion in annual sales. Their success in achieving this has led to their story being featured in Success Magazine, Darren Hardy's book “The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster” and Tony Robbins' #1 New York Times bestselling book, “Money, Master the Game.” Cody graduated from Washburn University in 1999 and has made Topeka his home ever since. He is a big believer in the future of the Capital City of Kansas, and has been a lead investor and developer in quality of life initiatives including The Cyrus Hotel, The Pennant, and Iron Rail Brewing. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Greater Topeka Partnership and was one of the five founding investors in Top Tank Topeka, a unique entrepreneur challenge patterned after the successful TV show, Shark Tank. As much as he enjoys business, his real love is family. Cody and his wife Jennifer, a Topeka native and fellow Washburn graduate, have been married for 16 years and have two children, Dylan and Ella. What you'll learn about in this episode: The insufficient support for independent advisors Cody Foster and the other founders of Advisors Excel discovered when striking out on their own The growth of Advisors Excel to the point where it now has over 500 employees, who are responsible for over $7,000,000,000 in annual sales Cody's story of growing up in a small town, surrounded by entrepreneurs in his family, who made business seem possible The shift Cody was forced to make from his initial dream of being involved in sports to providing help to his family when his grandmother's business was about to go bankrupt Why Cody and his friend Dave began working as financial advisors and ultimately decided to strike out on their own, but found it challenging due to a lack of support How through identifying the need for more support for independent advisors Cody and Dave were able to create a successful company that grew quickly, encountering few challenges along the way Cody's four principles of success That millennials make up about 70 percent of Cody's workforce and how caring about them personally in addition to caring about their performance has decreased turnover How by building a solid company culture and acquiring employee buy-in, a company can reduce potential challenges How to be a constant learner and continuously adapting to your surroundings Ways to contact Cody: Website: www.advisorsexcel.com Twitter: @codygfoster
Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner. Have you ever noticed how most people only pay attention to the final product of a successful business owner? They say things like…“I can never be like them.” or “They got lucky.” What most people don’t see is what the business owner overcame on their path to becoming successful. All of the struggles. All of the daily rejections. The heartaches. The betrayals. The rumors. The criticism. Even the empty bank accounts. And all of those lonely nights while they worked hard to make their vision become a reality. You see, Onward Nation, the only difference between the one who quits, and the one who doesn’t, is that the successful owner showed up every day. The successful owner worked hard every day. They hustled every day. They learned from a proven mentor every day. They worked hard to improve every day. They did all this…even though they felt like quitting…every day. And eventually, they became who they are today…a successful business owner. All of this is a very powerful lesson that I learned from Patrick Bet-David, founder and host of the popular YouTube channel, ValueTainment. Onward Nation, if you haven’t already subscribed to Patrick’s YouTube channel, I highly recommend it. Patrick is exceptional at teaching success principles and lessons you can apply immediately in order to move your business onward to that next level. And during this solocast, we are going to dig deep into one of the fundamental – yet underlying principles that I just shared from Patrick. The principle is fundamental to success — but Onward Nation — it is also easy to miss, overlook, or to take for granted. The principle is that there is no such thing as an overnight success. There isn’t. No matter what industry — no matter what sector — the companies that have achieved sustainable success reached their pinnacle after years and years of perfecting their craft. Successful people think about long-term wins – not short-term wins. It is about the long-haul, it is about endurance, and outlasting the competition not just for today – but for years and years down the road. So I am going to share some examples to illustrate this powerful principle. Why? Because it is critically important to realize that success takes time. Your success requires your full attention. Your success requires failure, it requires making adjustments, repositioning, trying again, failing again, reintroducing products, and maybe even being on the brink of collapse as was the case with Apple, before you finally, truly “make it.” My hope for you is that you will celebrate the challenges and obstacles that are in your way right now. With the right perspective – you will see them as the gift that they are. Each challenge – each obstacle – each setback – is actually making you stronger — if you let them. Each embarrassing failure is forcing you to think differently — they are testing your commitment to your vital priorities, vital function, and your wherewithal. Will you push forward — or will you quit, Onward Nation? My hope is that you will always push forward and never quit. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Instead, it takes persistence and tenacity over the long haul. The path to success often winds and swerves – and then ultimately – you make it – after 15 to 20-years of grinding it out and remaining focused on your vital priorities that you are then seen as an “overnight success.” To that point, I encourage you to go back and re-listen to my interview with Verne Harnish in episode 205 and listen carefully to how Verne introduces himself to you, Onward Nation. Verne says this is his 34th year of doing just one thing — helping companies scale up. His organizations and companies are devoted to this “one thing”…his books are dedicated to this “one thing” and even his family and friends are dedicated to supporting him be successful with this “one thing.” The discussion with Verne is so compelling because he takes some time to dispel the overnight success myth by sharing some interesting data points and stories. One of those data points is that there are over 11,000 new companies launched every hour all over the world today. Just think of that, Onward Nation…11,000 new companies an hour. However, the vast majority of those companies will not be successful — they will lack the fortitude — the staying power to effectively scale their business. For example, Verne went on to share that of the 28 million businesses in the United States, about 24 million of the total are solopreneurs and will never scale up. Why? Most lack the resources — and I don’t mean just financial. Often times, as Verne shared, it is not a question of “how much do I need to scale?” but typically a question of who do I need to be in association with in order to scale up over the long haul. Verne cited Apple and how the company had slowly moved along with their 25-year timeline — nearly collapsed — until Steve Jobs came back. At the time Jobs returned, they had 9,800 employees and were nearly broke. And likely all of us know what happened following the iPod’s release in 2001 — but it didn’t succeed right away…in fact…the iPod floundered a bit for a couple of years. But in 2003, it got some traction and now Apple has scaled to over 110,000 employees during the last 13 years. It would be very easy to forget about those first 25 years of trial, error, struggle, losing millions of dollars, nearly going broke, and then focusing on just one thing and doing it with excellence in the iPod — and then traction takes hold. Success requires a disciplined effort over a long period of time. Some people look at Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vaynermedia in New York City, as this guy who came out of nowhere to leap in front of the social media space and is now super popular with a massive following. Couldn’t be further from the truth — and Gary would be the first one to tell you. His story is one of grit, tenacity, outworking the competition, and playing to win for the long term. When Gary launched Wine Library TV — his daily show — for about the first year, his audience was really small…almost discouragingly small…but Gary didn’t quit. Then year two…then year three…then year four…then year five, and then year six. Six years, Onward Nation! Six years of producing a high-quality show of 20 to 30-minutes of engaging video content — every day — that’s what it took for Gary Vee to win. Just think about that for a minute. The magnitude of content he produced. It is really easy to look at Vaynermedia today and become impressed with the success — heck — nearly 900 in NYC and five other locations across the United States — those are significant accomplishments. But to me, and I suppose it is because I’ve had the rare opportunity to be Gary’s guest at Vaynermedia, to go behind the green curtain to interview him and to learn from him, I know that one of the things he is most proud of — and he should be — is all of the hard work, the struggle, the determination to make something out of nothing. Gary truly enjoys the journey to success — and he would be another one to tell you there are no shortcuts to success. And just because someone gets paid over $50,000 to deliver a keynote today — like Gary does — there is precious backstory there and it’s the backstory that is much more interesting. Let’s take a look at the late Peter Drucker, arguably the godfather of modern day management. Verne Harnish shared with me during our interview that of Peter’s 39 groundbreaking books, only 13 of them were written before Peter’s 65th birthday. Peter wrote twice the number of books after he turned 65. What? It takes a long time, Onward Nation, to collect, curate, and share the wisdom that is deep and impactful enough to matter and add value to a lot of people, like Peter did. Or, how about Picasso? Of his top 10 paintings — six of them were painted after he had turned 50. And four of the of 10 paintings were completed when Picasso was 51. Again…it’s the long-term commitment to your vital priorities and vital functions…perfecting your craft with years, and years, and years of disciplined effort. I have mentioned vital priorities and vital functions a couple of times this morning — so if you want a refresher on terminology — just go back and listen to episode 203. I dedicated an entire solocast to the topic of the vitals in your business and the lessons I learned from one of my mentors, Darren Hardy. So let’s move onto another example of long-term success. It would be very easy to look at James Patterson, one of the most successful novelists in history, and think — wow — here’s a guy who has it made. How amazing to be that lucky — to just write all day — what a joy. Again, let’s go behind the green curtain. I had an opportunity to interview the incomparable Linda Kaplan Thaler — oh my word, Onward Nation — Linda is brilliant. She was the creator of the AFLAC duck and so many ad campaigns that I know you will recognize if you go back to listen to our interview. But during our conversation, Linda told me about how she used to work for James Patterson when James was the creative director of the agency where Linda worked. James and Linda worked together for 17-years and became great friends. As Linda shared with me, James did not become a great novelist by accident or luck. Instead, to perfect his craft, James would get up every morning at 4:00 and would write for four hours until 8:00 when he would leave his home for the agency. He would then put in a full day — go home — and be in bed by 8:30 every night. And he rinsed and repeated this process for 21 years, Onward Nation. Staggering. 21 years! Just think about how many times during those 21 years that he would have second guessed himself, called himself bat crazy, how much criticism he received from friends and family encouraging him to just quit and to give up on his dream, and so much more. But he didn’t. He remained committed to his vital priority — and after 21 years — he became the successful James Patterson we know today. Or, how about Henry Ford? He was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company with the help of friends, family, and several investors who collectively helped him raise $28,000 in capital in 1903. And if you look through Mr. Ford’s timeline, you will see trials, tribulations, blood, sweat, tears, heartache, success, followed by disappointment, followed by triumph, followed by obstacles. So, let’s put all of these stories and principles into context by remembering the excellent lesson taught to us by Cody Foster, founder of Advisors Excel, our exceptional guest on Episode 81 of Onward Nation. Cody said to me, “Stephen, don’t compare someone else’s front-of-stage with your back-of-stage.” If you only look at someone’s front-of-stage — what you see in the public eye — you miss all of the struggles, the obstacles, the pain, the suffering, the courage, and their zig-zagged journey to where they are now. For example…we could look at Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, one of Hollywood’s hottest and most in-demand actors today…and it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that his path to success was different…that it wasn’t full of struggle, grinding it out, working hard to be the best…and most importantly…that it took 20-years for Dwayne to reach the pinnacle of success that he now enjoys. An injury on the football field at the University of Miami that ended any hope of a professional football career that then he directed his attention toward professional wrestling. And then he worked tirelessly to perfect his craft…slowly…training…making mistakes…until he made it to the big show…22,000 people in New York City’s Madison Square Garden…and a pay-per-view television audience for his first big shot at a win back in 1996. And due to all of the excitement…he forgot to direct his attention toward the correct camera…so the huge at-home audience saw a lot of The Rock’s back. Did this send him spinning and worrying about the mistake? No! He got back to work…and ground it out for years until he won his first WWE championship. And then that success led to controversy and tension…which he battled through…and finally some smaller movie roles…then a movie series…then some larger roles…and in November 2016…a starring role in Disney’s Moana as the mythical, Maui, whose bigger than life personality is a perfect fit for The Rock. And if you want to see some awesome behind the scenes video for the recording of Moana – just check this out: But what if The Rock would have quit after football? What if he would have quit in his early WWE career and let the frustration of not getting an early break set him back? What if he approached the smaller movie roles with less than full enthusiasm and instead decided to hold out for the big one? What if, Onward Nation…The Rock had not been willing to invest the 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears to become an overnight success? What if? And what if you don’t? You will be robbing the world of your special gifts and talents. What if Napoleon Hill gave up and quit because he had not become an overnight success? But, most people don’t know the story behind the success of “Think & Grown Rich” — and how the first edition, per se, was a great book but not well-received by the American public. Why? Well, several factors. First, it was published in 1928 — just one year before the Great Depression. The American public was not looking for — or ready for — a success manuscript at that time. And second, the book was huge and it was under a different title. It was the 612-page “Law of Success” — wow. I own the book — it is sitting on my desk right now — and it is amazing. It is essentially a more comprehensive version of “Think & Grow Rich.” Smartly, Napoleon decided to revise and repackage the Laws of Success by trimming it down — making it more concise — and then publishing it as “Think & Grow Rich” in 1937, nearly 10 years later, following the Depression. “Think & Grow Rich” then went on to sell 70 million copies worldwide. Again, no such thing as an overnight success. So don’t give up, Onward Nation! I hope you realize that the struggles you are facing — perhaps the abyss you are staring into right now — is all part of the master plan. You are more talented, more wonderful, more gifted, more incredible than you can possibly imagine. You are a child of the highest God and were blessed with an abundance of talent — so don’t quit — don’t give in — don’t stop. Keeping moving forward — success is there for you — just not overnight. So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is stephen@onwardnation.com — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email. So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you. Until then, onward with gusto!
I'm honored to introduce today's guest, Lisa Congdon. I had the privilege of hearing her keynote address at Craftcation a few years ago and wanted to share her wisdom on the podcast. Lisa is a surface designer, illustrator, author of seven books, speaker, teacher, wife and animal mom. During our conversation, we talk about her creative journey starting in the education field and how a chance art class led to her art career. She gives advice on how creative people can develop their own voice and the importance of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. As a proponent of integrating her experiences into her work, Lisa talk about how politics has changed her practice and the impact of judging Quilt Con on her work. After years of living in California, she and her partner recently moved to Portland, Oregon so we talk about the move and her feelings about her new neighborhood. We also touch on how daily/weekly projects motivate her along with the aftermath of the Cody Foster lawsuit. I hope you enjoy the episode. For more information about this episode (including show notes), please check out my website craftyplanner.com. Podcast music by Mekanism Sound.
Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation…I’m Stephen Woessner. And I am really really excited for today’s solocast because — it is going to be rock solid awesome! One of the reasons that I am so excited is because I am returning to full teaching mode this morning with a powerful lesson about building your platform — more importantly — some practical and tactical steps about building a nation of what Kevin Kelly describes as “True Fans” who will help you mobilize and move your business onward to that next level. True fans of you — true fans of your message — true fans of your business. Fans who will support you — because — of the sacred bond you have built with them. A bond that was built upon — and continues to be built upon — the foundation of the value you created, you delivered, and the value you shared with them on a consistent basis. Whether you do that every day — every week — no matter what the schedule — no matter what the rhythm — the fact that you are consistent is what is important. This is going to be such an awesome solocast — and I am delighted you are here with me — your time and attention mean so very much to me. But before we dive deep into today’s lesson…I have a very important favor to ask. In fact, this is the first time I have ever asked this favor within one of my solocasts. So, if you could do this — please know — it would mean a lot to me. I’d be grateful — and would really appreciate it — if you would go to iTunes and give Onward Nation a rating and then write a review for our podcast. I respect your time so I wanted to make this as efficient as possible to find us in iTunes…so my team created a special link to save you time. So if you go to www.onwardnation.com/itc you will go directly to our channel within iTunes. Okay, why am I asking for this favor? Last week, I was excited to share with you how Onward Nation is now listened to in 102 countries — and — that we had surpassed the milestone of 50,000 downloads. WOW — still a bit unbelievable — not going to lie — need to pinch myself to realize that yes, this is indeed our reality. And I credited our growth to our incredible guests and all of the wonderful feedback we have received from you, Onward Nation — all of your comments on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, — and — all of your emails. Thank you! But in celebrating these amazing milestones — I made a mistake! I forgot to mention a critical type of feedback that helps us reach more and more people with each one we receive…and that’s…all of the ratings and reviews we receive inside iTunes. With each rating and review we receive, Onward Nation…you help us increase our rankings within iTunes — and — higher rankings means more people will see us in their search results — and potentially they will be seeing us for the very first time. Each and every review helps more and more people in more countries to hear the wisdom and expertise shared by our guests each day. So, if you haven’t already given us a star rating and written a review — it would really mean a lot to me if you did. It’s simple to do. It doesn’t take much time. Again, just go to www.onwardnation.com/itc — or — if you are listening on your phone — you can give us a rating and write a review from within your podcast app on your phone. We’ve occasionally received feedback that leaving ratings can be a confusing process, so here are the steps in detail: First, after going to the www.onwardnation.com/itc link, please click the blue button that “View in iTunes.” Next, click on the link titled “Ratings and Reviews.” Next, click on “Write a Review.” If you are not signed into iTunes, you will be asked to sign in. If you are already signed into iTunes, it is likely that you will skip this step. Finally, you will be able to leave a review. Don’t forget the star rating! So thank you, Onward Nation — and please know — I greatly appreciate all of your help, support, encouragement, and feedback — you make me and my team better every day — and — it is an honor to be here with you again this morning. With that said…let’s get dialed in and ready for this week’s lesson. You ready? Because I’m so totally ready — I’m going to bring the thunder this morning, Onward Nation…YES! I spent quite a bit of time working through and preparing what I wanted to share with you today. Such an important lesson. How one of the vital priorities in your business should be to build a nation of true fans — to develop a sense of community, collaboration, and profitability around the purpose of your business. Let’s begin by breaking the phrase “Build a nation of true fans” into its three core components. First — let’s tackle the word, “Build.” How would you “build” a nation of true fans. Whether that’s a… Podcast Blog YouTube channel Instagram stories The platform from a tech perspective is irrelevant — any or all of the above — will serve your purpose of “building” a nation of true fans. The tech behind it all is relatively easy. Is there a learning curve? Sure. Will you feel at times like you are trying to fly the space shuttle with so many knobs and buttons to push? Sure. How does Facebook Live work? What time of day should I create a story on Instagram? What kind of camera and mic are best if I want to be a serious YouTuber? All of these are tech questions — and within an afternoon with your best friend Google — you can solve those problems and find the answers as long as you don’t let the fear of the unknown become paralyzing to you. So let’s shift our focus away from the tech — and instead — focus on the value you will be providing through those channels. What’s your story — how will you serve your audience — how will you make what you are doing so valuable to their business or life, that they actually consider you to be indispensable. That you become so consistent in the help, advice, recommendations, and over value that you are providing on a consistent basis — that you BUILD deposits in their emotional bank account. They begin to trust you — they begin to like you — and then because of them liking you and trusting you…they move even closer to you by truly KNOWING you. So, your first step in building your nation of true fans has nothing to do with the actual content delivery platform and has everything to do with the value of what you will be delivering — because your nation of true fans is built on VALUE. And if you get that right — the actual platform — or your conduit through which you share your value — will fall into place — and it will feel less stressful because the value you were called — put on this Earth to deliver — will then be in the driver’s seat. You, Onward Nation — will become unstoppable. Now let’s shift our attention toward the word “Nation” and break that down. And I want to address to make sure we address this because we live in a world where bigger lists, bigger subscribers, massive downloads, huge customer lists, etc. etc. etc. is what attracts headlines and massive attention. I’m here to share with you the reality…you don’t need an email list of 100,000 people…you don’t need to have a podcast that gets a million downloads a month…you don’t need to have a customer list with 20,000 prospects on it. Nope. You don’t. That’s not your Nation. What you need — realistically — depending on the size of your business is somewhere between 100 to 1,000 high-qualified prospects. That’s it…100 to 1,000 of the very best prospects who precisely match your client avatar — in fact — your knowledge with some of these people is so deep that you can boldly claim them as your Dream 50 prospects. If you need a refresher on why your Dream 50 matters — please go back to Episode 308 of Onward Nation — and I map it all out — how to figure out who your Dream 50 is — and — how to romance your Dream 50 so they understand how important they are to you. Again, that was in Episode 308. To take this point deeper — I want to share a very tangible example of a company that grew from zero to become a multi-billion a year company — yes — billion — with a capital B. My mentor, Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine…decided to interview my friend Cody Foster, co-founder of Advisors Excel and to share the interview on the March 2014 edition of the SUCCESS CD that rides along with the magazine. You may remember Cody Foster, and the wisdom he shared, as my guest on Episode 81 of Onward Nation. During the interview with Darren, Cody shared several personal stories of very humble beginnings — and how those stories — helped shaped the kind of company Advisors Excel has become. A company packed full — wall to wall — of incredible people — a team whose sole focus is to deliver more and more value every day to the financial advisors around the country they are there to serve. And Advisors Excel team does it masterfully well. They have BUILT their platform — a platform that is indeed built on a solid foundation of value. But…did they build this platform by trying to serve the 60,000 financial advisors located in the state of Florida alone? No. How about all of the financial advisors up and down the west coast? Nope. Did they focus on spending large amounts of advertising dollars trying to reach everyone they could with their message of value, value, value? Nope. Strike three. Instead…what they did focus on was carefully, meticulously selecting, 1,000 of the very best financial advisors who they wanted to earn the opportunity to serve. Yes, Onward Nation, Cody shared with Darren that they built a list of 1,000 financial advisors — just 1,000 — and then they went to work to deliver more value than another other insurance marketing organization in the industry to the 1,000 advisors they wanted to work with. The 1,000 advisors became their Nation…and advisors outside of the Nation didn’t exist. Advisors Excel was solely focused on being the best they could be for this small group of prospects. The result outcome? Well, in year six of the business…they reached over $4 billion in revenue. $4 billion, Onward Nation. When they are the right prospects — you don’t need 10,000…you actually only need a small number to make your business amazingly successful and profitable. 1,000 people — who you can love on — who you can support — who you can add value to — who then in turn are excited to do for you some of what you already shared with them. So now, let’s take this number — 1,000 — deeper — because it is a magical number that we all ought to really focus on in our businesses. Kevin Kelly was the first person — at least I think he was the first person — who popularized the theory — the notion — the strategy that if a business created a base of customers who were more like fans — 1,000 True Fans in fact — then that business could become sustainable and profitable by simply focusing on the needs of its true fans. And here is a link to Kevin Kelly’s blog post as well as the long tail curve he created to illustrate the 1,000 true fans strategy. Kelly describes — or defines — “True Fans” as customers who will help you mobilize and move your business onward to that next level. They are true fans of you — true fans of your message — true fans of your business. Fans who will support you — because — of the sacred bond you have built with them. A bond that was built upon — and continues to be built upon — the foundation of the value you create, you deliver, and the value you share with them on a consistent basis. As I mentioned at the onset of this solocast. Whether you do that every day — every week — no matter what the schedule — no matter what the rhythm — the fact that you are consistent is what is important. According to Kevin, “A True Fan” is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to visit your location. They will buy the super deluxe version of your product even though they already own the standard version, too. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They have bookmarked your website. They come to your product announcements — or — ribbon cutting ceremonies for a new office location. They come to your book signings and ask for you to sign their copy. They cannot wait for your next webinar — your next podcast episode — your next event — your next release of whatever. And the best way to increase sales for your company is to connect with your True Fans directly…so you need to have a platform built on value…see? We keep coming back to that foundational truth. Onward Nation, 1,000 true fans is a very reasonable number. As Kevin explains in his brilliant blog post… “if you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating.” The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. And you do that through building your platform — delivering value — and making sure you are using the right conduit so it reaches your 1,000 true fans on a consistent basis. Again…it doesn’t matter if you use a podcast, blog, robust LNKD profile and LNKD publishing, long form posts on Medium, Instagram stories, Facebook Live, and the list goes on. What’s important to identify is not the platform you are most comfortable — but — the platform your fans use the most — what is the best conduit to them? For me — it’s this podcast, my LinkedIn account, email campaigns, and webinars. But there is also another piece to True Fans…and that are the concentric circles of “Lesser Fans.” These folks will not purchase everything you produce, and may not seek out direct contact, but they will buy much of what you produce. The processes you develop to feed your True Fans will also nurture Lesser Fans. As you build your nation of True Fans, you will also add many more Lesser Fans. And as you are building…don’t avoid…don’t miss the opportunity to go deep…to develop intimacy with your audience…with your true fans. Onward Nation…that is one of the reasons I ask for feedback in every solocast. My team and I legitimately want to get better — but — I also want to hear from you — to get to know you — to learn from you — and to deliver even more value so Onward Nation becomes — and hopefully remains — your most favorite podcast. Okay…with that said…and before we go…I want to make one final connection between today’s lesson and the favor that I asked you to do for me at the onset of our discussion today. I know that I have absolutely no permission to make an ask of your time — unless — I have consistently delivered value. And — even if I have consistently delivered value — I must be considerate in the favors I ask for — no one wants to spend time with the takers — the people who just ask, ask, ask, and never ever give. So, Onward Nation — I am using today’s solocast as a way to ask for a legitimate favor — and — to give you a recipe for how you can do the same to build you own nation of true fans — and when you do — your nation — just like Onward Nation has become this amazing, awesome, wonderful, beautiful incredible platform of people who are so generous with your feedback and help guide your business in the exact direction it needs to go in order to deliver even more value to what it is they need. So build your own platform for your business — or if you already have one — think about Kevin Kelly’s lesson — and ask yourself how you can add even more and more value to your the people already in your community — and build your nation of true fans. Because when you do — your business, your team, your life will move onward to a completely new level. So with that…I want to say thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. We will be back tomorrow with an incredible encore interview with Paul Maskill — you will not want to miss Paul’s philosophy when he encourages you to, “Go ahead — make mistakes on purpose,” Onward Nation. The conversation with Paul is packed full of discussions regarding systems — and more specifically — how he used systems to sell his company for 6 times what he bought it for and 4 times the profit. This systems discussion will help you create financial leverage within your business. Until then, onward with gusto!
Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner. Have you ever noticed how most people only pay attention to the final product of a successful business owner. They say things like…“I can never be like them.” or “They got lucky.” What most people don’t see is what the business owner overcame on their path to becoming successful. All of the struggles. All of the daily rejections. The heartaches. The betrayals. The rumors. The criticism. Even the empty bank accounts. And all of those lonely nights while they worked hard to make their vision become a reality. You see, Onward Nation, the only difference between the one who quits, and the one who doesn’t, is that the successful owner showed up every day. The successful owner worked hard every day. They hustled every day. They learned from a proven mentor every day. They worked hard to improve every day. They did all this even though they felt like quitting every day. And eventually, they became who they are today…a successful business owner, Onward Nation. All of this is a very powerful lesson that I learned from Patrick Bet-David, founder of PHP Agency, an insurance marketing organization, and is the host of the popular YouTube channel,ValueTainment. Onward Nation, if you haven’t already subscribed to Patrick’s YouTube channel, I highly recommend it. Patrick is exceptional at delivering impactful education, success principles, and business lessons any business owner can apply immediately in order to move onward to that next level. And during this solocast, we are going to dig deep into one of the fundamental – yet underlying principles that I just shared from Patrick. The principle is fundamental to success — but Onward Nation — it is also easy to miss, overlook, or to take for granted. The principle is that there is no such thing as an overnight success. There isn’t. No matter what industry — no matter what sector — the companies that have achieved sustainable success reached their pinnacle after years and years of perfecting their craft. So I am going to share some examples with you over the next several minutes to illustrate this powerful principle. Why? Because I think it is important to realize that success takes time. That success requires your full attention. That success requires failure, making adjustments, repositioning, trying again, failing again, reintroducing products, and maybe even being on the brink of collapse as was the case with Apple, before you finally “make it”. I want you to rest easy today — and to celebrate the challenges and obstacles that are in your way right now. They are a gift — they are making you stronger — if you let them — they are forcing you to think differently — they are testing your commitment to your vital priorities, vital function, and your wherewithal. Will you push forward — or will you quit, Onward Nation? My hope is that you will always push forward and never quit. Back when I was a sophomore in high school, I decided that I wanted to play football. Now, truth be told, I didn’t know the first thing about football…literally…I didn’t even know the positions on the field. I knew zero plays…nothing. And to make matters worse, I was 6 feet tall and about 150 pounds, slow, lanky, without any skill at all. In fact, I was so bad — and I am honestly not exaggerating at all — I was so bad, Onward Nation, that I actually sat on the bench during practice. As a young kid in high school, I thought my coaches were disrespecting me by not letting me practice. Now that I am older — I can only imagine the coaches meetings — they probably went something like this. “Ahem, okay gentlemen, we need to make some adjustments here in practice…has anyone seen that Woessner kid, yeah, he’s really bad. He has no talent on the field. Let’s let him stay on the team but we need to keep him busy on the sidelines because he is so bad that he will get destroyed even in practice.” Which was likely followed by lots of agreement and laughing. I distinctly remember talking with my dad one night when I felt like quitting because I was frustrating with my lack of opportunity — again — I didn’t realize the coaches were helping me, they weren’t trying to hold me back — they were actually ensuring I could move up just not in football — and my dad told me it would be okay if I quit. And that took me back a little bit. Quit? After the call, I thought long and hard about what he said — and I later decided that it was not okay if I quit. Quitting was not okay — and even if I never played another down on the team — I would not quit. I would attend every practice — every game — and root on the guys who were much better than me. But I would never quit. I wasn’t going to be successful in football but quitting to me felt like I would be given up on a lot more than just 10th grade football. So I finished the season no matter how embarrassed I was to be riding the pine bench. I think about those lessons often because they still fuel me today, Onward Nation, and my hope is that the lessons fuel you, too. Don’t ever give up. Remain committed to your vital priorities — and eventually — you will succeed. There is no overnight success — it takes persistence and tenacity over the long haul. To that point, I encourage you to go back and relisten to my interview with Verne Harnish in episode 205 and listen carefully to how Verne introduces himself to you, Onward Nation. Verne says this is his 34th year of doing just one thing — helpful companies scale up. His organizations and companies are devoted to this “one thing”…his books are dedicated to this “one thing” and even his family and friends are dedicated to supporting him be successful with this “one thing.” The discussion with Verne is so compelling because he takes some time to dispel the overnight success myth by sharing some interesting data points and stories. One of those data points is that there are over 11,000 new companies launched every hour all over the world today. Just think of that, Onward Nation…11,000 new companies an hour. However, the vast majority of those companies will not be successful — they will lack the fortitude — the staying power to effectively scale their business. For example, Verne went on to share that of the 28 million businesses in the United States, about 24 million of the total are solopreneurs and will never scale up. Why? Most lack the resources — and I don’t mean just financial. Often times, as Verne shared, it is not a question of “how much do I need to scale?” but typically a question of who do I need to be in association with in order to scale up over the long haul. Verne cited Apple and how the company had slowly moved along with their 25 year timeline — nearly collapsed — until Steve Jobs came back. At the time Jobs returned, they had 9,800 employees and were nearly broke. And likely all of us know what happened following the iPod’s release in 2001 — but it didn’t succeed right away…in fact…the iPod floundered a bit for a couple of years. But in 2003, it got some traction and now Apple has scaled to over 110,000 employees during the last 13 years. It would be very easy to forget about those first 25 years of trial, error, struggle, losing millions of dollars, nearly going broke, and then focusing on just one thing and doing it with excellence in the iPod — and then traction takes hold. Success requires a disciplined effort over a long period of time. Some people look at Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vaynermedia in New York City, as this guy who came out of nowhere to leap in front of the social media space and is now super popular with a massive following. Couldn’t be further from the truth — and Gary would be the first one to tell you. His story is one of grit, tenacity, outworking the competition, and playing to win for the long term. When Gary launched Wine Library TV — his daily show — for about the first year, his audience was really small…almost discouragingly small…but Gary didn’t quit. Then year two…then year three…then year four…then year five, and then year six. Six years, Onward Nation! Six years of producing a high-quality show of 20 to 30-minutes of engaging video content — every day — that’s what it took for Gary Vee to win. Just think about that for a minute. The magnitude of content he produced. It is really easy to look at Vaynermedia and get impressed with the success — heck — 500 employees on Park Avenue in NYC — and that is darn impressive. But, to me, because I have had an opportunity to be Gary’s guest at Vaynermedia, to go behind the green curtain to interview him, and to learn from him, I know that one of the things he is most proud of — and he should be — is all of the hard work, the struggle, the determination to make something out of nothing — he truly enjoys the journey to success — and he would be another one to tell you there are no shortcuts to success. And just because someone gets paid $50,000 to deliver a speech today — like Gary does — there is all kinds of back story there — and it’s the back story that is so interesting. Let’s take a look at the late Peter Drucker, arguably the godfather of modern day management…Verne Harnish shared with me during our interview that of Peter’s 39 groundbreaking books, only 13 of them were written before Peter’s 65th birthday. Peter wrote twice the number of books after he turned 65. What? It takes a long time, Onward Nation, to collect, curate, and share the wisdom that is deep and impactful enough to matter and add value to a lot of people, like Peter did. Or, how about Picasso? Of his top 10 paintings — six of them were painted after he had turned 50. And four of the of 10 paintings were completed when Picasso was 51. Again…it’s the long term commitment to your vital priorities and vital functions…perfecting your craft with years, and years, and years of disciplined effort. I have mentioned vital priorities and vital functions a couple of times this morning — so if you want a refresher on terminology — just go back and listen to episode 203. I dedicated an entire solocast to the topic of the vitals in your business and the lessons I learned from one of my mentors, Darren Hardy. So let’s move onto another example of long term success. It would be very easy to look at James Patterson, one of the most successful novelists in history, and think — wow — here’s a guy who has it made. How amazing to be that lucky — to just write all day — what a joy. Again, let’s go behind the green curtain. Last week, I had an opportunity to interview the incomparable Linda Kaplan Thaler — oh my word, Onward Nation — Linda is brilliant. She was the creator of the AFLAC duck and so many ad campaigns that I know you will recognize when you hear our interview. Cannot wait to share our discussion — we will air it as episode 226 on Monday, May 2nd — so stay tuned for that. But during our conversation, Linda told me about how she used to work for James Patterson when James was the creative director of the agency where Linda worked. James and Linda worked together for 17 years and became great friends. As Linda shared with me, James did not become a great novelist by accident or luck. Instead, to perfect his craft, James would get up every morning at 4:00 and would write for four hours until 8:00 when he would leave his home for the agency. He would then put in a full day — go home — and be in bed by 8:30 every night. And he rinsed and repeated this process for 21 years, Onward Nation. Staggering. 21 years! Just think about how many times during those 21 years that he would have second guessed himself, called himself bat crazy, how much criticism he received from friends and family encouraging him to just quit and to give up on his dream, and so much more. But he didn’t. He remained committed to his vital priority — and after 21 years — he became the successful James Patterson we know today. Or how about Henry Ford…he was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company with the help of friends, family, and several investors who collectively helped him raise $28,000 in capital in 1903. And if you look through Mr. Ford’s timeline…you will see trials, tribulations, blood, sweat, tears, heartache, success, followed by disappointment, followed by triumph, followed by obstacles. So, let’s put all of these stories and principles into context by remembering the excellent lesson taught to me by Cody Foster, founder of Advisors Excel and my guest on episode 81 of Onward Nation. Cody said to me, “Stephen, don’t compare someone else’s front-of-stage with your back-of-stage.” Meaning…if you only look at someone’s front of stage — what you see in the public eye — you miss all of the struggles, the obstacles, the pain, the suffering, the courage, and their zig-zagged journey to where they are are now. And the last example I want to leave you with is Napoleon Hill. If you have been listening to Onward Nation for a while now — you know I love Napoleon’s book, “Think & Grow Rich.” I have such high regard for this book — it is, in my opinion — the ultimate guide to achieving success. But, most people don’t know the story behind the book’s success — and how the first edition, per se, was a great book but not well-received by the American public. Why? Several factors. First, it was published in 1928 — just one year before the Great Depression. The American public was not looking for — or ready for — a success manuscript at that time. And second, the book was huge and it was under a different title. It was the 612-page “Law of Success” — wow. I own the book — it is sitting on my desk right now — and it is amazing. It is essentially a more comprehensive version of “Think & Grow Rich.” Smartly, Napoleon decided to revise and repackage the Laws of Success by trimming it down — making it more concise — and then publishing it as “Think & Grow Rich” in 1937, nearly 10 years later, following the Depression. “Think & Grow Rich” then went on to sell 70 million copies worldwide. Again, no such thing as an overnight success. So don’t give up, Onward Nation! I hope you realize that the struggles you are facing — perhaps the abyss you are staring into right now — is all part of the master plan. You are more talented, more wonderful, more gifted, more incredible than you can possibly imagine. You are a child of the highest God and were blessed with an abundance of talent — so don’t quit — don’t give in — don’t stop. Keeping moving forward — success is there for you — just not overnight. So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is stephen@onwardnation.com — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email. So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you. We will be back tomorrow with an incredible interview with Jordan Goodman, America’s Money Answers Man. You will not want to miss this discussion, Onward Nation! Until then, onward with gusto!
Dogs are a part of our everyday life and are justly called our best friends. But how old is this friendship? Why did early settlers welcome dogs into their household? Dara Vance and Cody Foster speak with Andrew Patrick and Bill Needle about the role that dogs have played in history (specifically the American frontier and WWI).
Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation…Stephen Woessner here. Last week, in episode 93, I shared that after 20+ years of owning five companies, and having an opportunity to work with and interview some of today’s top business owners here on Onward Nation, I’ve noticed 12 reoccurring themes – or Master Success Strategies of today’s top business owners — that come up over and over again because they have contributed to the success of our amazing and incredible guests at Onward Nation. I shared 5 of the master success strategies as well as some of the key insights learned from our first 99 guests along this great journey that has been Onward Nation. Wow…I am still getting used to the fact that tomorrow will be episode 100. 100 went by so quickly — and we are just getting started, Onward Nation! There is so much more to come. The feedback after sharing five of the success strategies was awesome — that the solocast was a helpful resource. And speaking of resources…did you download our 12 Success Strategies of Today’s Top Business Owners eBook? If not…why not? You can still download it here. For today’s solocast…I selected 5 more of the 12 master success strategies — and we are going to do a deep dive. So that when we are done with today’s episode, you will have last week’s solocast to pair up with today’s, and you will have deep dives into 10 of the 12 strategies. Plus, the eBook we created for you contains all 12 success strategies. But…before we dig into today’s 5 strategies…I owe you and everyone in Onward Nation a very big thank you. If you are listening to your first-ever Onward Nation episode — I want to say thank you — and let you know how much it means to me that you decided to share your precious time with the ever-growing Onward Nation…today. Look, I know there are lots of excellent podcasts you can choose from — and I am grateful you chose to be here…right now. And if you have been listening to Onward Nation for a while now…you may already know how I feel about the sacredness of your time. We all have the same 86,400 seconds in a day — and I consider you being here — in this moment — right now — to be a sacred exchange of time and value. You are generously giving me your precious time — and in exchange — right now — I have to be at my best to deliver the value you expect. I know that I have to be at that quote – unquote “next level” to ensure you come back and continue to listen. So if I am serious about your time being sacred — then me going all-in and working hard at making this episode excellent is the best way for me to express my gratitude for you being here. And at any point — if you think I’m missing the mark — or — if I shared something helpful to you and your business — please let me know. I love feedback because it is the only way for me to get better. My email address is stephen @ onwardnation.com — and yep — that is my actual email address. No fancy filters. You send me an email and it will come right to my Inbox. I answer every single email. So please let me know — any time — thumbs up or thumbs down. Deal? Okay, Onward Nation…here we go…a deep dive into 5 bonus master success strategies from today’s top business owners. Some of the strategies are simple and will only take a minute or two to cover, which also makes them easy to put into practice inside your business. But there are also several strategies that will require a deeper explanation. I will guide you through the step-by-step to putting each strategy into practice. And I’m also going to share the links to some of my favorite resources with you in today’s Show Notes. Let’s dive into Strategy #4. Look for feedback Onward Nation…you will find success by looking for constructive feedback. All the time. The relentless pursuit of feedback as Joel Boggess, my guest during episode 4 of Onward Nation described. You must swallow your pride. You have to set your ego aside and then recognize that getting better is a process. As Vince Lombardi said, “The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” And the only way to climb that mountain is to push your way up the side of the mountain — one step at a time. To conquer your fear of criticism. Because it is the fear of criticism that keeps you — that prevents you from asking for feedback. Fear prevents you from getting real — getting honest with yourself — getting honest with your performance — and getting honest with your scorecard. Looking for feedback takes guts, Onward Nation. It takes guts to seek out and listen to feedback. It is the only way to improve what is otherwise unknown. The relentless pursuit of feedback is not about seeking out compliments — it rests solely on seeking out how to get better. You cannot get to that next level — to move onward to that next level — until you start asking those who you currently serve — how you can get better — how you can do better for them — how you can deliver more value to them. Feedback is a critical ingredient for your entrepreneurial recipe. So what is the process to look for feedback? First…you need to surround yourself with mentors, books, training resources, and a trusted network of advisors. They will be invaluable to you in sharing the feedback you need to grow. Second…Onward Nation…you need to have the guts to ask customers Third…you need to ignore the fear of criticism. Fear is self-imposed. You are the one who creates it. Fear doesn’t actually exist but in your own mind. So don’t let fear keep you from asking for feedback, Onward Nation. You already know that owning a business is not always pretty — but everyone has to start somewhere — so don’t compare yourself to others who have been doing it longer than you. Cody Foster, my guest on episode 80 of Onward Nation taught me that very powerful lesson. I was in Topeka spending some time with Cody and his team at Advisors Excel and one night at Cody’s house he shared some stories from the early days of Advisors Excel — what it was like when there were only the three co-founders…and how they grew the business…and now…to look at Advisors Excel…it’s a multi-billion company with 350 employees and a 100,000 square foot office — and then compare their “front-of-stage” with your “back-of-stage” — or your present day reality. That is not a fair comparison. Now that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t seek out and use models of other successful companies to improve our own trajectory. But to compare your current state with a company that has been doing for 10-years longer than you can destroy the amazing, wonderful, and beautiful things you are presently working on. Comparisons are not feedback. Instead, look at their path and let that serve as inspiration of what is possible and not a comparison of where you are currently at. Don’t turn their path of success somehow into a mirror to see that you are underachieving. Remember, Onward Nation, “Limits like fears are often just an illusion.” So go out — set the fear of criticism aside — and look for feedback. Jim Rohn said, “If you help enough people get what they want — you will get what you want.” And the only way you can help them get what they want is by asking them — look for feedback — to learn how you can serve — how you can give. Let’s keep that momentum of giving going…because strategy #6 is Give until there is nothing left Have you watched the movie “Pumping Iron” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno? It’s more than a movie, Onward Nation — it’s more like a powerful documentary — an illustration of what it is like to give and give and give until there is nothing left — and just when you think you cannot give any more toward the pursuit of your dream — you reach down deep — and you find a way to give just a bit more. I’ve studied the sport of bodybuilding and Arnold is the only competitor I have ever heard describe the intensity of his workouts to where he would push, and push, and push until he literally vomited in a trash can at the gym. So he would sit and rest for a few minutes. Then he would get up and get back to work. Right back at it. What was the result outcome for Arnold after all that intensity? He won the Mr. Olympia competition 6 times in a row. Then he took 5-years off from bodybuilding — but surprised the sport when he came back in 1980 and won the title again — just to show he could and that he was still the best. Even after taking 5-years off. Shane Stott, my guest for episode 8 of Onward Nation, said to me, “Stephen, the only way a successful individual will get off the entrepreneurial treadmill is when they fall to the floor dead.” You, Onward Nation, have to be that committed to your treadmill — that committed to your success. There is no such thing as an overnight success. You have to willing to conquer the twist and turns through faith — the faith in knowing you are on the right path — and that you will not change course. As John Lee Dumas said in episode 38…you need to F.O.C.U.S…which stands for Follow One Course Until Success, Onward Nation. So don’t think small when you CAN and SHOULD think BIG! I am going to link in the Show Notes one of the best motivational videos that I have ever watched. I have listened to it hundreds of times. I shared it with Shane Stott a couple of years ago and he converted it into an MP3 file and now listens to it every morning on his drive to work. It is part of his pre-work morning ritual. Watch the video — listen to the message — and when you do — ask yourself this question…“Have I given all that I can give toward being successful?” I guarantee that your answer — if you are honest with yourself — is no — there is still more you can give. You still have more, Onward Nation! You are well able to give more and become more. How Bad Do you Want to Succeed Motivational Speech And now I will move to strategy #7: Eliminate distractions and then DO IT! In episode 9, Afraa Zammam — who joined me on Onward Nation from her office in the countryside outside of Berlin, Germany — said to me, “Stephen, you must get rid of any distractions in your environment — because distractions aren’t just wasting your time — they are diminishing — they are wasting away your ability to accomplish your goals.” Here’s the reality…if you are spending an hour checking Facebook every day — or Twitter — or watching 40-hours of TV each week (which is the average of the US population by the way) — if that is what you’re doing — you are not only distracted — but you are investing heavily toward your failure — versus investing heavily toward your success! You must eliminate the distractions and sometimes the distractions are not Facebook, Twitter, or putting a better time management system into place. Sometimes the greatest distractions are people on your team who are not moving at the pace and tempo you need them to. Remember Onward Nation, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Wise words from Jim Rohn. So release the non-performers — they are a distraction to you and your team of A Players. And by releasing them…you will empower your A Players to perform at the level they want to. Now, once you eliminate the distractions — you need to stop making excuses and get back to the business of hard work by putting your mind to the task at the hand…and just do it. If you want a great resource on excuses…flip to page 189 of Think & Grow Rich and you will find a list of 57 excuses that we all tell ourselves every day — and those excuses are robbing you, Onward Nation of your future. Excuses like: If I had the money to invest If I had a good education If I only had the time If other people understood me If conditions around me were only different If I could only do what I want If I could meet the right people If I could just get a break And the list goes on. There are 57 of them. Read the list — study the list — and then don’t let yourself use those excuses. You are better than that, Onward Nation. In this section of today’s Show Notes…I am also going to include a link to another resource — a well-known speech by Art Williams, entitled Just Do It. Art’s words will make you laugh and he may even call you on the carpet in a few areas because his words might expose some of the excuses you have been telling yourself. And how you have allowed yourself to become distracted. Watch it. Study it. You will be glad you did. Okay, Onward Nation… 2 more strategies to go…let’s power through…now on to Strategy #10: Decide if this is right for you Marianne Williamson said… “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Onward Nation, there will be days when you question your sanity for doing what you are doing. Today may be one of those days for you. The first step to you being successful is simply deciding that this is the right thing for you. Is it? Or isn’t? If you are in — then be all in. Burn the boats — eliminate any chance of retreat — and be all in. And as I learned from Tony Robbins…we all have the power to decide — to decide to make a radical change. Change doesn’t have to take a long time — change can happen in an instant when the decision you make is a MUST. It is completely within our ability to harness the power of decisions that guides our trajectory, Onward Nation. Does that mean that being successful is as easy as making the decision to be successful? No, but making that decision — a true decision — is the critical first step — and then you have to work your face off, like Gary Vaynerchuk says…my guest for episode 42 of Onward Nation. With that said…if you want some insights — some quotes — to carry you through the rest of the day…then I have another resource for you. It is an incredible video compilation and I will include it in today’s Show Notes. Now, Onward Nation…it is time for the final master success strategy. It is Strategy #11: Do it the right way Larry Broughton, my guest for episode 18 on Onward Nation taught us much about excellence…perseverance…tenacity…and always working to do the right thing…and not giving up. You see…Larry spent nine years in the U.S. Army Green Berets where the words “quit” or “half-way” were not part of the vocabulary. In fact, Larry said to me, “Stephen, you have choose to do the hard right over the easy wrong.” An anthem — a mission — the Green Berets use every day to guide their work — their pursuit of excellence. What a powerful lesson about doing it the right way. The right way is the only way, Onward Nation. David Mammano, my guest on episode 17 of Onward Nation, believes that success will come to business owners if they stay committed to implementing excellent standards and developing a pristine culture. So be committed, Onward Nation, to building a culture of greatness within your company. How? You need to coach your team on how to do it the right way — you set the pace — you must show them how to do it the right way — how you manage your time with excellence — but if you suck at those things or are average — then don’t expect your team to be excellent. How can you expect them to do it the right way when you don’t do it the right way? Don’t take shortcuts — shortcuts will inevitably lead to failure. Remember, you set the pace…you are the example of excellence in your company…you must be committed to doing it the right way…and if you are…your team will do it the right way and you will succeed at strategy #12. Okay, Onward Nation – I hope those 5 master success strategies shared in this solocast were valuable to you. Please drop me a line and let me know what you thought. You can share your comments at the bottom of the show notes for this episode – or – you can email me anytime at Stephen @ onwardnation.com and yes – that is my actual email address – comes directly to me – no fancy filter, routing, or sorting…comes right to my Inbox. Feel free to use it anytime. Let me know…thumbs up or thumbs down? We will be back tomorrow with episode 100 — a very special episode — a special milestone. It is such a privilege to be here with you — to have been here for 99 episodes — thank you, Onward Nation. Until tomorrow…onward with gusto! You can also find us here: ------ OnwardNation.com ------
Cody is one of the three Founders of Advisors Excel. In 2004, after leaving a corporate job to partner with David Callanan to be financial advisors, they decided there was an opportunity in the marketplace. So, in 2005, along with Derek Thompson, they formed Advisors Excel. Currently, Cody plays an integral part in the development and execution of the revolutionary marketing and training systems that Advisors Excel continues to bring to the table for their advisors. Advisors Excel has become one of the fastest growing insurance marketing organizations in the country, and their story has been featured in SUCCESS Magazine, Cody was interviewed by Darren Hardy publisher of SUCCESS who also profiled Advisors Excel in his latest book The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster. Cody and his organization were also featured in Tony Robbins' #1 New York Times bestselling book, Money -- Master the Game. Secret -- timesaving technique Cody focuses on three priorities that align with their organizational model. ONWARD! Daily habit that contributes to success Cody likes to wake up early to exercise, which fuels his energy for the rest of the workday. Could have ruined your business -- but now -- an invaluable learning experience Cody dealt with a family member running into financial trouble -- and Cody tells the whole story here. Most critical skill you think business owners need to master to be successful “Business owners need to provide a clear corporate vision -- only the owner is responsible for this vision.” Most influential lesson learned from a mentor “Nothing beats hard work -- success comes to those who put the hours in -- serve the client" Final Round -- “Breaking Down the Recipe for Success” What systems would you go back and put into place sooner? I would have gone back and implemented a team-building system versed in unity and collaboration. What one strategy or “recipe” would compound into big wins for business owners? Business owners need to create a favorable client-experience -- it’s about a personalized positive impact. How to exceed expectations and add the most value? An individual who is honest -- trustworthy -- and has an unwavering attitude due to their effort. What strategy would you recommend new business owners focus on to best ensure success? Accept Responsibility Simplify your Business How best to connect with Cody: http://www.advisorsexcel.com/team/cody-foster.php You can also find us here: ------ OnwardNation.com ------
For this Snippet, we discuss Alleged Design Pirate Cody Foster Is Only Sorry They Were Caught off of fastcodesign.com. (http://www.pagebreakpodcast.com/snippets/cody-foster-are-asshats)
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