Podcasts about hey stephen

Whether it be from fictional characters from a movie (or Shakespeare

Bryan and Hoadley discuss the strange porn choices of the American public, Richard Simmons whereabouts, Colton Underwood coming out, Haley Hasseloff playboy cover and the odd phenomenon of "Outsider Music". Its a magical episode that will have you tapping your foot foot...LINKS:Watch this episode on YoutubeSponsor: BetterHelp.com Subscribe to The Commercial Break Podcast Youtube ChannelJoin The Comedy Podcasts Club on ClubHouseNew Episodes on Tuesdays and now Fridays everywhere!Text or leave us a message: +1 (470) 584.8449FOLLOW US:Instagram: @thecommercialbreak @bryangcomedy  @tcbkrissyClubHouse: @bryangreen @tcbkrissyClubHouse: The Commercial Break Club on Clubhouse! (home of live recordings)Twitter: tcbbryanFacebook: The Commercial Break PodcastYouTube: Youtube.com/TheCommercialBreakEmail: info@tcbpodcast.comA Chartable Top 100 Comedy Podcast#1 Trending Comedy Podcast Worldwide! (Chartable)#1 Trending Comedy Podcast U.S.(Chartable)An Apple Top 100 Comedy Podcast Top 1% Downloaded Podcasts, Worldwide (ListenNotes)A Hot 50 Podcast (Podcast Magazine)

Stephen Colbert is convinced that Hey Stephen is about him! It is not.They are making a movie about Bert Kreischer's The Machine bit...which will co-star Mark Hamill!Hank Azaria wants to apologize for voicing Apu.Mo Amer joins the cast of Black Adam.NBC gives a sitcom to Demi Lovato.www.buymeacoffee.com/dailycomedynewswww.instagram.com/dailycomedynews to vote for Seinfeld vs. Chappelle's Show

This is part one of a special three-part podcast series by Joe Gilboy PA-C on becoming a better PA. Part one is all about building amazing relationships with our nurses and ancillary staff. You may be thinking to yourself, “Hey Stephen, I thought this podcast was about the PANCE and PANRE.” “How does talking about […] The post Podcast Episode 86 – How to Be a Better PA Part 1: Nurses, Lab Techs, and X-Ray Technicians appeared first on The Audio PANCE and PANRE.

You know when restaurants put a small icon of a fork next to the House-Favorite items? We dub thy savory pod THREE AND A HALF forks! It's that good. Clase, Mason, and Landen dive a little deeper to unbury their mental illnesses, Mason misses a golden opportunity to score a black-market kazoo, and in this episode, we sing, we scream, and most importantly, we ca-ching (thanks to our sponsor, "Skin-Loosening Wipes").Join us as we blow your socks on (you looked cold) with masterful games like: Acapella Karaoke, You Mad Bro?, 90s Factoid Quizzicals, and Facebook Rewind. And join the Tattle-Tale Army over on Facebook at "I'm Telling Mom Podcast"... we'll keep the light on for ya. Oh, what? Copyrighted? So... like... Motel 6 wouldn't be cool with that, then? Hey Stephen -- can you just look into that real quick before this goes live? Also, where are my nail-trimmers, BRO?!

When you go to the Inner Circle works, everybody takes a turn to teach something awesome to the group, and then they say, “Hey, I have some things I need help with.” Then the whole group kind of analyze this person's business and give feedback… You get advice from a lot of heavy hitters, and everyone is focused on you until the timer goes off - it's intense…   It’s mentally exhausting, but it's a lot of fun, and totally priceless! Before the Inner Circle, I could not sleep. I woke up at five dreaming that I was on stage...I was like, “I can't sleep anymore,” so I spent three hours pacing and working this out… MY OFFER CREATION PROCESS One of the things I want to teach you today is three simple ways to create an offer. We all think that creating an offer means that we go and add a whole bunch of products together… And that’s definitely an awesome way to create an offer…   ...but it’s NOT the ONLY way. Anyways, I want to teach you three of those methods today. THE DREADED QUESTION On top of that, another thing I think you’ll really find interesting is seeing me answer the question of what I actually do.. *that* is NOT an easy question for a lot of entrepreneurs to answer…   “What do you do?”...is kinda the dreaded question! When somebody asks, “What do you do,” and you have to answer - sometimes that sucks. But now, I can answer that question; I know exactly what I do…   There are some things that, (like I said in the past), you have to design, and there are other things that you have to discover… Sometimes explaining what you do is something you have to discover, and that's been the case for me; it's not the case for everybody, but for me, it's been that way... ...and I’m gonna share that with you in a single sentence! https://youtu.be/mwj8UkCVSds So you’re gonna find out: Three ways to create an offer What it is I that actually do for the marketplace Why we have so many people reaching out to ask to be in our programs. If you want to watch the actual presentation, you can do that here. I have chopped out a certain piece that I don't want you to know about yet… ;-) We have a product that we've been doing for a while now, and we have a lot of people in it now - which is great, it's done quite well… It’s made a lot of money for us, and made A LOT of money for the students, I chopped that piece out, and I’m gonna keep that hush-hush for just a little bit longer while I finish a few things of…   YES, THIS WILL WORK FOR YOU! One of the most challenging things I have to deal with is when people ask, “Stephen, that's really cool, but how does it work for me?” They say things like: I'm in high ticket B2B sales that are multistage sales that are multistage sales/ contracts… I'm in retail… Stephen, I'm in… So, I think one of the things that’ll be helpful is for you to see three ways to create an offer… that you can tweak to apply to whatever business you’re in…   You can use them all together, (which is very powerful), but you also can use just one or two to add immediate value to whatever you sell. So let's talk about value creation and how that actually happens… JUST DO IT This is my third inner circle meeting as a member, and I think those of you guys who saw me that first time will agree that I’m really very different… One of the things that I've been focusing on is showing up as my authentic self and being unapologetic about that, and it's been very fun to start doing that…   … and I've noticed when I can do that for customers and help them arrive, they do all kinds of stuff on their own. That’s literally what the One Funnel Away Challenge was meant to do… If I can get them to say, “ I am an entrepreneur, I am a funnel builder,” they'll suddenly go do stuff without me yelling, “Just take the next step...”   The amount of forcing I have to do drops like crazy. BUILDING MY WAFFLE I have been building my waffle, and it is awesome: I have to content teams I have a funnel team … I don't have quite the executive team yet, but it's been awesome. I mean, stuff's getting done without me all the time.   A lot of people asked me, “Stephen, how are you doing all that you are?” I'm NOT, my company is. I'm building an actual asset… ... and that's been a major big piece for me in the last six months. Other cool things that we've done: We did a cool 7-day launch (following what Russell did) - it was so good, it was awesome. It launched my event, and opened the tickets - it was a 6-figure launch. I did my first quarter-million-month last month - that was awesome, that was a cool one. 10, six-figure months in a row - yeah, stuff’s going good. We have 3,000 downloads a day on the podcast, which is so fun. I'm speaking of Carnegie Hall - how cool is that! That's gonna be with Martha Stewart, Dan Kennedy, Michael Gerber in September. My main product OfferLab - there's not even a funnel behind it - started at a quarter million, (softly just word of mouth), there's not even a funnel yet, it's been really validating.   The Carnegie Hall people asked me, “Do you want to sell?” I was like, “Yeah, I wanna sell!” They said, “No one else has said they want to sell…”   I was like, “Why would you say ‘no’ to that, of course, I want to sell.” WHAT IS AN ENTREPRENEUR? Anyways, I'm in this weird phase… I was talking to Alex Charfen a few days ago, and I was like, “Dude, I feel like I am always moving and changing.” Alex said, “...that's what an entrepreneur is. You just redevelop over and over and over again.” So it's been weird... I feel like I've been shifting and changing so fast and asking, “Well, what is my foundation as a human being... as me,” and that question is what I think has allowed my true self to start coming out.   In fact, two or three weeks ago, I told my wife Alyssa, “I can feel another change coming on, and I'm kind of freaked out about it..., but it's coming...” … and those changes are ALWAYS uncomfortable. One of the things I’ve realized who I serve... I didn't know the answer to that before... I serve existing and new entrepreneurs inside ClickFunnels There are a few things about ClickFunnels, in the last six months, that have shown me that it is A MARKET ... …and I'm very excited about because it's growing and maturing. And now, when someone asks, “What do you do?” I can tell them... I've never been able to answer that before. So here it is:   I help people design and launch wildly lucrative offers ... that's exactly what I do! So I'm excited; that's just the most ultimate ridiculous clarity. I think I would've been my own worst nightmare client like a year ago, because I couldn't answer those questions…   What do you want? Where are you moving to? ...and so it's fun to be able to say that what I do in one simple sentence. Anyways, a little give here... I’M A CAPITALIST PIG   I call myself the Capitalist Pig, so I’d better know about capitalism - so I've been learning about the origins of Capitalism. I've been diving into a lot of history lessons… I’ve been learning about Adam Smith is known as the father of modern Capitalism… In his time, Smith was known, for disrupting a lot of things... NOT just Capitalism itself… In the 1700s - 1800s Europe, there was this really weird belief of how value is created... People believed that the amount of time spent creating a product equaled the amount of value that it had. But Adam Smith was like, “No that's dumb,” and he was the first one to really start switching that idea. Smith came in and flipped that idea, and said, “No no no…” Value is in the eyes of the beholder. Value is in the eyes of the person who's gonna consume it. And so, as the Offer Guy, what I'm really doing is helping people understand how value is created. And to do that, you have to understand the difference between COST/ PRICE/ VALUE… WHAT’S IT WORTH?   COST = is what you pay to fulfill. PRICE = is what your customer pays to get your product. VALUE = is determined in your customer's eyes. I used to have this major, major hang-up; it was a huge false belief of mine… I used to think, “Oh my gosh, would I buy my own product?”   ...and that would be how I decide the price. *MAJOR PROBLEM* I wouldn't pay myself 35 grand to hang out with me for a day - I'm not that cool ;-)   BUT… I'm NOT the one buying the product... and lots of people do buy. The customer decides, the customer chooses the value, and I make things that are valuable in their eyes. WHAT IS AN OFFER? So... I've been on this mission to define an offer... and I can't say how many times, (even just with Russell), I've heard it said, “Can someone just define a funnel better... like how can we get a better definition? How can we explain it?”   So I'm trying to solve the same problem for offers, and I think I have… Recently, I was able to meet Dan Kennedy's ghostwriter. He was the guy who was in charge of all the writers at Dan Kennedy's place and ended up writing Magnetic Marketing. He and I would email back and forth, and he has his own book. His name's Jack Turk (by the way don't steal him, I'm still convincing him to write my book)... ...and in that book he says: Offer = Core Product + Value Add   I was like, “That's such a good way to define what an offer actually is!” PRODUCT VERSUS OFFER People ask me all the time, “What's the difference between a product and an offer, Stephen?” I'm like, “Well, an offer is a collection of products,” that's a method when you get down to it... A core product + value add = that's what an offer is! ClickFunnels = core product + value add (a whole bunch of other stuff that helps you use it better). For Example: ClickFunnels + Funnel Hacks = OFFER   So I've been geeking out hard on ways to create offers under that formula. How can I take a product and move it into an offer? So staying with the example of #ClickFunnels as the core product... The method we're all used to creating offers with is by adding MORE products in our stack slide - and it's a great method! We add product, product, product, product, product and that adds a lot of natural value to what we're selling… ...and now, our dream customer is like, “Boom! Well, of course, I'll pay a grand or two for Funnel Hacks!”   Does that make sense? These are super-powerful points to understand. There are other ways to create an offer, though… MY FAVORITE BOOK How many of you guys have seen the fake book story?   I've made so many people mad with that story. The funny thing is that Michael Porter is like a huge deal. He's a scholar and Ph.D. But think about this… What's interesting is, I take his product, (I’ve never read that book, still haven't), and I sell it…   Every time I tell that story, ( it’s about eight times now in front of live audiences)... EVERY TIME I tell that story, (before I even get to the stack), people have the book in their shopping cart, and a lot have already bought before I’ve finished.   Q: What added the value and made people want to buy the book? A: It was the story and the sales message. This has been helpful for a lot of people in retail/ b2b/ multistage sales events, people who are on the fringes of ClickFunnels'... … it helps them create a product or an offer without having to create a HUGE stack! Some of them already have the product, and they're like, “I'm not gonna go create all these things for my stack.” Now how many of you have ever thought that? “What?!!! I gotta go create all that stuff inside of my offer to make an offer?”   If that’s you. Then you can use this method, you’ve just gotta have a really amazing story. THE CLAUDE HOPKINS WAY... The other way to add value comes from Claude Hopkins…   Claude has this really interesting quote… I actually learned this first from Tim Ferriss in The 4-Hour Work Week. Tim uses the example of t-shirts, and he says, “If these aren't the most comfortable t-shirts you'd ever worn in your life, I'll give you the shirt back plus twice your money.” It's like, “Woah,” that just increased the value! Q: There are no additional products or sales message - so what increased the value? A: *The Guarantee* Now, back to Claude Hopkins, who said: Two men came to me each offering me a horse. Both made equal claims. They were good horses, kind and gentle. A child could drive them. One man said, ‘Try the horse for a week. If my claims are not true, come back for your money.’ The other man also said, "Try the horse for a week." But then he added, "Come and pay me then." I naturally took the second horse. Isn’t that interesting…   Hopkins flips the guarantee on it’s back and creates an offer out of the very same product - that's all he does! Horse #1 Horse #2 ... what's the difference? Nothing but the guarantee! Why was there a natural value add, (‘I naturally took the second man's horse”)? ...because of the guarantee, this whole thing was switched.   There are more ways to create value, andI've been deep diving into the concept of what creates offers and some of the easiest ways to add value to everyone's business... I've been focusing pretty hard on this especially for the last year, and I had a big question arise in me… MOWER MAN GETS EVEN... I was mowing the lawn, and I don't know why, so I was listening to audiobooks, and I had this realization, like: “Oh my gosh, I am where I am because of talent not positioning.”   Have you ever realized that about yourself? It's freaky. I realized that people are making a lot of money because of positioning only and NOT talent. I was like, “Oh my gosh,” I said it out loud as I was mowing the lawn. I was like, “I am where I am because of talent, NOT positioning.” Some people are waaay worse, super bad and they’re making waaaay more money than me… And after I got over being pissed, I finally thought, “...but what's the lesson from this? Oh my gosh, look at how they position themselves in relation to the market!”   So now, what I do is I teach people in existing companies, (they're the ones that love this the most)...   And I've been traveling a lot doing this… I help companies understand what their market is. Most people can't even define what that means much less choose one. ...so I help businesses to understand what their market is and the relationship to all the other markets out there. IS YOUR RED OCEAN EVEN RIPE? Not all markets are red Not all red markets are ready for a blue   There are signals - there are patterns all over the place - I feel like it's ‘a beautiful mind...’ “Oh my gosh, are you all here?” And I've realized that “Oh my gosh, the path on this is so clear.” I just help people understand: What market they actually sell into Who their dream customer is in there, so they're not trying to sell everybody The core problem they’re trying to solve…   ... and I dedicate my whole business to the Core Offer, it's pretty simple.   DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS? Pre my ClickFunnels days, I was building funnels for a company in Florida using ClickFunnels... This company had an amazing product - their product was beautiful - they were known at the top of their industry. But as I started working with them, it was the most garbage jacked-up company I've ever seen in my life.   They had… No Processes No Systems No support No salesmen ... it was jacked up! That company was surviving strictly because it had a good product, there was NO business That’s when I realized that there was… A huge difference between a business and products A huge difference between a business and funnels ….and it just kept going and going from there, until I realized that what I do is help people: Create the middle of their value ladder Create the launch campaign that puts it into orbit... and the Evergreen campaign that keeps it there. Then whatever goes on top and the bottom of the value ladder. So I've been realizing, “Holy crap, there are lots of ways to create an offer.” I just showed you very briefly, three ways to create a valuable offer: You can do through the guarantee You can do it through having lots of products and a stack You can do it through a story ... but there are ways all over the place to do that: I can do it by identifying a core problem that there's already existing - I don't need to create the problem. I can do it through identifying a clear who in the market that I serve. I can do it inside the way I launch. How many of you guys know someone who's waaay worse than you are, but they're making more money than you do? Pisses me off…   ….what about you? I'm like that is not right, and it’s one of the reasons why I'm diving so heavily into what a campaign is… A campaign is NOT ads, but ads can be part of it. MAKING NOISE There are two different styles of campaigns, and I've been making HUGE lists of the major launch campaigns and evergreen campaigns that I've seen…   ...because that's how crappy people are making more money than you, that's how they're making more money than me…. They just make more noise. I'm a marketer - I'm a professional noisemaker. ...and the people making MORE money... well, they just know how to make MORE noise.   BOOM! Oh yeah, wasn't that awesome? Hey, just real quick: A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him. He said: "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question... You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left. You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone. You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month. You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie... What would you do from day #1 to day #30 to save yourself? Russell Brunson Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.  

E-U-S-T-R-E-S-S... is a massively important concept in my life!   Eustress comes from the word euphoria... and the dictionary definition is beneficial stress.   I googled it…   Eustress means beneficial stress, either psychological, physical, biochemical, radiological.”   It literally means “good stress.”   So…   There's Distress and there's Eustress   What does it have to do with Sales Funnel Radio? A LOT, lemme tell ya! EUSTRESS... NOT, YOU STRESS!   When I coaching people, there’s often a certain amount of stress that gets caused in that person's life as they take action or do something for the first time.   If they're NOT normally an action taker this stress can feel overwhelming.   However, know the difference between distress and eustress can be a game changer.   Eustress is positive growth stress; the kind you would get from pushing yourself at the gym.   BIG MOVES BY MY LITTLE SIS…   My sister Marie, is awesome.   She's getting married soon, so by the time this episode goes out, she will probably be married. (Congratulations, Marie)   However, about two years ago, she was a poor college student who wanted to go to  Funnel Hacking Live. She didn’t have a business or any real savings…   She reached out to me and asked:   "Stephen, I have enough money to either buy a Funnel Hacking Live ticket with a plane ticket and a hotel room... or my groceries and bills for the next month… What should I do?"   Talk about a Big Brother Moment...   I decided to I ask a question to help her weigh up her options and make a decision.   I said: Marie, if you were to go and pay for your groceries and your bills for the next month, what is the likelihood that you will put yourself in a place of eustress and come up with the money to go to Funnel Hacking Live?   She said: "I probably won't."   I said: "I agree with you, you probably won't… most human beings wouldn't.”   Next,  I asked: "If you were to go buy a Funnel Hacking Live ticket, plane ride, and all that stuff... what's the likelihood that you are NOT going to figure out how to eat and then die?"   … and she goes: "I'm gonna figure out how to live and eat."   There you go: "In my opinion, that’s your answer!"   If you know that it’s good for you…   If you know that it’s the thing that's cause more success…   … then put your back against the wall voluntarily, and do it that way.   And that's exactly what she did.   She bought a ticket to Funnel Hacking Live, a plane ticket, and all that stuff…   Shortly after, (like the next week), she started getting her first real clients and started doing work that paid her bills.   There's a principle behind this…   THE LAW OF ACTION   Things will begin to conspire for your sake when you get clear on what you want, honest about where you are, and willing to put yourself in situations that cause good stress.   Eustress = Growth   So here’s what happened to Marie next… (I tell these stories with her permission) Marie went to Funnel Hacking Live, and they sold the 2 Comma Club X for the first time.   Russell did his pitch and it was amazing and there was a CRAZY table rush.   For 30 minutes after Russell's speech,  people can purchase and ask questions…   There’s a countdown clock showing the time left before the next speech, and after it ends, the program will be closed.   People were running to the back to sign up…   There were only 10 minutes left on the timer when I sat down next to my sister who was talking to a friend in earnest.   Marie turned to me and said:   "Stephen, what should we do? We're thinking of putting our money together under one account… then  we’ll just share all the 2 Comma Club X events "   I said: "You could do that, but do you mind if I give my two cents on this?"   (I’ve talked about how questions invite revelation in the blog before… I learned this from a mentor/ leader that I had 10 years ago.)   I very much believe that questions invite revelation.   Here’s how it goes...   When you ask the question:     How can I get a discount?       How can I do this, but not as a full participating member?       How can I do this and not pay the full price?’     … you get an answer to that question.   So I said to Marie, “ I dare you to ask a different question."   ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?   I've watched how wealthy people deal react to a situation where they want something that's more expensive than what they were planning on.   instead of saying, “I don't know how to afford this…”   They say, “YES,” and then they figure out how to develop an asset that pays for what they want.   They ask: “What can I develop in order to pay for this expensive thing?’”   So I looked at my sister and said:   "Marie, I challenge to ask the question, ‘How can I afford the most expensive things and experiences this life has to offer?’ Answer that question and develop an asset that pays for your monthly membership of 2 Comma Club X."   That was pretty intense, Marie only had $76 in her bank account at the time.   But Yeah, but that was still the answer.   She had a three week period while everyone was onboarded to the program to figure out how to pay…   (...it was a grand or something like that.)   I asked her: "Can you figure that out if you go and put yourself in a position of eustress?"   And she said: "I think so."   So she got her own account!   … and this is a big lesson for everybody.   POSITIVE STRESS   I know (as a reader of my blog) you’re probably crushing it and TOTALLY awesome...   But a lot of adults haven't learned how to feel a little bit of positive stress and pain.   Not all pain's bad. The point is NOT to be comfortable all the time.   One of the BIGGEST external based false beliefs I hear from people is:   “I would, but I'm just in a financial place to do it right now.”   I’m like, “Man, that's the reason that you do it!”   You do it so that you can put yourself in a place of pressure that causes you to learn and grow at rates you would not be willing to put yourself in otherwise.   Now again, I'm not a financial advisor.   ... and you might think this is really extreme. *I don't care*   This is literally how I've been able to progress so fast.   I put myself in scenarios that I know I will figure out because there’s no other option. I voluntarily place my back against the wall, so that these scenarios happen.   And that's what Marie did…   Within two months, she had her own business with cash flow of $10,000 a month.   I asked her: "Would you have gone and done all that stuff if you had a lot of money in your bank?"   Can you guess what the answer was…? ;-) SMASH YOUR COMFORT ZONE   I swear one of the biggest problems people run into when they're starting any kind of entrepreneurship is that things are too cushy.   Get uncomfortable! I dare you to feel a little pain.   Case in point…   When I left ClickFunnels, I had:   No product   No offer   No funnel   No team   … it was really intense. I don't recommend that at all!   However, I did it because I knew I was experienced enough to figure it out, and because I knew that it meant that I couldn’t mess around.   I had to figure it out.   There was no mental let out at all. I couldn’t afford any distractions. The cost of me NOT showing up was too high…   …. within a month I had done 59 grand.   A lot of successful entrepreneurs know this principle, but the people who are brand new, often hit against the rocks...   They feel they need to have all the:   Resources   Time   Money   Energy   Support   ...before they start.   If you’re waiting for all your ducks to be in a row, then you won't do it!   *You will back out*   You’ll find a way to stall… because it’s stressful... and it’s uncomfortable.   BACK TO A WALL GROWTH   I work far more than most of you probably realize..(actually,  it's NOT as crazy anymore).   Often, now, I only work a seven/ eight hour day because I have a team and leverage.   But it wasn’t like that when I first started out.   When you start in this game there are few risks that you probably have to take, but they shouldn’t be stupid risks.   You need to:   Take a calculated risk   Find a mentor   Start moving   You need to be able to get yourself in a place and a position where you don't care that it’s uncomfortable and that it doesn't feel good.   You need to feel a little bit of pain and discomfort to growth.   If you are NOT able to back yourself against the wall, you're NOT gonna do it.   Instead, you’ll wait for my next Podcast episode because you need the NEXT secret or the NEXT hack…   *DON’T WAIT*   You have so much MORE information than I ever had when I started this game…   So please, please, take action…   Life will throw unexpected scenarios at you that’ll put your back against the wall, and you will behave and perform in ways that we didn't know you could.   But the individual who's willing to put themselves against the wall, and take action from a place of eustress, is much better off.   You don’t need all your ducks in a row and the moons to be aligned.   You don’t need ALL the answers!   WELCOME TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP   I don't know how to do the majority of the things that I have planned for the rest of this year...   ...but I know I'll figure it out.   I'm NOT waiting for someone to come give me the answer. I will figure it out, and then I’ll create a system and leverage.   I will feel uncomfortable.   Once a month there's something where I really don't want to do something. I say to Colton: “Dude, I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this right now.”   ...and he'll laugh and I'll laugh.   We have these little bouncing ball chairs, I'll crank music, and I'll do something crazy…   What I'm not a fan of shunning your feelings. Feel your feelings! Take a moment to freak out.   Take a moment to have a little poopy-pants syndrome, that's okay...   … but understand that you are NOT your feelings; I love that from Tony Robbins.   You just have to sit back, and be like, “Oh man I need to do this thing.”   There are two or three specific things right now that I’m legitimately NOT looking forward to doing. I don't want to do them.   They're the kinds of things that keep me up late because I don't want to do what I'm supposed to do tomorrow, but it's not about that...   I'm NOT my feelings.   I'm not about shunning emotions and becoming this stone machine. I'm a human being, and we are emotional... so let me feel the emotion, and then after I've given myself time to freak out...   ...then I put myself against the wall.   This might sound weird and extreme, but whatever, it works.   We've been cash flowing pretty hard for the last eight months... (but at the same rate).   It's been like 100 to 125 grand a month every month for the last eight/ nine months.   So this past little bit, I've been sittin' back and thinking like, “Crap, I'm still working seven, eight, nine hours a day. It's about leverage now…”   ...and that's the eustress that I'm placing myself under.   Part of that’s about me growing, scaling, and starting to create systems.   I've got two content teams, a funnel team, and half of an admin team.   I am doing it... but I'm hitting the next phase, and I feel it.   I know that I personally need to grow in order to handle it... and I feel it. I'm hitting the wall. I know it, and I'm okay with experiencing that.   OVER TO YOU? What’s going on in your life?   What excuses are you using?   Where are you NOT growing?   Like... “Stephen, I can't because of x, y, and z.”   I go nuts in One Funnel Away Challenge when I hear that…   When someone says, “Well, Stephen, I just don't have ALL the answers needed.”     Are you kidding? Every single day! Welcome to entrepreneurship.   I don't know how to answer a lot of things that I'm supposed to be doing on tomorrow, but I know I'll figure it out. I'm willing to feel a little bit of discomfort on the way.   But MOST human beings out there, a lot of adults especially, are NOT willing to feel discomfort...   JUST KEEP SWIMMING…   Do you remember the movie, Finding Nemo?   I’ve got three little girls, so we watch a lot of movies like that now...   (Pixar is awesome. Good storytelling, obviously. I like to look at it from that standpoint.)   … but just like those clownfish that go out of their little home, look around, and then come back in again and again...   Most adults are like that... they never do a thing.   They start out, and then:   Discomfort   Unknown   Fear   Abyss   ... and then they pull back into safety.   You need to feel positive stress on purpose and find a way to put your back against the wall.   WANNA GROW YOUR WALLET?   If you're still working a nine to five right now, and you've been wanting to quit and become an entrepreneur…  if this is your dream…   The most likely reason why you haven't done it yet is that your life’s too comfortable.   Find a way to get a little bit uncomfortable, I dare you. Then come tell me if it did not change you and/or your wallet along the way.   I’m pretty forward with this message, but I'm just trying to use what I taught my sister as an example.   Yeah, yeah, it’s certainly scary.   Yeah but this could happen! Yep, it could've.   But that could happen! Yep, mm-hmm.   ...I mean, seriously, what do you want?   Be willing to behave differently in order to be a different person and live with those who live differently.   The rest of the masses are clinging desperately to status quo.   The rest of humanity's like, “Please please, accept me!”   ...that's what they're doing!   You gotta behave and operate differently to be different. So I'm gonna go do things that are unorthodox.   … “but Stephen, it could be risky?”   Yeah, so is sitting on my butt on the couch and waiting for a slow, painful death knowing that I've done nothing in my life... and that I've NOT done anything to my full capacity.   ...AND I've NOT reached my potential.   That is hell on earth in my opinion, and I will NOT live that way.   I’m asking you to do the same.   Get tough with yourself and figure out what you need to do?   I’ve found that I cannot voluntarily place myself very easily in situations where my back is against the wall. I need to create an environment and a scenario that supports me….   So I left my job   I brought on employees   I brought on teams   … it wasn't a risk, we had the cash flow, but then it got tight.   Q: So what did that do?   A: It made me learn how to get more cash flow.   Does that make sense?   MY BIG GOAL   I talked about this in my goal video for this year… (I want to hit 4 million).   I'm trying to figure out the next thing in my life that’s scary. That legitimately scares the crap out of me.   … because it will cause me to behave and level up as a human being faster than me just willing it into existence.   Just willing it, never works. I must do it with an environment.   NOW…   Take a moment to sit back and be introspective…   You have something in your life that you've been wanting to do. You know it's there, but you haven't done it because you're staying comfy…   We've all got something…   For me, it's my book.   I know how in depth I'm gonna dive on it in order to make sure I've got everything set and my bases covered. It's gonna be a month long project.   I think I'm gonna take all of June just for the book…   So please take stock…   I dare you to write down what you know that you've been wanting to do, and then start thinking through how you can orchestrate an environment where your back is voluntarily against the wall.   I mean truly against the wall, no let out.   ... and then you’ll do things differently to how you've ever done them before in your life.   You'll look back in three years:   “What? What's up son, uh! You a bad Mama Jama!”   I look at myself and go: “Holy crap! Look what you got done! Wow, very few people have done that. Why did that work?”   …  and it’s because I was willing to feel a little bit of pressure!  #EUSTRESS   P.S: Do you like Russell’s face on my phone?   I did NOT make these!   Someone at Funnel Hacking Live handed them out.   I don’t remember who, but someone handed me a huge sheet…   I am NOT printing Russell Stickers and putting ’em on things… just so you know ;-)   Hey, just real quick:   A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him.   He said:   "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question...   You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.     You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie...   What would you do from day #1 to day #30 to save yourself?   Russell Brunson   Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.

It wasn't on purpose, but there's a certain style of coaching that I like to live by. It’s certainly effective, but can make some people... not like me, ha!   I've never seen anyone make a million dollars who wasn't trying to.   After coaching thousands of people I’d be an idiot to not see patterns…   When I first started coaching at ClickFunnels everyone thought that I’d be teaching strategy. However, the truth is that getting MOST people to move forward with strategy takes a MASSIVE amount of work on their mindset. PERSONAL GROWTH MAT TIME   In One Funnel Away Challenge, I'm the guy who yells every day. BOOM! I yell a lot. I’m kinda NO BS. So I want to explain to you the difference between sympathy versus empathy, as it relates to my coaching.   Here are a couple of observations I’ve made from all my hours of coaching:   People often come with the expectation that I’ll just tell them to click a button and they’ll make millions! (Even though ClickFunnels is probably the closest to that of anything that's out there… that still NOT gonna happen.) People fight the shift they have to go through personally because it can feel like pain... pain is not the right word, but sometimes a shift can feel like pain.   You have to go through a shift. You have to uninstall crap in your head and reinstall NEW beliefs.   A lot of it comes down to shedding beliefs that we’ve been taught about money either from parents or other authority figures.   Success has MORE to do with your beliefs around money than the patterns or strategies I'm teaching.   I'm trying to prep your brain so when you hear me speak you don’t put up a wall ...or think, “Well that works for Steve ‘cause he's Steve.”   Man, I was NOT Steve three years ago.   Sales Funnel Radio has only been out for three years.   When I started publishing my acceleration just went through the roof. It was NUTS! That's why I keep telling all of you guys to freakin’ publish. It'll change your life.   If you feel yourself having a little negative knee-jerk reaction that you're not quite controlling to anything I say, then check yourself!   Sit back and ask, “Why am I having this reaction?” FOR EXAMPLE:   If I say, “Hey, please be a capitalist pig and get as rich as possible  because it gives you more ability to help people in this world...”   … I know that as I'm saying that I know people often feel this little knee-jerk reaction.   ( I know just because I work with tens of thousands of people )   ...but Stephen! I was taught this way. ...but that means that I have to experience personal growth in order to consume and believe that belief.   I'm NOT making fun of you. I just want you to be wary of the things that you're telling yourself.   That's the stuff that's keeping you back. That’s the stuff that you have to self-identify and be prepared to question:   “Oh my gosh, I have some false beliefs I didn't realize they were there.”   That's NOT easy to do. I know it's NOT easy.   GET OUTTA YOUR OWN WAY One of the major reasons why someone will stop their progress in a programs I'm teaching isn’t because what I'm teaching is hard…   *IT’S JUST NEW*   People stop because they hit a personal growth zone that their NOT expecting and it's uncomfortable.   So people start looking around for excuses, “Hey Stephen, this is really good... but it's just a lot of material!”   I'm like:   “Oh is that the excuse you're using to slowly back away from what I told you to do?” Is that the excuse you're using to back away and logically justify removing yourself from growth?   That's some fiery crap, but I say that stuff in my programs because people need to understand what's going on.   TRUTH   The NEW ways and methods that I teach are NOT any less true because you won’t find them in college textbooks or mainstream books and media.   Truth does not require consensus.   I heard Myron Golden say that recently. It's a great quote.   Truth does not require consensus!   … which is awesome. It's really good news!  But it's also really sucky because most of us feel like we're running alone in the game for a while.   It's NOT that what I'm teaching you is not true, but rather it’s a question of how well you’re adhering to it?”   No! Adhering is the wrong word.   I hate constriction. I don't do well with someone trying to constrict or confine me. I'm bad at that.   Adhering is the wrong word, my bad…   How well are you growing?  If you measure you against you... NOT somebody else.   Half of getting over false beliefs is just understanding WHAT false beliefs you have. As soon as *YOU* understand that you have a false belief, you can just kind of uninstall it.   Like, “Oh crap that's NOT true! Where did I learn that?   Parents? A Teacher? Some Authority Figure?   Maybe you’ve always believed that, but is it true? For that person, in that time, in that scenario, it may have been true...   But that blueprint doesn’t have to be YOUR blueprint.   INSTALLING PERSONAL GROWTH   I know what I'm talking about because I've gone through the same process to uninstall my own false beliefs ... AND it’s still going on.   I know which false beliefs I'm hitting now and I'm trying to overcome them. It’s Me Against Me.   Most people are looking to have some kind of logical release from the pressure of moving forward. The positive pressure, growth pressure... the type of pressure you get in the gym.   People make an excuse and they pick it up like a flag. They use it as a banner. That's the theme they use to run out of my world. I see it all the time:   I don't really have time. I don’t have the money to do this. I haven't quite found my voice yet. We are all individuals, but our brains still tend to work logically and emotionally in the same kind of way.   So when I say it’s time is build a funnel… all the excuses appear:   Q: But how do I build a funnel?   A: Click Add Funnel!   Q: Where’s the button?   A: It's the BIG orange button in the center at the top of the screen.   Q: But how do I do it?   A: Are you freaking kidding me?   You just want me to tell you that you're NOT a good fit. So you can release yourself from taking action. I will NEVER do that!   In fact, I was telling a good friend last night, I have empathy because I've been through that personal growth. That doesn't stop.   Your personal growth just increases and the problems you're trying to solve change.   EMPATHY VERSUS SYMPATHY   I have empathy for the person who is poor right now and who’s trying to make it work…   Because I've been there.   That was three or four years of my life. It was so hard. It was hard emotionally and hard on my self-esteem.   However, I don't have sympathy for the scenario or that person who is trying to get me to say, “You're probably not a good fit.” So that they can go back to their friends and family and save face by saying:   “Steve said I wasn’t  a good fit because of x, y, and z.”   Without the courage to change belief and take action the model work for them … so they're trying to save face. They're trying to save status… I'm NOT gonna give you that card EVER because I believe you are better than you think you are.   We're all trying to progress and trying to grow, but you’ll only do that if you recognize your false beliefs.   EXCUSES   There are over 500 Two Comma Club Award winners. 500!   How much more social proof does someone need to start taking some freaking action in their life? BUT that's not the problem…   The problem is when someone says:   I'm gonna go make my first funnel. I'm gonna go make my first sales message. I'm gonna do a webinar for the first time. I'm gonna do a podcast   AThey get into one my programs and pay me for it...   I tell them exactly what to do...   Because it's just a freaking pattern.   It's all a framework. It's all a model. It's all a pattern.   Then I say, “Did you do what I assigned you last week?” They say, “Well, no, I haven't quite done it yet, but I went through the videos.”   So, you're telling me that you:   Went through the videos. Learned the patterns, the models and the frameworks   ...but you didn't take action on it?   That screams internal hangup. That screams massive, massive voice going on inside the head.   I'm NOT throwing rocks at the fact that you're having those challenges. EVERYONE experiences these challenges with every new opportunity that we take.   It's part of the demons-in-the-head game that we all get. Not just in entrepreneurship, but in every single thing we do in our lives. I'm NOT throwing rocks at the fact that it happens.   I'm throwing rocks at the fact that people use it as a banner to give up.   Rather than take the opportunity to grow, people step back and say, “Well, Stephen, I really want to be able to do this, but it's not a good time for me.” *BULLCRAP*   No time is a good time. That's freaking garbage. I'm gonna call BS on that.   I have empathy. No sympathy though. I have NO sympathy. I'm not gonna sit back and say, “Oh, you're probably right.” That's NOT a good coach.   I'm not here to make you feel good. I'm not here to make you feel better. I'm here to make YOU better. That's the role that I serve.   It's not for me to be like this, “Oh, it's okay. Let me care about your emotions more than your output.”   I don't care about effort. I care about outcomes.   OUTCOME MODE   My Content Team is so freaking awesome. Not one of them will step back and say,   “Well, Stephen, I tried to get the episode out on time, but I tried but just didn't cause Glee was on.”   You gotta treat this as a business.   I don't pay for effort. No one does. That's just freaking capitalism, baby.   My content team is so freaking awesome because they all know that.   The funnel building team that I've built all know that I'm paying for outcomes, NOT effort.   The same is true for you and your growth, but most people don't go there.   I'm trying to help people self-identify when they are in effort mode, which is like pansy-zone... and when they are in outcome mode, which is like:   “I know it might hurt because I need to grow, but I'm willing to feel a little pain in order to get the outcome in myself, and the change that myself requires to have a successful business.”   Sometimes people get on my coaching calls because they want to feel the semblance of growth and progression.   They keep getting on the calls and they say, “I got on the call today. I feel momentum. I'm doing it.”   *Even though they haven't done ANYTHING*   You getting this? … just trial closing ya ;-)   GETTING HONESTPeople have a hard time until they get a little tough with themselves. Not that you have to be tough...  just HONEST.   When people get honest with themselves about:   Where they are? Where they're not? Where they're efforts are providing real fruits... and where they're not? Where they are trying to get released from growth? Where they're actually growing?   Until someone actually sees and identifies their own false beliefs and BS, it’s tough.   “Stephen, I don't have my first follow-up yet. I just don't have any time.”   I ask them to do a time study and it turns out they’re watching freakin’ four hours of Netflix a day! Are you kidding me?   I’ve got no sympathy. I won't grant you any. I got empathy because I've been there. No sympathy though, I'm never going to give someone that privilege.   I'm never going to give someone the release or the license of this is what you need to be doing.   EXCUSES   If you’re feeling kinda  twingy in the brain or the heart... and you're like,“GAH!”   I'm NOT trying to make anyone mad.   I'm trying to help you self-identify where your false beliefs about this game are?     “Stephen, I would totally move forward on this, but for me right now…”     Don't you dare throw the ‘right now’ and ‘time thing’ at me! I hate that one. It drives me up the freaking wall.   “I just don't have time to pull this off.”   Are you serious? Are you kidding me? I was full-time in the army. Full-time college. Married. Kids...   I had to learn how to learn faster in college so I could squeeze out two-three hours of funnel building time a day.   I hardly slept for a little while. Was it worth it? You better freakin’ believe it. Yes!   I don't do that now. I believe in hustle but not like 24/7 hustle. Sorry, Gary V.     HUSTLE AND HARVEST   There's a time and season for everything. I call it the hustle and harvest phase   I'm gonna hustle and build the thing… because time is valuable. I'm gonna build my thing quickly, and I'm gonna hustle.   I'm going to be willing and open to experience pain in order to get it done, personally, on an internal believe level…   I’m just NOT gonna wear not sleeping for three days as a badge of honor, #funnelhacker. I think that's crap.   There are times and seasons for funnel hacking at massive hustle speed where you don't sleep. I get that, but…   That's NOT the point. That's NOT sustainable. That's NOT why I do what I do.   I Hustle and then I Harvest.   In the harvest phase, I'm building a lot of systems. I used to call it Build and Harvest, but there’s nice alliteration to Hustle and Harvest...   So now it's Hustle and Harvest. Hustle, Harvest, Hustle, Harvest.   I don't always run hard.   Man, sometimes I'll sit back and watch The Office for the fourth time... and that’s ok.   I'm NOT trying to ALWAYS be on 100% output.   EFFORT & RELAXATION   I've had multiple people ask me, “Stephen, do you ever take a break?” I'm like, “Yeah.”   I took a huge break last night. It was awesome. It was so nice. It was so cool. I didn't do anything. I was so lazy.   When I prepared my speech and slides for Funnel Hacking Live I did a combination of massive concentrated effort mixed with massive, aggressive relaxation.   BUT it's the hustle phase that I'm trying to get people into with the One Funnel Away , the Two Comma Club X, and all of my programs.   I'm trying to get people to identify in themselves what they are deciding to hold themselves back with because they don't want to experience growth.   Empathy. Not Sympathy. I CHALLENGE YOU   Know before you go I want to challenge you, (don’t just read this and take no action)...   I challenge you to write just the one false belief you know you've been using a banner to not move forward in your life. I challenge you to do that.   You get bonus points for this one if you decide to post about it. Do some kind of publishing about it. Like, “Hey, look, I realized I've identified I want this but….”   It's not vulnerability. It's not weakness. It's Truth.   Tell the truth... and tell everybody:   “I've been wanting to go do this, but I haven’t done it in my life because I've had a hard time with these beliefs and overcoming them... but I know they're false.”   Let everyone know that's what you’re working on and your plan to get over it. I promise you're gonna have an army of people who are excited for you and want to help you overcome.   I challenge you to identify what's been holding you back.   BOOM! Until Next Time - KEEP CRUSHING IT!   Hey, just real quick:   A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him.   He said:   "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question...   You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.     You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie...   What would you do from Day1 - 30 to save yourself?   Russell Brunson   Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.    You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.

HOW NOT TO DIE BEHIND A DESK   Being an entrepreneur is amazing. It's very sexy and really cool... but it's also the place where you're gonna feel MOST exhausted!   I have been hustling my face off for years, and I don't want to die behind a desk.   So, I want to show you how being able to do a dance between the entrepreneurial mindset and that of a CEO, is the ONLY way I've seen to enable you to create the freedom that most of us crave when we start the entrepreneur’s journey.   The CEO and entrepreneur are NOT the same thing. Just like a business owner is NOT the same thing as the CEO.   There's a time and a place for both roles, but they're very different.   And I wanna talk to you a little bit more about what I mean by that…   LOOKING FOR PATTERNS   I was on a yacht heading towards the Bahamas with some of the ClickFunnels crew (two weeks before Funnel Hacking Live) when I decided to share this concept with you…   I'd NEVER been on a yacht in my entire life.   In fact, in the last six months, I've done more things than my previous thirty years combined...   And I was able to sit back and think about what’s made all the difference in the last little bit of my journey...   I used to squeeze every second out of every day to build my product. I woke up super freaking early for years.   I'm the eight-year overnight success story. I've pushed hard. I've been hustling my face off for years.   I'm the capitalist pig, baby, but I didn't start that way.   I had my own money barriers to overcome. I had a lot of ideas that were just not correct.   I'm very introspective. I love watching patterns and I wanted to see what patterns made all the difference… and one thing that I realized was…   A lot of what causes wealth is NOT taught.   To become successful, I had to uninstall crap in my head and reinstall different software than what I was raised with.   That's no knock against my parents, my heritage, or the way I was raised.   HOWEVER…   If you wanna learn how to make money make sure the person you're taking advice from is rich. You know what I'm saying?   If someone tells you, "You'll make more money doing this..."   If they're poor... DON’T LISTEN!   STOP listening to advice from other people who aren't rich or, who haven’t already attained what you're going for.   I'm not gonna let someone who's overweight tell me how to lose weight.   I've been very careful on who to listen to and who to purposefully block out of my mind.   I attribute more of my success to this one act than a lot of the other strategies I teach you guys on Sales Funnel Radio. Which is weird, man.   But I gotta be honest with you, I would NOT have believed that myself if someone else said that to me even three or four years ago.   I'd have thought, “Oh, it's because he's had exposure with Russell...”   Looking back, I realize, crap!   I'm very careful about who I listen to. I understand clearly that products don't sell themselves. I'm very good at sales message writing now. I'm good at one to many styled sales pitches. (That’s helped tremendously). I'm very, very good at listening to advice that is from people who are further on the SAME path I'm trying to follow.   If someone's a really good cook, but I'm not trying to be, I'm not gonna listen when they tell me how to make money... MAKING A MILLION   I’ve recently hit a million dollars.   Not in a single funnel so it's NOT officially the Two Comma Club.   But my business has only been around officially for 14 months. So to make a million bucks out the gate. That's NOT normal. In my mind, a million dollars is NOT wealthy. 10 million dollars, (in my opinion), is NOT wealthy...   But it's not a bad shot coming out of the gate.   One of the things that’s helped me like crazy is that once I have a product that sells, I STOP trying to be an entrepreneur, and I start, as fast as possible, to become a CEO.   Understanding the massive difference between a business owner, a CEO, and an entrepreneur has helped.   I didn't that would be a defining concept for me... (and it doesn't mean it will be for you), but for me, it’s been MASSIVE.   WHAT’S AN ENTREPRENEUR? Q: Would you consider a McDonald's franchise owner an entrepreneur?   A: I don't.   Q: What are they entrepreneuring? #madeupword   A: They're NOT entrepreneuring ANYTHING!   They're a business owner.   Q: So what is a business?   A: A business is a series of systems that:   Bring leads in Closes on them Fulfills Brings new leads Closes on them Fulfills...   A business is just a set of systems, that's all it is. And if you don't have any systems, YOU ’RE the business.   SPINNING YOUR WHEELS   When you're an entrepreneur, typically you DON’T have a lot of systems in place... and it's one of the reasons why you might sometimes feel like you’re spinning your wheels.   I'm very good at being an entrepreneur...   BUT what I'm being tested on right now, is my ability to be a CEO.   A CEO is a business owner who's got a little bit of flexibility in how he moves.   I'm on my second product in the last 13 months and it’s working very well...   So I want to see how fast I can:   Build systems so that I'm no longer the business? Own systems rather than just a product?   I want to go from entrepreneur to CEO as fast as possible.   ....And it's going really, really well, but it's A LOT of work.   AVOID THIS PITFALL!One of the major things that I've noticed that’ll screw people up is making new products one after the other. This works really well if you already have a business...   If you already have the systems in place.   If you DON’T, my friends, that is very challenging because YOU are the business.   If you're treating fulfillment, each customer inquiry, each support ticket, if each sale, each lead, differently…   YOU DON’T HAVE A BUSINESS (but you do have a bucket load of stress)!   So here’s what I do to avoid this problem:   I start selling the idea before I create the product. When the idea is enough to bring in cash, then I finish making the product. After I finish making the product, I'm selling, I'm selling, I'm selling, I'm selling. Next, I start to build systems that bring in leads, close them, qualify them, all automatedly - it's called a sales funnel! Then, I build up systems to fulfill - Support ticketing systems, maybe there are packages that we need to create and send on out.   It's all the things that the business needs to make sure I'm NOT the one fulfilling on it.   For Example:   My first product that I left my job to create, I honestly haven't touched that side of the business for, like, seven months. It's been a long time… But it's still making a lot of money!   Check this out…   We put two thousand dollars in ads just on a test a little bit ago. We brought in 18 grand from it.   We're putting a dollar in and getting nine dollars out.   So crazy! Absolutely nuts.   I'm excited just to scale, scale, scale, scale, scale as that adds up.   But the point is…   If you don't have systems, you don't have a business.   If you’re making new products consistently, it's gonna be very challenging for you to stop for a moment and build systems… and things will probably break!   It's a dance between marketing and systems. That's all it is...   Marketing Systems Marketing Systems Marketing Systems I do a whole bunch of marketing and break a lot of beliefs, get a lot of people to me, and start selling like crazy…   But then, when I notice that my revenue starts to outdo my systems  (this kinda sucks, but I haven't found another way around it yet)...   I voluntarily pull back my revenue just a little bit so that I can go turn up my systems to allow my marketing to go further the next time.   It's like this teeter-totter back and forth going higher and higher and higher.   I haven't found another way besides that.   DROPPING GOLDEN NUGGETS   The things that have made all the difference for me are:   Making sure I know what advice I'm following and what advice I'm NOT following. Understanding that as soon as I have a product that’s selling well, an offer that actually works, then it's all about transitioning to a CEO and building systems and then leveraging existing followings.   My gosh, it takes so much time, so much effort to create a following. It takes a lot of time to create a following.   Leveraging existing followings is the easiest.   Every time I see Russell Brunson, myself or Dana Derricks talk about the Dream 100, sometimes I will see people’s eyes roll.   You are missing the greatest hack of the game ever.   You could spend years, tons of money, lots of time, lots of effort, energy, mental cognitive shelf space, to build your own following (and you should!)   ...But if that's your ONLY strategy... it takes so freakin' long!   I wish someone had walked up to me and said, "Stephen, what if you just ask all of the people who have a little bit more influence than you do to be joint on a product together with you...What if that's what you did?”   That would have been super cool!   A huge percentage of them would probably have said, YES!   I would have leveraged all their existing following, and I would have crowd created a product with people who already had a following... catapulting me to their level.   I wish that someone had said that... but that's ALL I do now. Watch what I'm doing in the next, especially like six months. I am doing very much that.   I am leveraging the followings of other people.   Not in a negative way, but in a way that gives a lot of tons of kudos, lots of value back to the actual big person.   Holy crap, that's so much easier. I wish all my products had started that way.   Anyway, hopefully, that makes sense to you.   As FAST as possible:   Try to become a CEO and not just an entrepreneur. Build systems. Don't be a launch business where you just constantly have to launch new products in order to stay afloat. Build one product that's really freakin' awesome then systems to support it. Then once you do that, start leveraging the followings of other people in the same area that you sell into to go sell more and faster… That's it!   If you’re constantly having to build new products just to keep the cash flow coming in. That sucks!   I’m realizing that getting to 10 million dollars is actually NOT that crazy.   I think it's gonna happen way faster than even I'm thinking because that's what I'm focusing on.   I've got something that's awesome, it's extremely unique, no one else is doing it. Which is super cool. I can go on and leverage the followings of other people and create mine at the same time. Makes the game way easier.   I know I spat it out a lot there, but my brain has been spinning on:   Why I suffered for like four or five years while nothing was working out? Why was there so many repeated failures for so long? Why did so many businesses fail and then, suddenly, almost every funnel I've launched in the last thirteen months has killed it. Why the sudden transition? Why is it working?   It's NOT just that I have a following.   There’s something that I'm doing here because I'm launching things in areas where I DON’T have a following.   Those are the questions I've been asking myself recently. So I'm gonna be spouting off a few of those answers and observations here as I keep going forward.   I just need you to understand…   Do NOT listen to the money advice of those who are poor!   Capitalist Pig, Baby, okay!   Listen to those who have money and who are farther on the same path you're trying to go down. As fast as possible, move from entrepreneur to CEO. It's cool to be an entrepreneur but if you don't wanna have that wheel spinning feeling, go to being a CEO as fast as possible. I always will go entrepreneur, CEO, entrepreneur, CEO. There's a bounce back and forth, but you can't stay in one role the entire time.   There's a transition back and forth that you need to have, otherwise, you're gonna stay in a launch style business where you’re exhausted and you're dead.   Building a product, building offer, all that stuff matters, but understanding your role in the game, and staying clear on that helps like crazy.   After you have built a product, you move from entrepreneur to CEO:   You're building systems. Your role is to leverage the followings of other people. It’s about the Dream 100. It’s about finding MORE people who are willing to go and drop this out to their communities. And therein, my friends, lies the very fast cash, and that's the thing that I've realized in the past little bit here.   I’ve made way more money on this trip than if I was staying behind my desk because of systems because I treat myself like a CEO now.   I have 20 people who are working for me now.   One full-time employee, (well, two including myself)... and then 18 other people and contractors who are filling roles who are a part of existing systems that I’ve built so I DON’T have to be an entrepreneur with a launch business.   I'm not in the launch business. I'm in a real business. A real company that I'm building.   Don't just build products, build companies. Build systems. Be a CEO.   That's the biggest thing I realized in the past little bit here watching all these people, especially at the 10X Growth Con.   So…   Please take stock of where you are and where you're not. Look at some of the misconceptions you're experiencing about what it takes to NOT just build successful products, but a lifestyle with a business.   And that, my friends, is what's gonna be the major game changer for YOU.   I'm very good at is building sales messages, offers, and funnels, that go crush it.   What I'm learning now is how to build systems and that's where my weakness is.   I've been building systems which let me:   Fulfilling faster and better. Support better.   ...We've systemized like crazy.   Dude, my content machine is so awesome. It's so tight...   I know the quality of my content and what it's gonna be.  I'm just super stoked about it.   LIFE WAS LOOK ROSEY UNTIL…   I found that I’d forgot to pack shorts for my trip to the Bahamas. *That Sucks* I'm sweating my face off, man. Anyway, whatever…   Build actual companies, NOT just cool products.   BOOM!   Until Next Time… KEEP CRUSHING IT!   Hey,  just real quick:   A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him.   He said:   "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question...   You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.     You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie...   What would you do from day #1 to day #30 to save yourself?   Russell Brunson   Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.

I KNOW this is how and why my business blew up so fast. The answer isn't what you think but I was careful to continue this practice each and every week for the last 3 years…   Today, I'm gonna teach you the most legitimate path I know to become an expert.   There’s a question that’s starting to come up more frequently when I jump on interviews with people, and that question is: “Steve, how do I become an expert?”   I believe that if you seek to become an expert, that can sometimes lead to some weird scenarios.   Someone taught me once:   If you want status, then don't seek it. If you want credit, don't seek it.   And that's kinda the formula I follow, I’ll explain more later...   However, there is a path that you can follow that’ll shortcut your journey to expert... if you have the right intention. BECOME AN EXPERT     I really don't read as many books as I think people think that I do, but there’s something very specific that I do, pretty much every week, which keeps me sharp... and keeps me on my game.   In my mind, it’s also the most legitimate path to becoming an expert in whatever you're doing.   I'm NOT saying you have to become an expert. You don't! But if you want to, this is how you can fast-track, establish credibility and gain expert status without having to learn, read, study, and deep-dive 24/7.   ...And it’s why my stuff has blown up so much in the last two years! COACH STEVE   I coach a ton! You probably have no idea how much.   Every Friday, I wake up and do two hours of open mic Q&A with the Two Comma Club Coaching group. Specifically, I'm coaching them on their offers and their sales messages.   At 11:00 am, I immediately jump on the One Funnel Away Challenge Where I do almost another hour of coaching.   Two Comma Club Coaching is usually for slightly more advanced people whereas the One Funnel away is targeted at newbies. After that, at 12 pm, I go live with my MLM group (Secret MLM Hacks) where I typically coach a newer person to funnels. Which is fun.     At 1:00 pm, I have about an hours break, and at 2 pm, I go live again to my OfferLab group, and then, sometimes, I'll go back to my FB page and so another open mic   Every single Friday is at least five hours of coaching almost non-stop.   I’ve spent a lot of time coaching people!   It’s one of the ways that I got so good, so fast. Sometimes, when I say that, I think people are like, “Oh, that's cute!”  But, NO!   I spend as much time as possible with my customers.   GET a coach and BE a coach is how I've advanced so fast! I know that's the reason.   YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS   So if you're like, “Hey, how do I get better at my craft?” The answer is, you need to spend MORE time teaching your thing. I don't care if you’re in info products, B2B, or retail...   Drop every book and just coach people...  and you’ll be guided to what it is that you need to get done.   When I first started the Two Comma Club Coaching, I did live open mic Q&A for four hours every single Friday for a year and a half. I was the only coach, with 675 students   Do you know how good you get when you coach that often... and when you're answering questions throughout the week too?   If you want to get good real fast stop burying your head in a book and just answer people’s questions. Just add value.   I don't read that many books... but that's NOT a badge of honor.   I read books and I listen to podcasts with the intent to hunt answers. But when I want to get better and more fine-tuned on my craft, I coach!   That's the BIG Secret... There’s NO secret!   HOW TO ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY   l have people come and ask me, “What are the top books you’ve read?” I’m like, “I could tell you that... but at what cost?”   If you're reading with the intention to distract yourself from actually spending time with your customers, it's gonna be an issue.   It's gonna be a major, major issue.   When I feel that I'm starting to lose my edge,  the thing I'll run to is coaching. I'll spend MORE time on ground-level with people who have questions.   ....And because of that, Russell ‘the man’ has told me many times, “Stephen, you have spent more time with the customer at the ground floor than anyone else.”   Guys, that's how I've gotten the edge. That's how I've gotten where I am! I know that's exactly the reason why!   So, if you...   Want to get better?   Want to go faster?   Want to add more value?   Want to get known?   *ANSWER QUESTIONS* That's it!   JUST DO IT   Set a time every single week to go live in front of your group. Say, “Hey, I'm here because Steve Larsen told me I should answer more of your questions. What are your questions?”     ...Just have people ask their questions.   Do you know how easy it is for me to figure out what to sell when I answer a lot of questions? The image comes clear really fast. It's actually faster, and in my mind, more effective than an Ask campaign.   I start to see that twenty people are asking something similar... “Huh! What if I made a product about that?”   You know what I'm saying?   It’s waaay easier, MORE secure, and it helps like crazy… and it makes YOU better.   If you don't know the answer, just say, “I don't know the answer.” And go figure it out!  If you think you might have an idea of what the answer might be... just be honest.   CHARACTERISTIC OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP   One of the sessions I did on the Two Comma Club Cruise was all about  how the red ocean builds the blue, and how your red ocean helps decide what you build in your blue ocean! It’s fascinating.   As I was talking a lot of questions started popping up...   Over the last three years, I've spent literally hundreds of hours coaching … (It's probably near the thousand-hour level now).   The core of my business is content and coaching.   One of the things that I’ve got good at seeing is, “Does this person actually have a question about this... or are they asking me a question because they want me to make decisions for them?”   Identifying that split is what’s made my coaching so effective in the last six months.   I have to help that person's brain to understand the issue in the exact same way as if I'm selling a product to somebody...   When you sell a product there’s a series of beliefs and belief gates they have to walk through... and they're sequential.   THE VEHICLE: Once they understand, “Oh, my gosh, there's a possibility this vehicle could work.”   INTERNAL BELIEFS: I’m able to pull this off.”   EXTERNAL BELIEFS: I have the resources (external) to get where this vehicle is promising I should go.”   As I watch the questions that people ask, I'm asking myself these questions:   Does the question represent a hang-up?   Is that person trying to get me to answer something for them that they should have the power to answer on their own?   Is it a legitimate question?   ARE YOU SCARED?Most of the time, I find that people have enough knowledge in their noggin' to be able to go answer the question on their own.   They know enough to answer the question... or at least take the next step.   So, is the question   Seeking a Distraction - so they don't have to take action?   Legitimate?   If I can tell an individual is seeking distraction for the sake of NOT having to take action, I know that I need to work them through vehicle, internal, and external beliefs in themselves before moving forward!   If I can tell they're asking the question because they want:   Distraction,   The semblance of motion.   To feel that they’re making progress in something.   To just ask the next thing... and the next thing. I know that there's a little bit of a dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins hit with me answering their questions.   This is BIG to understand.   ...Because, once you understand you’re ask questions for the sake of feeling momentum, then you can also know that the truth is:   You know what you want to do.   You know what you’re supposed to do.   You know enough to take action     ... BUT you’re scared, and you don't want to move forward.   To avoid this fear, you distract yourself with further education that you really don't need right now… “Stephen, I have a few questions!”   You see what I'm saying?   It’s a HUGE deal.   ARE YOU SEEKING DISTRACTION?   So when someone asks me,  “Stephen, how do you send an email?” I'm like, “Do you really have a question on how to send an email… or could you figure that out on your own... and you're just trying to distract yourself?”   YOU NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND SHOW UP FOR YOURSELF!   THIS PISSES ME OFF!   Part of my content strategy is to do interviews every Tuesday morning. I don't care if your a newbie and I'm your first episode... or if you’re experienced, and I'm the next up…      I set up InterviewSteve.com because I get interview requests a lot. If you want to have me on your show, you can jump on and set a time in my calendar.   But, if you set it up, show up... because I'm going to. But will you?   I’ve been stood up two times in a row recently because people said, “I'm NOT ready yet.”  That drives me up the freaking wall! I can't even tell you.   I’m a Time Nazi.   It's one of the reasons why I am where I am. I'm NOT saying I don't take breaks, but I'm a freakin’ Time Nazi, man!   When someone messages me the night before... or five minutes before the appointment... (or they just don't show up)...  And they're like, “Stephen, I'm not ready yet!” I wanna shout, “Get ready, why'd you sign up! What are you doing!”   Coulton's like, “Yeah, man, it’s been shown that it takes  someone 20 minutes to switch tasks efficiently!”   It drives me nuts!  So I did this...   So if you want me to be on your show I'm happy to do it... BUT Show Up!   I'm all jazzed up. I got everything set up. I got my little Diva light, I'm ready to rock! There's a mental prep that goes on…   So, here's how you get ready:   You take Expert Secrets, and you open up to Page 114.   It's called the Epiphany Bridge Script. There are your questions! That's all it takes! Ready! Okay, there we go! You know.   Oh, man, I can't tell you how much it pisses me off when I get stood up!   I get it because it's booked out quite a way in advance. So people signup just out of the fear and the scarcity of, “I'm never gonna be able to interview Steven.”   ...And then they DON’T show up. “Man, I am so much less likely to get on an interview with you in the future if you do that to me.” I’m a pretty chill dude. I'm aggressive, but I'm chill; it's a cool combo. “ BUT, set me off... my eyes gonna twitch. I'm gonna go nuts!   JUST GOOGLE IT!   I’m always looking for the split between legitimate questions  and distraction questions:   If someone asks me EVER again, “Stephen, how do I add funnel?”   Click add funnel, baby, it's right there! Add funnel, you just click it! You know what I mean? You have got to learn how to answer questions on our own! That's the name of the game, my friends.   Welcome to Entrepreneurship! You’re gonna have questions all the time…   Yeah, duh, we all do!   How many times do I wake up and NOT know what I'm supposed to be doing that day? It happens more frequently to entrepreneurs than most people probably know.   Anyway, back to my no-shows…   Instead of totally wasting my time I hopped in my FB Group and did an open mic Q&A to answer some legitimate questions   SOME LEGITIMATE QUESTIONS Sonia asked: How to tell the difference between a distraction-based question versus a real question?   Steve: Usually, by the follow-up questions... they're trying to find a way to logically release themselves from having to do what the answer was.   Meaning, if someone's like, “Stephen, how do I add a funnel?” I'm like, “Well, what you're gonna do is click add funnel.”  If they say, “Okay, I get that, but what if it's a Tuesday, and I don't have any time?”   I'm like, “First of all, that's NOT for me to solve. Pony up, and make some time in your life.”     Number two: They’re trying to figure out how to logically release yourself from the pressure of taking action. They want release. ...And so, if somebody starts asking me questions where I can see they're trying to release themselves from the positive pressure of taking action, that's when I'm gonna call  them out:   “Something's up? Why are you not taking my answer?”   Why are you backpedaling? Why are you trying to get me to say, “Oh, you know what, in your scenario, you're right, you don't click add funnel?”   They want me to give them permission to not take action, and I will NOT do that.   It's part of what's made me a very forward coach, and sometimes, people don't like that... whatever! I don't care. I'm about getting people results!   FB COMMENT: Hey, Stephen, you keep me motivated and moving forward.   STEVE: Awesome, that's great. Just make sure you turn it into discipline, motivation is nothing.   FB COMMENT: What do you do when you don't know what to do next? That is a legitimate question. Does that even happen to you? You always look like you have everything completely figured out.   STEVE: One of my little tactics is to stay booked up as much as I can. I know that a percentage of the activities I'm doing right now may NOT be what I'm wanting to do 20 years from now.   I set my goals, and then I map out as best I can, the things that I think are gonna take me there. And then, I act! I just run…   I had 17 businesses that were failures. Now, number 18 would NOT have been a success unless I had done those other 17 first.   On the flip-side, thank goodness those 17 tries did not work!   .Otherwise, I'd be doing those businesses. You see what I'm saying? All of those things prepared me for the thing that was coming with number 18. BAM!   So, there are two things going on in my head.   I just have to book myself and just run, and do stuff. Just take action! Big, Massive Action.   In the last six months have I gotten good at,  “Okay, only these activities will take me to where I want to go.” However,  I still know that there are things I'm doing that I shouldn't be... or that things that don't take me where I'm trying to go. So I have a few options:   Stress the freak out over every single action I take. Oh, my gosh, that gets so stressful.   Just do stuff.   So sometimes, especially when I was just starting out, (not so much anymore)….but a year ago, there were many times I woke up and was like, “I have no idea what to do next?”     ...And that can be stressful.   RED DOT, GREEN DOT   So I think to myself, “What’s the next move I can make that makes money?”   Just that one question.   What is the next path to cash and how do I get there? Then I list out all those things.   And then I'll list out all of the things that I think I need to do to make money, and I put a big green dot next to the things that are massive revenue generating, but mentally taxing (like building a funnel, writing a sales script).   Then I'll put a small green dot next to the things that are revenue generating, but not as revenue generating in the moment, or are mentally taxing (like creating a relationship). It can make money, but not at the moment.   Next, I put a big red dot next to the things that are not revenue generating. Then I erase all of the red dot tasks.   I do the big green dots during the time of the day when my brain is most fresh... which for me, is usually 7:00 a.m. to about 1:00 p.m.   Even if I stay up late, I have a hard time sleeping past seven. My brain just wakes up... so I'm gonna do the big green dots during that time of the day.   I focus on the small green dots during the rest of the day...   And I will NEVER do a red dot.   A business that’s NOT revenue focused dies.   As the entrepreneur, I'm the only one who cares about my business in the way that I do. That's just the way it is. There's nothing wrong with that, that's just the way it is. It's your baby, don't expect it to be someone else's baby.   I'm the only one responsible, the buck stops with me on making a buck.   The buck stops with me on moving forward. The buck stops with me on going and getting the new client. I can go get closers. I can go get phone people. I can go get funnel builders. But, it's ultimately down to me if something does or does not happen in my business.   So I answer the questions:   How do I serve?   How does it make money?   Once I figure that out and I do red dot/green dot, and that helps like crazy.   Hey, just real quick:   A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him.   He said:   "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question...   You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.     You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie...   What would you do from day #1 to day #30 to save yourself?   Russell Brunson   Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.

If you ever sat down to create a sales message, you’ve probably gone through a process to discover a few vital things about your target audience.   You’ll want to know:   Vehicle-Based False Beliefs   Internal False Beliefs   External False Beliefs   Which Stories to Craft   The Source of their Current False Stories   ...there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes in the pursuit of a message that sells.   All of which is great! HOWEVER, (all caps for emphasis) a lot of times marketers skip over one VITAL area along the way, and that is…   Who's already highly likely to give you money?   *THIS IS SO IMPORTANT*   If you ignore this question you’re going to create a customer who:   Takes a lot of convincing to buy   May not be ready to buy   Is high maintenance   I'm not saying you're NOT in the right market, I'm saying, you're selling the wrong person in that market.   CHANGING MY TARGET AUDIENCE   I actually went through this situation at the beginning of this year... During January, February, and March of 2018,  I was selling in the wrong zone. I was like, “Crap, I’m selling the wrong customer. I'm selling a more challenging customer.”   It's not that I'm NOT willing to help those people...   But I'm here to make a change in Steve Larsen's world before I make a change the world business, and you should be doing the same.   Before you focus on ‘changing the world’ you need to cash out hard and make a lot of money. Capitalist Pig, Baby!     So now before I even decide to start selling a product, I run through this brief checklist so I know if it's even worth pursuing… and that’s what I’m going to share with you today…   BUT FIRST, how’d you like to join me for a mud run?   MY MUD RUN FUNNEL   You may not know, but probably the third funnel I ever built was for a charity 5K warrior mud run.   We had fire pits, mud pits, and crazy obstacles where you put on armor to tackle them. All the money went to the charity for the Fisher House Foundation which helps support bring family members to the bedside of injured service members.   I was still in college, and it was my first event funnel. The funnel worked and the way we promoted it worked very well. We got on the news several times, and 650 people show up for the event. Then we used the funnel after the event to raffle off some cool items too. I enjoyed it a lot. It was very validating for me to sit back and be like, “Oh crap. I knew this would work, but man this funnel stuff really works.”   Looking back, it's funny how long it took me to build a simple two-page event funnel. I remember finding random places on campus with fast, free internet. I think it took me 40 hours to build!   SELLING MUD RUNS TO COUCH POTATOES     I have a question for you:   Q: If I'm selling a mud run, who is the easiest person to sell?   A: Somebody who already does mud runs, right?   If you’re thinking, “Yeah, Stephen, No Duh!”  You’re right, it is, “No Duh!” But a lot of the time, people don't have that approach with the products they sell.   Now let's flip this a little bit…   Q: Who would be the most challenging person to sell a 5K warrior mud run to?   A: Someone who’s never run a race in their life:   They like being clean all the time   They don't own a pair of running shoes   They don’t like being outside   That person is gonna be a hard sell - they don’t even WANT to do a mud run.   Let's talk cookbooks:   Q: Who would be the best person for me to target if I'm going to sell cookbooks?   Yep, you’ve guessed it…   A: Somebody who already buys cookbooks.   ...BUT there's a lot of marketers out there who create their product, and it's a freaking 5K warrior mud run, they're like, “I want to change the world.”   So they focus on selling to somebody who has literally lived their entire life on the couch...  Because it means they’re changing the world while they do business.   I'm NOT saying you shouldn't try to change the world. I want to change the world too. BUT as far as a product goes, that's a sucky way to do your marketing. I'm trying to get you to think about how you do your targeting.   There seems to be this theme going on, especially for a lot of new marketers, but even for experienced ones…   They find the vehicle, internal, and external related false beliefs   Craft stories.   Set up all these campaigns and sequences.   Make ads and creative   Create content.   ...They make all this cool stuff,  but it's targeted at the person on the couch rather than the person who's already in motion doing the thing.   I see this often. I wouldn’t bring this up if it wasn’t true.   A CONFESSION…   Probably once every other week, I’ll start looking for NEW books to buy on Amazon. I’m looking for ways to spend money because I need a dopamine hit. I know that's what I'm doing...   Check out the episode where I talked about emotional buying  and D.O.S.E. (it’ll change the way you market ;-) )     I'm like, “Huh, I haven't read those hundreds of books on my shelves... What if I go buy more books? Oh yeah, that makes sense.”   I love books, so I spend $200 on more books. and I do that routinely.   Here’s a couple of the latest books that I'm really excited to read I don't know these authors, I've not been asked to say this, I'm just stoked... I mean, look at these titles:     #1: Marketing to Mindstates: the practical guide to applying behavior design research in marketing.   “Oh, baby! Can you imagine the mental ecstasy? Woo! That's going to be a good one, right?”   #2: Changing Minds: the art and science of changing ours and other people's minds.   “Wow, that’s some tiny, tiny font, but that's really cool stuff, I'm excited about it.”   I'm excited to read the book Changing MInds, I'm not dropping on the book at all, but if you're focusing on changing the minds of your customers, it's highly likely that you're skipping over the easy buyers. It’s NOT gonna be an easy sell.   If you wanna sell books, then your target audience should be book buyers IN MOTION MARKET ANALYSIS   I know without a doubt, one of the reasons all my stuff has done so well this year, is because I'm targeting people who are already in motion, doing the things that I'm selling.   I'm NOT trying to convince somebody, “Hey, come do a mud run, I know you've never put on running shoes.”   I'm convincing the person who is running:  “Hey, you like that run? Why don't you come over and do this run? Super cool!  I'll give you X, Y, and Z.”     The length of the bridge to the sale is super tiny! GETTING HOT? Let’s talk about hot, warm or cold traffic… Check out Eugene Schwartz, baby...     When you hear people say, “Oh, you've got to create a bridge...”  You need to remember that NOT all bridges are the same length.   I think of it as an education bridge  and the education bridge required for hot traffic is very short. Why? Because they're already in motion.     The education bridge required for cold traffic is freaking huge.   In fact, there are NOT many products that ever really hit true cold mainstream traffic. It's usually the hot and the warm traffic that’s sold to... that's it!   If I'm going to sell anything, I'm looking to sell it to people who are already taking active steps in their life -  because it means I don't have to work on rebuilding dumb false beliefs.   I'm still going to rebuild false beliefs, but it's way easier to knock down the false belief for HOT or WARM TRAFFIC. COLD TRAFFIC; it's like freaking Fort Knox. It's super hard for me to break down those kinds of walls. Cold traffic doesn’t even want those walls broken, a lot of them don't care:   “You mean I didn't have a problem before and you're trying to educate me that a problem exists? Oh, I don't want MORE problems in my life!”   Cold traffic is really challenging. WHY MLM?When I left ClickFunnels, the product I started selling was an MLM product. Why did I choose that?   The reason I chose MLM was that I knew people in that space were already trying to do funnels, but there wasn't anybody who had stepped up and said: "Hey, here's where you can come learn about MLM funnels.”   That's partly what I mean when I say: listen to what the market's telling you. The market is telling you how it wants to be sold.   The market said, “Stephen, would you please make cool funnel education in the MLM space.” Well, it didn't actually say that…  but I was looking, and I was like:   “Crap! Y'all are trying to do this stuff. Why don't I just set something up? Here's the training. Here's the pre-built stuff. Here’s Q&A sessions. Here's the bam, bam, bam, boom. Done!”   It was a big success out the gate because, metaphorically, I was selling people who were already doing mud runs.   I was selling people who already owned running shoes…   A lot of them were already trying to build MLM funnels - they were just sucky... Does that make sense? COLLECTING CUSTOMERS   It's so much easier to do what I call customer collection.   Selling Hot Traffic = Customer Collection     Cold Traffic = Customer Creation     I know I've talked about this before, but customer creation is really, really challenging. Not many markets ever survive that area.   Customer creation, that’s a different beast.   Y’all know I'm a ClickFunnels fanatic, and I will be forever... call me minion or whatever…   If you think about what Russell did, that man's a genius because when he first started ClickFunnels he sold to hot traffic.   He took ClickFunnels and put it into the website space; he threw rocks at websites. He said, "Hey, websites suck, why don't you come over here and start doing this funnel game?".   Q: Now who does that attract?   A: The people who are already likely customers.   ClickFunnels didn’t create customers, it collected customers.   Think about that... and think about how you're marketing right now.   When you think about the length of the education bridge you require your customers to cross before they're able to purchase... make sure you're not trying to build a MASSIVE educational bridge just for prestige. THE WRONG SALES MESSAGEI'm super psyched guys, I’m getting to do some really fun consulting soon. I can’t tell you yet because the contract's still going down, but it's a cool place that makes a lot of movies that you’d know.   However, I’d make a BIG mistake if I went in and said: "Hey, let's sell to the people who DON’T watch movies already".   That'd be stupid… don’t do that!   When I start building a marketing message...   I'm gonna to sell mud runs to the people who already running races.   I'm gonna to sell cookbooks to people already buying cookbooks.   I'm going to go sell software to people who’ve already bought software.   I’m gonna sell movies to people who already watch movies   BECAUSE it means I don't have to go in and say: "Hey, you should buy this thing.”   Super fast, easy way to sell.   Otherwise, you’ve gotta go through this massive convincing game and the convincing game sucks. I HATE it.   You get into a feature war...   If you feel that you've been in a feature war with your customers, you're selling the wrong person. I'm not saying you're NOT in the right market, I'm saying you're selling the wrong person in the market. THE SHORT BRIDGE TO A FAT WALLET   If you watch the way ClickFunnels is run and other successful companies that blow up fast, one of the things they're really good at is grabbing the super easy hot traffic who need a short education bridge, from other markets.   Then when they can feel that the market's starting to dry up, they DON’T turn to warm traffic, they just go grab the next market… and the next market.   Russell's like, “Let's go sell the B2B space. There's a group inside of that B2B space that would love to build funnels. Now let's go to the supplement space. Yeah, let's show them how it works for supplements. Let's build a few supplement funnels and do a few episodes about it.”   BOOM!  Easy buyers to pick up.   That’s how a company without any VC funding, any of their own money, or any kind of debt, in general, gathers hundreds of millions of dollars!   They're NOT getting distracted by trying to create new customers... they didn't focus on Customer Creation for the first three or four years. It's only been in the last like six months when ClickFunnels started doing things like the One Funnel Way Challenge, which I help run…   ONE FUNNEL AWAY   My explicit role in the One Funnel Away Challenge is to help create a customer.   I'm there to groom, I'm there to sift and sort, I'm there to get people out who shouldn't be in there;  the people who are going to be the most challenge customers.   Sure, they could buy but they're NOT dream customers.   Dream Customers:   Want the short education bridge.   Are fast purchases.   Have faster success stories.   Don't fight me along the way.   If I'm going to sell a mud run, I'm NOT going to sell to people who've never run ever because they're going to ask me dumb questions like:   Should I warm up?   Should I tie my shoes?   Should I bring a water bottle?   Should I get good sleep the night before?   ...You know what I mean?   I'm not making fun of anybody, but you gotta understand...     DUMB QUESTIONS?   If you want to see if you're selling the right person, look at your support tickets.   Look at the questions coming in after customers buy from you to see if they’re short education bridge style questions?   I'm not going to give you a parameter here, but you'll start to see, “Oh sweet, I'm getting a lot of good questions there…” or, “Oh man, I'm getting a lot of dumb questions.”   They’re not dumb questions in themselves, but they represent:   I did not create the right marketing. I created the wrong bridge. I'm selling a more challenging customer.   Millions and millions of dollars are created just by soaking up the easy buyers who are already in momentum and want to purchase things that you place in front of them.   Every time I see somebody on Facebook saying, “We just turned on ads for cold traffic.”   I want to reach through my screen, give them a hug and then slap them. I'm like, “No! why?” Don't ever create ads to cold traffic,  especially out of the gate.   People create brand new products and the first thing they go do is create cold traffic massive bridge marketing. *Rough* That spells somebody who's gonna fail and call funnels a scam later on:   “I put all this money in and it didn't work!”   Yeah, duh! You're trying to sell a mud run to somebody who's never got off the couch. They're NOT gonna do a mud run for fun.   So, to help you avoid making this mistake, I want to walk you through my quick Target Audience Checklist. THE TARGET AUDIENCE CHECKLIST I'm part of a cool project that I can't tell you about yet, but I just spent three days writing an EPIC 25 page project. I've got legal pads and paper all over the place, filled with ideas...   One of the things created was a CHECKLIST to help people briefly identify if they're targeting the right person.     So before you even move on to creating a marketing message, finding false beliefs, and telling new stories. All that stuff that we do…   You need to ask the questions:   Am I even talking to the right person?   Is this the easiest sell?   Is this the sale have the smallest education bridge?   You want to be able to say, just, “Oh, hey, there's a mud run in your area. Here's the date, and the cool offer that comes with it.”  AND Sweet! It’s sold.   Let’s think about this in terms of business-building...   If I'm going to sell a business building education program, business-building events, business-building information products, or coaching, whatever...   #1: I would expect to sell people who already have a business.   Okay, feel me when I'm saying that.   If I'm going to sell something called, "How to build your business”  it’d be a drastic mistake for me to sell people who don't have a business yet.   This can feel counter-intuitive… but it’s true!   If I'm selling business building education, the best purchaser will be somebody who already has a business and who's just looking improve.   It's going to be a much larger bridge for someone if they're building a business for the first time. They’ve got to deal with all the mental crap besides all the strategy stuff.   The mental junk that goes down inside someone's brain the first time they build a business is huge.   I deal with that all the time; thousands of people saying things like:   "Well, I know you said to publish, Stephen, but what if someone reads what I’ve written?”   People have asked that! I'm like, “Isn't that the point? Yeah, hopefully, they do. Then you can ask them if they liked it?”   There's a lot of mental stuff that goes down…   So if we're going to sell business building education and programs, you should sell people who already have a business. *Easy Sale*   #2:  I'm going to sell to somebody who's already been list building.   If they know enough to build lists, we're talking easy drop in the hat sale.   #3: I'm going to sell to somebody who has a product that's at a similar price point to mine.   It’s soooo easy that to sell a $15,000 product to a person who also sells something around 15 grand - in their mind, the can easily justify the purchase. They're like, “Oh man, that's one sale for me.”   BUT if I target somebody who's still at a nine to five, they're like, “15 grand! Holy crap, that's like two or three months of work.”   You know what I'm saying?   It’s gonna be really hard to get that individual to say, “yes!” So I'm going to target somebody who already has a business, and who sells an expensive product... because they can justify it:   “Oh yeah, you're right! Hey, that sale we just got let's just take that cash over to Stephen.”   #4: I'm going to sell to people who already have an internet presence.   They don't ask questions like, "But how do I build a social media profile?" They’ve already solved that problem.   The length of the education bridge needed is represented by the number of problems they've already solved in order to use your product.   If a bridge is super freaking long it means they have a lot of problems to solve.   They haven't walked through a lot of things that are required in order to be successful with your product. They’ve far more problems than the person who’s hot traffic.   I'm NOT saying you shouldn't help them, but gosh, just freaking sell somebody who’s already:   Likely to buy   Highly likely to be successful   Highly likely to do exactly what you say   When I sell somebody that's hot traffic versus somebody who's cold traffic, my business and my personal happiness increase by leap and bounds. Personally and emotionally, I feel better.   #5: If I'm going to sell to people on how to publish, the easiest sale is to somebody who's already publishing.   Are there as many people? No, but they're fast sales.   There are still MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to be made before you have to throw in the towel and start selling warm traffic.   I'm super pumped, I just bought mycontentmachine.com…   Nothing is there yet, so you can’t check it out yet, but I'm super stoked because I want to teach you how I created my content publishing machine. WARNING SIGNS   So, to wrap up; think about this…   If you have to defend your product like it's a dissertation for your Ph.D., it's highly likely that you’re NOT selling to, or haven’t figured out how to speak to, hot traffic.   Mega Hot Traffic is:   Problem-Aware   Solution-Aware   Educated Already   They just need to see your solution - which makes it really simple to sell to them.   Take a look at who you're selling to see if you’ve picked hot traffic; the easiest sale with the shortest education bridge?   If you're not selling anybody yet, when you build your product, (or if you do affiliate marketing), make sure that who you're targeting is already massively dispositioned to purchase.   This usually means your customer is already purchasing something similar to your product, and they just need something new to buy to scratch the itch.   Then all you have to do is…   *Just stand in front of them*   Until Next Time - Keep Crushing It!   Hey, just real quick:   A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him.   He said:   "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question...   You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.     You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie...   What would you do from day #1 to day #30 to save yourself?   Russell Brunson   Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.

Another one of the top 10 guests of 2018 is returning today to review the SBA process for both buyers and sellers. We'll discuss what's changed and things buyers and sellers need to look out for in 2019. Stephen Speer of ECommerce Lending, based in Florida, is a specialist in eCommerce acquisition deals. He offers a superior financing experience to buyers and sellers. Stephen urges sellers reach out to him to get their game plan ready and advises buyers to get pre-approved in order to get the ball rolling in the right playing field. Episode Highlights: What Stephen looks for in a business when prepping SBA on the seller side. Why co-mingling of multiple business can be problematic for a seller. His recommendations for cleaning up and consolidating financials when preparing to sell. What the the “debt service coverage ratio” (DSCR), also known as “debt coverage ratio” (DCR), is all about. Where the add backs come from and where Stephen's team looks for them. He advises companies to use an external bookkeeping outfit – for a great ROI! How Steve and his group think outside the box when it comes to SBA lending and refinancing in order to make the purchases happen. What he looks for in an SBA financing candidate. Just because you can write a check doesn't mean you don't have to be likeable. Situations or factors that can stop an SBA loan. The importance of reaching out to Stephen before starting to shop for the business that falls into your price range. Stephen reveals his lending sweet spots – the floor, the ceiling, and his averages. All the financing details – down payment, terms, and interest rate. Why sellers and buyers both need to go through the vetting process. Transcription: Mark: Joe last week we aired the episode with Shakil Prasla and we started out the episode with me basically having you fess up to the fact that I have the number one most downloaded and listened to episode. Joe: You're amazing Mark. Let's just say it right now you're incredible. Mark: But you're [inaudible 00:01:07.9] with Stephen Speer and at the risk of becoming a rethread podcast where all we do is bring back our top guests. We are having back one of our top guests this week again. Joe: Stephen Speer that's right. He's an SBA lender which is interesting in that the top two podcasts that we had had been about buying online businesses and we're brokers that sell online businesses. But hey … look you are amazing and you started this company 11 years ago and your focus was education and helping buyers understand the process and helping them as much as the sellers. So it's worked. And the fact that our top two podcasts are about buying online businesses has proven out that theory. We had Stephen back because last year there were a lot of changes in the SBA policies and guidelines. The dollar amounts came down a little bit, seller financing wasn't required on certain deals, and we recapped some of that and we reviewed the process both for if you're a seller what you need to do to get yourself in good shape to be SBA pre-qualified. And if you're a buyer out there looking to build that portfolio of businesses or buy your first one what you need to do in order to connect with someone like Stephen and get yourself in a position that you best be able to act quickly when that perfect business comes along. Mark: So yeah these rules do update on a yearly basis but fortunately this year it doesn't sound like there's a ton of new changes. With that said there's a lot of good information in this podcast because we get these questions over and over and over again about what does it take to qualify. And I think one thing that … I know we talked to Stephen the other day as a company. We had him and a couple of other SBA lenders come into the company and just— Joe: Yup. Bruce from [inaudible 00:02:47.2] bank, yup. Mark: Yup. Bruce from [inaudible 00:02:48.8] bank. You know I think it's important for people to understand that there is SBA guidelines. Yeah, that's one thing, but then outside of the SBA guidelines, there are some individual bank guidelines as well. And to understand that even though these rules and these guidelines that we're going to cover in this episode might be out there they're not hard and fast when it comes to finding an individual lender. Did you cover any of those guidelines from Stephen's group with the podcast? Joe: Yeah, we went over some specific things that he looks for and his firm looks for. He's with Bank One now … or I'm sorry First Home Bank but some of the topics that we touched on on the podcast and even when we talked to him separately and that you and I talked about is why is it important to pre-qualify your business for an SBA loan? Sellers may be thinking well it doesn't matter why should I do that. And the answer is because it casts a broader net and not a broader net of buyers. There are definitely some buyers out there that only want to use SBA funds because that's … they only have 10 or 15% to put down. And then there's another pool of buyers that could stroke a check for one, two, three million dollars but they're building that portfolio like Shakil and using SBA money so they're only putting 10 or 15% down each time. So it's really important from a seller's standpoint to understand the value of clean financials and getting prepared so you're pre-qualified for an SBA loan. And from a buyer's standpoint, it's a great way to go if you're comfortable with that option. Mark: Absolutely. All right let's get into the episode, let's find out what's changed in 2019 and then also recap some of the rules and some of the things that both sellers and buyers should know about SBA loans. Joe: Let's go to it. Joe: Hey, folks, it's Joe from Quiet Light Brokerage, today I have one of our top 10 guests back for 2019 Mr. Stephen Speer. Welcome back Stephen how are you? Stephen: I'm doing great. Thanks for having me Joe I appreciate it. Joe: Awesome. Man, well listen I want to go through all of the SBA lending practices, what it takes to qualify for a business, what buyer's should be looking for, and I also want to get an update on you and your team. I think you made some changes in 2019 … I'm sorry '18 I want to cover those as well. But for those that have not listened to you in the podcast in the past can you give us a little summary, a little background on yourself? Stephen: So I have an e-commerce lending team at First Home Bank. The bank happens to be located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Our team are lending throughout the country. As a matter of fact very few of our loans are actually in Florida but I made a transition months ago with the privilege of being able to grow my e-commerce team and we provide a level of support as we go into the new year. So I'm pretty excited about that. Joe: Yeah, it's exciting and I know that we've done a number of deals together and you've done a lot of work with Quiet Light and some of the other website brokerage firms. How big is your team going to get to? Where are you at now and how big are you going to be compared to where you were before? Stephen: So my team comprises of four people. Myself, a gentleman named Bill [inaudible 00:05:55.9] who is kind of my right hand man along with my underwriter and closing team. So I'm pretty excited about that. I plan to add an additional person in Q1 and another person who I have identified for Q2. So I plan to have three people do what I do. In other words, myself and two more and then stick with my underwriter as well as the closing team. Joe: That's huge. I always worried about you getting hit by a bus. Now you can get hit by a bus and we'll be fine. Stephen: Well yeah, my wife would love to hear that so. Joe: We don't want her listening to the podcast [inaudible 00:06:32.5] buy a bus and start driving around looking for you. That's great man, that's great. One of the things that I want people listening to this to understand is that we've dealt with a lot of SBA lenders over the years and you're a … you're not a banker. You don't come across as a banker. You don't have certain boxes that you must absolutely check every time when you speak our language. And you hang out with e-commerce entrepreneurs which is great. Let's talk a little bit about what it takes to qualify for an SBA loan from the sell side of the business. What do you look for from a business? When I send you a listing and say “Hey Stephen will this qualify?” what things are you looking for? Stephen: Well, first I'd like to … I would say I'd request financials. So first what I look for is what type of business is it? Is it FBA driven, is it 3PL, or do they provide their own fulfillment? So I look at that. If it's a product based business I look at the number of SKU's, type of product. I really do dive into that because one thing I try to avoid is having … trying to finance a single type business that's [inaudible 00:07:45.1]. So that's one thing I look at. So once I get past that I really kind of dive in to the financials. When I mean financials, the holy grail of financials are the tax returns. So for example now that we've entered 2019 I look for tax returns for 2017, maybe 2016 [inaudible 00:08:05.5] year, solid tax return for 2017, and solid year ending financials for 2018, and as we continue down the path of Q1 obviously 2018 tax returns. So basically back to your question a wrap up of … in 2016 of the business, solid year of 2017, and a strong trailing 12 month or strong and the word strong – Joe: Lots of people listening that are on their business will say “Hey that's not a problem. I got tax returns. Everybody files tax returns.” and then they give you a tax return and it's co-mingled with four other businesses that they're selling and they're only selling one … I'm sorry four other businesses that they run and they're only selling one. That's a problem isn't it, the co-mingling of multiple businesses under one tax return? Stephen: That is a problem and unfortunately, it's a problem that seems not to go away despite your best effort and your team's best effort as well as my team's best effort. They just seem not to follow that advice so that is a challenge. Now I do … with that coming up so often I do have a set of things I'm able to put in place, for example, I direct this seller back to his or her accountant and be able to income streams and expenses done in a professional manner. It can't just be Quick Books and I've been able to still get financing for businesses that do have co-mingling within a tax return. Joe: Does it just take a little bit longer to get those worked out and closed? Stephen: It does take longer. Generally, it adds roughly two months to the entire process. Joe: Woah. Stephen: It does take time depending on the responsiveness of the accountant. Especially as we enter Q1 and then start working on returns and start getting buried because [inaudible 00:09:52.5] season. It does take a little bit of time but it's not something that's not doable. The biggest recommendation I have either if you're thinking about selling a portion of your business now is to get on that and have your accountant provide or put together what I call consolidated financials. And basically what we do is we take the tax return and compare it to the consolidated financial which show a delineation of the different businesses and we're able to perform. Joe: Okay so for the sellers out there listening to that and going well I don't have to have an SBA buyer I can just sell to a cash buyer. You're absolutely right, there's a ridiculous amount of money out there in the landscape for people buying online businesses. The reality is though that you want to cast this broad of a net as possible for potential buyers. And we see this over and over again somebody that's from another country that is selling a business if it's a multi-million dollar business but you're not US based, not filing US tax returns. It is more difficult to sell because the buyer pool is not as large. There are buyers out there that I know personally that have the ability to stroke a check for five million dollars but they're smart and they don't want to. They want to keep as much money as they have … as they can and buy multiple businesses and maybe use someone like Stephen and SBA lending and only put down 10 or 15%. So you do cast a broader net if you can do the consolidated financials. If you're just starting off in business your best approach is to have one LOC for that line of product that eventually you may sell. We had Syed Balkhi on the podcast as well and Syed has a number of different businesses and every time he says “okay I'm done with this one” we're able to list it and sell it very, very easily. And the last one I think we did cash … actually, I think we did two SBA loans and it was very easy because he files separate tax returns for each business. That's the ideal situation. How do you feel Stephen about someone selling a business and they're coming to you with Excel spreadsheets for their profit and losses versus Quick Books? You don't really care about that you're looking at the tax returns and a P&L anyway that's in excel format right? Stephen: Primarily if we're talking just a single business, single return, single P&L's yeah that is fine. So that's not a problem at all. Obviously, the more … accounting is all about substance over form, it's kind of an accounting term. That is true but it can't be hand written or something very unprofessional I mean because ultimately underwriters look at that. If that's just kind of run together and it doesn't make much sense it's not done by someone who knows how to do a P&L or a [inaudible 00:12:47.0] but as long as it looks presentable that's fine. Joe: Well, you and your team are betting on the future success of the business. So first you want to see that the business is run properly. And if somebody is not using Quick Books or Xero or some form of accounting software it's an indication that it's not being run in as professional a manner as possible right? So that … okay, and the buyers look at that that way as well. And I could tell you from a brokering standpoint when you're using Excel spreadsheets for your financials and co-mingling it's much more difficult to get maximum value for it because no matter what things are missed. I had a call this morning where there was several thousand dollars that was buried inside of a marketing budget that was actually a personal thing. We had to dig very, very deep to find it. And that times three adds nine, ten thousand dollars up to the value of the business. So ultimately your view is you want to make it a safe investment in financing this loan and make sure there's a success down the road for the future. Is there a … some sort of multiple barrier that is a ceiling for you? Is it … how do you … it's … I can guess you call it debt to income ratios right? Stephen: Debt service coverage. So let's say … okay, so debt service coverage is primarily what we look at. We really don't look at EBIDTA multiple. I mean we do and we don't. The valuation piece definitely we look at that but primarily we look at a debt service coverage. So for example, if the overall loan is the obligation, annual obligation for a loan is $100,000 let's say, the bottom line number on the tax returns needs to reflect at least $115,000. Giving us a debt service coverage of 1.15. Now a lot of sellers run their similar personal expenses through the tax returns. I'm able to add those back so you can't just take a tax return and say okay it's a bottom line of 115,000. You got to take whatever the bottom line number is and then their add backs. Standard add backs would be interest, [inaudible 00:15:02.7], depreciation, amortization, those are primarily some of the add backs. Some of the seller discretionary add backs might be … especially if it's an FBA setup type business where there's run expense, well, the new owner probably will just run it as a home based business, some people add that back. Some people tend to run their car expenses through even though it's a home based business. I'm able to add that back. And any one time expenses, the revamping of a website or other ancillary things or a one time they could add those back. And I take that number and determine the means and debt service coverage. Joe: Do you pull those from our spreadsheets because we have add backs and do you look at those or do you dig into the tax returns for the add backs? Wouldn't it be hard to find them in tax returns? Stephen: Yeah so both, I look at what you provide in terms of your spreadsheet but some of those I'm not able to add back like typically insurance would be really hard. It'd be hard fought to have an underwriter add back insurance expense for example. Joe: It shouldn't be added back. I agree. If it's an expense that's going to carry forward it shouldn't be an add back. Stephen: Yeah and really those … so of your add backs, the ones you reflect typically on your spreadsheet I'm able to add most of those back and those … I use that spreadsheet as a roadmap. But I do go into the tax returns and make sure that the numbers are aligned. And then I'm able to really dig into a tax return and see if there's any other type of add backs that I'm able to find. Joe: Okay, so from a seller's perspective they want to do the best they can not to co-mingle multiple businesses under one tax return. Obviously, have tax returns and a good financial so we can dig into the add backs and make sure that debt to income ratio is going to work, anything else that they should be considering? I think you said obviously you don't want a business that's balanced on just one SKU doing 90% of the revenue. Ultimately the bottom line is you want to make sure that the bank is going to get paid from the person buying the business and it's going to be a success right? Stephen: Yeah and another thing we look at if there's any sort of declining revenue or a blip where … for example I had a client last year that completely lift Chinese new year and didn't have inventory to sell. So there was a blip but I was able to explain that to an underwriter. And obviously with the new buyer who felt that this business [inaudible 00:17:38.3] little bit higher. He was able to avoid any blips in the coming [inaudible 00:17:42.9] for example. So it's also an explanation there. The key for sellers is even if you're not considering selling your business now get these things in place so when you go to sell you're going to get the most amount [inaudible 00:17:58.5] of your business. I had a lot of sellers come to me and it's kind of like they want to list now and their financials are a disaster now. So I recommended that buyers kind of get on the ball. Maybe it's a new year's resolution to fire your current accountant and hire a good one and to really get the financials in place and put certain financial things in place now or pay dividends in the future. Joe: Yeah, I'd refer people to certain e-commerce bookkeepers, two or three of them on a regular basis and have them go back … they'll go back in this case to 2019 and import all the bank statements and vendor invoices and everything and get things updated and accurate. And Quick Books actually helps the CPA do their job better. On a go forward basis, it's the best thing in my experience for a decent sized business to use somebody else. Let them focus on the bookkeeping and you focus on running the business and doing … driving revenue and maximizing profit. I think that's really going to work. Stephen: Oh absolutely. And the return on that investment Joe, I mean you had a podcast recently that— Joe: I'm touched. Stephen: The return on that investment is enormous. Joe: And it's incredible. I've seen it happen firsthand where we've had P&L's in Excel spreadsheets and the deal fell through three or four times and then the guy took the same information, hired a bookkeeper, they put it into Quick Books and we sold the business for 50,000 more of that … I think we had again three or four LOI's and it sold quickly which is fascinating; a fascinating study. Let's talk a little bit Stephen about you. About e-commerce lending and your group and how you think outside the box. Because I want to talk about this a little bit. Not all lenders are created equal. You and I have a transaction going on right now where you had to really think outside the box. And I'm going to summarize it and I want you to then just talk about what your thought process was and how you approached it. We have a buyer at Quiet Light Brokerage that again has the money to stroke a check but he is in a situation where he's building a portfolio of businesses and he's using the SBA lending process. Buyers can take up to what … five million dollars in money right? Stephen: Primarily. Joe: So somebody could buy five … I guess that would be one million dollars I'd then be putting in loans right? They're liable for up to five million. So he's buying multiple businesses— Stephen: One loan or 10 loans it doesn't matter. Joe: Okay perfect. So he has two under a letter of intent with Quiet Light Brokerage now and mine is in the process first. And he's got the wherewithal but I think he had some pretty sizable loans that threw off his overall debt to income ratio. How did you work that out? Stephen: So … and that definitely took a lot of out of the box thinking in the sense that he had … he has an Amazon loan and I can't divulge too much personal information but the monthly payment on the Amazon loan was staggering. It was five figures on a monthly basis. I looked at debt service coverage and throw in a very large five figure monthly payment through all the numbers ROI. Joe: And this is on a separate business that he owns. Stephen: Separate business that he owns. Joe: Right, okay. Stephen: Because it does affect what's called global debt service coverage. So on a separate business that he owns which happens to be an online business. Joe: Right. Stephen: He has very large payment and then he purchased a bunch of inventory and financed it through Amazon. So it threw all the numbers off. So you kind of have to dig deep and say okay how about we refinance at that, take that monkey off his … that large knot off his back and be able to incorporate, be able to reduce that monthly payment and still get the new purchase done. And that's what I'm in the process of doing. His new purchase, his loan on his new business acquisition was just approved and I'm going to process at refinancing his Amazon loan. Joe: Now the Amazon lending loan is very prevalent these days with Amazon based businesses. And you and I have done just for the record content site, SaaS business, all sorts of [inaudible 00:22:00.5] certainly not just Amazon. But in this situation, this particular individual had several hundred thousand dollars in loans and the money gets withdrawn out of their Amazon deposits. Do you recall what the interest rate was then? What his payments were? What the interest rate was and compare it to what you're going to be able to do for him? I just want to emphasize you thinking outside the box and how much money you're going to save this guy on a monthly basis. Because he's thrilled right now I got to tell you he's thrilled. Stephen: So his monthly knot with Amazon was 48,700 and something. Joe: Holy cow, okay. Stephen: It's going to be a couple of grand. Joe: No way 48,000 down to $2,000 … that's amazing. Thank you for thinking outside the box. You're helping him and you're helping a couple of the sellers of the businesses that were doing deals on now. That's fantastic. Stephen: Yeah, and you touched on something really important now. I do have a fair amount of buyers out there, actually, currently 347 buyers out there looking for businesses to buy. And quite a few of them can easily [inaudible 00:23:03.5] for a two three million dollar business but they're building a portfolio. So back to your comment about portfolios a lot of buyers out there right now are building portfolios. They want to buy two, three, four different businesses … online businesses for the course of the next two or three years. And they don't want to use up all their cash. And the fact remains is that when you're trying to scale a business cash is king. You need cash to scale a business. You need to buy additional inventory. You need to grow it. And if you're cash strapped it's really hard to grow an online business. So I'm helping several of those buyers accomplish that. So an SBA loan is not just for the person who needs a little bit lower barrier to entry. An SBA loan is also for the person that could easily pay cash but chooses not to, to stay in line with his or her business goals Joe: Absolutely. Well, let's talk about the buyers a little bit and what you look for in a buyer? You and I have never had a situation where we brought a buyer and you said yes and then it turned out they weren't qualified. But I had a situation a few years ago where I had a couple of Harvard MBA graduates. They literally just graduated a month before from Harvard. They got their Master's in business and they decided to partner on an investment in an online business. And they had some funds. One of the graduates had some funds from a parent. It went through the process. They're pre-approved from a different lender and then underwriting said these guys have absolutely no real world experience we're not betting … I think the deal was two million dollars. We're not betting two million dollars on these guys. Yeah, their pedigree is good, their education fantastic but no and the deal fell apart. What do you look for? Are you looking for real world experience? Is there a certain asset value that they need to have? How do you handle it when somebody comes to you? What do you look for? Stephen: So first I look at … I try to determine and I do interview my buyers. So once you refer them to me I do interview them as you know and one of the first things I really touch on is experience; so first determining if they have direct experience or indirect experience. And then as I mentioned in a previous podcast it's almost like going for a job interview, even if you don't have direct experience you need to make the person real comfortable with hiring you. The same goes with a loan is that even if you don't have direct experience what business … what skill sets do you have that's transferrable and also who's going to fill the void of having direct … let's say SEO experience or direct experience in the space? So those two things I look at. So if the person has direct experience, pretty much a no brainer. A person that doesn't have direct experience it's putting together the narrative like paying underwriter even though here she doesn't have direct experience but indirect experience in these categories. And additionally, they're going to have support via an employee or a contracted employee that that fill a void. Joe: I got you. Stephen: So I'm able to … I've never … honestly, I've never had a deal where an underwriter has said gosh that's great they went to Harvard but they have no direct experience. Joe: We had a situation … I'm going to name a name here but I'm only going to use their first name; a guy named Rocky. Rocky was I think he was in his 60's. He retired and ran a General Manager for some car dealership something … somewhere in the country. I loved the guy. I thought he was amazing. Just as a broker, as a lender you just … you connect with somebody like I want to help this guy. I want to find him the ideal business. Although let me say I told him he's crazy. He didn't need to buy a business. He was retired. What for? You have plenty of money I'm like you're crazy just go play golf or something. But he ended up buying something from us and he didn't have any direct online experience. He was a GM for dealerships that yeah they had websites but he didn't run them himself. I find there are a lot of people in the corporate world that are putting in 60 hours a week that look at the e-commerce entrepreneurs that are selling a business when they're working 20 hours a week and they're making more money and they want to live that life. They want to spend more time with their family, with their kids, travel. Are a lot of the folks that come to you these types of people, and is that in direct experience still okay? Stephen: Yeah so to answer your question yes a lot are. Be it Rocky or any other, they don't have direct experience. So the thing about Rocky is that … first, off he is incredibly likable, incredibly well spoken, and have a very strong resume. The guy was successful in his professional career. Joe: Yeah. Stephen: And then unlike somebody working at a low skill job the guy ran the car dealerships which he was 60 hours. Or he was probably working 90 hours a week now but with a transferable skill set. And also he filled that void of not having direct experience in running an online business but was able to fill that void by bringing somebody in. So we felt very comfortable with that and he ultimately was approved. And the last time I talked to him he's doing very well. Joe: Yeah, I think he bought a business from Amanda. I didn't have one for him at the time but Quiet Light, in general, had one. And I think Amanda loved working with him as much as you did. So the likability factor that Rocky had, when buyers come to you is that important? Do you have to like them to do business or? Stephen: Well not like … I think— Joe: Make a difference with human right? Does it make it a better—? Stephen: They are human. So an underwriter is human and if they have a good dialogue with the buyer, for example, Nathan was incredible as well. Joe: Yeah. Stephen: One of the reasons Nathan's loan sailed through is because he was very well spoken and had the incredible background to be successful. So yeah it does. Joe: Okay so we're going to just touch on that thing that everybody knows but they don't talk about and that is if somebody comes to me, if somebody comes to you and they want to buy a business we want to sell you a business. But if you are 10 times more difficult than the next person and they also want to buy a business, my client … my seller is going to say okay well I've got an offer from each which one do you like more Joe, talk about the plus and minuses. And we've got to do that. And in your case you just said you've got something like 354 buyers on your list. They're looking for a business, they're not buying it from you, they're buying it from the likes of Quiet Light Brokerage. Stephen: Right. Joe: But you still have to work with them on a regular basis and you still have to go through the process with them and be likable. Simple thing guys, everybody listening just be likable. Just because you've got the ability to stroke a check doesn't mean that you can push a guy like Stephen around. There's lots of people that are trying to buy a business, lots of people that are trying to sell businesses and being likable is so-so key because this is an online world. We're not sitting across the table from each other and it makes a huge difference being likeable in the process. Stephen: We've kind of touched on that. I was recently … I have a buyer who's been looking for a year and a half. Not to scare new buyers out there but sometimes it does take a while. But he's not likable. Joe: Okay. Stephen: And he was on a phone call … I was on it as well with the seller and he was beating up the seller on the phone in front of me like I wasn't on the call. I don't know but … and the seller chose another buyer. Joe: It's not hard. I'll talk from personal experience. When I sold my business I remember being on one of these buyer conference calls. I had three or four. Jason Yellowitz here at Quiet Light sold my business way back in 2010. And I had three or four calls with potential buyers before it went under contract and sold it. But I remember sitting … I was in the car on a call and I'm sitting in a parking lot and I've got this guy just belittling my business and talking about all the negative things and I'm just to all I can do to end the call. It's you know … to not end the call and to be polite and it was really hard. And even if he made me a full price offer … all cash, full price offer I have to take into account, sellers have to take into account how difficult that particular type of buyer is going to be in due diligence and in the training and transition period. There's a cording, a relationship it's … it ends at a certain period but you're going to be in a relationship with that person and you want to make that as pleasant and as enjoyable as possible. So being likable is critical without a doubt. Stephen: Absolutely. Joe: What are the top two or three qualities that you look for aside from good financials from the buyer? Like, do they have to have a certain debt to income ratio? Do they have to have certain assets in order to buy a business? Stephen: As I would say assets it's more present driven unlike buying a house. I think we definitely look at what's called post-closing liquidity. For example, when all the dust settles is it broke after closing or still has a fair amount of cushion. So we definitely look at that. Is there outside income? Does [inaudible 00:32:09.5] have a … what I call a day job to … for outside income? That's another thing we look at. So those are two very important variables. Credit score is important but it's not like buying a home where you get to really perfect your lending terms. It's pretty much either get a loan or you don't get a loan in the SBA world. A recent issue … if the person is being down with a ton of personal debt that's something that we look at. Generally, that's a character … it's the ones living beyond their means that's generally not liked. So those are just some of the variables. And also what I look at is does this person have the skill set to be able to scale a business or is the business going to go stagnant as it transitions over to him or her. So that's another thing we look at but [inaudible 00:33:00.5] just some of the variables. Joe: So when someone comes to you and says I want to buy a business part of what you do is you look at their financials. You look at all those variables and you say okay great you qualify to buy a business up to a certain amount. Is that the process? Do you say okay … do you give him a guide as in terms of you can buy something up to a million or two million [inaudible 00:33:19.8] like that? Stephen: Yes and a lot of the determining factor is based on their … is it direct, do they have direct experience or indirect experience? So that is going to move— Joe: Noted. Okay. Stephen: Secondly, post-closing liquidity that's really what I focus on. If the person is trying to buy a million dollar business he has to inject or put down a hundred grand and he has 110,000 in the bank that's not going to work. So we kind of have to move the needle down. Joe: And in that situation, they wouldn't … it's not that they don't qualify to buy a business but in that situation, they wouldn't qualify for a million dollar business maybe a half a million dollar business. Stephen: Right, it would move the target price down a little bit. Joe: Okay so just let me clarify that so that somebody has a $110,000 and they want to buy an SBA business and put 10% down, for those listening that's generally the number 10 to 15% down, 110,000 you're going to be left with 10 grand; not going to work. So you got to look at a half a million dollar business. Stephen: Or 800, 750 something like that. Joe: Yeah and then you look at their debt, what they have, what they need to live off of and that smaller business is not going to cash flow as high especially after the debt service from your loan. So you look at all of that and help them with what they're capable of buying first and foremost right? Stephen: Yeah, most of my buyers have what I call a day job so most of their … in most cases their day job covers their personal debt so that's rarely a real factor. Now I do have an individual recently who didn't have a day job and had tons of personal debts so that kind of blew her out of the water. But generally we do look at that. So again back to post-closing liquidity what I do is … so for all of you out there once Joe refers a client to me for pre-qualification I'm able to have an interview with that person on a scheduled call and ask some questions and also they provide me what's called a financial statement. And then I'm able to in most cases issue a pre-qualification and give them a target amount. In the case … in the example that was well over 800,000 for example. And then that person goes back to Joe and says okay I'm pre-qualified with Stephen, he told me to look at businesses around 800,000 let's go. Joe: And then they have a path which is the most important thing. Somebody that doesn't know what they're looking for, doesn't know what they're buying capabilities are is less qualified from our view. So one of the things we want you to do folks if you're out there as a buyer reach out to someone like Stephen and get pre-qualified so that it will help you narrow your focus. And then the next step is to look at as many listings as possible from the online world and figure out what you like and don't like about the business. When you find the right one if it's a great business you want to be in a position where you're already prequalified to act quickly. Because if it's a great business guess what other people are going to be looking at it and making offers as well, really important there. Stephen: Absolutely especially since there are a lot of buyers out there and if you snooze you're going to lose. So you need to kind of get your house in order before looking. Joe: Absolutely, I agree 1000%. So let's talk quickly about the qualifications of the buyer. Do they have to be a US citizen? Stephen: They could be either a green card holder or a US citizen living in the United States. Joe: That green card holder or US citizen living in the United States, the business itself does it have to be a US citizen or a green card holder filing US tax returns? Stephen: In most cases yes depending on the structure of the business. Joe: Okay, there's always a sort of gray area in the situation. Stephen: Yes, it depends on the structure, you kind of different components as in the past few company on the foreign entity— Joe: Right. Stephen: Things that does affect that answer. Joe: Right. Okay and then your business and the size of loans that you guys generally do, are we're looking at you're looking for a half a million and up two, three million, where is your sweet spot in terms of lending? Stephen: So generally my personal loan floor let's call it is half a million dollars. But obviously, if it's a client I've been working with and happens to just look at $800,000 businesses I would grant one for 400,000 on that person. My average loan amount is about a one and a half million dollar range. So … and you know looking at my 2018 numbers that's close to 60 million, 40 transactions, that's about that number. Joe: I got you. I think we have 38 of them that were directed at me I think right? No, I'm kidding. Stephen: 41. Joe: So you're loaning on the value of the business. And what about if it's an inventory based business are you loaning for the value of the inventory as well? And then working capital … does somebody, do you always loan … give working capital money so that they— Stephen: Always. So a very good topic here so obviously I'm going to finance the business itself. I'm also … if the purchase price of the business does not include inventory I finance the inventory, the on-hand inventory. And what I do is I work with you Joe in determining what that number is going to be at closing. So I finance that. I also include working capital. And that working capital I generally work it into a loan in a sense that I'm able to include it in your market … not directly your market, so okay of that 100,000 working capital 50 is going to be for additional inventory above and beyond what's being purchased with the business. And the other 50 is going to be marketing campaign or advertising campaign, it could be for hiring support staff. Joe: Okay and then lastly I want to talk about the term of the loans. We're talking five years, 10 years, 30 years, what are we looking at? Stephen: It's a 10 year loan and of all those components, by the way, it ends up being all in one loan. It's not where you have separate loans for each. So it's all incorporated into a 10 year SBA loan. Joe: Okay and 5, 6%interest rate somewhere in that range; five to seven? Stephen: Base prime plus two and three quarters, right now it's 8.25. Joe: Prime plus two and three quarters. Okay so for those that want to run their own numbers 10% down, 10 year note, prime plus two and three quarters, do the math on that. Stephen: Yeah. Joe: The seller note in 2017 and prior to that in most of the transactions that we did or did together you required some sort of seller note. And that changed in 2018 so for … got a business that's a million and a half and somebody wants to put down 15% are you requiring a seller note on a deal of that size or are you not anymore? Stephen: So up to 2017 a seller note was required by the SBA and not by the invidual lender. Joe: Okay. Stephen: So typically it was 10% down payment let's call it from the buyer, 15 from the seller or vice versa in terms of the seller note for a total of 25% down payment rejection. Joe: Okay. Stephen: In '18 the barrier to entry was lower. The overall requirement paying on a deal is the minimum 10%. In terms of what lenders require, some lenders require a seller note. We do not. Sometimes I incorporate a seller note to strengthen the loan especially if the buyer does not have direct online experience. So it gives kind of the underwriter warm fuzzies in the sense that the transition will most likely go smoother. The seller has a little bit of skin on the game. So there are situations where I do incorporate a seller note for approval purposes. Joe: So for buyers, sellers, even other brokers listening to this, this is you know you're hearing Stephen say I incorporate this or I incorporate that to help the underwriter feel better about the loan and make sure it goes through. What I do personally is when I have a deal that's pre-qualified by Stephen or someone like Stephen when I get an offer on the business A) I want to know if Stephen knows who they are and if they're working with him and how they look qualification wise. But B) I really like to send the deal structure to you Stephen and say this is the deal structure is this going to float with your underwriters? And I think that's critical to the ultimate success of the loan and the transaction process. Because the last thing that we want … it's happened once or twice and I don't recall if it was with you or not but … where you've … actually no it was with you where the underwriter looked at something and they had to tweak it just a little bit, had to increase the seller note by 5% or something like that. That's not what we want to do so now I run everything by you prior to having a letter of intent signed. I recommend everybody to do that if they're going to do an SBA loan through Stephen and e-commerce lending. Stephen: Absolutely, so that's a very good point as we continue down the path of e-commerce lending I am constantly tweaking the way I do things. And that's one thing I do is I bet really hard upfront so there aren't changes on the backend. Fortunately some of my buyers don't [inaudible 00:42:26.4] the businesses that they're looking at prior to signing a letter of intent. It's kind of an after they do that they come to me and say hey I just bought this business and here's the deal structure I want you [inaudible 00:42:38.3] well that's not going to work. Joe: Yup they don't do that with Quiet Light they have to [crosstalk 00:42:41.7] so the whole process we require that conference call. Because we … it's not, we don't want people to go under a letter of intent just to tie it up and then make a decision. We want them to make the decision, go under letter of intent, and close and go through that process. It just saves everybody a lot of time and hassle. Stephen: It really does. Joe: Okay, any last thoughts about … you want to share with the buyers or sellers that are listening to the podcast today? Stephen: Yeah in terms of sellers even if you're not selling a business now please reach out to me in general and have us put together a game plan for future sale. It's really, really important and again it will be dividends on the backend. And then for you buyers out there reach out to me. I'm more than happy to pre-qualify you for a business. You can reach me at stephen@ecommercelending.com and the first name is spelled ph or call me at 813-766-4524. Joe: Thanks. I will put that on the show notes as well. The last thing I want to say is just to reiterate what you're talking about there with the sellers and it's called choose your pain. Go through the pain of getting your financials in good shape now and having a great transaction and a sale or don't do it and you're choosing your pain later because it's going to be difficult. You're going to be … you're bank account is going to be in pain because you're not going to get as much value for your business. So make the choice and hopefully you'll choose that first one. It's not fun, it's not exciting but it's the right thing to do. Do some valuation exit planning, reach out to Stephen; reach out to anybody at Quiet Light. Go to inquiries@quietlightbrokerage.com myself, Mark, anybody on the team is happy to help you even if you're not planning to sell your business for another two, three, four years. That's what we're here for. Stephen, you're awesome as always. Thanks so much for your time. I look forward to a great 2019 with you. Stephen: Absolutely, Joe. Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to it as well. Joe: All right man, talk to you soon.   Links and Resources: ECommerce Lending Email Stephen Call Stephen 1-813-766-4524  

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Boom! What's goin' on everyone? It's Steve Larsen, and this is Sales Funnel Radio.   Today I'm gonna tell you guys, and try and convince you that you should never hire a marketer.   I've spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today, and now I've left my nine-to-five to take the plunge, and build my million-dollar business.   The real question is, "How will I do it without VC funding or debt, completely from scratch?" This podcast is here to give you the answer.   Join me and follow along, as I learn, apply, and share marketing strategies to grow my online business - using only today's best internet sales funnels.   My name is Steve Larsen, and welcome to Sales Funnel Radio.   What's up, guys? I'm excited for this episode, I've been thinking about this quite a bit here.   Recently, I had a guy reach out to me, it was over on.. I don't remember who..   I have tried to find it on my phone, actually, but he reached out, (and this has happened many times), and I just wanted to address it, because it seems to be something that happens often.   The guy reached out, and he said, "Hey, I appreciate what you're doing, I watch the show..." First of all, thanks for watching the show, and he said, "I watch the show, and I was just wondering, could I give you, maybe, 20, 30% of my business to come in and be the marketer for it?"   And when I see that, I cringe for many reasons.   #1: That's not an attractive opportunity for me at all, 'cause it means I'm gonna be the guy making it rain, and getting paid only 20% for what I bring in - so that's NOT a deal...   Why would I be attracted by that? I'm not going to be, right?   It's kind of like when people come up to me, and they say things like, "Hey, Stephen, look, I've got this great idea, will you do it? Will you come in, you build the funnel, I'll give you 50% of it."   And I'm like, "Why don't I just do the whole idea on my own, and keep 100%?"  You know what I mean?   An idea itself is not an asset. Ideas are not assets. Ideas are not value, right?   So, if you just have an idea, and you try and go bring somebody in like that, that's not attractive. They might as well just go and do it on their own.   So, number one, that's the first, like, "Ewww!" That I had when I saw it. I was like, "That's not a deal to me."   But the second thing that I notice is, 'cause this question actually comes to very frequently: "Stephen, will you take 20, 30% of my company, Stephen, can I give you 50% of my company? Stephen, will you do that?"   And what's funny, what's interesting about this topic, is that there's a fundamental issue that is actually going on when somebody asks that question. You should never ask that question - EVER - especially for the role of marketing.   One of my early one-on-one mentors said, that if you think about a business as a car:   Finance - is the guy sitting over in the passenger seat, planning how far you can get with what gas you've got? He's the guy on the side going, "This is what we can do. This is what we can project."  Finance, very future focused. This is gonna be the future.   Supply chain -  they're the ones hanging out the window. They're the ones who are testing to see how much gas is left in the actual tank? They're the ones seeing when the next gas station is coming up? How far can we actually get based on resources? Where do we get the next resources?   The supply chain is very past focused, "This is what we've needed in the past."   The marketer - is in the actual driver's seat. They're the ones goin', "You know what - let's go over there. I think that there's gold over there! Let's go that way." Marketers are the ones that drive the entire company.   I'm gonna get a lot of pushback when I say that, but it's very, very true. There's no cash... your business is dead! What brings in cash? Marketing!   Money is the byproduct of marketing.   When I see somebody come out, and they say things to me, like, "Hey Stephen, would you please be the marketer of my company?"   What that says to me, that is an individual who has been solely married to the fact that they think that their product is what gives them money. It is not! The product is not.   Now that might be the exchange of what actually pulls the money to you, but that's not how sales are done!   When I see somebody ask that kind of question, I know that there's a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually is causing the cash to come in.   It is not about the product.  That is not what's actually bringing in cash.   So when somebody comes in, and they something like, "Hey, would you come and be the marketer?" That tells me they have no idea why their product is selling. They have no clue why they're actually being successful, or not successful.   They have no idea what levers are really going on inside the company... where if they just turn this lever, and push away that one, money would start coming in a little bit more, right?   I know when I consult for companies, I know that there are always, ALWAYS three or four levers that I could just go turn, and money is the result of it.   And it's mostly because us entrepreneurs, we get so focused on being the technician... we get so focused on, "Hey, I got a sweet product. This product right here is incredible, this product's amazing." And you're like, "Yeah, you're right, that's true, you know what, you're right, that's true. Not many of you have done that." But it's not the reason somebody goes and purchases, right?   Very few people will ever go buy something just because it's brand new and never been done, right? That's important, that's attractive, that's sexy... But the reason people buy has everything to do with the actual sales message, and the ability to tell stories.   When somebody comes to me and says, "Stephen, take a percentage of my company to be the marketer." What it's telling me, is that they actually have no idea what stories are selling. They have no idea why they're actually bringing in cash on their own. And it's scary. That's a freaky place to be in - and I understand it.   So, number one, "What do you do if you're in that kind of scenario right now?”   For the individual who reached out and asked that question, (which, first of all, "Thank you very much, I'm honored, but the answer's, No") -  I've got a few things here...   If you're in that scenario, and you're like, "Man, I just realized when listening to Stephen, I have no idea why my stuff sells."   The first thing you need to start doing is to go back to your existing customer base, and start asking 'em at what point they realized this would be a good decision for them?   And if they point to a feature, you keep digging until they point to a story - that's very key.   Go back to your existing customer base, if you have a business right now, and you go back to your existing customer base, and you ask them:     "What made you purchase?"       "Why was that feature important to you?"     "Oh, interesting, so it was important to you because of this. Now, what was going on in your life at the time?"   "Now, what was it that I said where you realized, 'Oh my gosh, this guy's not a scammer?"   And you just keep digging, and you keep digging, keep digging. Ask a lot of people. Man, I'm gonna ask like 50 of your customers.   Go in and ask 'em,  and what you'll start to see is a pattern around whatever story it was that you were telling. It might take some digging on your side.   Now, if you DON'T have a product, if you don't have anything selling, you might be in somewhat in this scenario, at a bit of an advantage, because you're gonna be able to go in and just start telling stories. Not about the product - it's storytelling, okay? That's what selling is. You're telling stories.   Every commercial, every ad, every infomercial, infographic, anything. Anything that persuades you is story-based.   So what I want you to do, is I want you to start going out and start telling stories to people. And when you're able to measure which stories cause the biggest "Whoa!" That's the story you should be using. And that's exactly how it works.   Whenever you start seeing a story - or start telling a story to somebody, and they're like, "Wait, what website was that? Wait, where did you get that? Wait, what tool was that? Wait, what product was that?" When they start asking questions like that, they're in heat. That's a person with a wallet, who wishes to be lighter.   They're walking around like, "How do I buy this thing, I really, really need it."   I can't remember what product it was I just did that too recently, but I was listening to somebody, and they're like, "Yeah, just do this, this, and this, and I got this cool product." I was like, "I need that too!" And it was a cool story, I wish I could remember the specific experience. I just remember that just happened to me recently...   When you start to see those stories having that kind of an effect on an individual, you make notes of 'em.  Earmark that story.   When I launch a product, one of my favorite strategies is just to just start telling stories on a podcast, or other people's podcasts, or a youtube channel, something like that. And what I'm doing, is I'm testing stories.   I'm trying to see like, "Okay, which of these stories is causing  a positive buying reaction?" I don't care if it's from me or not, yet, I'm just trying to see if the story sells. The story is what's selling.   I don't even have to have a product yet, and I can get people to start purchasing.   And again, there can be, obviously, a very ethical and moral bridge to cross there, and make sure you don't cross that. Stay ethical, stay moral with this stuff, okay? But that's truly what's causing the actual purchase to happen.   So, the first two things:   Number one, coming to me and saying, "Do you want 20 to 30% of my business to be a marketer?" No! No! Because that means you don't know what you're selling, and you don't know why it's selling.   You might know what, but you don't know why. You don't know why the thing is actually selling.   Number two, right? The point I was just making right there -  It means that the person whose business it is doesn't know stories that are selling. (And those are obviously very tied, those first two.)   But honestly, what I wanted to do real quick here, and I just wanted to give you guys a little piece of advice on who you should hire.   I'm not just saying like, "Don't hire a marketer." What I'm really doing is I'm trying to help you understand who you should hire. Don't hire a marketer!   Every time I've built a funnel for somebody, quick story...   One of the first roles I had at ClickFunnels was to build Russell's personal clients funnels - His personal clients who came to him, and these are hotshots, right?   You can imagine the kind of guys that Russell is willing to say yes to. They're hotshots, they're big guys, they're extremely successful, very well-known.   I was the guy on the side, just hammering these things out. Just pounding out tons, and page, after page, after page, funnel after funnel.   And what was super interesting about it is that, literally, just about every single time I was done building the funnel, and it was a success, and we got this huge influx of cash for them.     We were like "Sweet. Well, hey, that was a great project, appreciate it, your funnel's done now, keep running traffic to it." Then we would just, like, walk away - and the funnel would die almost every single time.   I can think of one instance where that wasn't the case.   I remember at one time, though, I think was running eight different company's funnels. It was eight! It was ridiculous!   So I'd be going in, and I'd be like, "Alright, this over here, we're in the health industry. Over here, we're in the camping industry. Over here, we're in the this, we're in the that..." All these broad areas...   I’d be looking at numbers and tweaking. I was like, "Russell, they need this…. Russell, ah, ah!" And I was pulling my hair out.   It's hard enough just to get an individual to build one funnel in their life.   You literally are one funnel away from the life you'd like. That's why we say that all the time - it's not a cute saying. It's very true.   Imagine doing eight at the exact same time? My brain's already on fire, but it was like extra ablaze. It got really, really stressful.   What we realized was that we had done so much of the marketing for them, figuring out which stories do sell... and not just what the stories are, but how to tell them.   There were so many things we'd figured out for them, and they had not had the epiphany yet on why those things were working. So then, when we left, they didn't know the three levers they should just keep turning, and cash would pop out the bottom.   So we literally stopped working with companies where the CEO was not also the marketer. 'Cause there's a business owner, a marketer, and an entrepreneur. A lot of times, especially as the company grows, that they're not always the same people.   I don't like working with companies where the CEO is not also the entrepreneur and the marketer. There's a sweet spot for me where I like working with that kind of company.   We'd go in, and I'd start working with a CMO, and I'd build these funnels, and we'd put them out, and THEN, I'd have to re-sell the entire concept again from the ground up to the entrepreneur, the CEO, or the business owner.   So there's a combination there that I like to work with that is very, very attractive to me. I know that I can go blow those types of companies up.   It's not that I can't make it work for other companies. It's just that there's so many holes to jump through that it's ridiculous. Lots of red tape. Especially when the organization starts getting bigger. So I don't like to work with anybody who's not the ultimate decision-maker.   If I build funnels with people, it's so rough when that business owner is not also the marketer.   And it makes sense - because the marketer's the one driving the sales. They're the one figuring where the next vein of gold is, but if they're not also the entrepreneur, the CEO, or business owner - it's hard. You're constantly re-selling the organization on what you're doing, rather than having the leader/marketer be like, "Rawr - let's do this!"   Never outsource your marketing!   We always joke that outsourcing your marketing is like outsourcing your sex life... You're not gonna do that.   Selling is the sex of business. The relationship is the fulfillment afterward. That's the big joke with it - we say that a lot.   The whole key, that's what I'm trying to say, is that when you go in, and you're not working with somebody who's the ultimate decision-maker in some form or fashion - who cannot control, or influence, or maintain their organization, and you are re-selling everybody, that is a terrible funnel-building scenario to be in.   I've been in it enough times to know when it looks like that might be what's going on, okay? So, does that make sense? There are multiple reasons why I say no, okay?   I just want you to know, real quick, who you should hire.   My goal of Sales Funnel Radio is to turn you into a marketer. Marketers make cash.  Money is the byproduct of marketing. Marketing is the thing that gets you guys money coming in. Loving customers who continue to buy after they make that first purchase. I want to turn you into a marketer.   I'll probably do a podcast episode soon... in fact, I might do it after this one, where we'll just go over definitions so you guys can understand:   What marketing actually is?   What advertising actually is.   Does that make sense?     They are very different and unique scenarios.   When I learned the difference between a product and an offer - my life changed.   When learned the difference between selling and marketing - my life changed.   When I learned the difference between selling and closing - my life changed.   When I learned the difference between advertising and marketing - my life changed.   They are all very different. Do not think they're the same. They're completely different things.   So the person you should hire…?   You need to think of it almost like a web... That's how I think of it.   If you are the main marketer, especially if you're small. Especially if you're just starting out in this game. (Now, if you're big, this also applies to you as well.) But the issue is, "You are the marketer... now, WHAT is marketing?"   Marketing is the act of changing beliefs with the intent of a purchase to happen.   That's all marketing is.   That's my own definition, but as I've just gone further and further in this game - that's what it is.   Marketing is not necessarily an ad. Marketing is not necessarily Facebook ads. It's not necessarily logos.   For a long time, I spent time asking myself the question, "What is marketing itself?" The essence of marketing itself, what is it? "It's Belief." It's the act of changing somebody's beliefs. It's the act of changing the way somebody sees the world.   You might do that through some kind of educational thing. It might be through some comedy ad. There are many ways to pull that off... but all you're doing at the core of marketing is shifting someone's paradigm. That's it.   You're changing the way they see the world.   That should be up to the main business owner/ CEO/ entrepreneur/ business owner/ the main decision maker. In my mind, that should be the same person as the marketer. I don't know why you would ever hire out the marketing department.   Everybody's in the marketing department. Everybody in your company should be in the marketing department! You're just changing beliefs. In my opinion, my very strong opinion, that mission should be down to every person in the company.   Anyway, so as got the main marketer, you go out and I start trying to figure out who you need to hire? That might mean a Facebook ads person. That might mean a creative individual, meaning like they create creatives like pictures, and logos, and stuff like that. That's not marketing, but it's a piece of it, right?   Honestly, a lot of the people that I hire for my content creation team, they aren't marketing, but they're part of my marketing engine. They're part of my engine that changes people's beliefs, their relationship with me, and my products. That's what marketing is.   So Facebook ads - that's not marketing - but it's a piece of it.   Creating logos, slogans, business cards - that's not marketing, but it can be a piece of it if you're tossin' in a little story.     I think the biggest waste of space EVER, is when you go into those arenas...   I went to a basketball game with my siblings and my dad - it was a few years ago for Christmas. We went to a basketball game, and we walk into this huge, huge stadium.  I think it was in Phoenix. I can't remember who they were playing.   There's the people. There's the players. The stadium is all lit up and everything...  but what else is out there? Banners, right? You got people's names - that's it! "Chase." "Coca-Cola."   That's NOT marketing, that's advertising. Does that make sense? Very different. They're very different.   I live in a world called Direct Response Marketing; meaning that the marketing I create is intended for the person that I hope buys. It goes direct to the consumer - right to the individual. That's the world that I live in - because my dollars are measurable.   I know that when I spend this amount of money, like 99% of the time, I get a customer, right? It's measurable. I don't have to go get big dumps of cash coming on in...   So, when you think about yourself, when you think about your business - when you think the way it's structured... You've got your market, you are the marketer; meaning the stories are coming from you. You're the attractive character of your business.   If you're the attractive character of your business, you better freakin' be the marketer - because the marketing stories that you're gonna be telling will most likely be about the attractive character.   Then you might have a Facebook person,  an audio person (if you're doing something like a podcast)  a video person - all these are pieces of marketing, but not marketing itself!   That's the whole point I'm trying to get down to.   So when somebody reaches out to me, and they say something like, "Will you come out and be the marketer?" I'm like, "Yeah, but I'll probably bring a whole team with me and I'm just gonna be the storyteller." That's what it really means to be the marketer. Anyways, that's all I'm trying to say with this.   It's funny because I've been asked multiple times, "Do you know any good marketers that I could hire?" Guys, you can't find good marketers to hire. I was talking with... I think it was Trey Lewellen, when I was over with him, hangin' out, and he and I were laughing about this very concept. He and I were talking together and saying how funny it is.   He's like, I keep getting asked, "Do you know any good marketers to hire?" And he said the same thing. He goes, "I always laugh when someone asks me that. You can't hire good marketers because they've figured out how to make money so easily that they're just working for themselves."   There's no such thing as hiring a good marketer - which means you need to become one yourself! Does that make sense?   I could find a good copywriter, I could find a great ads person, I could find a great... BUT it's dang near impossible to find a good marketer - because they're not hireable.  Good marketers are not on the market. They're not looking for anything.   You can tell when somebody is a good marketer because usually, they're turning down every opportunity. They're so focused on what they're doing. they get the game - they understand it. There's are enough clicks that happen' "Oh my gosh, are you serious, that's how it works?" They're just doing it on their own anyway.   It's funny, 'cause I've had multiple requests for that in the past little bit. People have reached out, and they're like, "Okay, well, if you're not hireable, do you know any other good marketers I could hire?"  “No!” I know a lot of people that you could probably train up, but in reality, they're not gonna be as obsessed about your product as you are - so just learn how to be a marketer. Just learn how to do it. It's not something to outsource.   I can find someone in finance, I can find a supply chain, I can find someone in fulfillment. Marketing is that thing, you don't outsource.   You can't find a good marketer, they're not looking. They don't care how good your opportunity is, they're already knee-deep in their own.   I hope this episode was helpful to you, and I hope that what it did, is it helped re-create some of the relationships between what marketing really is, your company.   Money is the lifeblood of your business. Cashflow is the lifeblood of your business. What's tied to that directly? Marketing! You don't outsource that. You could outsource the ads, all these different pieces I was talking about, but don't think you're being attractive by giving away percentages of your company to good marketers.   A joint venture, something like that, maybe? But, they're not motivated by that, okay? They're just not out there on the job board. There's no such thing as a poor marketer. There isn't! Which is why it's hard to hire 'em! Because they've figured out the game. There's no such thing as a poor marketer.   If somebody is poor, they're either new, or they're not a marketer. That's it.   If you figure it out, there's just a few tweaks to make the game real easy. That's what this whole podcast is meant to try and help you learn and understand.   I know this one was a bit of a rant - I was kind of all over the place a little bit, but hopefully, you got the idea:   "Don't hire a marketer! You are the marketer."   You try and hire a marketer, it's not gonna work. Be the marketer, hire out specific roles in your campaigns. That's it. That's what you hire. Don't try and find a good marketer... or hold out on your own business because you're trying to find a good marketer. It doesn't work that way.   Alright guys, thanks so much.   Hopefully, you enjoyed the episode, if you guys liked it, please share it. It really means a lot to me, it really makes me excited and feels good when I see your reviews.   It means a lot to me when I see that you guys have shared it. This is something I've dumped a lot of my own money into, just to get some of these lessons out, 'cause I wanna help share, so it really means a lot to me when you kind of pay it back, pay it forward so to speak.   Anyways guys, thanks so much, hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.   Bye. Boom! Thanks for listening. Again, please remember to write and subscribe.   Hey, you want me to speak at your next event or Mastermind? Let me know what I can share that would be most valuable by going to stevejlarsen.com, and book my time now.

Boom! What's going on everyone? It's Steve Larsen, and this is Sales Funnel radio.   Today I'm gonna show you guys my 5 phases of funnel building.   I spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today. And now I've left my nine to five to take the plunge and build my million dollar business.   The real question is, how will I do it without VC funding or debt completely from scratch? This podcast is here to give you the answer.   Join me and follow along as I learn, apply and share marketing strategies to grow my online business using only today's best internet sales funnels.   My name is Steve Larsen and welcome to sales funnel radio.   What's up? Hey, I'm excited for this video today! I've actually been thinking about this quite a bit here.   Now when you think about building something like a sales funnel...   The first time I ever heard about building something like a sales funnel, I was like oh my gosh, I got to write copy. There's the copy piece. I should find some images. I should do some videos. I should do the actual pages themselves. The actual product itself. How I'm gonna promote it?   There's all the stuff that goes into it. It can get incredibly stressful. So what I wanted to do right quick is...   For those of you guys who are listening, just know that on YouTube - I'm gonna draw this so you guys can see a little bit of my funnel building process.   So this is this is interesting. I teach a lot of the stuff at events, and multiple times right, somebody will stand up and be like, "Hey, hey, how should I go about doing upsell, and this, this, and this for my product?"   I'm like "Why you even thinking about that? You don't even have a main product yet."   Too many times we get too involved in questions we don't really need to answer yet!   But there are questions that DO matter from building a funnel.   Sometimes people are so concerned about what makes the car engine run that they don't even know how to drive the car. You know what I mean? It's like there's a whole bunch of things out there - and you don't need to know that yet.   So literally, my purpose in this episode, is I just wanna walk you guys through the very simple funnel building process that I have and why it works - and how to screw it up.  This is really it, I mean this is truly it.   Now if you think about it, there are five steps here:   The first thing I need to go do is kind of a research period. Check this out... check this out- and I'm gonna explain this kind of as I go along here.   The first thing that I do, is I go and I have to make sure that I know what my customers are already buying and how they're buying it.   We call it the "what and the how." You guys may have heard of this before, It's the "what and the how," though.   So, I go in, and I look at a red ocean meaning if I'm gonna go sell... I don't know? Pencils. I'm looking at pencils or pens, they're over my desk over there...   Let's say I'm gonna go sell pens. Who else is selling pens and how are they selling them? Who as far as businesses go, but also the customers; they're like "Hey, this is how I like to hear about my pen purchases. This is how I like to go and purchase my pens." You know what I mean?   So we answer the "what and the how?" What am I gonna sell? What are the people selling and how are they selling it? We call it the red ocean when there's lots of competition inside of one place.   So I'm gonna go inside, and I'm gonna look at the red ocean. I'm gonna look at the red ocean, and specifically what I'm doing is I'm looking for "the what and how."   I'm just gonna write that down again, red ocean, and I'm looking for like I said, "the what and how." I'm gonna draw a bit of line here. That's like phase number one here.   Phase number 0ne, red ocean - just research who is already selling the things that I'm interested in selling, and how are they selling them? That's all I'm answering.   So the second thing - now that I know a little bit about the actual red ocean and again remember, I know the what and the how that's all I'm looking for. The second thing I can go and start looking into... It's literally the second phase of, funnel building for me is the actual sales message writing. Not products creation. This is super key.   There are multiple products in my early years of doing this where I did it wrong. I would start building products before I knew how to sell them. Stupid! Dumb!   And when I say that out loud, you're like, "Well yeah, of course, you wouldn't do that." Yeah, well that's what everybody does! They come in, and they start making these products without any knowledge on how to actually go out and sell the thing - meaning the sale script - the sales message.   Products don't sell themselves. A product never sells itself.   When you go out, and you say, "Oh, the product's so good you've got to get in front of people." The actual cases where that's true are so rare. That is the exception NOT the rule - and I do not build a business based on exceptions. I look only on the rules. So don't go do that.   So the second thing, I go and I start building is the actual sales message. Once I've got the sales message down, the way I know I can move onto product creation mode is when there are literally wallets flying through the air at me.   Meaning when my sales message is so compelling that people are like, "I have to have that where do I pay you?" And I actually do collect money. Meaning people vote with their wallet, and they tell me, "Yeah, that's a really great idea. Let me give you money," and I actually have money in my hands.   That's when I go actually create the product.   And you might be like, "Stephen that's kind of weird. It's like a bait and switch thing.”  No, no, no, no, no! I always tell them, "Hey, this isn't ready yet. We got the beta version. If you pay this discounted price, you can get the beta version coming out soon.” And then I go build it real fast.   There are so many companies that do it that way.   And what's cool about that is that you are using the market's opinion to create your products. That's huge. That's a massive benefit that you have. It removes like 90% of the risk of the entrepreneurial game.   This game is not risky if you just do it in the right way.   Going out and creating a product, then trying to figure out how to sell, then trying to figure out what markets should buy it, that's risky.   And that was all the ways that college taught me to build stuff  - which is really weird. Anyway...   So "red ocean" - when I know the "what and how" is similar to the thing I'm gonna be selling. Then I go and create a sales message.   And my aim is to be different, not better - we talked about that a few episodes ago. I'm trying to be different, not better. Super key.   And then number three, I actually start building the product.   Now, for me actually make a sales message there has to be some idea of what the product's going to be in the first place, but I don't need to actually build the thing! Does that make sense? Very important distinction right there.   Then when I'm to going out, and I'm actually building the product. That's when I actually I move onto step number four, (and I'm gonna want more whiteboard space here.) You guys see that light over there on the side? Oh man, this' so funny - guess you'll see all my home studio stuff anyway. Whatever I'm gonna keep going, is that cool? Alright, sounds good.   Alright, number four, what I do here is I start building the funnel. Now in order to actually get sales in the first place, I might need somewhat of a funnel up, but I don't obsess over it.   So back in step 2 when I build the sales message, I'm running the sales message. I'm actually getting cash coming in, there's some sort of funnel that needs to be up, but I just don't obsess over it. Does that make sense?   It wasn't for like four months/ five months, into one of my major products that I started actually going in and adding all the little pieces and glaze - all the features and all the little cool things that ClickFunnels has inside. Does that make sense?   'Cause most people go in, and that's the first thing they do. They're the like, "And then we could have this page, we have this page, this page..."   And the issue is that if those are the things that make your product sell (the little tweaks, the little features, that little split test that gave you an extra half a percent conversion increase.) If that's what's making you profitable, your offer and your sales message are not sexy enough - they're not good enough!   I don't want to bank on a feature to make my business profitable.   My products, my sales message, should be really freaking good. And the funnel is just an accelerant.   All the features, all those little things are just an accelerant for everything. Does that make sense?   So, then I go in, and I start building the funnel. Meaning I add in all the glaze, I add in all the cool stuff.   The last thing I go to, as far as funnel building phases, the final phase is traffic. Lots and lots and lots and lots of evergreen traffic sources, all over the place. Traffic, traffic, traffic, traffic, traffic, traffic.   Now the reason I drew these columns is because I wanna make a very important distinction here. In every single one of these, (let me just erase some part here) in every single one of these, I feel like I say this phrase all time...   But I was at an event, I was teaching, and somebody said, "Hey Stephen, I know what my red ocean is." I was like, "Sweet." They said, "I've got a converting sales message." I was like "Cool" (or it was converting at least well enough.) I was like, "Cool."   And they were like, "I've built the entire product." They were like, "I have a sweet funnel, and I've got a sweet little doohickey, and you know the features and all that stuff inside it." And I was like "Sweet."   Then they were like, "Where do I get traffic?" And I was like "Oh my gosh! Are you're serious?"   You have to understand that for each one of these, if you go all the way down here, and then you're like, "Where's my traffic coming from?" You've waited too long. You shouldn't have started building the funnel. You shouldn't have started building the product until you know this piece.   When it comes down to it, traffic is money, traffic is money. Flow... eyeballs... getting attention. Attention is money. Attention is cash.   If you step back, the product is just a reason to collect cash. The sales message is just a reason to collect cash. Traffic is the cash. Traffic is the thing. If you can drive traffic that's epic. Oh my gosh, that's so cool.   These are the 5-phases that I build in.   First I do this, and then second this, and third I do this, and fourth I do this, and fifth I do this (pointing at whiteboard). Those are the different phases.   I don't start any of the phases until I know the answers to those five.   So there's really two different blocks here going on. So I'm gonna draw a line right here... (drawing on a whiteboard)   So it's two different things you want on here. Everything on the top here I'm just gonna learn, so I'm just gonna put an "L" for that.   I'm gonna learn in the red ocean - I'm gonna figure out "the what and the how," that's all wanna know.   In the sales message piece, I'm gonna learn, "What gets people so motivated that they're actually giving me cash?" So when I have cash in hand, I'm gonna learn how the other people around ocean are selling. I'm gonna go learn what their sales messages are. I'm not writing sales page yet, I'm just learning. It's a research phase.   This whole top part is a research phase.   When I go out, and I'm building a product, I find out how these other guys built similar products.   And obviously, if you guys have been following me for any amount of time you know that in this phase I go out with my create what's called a purple offer  -and that makes me completely unique.   But I still need to figure out what people are already buying. I want to be prolific, but I don't wanna be risky. So I'm still gonna go find things out there that are already selling and stem out of similar things, you know what I'm saying? Anyway...   So I'm gonna go research best ways to build the products.   I'm gonna go research the best funnels that are out there that would be a good model for what I'm starting to see actually go sell.   I'm gonna go research all the different traffic methods - the best ones that are out there - evergreen traffic methods. The traffic methods that are gonna bring in a whole bunch of people once. Maybe traffic methods that are a little bit like slow growth ones.   I have a podcast episode I suppose like 20 episodes ago called, My 4 Favorite Traffic Methods. I think it's was called... go look at that! That's what I'm looking at specifically.   Look at what I've been doing this past a little bit in this podcast, in the show I've been going in, and I've been doing a little bit of a deep dive on each one of these five categories.   I'm trying to go like 30000 foot view again, not getting in the weeds on you guys on this stuff. I'm going 30000 overview again. I'm going through, and I'm looking at a 30000 overview, "This is how all the pieces map together."   I'm going in:   Research phase - What and how.   Research phase - Figure out the sales messages. What hooks? What stories can I tell to get people so excited that they get up and they're like take my money and they're throwing their wallet?   Next, Research phase - How can I build the products? How can I build the offer? How can I craft a purple offer? How can I craft something that both brings in a kind of risky, prolific, imaginary things (something no nobody's ever done that piece before), but then add the security of what people are currently buying? That's why I call it the purple offer;  Red Ocean +Blue Ocean = Purple Ocean.   Research phase - What different funnel types are people liking to buy through?   Research phase - What kind of traffic's out there? Does that make sense?   Then there's the actual execution:   Once I know those things, then it is okay for me to go build a funnel. Then it's okay for me to go out and actually start moving to the building phase. Too often people research and build in the exact same steps. Don't do that.  It's scary. It's risky.   The first thing you're doing is you're going in and researching; you're learning learning learning. Then once you've got all that down, then you build -  in that order. Step one, two, three, four, five. And five just continues with five five five five five - 'cause you're going to need "more traffic, more traffic more traffic, more traffic." Does that make sense?   I just wanted to walk through that with you guys real quick.   So again this 3000 overview.   If you guys have been watching what I have been doing the last little bit, the sole purpose of it has been going through, and teaching like, "Hey, look here are the things you go collect from the red ocean before you can move on."   There's a podcast episode, I think it's right before this one, walking through red ocean stuff that you should have before you actually go out and move on.   The sales message - I do tons of stuff on sales message. If you just rewind 30 episodes and start watching, you'll see I've been diving in and seeing what you guys react to the best so that I know like, "Hey, that was the best way to teach that concept."   We are doing a ton of building a product stuff; that's the whole purple offer thing that I talk about. Building the actual funnel, that's what I'm known for.   And then traffic, I go back to my four favorite traffic methods.   Anyway, you can start to see that, and I just want you to know how the pieces all fit together, 'cause I'm starting to get some questions of people, like, "Sweet, Stephen, I've built this thing, but how do I get traffic for it?"   Like, "Oh my gosh! The traffic is where you get paid - why did you not look at that before you started building?" And I get it - they're just new mistakes that you wouldn't know about without being in the game for a little bit.   I did the exact same thing with my very first product. I didn't look at a red ocean, kind of did, not really. I definitely didn't look at a sales message. I focused solely on building the product thinking that's what actually causes money. It's not!   I focused very heavily on the funnel - so those two (pointing to whiteboard). There's products/ funnel, product /funnel, product/ funnel.   I remember the day when it was done - and I was like "IT'S DONE!" I was like, "Babe this is huge! The next question we're gonna answer is what island will we buy? Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so cool!" And nobody bought -  because I didn't answer, "How do we get traffic?"   And I did not answer, "What sales message?" There was no targeting of "who" I'm actually targeting with the red ocean.   And anyway, so hopefully it's been helpful to you guys! I just wanted to go through and kinda do that 30000 overview.   So anyways guys, short episode, but this is incredibly impactful. This is like powerful, powerful stuff.   In fact, this is the model that we would follow at ClickFunnels. I was the funnel builder over there.   Red ocean - we knew very well who we were selling to. The what and how. Also who you're selling to comes from the red ocean. We knew the who, we knew who our customers very very well.   The sales message - honestly that's actually where we would start because we knew this piece so well. We would start at the sales message and we would start the building. It's cool to watch.   I always noticed Russell Brunson was willing to move forward with actually crafting the offer; he'd have kinda have an idea of what the offer would be. Kinda an idea of what the funnel would be. Kinda an idea of where the traffic come from...   But this was the lock gate: If he could not think up a good hook... if he could not think up a good story... he did not move on to offer. It's: Hook/ Story/ Offer.   But he did not move on to offer until he knew what hook and story were. And then we'd move on. As soon as we knew that, "Boom!" Then it was like, "Kick Stephen into gear." And I would start building; funnel, funnel, funnel.   Now that we knew what it was - we started crafting the offer and started pulling pieces together.  I start working with John, and we start working. Anyways, it's a supercool melody of all these actions going on. It takes a lot to get a funnel up, and I totally get that.   I encourage you to never do more than one. Don't move on from it until you can literally walk away and have several pieces automated.   So anyway. Guys, this is just how I build funnels, not businesses.   I just wanted to walk through and share with you guys the relationship between these pieces - and what to do to learn from each of these pieces.   Then when you can have license to start - not guaranteeing it'll work - obviously there's always tweaks inside of it, but when can you actually move on to the build phase - and when you are building - what order do you do it in.   So anyways, I just wanted to walk through that with you guys. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for reviewing and ratings inside of iTunes - I've loved watching that. It's so fun. It's been very motivating for me.   The YouTube channel, you guys have just blown it up. Love reading your comments! It's actually super, super motivating - means a lot to me. I put a lot of work into this; we've got a 7-man team just creating content - that's how it is. So it's actually very very motivating when we hear good feedback! So thanks so much guys.   Catch you later. See you next episode, bye.   Oh yeah wasn't that awesome?   Hey, just real quick, a few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, and this was the prompt - this is the letter I got from him... He said:   "Hey Steven, let me ask you a quick question. You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation. You only have your marketing know-how left. You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners - other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie...   What would you do from Day 1 to day 30 to save yourself?”   Russell Brunson.   If you want to see my answer, and a bunch of other marketers that also had to answer that in this amazing book and summit - Just go to 30days.com/Stephen   Again, you can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/Stephen. That's 30 as in "3" "0" - 30days.com/Stephen Guys enjoy.

What's going on, everyone? It's Steve Larsen, and today I'm gonna share with you guys how I was able to make the transition from employee to entrepreneur boss.   I spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today. And now, I've left my nine to five to take the plunge and build my million dollar business.   The real question is, how will I do it without VC funding or debt, completely from scratch? This podcast is here to give you the answer.   Join me and follow along as I learn, apply, and share marketing strategies to grow my online business using only today's best Internet sales funnels.   My name is Steve Larsen, and welcome to Sales Funnel Radio.   What's up, guys?   Hey, so as I started getting ready to make the jump, I wanna talk to you guys real quick about something that was really, it was hard for me. It was challenging for me. It was my biggest fear.   One of my buddies I'm talking to, well before I left, but I told him I think I need to leave my nine to five. (You can apply this to yourself regardless of what you do, right?)   I was like, "Okay, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I gotta think about, I gotta think about how I'm gonna handle this." And he goes, "What is your biggest fear?  Is your biggest fear that you're not gonna make enough money? What is the fear?"   And I said, "No, actually, my fear is not about the revenue.  I've been a part of a lot of these funnel things now and launched enough kind of on the side while I've been here. I think I've got that part." (Not to say that I'm amazing, you know. Anyway, you get what I'm saying.)   "The part that is freaking me out the most, the part that's freaking me out the most is that I'm gonna be sitting by myself alone looking at a wall with no one to crack the whip. You know what I mean? I'm gonna be sitting there by myself in an isolated room."   In ClickFunnels environment, there's energy. There are people running around over the place. There's "Hey, let's do this" and "Let's do that."   So even if there was a day when I felt kinda tired, I don't know if I wanna do this right now. I still had other people and other processes and things and place to pull me along and to hold me accountable.   And I said the thing that was freaking me out the most when I left was that I'm not gonna have that.     I was talking to my wife about this. It was the biggest fear I have; do I have the discipline to continue to show up every day like I'm going to war?  Do I have the discipline to show up day in and day out to show up and act like, "Okay, today, the goal is to make a sale." You know what I mean?   Do I have the discipline to just do revenue-generating activities and not get distracted by things that are easier? Instead of like going in and trying to make the sale, "What's more comfy for me?" You know what I mean? You guys know what I'm talking about?   So  I just wanna share with you guys how I'm able to go in and stay structured, personally, day in and day out.   Now I'm not perfect like this, and I don't want you to think that I am. I'm not.   I really only listen to like two or three people. I listen to Russell Brunson's stuff. I learned marketing from him. I learned business structures from Alex Charfen. And I listen more about closing and what to do with cash when you have it from a lot of Grant Cardone stuff. And those are kinda my three. That's about all I listen to.   Sometimes, I listen to some Pat Flynn. Pat Flynn on Smart Passive Income. His podcast, that was one of the first shows I ever listened to that started teaching me about this world.   Anyway, so there's a few people I listen to, but really, it's just them -which gurus did they learn from, which books did they study, which courses did they go to to learn how to be where they are, right?   When I'm done diving through all their stuff, I just go the next level deeper with them. And that's kinda how I make sure I put the blinders on and not get distracted with my education. So it's been kinda cool.   So this was a serious fear of mine though, right? When I leave, how will I maintain discipline? Will I? And it's funny now that I'm thinking about it, but that was eight months ago, nine months ago, and that's kind of a weird thing to be afraid of, but not really...   And funny enough, one of the things I would teach at the funnel event, (the Funnel Hackathon Event -  FHAT) was this very thing.   Funny enough the thing that people was asking about after a while, after like the first day and a half, I've had another day and a half with them, pretty much every question turned into, "How do you keep your energy so high, Stephen? How do you stay checked in so often, Stephen? How do you... "   And I was like, "Why are you guys asking me this?" I didn't say that. But I was thinking it was like, "Why does everybody ask me that question?" It almost frustrated me.   I was like, "Well you just freakin' do it? You don't overcomplicate it - you just do it."   But it's funny because like as I started leaving, I put my foot in my mouth because I realized, "Oh my gosh, I have the same fears." As I started leaving nine to five, I was like, "Holy crap! How am I gonna do that? How am I gonna stay motivated?"   So I just want to teach you guys just a few things that I do to keep myself checked in, day in and day out. Again, I'm not always perfect at it. No, but I'm like 99% on certain aspects of it. Other parts, I'm like 50%. Other parts, I'm not so good at - and I'll get better.   There's a guy; I can't remember who it was... He was getting a Ph.D., and what he chose to study was Will. He choose to study willpower. In fact, I think I have his books somewhere over there. Anyway, I'm gonna keep going here though. Let me tell you the lesson.   Here's the lesson, what I learned from it:   He went in to study and do a Ph.D. dissertation on willpower, and what causes humans to have such high will, right? And he ended up getting like depressed about his studies by the time his study was over because he found out that basically, willpower doesn't work.   In fact, I think that's the name of the book, Willpower Doesn't Work.   He found out that willpower is a terrible thing to put your faith into. Willpower is a terrible thing for you to bank your success on. And I thought how interesting is that? He said the thing that does work though is environment.   Think about this, okay? Walk with me for a second on this...   If I go ahead and I start saying things like, "Man, I need to be better," 'cause a lot of guys say that to me when they hear my episodes. "Oh man, I need to be better. I need to be so much better. I need to be doing this. I should be doing that. I need to stop doing those things. I need to stop doing that."   The first step is recognition of what you need to change personally in order to become what you're supposed to be. So you gotta recognize it, right?   "Oh man, I'm gonna do this. Oh, look at that. I don't like this part about me. Or I do like this part. I'm gonna go change that. Or if I just did this differently my business would boom."   The problem is that you were literally basing all those decisions on your own willpower.   It's one of the major reasons why on January 1st, we all come out of the gate with this massive New Year's resolution goals-  "I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna change the world. I'm gonna be over here, and I'm gonna do that."   And by week two, we can't even name what the goal was anymore. You know what I mean?   He said, so rather than focused on will, rather than focused on willpower, you need to focus on environment. And with that in mind, that's one of the ways I've been able to keep such high intense pressure, right?   Pressure makes diamonds baby. I don't want to take pressure off me. I want good pressure, right? There's bad pressure too. I don't want bad pressure. I want good pressure. I want the pressure that creates diamonds.   I want the pressure that creates me into a better person. I want the kind of pressure that forces out the bad parts of my character. I want that kinda pressure in my business, in my personal life. That's good pressure. But if I just use willpower on it, eventually, it's gonna get really uncomfortable for me.   I'm the source of the willpower. It's not sustainable. What's sustainable is environment. Willpower, you gotta get rid of that crap after a while. It's a good kickstart, but it's habits and environment that'll help you win.   And that's what the guys was saying in his study. It has everything to do with environment.   And so there is a specific place, physically, that I need to be in when it's time to work out.   There's a specific place, physically, that I need to be in when I'm gonna sleep.   It's the reason why I don't do study, and I don't do work in bed, right?   I know lots of you guys would just roll over and grab the laptop and start right there. I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to isolate.   There are certain environments where certain things happen that they should not happen in other places. It's part of the way that I've been able to structure this stuff. Environment plays a huge role.   When I walk into my office door right there, I can't explain it, I don't know what it is, but I'm on. I'm ready. And it's because of training myself that way; this is my environment to produce. This is my environment to go to war. This is my environment to be a killer, right? It's my environment. I've trained myself that way.   I don't sleep in here, I eat in here a lot (if I remember to). But I make sure that there is a specific environment for the core activities of my life.   Down right below, I'm in the second floor of our house right now, literally right below me is my gym - in the third car garage of our gym. The third car spot bay is a home gym that I built.   It's so funny like how well this has worked. When I walk out there, and I put my feet on that mat -I got that thick hard gym mat, and I got a full weight set. All the dumbbells, the bench press, it's a full setup. Got a squat rack, all of it.   I got that dummy Poverty. You guys have seen him. I brought him on here a couple of times and different places.   Willpower is no longer what I'm betting on in order to work out. I've already done 80% of the work which is just to show up and do what that environment is conducive of. Work out, right?   A lot of guys have asked me like, "Stephen, how do you come up with your podcast ideas?" I set up this screen, I got two lights right here and I got this camera on this tripod. And sometimes, it's when I'm sitting down with this setup ready, and I'm standing in front of the camera and I pace.   I will pace back and forth, and I was kinda going like this, "Okay, what it is that the community needs? What is it that they've been asking? What's something that I can share and be valuable?" I'm kinda going back and forth...   I don't wait to set this stuff up. I don't wait to have all of my ideas in place to set up my equipment. I just set up my equipment. And now, I'm in the environment and the flow starts. Does that make sense? This is one of the biggest things I could tell you.   If your spouse is like, "Hey, why don't you come work on the couch while there's a movie going?" Very few people can sit there and actually be productive, I mean truly - without watching the movie. Very few. It's because that's not the environment it was meant for.   Now, when all we have is a couch, and I didn't have a specific office, (technically, this is a bedroom - it's a big one though), there was literally the same seat or two in our couch that I would sit. It's the same seat. And it was a certain time.   It was about 5:30 in the morning, I'd get up. And if I wasn't gonna bike in and be in the office at 6 AM, I sat right there 'til about 8:30 and I just work on my own funnels. That was my environment.   Here's another one. Something I said I'd do, I tried desperately hard, I'm still not amazing at this. Like last night, my flight came in at like 2 AM. It's ridiculous by the time I get to sleep...   Anyway, I was flying like crazy over the weekend. So I'm so tired my voice is kinda shot, so I'm so sorry.   But anyway, I don't set my phone as the major alarm clock anymore as much as I can. In hotels, sometimes I can't help this. But I set my phone, if it's the alarm clock, I set it across the room. Because willpower, when I'm tired, does not work. The alarm goes off, and I wouldn't even think about it...   There have been times where I've snoozed like four times before I've consciously remembered, "Oh my gosh, I set my alarm for this time because I had to get this thing done." You know what I mean?   I don't wanna bank on willpower. I'm gonna bank on environment. And so I set that clock across the room.   Now I have a specific $7 alarm clock that's really freaking annoying. You know, beep-beep-beep. Like I hate that thing. Oh my gosh. But I set it up across the room, sometimes in another room to get up and start moving, get that blood pumping.   Sometimes, I just stand there, like, "Why am I awake again? Oh yeah, 'cause I gotta do this, this, this." Does that make sense?   Environment. Huge, huge, huge, massive accelerant right there.   If you can start to control the environment and the things that you do in those environments, massive, massive, accelerant.   Sometimes, one of the issues that I found is that people will try to relax in the same environment that they work in. That's very hard for me to do. 'Cause when I'm here, I'm going to war. That's what my mentality of it. I'm here to conquer. I'm here to dominate. I'm here to get filthy freaking rich and then give it all away when I die to charities. You know what I mean?   Like that's it. That's what I'm doing. Solving legitimate massive problems, right? Provide a huge incredible value. Get rich, and solve huge humanitarian issues. That's my goal guys. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. That's why I'm doing all these stuff. I really want that, okay?   But I can't be in a relaxing environment in the same environment where I am trying to do that. Where I'm pacing around - and I've got Vitamin C caffeine running through my veins - I've got dubstep step music going through my headphones, and I'm in front of my whiteboard trying to solve something. That's hard for the human brain to do. So I just separate environments.   That's one of the major answers to the question, "Stephen, how do stay so productive?" It's because I dedicated certain spots to do certain things and not do certain things. You understand? Massive help. Massive help.   I cannot do all of my relaxing things in the same place I'm doing my work, intense things.   I'm not going to eat my meals on the gym mat where I work out. You know what I mean? Like, no, that's crazy. Well, like, shoot, there are certain places we eat meals. Kitchen table, right? The countertop, whatever. And that's usually where it happens. We do that with the way we eat, we do that with the way we sleep, do that with the way you work. Do that with the way that you take care of yourself, your self-care.   Anyway, so that's one of the first answers, I would say. You guys start controlling your environment.   If you feel like, "I've been doing this stuff so long with no traction." It's probably 'cause of your habits. It's probably where you're trying to be successful and control your environment, 'cause willpower doesn't work. It's all about environment. That's the first thing I would say.   The second thing I would say is that I am not very good at time. I'm just not. I'm not good with time. And so one of the tricks that I noticed...   I was doing some trial runs to see if I could handle having a lot of discipline at home. I remember a Christmas time right before I left ClickFunnels. It was either Christmas or Thanksgiving, right before I left my nine to five...   I was like, "Let's do a trial run." Do I have the discipline to produce for like nine straight hours? I'm not gonna take a freaking lunch break - that's stupid. I could eat while I work. So I'm gonna get up and let's just act like a normal nine to five, or eight to five. Really, it's nine to six. That's about how long, but nine to six. And no breaks.   I don't really get up. I get up to go to the bathroom, get water, food, but I eat it all right back here and I just stay at it.   I don't know how you guys take lunch breaks. Somebody gets you to, let's go to lunch. Like, no "No, I'm not gonna go to lunch." Anyway, side rant right there. But I'm not gonna go to lunch.   Anyway, it's funny how many people ask, "Let me buy lunch." Like what if you bought it through Uber Eats and sent it to my house? I'm cool with that. Anyway, I'm not gonna go to lunch with you. Why would I waste two hours? Not that it's a waste, but it is for me. You know what I'm saying?   Like, in that environment, I'm in the zone. You know what I mean? When 9 AM hits, I'm ready to rock - hopefully, earlier than that. But anyway, so the first thing: environment - 'cause environment is the thing that does work.   The second thing though is while I was doing that trial run on, I think it's during the Thanksgiving break, so I didn't have work anyways. But I was like, "Let me do it here and see if it actually works out." Here's what's interesting about that...   Because I did not have, I didn't need to be in the chair, I didn't need to be behind the computer, the work always has to be behind the computer, but whatever the work is because I didn't have a certain time, there's nobody else I was accountable to...   The first two days, I was really good at coming in at like 9 AM. I was really good at coming in. Then it was like 9:15. And then like 9:20, and then 9:30, and then 9:40, right?   And then I would end the day as disciplined either.   When I was at ClickFunnels, I'd work about until six, have dinner with the family then I come back, stop at 10, so I can get up early. I'll stop at 11, I'll stop at 12. No, let's just push to 2. You know what I mean?   Like the schedule thing, I suck at time management. I do, and I'll admit it. I'm not ashamed at that. But a business can't run like that...   So this is one of the tricks that I've used a lot. I have used many times. I actually used to use this in college. I hated doing early morning classes, but I noticed that when I started my classes at about 10 o'clock in the morning, I would do almost nothing from the time I got up to the time my class happens at 10 o'clock. And it was like that for a whole semester.   I was like, "Huh, what if I chose to do 7:45 AM classes every morning? Let's see what happens. Let's check it out."   It was a little more painful sometimes, especially when I was like little late on an assignment, or not late but like pushing up to the edge, which is pretty much every assignment.   So I would get up at seven and just haul. Just push, just go super fast to campus. Go flying into class. But I noticed that when class was over at 8:45, I would make fantastic use of the time since I was already up. I was already awake. I was already doing stuff.   But on the days when I didn't have class until nine, I would just sleep in a little more. I wouldn't do anything else with the day. And so one of the things that have been really, really powerful for me, is I set appointments early in the day every day.   If I don't have an appointment, I make sure that I have a sense of accountability to something or someone. And now I'm practiced at it.   You guys know I was in the army for a while, right? I went and enlisted, and when I was done, I came out as an officer. And I remember when I went to basic training, there some guy who was 15 seconds late to this formation that we were doing And he didn't have all those crap with him.   We were doing something. I can't remember what it was. We hold our M16s with us. We had our weapons and shooting range or something like that, and we're gonna go on like six days or something...   Anyway, the dude didn't have all these crap together. And so the drill sergeant put everybody in a front leaning rest position. He just goes, "Attention! Front leaning position, move."   Then what you do is you just hold the push up position. That's it, with all of your gear on. And you put your M16 across the top of your hands. You have two liters of water on you, 40 pounds in your pocket, and you just hold the push up position.   We held that thing forever, while we waited for the dude to pack in front of the rest of the platoon. We just sat there. Hands shaking, you start freaking out. You try to self-talk, like "Yeah, you got this."   What they teach is that if you are the weak link, if you do not show up on time, if you cannot get your crap done, you actually are making the rest of team suffer.   They would not make the guy was late. They would not make the guy who was not packed. They would not make the guy who was late on the run get punished. They would make everybody else get punished for his mistake.   There's some psycho-ness to that if you think about it. But there's a really powerful crap behind it too. And it's the state that I try and stay in.   I got a little bit of a team now. I got like six VAs on my content team. I got other team members that I'm starting to look out for and grab as well. And if I don't have my crap together, if I can't get my butt in the chair at the right time I'm supposed to, if I can't get the stuff to the people that I need to, I literally am making the rest of the team unable to be successful in what I've asked them to do. I literally set up my team for failure if I do that.   That's not fair - that's not fair to them. It's not fair to what I'm trying to get done. And it's because of me; it's on me. You understand?   And so one of the things that's super, super helpful if you have a hard time getting where you need to be, just set appointments. Be active, have appointments.   There have been times where I've set appointments with people for the sake of having the appointment. That's it. Just getting up, just being where you need to be. The body and mind can handle far more than you think it can.   And so when I sit down and I'm like, "Oh man, I really don't wanna do this thing. I really don't wanna do that. I feel a little bit lazy. Let me just relax tonight..."   I'm not saying I don't relax. I really have been a lot, actually. It's been really cool. I've been really level-minded lately. I've been doing a lot of meditating, which have been very helpful also. Using that muse headband thing, it's been super helpful. Maybe we'll toss the link out to that somewhere. But that's been really, really helpful for me...   But what's been cool is by strategically just having a full, having a calendar where I'm accountable and responsible to somebody at a certain time in the morning.   I don't wanna feel like an idiot, and so I get my crap together, and I do it. Does that make sense?   So you can use, like, if you know you're like, "Hey Stephen, I'm really bad a time management too." Great, that's fine - you have two options:   #1: Get really good at time management - that could take a long time.   #2: If you're one of the people who's like, "I don't wanna feel like I'm an idiot or I don't wanna feel like I'm letting somebody down..." Man, use that fear to your advantage.   Start setting up things in your life to create barriers, to create constraints.   I get up, I exercise in the morning, most of the time, and I was traveling. That's why I got back super late. Holy crap. So I don't know. But my normal day, I get up, I go, and I lift really, really hard...   There's a future date that I'm preparing for, even though it's not for another four or five months, I don't wanna look like an idiot at it. That's one of the motivating factors I have for me for working out every day.  I remind myself of that. I really don't wanna be late today. I don't like to be a freaking idiot at this thing that is coming up. (I'll tell you guys what it is when we move on, but that's what I'm doing.)   I've been working my face off. I work the entire weekend, no breaks, working straight for 21 straight days. You know what I mean? I could take a break. You know what though? We got people coming over, we got this, or I got an interview.   That's why I have interviews at Tuesdays at 9 AM. I do another people's shows. It's mostly for me to get my butt in the seat.   So I'm giving you several things, several tools that work with here. Because funny enough, if you just...   More than half of success is just showing up. I know I'm gonna dominate what I'm going for because most people are too afraid to even show up. If I'm just here, then I'm the only option for people to consume.   If I'm just here, and I have my products out there, I'm the only option for people to buy when they wanna buy something. Does that make sense?   The game is really easy now. The game's super easy now. It's really easy to dominate a space. The incredible, ridiculous lack of discipline in society now mixed with such an abundance of education, of knowledge.   YouTube, and Google, and I can find out the answer to anything I want, pretty much, just by freaking searching it; if you couple that with this extreme lack of discipline...   Man, like, I want everyone to change. I want everyone to be like killing it, but if they're not willing to, it's like all easier for me to just go dominate a marketplace, right?   So I'm trying to give you guys a few different tools to understand how I do what I do. To show up, just be there. Just get in the freaking seat, right?   #1: willpower doesn't work.   #2: Set things early in your day for the sake of being where you need to be.   #3: You have got to have a full schedule.   That doesn't always mean like you're hanging out with other people and you're like, "Hey, I'm gonna do this or I'm gonna do that or whatever." But I pack my day.   Entrepreneurs are not very good at judging how much time it takes to get something done, right? We're not. But I would rather expect and run like crazy to get this list of crap done and get like 70% of it done than just be realistic and try and do this one thing today. You know what I mean?   I wanna stay hungry. I'm trying to stay hungry. Pack the day. Idle time, that's bad. That's bad. Pack the day. Have a ton of crap going on. Keep a full schedule. That's one of the ways that I push so hard as well.   There's stuff I've agreed to. I'm not totally sure yet how I'm gonna fulfill on it, but one thing I've noticed is that every time I take on stuff like that, I personally have to grow in order to match the opportunity I've been given. If I just push hard at it, I never know the answer ahead of time, but I always find it in the middle of looking. Meaning, I have to actually be walking then I find the answers on how to get something done. Huge lesson to that.   Some of you guys are religious. I'm religious. Moses and the red sea, baby. That thing did not start splitting until he was walking in the freaking water, right? Go back and look at it. He didn't split that thing and then wait for it to go. The dude got wet before it moved, right? It's the same thing.   You got to be willing to get uncomfortable in order for your goals to happen. There's a level of personal fulfillment required, right? The level you develop will be at the level of your success on the other side as well.     I'm trying to share with you guys little tiny things I've done to help make sure I've been successful along the way.   I am terrible at some things in my life. And that's cool. Whatever. Everybody is, right? But rather than be like, "Oh, I'm so crappy at this or this... let me just take this whip and just whip myself all the time. I suck at this. Time management, you piece of crap. You got me bad. I can't do what I want to in life..."   Instead, I call out my own crap.   I figure out exactly what I can craft around my life to create a positive constraint. Positive constraint. Positive constraint. Not all constraints are bad.   And when you're willing to submit to something like that, you learn the discipline to actually execute on those things.   That's why I'm doing what I am. That's why I can do what I can.   So again, just to recap real quick.   #1: Willpower doesn't work. It's all about setting up good environments. These are very simple things that I've done.   #2:  If you have a hard being in places you're supposed to be, set appointments just for the sake of getting there. That has helped me tremendously. I've used that multiple times. Multiple times.   On Tuesday, I have to be somewhere at nine. On all Fridays, I have to be somewhere at nine. Thursdays, not yet, but my discipline's really good. I've been a lot better at that stuff now.   So anyways, I work my face off when I finally get there. So instead, what if I just work on getting there? Mondays, there's a place I have to be right at nine.   Wednesdays, I can't remember. But I think it's kinda like flex time. Anyway, right?   So again, willpower doesn't work. It's all about environment. Number two, you have got to set up things to get you where you're supposed to be even just for the sake of being there because more than half of success is just showing freaking up. Because no one else is gonna do it. Not many people do it.   When you're the only option, guess what? You get paid.   #3: You gotta stay busy. You gotta pack that schedule, you gotta keep it busy, you gotta stay full and be productive.   I would rather make mistakes of ambition rather than mistakes of sloth. I am not a man to make mistakes of sloth. I will not be that character.   There have been so many freaking things that have not worked out that I've launched. Who the freak cares? I don't care. Because I've been in the act of just being in motion. Just being in motion causes amazing productivity, causes ideas to come.   Some people are like, "Stephen, how are you gonna ever run podcast materials? Stephen, how did you come up with that idea? Stephen, what books can I go read to learn, offer creation like you have?"   Man, I don't know. Those are things that I've learned while in the act of doing them. Some things you can't learn from a book.   So anyways, just know that those are three of the things that I do to stay productive.   My fear of, "Am I gonna have the discipline to stay hungry when we make that first six figures?”  -Which came really quick, same with the second one.     Last month was really awesome. Am I ever gonna sit back and go, "You know what... we did really good." That is the scariest mentality. Oh my gosh. I am fighting complacency. I'm doing everything I can to not get complacent.   I can find great funnel builders. I can find great copywriters. I can find and train good marketers. I can find and train. You can learn how to do a lot of this stuff. I can teach you how to do a lot of stuff.  The thing that nobody can teach you that you have got to get serious about is hunger. How can you stay hungry? It's challenging at first, and you're not gonna find the answer. You might try like this little tweak here, that little trick there. It might take you some time to figure your own system. But if you are not hungry, I can't have you, alright? If you're not hungry, it doesn't matter what I try to teach you.   If you're not hungry, I mean, like. "backed against a wall, you're gonna figure out a way" hungry. If you can't do that, it doesn't matter what you're trying to do. You're not gonna make it. That's why I'm trying to do this episode.   I've had the shocking amount of people reach out and be like, "How do you keep the mentality you do?" I was like, "Well, I just make sure I stay hungry. I just make sure I stay hungry."   I could pay myself a lot more right now, but I'm scared to do so. I kinda want to double or triple how much I pay myself for now, but like I'm nervous because I wanna make sure that I'm hungry. Will I maintain that hunger?   I don't have mechanisms in place yet to maintain that next level of responsibility. That's what I'm thinking about. I'm like, "Crap. I don't know that I can stay hungry?" That's more important to me.   There was a product that I was being offered percentage of. And I said 'no' to it. And it shocked a lot of people. Like why would you say no to that? And I said that because (I don't think I actually would have), but my fear of not staying hungry is so strong. It's got me everything. It's the reason why I've done what I have. I'm hungry.   My fear of not being hungry outweighs my fear of I don't know what to say in this podcast episode.   My fear of becoming complacent, my fear of that vastly outweighs my fear of I've never done a webinar before, and I've never written a script before, and I've never... Scary, right?   My fear of oh man, I've never introduced Russell on stage; that pales in comparison to my fear of becoming complacent.   And I'm begging you to not become complacent.   If you've gotten squishy and fussy and you've gotten too nice a life - you gotta get uncomfortable. You gotta get uncomfortable. I try and do something that freaks me out as regularly as possible.   There's a really good quote that I've heard. It's from David Goggins... He said the worst thing that can happen to a man is for him to become civilized. And I kind of believe that. I'm not here to be comfy You know what I mean?   It is not an easy task to create a freaking blue ocean. You're like, "Stephen, I got this great product, and I got this great offer around it, and I got this great marketing message around it. And I got this great thing around it, but I just don't know, like I'm really nervous..."   If you're not willing to become the character you're not gonna give birth to a blue ocean.   Be willing to be uncomfortable. That's part of the price. Funny enough though, it's really not that freaking scary once you do it. It's just like riding a bike for the first time or the first time I was driving shift, driving stick in a highway. You know what I mean?   It's like learning to walk. Like anything else, just downplay it, cause you should. 'Cause it's not as scary as you think it might be.   Anyways, it was a long episode. But I just want you guys to know a little bit more about how I do what I do and the mentality that I'm trying to stay in at all times.   #I'm trying to stay hungry.   # I'm trying to say yes to things that I should say yes to.   # I'm trying to create positive constraint in my life. I   # I'm trying to make sure that what I'm doing with my personal discipline is on purpose. There's intention behind it. That it actually is counteracting and adhering to my personal defects, my character defects.   I have character flaws; everybody does. But sometimes, people use that as a crutch to not do stuff. You should use that as a crutch to do stuff. Just create things around it. Create positive constraints and craft success environments, right?   Some people, they might look at celebrities on TV and be like, man, they're so lucky. "They're so lucky." Did you sit on your freaking couch for years doing nothing with your life? You know what I mean?   Are you are comparing where you are to that person? How much discipline does that person have that you don't? I beg you to learn discipline. I beg you to get it. I'm not perfect at it. I'm really not. But I'm trying.   Those are some of the tricks I've used in my personal life to maintain speed, right? And now that a lot of the speed with the business has been set up, I have this massive realization...   I was at Alex Charfen's event last week. I realized that I have done so much, sprinting and running and setting systems and processes and marketing and revenue and pulling stuff up in the business setting,  that I've been neglecting my own needs on a few things. So I'm gonna go start leasing those things back in.   There's no such thing as perfect balance. I believe in obsession.   So before I keep going on the soapbox, it's been a long episode...   Those are some of my tricks guys. I hope you guys enjoyed it.   If you guys like this podcast episode, please go rate and review it on iTunes or YouTube. That actually means a lot to me and helps the show a ton. And thanks so much.   Bye guys. Oh, yeah. Obviously, our funnel's already dead if you can't even get anyone opt in, right? So I spent four hours teaching an audience how to get high opt-ins when they work, when they don't work.   If you want access to that member's area, we can watch those replays. Just go to freeoptincourse.com to create your free member's account now.

Boom! What's going on everyone? It's Steve Larsen. This is Sales Funnel Radio, and today we're gonna talk about student stereotypes.   I've spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today. And now I've left my nine to five to take the plunge and build my million dollar business.   The real question is how will I do it without VC funding or debt, completely from scratch? This podcast is here to give you the answer.   Join me and follow along as I learn, apply and share marketing strategies to grow my online business, using only today's best internet sales funnels.   My name is Steve Larsen, and welcome to Sales Funnel Radio.   What's up, guys? Hey, I've been excited for today. I wanna talk about a topic, you know it's...   Every evening my wife and I usually like to just sit and talk. And we'll sit and we'll talk, and talk, and talk.   Most of our dating, honestly, was talking. We would just talk for like three hours a night, every night for all of our dating and that was kind of it.   So anyways, we'll sit down and we'll just talk and we'll share with each other. We're good at that part of our relationship, which is a bunch of fun.   So anyway, we were sitting down the other day, we've got a little almost  three month old baby now, and we're playing with her and we're talking back and forth, and my wife says:   "Hey, what are, like, the biggest stereotypes you see in your students?" I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "What are the reasons that people do, or do not, go forward with the things that you're teaching them? Like, stereotypically though."   She's like, "Do baby boomers react differently to what you teach compared to millennials?" And I was like, "Yeah, actually they really do."   So I thought it'd be kinda cool to go through and share with you guys what I talked about with her because it was fascinating to see that.   #1: I freaking hate the millennial propaganda. Can we cut that crap out, alright?   Baby boomers, your parents complained about you too, alright?  Are we all good there? I'm just gotta get that off my chest. I hate that, I hate that: "Well you're a millennial, you can't focus." Alright, you can't use tech, so back atcha. Ya know what I mean?   Anyway, so I just wanna walk through this really quick, and just share with you guys a few of the things that I've seen stereotypically with my students.   Now, this is my own students - it's students I've had in the 2 Coma Coaching. My intent in sharing this... the only reason I want to share this is so that you can hedge yourself to not be one of these stereotypes.   So everyone raise your right hand right now, and be like, "Hey Steven, I, (state your name), will not get offended."   Don't get offended about what I wanna go through and share with you guys right now. I'm talking in massive generalities, 'kay? Cause I've seen a lot of things across the board.   And then, at the end of this episode, I want to share with you guys what I do to combat these stereotypes myself. I have my own routines. And some of my routines I didn't realize were my routines, you understand?   I didn't know, that I was literally creating my own solutions around some of these things. But I did and it's been working. And it's really awesome.   If you follow my Instagram, you already know what some of them are...   First of all, let's just set the stage here:   There has never been a time in the history of the entire world, where so much information and so many answers are prevalent and accessible with such a crossover with a lack of discipline. Mind-boggling.   There's so many answers out there. There's so many things out there that are already solved for you.     Yet people don't know how to go and just look up stuff on their own on Google and YouTube and just learn something for 30 minutes. We're not a culture yet of self-teaching. And that's why those who can self-teach, just blow-up so much.   Number one, we've never been in a time period where so many, so much information is available, but there's such a lack in discipline personally with people.   There's lots of addiction out there now. There's lots, and that's not to say it wasn't there before but I mean, we live in a very stimulated society now. We live in a very stimulated community now, alright?   There's such a lack in discipline, daily routines. I'm not saying I'm perfect at it. But I try to have one. I try to live with intent day by day, by day.   There's such a lack in discipline, there's such a lack in just getting up and getting crap done regardless of how you feel about it. There's such a lack in people knowing that in order for me to get where I'm trying to go, there's work involved, right?   We get sold on this concept, "Oh yeah, I should get that, I deserve it." Man, that is bull crap. No one owes me anything. And I try and live like that.   I hate when people say, "Here get this product, you deserve it." It makes me wanna throw up and not buy their product, no matter how good it is.   When somebody says, "You deserve it," that's garbage. It is a lie. It's a lie of this generation. It is a lie of our communities now.   In my opinion, (which I believe is correct), no one owes you anything. You don't deserve anything.   And when I look at worlds that way, and when I look at my life that way...   The reason why I try and do that is if I think that "my customer owes me money, I deserve this success." That is freaking garbage. Try and do that. Try and leave. Try and do that and try and tell me how long you're in business. That's not true.   No one owes, nobody owes me anything. No one owes me a dime. No one owes me any kind of credit. No one owes me. I will tell you that you will relieve a lot of mental stress in your life.   And I'm stereotypically talking to the millennials right now when I say that. Cause I am one, okay? And I had to have a huge wake-up call with myself and say, "look, no one owes you anything. Nobody owes you anything. I am not deserving of anything. I need to work my tail off."     Now I'm gonna walk around and I'm gonna try and work my face off.   It's kinda like what Will Smith says. He walked around, and he was, and he walked around like he was deserving of what this life had to offer. But he was not a ghost to knowing that he had to work for it. And I'm the exact same, guys.   Like man, I'm gonna run hard. I'm gonna run as hard as I can. I'm gonna try and do everything I can. I'm gonna try and live the best life I possibly can with the fullest, having the best of the best. Being the best of the best - and that's my mentality.   And, like, ya gotta fight to do that, right?   So nobody owes me anything, and when you think about that with like, "Hey there's so much information out there with such a lack of discipline in how to use it all.   Just follow me a little bit. I'm gonna start spinning a few ideas around and we'll bring 'em all full circle, alright?   When I look at how undisciplined as a society we really are. I'm not saying all of us, but man, if you're spending all your time watching Netflix in the evening and you don't have something up and running, like shame on you! Work at it, right? And then complaining about it?   I'm not saying I don't take breaks. This is funny. What does Tim Ferris teach in the Four Hour Work week? Holy crap, he works four hours a week. He didn't start that way, but he ends that way, where he works four hours a week on his business. That's cool!   Now let's contrast that with what Gary Vee talks about. Hustle till your face falls off! Hustle ya die, right? And that's totally his message.   There's two conflicting messages. Right? I believe the answer is in between. Personally, that's how I run it.   I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna build that funnel and that funnel. I have massive projects on my plate right now. Absolutely gigantic. I am the sole funnel builder. And that's totally fine. I'm completely cool with that.   There's a huge, a vast, a ridiculous amount of hustle in my life right now. And I expect it, and I welcome it, and I smile at it. I'm like, "What's up, son? Bring it on! Come on get ya some, right? This is my time. You're on my turf, and I'm gonna tear you apart."   And I'm gonna hustle, hustle, hustle. But not till I die. I'm not here to just work.   I believe humans were built, especially men, were built to work, work hard, work hard at things, have resistance. That's good. That's healthy. I want that.   Again, follow me. There's a reason I'm talking about all this. We're gonna go full circle here in a second, 'kay? There's a reason why though, I know I am where I am. "I really wanted it!" Right? That was it!   And understanding, "oh my gosh, all the answers are already there." And if I have just have discipline to go find and apply them I can, I can literally just get what I want. I can create what I want. It's there.   That's why I talk about being a self-solver all the time, guys. You gotta be a self-solver. Solve your own problems, right? If your natural inclination when a new problem comes up, which is every freaking minute of entrepreneurship, a new problem pops up that wasn't here before, one that you weren't planning on, the one that wasn't in your plan or your scope how to get crap done...   You're not gonna go very far if you freak out and don't solve it 'kay? Every day is practicing going over and solving new problems.   The trick is learning to solve problems with speed. Learning to solve the problem adequately enough so that it's satiated enough, right?   Not that you gotta answer it 100%. Not that it has to be 1000% perfectionist brilliant. I went there too for a while. I'm a recovering perfectionist 100%. I had to get good at being, at being totally fine with answering and being awesome at it 80%. And then just moving on.   Go,go,go. Solve the problem. Move. Solve the problem. Move. New problem! Bam. Solve the problem. Move. New problem! Bam. Solve the problem. Move. Don't know it? Fine. Youtube. Sweet! That guy taught me. Solve the problem.Move, right? And that's how I run.   That's literally why, I know that's why I blow up. That's exactly the reason why. So if you think about that. Think about, think about, right?   So again, I'm just kinda like laying out the landscape here:   So you've got you've got millennials on this side who have vast amounts of information with the fingertip training in order to pull it off, right? You know how to text and tweet do all the things. You understand tech. You understand the platforms, 'kay?   You got millennials on that side, lots of info, stereotypically a  bit of lack in discipline. Not always, not always. I hate it when people try and categorize me, so I get it. I freaking hate that. So I get it. I'm being sensitive cause I don't wanna say anything like that cause I hate that myself.   On the other side, you got like, you got the baby boomers. Let's say, let's say 50 years old plus. Baby boomers did not have that kind of information always at their fingertips, but typically culturally, stereotypically, were really intense workers. You had to sacrifice, right? It's their generational upbringing.   1,800 people, I've brought through this process now. I see a lot of patterns, and I have people from all over the world, all different races, religions. Male, female, ages all over the place. I'm just painting the picture here, and I want you to see "this is where I am. I wanna make sure I don't fall prey to these lies." Or I'm over here, "Let me make sure I don't fall prey to these lies."   So again:   #Millennials, lots of info typically little bit less discipline.   #Baby boomers: They haven't known how to use a lot of these tools, but usually have a lot of discipline.   Also, a lot of times they operate from a scarcity standpoint, I've noticed. Meaning like a fearful standpoint. They think that businesses still require a briefcase, a suit, and a meeting to start the day. And it's not like that anymore.   I don't ever have to wear a shirt and tie except to church. You know what I mean? I don't wear shoes. In fact, when I go and  consult for people, they're like, "What other specifications do you have?" And I'm like, "First class if you want to. Uh, if you don't want to, totally cool with that to be completely honest, right now anyway."  I just don't care.   I try and listen to music as much as I possibly can and wear shoes as little as I can.   Business culture has changed. I find that there's a lot of professionalism that's unnecessary in the baby boomer expectations.   In the middle range, right? I'm 30, I'm barely a millennial. From the 30 to 50, I find that that, stereotypically, it's the category of person that takes the most action,  who know how to use the tools. Are not complainers. And are fine when the market punches them. It's kinda like the sweet spot I've noticed.   When I get somebody who's a millennial, I'm cool with that, I just also know they're gonna be a little bit sensitive. There's not typically a mental toughness, right? Because of social media, there's been this stereotype that's set across the mindset, where they look at everything that's gonna happen to them, and it's cool, they're dreamers. It's beautiful, I love it.   I'm a dreamer. I love that. Why would we ever try and change that, right?   I can tell my little, especially my first born. She's a dreamer. She's 100% entrepreneur, I can already tell. She's a problem solver. She solves problems like crazy and I didn't teach her a lot of the things she's doing. And I'm like "Holy crap! You're a really smart kid. You know how to solve problems." She's gonna turn five soon. She already has interest in the stuff I'm doing. Anyway, crazy.   Millennials are dreamers. They understand possibilities. And because of that, they have very little walls. Emotionally there's a lot of walls because there hasn't been as much time put on the mat for person to person communication.   There's not as much time put on the mat for how to deal with pitfalls in life, okay? And part of that just has to do with the fact that they're usually so young, right? They just haven't gone through that much.   # Baby boomers: I've noticed, they have a lot of barriers. Usually to take off and do. And it's not just because of the tech standpoint. It's because there's a barrier of believing that there's this professionalism that they need to fit into in order to be an entrepreneur, right?  Again, speaking in massive general terms, okay?   I think each generation has had these massive, massive gifts with all of these massive, massive hindrances - like any generation! It's not the freaking millennials fault!   The next generation's gonna have some weird derogatory term for them also with a whole bunch of things we're gonna complain about them too. It's the way it is. It's just how it goes, right? Get over this whole freaking millennial propaganda.   Anyway. So, the key is to see and be sensitive to where you are culturally. How is this generation raised? "Wow! Were we all supposed to be given trophies?" There's some serious freaking baggage that comes with that kind of culture, right?   Or, or, do we believe that we still need to be in suits and ties, and tech is hard to learn, right? There's some baggage that comes with that, right?   So these have been the things I've noticed as I coach people that it comes down to. I want you to understand something with this. This is the reason I wanted to walk through this with you guys. Is this making sense? Is it going full circle? See where you fit! Right? I'm trying to help you learn how to self identify.   There's a stage I was speaking on, and I said: "My goal here today is to teach you how to do to yourself what you are doing to your customers." Meaning, I want you to understand your customer's false beliefs. I want you to understand your customer's hiccups. I want you to understand your customers. Whatever things they're still struggling with.   This is what I told them on stage: I want you to learn how to self-identify those things in you. It will speed you up. "Your business grows to the extent that you do." Okay? Which is true! I don't know who said that, but anyway. It's a cool phrase though, right? "Your business grows to the extent that you do."   So I told him I want to teach you how to become introspective enough to see, "Like, oh my gosh, I got this mental belief that is wrong!" Right?   Remember, you guys all know my story.  Way back in the day I was really shy! It wasn't so much that I was shy, I just had no confidence. I had zero confidence, right? And some of it came with some of the generational upbringing that I came along with.   It wasn't my parent's fault. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. It's just the environment I was in. Right?   When I became self-conscious... when I became introspective enough over those things, then I could do something about it! That's what I'm trying to get across in this episode!   The stereotypical go-getters that I see across from the millennial side, all the way 30s and 40s, all the way to the baby boomers, is this: They have learned to become introspective, to identify what their own false beliefs are, and then the ones that matter. This is the key. They tackle the ones that matter...   If you try to tackle every single one of your false beliefs, every one of your little character flaws, that an amazing way to get depressed.  What you gotta see is what is it gonna take to be successful in today's environment? What does it take? What does it take? "Oh my gosh! I gotta learn how to speak on camera. I gotta learn how to present. I gotta learn how to talk. I gotta learn how to sell. I gotta learn how to market." They're not the same, right? "I gotta learn how to create offers. I gotta learn how to funnel build." Or maybe, right, "What's my tactical skill?"   When I was leaving college - about two years before I left, I was getting a marketing degree, and I literally had no technical skill that I was learning. I was literally a dime a dozen. There was nothing different for me compared to everybody else. And that is one of the reasons why I chose funnels in college - to learn a technical skill.   So I gotta have a technical skill. I gotta be able to speak. Whatever those things are, right? What does my personal character not let me do? The biggest one, the highest leverage one I can go tackle? Reach down inside of you, grab that, and break it! Realize it's wrong.   See the stories, and the experiences, and the beliefs that are upholding that false belief, and reach down and break them! Rebuild yourself! Make you! Right? Build you. Craft you. Pick out the blueprints you want and remake yourself.   When I started doing that, that's actually funny enough when I started making money.   I was the biggest issue in the business! Not the fact that the marketing ideas didn't work! Not the fact that the product didn't help people! I sucked at delivering it! Right? That was mine! You gotta figure out what yours is. So, anyways, does that make sense?   This podcast episode might feel like it's all over the place. I'm trying to convey something here that I've seen over,and over,and over again. 1,800 times.   I have done a lot of freaking Q&A. I have seen so many offers. Every Friday, the whole day for me is looking at people's offers, looking at people's funnels. Do you know how many? Anyway, for years, okay? I've seen a lot of them! A lot of them!   Funny enough, the pattern has always been, you know what... "Could the marketing be better? Yeah! It could. Could the funnel be better? Yeah, it could. But most of the time what I have found is that the battle is actually mental. The battle is mental.   The answers are on freaking YouTube already. If you're just learning, if you just listen to podcasts, if you're just studying, if you learn how to learn on your own. If you learn how to study. If you learn how to solve your own problems and answer your own questions. The answers are there, 'kay?   Never has there been a time when there's so many tools that are already done and available. It's no longer a question of, well, is there a tool that does this? Is there a tool that does that? What about this, what about that, right? That's not the issue anymore, right? It's not!   The issue is not is the marketing good? Where is the tool? Does that exist? For you to make vast amounts of cash, that's not the problem anymore. The problem is mental! And I fight with people's psyche way more than I ever thought that I would with my students!   Some of them are total rockstars, but most people, understandably, they got a background, and they don't understand that the market that they're trying to sell into, requires them to be a little bit different. And they're not willing to make the personal adjustment and the personal changes.   "Stephen, how long's this gonna take for me to go through?" I can already tell you're losing! "Stephen, how long's it gonna take me for me to go through your model builds?" I can already, that's a losing mentality!   You're already looking from a freaking scarcity standpoint when you ask stupid questions like that, alright!"   "Well, Stephen, how long's it gonna take for me to be successful at this?" Dumb, dumb question! That's a stupid question. "How long's it gonna take for me to be successful?" Man! That means you're weighing the cost of you getting in the course and not looking at the clock, against freaking Netflix that night, okay? It's true!   What I've learned, and if this hits home I'm not trying to offend anybody, I'm just being real and raw about this:   When I've coached many students, and the pattern has always been: Could the marketing be better? Yes. Could the storytelling be better? Of course, it could always be better Could the offer be better? Could the funnel...? Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes! All that stuff! All the classic stuff that comes with running a company could all be better. All of it could.   But it's the freakin mentality that has, by far, without contest, been the thing that I've had to do the most coaching on! Which shocked me! I didn't expect that!   As a coach myself, I didn't expect to have to do that for so many, virtually every person. And I understand that there's a mentality that comes that you learn when you become an entrepreneur. You have to learn it, and I get it. There's a mindset that comes with it. I get it. I understand that. And if it's new, awesome, but sometimes they don't even have the tools to take on the mindset.   They might be a little bit weak mentally. Or they're really sensitive. Or they got a trophy all the time. "When am I gonna win?" Second place gets no reward in business.   Learn to be the best. Learn to be the first. Dominate. I'm here to crush. Second place gets no financial reward, okay? I'm here to crush. That's a hard mentality for some people to learn. It's an exact flip opposite. It's a hard mentality for people to learn.   Baby boomers, look, it's not about you being a professional. It's about being you, louder, in today's age. Just be you, louder, right? And that's hard for some people to drop the tie, get rid of the briefcase and be like, "Well this is what I would say,  and how I would say it." That's kinda hard for baby boomers to learn, usually.   Usually, for the millennials, they're a little sensitive sometimes. And again, I come from that category, I'm speaking like one, you understand?   I had to learn that. I was a mentally weak person, guys. I was not mentally tough. I didn't know how to handle anything that was negative in my life. I had to learn those things. That is literally one of the reasons I joined the Army. Seriously! I didn't do any of that stuff, which kinda sucks, but anyway.   The biggest thing I took from it was a mentality: "I'm taking the hill. Get out of my way." Right? And I took on those things. I know how to fight. When I need to, I know how to go to bat for myself.   My resting state is nice guy, but when I need to, I very much have the tools to open the can when I need to and do what I need to with it. Anyway, that's what I'm trying to do.   Let's go full circle with this, okay?   This episode's been going for a little while here and thank you so much for sticking with it. I'm trying to help you self identify, "Wait a second? Where has my brain been sucking it up?" Right? "My business could actually be totally fine and I'm the weakest link." More often than not. I'm not joking. Like, 80% of the time that has been the issue....   Not, let's look at the offer. Of course it could be better. Of course we could tweak it. Of course we could do all these things. It's been this mentality based thing. Whether or not they've already had success or not it's been more of that than anything else, shockingly.   So what I invite you to do, and I've been holding something here by my leg the whole time, okay? Cause I wanna share it with you guys. What I learned how to do, one of the patterns I started noticing when I was around ClickFunnels, I got to listen to Tony Robbins while he talked to Russell... and Robert Kiyosaki. I did a lot of projects for Marcus Lemonis. Huge guys. Massive, massive players... This is a funny thing that I always notice from them...   A lot of the time, before they actually officially hit record on the interview, it wasn't uncommon to see some of them, like, in the corner kinda jazzing up, getting the energy up. Cause they get it. They understand. They gotta be an attractive character, right? And even if it's not their natural character they learned the attractive character. That's what I did. You understand what I'm saying?   And there was this routine that a lot of these guys do to get themselves in that kind of state. Fighting state, winning state, right? "If I do this, awesome. If I don't my family's gonna suffer for it," right? Man, when I start taking those things on, it's a lot. You know what I mean? There's things that I do to get myself in state now. I wanna share a few of those things with you guys.   There's a really, really good talk I heard once by this guy... he was talking about how when you start walking through a forest for the first time, it's hard cause there's no path. There's no trail. And it's part of the issue that comes with doing new things.   People are in this unmarked path because there is no path. Their brains have never been in this area before. And they start walking down this path and they're walking through this thick forest and it's the first time they've been there so there is no path! You understand?   But the next day they walk that path again and maybe they see that like, "Hey, that stick broke a little bit. This tree right here, I can see the first time I passed through, that tree is kinda leaned to the side more this time."   And the more you walk the path, the path actually becomes a real path. The ground gets hard. Grass stops growing right there. Maybe the rocks start falling off the side, and pretty soon, because you've walked the path so many times you actually have a path.   It didn't start as one. It only happened because you walked it that many times. That's something I had to learn for myself.   I had to learn which characters sell online. I had to learn which characters were characters, the attractive character that actually made mass movements. That actually helped industries and affected industries.   And when I saw the pattern over and over again, I realized that,"You know what? I could do that." And I walked the path the first time, and I launched sales from the radio. That was the first real time that I did that. I was like, "Crap, this is hard!"   There was no path! It was just me and I was just bushwhacking. You know what I mean? Getting through all the foliage, all the rough, you know, weeds and stuff like that. Going through the bushes - it was challenging. It was very hard. And as I learned, it's become easier, and easier, and easier.   Now I can just turn the camera on. And now I can speak in front of a lot of people. I can speak on funnel hacking live. "What's up?" And I'm super stoked, and it doesn't make me nervous. It's 4,500 people. I'm really excited. I'm not nervous, I'm actually super stoked. I'm stoked to the core, okay?   So what I want you to do is I want you to,   #1: Identify the things that your generation is stereotypically pinned with. You might have those, you might not. Maybe you've already addressed them.   #2: I want you to understand which attractive character you need to become for your market to actually follow you? Where are you sucking it up? Then be totally fine walking that path the first time. That's just how it works, 'okay?   #3: You gotta know what gets you in state. Seven Nations Army - I have heard that song so many times it's ridiculous. Every time we were about to do something crazy, or there was some big event going on, or it was webinar day, or there's a big event going on, we played Seven Nations Army.   There's a lot of people, some people would just write to me and they'd be like, "Hey dude, you sitting next to Russell right now?" I'd be like, "Yeah." They'd be like, "You listening to Seven Nations Army?" I'd be like, "Yeah." They'd be like,"Are you singing that song?" And I'd be like, "Yeah," but that's not the point, right? The point is what it does for the head.   There's a few things that I do as far as state control goes. The state control that I do:   #1: Exercising in the morning, hard. I don't just mean going on a jog. I mean, it's gotta be hard. "Make it hard, coach!" You know what I mean? Make me close the bar, make me close to throwing up. Make it hard. And for me that's where I'm practicing getting in my war state before I actually get to my desk where I'm at war.   #2: Next thing I do, every Monday morning I yell. I go, "Woo! It's Monday, baby!" It'd be cool to cut in a few of those here. But anyway, and I yell like crazy.   I even go down to street corners and yell it in front of the 9am traffic. No joke! I do that! I'm weird like that! I don't care. It's not for them. It's for me.  Why? Because it kinda freaks me out a little bit. My adrenaline spikes up like crazy. And it's awesome.   #3: A lot of it has to do with my morning routine. I've noticed that that's the lever. When I turn that lever, that's the one that really sets the tone for the rest of the day.   What's my morning routine? I'm not perfect at it, but I'm getting more perfect at it. That's helped me a lot, okay?   #4: I've been holding this thing by my leg the entire time. This guy. Yeah, you like it? This guy is my mannequin. I call him poverty. His name's poverty. I beat up poverty every single morning. That's my warm-up.   I write down all the things that people have said about me that are negative! Cause I'm not trying to run from my freaking fear! I'm trying to confront the fear and do it anyway. That's a different mentality...   I'm trying to say "Yeah, I see you fear and I will." I don't care, right? This might be weird, guys, but it's what I do. I don't care. It's my thing. You make your own. Do it too, if you want to. Shame, right? Poverty. People call me "idiot." People just say, "Oh you're past, you're not qualified."  People might say "I'm lazy," right?   Some stupid lady today was like, "You're totally a scam! I was like, "I don't even know what that means. Please explain what you're talking about and go look at all the testimonials of all the people I've helped. I'm not a scam."   Aut anyway, "lies," right? There's a whole bunch. I have lots of stuff.   "You're too emotional. You're all over the place!" Fear itself. You got haters, right? "You're worthless, Stephen. You're worthless. This is ridiculous. This is all crap!" I've had people say to me.   Doubt. Tons of doubt. "You can't ........" Loser, Pathetic. "You're pathetic," right? I've had a lot of people say negative things to me about this. I don't freaking care. Instead, if I confront it and I put it on this thing, and I beat him up every day.   My life in this game got so much easier when  I came up with a system to medicate all of the negative things that were going on in my head.   If the game is mental, what are you doing to your head? Do you have a process? Is there something in place for you? This is what I do, okay? This is literally one of them. I listen to crazy rage music and beat up the doubt.   One of the first ones that ever have made me feel bad was when I was going to counseling. This guy was like, "So have you ever been tested for ADHD?" And I was offended. Which, now I'm embarrassed that I was offended by that... but I was offended.   I was like, "No! What are you talking about?" I didn't want anyone to think there was something wrong with me. "There's nothing wrong with me! There's nothing wrong with me!" I was offended by it. I was mad. Stupid, stupid of me. But I was offended by it, right?   He goes, "I'm gonna send you home with some tests and I need you to take these tests and we're gonna see if you have ADHD." I was pissed off. I went home, and I didn't wanna take the test, but I took the test and came back to the counselor.   He said, "You don't officially have ADHD, but you have a lot of symptoms of somebody who does."  And I flipped out because I was a perfectionist. I was like, "I don't want anything to be wrong with me. I don't want someone to categorize me. Don't tell me I'm not perfect." Which is stupid, first of all, okay? But that one rocked my world.   It wasn't later until I found out ADHD - it's a freaking super power. That's the reason I can out work 90% of the people out there. Thank you! Man, how many guys got that out there also? Awesome. Cool, cool, cool.   Did you know that most billionaires are dyslexic? Sweet! "What's up? Let's all communicate together. Let's all hang out together," right? Do you know what I mean?   Guys, whatever it is that's negative in your life...   When I start talking about the mental and start talking about the psyche. When I say like, "Look, yes, that funnel could be better. Yes, it could be better," but most of the time the thing that's holding somebody back is the way they think?   But half the time someone's like, "Well, that's easy for you to say, Stephen, but I've got ADHD, or I've got dyslexia, or I've got... " Man, those are superpowers. Can we get over that? Those are superpowers. You can do crap that nobody else can.   The game is about you learning to harness what those things are and do it anyway.   This is part of my way of doing that, okay? And I know it might be weird. You might be like, "Man, Stephen's a freak." I don't care. It's for me, not you.   And so I go in, and some of you guys have contributed to this from my Instagram stuff, okay? Some of you guys have put some of your own things on here, but I go in and I write down whatever it is that's negative that are going on in my head, and I confront it.   There's been emotional periods for me actually confronting each one of these things. And I beat the snot out of it. Forgive and grow.   I think I wanna make t-shirts with all this stuff on it and "forgive and grow" put out like that. I think it would be pretty cool to do that.   You guys, entrepreneurs are a special breed. You guys are epic. We're epic. This is not normal stuff for anyone to go do. It can be a lonely game.   And the thing I want you to go figure out, a lot of times when I've been going through and I've been checking out your funnels? Man, just had to put it down there. A lot of times your funnel is good enough to launch, it's more of the psyche that you haven't dealt with yet. Right? So I want you to go through, like I say...   And I know it's a long episode, and I apologize for it being a long episode but, but I hope you see what I'm trying to say here.   When I look at the students and I look at the people that I've done this for, when I look at the consulting, the clients I've done this with, it's a lot of people, guys. A lot of people I've done this with.   When it comes to the business side, you guys know, it's usually not an offer problem. It's usually a storytelling and marketing problem. That's the reason the stuff isn't going down. But even then, one more step back, when it comes to the entrepreneur themselves, it's usually a psyche problem.   They haven't quite learned the mentality yet. They're still scared of getting hurt. They're still scared of getting burned. They don't know quite how to deal with some kind of failure at it. They don't know what it means. "If this fails does that mean I failed?" And they start comparing themselves to other successful stories. Fastest way to depression right there. They compare themselves to other successful stories rather than to themselves.   Successful entrepreneurs are like, "Man, look at all the progress I've made. I can go wherever." That's the best way ever to get your self worth, your personal value out of this game. It lets you sit all this stuff off to the side.   If you're scared of talking, like I was. Come up with a plan of how to deal with that.   If you're not a fighter yet? If you're not willing to bat for your customers they're not gonna bat for your new industry. They're not! Until you're willing to go to bat for them, right? You're willing to help them out? You're willing to throw rocks at that red ocean while you create the blue one. If you're not willing to go to bat for them, they're not willing to go to bat for you, okay?   Anyway, figure out what that is and what it is for you? Is there some character flaw that you have? Don't beat yourself up, just identify it. Figure out a way around it. And figure out what your way is to get into state around that when you need to.   The way I do that is music, exercise in the morning, funny enough, a lot what I eat - that helps or hurts. And then, man, I beat the snot out of this mannequin thing, and it's kinda fun.   Anyways, guys. Hopefully this is helpful to you. If resonate with any of it, please comment. Please share this. It really means a lot to me.   I feel like we're in like, this fragile place of entrepreneurship right now. And it's really kinda fun. It's neat to watch it. But there's gonna be this explosion of wealth that happens to these people who have figured it out and really just figured out that, "Oh my gosh, it's just a formula." But I'm scared that some people who very well could have participated are actually not going to - simply because of ways that they think - because they don't know how to deal with certain things.   Anyways, I know I hit a lot of topics, and it was full spectrum - it went all over the place. But hopefully you got the concept of what I'm talking about:   #1: That you learn to be introspective. #2: You come up with a plan of how to come around the things that need to get a way around the ones that matter.     That way you can execute your marketing. That way you can execute the business and actually get things off the ground.   So anyways, guys, I appreciate it. I love you all. I appreciate it so much. And thanks so much for taking the time. I'll see you guys, later. Bye.   Oh, yeah, wasn't that awesome?   Hey, just real quick, a few months ago, Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing, and I had to write a chapter for a book, and this was the prompt, this was the letter I got from him:   "Hey Stephen,   Let me ask you a quick question. You suddenly lose all your money along with your name and your reputation and only have your marketing know-how left.   You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners, other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie.   What would you do from day one to day to save yourself?   -Russell Brunson."   If you wanna see my answer and the answers of a bunch of other amazing marketers, then just go to days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, and each of our detailed plans. Just go to days.com/stephen, that's 30 as in three zero, days.com/stephen, S-T-E-P-H-E-N. Guys, enjoy.  

Boom! What's going on everyone? This is Steve Larsen. This is Sales Funnel Radio, and today we're gonna talk about why entrepreneurs get paid so much.   I've spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today, and now I've left my nine to five to take the plunge and build my million dollar business.   The real question is, how will I do it without VC funding or debt, completely from scratch? This podcast is here to give you the answer.   Join me and follow along as I learn, apply and share marketing strategies to grow my online business using only today's best internet sales funnels.   My name is Steve Larsen, and welcome to Sales Funnel Radio.   What's up, guys? Hey, I've been really excited for this episode actually I put up my little trello board, and I was taking notes on it. I've been really excited actually to dive through this with you guys.   I've got my whiteboard here, for those of you guys that are on iTunes, I'm actually drawing this out, but I'm sure it'll also be in the blog and other places anyways.   Guys, thanks so much, wherever you're tuning in, thanks so much. Sales Funnel Radio has been blowing up like crazy thanks to you guys, and I really just wanna say "Thank You."   When I left my job, actually let me go further, let me go further back...   A while ago, I don't even know how long ago it was, it was over a year ago. It was probably a year before I left ClickFunnels.   we were launching this program, and I was really excited because it was one of the first projects where I was able to get a little bit of cut of the action, and I was like, "Yeah, what's up? This is super cool!" Right?   I was just working my guts out for this thing. I worked so freakin' hard, I don't even know how many hours I put into this thing...  It was an ungodly amount of work. 'Cause I wanted to... You know, man, it's freakin' Russell Brunson... I wanted to make sure it was awesome stuff.   And we killed it. The sales were awesome, but when my cut came into my bank account, I was like, "What?!"   I had calculated all these sales, and I was like, "Holy crap! Check this out, we're gonna hit all these financial goals." All these financial goals my wife and I had, we were gonna hit 'em so fast, I was like, "Holy crap, this is so cool! Holy crap!"   And when the check came in it was about half of what I expected. I was like, "What the heck? Who? Where's all the cash?" I was like, "There has to be some mistake!"   And I start going, and I'm looking through the pay stub and everything, and sure enough, greedy, disgusting, nasty, filthy Uncle Sam had his just molded, gross, fleshy hand all over that check, and I got taxed 42% on that thing.   I was like, "Where did all the cash go?! Oh my gosh, what?! This is ridiculous!"   It was my first big encounter of getting paid a huge lump sum and only getting really about half of it. And I was like, "That sucks."     And I can see where there's a lot of dilemma that goes back and forth, where entrepreneurs are like, "Well, should I not make more money because  I gotta pay more taxes?"   ...Man, just pay the taxes,  and make more money. Make your wallet fatter. I'm not a financial adviser, but that's what I do. Just pay the taxman, just move on forward.   And I was like, "That's crazy." And what was interesting to me is when I ended up leaving ClickFunnels, cash started coming on in, quite a bit right at the beginning, like "Bam! Huge flood of cash," 'cause I had built up this big campaign and the doors opened, and a big old flood came in. There was this big surge of cash, and we kept almost all of it, and I was like, "Hmm, why did that work that well that time?"   Alright, I'm a W-2 of my own business, that's how I set it up, a W-2, anyone, so I'm an employee of my company,  so we were still paying ourselves, we paid ourselves a small amount.   I didn't take a paycheck from my company for quite a while, alright? 'Cause I was just rolling cash on it, we were living on savings.   And what was funny is when we started paying ourselves, it ended up being about the same tax rate as when I was working at ClickFunnels. But suddenly I could expense things like the car.   So while we were still at the same tax rate, I could go in, and I could grab...   And this is not to be like a financial, you know, strategy session. I would not say I'm a guru of that at all. I hire other people out for that, kay?   But I started expensing out all this other stuff and now suddenly, with the same amount of cash coming in, we were keeping more of it, right? We had greater amounts of discretionary income because of the fact we run a business and had an actual company.   And I was like, "That's really fascinating, Why is this working so well?"And I went back, and I started looking at it, and sure enough, all these other guys kept telling me, "Man, if you are a W-2 employee you are getting eaten alive with taxes." And I was like, "Ah, what do you mean? "   I had no idea until I actually jumped ship how much a W-2 employee gets gouged. I mean straight up murdered with taxes. Holy crap, it was nuts!   It actually made me sick to my stomach to think about how much money I had given away to the taxman which I legally did not need to do if I was simply a 1099, right? Or something else like that.   So anyway, one of the first moves I ever made...   And again, I'm not a tax person, I'm not your financial adviser. *Disclaimer, Disclaimer* Does everyone feel disclaimed? Nice.  Alright, now that you're all disclaimed, I'm just gonna tell you what I did...   I went in, and I immediately took every exemption I could for my own company, the full nine, if that's the full amount, hopefully, it is, 'cause I took the full amount.   And then I started figuring out what other ways we could put more expenses back on the business - not that I'm gonna live off the business solely -I would not do that, but what made sense to make the business run we started doing that.   I was like, "Sweet, okay, this is super cool." And it was crazy to get paid the exact same amount, but we were keeping way more of it. So my wife and I could go hit these other goals we wanted to...   "Alright we got this much to put in our little emergency fund” - I call it the "oh craps," like if a water heater goes out, which it did a little while ago, right, "Oh crap!" That comes from the "oh craps." So we've got an "oh craps account," you know, a rainy day account.   And it was funny how fast we hit those because I paid myself the same amount as when I was at ClickFunnels, but I was keeping way more of it, right?   So anyway, I just wanna talk real quick about why entrepreneurs get paid so much more, 'kay? Again, those are some of things that I do. And there's way more that I do with that as well.   I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to become like a financial adviser, I'm not that at all. I will not ever try to be that. I'm a marketer, but real quick, I just wanted to walk through and share with you guys why, why an entrepreneur gets paid so much and why everyone should have their own LLC.   Again, *Disclaimer, Disclaimer*  - But it is ridiculous to me when someone doesn't, 'kay? It is insane, it is insane how much money you don't have to pay in taxes when you have revenue going to an LLC instead of you as freakin' W-2, oh my gosh. I Lost a lot of money. Okay, anyway. Whatever, it's over.   I'm still not totally over that emotionally, that was like crazy.   This is not just coming straight from me, someone taught this to me. I don't remember whether it was Russell, or someone in the circle, anyway... I wanna go through real quick, and I wanna talk about what I learned.   Now if you are W-2, I wanna be able to share with you guys the best places, in my opinion, to be in the company - because the entrepreneur gets paid a lot of cash, right?   In fact, that's something that Russell would always say, "Look, the business exists to serve people and to make the entrepreneur money. Take money from it. That's why it exists - to create income. Don't be afraid to get paid by your business."   So again, I'm not a financial adviser, I'm speaking in massive stereotypes here, got it? But this is why an entrepreneur gets paid so much money...   When you think about an entrepreneur, they're here at the top, I'm just making sure you guys can see this, yeah, okay cool. They're here at the top.   I always laugh when people are like, "Is this a pyramid scheme?" And everyone tries to backpedal out of that. "Man, you freakin' hope it is!" To be an entrepreneur, it means you're at the top! The pyramid's all below you, right?!   You might have this person here, they work for you, this person, this person. And then these people underneath there, they got their teams, right? What does that look like? Might just be the office. Anyway, right. It's funny... so this is the entrepreneur at the top, right?   Think about what the entrepreneur has...   The entrepreneur at the top has all of the risk. All of the risk!   When I left ClickFunnels, I'm the one who took all of the risk, right? The risk doesn't sit on anyone else's shoulders, just me, right? All risk is right there, risk. Huge amounts of risks directly on the entrepreneur's shoulder, no one else shoulders it, 'okay?   With risk also comes reward, right?   So there's risk, but that's the other reason why the entrepreneur gets rewarded so much, because they take on all of the risk, right? All of it. And they don't even know, a big old shot in the dark.   Doing something like I did was kinda ballsy, right? Leaving ClickFunnels without actually having a revenue stream set up...  It's only because I've been doing this a long time I felt comfortable doing that. I don't recommend that to anybody else, 'kay?   Somebody messaged me, and said, "I quit my job, just like you did!" I'm like, "Oh crap!" Like, let me just be clear, okay? Don't, don't, I'm not telling you to quit your job, 'kay?   What I wanna do is I wanna share with you why an entrepreneur gets paid so much money.  And the best places to be in a company when you work inside of it.   One thing that my dad always taught me growing up, and I'm so glad he taught me this. He said, "Stephen, always make sure you are in the revenue side of the company, not the cost side of the company." And I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Meaning the role that you're in when you're an employee."   If you become an employee of somebody else always make sure that you are sitting on the revenue side of the business.   I talked about this like one of the earliest episodes of Sales Funnel Radio. But this is the reason why...   If you are in a position that makes it rain, it's really easy to justify:   #1: Paying you more #2: It's hard to get rid of you.   If you need the job security, and if you don't have something else that's actually working on the side yet, man, don't leave the job. Just figure how to make it rain.   Everyone else, right underneath here in this pyramid - they are a cost to the business.   Someone who's in support, you're a cost to the company, you don't bring revenue in, you're a cost. I'm just being real with ya.   If you're support, or if you are...   I don't wanna say coders - 'cause sometimes it depends on the kind of coder, right? If the software you're coding makes money, then obviously you're on the revenue side of the business. Does that make sense?   What I want you to do is I want you to think through and be like, "Oh man, I'm right here, or I'm right here, or I'm right here," and get real with yourself- "Does my position in this business make money? Do I add to the bottom line of this business or do I take from it?"   Guys, WHEN crap hits the fan, not if, WHEN... the positions to go are the ones that are a cost on the business. Suddenly everyone learns more things, they put on an additional hat to cover that additional space.   The people they don't get rid of easily are the ones that make money for the business. Why would you get rid of rainmakers?  As a business owner, you just wouldn't do that.   So think about this:   All the risk is on the shoulders of the entrepreneur - which is also why there's so much upside for the entrepreneur.   There have been multiples times, I've heard a lot of other stories from a lot of other people...     I've coached 1,800 people through this process now, at the time of recording this, 1,800 personally, I'm not saying just like through the course, like 1,800, that is a lot of freakin' offers, that's a lot of businesses.   ...And I've heard a lot of stories where someone will get their first hire or first virtual assistant or something like that, and that person has no clue what risk the entrepreneur has taken on, and is trying to share in the revenue fruits, right?   (Stephen draws on the whiteboard)   The entrepreneur, at the top of the pyramid, takes all this risk - which means they also have this huge potential for reward, right? And then this new person, they're trying to share in the pie that the entrepreneur is getting, even though they're in a position down here in the pyramid.   That makes no sense, right? And you might look at that now and be like, "What?" Exactly, what?! That makes no sense.   Hopefully, you guys can see the green? I'm gonna switch to black. Although I wasn't before anyway... maybe I'm thinking green money? That must be it.   Anyway, alright. Don't do that if you're an employee of somebody. Eventually, I asked for a raise at ClickFunnels when I got higher, but not for like a solid freakin' year after I'd killed myself over there, right? And it was very evident. There was no challenge when I asked for a raise because they knew I was bleeding for this thing, right?   Morning and night, I was coming in early. I was staying in late, I was doing projects late at night. I was making sure I was on when I knew he was on, I was killing myself, right? And it's for this exact reason, I wanted to make sure that my position was in a spot where it was pulling cash into the company.   So when I decided, "Oh my gosh, you know what? I think it's NOT gonna be an awkward conversation when I ask for a raise." It's not gonna be just because of custom that they give me one. Right? I wanna actually have measurable revenue.   So one thing that I did is I would go in, and I'd look at all the funnels that I was building. All the ones I'd pressed go on. Everything that I was building out there, and I could tally up all the cash that I was helping to bring into the business. And it was not a small amount.  It was a huge amount. And so when I asked for a raise, it made sense logically, it made sense emotionally:   #1: I was easy to work with. #2: I was bringing in revenue. #3: I was a solution provider rather than just a problem bringer.   - so it was an easy, easy conversation.   The only reason why I'm bringing this up is that I know a lot of you are still in a job, and that's fine.   I know a lot of you guys are new entrepreneurs, some of you guys are experienced entrepreneurs which is awesome. Thank you so much for tuning in.   But a lot of you guys are new at hiring people, or you're still working for somebody else.  So you gotta ask yourself, "Does my position bring money in or do I require money to support my position?" I'm just gonna tell you, that's a freaky place to be. You are replaceable.   I got like 15 stories just zooming through my noggin right now:   All these people are like, "Well, I should be getting this, I should be getting this!" I'm like, “What are you freakin' talking about? I don't need to give you a dime, alright?” You're replaceable. You're replaceable. And I want you to know that.   And when I run my company like that, I'm replaceable to my business. Now, is that actually true? I don't know.   But when I have that mentality, and I keep that mentality, guys, I'm freakin' hungry. I'm seeking the cash flow. I'm hungry, I wanna kill it, I wanna destroy, I wanna take down walls, I wanna take the hill, I'm here to conquer, right? And that's my mentality when I wake up in the morning, and I'm like, man, I'm going to freakin' war.   If you're going to your job and you're not going to war, and you're on the revenue side -  you're starting to move to the cost side. That's a bold statement. I don't care. You understand what I'm saying though?   You gotta go to war, you gotta go to war in your head, you gotta be ready to step up to the plate and kill it and crush it and take down.   If you're like, "Man, I wanna be an entrepreneur someday," and you're not, you gotta understand, until the entrepreneur can see that you're ready to go to war for 'em, they're not gonna put you on the revenue side of the business, or give you the fruits that come with it.   There's one exception to this rule, and it is one of the fastest ways for you to scale inside of a company.   There's an exception to the rule. There's a person over here on this side, they're the cost side of the business, not the revenue side. They're not responsible for any kind of marketing, they're not responsible for any kind of innovation (those are the easiest ways to get out of the cost side).   Regardless of what the title is that you carry in the business, the easiest way to sidestep this structure is one role, it's this one right here.   Remember the reward and risk are very favored for the entrepreneur because of the amount of risk they take on - they take on all of it! The sales guy is the only position where there is hardly any risk, but there's still a huge potential for reward.   If you feel like, "Oh, I'm not a sales guy." Freakin' learn. That's not an excuse. It's not. You gotta learn how to be a salesperson, you gotta learn how to sell, you gotta learn how to make it rain.   The people who know how to sell - they have hardly any risk plus they have a huge potential for reward.   A lot of CEOs who were working in a company before they became the CEO, a lot of 'em were salespeople. You don't see the head of HR really becoming the guy who's the CEO in the future, that's not really like a standard play. It's the person who knows how to make it rain.   Who better to have the future of the company be rested on than the person who can continue to make it rain because they once made it rain? Does that make sense?   If you want to move up in a company, and you're like, "Hey, I wanna stay here." Or if you're like, "Man, my spin's not spinning up yet on the side, you know, I got this side hustle"- I guess it's what we all call them now, a side business, alright?   If you've got this side business running, you've got this thing going over on the side, and it's not quite spun up yet... Seek to become a salesperson.   You don't have to ask permission for that. You can go in, and you can start to, an example...   When I was, I was an employee at ClickFunnels, I was trying to demonstrate this very principle.   This was an active conversation in my head. I never talked about it over there. In fact, a lot of employees that I know listen to this over there, "You know, Russell, what's up?"   I never talked about this, but this was a theme that ran in my head all the time, "How can I make it rain? How can I make it rain? How can I make it rain? How can I provide solutions instead of provide problems?" You know what I mean by that?   Like, someone who walks up, "Oh, here's this problem." You should never walk up to a superior, you should never walk up to someone who's over you.   You should never walk up to your boss with, "We got this problem!" without a suggested solution. Does that make sense? That changes the way you're perceived in the eyes of the person.   So if you wanna be the go-to person for the new and upcoming opportunities inside of a company, you gotta be:   #1: A solutions provider, number one. #2: Start finding ways to sell.   And you don't always have to ask for permission to do this.   One of the ways that I did that at ClickFunnels is I actually sought opportunities to sell ClickFunnels without being invited to do so.   For example, there was an opportunity that came my way from one of my good friends, Ben. Ben Wilson, "What's up?" Shout out to you, buddy. He's got Conversion Marketing Radio, that's his podcast.   Anyway, he's awesome, a good buddy of mine. He invited me, he had this really cool hookup with DECA.   If you don't know what DECA is, they help high school students figure out what they wanna go do to make money. Anyway, someone else can tell better than me than what they really do. But they're the group of kids though, growing up, you can tell they're trying to go places.   Anyway, the DECA national conference was going on - the regional conference, and I got invited to go speak because of connections that Ben had. So I was like, "Sweet, I'm gonna "sell ClickFunnels at that thing."   And so I go, and I start selling - I basically sold ClickFunnels from the stage in front of 2,000 kids, lots of advisors, lots of MBAs. 2,000 right, it's awesome! 2,000 people came to that event.   Why? Why did I do that? I could have sold my own thing, right? I was selling because I wanted to be a solution provider, I wanted to be the guy who was like, "Oh, man, that dude hustles when I'm not asking him to." You guys understand?   I had this weird tradition at ClickFunnels, and I know I'm talking about it a lot, but like, you gotta get over it, 'okay?   I'm trying to help you understand what my mentality was over there and why things went so well and why I was able to have such good relationships.   I have mad, intense, brotherly love for Russell Brunson and what he does over there - but how did I politically navigate that area as well?   Well, one of the ways I did it was I made sure that I was a solution provider. I made sure I was selling - that I'm bringing extra revenue into the business.   I also wanted to make sure that they knew that I was serious about it when I didn't need to be asked to be serious about it, you know?   I had this weird tradition over there that every time we would launch a funnel, I would go buy the product. I wanted to be one of the first people to buy the product through the funnel that I just helped launch. And they're like, "You could just log in "and make yourself an account." And I was like, "Yeah, I know." When we were filming a lot of Funnel Hacker TV, and I think they're still doing it, I pulled the camera up, and I said, "What's up, everyone?" I just want you to know that "I'm really into this thing, it's because not only do I help make the Kool-Aid here at ClickFunnels, I drink it too!"  And it became like a phrase over there.   If your boss is like some guru, or if they're not, be your boss' best student! That's what I've actively tried to be for Russell! I am one of his best students, I know that. Russell knows that. The community knows that. I do what the man says!   That helps validate his principles, that helps validate the things he's doing, right? That scratches his back. It's one of the easiest ways for me to do that.   There are very few things I could go buy for him that he could not buy on his own, right?   So instead, drink the Kool-Aid that your guru boss is also drinking and making. Help it make, drink it, be a salesperson and figure out how to be a solutions provider.   That's the, basically the crux of the episode, guys. That's what I wanted to let you guys know.   Hopefully, that makes sense?   And so when you're hiring, you do the same thing. Who can make it rain? Those are the positions you're trying to make fill before you ever, ever, ever go hire someone who's a cost on the business.   Who can make it rain in that fragile, fragile beginning phase of that business when it's just barely spinning. It's like a little kid that can't survive on its own, right? You know what I mean? It's a really fragile period for the company.   That's why I didn't take a paycheck for a while, alright? Is there enough cash in the business to operate? If something massive hit, if I didn't get paid for a year, would it be okay? Those are all the questions I'm asking.   How do I make sure I stay hungry? I don't want too much cash in that business. I wanna make sure I stay hungry - which I have no problem doing. So if you're hiring people, ask: "Who will make it rain?”   I love what Dana Derricks says in his Dream 100 book, he says that your first hire should be a dream 100 / affiliate manager. So that was my first hire, Colton sitting right over there, boom! He's the affiliate manager, he's the dream 100 manager. If you wanna promote our products, you contact him. And that's the reason why that was my first hire.   I don't have a dedicated support person, we kinda tag team that. Those are the things I'm getting next. But why on earth would I get those without the other positions that make it rain?   Those are the only positions that matter. I can get rid of pretty much every single one of these positions.   I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I know someone's gonna fight me on this. I'm sure someone's gonna get mad about the fact that I'm saying this, but, man, besides me, a sales guy, a support person, an assistant, that's kind of it.   These funnel games are so freakin' cool because the actual business structure, when you gotta funnel the works right, the actual business structure, man, you only need like three to five people tops depending on what you're doing.   I know, some of you guys have massive call centers, okay cool, but I'm talking employees though.   I'm gonna go get an assistant soon, I'm gonna get an actual dedicated support person soon, but man, we haven't needed that for a long time, alright? I'm more obsessed about building the revenue machine, the actual funnel machine, the sales, right?   How does that happen? Sell, sell, sell, sell, sell! Right, how do I make that happen? How do I be obsessed over that?   I love something that Grant Cardone teaches, he says, the order of operations that you have as a business owner is this:   #1: My first order of business is to close the lead. The issue with that is that when you close a lead, you no longer have a lead. So you gotta refill that pipeline, right?   #2: The second order of business is to replace that lead.  Otherwise, the future of the business is gone.   #3: The third order of business after replace, is fulfill on this first lead.   That might sound backward to you, but that's the reason why I set it up the way I do. I'm closing the leads, I'm making sure we got more of 'em, and then I'm fulfilling on the sale.   And that's the reason why I always sell something before it's even made. If it doesn't sell consistently, who the freakin' cares what I'm making? It doesn't matter what product I'm making, right?   And when you find salespeople, and you find personnel in your company that can back that, oh man, cool, this guy's closing 'em, right? Oh, cool, I got another person over here, let's say you got another like, it's a setter, it's not a closer like a sales guy here, right?   Let's say this guy's a closer, you got a setter - he's the one who's going out and replacing leads, your funnels are doing that also. And then you're fulfilling, man, because of all that automation that goes on. You can do that automatically now anyway with a lot of things that are going out there. Does that make sense?   So anyway, that's why I'm trying to help you guys understand this. This whole game, the reason why it works, it works well for the people who know how to freakin' make it rain.   If you are an employee, figure out how to be a solution provider, drink the Kool-aid, don't just make it, right?   Be all in, then an entrepreneur is far more likely to give you a slice of this reward pie 'cause you're helping to remove some of his risk. But until then, why on earth would he ever do that?   Anyway, that's all I wanted to share with you guys today. It was a good episode, it was my favorite so far. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed it.   If you have not thus far gone and checked out  days.com, it's a podcast interview I just did with Russell to promote a book, talking about what I would do to get this all back in  days. It's really cool.   You can see a lot of other millionaires and what their plans are. A lot of big guys, guys all know the names of. So anyway, it's really fun.   I got to write a chapter, go to days.com/stephen to check that out. Hopefully, this is helpful.   Thank you so much, please rate and review and share this if you liked it. Thanks, guys, I'll talk to you later, bye.   Oh, yeah, wasn't that awesome?   Hey, just real quick, a few months ago, Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing, and I had to write a chapter for a book, and this was the prompt, this was the letter I got from him:   "Hey Stephen,   Let me ask you a quick question. You suddenly lose all your money along with your name and your reputation and only have your marketing know-how left.   You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month.   You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners, other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie.   What would you do from day one to day  to save yourself?   -Russell Brunson."   If you wanna see my answer and the answers of a bunch of other amazing marketers, then just go to days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, and each of our detailed plans. Just go to days.com/stephen, that's  as in three zero, days.com/stephen, S-T-E-P-H-E-N. Guys, enjoy.  

Boom! What's going on everyone. It's Steve Larsen, and this is Sales Funnel Radio.   And today I'm going to show you my 30-day plan for how I'd get everything back if I lost it all.   I've spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today, and now, I've left my nine to five, to take the plunge and build my million dollar business.   The real question is, how will I do it without VC funding or debt? Completely from scratch.   This podcast is here to give you the answer. Join me and follow along, as I learn, apply, and share marketing strategies to grow my online business using only today's best Internet sales funnels.   My name is Steve Larsen, and welcome to Sales Funnel Radio. What's up, guys?   Hey, I am excited about this episode. Now, if you haven't seen the last episode, I talked to Russell Brunson - he was on the show which is super fun. I interviewed him specifically about this new book that he just came out with called 30 Days.   In the book, Russell asked all these marketers, "Hey look, you lose everything, you have nothing, except an internet connection and your  ClickFunnels account. Your bills are paid, but for one month only, "How would you get it back?"   Which is, it's a fascinating question. How would you get it all back? You have no list, you have no reputation, nothing. You start from scratch, all you know is your little, your marketing know-how, how would you restart?   I was kinda laughing when he asked me to write a chapter for the book, and give my take on how I would do the whole thing - because I just did it for real! At the beginning of this year left my job. I left ClickFunnels.   I didn't have a business, I didn't have a funnel, I didn't have a script, there was no product. What's funny is, I felt like my chapter was documenting what I actually did.   If you want to see what it is, go to 30days.com/stephen. 30 as in three zero. 30days.com/stephen. My name is S-T-E-P-H-E-N. You'll see my chapter, you'll see me, I'm on that page, that's my page, and you can see the plan that I detailed, that I outlined, for 30 straight days.   Look, on day one, this is what I do. Day two, this is what I do. Day three, this is what I do - it's literally laid out, piece by piece by piece.   But I wanted to give you at least a little bit of an overview of those things, and kind of describe why I did what I did there.   How many of you guys are in the 2 Comma Club X Coaching program? I'm one of the coaches. I was in San Diego, and in two days, I was about to get on stage. I showed up a little bit early, and the whole first night I was just finishing this chapter.   I was up 'til like two a.m., eyes bloodshot, you know, classic funnel hacker style right there.   The second night, I went in, and I had to finish the actual presentation. So, long story short, I finished in San Diego, and I was super proud of it. 'Cause I put a lot of time into writing that chapter.   I actually really like to write. I've got a few books coming, which I'm really excited about, woohoo! Draft is almost done. Anyway. So, I want to walk through and I just want to share with you guys why I did what I did. And funny enough, this is actually how I created a business...   Agh, sorry the freaking battery camera died again...   Anyway, I'm excited to walk through. I want to detail out what I did in this chapter, and why it worked. I'm not gonna go into huge amounts of detail, but I am gonna dive into the strategy for how I knew that this would be a good thing.   One thing that I want to point out is that you're gonna watch while I kinda walk through this... I launched when I didn't have a product. Okay, and that might be freaky.   And honestly, the first time I heard of entrepreneurs doing this, I was like, is this okay to do? You know what I mean?   The first time I launched an info product, it took me eight months to build, and nobody bought it. No one bought it. No one bought it for like another four months. And the reason why is because I thought success had to do with the product. Right? I thought sales had to do with the product.   There was a story I told on stage a while ago about this book, and I know a lot of you guys have heard this story, now, but it was about a book. I sold this book, and I was telling everyone how cool the book was.   I told this awesome story behind it, and it was all fake. I didn't tell 'em it was fake. It was an entirely made up story, okay.   I made up the story, - but it made people want the book so bad -that the people in the audience were buying it off Amazon.   I found out that one of the ladies who helped with the authorship of the book was in the audience, and she bought the book again.   It was a freaking good story. And then at the end of it, I let everyone know, "Look, I've actually never read this book. It's a random book off my shelf. I have no idea who this author is. I have no idea what the chapters are."   Then I asked, "Did I tell you what the chapters are?" They're like, "No." I was like, "Huh, so you bought this thing from me, and I didn't even tell you what was in it."   "Wait a second, wait a second. You bought this thing from me, and I didn't even tell you what was in it. I didn't tell you the names of the chapters. I didn't say the names of like the authors on the back."   So what does that tell you?   It tells you that sales has nothing to do with the product. This was the point I was trying to make - that's why I did it. To show you that sales have nothing to do with the product. Your product does not sell itself.   I hate it when somebody's like, "Well, this thing sells so well, all you gotta do is you gotta get it in front of people, and it sells itself." Bull crap! That's garbage! If you follow that path, you will do far less in sales.   A sales message is a different asset than a product. They're both assets, but they're not the same asset.   A sales message is an asset. A product is an asset. But again, they're not the same asset. They are separate things. And when you think the roles of both are the same, your sales suck, okay. That's what happens to it. I just want to be open with you and forward with you about that.   So let's just start walking though this here. You'll notice, now I don't remember off the top of my head what I said each day I would do - it was very meticulous though, very methodical. Go get the actual thing, and you can watch what I actually did - it's so good, oh my gosh - if I say so myself, okay.   But the first thing I had to go do was, I had to figure out...   So I'm just gonna break these up into weeks. Week one, week two, week three, and week four.   By week three, I had a webinar launched in my plan. Now the only difference is that I had done enough research the first while, when I actually left my job, that this is actually what I did the first week, not the third week. I was just trying to adapt it for someone who maybe hasn't done any research at all.   So I had already done quite a bit of research. I knew where I was gonna plant my foot. I knew what I was gonna put out there, I knew how to be controversial in a way that would make it so that I had eyeballs.   For me, when I personally did it, it was actually week one. I was like, "Let's go right to the sale." We gotta make sure we got cash. Are we gonna be okay?"   And so the first week I actually did the webinar. So each week after that there was another webinar. Webinar, webinar, does that make sense? Anyway, let's detail this out though.   So the first week, what I really had to figure out was not only what is the product that I can sell, but what's the idea that sells?   So I went, and I jumped into the MLM industry. Now, some of you guys know this stuff. Don't get weird on me, okay? The MLM industry drives me nuts, okay. Oh my gosh, talk about a, industry that's stuck in the 90's. BUT that's good. That's why I went there, okay!   'Cause like, "What's a place that I can make sure that I can help people? I want to make sure I can help - and we have helped. It's been really, really cool. We've had a lot of companies reach out to us about it.   If you're like, "Stephen, I don't want to learn about MLM." Alright, get over it. Let me just go through, and let me teach you from a marketer's perspective why I did what I did, and how I structured it in a way to make it exciting for people to give me money before I had the product done.   So the first thing, I was like, "What is an industry that's out there that's a good fit for what I'm doing here?"   Check this out. We know, we know from the book DotCom Secrets that the best way to create something is to model somebody else. And the book DotCom Secrets talks about that. It says, "Model."   Expert Secrets though, (we started drafting that book a little bit after I got two ClickFunnels) Expert Secrets goes in, and it says, "Why would you ever model somebody?" It says, create something brand new. Create a brand new opportunity that people haven't seen before.   Wait a second; Expert Secrets says make something new and Dot Com Secrets says model somebody. Those are conflicting messages!" They are, they're totally conflicting messages. And you're like, "Wait a second." "Huh?"   The answer is to use those in tandem. You're supposed to use them together. Okay, so check this out.   So this is exactly what I did. I practice what I preach. And this is exactly what I did. This is why I'm not working for somebody else still. Okay, I'm still on my own, doing really well, our margins are gigantic, okay. I'm not gonna work for anyone else the rest of my life, you know what I mean? And it's because of this. So get this. Understand this, okay. Understand this. This is what I'm trying to convey in my chapter, in my chapter of the 30 Days book.   If you guys are on iTunes, just know I'm kind of drawing this out, but I'll talk it out the same time.   If you think about this, I got health, wealth, or relationships. Those are the things that I can sell. I can sell health, wealth, or relationships. Now I know, that for me, selling wealth is one of the easiest pitches ever for me. It's more in my natural wheelhouse. Selling wealth is easier for me than selling health or relationships.   Personally, I'm just gonna tell you, it's my opinion: it's more lucrative,  it's faster money to go for something like wealth.   Man if I'm jumping ship, I'm gonna sell into wealth. Neither of the other two really interest me that much anyway as places to sell in, so I'm gonna always sell into wealth - because it's just what I naturally think about all the time.   I woke up this morning brainstorming podcast ideas, and I was like, "Oh, those are great ideas" - until I realized what I was doing. That's how I woke up. That's not abnormal...  So, selling into wealth, that's like, where I should stay. I'm in my lane, baby. So I'm gonna sell wealth.   Okay, now what areas, and what industries, promise the outcome of wealth? Internet marketing promises that. Affiliate marketing does. All sorts of internet businesses, and MLM.   And so I started listing out all these different industries that promise wealth. Who's promising wealth? And then, which one of those is wickedly broken? Which one of those has something in there that I can throw rocks at? That's a very key question.   'Cause again, it's not just the product that sells. In fact, the product is a thing that fulfills on the promises that your sales message made. Does that make sense? So, your product is the thing that fulfills on the promises that your sales message made. So, what is the message? That's really what I'm looking for...   I'm not necessarily looking for just a product idea. I call this market design - but the problem is that when I call it market design, someone thinks I'm talking about freaking logos. NO! not colors, or business cards. That's not marketing, okay. This is marketing; going in, and seeing where people's beliefs currently sit with the intent to change them to make a purchase happen. That's what marketing is. You're just changing beliefs.   I call it purple offer design now - because if I call it marketing design, people are like... "logos."   Okay, so for me, I chose to go into the MLM space. I'm gonna teach these people stuck in the 90's, how to freaking use the Internet. 'Cause no one else is doing what I'm doing over there. Which is awesome. It's totally blue ocean. So I was like, "Sweet, I'm gonna go sell into the MLM space.   What I'm really looking for, is several things that I can throw rocks at. So that I  can take a stand.   I'm not selling to somebody who's not already in MLM. 'Cause they ask stupid questions like, "Is this a pyramid scheme?" Stupid stuff like that. Like, oh my gosh, anyway. Every business is a pyramid scheme. You want to be at the freaking top, don't ya? Well that's a pyramid, okay. Everyone wants to be the boss. Anyway, stupid question, ugh, so dumb.   So I want to come out here, and I wanted to make a product and an idea, that would stem out of the current MLM space. So what I needed to go do, is I need to figure out several things with that:   I need to figure out, "Who are the die-hards for the old methods?" That's not my customer. Who are the die hards? You guys remember the episode I did, if you don't remember this, there's an episode I did talking about the three personas of the red ocean.   Well, who I don't want to sell, is the third personality type who is the die-hards. The die-hard personalities, man. I'm a ClickFunnels die hard. You can't convince me not to use ClickFunnels because for me it's a matter of identity, not price or value.   I'm not gonna go back into this, because there's a whole episode on it. Go back and listen to it, okay. It's called three personas of the red ocean.   The people I am going to sell to are the people who are still using the vehicle, but they freaking hate the vehicle. They just don't know of another option.   They still like the opportunities, they just hate how it's being done. That's a vehicle-based concern.   Right here are the people who are sold on it because of price and value, those are the ones who price shop out all these MLMs. They price shop all the vehicles that get them the outcome that they think they want. You know what I mean?   And then up here at the very, very top, these are the people who hate the vehicle. They just don't know what other vehicle exists. There's no allegiance to a company. There's no allegiance from them to a product. They're sold on the concept - that's very key. I'm not looking for somebody who's not sold on the concept already. 'Cause again, I've gotta go answer dumb questions. "Is this a pyramid scheme?"   Just look at how I'm trying to design this out: How can I write a message to capture the ones and the twos only? I don't want to try to convince the threes.   Most sales messages fail because they're trying to convince with features and benefits a die hard. They're not gonna change. Let 'em be. You're not trying to sell everyone in the red ocean, you're trying to call out a chunk of the red ocean that freaking hates what's going on there - easiest sales ever.   This is how I design it ahead of time. What can I say to these people? When I stand on the edge, and I'm like, "Your methods suck!" They're like, "I know!" That's what I want. I want them to say that back. So what's the message I can make?   So when I come back out here, and I say, does this make sense? These are the people that hate the vehicle, they hate what's being done. They're sold on the opportunity, but they hate how it's being done. They hate the vehicle that's used.   These guys are price and value shoppers, you can switch 'em by merely price and value - they are not die-hards. Anyway, there's a whole episode on that - so we're gonna keep going.   So what I wanted to do, is I wanted to start testing what messages would get people riled up, okay. "Oh crap, he's right!"  'Cause some people are just kinda sleeping there, and they're like, "I just don't know any different. "I'm gonna stay here. "I'm not willing to go look on my own. I'm just gonna stay here and swim in my red ocean filth." You know what I mean?   So,  it's a matter of me testing messages. That's all it is. Test messages. And when I test messages - that means I'm testing stories.   And so the first thing I do in my 30-day plan which you guys are gonna see...   I think I had heard, mine is the only 30-day plan, (I'm not bashing anyone else's) but it's the only one that includes publishing. No one else has it.   When I see these giants that are out there, who have killed it, and they're not publishing, I wonder how they've done it. It actually shocks me a little bit. There's no bash there, I'm just saying that's really impressive to me. I don't know how you did that without publishing. That's fascinating, especially in today's world. My plan heavily coincides with publishing...   So what you'll see in my chapter is, day number one, I'm like, well I want to test messages. So I go and do this kind of research.   Day number two I go in, and I start listing out all the stories, and the red ocean influences.   Day number three...   And then, what I'm doing, specifically, you'll see, by like day four - here are the actions that I'm doing to design the product and the marketing messages and the sales message.   But then, each day also includes what I would do on my publishing platform - which for me is podcasting. And you'll see that inside of my chapter.   When I go in, and I start saying, "Hey, check this out!"  I'm selling wealth - I'm selling MLM - so what I'm doing is I'm testing messages. I'm not gonna try and guess. This is where a lot of people botch it up. They just create the message - and then immediately try and go sell it.   Now, there's nothing wrong with that, you should try and sell it -that's one of the primary ways of testing your message. "Do you buy when I say this? Do you buy when I say this? Do you buy when I say this? What causes a reaction?  How do I get a reaction from you?"   The easiest way for me to test messages and warm up a market, (and this is literally what I did), is to publish. So the very beginning of this:   Week number one - The major goal that I have, (again, the actual detailed plan I'm not gonna write it out here) - but just from a macro level, what I'm trying to do is purple offer design. That's what I've coined it as.   If this is the red ocean, this is the blue ocean, I'm trying to be somewhere in the middle here. If I go too blue, it's risky, 'cause no one's ever done it before. If I stay red, it's risky because my only option is to compete on price.   So I like to pull in elements of red ocean and elements of blue ocean to make a purple ocean. That's what I do for people when I go and consult with them.   So I'm super excited, woo,  I'm lying to Texas on Monday to do another day of consulting.   But this is primarily what I do for people. I go in and design the actual marketing message, and design the actual offer behind it that over-delivers for the customer -  but also for the client's wallet.   You don't have to compete on price anymore when you use this strategy. This is very tested. This is a lot of stuff that I teach for the 2 Comma Club coaching. It's a lot of stuff that I teach for my own students as well.   So, purple offer design, and what I'm really doing is I am starting to podcast. And I'm podcasting with the intent, every episode is just a new story. Does that make sense?   If you guys want to see what I'm talking about, go listen to Secret MLM Hacks Radio. If you're not into MLM, I don't care; I'm trying to show you how I designed a market for what I was selling before I sold it. This is awesome crap, guys!   When you figure that out, you're like, "Whoa!" This is not like a small feat. And the fact that I just jumped ship and just did it. Some mad cojones there, if I say so myself. Yeah, yeah! Alright, okay. However, first of all, I'm going in, and as much as I possibly can, I'm designing a purple offer. I'm designing a purple ocean.   But if it comes from my own precepts - my vision is flawed. There's no way my experiences and my vision, represent everyone in the red ocean. I don't represent all the ones and twos.   The order of operations is to follow the frameworks that I know work the best, and then toss it out there and see what sticks. Leave what sticks up there, take what doesn't down, and then try a new message.   So what I did for this podcast is, I figured out what the actual purple offer is - I figured out what the messages are, I figure out what the stories are, and then I go in, and I actually launch the podcast. I'm lacing together four stories.   So I got the first story. Second, third, fourth, right. And what I'm doing, is I'm actually dripping out the content.  I really wish I launched Sales Funnel Radio this way. It was so effective. Holy crap.   The very first episode is actually my origin story; "How did you get into this?" Which really is, all the issues I've experienced back up in here.   If you've ever experienced any issues in whatever red ocean you're pulling out of - talk about your origin story. What was it like getting into this? You're gonna paint a scene of the trials of what made it hard. 'Cause, you're gonna leave that - This is you setting up a platform, setting up an exodus.   The second story that I did, was the story where I tell people, "This is how I do that."   There's gonna be a whole bunch of false beliefs that pop out here. This is actually secret number one. The third episode that I did is actually secret number two. The fourth episode I did is actually secret number three. The fifth episode I did was a call to action.   I literally created a sideways webinar, and I dripped it out to 'em. What! Isn't that cool?   So I created a sideways webinar, and I dripped it out.  You can go check it out. The fifth episode is a call to action to go get a free download. And so what I do from that point on, is I make it a focus of mine, on week two, to interview red ocean influencers. Who are the ones and twos who are influencers in this red ocean that I can interview? Because they already have audiences. You understand? This is how I get a list so fast.   And so when I'm testing these messages - when I'm testing these stories... Does this story sell? Does this story sell?  What is it you want? Do you want this? do you want that? So a lot of what's in week two is Ask Campaigns.   ...Ask Campaigns though, at the core of 'em, are primarily flawed. And you guys have heard me talk about that in the past. But these ask campaigns though, so I'll do some ask campaigns to the audience that starts listening to the show.   But I needed listeners fast - we're talking about like two weeks here. So the way to do that is, I focused on just getting whoever had a little more influence than I did. Just two levels up. And I get them on the show. It's like, "Oh, check it out, here's a red ocean influencer, "they're totally willing to be on the show, "and they have a following." Cool, here's a red ocean influencer, they're on the show, there's some freaking hustle behind this. We've got two weeks. But this is actually how I did it.   So  I'm gonna get a whole bunch of red ocean people on the show, they're gonna start following me, they're gonna start hearing my stories. 'Cause I'm just gonna keep telling stories. It's not just these four right here - I'm gonna keep telling stories. Story, story, story, story, story, story. And what I'm really doing is I'm testing which stories should be in my webinar script that's coming up in week three. Which is, what I actually did. That's what was so fun about this. This is what I actually did, okay.   So this ask campaign, I'm getting a lot of relationships with influencers. And you guys can see how I stepped it out and showed it out, and anyway.   Week three, I actually do the webinar and try and collect cash, right. For real. And I'm actually trying to sell it. Nothing's made yet though, and they know that. And when I did this for real, there's no bait-and-switch,  I told people. I was like, "Look, it's not made yet, you guys are gonna get "the early bird pricing though." Early bird pricing for coming on in at $997 - And that's my thank you for getting, guys.   I had so many people lined up to buy because of this strategy, it was ridiculous.   People were ticked when they missed the webinar. I wanted that reaction, that's good. That's good, right.   And, so in the first week, we did 37 grand. By the second week, we did, I think it was like another 11. In the first month, we did 60 grand. With no ad spend, nothing else.   But what I did, is, and this is what I talk about here too. I tell them, "ow I don't want any pressure of creating a product yet at this time. And I didn't either. I wanted proof of concept. Is my family going to eat? You know what I mean?   I left my job! This is like real for me, this is not hypothetical. I actually lived this, okay. And I knew it was ballsy, but I was like, I gotta focus on leaving ClickFunnels, I love these people. I respect them like crazy what goes on over there.   So I was like, "I've gotta leave ClickFunnels well, "I don't have time to focus, creating a product." But like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna make money? Right, you know what I mean? Like huh, it was stressful. Super stressful. So what I did is I told everybody, like, "Check it out. If you like this, and there are people just lined up to buy. People are like, as soon as I heard your podcast, I loved it, I knew exactly what you're doing, I knew what the issues were, I knew that you had the solutions for it. And I started saving for whatever it was you were gonna ask for. And I was like, "Sick." Alright, that means I'm hitting the message straight on the head.   Listening to what other people are publishing about in the red ocean, that's another great way to hijack and hack out what other people are selling their messages as.   Anyway. What I did here though, is I went in, and I started selling it, and I told people, check it out. I'm gonna launch module one in two weeks, so actually on week five. That lets me sell, that lets me do a follow-up series, that lets me do it right:   On Monday: I make the registration process. Tuesday, write the script. Wednesday, this is really what I did.   Monday, I did the registration process. This is the Monday right after I left. Tuesday I went and I wrote the script. I did not finish it, but I was doing this work.   Again, this is what I do for consulting, it takes a solid day, easily. If we're all engaged, for me to figure that stuff out with people.   Day three, I was like, well they should pay me somehow, so then I created the order page, I created the member's area.   Day four, last things I could figure out. And then, I put something in the member's area, so at least they could consume something and scratch the buyer itch, which is important. But then, day four, which was a Thursday, I launched the webinar and just did it.   Day five, replay sequence.   Day six, I went in and I started figuring out how to branch out and get more sales.   So the next week, I did it again, and I'm creating relationships with these red ocean podcasters who have audiences that they want to monetize.   And in this week, I'm starting to set up JV's. I didn't do this when I was doing it on my own. There was something else that went down with that.   If I was to go back though, that's what I would change - week four.   The first three weeks was awesome. I feel like I pulled that off real well. Week four, I would do the webinar and get, oh...   I did a lot of script rewriting, I was trying to match and feel what people actually wanted. And then, at the end of the week, when I did the webinar, I also started filming for module one, 'cause it was gonna release in week five.   And then I just released one module every week after that until it was all out, which took about six, seven weeks. Which is cool, 'cause it gave me an entire week. And I just kept doing the webinar live, every week. And then I went to twice a week, doing it live. Bam, bam, bam, bam. And I took that money that came in.   I did not pay us, we did not get paid, from my actual business for almost three months.  We were living on savings, and I was taking all of that cash that was coming in, and dumping it right back into ads. So literally my current customers were funding my future customers.   I still have never put a dollar of my own in my business, because of that reason, because of the way I launch stuff.   I just wanted to walk through this, guys, there's more to it, but I just wanted to share with you guys what I was doing, and why I was thinking what I was thinking and hopefully you guys see like why that was so cool. 'Cause it was pretty awesome if  I say so myself. It was pretty cool. That's pretty awesome.   My detailed plan, if you want to see how I left ClickFunnels. And as much as it pained me to leave - but I was so itching to do that, man.   When I was finally not employed by anybody else, I tore after it. I was just like, "Here I come, I've been waiting!" Just getting all this stuff done, getting it out the door, and it's been a bunch of fun.   So anyways. If you want to see the actual detailed step-by-step plan that I created, go to 30days.com/stephen. Alright, 30 days as in three zero, 30days.com/stephen. That's S-T-E-P-H-E-N. I think you guys are gonna enjoy.    And if you do enjoy the chapter, please let me know. I spent a lot of time on that chapter, 'cause I wanted to be able to make sure I was documenting accurately, what I actually did - which I think makes my plan a little different. Then I glazed in, the adjustments I would make the next time as I walked through it.   I'm like, "Okay that was cool. That sucks, don't do that piece again." You know what I mean? Or, "That was great." Or, "My gosh, you can skip that whole thing." You know what I mean. It took a long time for me to write it. Because I actually documented everything as it happened - then added the adjustments along the way as well.   So, anyway. Hopefully, it's helpful to you. Please share this episode if you guys like this. And if you're like, "I want to leave my job one day..."   Someone messaged me once, and they're like, "Stephen, I left my job, just like you!" And I was like, "Oh my gosh." Like, I'm not asking you guys to leave your jobs. I only left with nothin, because I've built so many funnels. It was like a jump out of the plane, complete free-fall - only because I had built 500 parachutes in the past- a lot of funnels and a lot of offers, and put a lot of stuff together like that. I'm not telling you to go do that just so we're clear. But you could easily pull this stuff off though.   If you're like, "I don't know "if I could do that in a month." Cool, give yourself two or three. Stop watching the clock, and just execute. So you can use my 30-day plan as a checklist to get your crap off the ground, so you're not in an exposed position - that's very key.   I would not ever leave a job, I would not ever take a dive out, I would never do any of that stuff, without like, you know, get yourself a revenue source. Don't do it like I did. I'm pretty experienced on that piece of it.   Alright guys, hopefully, it's helpful to you? Again, please share it if you enjoyed this. Go to 30days.com/stephen and let me know if you guys like this.   Bye guys.   Oh yeah, wasn't that awesome!   Hey, just real quick, a few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, and this was the letter I got from him. He said, "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question:   "You suddenly lose all your money. Along with your name and your reputation. And only have your marketing know-how left. You have bills piled high, and people harassing you for money over the phone.   You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month. You no longer have your big guru name, your following,  or your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie.   What would you do from day one to day 30 to save yourself?  - Russell Brunson.   Hey, if you want to see my answer, and a bunch of other marketers that also answered that question in this amazing book and summit -  just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, and you can see what we wrote in there. All of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen. That's 30 as in three zero, 30days.com/stephen. S-T-E-P-H-E-N. Guys, enjoy.

Steve: Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best podcast listeners, where ever you might be in the world today. This is your host Steve Shallenberger and we have a very special guest and friend on our show today and I am as excited as I've ever been to have somebody here. He's wonderful. He’s a one of a kind individual with a life of inspiring others, including me, and helping people all over the world to reach their fullest potential and dreams. Welcome Denis Waitley.   Denis:  Hey Stephen! Great to be with you. It's a real honor and a privilege to be on your podcast and I hope we can shed some more light to your audience which you do so well on Becoming Your Best.   Steve: Well thank you so much. Well yes we'll just go ahead and get right into it and before we get going I'd like to just give a little background of some of the things that Denis has done and generally his nature which is amazing. He is inspired, informed, challenged and entertained audiences for over thirty five years. I know that because in 1983 and 1984  in one of my first companies where we had 700 sales reps that were going all over the world - Denis was one of the individuals that we invited to speak to and train all of these young sales reps. There were going all over, and they were energetic of full of energy but Denis and along with the number of his friends Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Ira Hayes -  I mean these are some really cool people who changed our lives and Denis was one of those. And so we're just part of that but he has done that all over the entire world. He's spent many years in China , hopefully will have the chance to have them tell us a little about that experience, in India, United States. Recently he was voted business speaker the year by the Sales and Marketing Executives Association and the by Toastmasters international and inducted into the international speakers hall of fame. He's had over ten million audio programs sold in fourteen different languages. This is just great! I actually pulled Denis a number of your books off my bookshelf again this morning. I've read that many times -  The Psychology of Winning, The Seeds Of Greatness and it goes on. His audio album The Psychology of Winning is the all time best selling program on self mastery. He's a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and a former navy pilot. He holds a doctoral degree in human behaviour. Denis we’re so excited to have you with us!   Denis: Well thank you Steve. It's really great to be with you. You know it's been a wonderful journey. I'm still out there. You know people say,  Well, you’re long past retirement age and I said well retire - by its very definition means to go to bed or tired for the last time. If you're retired it seems tired again. So  I'm re inspired and retried instead of retired and I think that's one of the secrets that we all learn from people like Billy Graham and people like you know George Burns. You can name them and they seem to live longer because they're engaged in learning and they have the curiosity of a child that doesn't end when you finally stop earning. So I think you're yearning should and learning should continue regardless of your no longer earning.   Steve: Well that is a great way to put it. All of a sudden,  that great voice a Denis Waitley is coming back and we just kinda lean forward to listen to all those great quotes that you have. That's an inspiration for me , like I'm already past retirement ,but I am no where compared - I think Denis is like a 184 at least. Denis: It seems like it. You know, Steve, I've been doing eulogies for all of my contemporaries and that’s not, of course something that you look forward to. So, I did the eulogy for my friend, Jim Rone, Eulogy for my friends Zig Ziglar, for Wayne Dyer, Eulogy for my friend Steven Covey and even for Robert Schuller and Billy Graham was a friend of mine. I don't like to drop names like that but as I look at it them, I say to myself, “Wow, I'm so fortunate to still be out here.” But I have a cousin in England, Jack Reynolds ,who's 106 and he holds the Guinness Book of Records for the highest, longest, zip line journey for the oldest person. And it shows him at 106,  shouting and yelling as he's going down this is a blind over the mountain in England and I asked him how do you live so long and he said,” I look forward to being a 107.”   Steve: Well that's great you know just recently Denis I've had the opportunity in just the last few months to be with the number of longevity in health doctors just on a retreat or different circumstances - one in Singapore there. Dr Oz was one of them. Another, Dr Mao is his name and then the third Dr Foruhy - they're amazing but they talk about, and there among the world's leaders on health and longevity. They all reflected a number of things in common that we can do to extend healthy living: stay fit,  get adequate sleep. One of the ones I like the Dr Oz said was your heart needs to have a reason to keep beating.   Denis:  Well that's good, that's a very good.  That's when I have learned that too because I studied Prisoners Of War for my doctoral dissertation and I found that no American prisoner escaped during the Korean War from a minimum security camp but many of them escape from maximum security camp and that's because leaders always want to get home, or get to where they're going and people who feel that they're victimized and have no way out or no way forward, then don't live as long and that's what happens to many service people and coaches when they retire . If they retire and do nothing and have nothing really going on, you know we all say why don't we just play golf and fish. Well I like to eat what I catch and I don't like to kill fish necessarily but I do like taste of a fresh fish and I don't play golf anymore because why would I run my self esteem on a want like that.   Steve: That’s great. Well there's so much we can talk about that I think today let's start talking and I hope you don't mind and for the benefit of our audience, I'd like to start off talking about The Psychology Of Winning. This is a wonderful book and I am going to read just a small portion out of it. It’s an introduction and then perhaps Denis can tell us about what inspired him, what led to him write The Psychology Of Winning, and how was it been impactful in your life and others? So let me read this clip first. This is where he talks about true winning. True winning however is no more than one's own personal pursuit of individual excellence. You don't have to get lucky to win at life nor do you have to knock out other people down or gain at the expense of others. Winning is taking the talent or potential you were born with and have since developed and using it fully towards a goal or purpose it makes you happy. Winning is becoming the dream of yourself that would fulfill you as a person with high esteem. And winning is giving and getting in an atmosphere of love, cooperation, social concern and responsibility and that is why I've been so inspired about Denis because not only does he set it out there but then he's he says now here are some things that we need to do the will help us realize those dreams. So how did it all happen? What led to The Psychology Of Winning.   Denis:  Well, that you know, of course a long journey, but as things always start in childhood - so as a little boy, I grew up during World War II - a dysfunctional family. My father left home when I think I was 9 years old when he left but he went to war and then he and my mother broke up and my mother became very bitter because they weren't spending his checks home and so she became disillusioned with life and was fairly negative it and as a way of combating that disillusionment I rode my bike about ten miles over to my grandmother's house every Saturday because she was an inspiration. So she and I planted a victory garden and she taught me about the seeds of greatness. She said whatever you put in the soil and nurture will come up and be fruitful and I said, “But how come weeds don't need water?” And she said, “Well weeds are like negative thoughts. They blow in on the wind and they don't need any water and they just need people to repeat them.” So we did this victory garden and she inspired me when I was little and in a dysfunctional family where your father maybe is an alcoholic and your mother's a negative for perhaps all of the right reasons, I found that by reading biographies of people who'd overcome enormous obstacles to become successful - I found that these people had problems that I never even dreamed about and yet they seem to be fulfilled and happy. So I read a lot and then I began to try to be a leader in my school to overcome feelings of inadequacy and feelings of abandonment perhaps by my father and to make a long story short,  going to the Naval Academy during the Korean War, I learned a lot about discipline and target seeking and I became a navy pilot which meant that I had to visualize, internalize, I had to fantasize but I had to be goal oriented and I think as a surfer in southern California who finally became disciplined enough to be a carrier pilot, these things went together but I never wanted to destroy people in war-  I want to defend my country but I had a calling that I wanted to develop the potential within people because I was struggling myself and to make a really long story short ,during the worst time in my life, when I had custody of my 4 little children, I was divorced and had no income I wrote The Psychology of Winning at the worst of times. Now people, you know Tony Robbins and some of my friends would say, “Well usually, you write a book about your success!” And I said “Well I wrote the book for myself, so that I could learn from what I was not doing to do the things I know I should be doing. And so at the worst of my time, I wrote my best work so to speak, and so I think writing it for myself, giving myself the encouragement to do things that were a little more difficult but took a little more habit, a little more discipline, a little more effort; I put together these principles and I use POW because I had been a rehab facilitator for the returning Vietnam prisoners of war and I use that as a metaphor-  POW means either Prince Of Wales, putting on weight, power of women or psychology of winning and it's a perception through the eye of the beholder. So my premise is it's not so much what happens to you that counts, it's how you take it and what you make of it so what's your response to the daily life ; your anticipation of the future and the way you treat failure as fertilizer. Failure is the fertilizer of success. My grandmother used to say as we were fertilizing our plants, she said “We just take all the stuff and mulch and up and it grows green plants,” and I said “So that's what you do with failure huh? She said you don't lay in it wallow in it. You use it as a learning experience. So I would say that my grandmother who immigrated from England and going through World War 2 and the Korean War -  I thought we'd always be at war because that's all I knew growing up, and so I was so gratified to realize that the war is finally ended but POW, does really mean for me psychology of winning rather than a prisoner of war.   Steve: Wonderful! Boy, what we're great comments and thanks for the background. Talk about seeds! There are so many nuggets of what you just shared of and your grandma must've been some lady!   Denis:  Well I think about every day I have a mahogany butterfly that she always wanted that I finally made enough money with my paper out to buy it for is the only gift that I wanted from her life but it's in my kitchen and I look at it every day and we have a little silent conversation but she was definitely the role model and inspiration in my life and that I'll always be grateful for having her. She would say “You mow the bass line I've ever seen.” and I would ride my bike 10 miles just to get that kind of recognition from her and that good feeling of you're a good boy and you can do good things and the seeds of greatness and I  always ask her “Will the Japanese win?” And she said “No ,you always get out what you put in.” So you get the harvest of the seeds that you sell sow - she said they will not win because their premise for doing what they did was not good and honest. I said “Wow.” She said, “So model yourself after people who've given service but not necessary are celebrities,” and I've always felt that the most successful people will never be known in the media because they're not celebrities, they are so busy living life and doing good they don't get covered by the media.   Steve: Great insights! if you wouldn't mind, you said something that caught my attention. You said in the middle of all this you had to you know this wonderful influence and contrast of experiences as a young man but the influence of your grandma on talking about planting the right seeds and in in the middle of all this where you're feeling “a bit like a failure,” because of some of the things that had happened , you said just mention that you felt a calling to help others develop their potential and you included yourself in that group. Would you mind talking about that feeling you had? This calling you felt that you needed to address and respond to and how big of a deal was that for you?   Denis: What was really a big deal see because at the Naval Academy is Episcopalian and growing up the only religious training I had was my grandma reading some really great proverbs and things out of the good book. So I went to Sunday school because the Presbyterians have better uniforms on the softball team and so I went through all these religious experiences and finally and later Billy Graham said to me, “So you've got all these experiences what denomination are you? and I said, “Sir I was hoping you might give me a suggestion.” And  he said, “You know you're on your journey .” So the truth of the matter is when I would hear Handel's messiah at Christmas time , there was this inner tingling and this feeling that there was something internal and I think I was becoming acquainted with my soul and yet not having any formal religious training, it was definitely an inner inspiration so I felt that perhaps I had made a lot of mistakes in my apprenticeship in life so that I might be able to learn to do the right things. And much of what I've written about are certainly repetitions of the scriptures and the Old and the New Testament and all the great books that have been written so there's no question that I'm not an original. I'm someone who's leaned from reading and experiencing and traveling about these things and I think that it was at that bad time of not having income, having my four children wanting to come back home  to San Diego or to California and I was in Pittsburgh in their worst winter and I had just sold the Jonas Salk Foundation to the Mellon Foundation back in Pittsburgh and I found myself divorced with custody of four children who didn't want to be with me in Pittsburgh in the winter. They wanted to come home. It's almost like saying  “Come on we've always been a team!” And they said ‘We want to go home, dad.” I said,” I know but you're with your dad.’ They said “Yeah I know but we want to go home,” and I think that was the turning point where you put your head out the window and say, I'm fed up with myself. I'm not going to take it anymore but which meant I'm not going to do this to myself. So I went into this program of self analysis, self awareness and found that I was not doing the very things that I had read about and I was only superficially scratching the surface. I was only skin deep and so I got into it very deeply and that became that book for The Psychology Of Winning which became an audio program first and then a book, was really a diary of what I needed to learn myself and the only regret I have Steve, is that at the time that I wrote it, OJ Simpson was running through airports for Hertz Rent-A- Car and had suffered rickets as a child and had bold legs and he became this NFL superstar and I included him in my book and I've been trying to remove him from the book ever since. But you can't pick winners in all of the so called role models. He certainly isn’t a role model but so in other words by I learned these principles for me so that I would do them and I began to do them and I went from being somebody who was always late, which is perfect for my name, “Waitley,” - wait for me and so I should have changed my name to swiftly or rushly but I became Waitley but I became first to the gate Waitley. I became someone who was always on time and I did that because I am an absolute believer in the creation of habit and I've learned so much about good and bad habits and healthy and unhealthy and about ninety percent of our daily activities are habitual we do them autonomically without even thinking and so I've spent most of my life trying to help people not break habits - but you don't break a habit. You re write it ,you overcome it, you change it but you don't break it. You know habits are like submarines there silent and deep. They're like comfortable beds easy to get into but difficult to get out of and habits are just this knit pattern of thought that becomes automatic after a while and so I think working with the Olympics, I was really lucky as you know, Bill Simon was president of the Olympics and he appointed be as the first chairman of Psychology for United States Olympics in 1980 and through that experience, I watch these amazing young people get into the habit of winning. And they became they did within what they were doing without and they simulated and they rehearse and they practiced, on and off the field and finally watching the skiers go through the visualization at the top of the run before they hit the first gate and watching swimmers go through the meat ,watching figure skaters backstage going to their routines and not falling during the Triple Axel. I saw all of this and I said you know in addition to being emotionally inspired there definitely is a way to do this if you can control your thinking and if you can fill your thoughts which I call “Psycho Linguistics,” because thoughts are traffic and the brain is either a cul de sac construction zone or freeway. And you can create a freeway in your brain by controlling the traffic that flows through your brain and it actually makes a new highway toward your goal is like a GPS system but instead of a goal positioning satellite or a positioning satellite, it’s a goal positioning system in your brain that you can train to have a target so specific and so emotional that your brain will allow very little distraction to get you there so fortunately through the years neuroscience has proven that positive thinking is more than just the placebo effect. It actually are creators internal pharmacy that really helps optimism become the biology of hope as well as the psychology of hope.   Steve: These are some really extraordinarily inspirational ideas and I'm just thinking I know that so many of our listeners including me and I'd expect all of them have this feeling of something special that they can do in life and then it takes going through thinking about their own unique talents in this introspection that you describe saying how do I address that and how do I concretely move forward and so, these things that you're sharing are so important , so inspirational. I know that they're covered in your books. As you think about this the book Psychology Of Winning, you've been talking about on some of the key parts that are really important for us to realize our goals.   Denis: Well that's a very good question. I think the first one is realizing that your intrinsic worth. I think that worth internalized is better than worth externalized and I think you have to feel deserving of success before you'll really experience it, which really means that if love is not inside of you ,then how can you give away something you don't possess? So love must be there in the first place and I'm not talking about narcissistic self love. It’s the kind of thing that say given my parents and my background given who I am, how I look ,what age I am my ethnicity my religious beliefs ,I'm kind of glad I am me! And in fact I'd rather be me than anyone else in the world live in at any other time, in fact that's who I am. I'm as good as the best but not necessarily better than the rest so I don't compare myself favorably or unfavorably with other people although the Olympics do that with the standard of excellence but that's just to be an Olympian and to compete with world class standards -doesn't mean you're necessarily trying to knock and beat the other person. You're just trying to be your best against world class standards. So I think the most important thing is to believe in your potential because only then will you invest in yourself. if you don't feel worth investing and then you won't invest in it you'll live your life as a spectator - happy to be in the stands and I am happy to be in the stands as well watching tremendous performances but it's much more fun to be in the arena however small and participating. So I think intrinsic self worth, believing in your dream when that's all you have to hang on to is the single most important quality. And then the second one is to always give more in value than you expect to receive in payment, because it seems to be that you really do have an unfailing boomerang. People always called the law of attraction or the law of cause and effect but I found when I am truly interested in helping other people genuinely not to get something for me ,but if I get out of me and into them and transmit whatever value I have in the way of service or advice, that in that way I don't expect a return on the investment but I usually get it ten fold. So I've always believed that if you give more in value than you receive in payment you'll be truly rich in every sense and then of course there is the idea of expectation, optimism, the world revolves around optimism and people who believe in solutions rather than are just complaining about the problems and we have so many critics and so many tweets and so much Twitter as so many instagrams and so much Facebook and so many selfies. You know I'd like to be unselfish in a selfie world and I'd like to instead of being skin deep, I'd like to be soul deep and I'd like to measure diversity not based on how you look on the outside but the experiences you've had as you've been growing up . In other words we all bring a diversity of experience, why do our eyes have to tell us what we should believe or why the war years and our eyes have to be the ones that are the megaphone and also that the block? So I believe that in expecting the best ,that optimism, Harvard does have a new school of placebo and they have found that even people who have after stopping the surgery if you have the sham surgery which you agree to and they just do a little incision and sew it up, the chances of your recovery and feeling good are almost as well as if you have the real surgery which shows that God has given us this incredible ability to believe in something that we really want and is valuable and gives us the pharmacological influence to do it in other words: the endorphins and the harbingers of peace and happiness. So I believe also that happiness is the decision that you make and I train the Olympians above all I've decided to be happy and I think happiness is a decision, not a results and if you wait for a result to make you happy, you'll probably be for ever hung in that suspense of wondering when it's going to happen.   Steve: Well I'll just tell you, Denis, for all of us who are working on becoming our best, which literally creates a fulfilment of light, a happiness within us that goes out and radiates and touches everybody. These things that you're teaching us and sharing with us today are the very things that create that light and I've been taking good notes today. I thank you for that and I'm always shocked at how fast time goes like we're done.   Denis: I know we are! I spent a lot of my time talking to uber drivers and I said you know you have this incredible mechanism and they say, “You being my little GPS that I have up here on my dashboard so I can take,” I said yes first you must know where you are and then you crank in where you want to go and if you know where you are and where you want to go it's much easier to get there because that's called focus and specificity. And they go, wow,  thanks for the info doc! Do I get to I get a tip? Anyway Steve it's been a real thrill, a real honor for me to be with you.  I just keep wanting to plant apple seeds like Johnny Appleseed and I don't know how many of them will get in the soil and take but doesn't matter if you just keep throwing them out - one or two and all I want to do is make a difference in one or two lives and that's enough for me. Plant shade trees under which I myself will never sit.   Steve: Thank you. I can tell you for sure of one person and I know it's countless people where that seed that has fallen and grown and continues to do so. So I personally thank you!   Denis: Well thanks, Steve. I hope we connect again we will. When you're this way and I'm that way let's really do have a reunion. That’s important - friends who haven't seen each other but are still friends for a long time.   Stev: You bet, you can count on that. Now we can't end this podcast without this question and the question is, if you're giving in a parting shot to your family or your friends and brothers or sisters across the world ,what would it be it would be?   Denis: It would be that time is the only equal opportunity employer and please don't rush to your life trying to get wealthy only to find yourself too old to do the things that you save the money to do and remember the one most important thing; the values you leave in your children are much more priceless than the valuables you leave them in your estate. My children have never thanked me for all the money that I've spent on them but we always talk and laugh and cry over the time we spent together. So make sure you spend time with those you love, not just tweets and that just instagrams and not just text .   Steve:  Thats great advice.  Denis how can people find out more about what you're doing? How can they have access to your book , your materials or whatever?   Denis:  I think you know just going to DenisWaitley.com and I have that funny one n  in my nameand I what I'm trying to do is create a library and most of it free. So I'm not trying to get people to go to my website so I'll make money off them. I'm trying to go so that they'll be able to get NFL locker room style pep talks for free which would mean that the music the lyrics, if you will the quotes and the best of what I've done. I'd rather give it to them free then try to sell them something on a subscription so hopefully they'll get more free than trying to surf around the store.   Steve: Wonderful, thank you Denis for being part of the show today. It’s been amazing! We wish our friends that are listening today all the best as well as you continue making a huge difference in the world I'm Steve Shallenberger with becoming your best global leadership wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is the extended version of what I taught at Funnel Hacking Live 2018. There are TWO parts to a funnel's core... What’s going on everyone? It’s Steve Larsen and you’re listening to Sales Funnel Radio. I’ve spent the last four years learning from the most brilliant marketers today. And now, I’ve left my 9 to 5 to take the plunge and build my million dollar business. The real question is, how would I do it, without VC funding or debt, completely from scratch? This podcast is here to give you the answer. Join me and follow along as I learned, apply, and share marketing strategies to grow my online business, using only today's Internet best sales funnels. My name is Steve Larsen, and welcome to Sales Funnel Radio. I am so excited for this episode. I've been dying to record it. I feel like it's going to be one of the episodes that I look back on and I'm like, “man that was one of the Hallmark, amazing episodes of sales Funnel Radio.” You know what I mean? 10 years from now, hopefully this show is still going, but I feel like I look back and be like, “man, that was one of them. That was one of the ones that made it click for a lot of people.” It's one of the things that made a click for me, and anyway, I'm excited to share with you. It all kind of started honestly, well, how should I say this? How far back you want to go? Lets see, I was born in 1988. No. So, it's been it’s been a lot of fun working with Russell because, what is fun about it is, I feel like he and I are probably some of the only people on planet earth that geek out at the level that we do. And so, every time we see each other it's like a show and tell, like, “hey dude, check this out.” And he shows me, and we go through all the cool stuff he's doing. And I'm like, “yeah, check this out.” I tell him all the stuff I'm going through and doing, and the epiphanies that either or of us have had. And so anyway, I was chatting with him a little while ago, and that is when he was saying, “Hey, we want to get you on the funnel hacking live stage”, and I was like, “sweet.” Are you serious? Okay. That’d be awesome. And, which just ended, and I'm kind of backtracking a little, okay? I'm a little bit behind on recording these episodes. But I went and he said, “We want you to teach new offer creation in 10 minutes.” I was like, 10 minutes?! What? Oh my gosh! That's what I teach in 3 days at the fan event.” You know what I mean? Are you serious? Okay. Oh my gosh. So, I was sitting there in and the magic formula happened, which is caffeine and dubstep. I was pacing around my own office here and I remember. My head was just kind of subconsciously on this problem, and I love that. Because I will be in random places around the house, around wherever, and I'll have these epiphanies like, “oh my gosh! It's easier like that... Holy crap!” My head is constantly on these problems, you guys. I rarely think about anything else, which sounds like obsession, and it is, and I'm glad it is, okay. I sit and just kind of think. I told you guys a little while ago how I kind of brainstorm and come up with these ideas. I imagine them as these little threads and I kind of tug on them, see where they lead, and if it's like good then I just drop it and I go on to the next thing and try and find different possibilities for solving different problems. Anyway, I was thinking through. I was trying to distill down the 3 days into minutes. It was rough, it was rough. I was trying to work the problem, and figure out the different angles to teach it. I went into click funnels at like 10:00 at night the week before Funnel Live happened. I sat there and I was trying to do it for about 2 hours. I was doodling. For some reason if I can doodle it I know that I can teach it, and I know that it's a clear thing. And so that's the reason why I draw so many pictures. So, I was doodling and I was like, “oh my gosh.” I started having these epiphanies and they start coming faster, and faster, and faster, on the way to teach this. Well, next morning I'm back in the home office here, which is where I'm now, and I was standing in front of my white board and all of a sudden I had this, guys I don't know really how this happens but I will forget where I am. It actually makes me a little bit nervous because it's happening more frequently. Whatever I'm thinking of, that's where I physically feel like I am at that time. I will forget where I'm standing and I get kind of lost, in my head. 20 minutes will go by and I'll suddenly come to and realize that I've been standing in the corner of the room for a while. But I’ve been deep meditation and thought. It's a little bit weird and it's kind of happening more frequently. I'm kind of trying to get used it. So, I was in one of those little, I don't know what I'm going to call it, weirdness things. I was kind of zoning out a little bit. All of a sudden, I had this realization. One of the things that people struggle with the most when it comes to building funnels is, they think that the funnel is a series of pages, and we have had the hardest time trying to describe in this very small amount of words, the shortest amount of words, what a funnel actually is. Right? My mom used to think that funnels, I was selling literally kitchen hardware. “You’re selling funnels, kitchen stuff. You don’t even know how to cook.” I’d be like, “yeah I know I should not be in that space.” Anyway, we’ve had a hard time getting people to understand what a funnel is without people seeing it, right? We've tried literally for years. We’ve tried to figure out how to explain what a funnel is in the shortest amount of time, where people are like, and “oh.” A couple of years ago, that's honestly where this whole conversation started. We were trying to figure it out. It's a series of pages linked together to turn prospective customers into buying customers. Oh man, that's just a lot of a lot of, how do we shrink it down? What’s the core of funnel building? Suddenly, it hit me! That’s what I'm so excited about, you guys! Holy crap! What is it?! I figured out. I was sitting I realized, I was standing in front of the white board and I realized, that at the core funnel building is the offer. For a long time I was saying that. It's the offer, it's the offer, and the core funnel building is the offer. But it's not. It's actually only half of it. The other half of it is story. It's the sales message. It's the belief that carries the offer, and those two things is what makes a funnel. It's the reason why whether or not you decided to make a funnel, you have a funnel. If you're in business and you've made a sale, you brought them through a funnel. Whether online or offline, intentional or not, you have a funnel. It's just better if it was intentional. It's the reason why people can go, it doesn't matter if it's online, offline. Doesn't matter what you're selling. If there was a sale that was made, there was some kind of offer. Most times people don't make an intentional offer, they have a product, but there's also a message, a belief that carried that into the heart and mind of that person when they purchased it. I was like, holy crap! Maybe I should find that box, because I sent Russell. I was like freaking out like, “holy crap.” And he was like, “oh my gosh that’s crazy. Should we change the drawings, change sketches?” So, this whole concept, it's not leaving me, and it's been staying for a long time, guys. So, what I wanted to do real quick is go down and kind of teach you guys the same thing that I taught at Funnel Hiking Live. It took me a solid, see I had this major realization. It was like three o'clock in the afternoon and I started yelling. No one else was in the house at all and I would start yelling. “Oh my gosh! This is so cool! Are you serious?!” I was just yelling. Legitimate yelling and screaming. “This is crazy!” Yeah, I'm that guy but whatever. I'm proud to be that guy. And I was like, “sweet.” I had to get my slides to them by the next morning. And so I didn't go to sleep. Had dinner, said goodnight to the kiddos, and then from that moment on, I stayed up until 4:45 in the morning distilling down to ten slides. It was so hard, guys, was crazy. So I worked a lot on this, not just at night but this has been a problem that's been on my head for years. I’ve had the privilege of teaching a lot of times. But the quest to make things more simple is extremely important and making things complex does not make you smarter. In fact, usually means you don't bring as many people along with you, because they think you've got to be like techno babbly, loaded up. It’s better to just keep it simple. So, what I want to do real quick is, I want to teach this in the way that I experienced it and I want it to be, how should I explain this, gosh guys, I would take notes. Because when you realize at the core of this, and you realize really, there’s three forces that were fighting with, that I was fighting with, to try to figure out what this is. When you realize what these are, where they come from. I feel like it’ll make people’s lives better because you'll be more intentional on both funnel hacking and creating your offers, your funnels in general. Then I see episodes here, I can dive into this to teach you what I am looking at when I look at someone's funnel. It's not so much about pages anyway. So, let's get into here. So, let's start with the plot to a woman's story. If you don’t know what I'm talking about, go to Funnel Hacking Live. So, I started with this question, how do you make money online? It really happened when my wife and I found out that we were going to have a kid. Our first child. We were super excited. This is over four years ago now, which is crazy. I was reading dotcom secrets. Read for the first time, you guys all now this. I was in the prune, I was in an Army exercise. Laying down, with my M-16 for about 10 days in the dirt. With my weapon in my right hand, and dotcom secrets in my left hand. That's how I read the book the first time. I read the book it was like, “this is crazy.” What I realized was that it was saying, funnel hack somebody.” Model someone to the T and then just do what they did. And there's safety in that. And it makes sense to do that. Students that get hired to click funnels, we start putting together expert secrets, but the message of that one is, create something new. So the first one says, model someone to the T, don’t deviate, the second one says, make something completely new. Do not do something like what someone else did. And then I'm reading another book, read the book Innovator's Dilemma, which says that if a new market does not exist it cannot be analyzed. It cannot be analyzed. It's unknowable because it doesn't exist. It's your turn to create a new niche. Your turn to create a new market. You're going to have a hard time doing that out of your own precepts, out of your own head because you don't know you. So, by the law of the way this happens you must create the new niche with the customer. It cannot be from your own head. Right. So you take those 3 concepts and think about them. Number 1, you've got to model hack, model someone to the T. Number 2, and create something brand new. Don't bottle anybody. Number 3, it must be created with the customer or it'll be an approval based offer by defaulting. What? How does this all 3 go together? This question has been on my head for a long time. So, to answer this we've got to understand more of the core of the funnel I was talking about, because the answer is actually to do all 3 of those in tandem, to a point. First of all, we're going to funnel hack. Second, this is like Dorothy in The Yellow Brick Road. We're going to follow the yellow brick road as far as the yellow brick road goes. When it ends, I'm going to teach you how to make a new brick, lay down there, but do it with people so that it gets laid perfectly, with directional customer. Does that make sense? That's the answer. That's how you do it.... So, to understand more how to do this, let’s understand the core funnel building. First of all there is an offer and a belief, that’s. That’s at the core of a funnel. That's why it can be offline, online. Whether or not you made one on purpose, you have one. If you made a sale, you made a funnel. So, there is an offer and a belief, and the belief carries the offer. This is like those little red wagons. That's a like story, whatever is in the red wagon is belief, that’s like the offer. The story carries the offer. That's how it works. Without the belief, we would have the story part, the offer part does not get delivered. Because they’re going to look at it and go, I don’t understand that.” But if you understand that story it's what changes beliefs, it’s what changes paradigms, that people are like, “oh my gosh, I need that offer.” Yes you do, comes with it. So, the story delivers the offer. Is this making sense so far? I don’t know if it is. I know I'm going kind of deep in this. It’s a little more techno babbly. I have graphics, and pictures, and drawings to display this but I need you to understand how this works. Since that is the core of a funnel, you've got to understand that dream customer, the people that you would love to be buying from you, they're already consuming both. They're already consuming both and here's why. I don't want you to think of health, wealth, and relationships as 3 markets. The health, wealth and relationships, those are like the 3 moneymaking markets. Those are the three no-duh buying experiences. Those are the 3 markets we try and fit every single thing into. Health, wealth, relationships. If you got health, wealth, relationships, one of those, your offer might not fit into it. You're like, “Steven, I'm selling Rubik's Cube. How does that work for health, wealth, relationships?” The actual product does not need to fit in it but the sales message, at least, must. I usually use the example of Gillette. Gillette razors. Right. What market are they in? Health, wealth, relationships? They’re in relationships. Why? Because, I'm thinking of the commercial, some guy is shaving in the mirror, and he's like, “oh yeah, I'm the freaking man,” and a woman comes up afterwards and feels his face up. You've seen the commercials, right. That's what's happening. They're selling relationships through the commodity of razors. Dudes, you want the woman, you use this razor. Right. That's what they're doing. You got to understand that your dream customer is already consuming both an offer and a belief, with hopes that it delivers to them either health, wealth, or relationships. That's another way to think of this. Because they're already consuming an offer and a belief, your opinions don't matter. You're not the one who fills your own wallet, right. You don't fill your own wallet. Stop caring so much about what you think. Step number 1 is all about hacking, which is really answering these two questions. The two question is number 1, what is my customer’s current vehicle, or offer that they're consuming? And number 2, what’s the current belief of how they're buying it? It’s the and how what. What is it? You guys have heard that before. I'm just trying to tie all these pieces together so it becomes clear. That's the core of funnel hacking. Funnel hacking not so much, “hey there's a green button on the right, there’s a picture of someone on the left.” Yes, that's like the micro level. At the macro level, what you really looking at, is you're trying to answer the question, what is the current offer and current story that my dream customer is consuming. That's my starting place, that's funnel hacking. That’s the core of funnel hacking. So, what you're going to do is, like I said, you're going to fit your business into one of the 3 markets, right. Health, wealth, and relationships. And when you funnel hack, you're looking for those two things right. The offer the belief, from the red ocean. Now that you know what the offer and the belief are, the second step is start applying more of the expert secret's model. Expert secret’s model is taking it into a place where you're selling a new opportunity, a new niche a new market that you're creating. And by the law of creating something new that does not exist, you cannot analyze it, therefore you must make your with the customer. And there's various ways to do that. Get clever. That's how it launched my product back in January. So, please understand the offer equals the result, the offer delivers the result. When you create an offer, not product, it means you no longer have to compete on price. Rather than selling back to this red ocean where everyone’s competing on price and someone’s like, “no, I'm going to bleed for the customer more. No I'm going to bleed for the customer. No I'll take less margin. No, I'll take less margin.” It’s this race to the bottom. If you don’t do that crap the way to get around it is by selling it offer. Because it over delivers on value, which lets you sell sell it at the actual price you'd like to. So, just structure an offer, this is super hard to do for podcasts. I hope this is making sense, guys. I hope this is good stuff. Please understand that every single one of these concepts I'm talking about are all things that I realized over the last two years, especially, as my head has just not really ever left the topic. But when you're going to structure an offer, you actually don't structure the offer based off of the offer in the red ocean. You structure the offer based off of the belief in the red ocean. Does make sense? Let me say that again. To create a new opportunity to create a new vehicle, right, that will deliver health, wealth, or relationships, one of those three, you actually don't create it off of what the current vehicle and offer is. Actually created off of the current belief is, and from that we gain the vehicle internal and external related beliefs. This is complete technobabble and I am way the weeds here. Please stick with me, okay? We're going to find vehicle based beliefs that people have inside the red ocean. internal and external. The internal beliefs, I like to think of them as insecurities. These are these are beliefs people how about themselves and their capacity to actually achieve something. I can't speak I'm not good enough. I could get on stage. I can't talk. I would know how to do this. I, I, I, I, and it's their internal struggles that they have when they see this new vehicle that you're going to present. Here's how you get health, wealth, or relationships. They look at it like, “that's so cool.” “You know what. I actually believe you a little bit, but I'm not good enough.” And that's where the internal belief comes from. Or internal false belief. The external false belief is usually more about excuses, then they blame their ability to be successful with that vehicle based on things that are away from them. They are pointing away from their own body. I don't have enough money. There’s not enough, I don't have time, my spouse doesn't want to support me in this. Does that make sense? And they're pointing away, so as soon as you get them to acknowledge the fact that that vehicle is the way to get them health, wealth, relationships right that old vehicles not good any more, and you can offer this brand new one. As soon as you get them to accept that that vehicle, the next two places they go, is usually in this order. It's usually internal for insecurities, and external for the type of excuses that they're that they're running through. Their excuses running away from them. Time, money, resources, spouse. That’s how it’s working. From those very three believes, vehicle interlocks to all, that is everything that I need to create a new opportunity. Both offer and story. This is literally how I did it, guys, when I launched back in January. I launched click funnels December 31st. No offer. I didn’t have an offer, I didn't have a sales message, I didn’t have a funnel, and I had nothing. The funnel wasn’t even built. That's it. I had nothing. All I knew is what the current vehicle internal and external beliefs were. That was all. And from that, I was able to go and develop the product, the message, the offer, and the funnel, the script all of it. This part is so powerful and I feel like people just will skip over it like, “I know what the false beliefs are.” If you really know what those false beliefs are, you also know what stories the people are telling themselves in their heads that are sustaining those false beliefs. You know the experiences they went through that created the story. You know what they're telling, that is the place in my mind where you intimately learn and understand your customer. And when you do so, it is everything you need to actually be successful in your funnel. Because it creates the core in the funnel, a sales message, and an offer. Those two things. So, what we do is we take those vehicle internal and external beliefs, and we make a product for each one of them, a product. And we bundle them together with the main thing you originally wanted to sell, and that is the offer. Does that make sense? Man, this is so much easier to see, drawing stuff. I've it all drawn out here. I wish you guys could see it. So, the offer and the simplest form that I can explain it, if you take the main thing that you actually want them to be buying and you bundle in a few other products that are directly addressing the vehicle internal and external beliefs. For example, “Russell, I would get click funnels but I don't know what to write.” And Russell comes out like, “Don't worry about it. We've got this thing called funnel scripts, you need to write.” Does that to make sense? It’s a bonus that he's giving away when you buy the main thing, funnel hacks? Does that make sense? So, you're trying to sell the main thing, then you have several the products underneath. This is super super techno babbly. A new niche is created when you deliver a new vehicle, a new offer. The offer the vehicle. And second, when you deliver a new story new belief that supports the vehicle. Does that make sense? A new niche, a new market is created, when you deliver a new offer and belief. It's the core of funnels. You're just creating a new funnel, selling it back to the red ocean that you stemmed out of. There was a guy who walked up to me once at an event. He walked up to me and he goes, I don't know remember who it was, he walks up then he goes, “hey Steven, I got this sweet idea.” And he told me the idea. He's on like, first I'm going to do this. And then second, I'm going to do this, and then third.” This is my stack, this is my offer. These are all products that I'm going to deliver, these are the bonuses. And at the end of it he's like, do you think that's a good idea?” And I said, “Well, who's going to be seeing it? What's the sub market that you're stemming out of? What's the red ocean that you're actually stemming out of? And he goes, I don't know.” And I said, “That’s the riskiest crap I've ever heard of in my life.” You have to know what sub market you're stemming out of, otherwise you're creating things out of your own head, your own imagination. Scary. Be creative guys, just be creative. Second, not first. There's no relationship between being good and getting paid. However, there’s a huge relationship between being good at marketing and getting paid. What I'm trying to teach you and show you guys, is that this whole thing, the core of funnel building, is a belief. That’s marketing. It's a story. You're telling a story, you're changing beliefs. It's the sales message itself. And above it, it's carrying the offer. And that's all it is. That's all it is. It was 25 minutes for me to spit all that out. But I'm trying to tell the stories associated with all the graphs, so that it helps break and rebuild your beliefs. But I hope that that makes sense. I hope that that's helpful as I say it. Because I want you guys understand why this matters so much. If you're going out and you’re like, “Hey Stephen. I went out and I created this sweet funnel. It’s not converting. Right. And he took no thought at all of the actual sales message, the offer, and stuff like that. It's going to be it's going to be rough ride. It's the reason why a lot of times I’ll make up a design that I think looks kind of cool, but I don't spend that much time on it. But my stuff converts well. Why? Because I got a sick offer that fulfills the actual sales message. That fulfills the actual belief that I'm breaking and rebuilding for them. That's why. That's why design doesn't matter as much as what you did. That's why. I want you to understand that. Anyway, I'm blabbering now. But I hope that makes sense. Just remember that at the core funnel building, at the core of a funnel general, is a belief, which is carrying an offer. All you got to remember from this episode. And you start to think through that, those are the things your funnel hacking. Those are the things you're creating in the new niche. Those are the things that will deliver a customer to you. So, I'm super excited by that. I am seriously considering, in fact Russell's suggesting I do it too, make a book about offer creation. This is a topic that I obsess over and I love the science, and art piece of offer creation. So, hopefully that was helpful. I know a lot of stuff and it’s a bit of long episode there. Good thing you guys are used to it by now. Alright, talk to you later. Bye. Hey, thanks for listening. Please remember to rate and subscribe. Got a question you want answered live on the show. Head over sales funnelradio.com and ask your question now.

On today's episode, we talk about condiments, how to figure out your actual favorite Taylor Swift song, and "Hey Stephen."