Podcast appearances and mentions of James P Friel

James P. Friel is the CEO of FG Ventures, where he advises and invests in seven-figure businesses to help them scale to eight figures and beyond. A business thought leader and former Global Head of Digital Strategy at HSBC Bank, James has built multiple seven-figure companies and worked with CEOs and executives from Fortune 500 companies to startups, helping them optimize profits and achieve scalable growth.

Welcome back to Making Bank. In today's episode, we have a compilation of previous episodes with James P Friel, Jesse Elder, Justin Donald, Sean Mccormick, Scott Lynn, Rich Diviney and Bobby Castro and in this episode you will hear tips and tricks from top entrepreneurs about the guide to success.   (2:43) James P Friel  That high level vision is awesome but it can be a blessing and a curse at the same time if you pull the trigger and start building stuff without knowing what you're building.   (8:29) Jesse Elder The best you can do as an entrepreneur is to put yourself first, in terms of your mental health, your emotional wellness, because in times of chaos, it's the calm, resilient person who becomes a leader by default.   (13:05) Justin Donald Usually entrepreneurs have such a great skill set and they're kings and queens of the world and they think they're going to have the same success when they invest but they fall flat on their faces, 99% of the time.   (18:34) Sean Mccormick  There are a lot of people around you that do not want to see you be happy. They do not want to see you calm and relaxed. They don't want to see that because they're relying on you to continue to crush, to continue to hustle, to generate income because they're dependent on you for that.   (22:46) Scott Lynn Real assets are going to skyrocket in value because of the devaluation of the dollar in particular and a lot of investors are signing up under that same thesis.    (26:29) Rich Diviney Peak performance is simply an apex, and it is an apex from which you can only come down. Peak performance has to be planned for, scheduled , trained for and conditioned.    (32:19) Bobby Castro “Bobby Castro used to sit there too in my own misery and was completely stuck for so many years until I said there is a solution. The solution is us.”   Tags: @james__p__friel  @timepiercer  @justindonald  @realseanmccormick  @rich_diviney  @officialbobbycastro    

Welcome back to Making Bank. In today's episode, we have a compilation of previous episodes with James P Friel, Jesse Elder, Justin Donald, Sean Mccormick, Scott Lynn, Rich Diviney and Bobby Castro and in this episode you will hear tips and tricks from top entrepreneurs about the guide to success.   (2:43) James P Friel  That high level vision is awesome but it can be a blessing and a curse at the same time if you pull the trigger and start building stuff without knowing what you're building.   (8:29) Jesse Elder The best you can do as an entrepreneur is to put yourself first, in terms of your mental health, your emotional wellness, because in times of chaos, it's the calm, resilient person who becomes a leader by default.   (13:05) Justin Donald Usually entrepreneurs have such a great skill set and they're kings and queens of the world and they think they're going to have the same success when they invest but they fall flat on their faces, 99% of the time.   (18:34) Sean Mccormick  There are a lot of people around you that do not want to see you be happy. They do not want to see you calm and relaxed. They don't want to see that because they're relying on you to continue to crush, to continue to hustle, to generate income because they're dependent on you for that.   (22:46) Scott Lynn Real assets are going to skyrocket in value because of the devaluation of the dollar in particular and a lot of investors are signing up under that same thesis.    (26:29) Rich Diviney Peak performance is simply an apex, and it is an apex from which you can only come down. Peak performance has to be planned for, scheduled , trained for and conditioned.    (32:19) Bobby Castro “Bobby Castro used to sit there too in my own misery and was completely stuck for so many years until I said there is a solution. The solution is us.”   Tags: @james__p__friel  @timepiercer  @justindonald  @realseanmccormick  @rich_diviney  @officialbobbycastro    

Welcome back to Making Bank. In today's episode, we have a compilation of previous episodes with James P Friel, Jesse Elder, Justin Donald, Sean Mccormick, Scott Lynn, Rich Diviney, and Bobby Castro and in this episode, you will hear tips and tricks from top entrepreneurs about the guide to success. (2:43) James P Friel That high-level vision is awesome but it can be a blessing and a curse at the same time if you pull the trigger and start building stuff without knowing what you're building. (8:29) Jesse Elder The best you can do as an entrepreneur is to put yourself first, in terms of your mental health, and your emotional wellness, because in times of chaos, it's the calm, resilient person who becomes a leader by default. (13:05) Justin Donald Usually, entrepreneurs have such a great skill set and they're kings and queens of the world and they think they're going to have the same success when they invest but they fall flat on their faces, 99% of the time. (18:34) Sean Mccormick There are a lot of people around you that do not want to see you be happy. They do not want to see you calm and relaxed. They don't want to see that because they're relying on you to continue to crush, to continue to hustle, to generate income because they're dependent on you for that. (22:46) Scott Lynn Real assets are going to skyrocket in value because of the devaluation of the dollar in particular and a lot of investors are signing up under that same thesis. (26:29) Rich Diviney Peak performance is simply an apex, and it is an apex from which you can only come down. Peak performance has to be planned for, scheduled , trained for and conditioned. (32:19) Bobby Castro “Bobby Castro used to sit there too in my own misery and was completely stuck for so many years until I said there is a solution. The solution is us.” Tags: @james__p__friel @timepiercer @justindonald @realseanmccormick @rich_diviney @officialbobbycastro

Welcome back to Making Bank. In today's episode, we have a compilation of previous episodes with James P Friel, Jesse Elder, Justin Donald, Sean Mccormick, Scott Lynn, Rich Diviney, and Bobby Castro and in this episode, you will hear tips and tricks from top entrepreneurs about the guide to success. (2:43) James P Friel That high-level vision is awesome but it can be a blessing and a curse at the same time if you pull the trigger and start building stuff without knowing what you're building. (8:29) Jesse Elder The best you can do as an entrepreneur is to put yourself first, in terms of your mental health, and your emotional wellness, because in times of chaos, it's the calm, resilient person who becomes a leader by default. (13:05) Justin Donald Usually, entrepreneurs have such a great skill set and they're kings and queens of the world and they think they're going to have the same success when they invest but they fall flat on their faces, 99% of the time. (18:34) Sean Mccormick There are a lot of people around you that do not want to see you be happy. They do not want to see you calm and relaxed. They don't want to see that because they're relying on you to continue to crush, to continue to hustle, to generate income because they're dependent on you for that. (22:46) Scott Lynn Real assets are going to skyrocket in value because of the devaluation of the dollar in particular and a lot of investors are signing up under that same thesis. (26:29) Rich Diviney Peak performance is simply an apex, and it is an apex from which you can only come down. Peak performance has to be planned for, scheduled , trained for and conditioned. (32:19) Bobby Castro “Bobby Castro used to sit there too in my own misery and was completely stuck for so many years until I said there is a solution. The solution is us.” Tags: @james__p__friel @timepiercer @justindonald @realseanmccormick @rich_diviney @officialbobbycastro

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2020. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. When businesses are ready to scale, they call James Friel. He's the secret weapon helping many of today's well-known entrepreneurs become successful CEOs. Breaking complex problems into small actionable steps is his SUPERPOWER. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. You get stuck in your business because you are good at something, you start doing more, and you create success out of that something. 2. A system is a combination of people, processes, and tools. It needs to be coordinated to achieve an outcome. 3. Get in the habit and the mindset of being an effective CEO; do not fall into the trap of being the aforementioned 4 types of bad bosses. Uncover the bottlenecks, money leaks and biggest opportunities for growth in your business with the 10 Minute Business Audit! - RYG Framework Sponsors: LMNT: An electrolyte drink mix with everything you need & nothing you don't. Try it totally risk-free today: visit DrinkLMNT.com/EOFire and get a free sample pack with any purchase - plus a no questions asked money back guarantee! HubSpot: HubSpot's all-in-one CRM helps you automate tedious tasks, keep track of all your deals in one place, and make sure your whole team has access to the same data. Get started for free at HubSpot.com!

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2020. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. When businesses are ready to scale, they call James Friel. He's the secret weapon helping many of today's well-known entrepreneurs become successful CEOs. Breaking complex problems into small actionable steps is his SUPERPOWER. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. You get stuck in your business because you are good at something, you start doing more, and you create success out of that something. 2. A system is a combination of people, processes, and tools. It needs to be coordinated to achieve an outcome. 3. Get in the habit and the mindset of being an effective CEO; do not fall into the trap of being the aforementioned 4 types of bad bosses. Uncover the bottlenecks, money leaks and biggest opportunities for growth in your business with the 10 Minute Business Audit! - RYG Framework Sponsors: LMNT: An electrolyte drink mix with everything you need & nothing you don't. Try it totally risk-free today: visit DrinkLMNT.com/EOFire and get a free sample pack with any purchase - plus a no questions asked money back guarantee! HubSpot: HubSpot's all-in-one CRM helps you automate tedious tasks, keep track of all your deals in one place, and make sure your whole team has access to the same data. Get started for free at HubSpot.com!

Frantic hustle & bustle isn't going to get your business very far! Our guest today joins David by a beautiful waterfall to share his carefully crafted strategies, tools & procedures! James P. Friel is a robust entrepreneur, consultant & author who helps entrepreneurs spice up the day to day operations of their companies. He has helped businesses strip their old habits to grow & scale their success so that they can enjoy life more. James has run multiple 7 figure companies & has consulted with companies ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to smaller, more entrepreneurial businesses. James has helped them all systematically increase efficiency while still keeping everything flavoursome & hot!IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: [00:01:23] How Did James Become an Entrepreneur?[00:06:50] Client Transformations[00:13:57] What is the Biggest Obstacle to Success[00:25:34] Best Way to Work Through Team Dynamic[00:35:46] Final Thoughts from JamesConnect with James P. Friel:1. Follow James on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter2. Find James on his website3. Are you ready for your CEO Quickstart?  If so, click here to get started!Connect with David AsarnowFind David on his websiteFind David on his Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook

When a business has a problem, sometimes the owner doesn't know where to start to work on solving that problem. With James P. Friel 3-element formula, any problem comes down to one of these elements so you can have a framework to look at, isolate to analyze each element and figure out where the root cause lies. It's the essential formula that every entrepreneur needs to succeed

James is an investor, entrepreneur, and consultant who helps entrepreneurs systemize, grow, and scale their businesses by getting them out of the day to day operations of running their companies so they can make more money and have more time and freedom.Since leaving his corporate position as Global Head of Digital Strategy for HSBC Bank in 2011, James has simultaneously run multiple 7 figure companies and has consulted with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and executive level staff at companies ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to small, more entrepreneurial ventures helping them systematically increase efficiency while also growing their sales.James holds a Bachelor of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and lives in Boise, Idaho where, in addition to being a student of the game of business, he enjoys working out, drumming and skiing.VISIONARIES — Interviews with world's most inspiring visionaries, creators, and entrepreneurs to explore how they live their vision for life and business.Powered by ContentSupply.com where our vision is to make brands more human.We believe in the power of relationships, knowing that having a clear vision and building it with others creates more joy, fulfillment and success.

Here is another awesome episode from the Traffic Secrets book launch podcast. Want to know how to grab (and KEEP) your customers' attention, and draw them into your world? On this episode, Russell shares: The 3-part method to crafting a high-converting sales funnel. How Natalie Hodson used this method to sell 120K copies of her book! How to use this SAME method to attract and convert your dream customers, no matter where they're coming from! Listen in to learn more! Also, go get your FREE copy of Traffic Secrets here! Hit me up on IG! @russellbrunson Text Me! 208-231-3797 Join my newsletter at marketingsecrets.com ClubHouseWithRussell.com ---Transcript--- Hey everybody. This is Russell. Welcome back to wherever you're hanging out with me at. We've got Instagram. We've got Facebook going right now. And I am home during week number two of our quarantine. And I'm guessing a lot of you guys are as well. And so while we're sitting here, trying to figure out what to do, I figured this is a good time to start talking more about traffic. So hopefully, you guys are all excited and pumped for that. Anyway, excited to be here with you guys today. And it's interesting, as we were talking this morning as a team, and we started talking about all the fears. There are obviously a lot of fears, right now, happening in society and the economy and things like that. It's like, "Well, how do we protect ourselves? How do we create a life preserver around our company? What does it look like? What does that need to be?" And honestly, the biggest, most important life preserver you can create for your company is getting customers. That is your life preserver, especially in times right now, where so many companies aren't able to get customers. That's why the economy's failing, why businesses are failing is because they can't get customers. And so I figured, from now until the next, I don't know, two or three weeks, two or three months, I'm going to be talking about this like crazy with you guys. How do we get customers? How do we get customers? Because it's the thing that we all need right now. It's the safety net we need to protect ourselves and to protect our businesses. And so that's kind of the game plan. So with that said, you guys excited if we go jump back into Traffic Secrets book some more? First off, thank you so much for all you guys. Obviously, we launched this Traffic Secrets book in the middle of chaos, and the books are selling like crazy. And so I want to thank you guys so much for doing that. That's exciting. Tom Greece said, "We are pregnant, and the next generation funnel hackers are on the way." Congratulations, Tom. We got funnel hacking babies coming. I love it. Oh, I heard the prediction is that after this whole everyone's quarantine come down, there's going to be a whole bunch of babies popping up nine months later. And the hospitals are going to be overwhelmed with that. So good thing they're preparing now, I guess. Anyway, so I want to jump into this next section here of Traffic Secrets with you guys. So if you have been, obviously, the books don't ship until May 5th, but tons of you guys have been, told me you got the audio book, which is awesome. If you've been listening to all of the things, today we're going to be jumping into secret number three, which is by far the most, probably one of, if not the most, important secrets in the entire book, which I'm excited for you guys to get into. So things we've covered so far. Secret number one, we talked about who is your dream customer and really getting a deep understanding of them. Are they moving towards pleasure or away from pain? Are they a searcher? Are they a scroller? Getting deep into their mindsets so we understand them because if we understand who they are, then we can understand secret number two, which is where are they actually hiding. Where are they congregating online? Where is the existing streams of traffic happening? So we can go, we can find those people, and we can tap into them. So that's number two. So now secret number three is what we call, are you guys ready for this? Hook, story, offer, and the attractive character. Now, man, if you guys have been following me at all for the last two years, not quite, a year and a half or so, about a year and half ago-ish is when I first came up with the new framework, hook, story, offer. And I started freaking out. I was like, "Ah." And I remember it was one of those things, where I was doing a training for my two comma club X members, and it just kind of came out. I was teaching something, and I was like, "if you notice, every single page in the funnel has hook, story, offer. The ad does. The emails do. The landing page, the sales page, upsells, every single page has hook, story, offer. And as we got deeper and deeper into it, I realized that if anything in the funnel isn't working, it's always because of either the hook, the story, or the offer. And then I started freaking out. I remember the next morning I came in, it was like six in the morning. I was lifting weights with James P. Friel and Dave Woodward. And I was like, "You guys, guess what? I just figured out this thing." And they're like, "What is it?" I'm like, "It's called hook, story, offer." And they're like, "That sounds weird." And we spent the entire hour, we didn't lift a single weight that day. We just talked about hook, story, offer. And they were freaking out. I was freaking out. I'm looking at every funnel we've ever done. Like, what was the thing that made them work and not work? And it was crazy that every single time it always had to come down, and it was always either the hook, the story, or the offer. And so I want to give you guys, as you guys know, when I wrote the new Traffic Seekers book, at the same time I went and I rewrote the DotCom secrets book. I rewrote the Expert Secrets book. And then I wrote this book as well. I wrote this one first, and then rewrote those other two. And because hook, story, offer, it's crazy because it's such a fundamental important concept. But because I didn't come up with that framework until after these first two books were published, these two books were missing it. And so part of the big rewrites in these include the hook, story, offer. So in DotCom Secrets book, I go deep in hook, story, offer. Expert Secrets, I go back into it as well. In DotCom Secrets, we talk a lot about funnel audibles and testing your funnel and funnels not working. And there's a whole new section in the back here about that. And what's cool about it is it's all based back on hook, story, offer. Anyway, and so in the new book, Traffic Secrets, I talk a lot about this as well because it's such a big part. In fact, traffic, one of the most important things I've tracked is being good at throwing out hooks. A hook is like, how do you grab someone's attention? Most of our customers all day are on their phone scrolling, and they're scrolling, and they're scrolling. A hook is the thing that gets them to stop scrolling. So the hook could be the picture of you. Notice I didn't just do this on a white wall. I'm like, "Hey, I need a picture back here." And I totally forgot. I usually have something different back here, but there's the default Apple TV backdrop. I've got my books here. And then, notice I'm doing things like this. I'm trying to hook your attention. So if you're scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, all of a sudden you see this. Like, "Why is Russell so excited? Ah." And that hooks you. So hook could be the headline. It could be the image. It could be the picture. It could be a backer. It's everything you have in your tool chest to grab someone's attention. There's hook. Okay. The second part of hook, story, offer is story, which in the Expert Secrets book is the deep dive on story, storytelling, story process, how it works, how it doesn't work. And so I talk about story a lot here, but Traffic Secrets is primarily finding the people and getting hooks to grab their attention. Expert secrets is like how you tell the story to build a perceived value of what you're going to sell. And then actually, in Dotcom secrets, we go deeper into offer. So you got hook, story, offer. They kind of weave backwards in the books, but I touch upon them deep in each book. But so, Traffic Seekers book, in section number three, or secret number three, is all about hook, story, offer. So I'm going to flip open to there really quick. So you see the picture here. If you guys can see, if you're watching, you can see there's a picture of all these little hooks. Then there's the story. And there's the offer. And this is the core framework of funnels. When you really start understanding it. All right. Are you guys cool, if I read you part of the book? Ah. Okay, I'm going to read you a story. And this is, anyway, this is a fun one. "So it was 9:27 PM. Sorry. It's 9:27 PM. And the last of Jessica's kids had just fallen asleep. It had been a long day that started out way before the sun came up and was finally ending. While Jessica was exhausted, it was her time now. And she had a few precious moments to herself without kids pulling her in a million directions." Does that sound like any of you guys? If you've got kids, it sounds like me, especially during this quarantine. "Soon she would have to start her nighttime routine of cleaning up the house, getting herself ready for bed, taking off her makeup, and finally falling asleep for a few hours before she had to wake up and start it all over again. As she fell on the couch, she reached in to her pocket and slowly pulled out her phone. What had been happening in everyone else's lives today, she wondered. She opened Facebook and swiped through the lives of her friends and family, hoping to find some comfort, knowing that she wasn't the only one who had a busy day. Soon she started to get bored. But when she was about to close the app, she saw an image fly past her screen. She almost missed it, but she slowly moved her finger back up the phone, bringing the picture into the middle of the screen. Yep. She thought she was right. It was a picture of a woman about her age in workout clothes with gray shorts on. The thing that caught her eye wasn't the shorts, though, it was the dark gray spot in the middle of her shorts. A little confused. She looked around above the image and read the words, 'Let me tell you about the time that I peed my pants during a workout. I was filming for dollar workout club. I'd never been so embarrassed before.' Jessica was right. It was a picture of a grown woman who had peed her pants. She laughed for a second, but then her laughter turned into uneasiness as she realized that she knew exactly how this woman had felt. She had experienced the same thing earlier that year, when her kids had wanted her to jump on the trampoline with them. She wanted to be a good mom, but after a few jumps, she had to get off because she had peed her pants. She quickly came up with a reason why she couldn't jump anymore. And after apologizing to her kids, she had run to her house to get changed. She knew the story she told her kids wasn't true, which added to her mom guilt even more. This also made her think about other activities she knew she would love to do but were off limits for the same reason. After a few seconds of looking at the image, Jessica decided she wanted to see why in the world this woman would post a picture of herself on Facebook telling others that she had peed her pants. She clicked on the image and was immediately taken to the page of the video with the same woman in the picture. Jessica clicked on the video and started listening to the story. The woman's name was Natalie Hodson, and she was a fitness blogger and a mom of two amazing kids, who were both 10 pound babies. Natalie told her embarrassing story, when she accidentally peed her pants during a workout she was filming for her blogs. She then talked about a doctor that she had met, who specialized in helping women with this problem. She shared how the doctors were able to help her. And after she had success, she wanted to share it with other women. Natalie mentioned she had worked with the doctor to create an online program that anyone could do from home with simple exercises to strengthen their abs, core, and pelvic floor. Together, Natalie and the doctors, made an ebook that also came with bonuses, like diet, nutrition trips, exercises, and movements, and special training programs. They wanted to make this offer for all the moms who had struggled with accidental leaks after having babies but didn't have the ability to meet with the doctor in person. Instead, you could get the same advice without ever leaving the comfort of your home, and you can get the ebook with all these bonuses mentioned for just $47. Excited, Jessica jumped off the couch and ran across the room to find her credit card. After typing in her credit card numbers, within minutes, she had access to the ebook that would solve her problem forever. Even though Jessica story is fictional, this type of experience does happen each and every day to women who are embarrassed when they accidentally pee their pants a little bit, when they cough, sneeze, or even jump on the trampoline. Over the past three years, over 120,000 women have purchased Natalie's ebook. This made Natalie Hodson a household name, giving her the ability to change the lives of countless women around the world and made her very wealthy in the process. The framework that Natalie used to get 120,000 people to buy her book, Abs, Core, Pelvic Floor, is called hook, story, offer." Oh, you guys see where this is going? Okay. So think about this. This is happening every single day. And I shared that story at the beginning because Natalie's business has blown up, but it's all based on the same concept. People have their phones, or they're on their computer. They're scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, through YouTube, through blogs, like whatever their method of learning is. They're doing their thing. And then something's got to capture their attention. Now for us, as business owners, as marketers, as entrepreneurs, as funnel hackers, our job has become great at getting people's attention, throwing out hooks that grab their attention. So for Natalie, as she was scrolling through their feed, they see her standing there embarrassed with the peed pants. Like she's sobbing. What is that? Boom. You got them. You hooked them just long enough that you can now tell them a story. Now, the goal of the story is to increase the perceived value of whatever it is you're going to be selling. And then, excuse me, and then you make them an offer.. And that's it. That's the game. That's how we drive traffic. That's how we sell products with things that we're selling inside of our funnel. And I mentioned this earlier, what's interesting is as you start looking at your funnel, at your ad campaigns, everything, if something's not working, launched the ad campaign. It's not working. Why? It's always because of one of these three things, either the hook wasn't right. It's not getting people's attention. Or if it is grabbing attention, but then they're not buying, that means the story did not increase the perceived value of what they're selling, or what you're selling. And if the hook's good, and the story's good, it means the offers is no good. So if you get all three of them working, then everything works in the funnel. And that's true every page. Like the ad, there's a hook, a story, and an offer on the ad. There's a hook, story, offer on the landing page. There's a hook, story, offer on the sales page. Hook, story, offer on the upsell page. Hook, story, offer on the down sell page. Every single page in the funnel has a hook, a story, and an offer. This video alone, literally, I'm here with you guys. This video is a hook. There's a whole bunch of hooks around me. There's the books, the pictures. There's me reading a story. There's me being all animated. There's stuff like that. There's a headline. It's the hook, story, offer, attracted character on Facebook. It wasn't on Instagram because I can't do headline on Instagram. But that was the hook. And so far, live, I've gotten about 200 people on Instagram and about 350-ish on Facebook. So 500 people, boom, and with a second scroll because hook grabbed you guys to get your attention. Now, I have your attention. Now my job is to tell you a story. And the goal of my story is to increase the perceived value of the offer I'm going to be making. So I'm telling you a story about this book. I'm talking about it. I'm reading parts of it to you. I'm getting you excited, where you like, "Oh my gosh, I need that book." And if I've done my job right, if the story is good, it's increased the perceived value of this book. And then I make you the offer. Like, "Hey, I want you to go to trafficsecrets.com and get a copy of his book right now." Here's my offer so the offer is this book normally sells on Amazon for 24 95. You can get it for free at trafficsecrets.com. It's pre-launch right now, but you can get it for free. You just pay 9.95 shipping and handling, and I'll ship one out to you, as soon as we start shipping on May 5th. And then on top of that, I've got five bonuses you can go through immediately. There's five different videos you get for free. And you get this video. Each video is over an hour long of some of the greatest traffic minds on the planet. One was an hour long presentation that I gave at funnel hacking live. One's an hour long presentation, or a 30 minute presentation, for Peng Joon on traffic. And then there's Prince Ea. He's got over 3 billion views on his videos. There's a presentation from him. And there's, I'm blanking on the offer, but there's all these things. And now, if you go to trafficsecrets.com, you get this right now. So good. Hook, boom. I threw a hook out there. Got attention of 500 of you right now. And this will probably get, I don't know, between, over the next week, probably a hundred thousand plus views. So a hundred thousand people see this, if the hook was right. Okay. I tell the story. The story should be engaging. We get to know each other. And then I make you an offer. Hook, story, offer. That is the foundation of all marketing, all business. That's why it's now in the DotCom Secrets, Expert Secrets and the Traffic Secrets books. It's your job to understand that. Now, in the Traffic Secrets book, it's called hook, story, offer, and the attractive character because it's you. It's your personality. You're the one who's throwing these hooks out. You're the one grabbing people's attention. You're going to have to be engaging. You have to be exciting. You have to be figuring things out. And there's books everywhere on every platform. Like, any of you guys who follow me on Instagram, you go to my wall. Everyone of those images is a hook. Like yesterday, I did an image of me holding a post-it note that had a scripture from the book of Esther that said, perhaps, I'm going to mess up the quote right now. "But perhaps you were born for times of right now." That was a hook to people's attention. There are all this panic, all this fear, and people are scrolling through feed. And then boom, I'm throwing the thing to say, "Look, the S is scary, but this is your time. It's time to step up and try to stand." I hooked. I was telling you a story. And the offer is just people like it. I think I had like 4,000 likes in the first, I don't know, like five or six hours. So hook, story, offer. It's happening there. It's happening there. It's happening when I'm selling, happening in my videos, happening in my emails, happening in my ads. Everywhere you're publishing, everything you're doing, hook, story, offer is there, over and over and over and over and over again. Kim said, "Russell, is a hook just an image?" It's not just an image. It can be an image. Yes. But it can be so many other things. A hook is anything that grabs your attention. And so when you're scrolling through your feed, sometimes the thing is like, in fact, this is your assignment. Tonight, when we got off this, whenever you get off this, whatever you're listening to, go to Instagram or Facebook or YouTube, wherever you're excited about. And just start scrolling, just go through the feed and start scrolling. And notice what things grab your attention. And when someone grabs your attention, stop. And then what was it that grabbed the attention? Was it the headline? Was it the image? Was it the crazy person? Was it something? Was it the comments? There's something that grabbed attention. Whatever that was that grabbed attention is the hook. So I'm making my videos. I'm looking for, I set up this location, right here, for a couple reasons. Like, here's a potential hook that might grab some. You see some books. I could put something on the screen, back here. I'm in my funnel hacker shirt. I'm excited. I'm talking. All these elements are things I'm doing to try to hook people. I don't know what's going hook. Something hooked all of you guys. Some of it's because you know who I am. So that's the hook. Some of it's, you're looking for traffic. That's the hook. Some of you guys just like, "There's this weird guy who's all excited. What is it? what's happening?" The hook is different… your energy is the best hook. So hook is just, it's whatever it is that grabs their attention. So it's all the tools we have in our tool chest. We're trying all of them. We're throwing everything out to get their attention just long enough that they're going to stop from their scrolling. List stop. And then you say, "Okay, cool. Now, I got your attention. Let me tell you a story." I'm telling the story. And again, the goal of the story is to build, to increase the perceived value of the thing that I'm going to sell them next, the offer I'm going to make. And then I make an offer. That's the game. That's it. What's fun is because now it's like when people have a funnel, like, "My funnels not working, Russ. What do I do?" And it's funny. I have people, we do consulting. And it's, I don't really do it any more because it just, I ran out of time. But last time I did consulting it was a hundred grand for a day, and people coming in like, "My funnel's not working. I want to increase." Literally, what I would do, I would go to the ad and look at that and say, "Okay, this ad is doing all right. How can we make it better? Is there any better hooks we could use? Is there a better story you can tell? What's a better offer?" And we spent some time on that. Then we'd go to the landing page. "Okay, here's your landing page. Cool. It's doing all right. What's a better hook we can do? What's a better story we could tell? What's a better offer?" And then go to sales page, hook, story, offer, hook, story, and that's it. There's no magic trick. You want to see the magician, how he reveals his magic tricks. That literally is it. It's hook, story, offer. If you paid me a hundred grand today, that's all we would do. What's interesting is at funnel hacking live two years, let's see, not last year but a year before, funnel hacking live, my opening keynote presentation, I talked about hook, story, offer for first time ever. And I remember Stacy Martino was there, and she said, "I went home that night. And I was like, 'Okay, I need some help, but I don't know what to do. If I was to pay Russell, he would just tell me it's hook, story, offer. So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to think what's my hook, my story, offer'." She started looking at her business. She said, "Oh my gosh, my story is amazing. My offer's amazing. I'm not throwing out enough hooks." She says, "I'm going to throw out some more hooks." So she started doing all these things, and she messaged me, I don't know, like two weeks later. She's like, "Russell, thanks for consulting." I'm like, "hat are you talking about?" She's like, "You told me that if I was to hire you, you'd do hook, story, offer. So I just looked through my own business. I said, 'Is it the hook, the story, the offer?' I realized it was hook. I threw out a bunch more hooks. And she said, "We just had the most profitable month of our entire business because of that." I'm like, "Wow, that's amazing." Like now, you know my tricks. Now I'm useless in the equation. That's what's important for you guys to understand. Your job as marketers is to become good at throwing out hooks that grab someone's attention. Then after you have their attention, tell them a story that builds the perceived value of the offer you're going to make them. And then make them an irresistible offer. When you become good at that, you'll be able to write your own paychecks for the rest your life. So your homework right now is to start going through your feed, newsfeed, Instagram, Facebook, Google, anywhere you're going at and start paying attention to the hooks that are grabbing your attention. And then if the hook grabs your attention, click on it. And then go listen. Listen to what's the story. What's the hook on the landing page? What's the story they're telling you? What's the offer? And you start paying attention. This is what funnel hacking is all about, noticing what's happening and watching it and paying close attention because the way you do this is not going to be magic. It's just you're looking at that, and you're figuring out how do I do the same thing? How do I throw out hooks? How do I tell stories? Especially right now, like right now, the media is good at this. Why is media pushing so much fear? Because fear is a great hook I'm not a big believer in let's throw fear out there to try to sell products. But that's what the media is doing. They're really good at throwing out hooks. They call it clickbait. The clickbait, they're trying to get hooks out there. It's the same thing, but ethical, that you're trying to do. And so that should help. So Mateo said, "How do you help us survive in Corona time?" This is how you survive. You need to build a life preserver around your business. The life preserver are customers. Business is all about just getting customers and serving them at the highest level possible. People still have money. There's the false belief like, "Oh no, people don't have money." It's like, no, they still have money. Money hasn't disappeared. It's going to shift a lot of businesses. People are losing jobs and stuff, but it's like, you understand people have money. They're still spending money on things that they need. Like, look at what people are buying now. There's a lot of things people are buying right now. You have to understand that, and you have to protect your company. You have to build a life preserver of customers. And how do you do that? The best way is to get traffic, people, customers to you, which is why I'm going live every single day until further notice about this Traffic Secrets book because that's what I'm talking about. I know I have an interview. I got to jump off. It's happening in three minutes. So I'm going to bounce, but I want all you guys right now, it's time right now, during this moment of fear and frustration and quarantine and whatever the season we're in right now, this is the time for you to sharpen your saw and become better. I recommend going to trafficsecrets.com, getting copy of the free book. The book doesn't ship until May 5th. But the order form bump, the upsells is the audio book, which is seven hours of me reading the book. You can get it today. It's ready right now. So that's happening. And then, like I said, I'm going live every day during the weekday, going through chapter by chapter. So go pay attention. Go back and watch and start learning these principles. Even while you're waiting for the book, you can start understanding these principles and start becoming better at them. And test some hooks today. Post something on your Instagram wall or your Facebook wall or wherever you post stuff and test a hook out. See if you can get someone's attention. And just practice your hooks because the better you get at hooks, the more people. That's kind of game plan. So, all right, that's it you guys. It's time. Go get your book at trafficsecrets.com. I appreciate you guys. Thanks for hanging out today. You're all amazing. And I hope you guys enjoy your time in quarantine. I know it's scary and stressful times, but we need to be focusing on the positive and focusing on building life preservers around your business, which is traffic. It's customers. It's people. And so let's focus all about how to get, not just customers. If I can get this down here, not just customers, but how to get your dream customers, the right ones, the ones you actually want to serve into your business. And so that's the game plan. All right. Thanks guys. Appreciate you all. And we'll talk to you all tomorrow. All right. Bye everybody.

What if you could get out of running the day to operations of your company so you can have more money, more time, and more freedom? When it comes to helping people create results in their lives, Today's guest is a master at getting you to identify what you truly desire and map out the steps to get there. Since leaving his position as global head of digital strategy for HSBC Bank in 2011 he's simultaneously run multiple 7 figure companies and consulted with Fortune 500 companies to smaller entrepreneurial ventures helping them increase efficiency while also growing their sales. Please give a very warm welcome to James P Friel. Top 3 Amplifiers: Detoxing from the everyday “hustle” How to prioritize which areas of your business to focus on How to outsource more tasks to free up time To listen, find other episodes, access the show notes, and find out more go to www.amplifyto7figures.com. Enter the giveaway here: https://amplifyto7figures.com/giveaway Connect with today's guest: Website: https://jamespfriel.com/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespfriel/ Mastermind: growspecialoffer.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today, I officially start the plan of James P. Friel in building a high ticket consulting program. So how did I do yesterday, and what am I working on today? Inquiring minds want to know!

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

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

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

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

This week, Ryan interviews entrepreneur, author, and CEO Jame P. Friel on his entrepreneurial journey. James is an entrepreneur, author, and consultant who helps entrepreneurs grow and scale their business by assisting them to get away from day-to-day operations, resulting in more time freedom in the long run.James has a great backstory and shares how he’s built his confidence, and offers advice on how you can too! We talk about the five key pillars of a business and why a focus on the hustle and grind can be detrimental. Key Takeaways:James’ backstory (03:30)His reason for remaining curious (07:20)What he did before starting his businesses (10:50)How James builds confidence (20:00)The five key pillars of a business (27:00)Why you shouldn’t be consumed with the hustle and grind (33:10)How to live in a realm of abundance (37:50)--Additional Resources:Find James here and on his FB groupJoin Our Cashflow Tactics GroupTake Our FREE 5-day Cashflow Tactics Challenge--Subscribe to the show on your favorite Podcast App so you never miss an episode!If you enjoy listening to the Rise Up Live Free podcast, leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcast!

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

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

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

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

Welcome to the first episode in a special 5 part series. Over the course of these next 5 episodes, you’ll get to hear an interview between Russell Brunson and Josh Forti about the book “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. But this interview is much more than just them talking about the book, they are actually discussing business, religion, and politics (a subject Russell doesn’t talk about often) as they pertain to the concepts in the book. In this first section, you’ll get to hear the introduction and the basis for how the entire conversation will flow. The first main topic of the book, and the main concept for this episode is greed. Is it bad? Can it be good? Are we born with it? Can we change? So listen in to part one of this unique interview and start reading “Atlas Shrugged” (just read it, the movies aren’t great), so you can be ready for part 2! Hit me up on IG! @russellbrunson Text Me! 208-231-3797 Join my newsletter at marketingsecrets.com ---Transcript--- What's up, everybody? This is Russell Brunson. Welcome back to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. And right now, I have a treat for you. Over the next five episodes, I'm going to be taking you in behind the scenes of an interview that I did with Josh Forti about the book, Atlas Shrugged. And some of you guys have read Atlas Shrugged, some of you haven't. Some of you know the premise, some of you don't. And I want to preface this by saying I do not believe in everything taught in the Atlas Shrugged book. I love a lot of it. It talks about producers versus consumers, the looters and the takers versus those in society who are the creators. Right? And there's a lot of things I strongly align with. There's also things that I don't strongly align with. And so I love the book, one of my favorites I've ever read. And so that's the first thing. Number two is, as I finished the book, I remember Josh Forti, who's one of our funnel hackers, he wanted to do the interview with me and I was just like, "I don't have time for interviews." And we're getting closer and closer to the election, we talked on Facebook. We were posting some comments and I was like, "You know what? The interview that I would actually love to do would be about Atlas Shrugged, looking at the whole political thing as it's happening right now and the elections and everything, through the lens of Atlas Shrugged. That'd actually be fascinating for me," because I don't typically, as you know, talk about politics. Right? I do talk about religion, but I don't talk about politics. That's not something I typically go into, but I thought it'd be interesting to look at politics from the lens of Atlas Shrugged. And so in this interview series, it's a lot of fun. We talk about producers versus consumers. We talk about the left and the right. We talk about some political things. Now Josh, just so you know ahead of time, he's very pro-Trump, very much on that side of the discussions during this interview. And this interview, just so you know, took place before the elections. As of right now, I'm still not sure who won. You guys probably will know by the time you're listening to this, but as of when I'm recording this, we don't know, but he definitely leans on the Trump side. I don't really share much of my political beliefs, but you'll get kind of what I believe and why I believe it through the lens of Atlas Shrugged over this interview series. So I hope you enjoy it. It was a lot of fun to do, a lot of great feedback and comments. And again, we talk about stuff I don't typically talk about ever. So this may be a one-time shot to hear inside my mind when it comes to politics, religion, and all through the lens of Atlas Shrugged, the book. So with that said, I want to introduce you guys to the first part of this five-part interview series with me and Josh Forti, talking about Atlas Shrugged. Russell Brunson: Are we live? Josh Forti: We are live. Russell: What's up, everybody? Josh: Oh, my word, with the incredibly ... I don't know if long-waited. It hasn't really been that long. Two months ago. So much expected podcast with Mr. Russell Brunson, himself. How are you doing, dude? Russell: I'm doing amazing, man. Thanks for flying all the way to Boise just for this conversation. Josh: Yeah, absolutely. Dude, this is probably the conversation I'm looking forward to most, certainly in my life thus far, when it comes to business and philosophy and everything like that. Russell: No pressure at all. Josh: Well, it's funny. Your wife said, "Oh, thanks so much for coming out." I was like, "Yeah, it's certainly ... Yeah, because it's inconvenience to me to fly all the way out here." I will say, this is my first ever in-person interview like this. Russell: Oh, really? Josh: Yeah. Russell: We got the microphones set up. Josh: I know. We have- Russell: He’s a professional. I've never done this before. Josh: Literally, we have a soundboard down here. We've got Russell's mic. Can you guys hear us all right? By the way, guys, for all of you listening on audio, we apologize because we're going to answer some comments in the Facebook feed here because we've got everybody down here. By the way, you can see all the comments down here. Russell: What's up, everyone? Josh: All right, guys. If you are live, comment down below. Let us know where you're tuning in from. Let us know if you know Russell or if you know me or if you know both of us or what you're most looking forward to. And Russell, I'm going to be honest with you. We're just going to be super chill. Guys, we have a live audience back here. We've got Dave. Dave's over there. We've got Jake and Nick. Russell: What's up, Dave? Josh: Where'd Jake go? Russell: Jake's working. Josh: Oh, there we go. Jake's working late over there. Russell: Jake, by the way, designed these amazing shirts for this- Josh: Yeah, check us out. Russell: This is my Rearden Steel shirt. This is my Who Is John Galt shirt. Josh: Isn't this great? Okay, but I feel like the back- Russell: Yeah the back I’ll read what it says. It says, "I started my life with a single absolute, that the world was mine to shape and the image of my highest values never to be given to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle." So do you guys like these shirts? These are custom made for tonight. And you guys may have a chance to get one of these, but not yet. No, not yet. Josh: Not yet. Russell: We'll let you know when the ability ... If you guys ... Josh: Oh, man. Oh, man. Russell: Anyway, it's going to be fun, but these are custom ... We literally made these today. We needed some sweet shirts…for the show. Josh: Okay, Will says he got your text. Did you send my text to everybody? Russell: Yeah. Josh: Russell on top of it. I sent out a ManyChat, Russell sent out a text. All right, guys. Let's lay some ground rules here. So the quick backstory behind this ... And it's going to be weird. You've got to look in the camera here. Quick backstory behind this is I make a post on Facebook about, what, probably three months ago now or so? Russell: Yeah. Josh: Two, three months ago. And I go, "We need some epic people to interview for the podcast. Who do you know? Tag them all down below." And shout out, Georgie. Georgie comments and goes… "I coached Russell. You should totally interview me." And I was like, "You've got to be pretty gutsy to tag Russell in your comment and tell him you coached him," but then Russell comments back- Russell: And George is an Olympic wrestler. He was on the Bulgarian Olympic team. He wrestled at Boise State with me. He's the man. So yeah. Josh: I commented back. I go, "You coached Russel?" And then Russell goes, "Well, yeah. He coached me. He's awesome. You should totally interview him." And so I said, "Yeah, Georgie, of course, you can come on. We'll do an interview, but Russell, I've got an open invitation to you if you want to come back on." And then you were like, "Sure, if we can talk about…" or no, you didn't say sure. You said, "Can we do it about Atlas Shrugged?" Russell: Yes. Josh: Yeah. Russell: Because I interview a lot about business stuff and- Josh: I'll pull the microphone just slightly. Russell: Yes. I don't do a lot of interviews because ... I feel like I've said, but I don't want to say, but I just finished literally probably the fattest book in the history of books called Atlas Shrugged. And I was geeking out on it and I wanted to talk about it. I didn't have a way or someone to geek out with, other than some of my friends here. And I was like, "If you want to talk about Atlas Shrugged, I'm in." And then you started freaking out. Josh: The funny thing was is I go something to the effect of, "You want to talk about the fall of capitalism because of a boycott, because of a brilliant person and why socialism sucks? Yes, absolutely. I would love to do that," to which you don't give me a yes or no answer. You reply back and go, "Ha-ha. Oh, man. That'd be fun." I'm like, "Talk about an open loop, man. Come on." So anyway, I immediately messaged Russel and I'm like, "You better not be joking because that would just be rude." He goes, "No, I'm totally in." Josh: So about two months go by. You had a bunch of stuff. You had some fun stuff during that time, hanging out with- Russell: Lot of stuff is happening. Josh: Tony Robbins? Russell: Yeah, Tony, man. And it's been chaos the last couple months, not going to lie. And as we got closer and closer to the election, I'm like, "This is an interesting conversation, post-election, but I think it's more interesting before election." And so was it two days ago, three days ago, you're like, "I will fly to Boise to record this." Josh: Yeah. Russell: "What day do you have open?" I'm like, "Only Wednesday night." And now we're here. Josh: Yeah. It was Friday afternoon. We were Voxing back and forth and you're like, "Dude, we've got to get this done before the election." I'm like, "Before the election? Oh, my word." I said, "All right. Sounds good. What time do you have available?" And that's when I was like, "You know what? I was going to ask you creatively, but I'm just going to ask you. How about I fly out to you?" And you're like, "Heck, yeah." Josh: So guys, that's the backstory. That's how we got here. And so this is an open conversation about Atlas Shrugged and kind of everything that encapsulates. I think we'll talk about some religion, some politics, kind of both sides of the aisle there and open it up. Russell: Fun. Josh: Anything else you want to add to that? Russell: The only other thing I would add is, because this book, by the way, if you haven't read it yet, is very polarizing. There are people on both sides of it. Russell: And I think both of us wanted to stress ahead of time that I do not believe in everything in this book. A lot of things in this book, I do believe in. And it's interesting. One of the things I want to dive deeper in in this conversation, I'm excited for and I told you not to do Voxer. I was like, what's fascinating to me is not, "This is what we should believe." What was fascinating to me as I was reading this book, and we'll get into the premise of the book for those who haven't read it, but the big thing is producers and going out there and creating stuff and doing things, which is what entrepreneurs do. Right? And it gets in the part of greed is good. You should be greedy because it's going to create all these amazing things, which then the byproduct's really good. Russell: And part of me is like, "Yes, yes, yes, yes," and then part of me, as a believing Christian, I hear this message I believe in and then I hear in my mind ringing Christ, talking faith, hope, charity, and love. And I feel like they're these two polar opposite things, which by the way, we dive into politics a little bit. There are two polar opposite sides, one that believes one, one believes the other. Russell: And I think that there's a happy medium and that's what I want to dive deep into just because I don't want anyone thinking, "Oh, Russell and Josh just believe this," or whatever. It's like, no, there's sides of this and I empathize on both sides. I want to talk about both of them because they're fascinating. Anyway, I've toyed writing a boy about this concept, these two things. Anyway, I think it should be fun to first time verbally ever talk about this stuff. So I'm excited for it. Josh: Yeah. And I would just echo that, as well. I think one of the things that often happens with me, with my ... So funny. You, who never, ever talks about politics and me who doesn't know how to get on Facebook without arguing about politics, colliding here, but is that a lot of times I get grouped into, "Oh, you like this reading. Therefore, you believe with everything." "You read this book," or, "You support this person," whether it's a political figure or a book or something like that. It's like, by saying that you enjoyed that or that you learned a lot from it, that all of a sudden you suddenly believe everything in it. And that is not the case at all. And I've gotten a lot of criticism from people that are like, "How could you possibly like Atlas Shrugged?" And I'm like, "Well, this is the conversation that we're going to have." Josh: So real quick, before we dive in, I'd be curious ... I want to do a poll real quick. How many of you guys have actually read the book? I'm curious to know. Hold up here. There's two different versions of it, but if you've read the book, just comment below the number one if you have read the book, the number two if you have not read the book. I think that will just kind of give us a poll. We've got 200, 300 people. Russell: And if you listened to the audiobook, we'll count that as reading, too, either way. Josh: Yeah. Not if you know the premise of the book, but actually have read the book and have a deep understanding of it, or not deep understanding. But have like… Russell: Understand the stories them in. Josh: Yeah, things like that, because then it'll be interesting. Russell: One is read. Josh: One is read, two is not read. Oh, more ones than I thought was going to. Russell: Yeah. Me too. Josh: Russell's book is so underrated. Russell: We're 50/50. Josh: Ooh, yeah. I think we should take a poll at the end; what's better, Atlas Shrugged or Dotcom Secrets? That's the real question we should be asking right now. Russell: That would be good, that would be good. Josh: Okay. So we have a lot of people that have not read it, so we'll have to go into the premise of that. Okay. Russell: Are you ready to get started? Josh: Yeah. I'm ready to rock and roll with it. Russell: Oh I’m ready. Josh: Okay. Guys, we want to lay a couple ground rules. Okay? Because I don't know what it's like to be Russell, Russell doesn't know what it's like to be me, but I think we both have a mutual understanding that we could very easily be taken out of context here. Josh: I think the goal, and then I want you to kind of expand upon this, is we're not trying to take a side here. We're trying to have an open discussion about it. This could very easily turn into something that's like, "Why did you vote for Trump? Why Biden sucks, why Biden's great, why Trump sucks," something like that or certain religion. We're not trying to convince you of anything, really. In fact, this is honestly more of a conversation for us. And we're like, "We think it'd be cool to stream it out to a bunch of people because there's a reason for me to fly out here and do that," but the purpose of this is to have an open discussion about the book, the premise of the book, an understanding of it, and then honestly we're probably going to be in our own little world over here. Josh: And we want you guys to interact and comment and engage and push your questions. And we'll go back through it, obviously, but the purpose of this is not to try to convince anybody of anything. It's simple to, at least from my perspective, shed a new perspective and give the perspective of somebody who, for those of you that don't know who Russell is, the founder of a ... ClickFunnels is a billion-dollar company, SaaS company. You have 400 employees? Russell: Yeah. Josh: 400 employees. So from that perspective and from my perspective, to open your eyes to a new perspective of what we like, what we don't like and, like I said, more of a conversation for us. Russell: Yeah. I think that's good. And I think a big thing that we will talk about ... Our goal is not to convince you of anything. In fact, I think I'm still convincing myself of both sides. I believe both these two things that seem contradictory, but I think there's a middle ground and I'm excited to explore it. So it'll be fun. Josh: Cool. So I think we got to- Russell: Talk about the premise of the book? Josh: Yeah, we've got to talk about the premise of the book. Russell: I might have a little mini statue behind me that might help. Can I grab that? Josh: Ooh, yeah. Russell: Okay. So folks that have not read Atlas Shrugged, I didn't know what the premise was at first, but this is the story of Atlas. Some of you guys know Atlas was cursed to have to carry the entire weight of the universe, entire weight of the world upon his shoulders for forever. Right? And so this is where the premise of the book ... All of us, people who are listening to this might guess that you are a producer. Right? Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be listening to me or to Josh. I attract, I teach, I coach, I help producers, entrepreneurs, people who are trying to change the world. Right? Russell: I'm curious, how many of you guys have ever felt this pressure. Right? When you feel like you literally have the entire weight of the world upon your shoulders. And if you haven't, it's time to become a producer. That's first off. Second off, I can empathize, though. There's so many times, you can ask Dave or any guys on my team, there's days I come in, I was like, "I feel like I'm going to crack." There is so much weight to carry this around. And I'm guessing most of you guys have felt that. It could be with your family, could be in work, could be business, whatever, but you've felt the weight of the world. Right? Russell: So this is what Atlas had to hold. Right? And so the premise of the book, Atlas Shrugged, is what would happen if the producers, the people that are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, what happens if they were to go on strike and they were to shrug their shoulders and be like, "Meh." In fact, should I read your tile you gave me here? Josh: Yeah. Russell: So Josh, as a gift today, gave me some amazing tiles. This is a quote, actually, from the book, Atlas Shrugged, talking about this. It says, "If you saw Atlas, the giant holds the world on his shoulders. If you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling, but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater of his efforts, the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders, what would you tell him to do? Just shrug." That's things like, what happens to society when us, the producers, when we no longer want to carry the weight of the world? We shrug and we walk away from it. Russell: And the book is a story about that. What happens when these producers start disappearing and they start leaving, they start going on strike? You see society, what happens when the producers disappear. Josh: Yeah. It's interesting because there is no one named Atlas Shrugged in the book and there's nobody named Ayn Rand in the book. And so there's concepts that she's writing about outside of that and it's this ... How do you summarize a 1200-page book? Basically, in the book, there is a main character by the name of Dagny. Russell: Oh. Yes. Josh: Oh. Russell: I was going to say John Galt, but you're right. Yes, Dagny’s the main character. Josh: Sorry. For the first two thirds of the book, the main character is a woman by the name of Dagny. And basically, she is one of the producers of society. And she's not the head boss of the railroad, but she's basically the person that runs this railroad company. And it is written, what, 1950 is when this was- Russell: Yeah. Josh: So 1950, and it's basically this forecast into the future of a government that is basically forcing super, super strict restrictions onto private businesses and making them do things, kind of like today in America, but super, super government overreach in a lot of ways. And so Dagny is trying to keep the world afloat, more or less, by getting the railroads done on time and getting orders shipped. Josh: And I'm super oversimplifying, but around her, all the people that she works with that owned all these other companies that she would buy copper from or she would buy steel from or buy the railroad track from or buy the coal from, all of a sudden all these head people ... Imagine people like Russell, all his friends just start disappearing. Imagine Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Russell all just started disappearing. Right? That's what's happening all around her and she doesn't understand what's happening to them because just, one day, it's up and it's gone. Josh: And so the premise of the first two thirds of the book is showing this story of this producer who is living in this world of super government tyranny, overreach that's super, super controlling and she's watching all of her friends disappear and she doesn't know why. Would you say that's a pretty good explanation of it so far? Russell: Yeah. And every time they disappear, they leave behind a note or something that says, "Who is John Galt?" That's this theme throughout the book, is who is John Galt? Who is this John Galt person that makes all the producers disappear? Josh: And Dagny has no idea who John Galt is. Right? She doesn't even know, actually, for awhile that John Galt's actually even a real person. And so once she does find out that John Galt is probably a real person, John Galt becomes her sworn enemy because she doesn't know who he is or what he's doing. All she knows and all she associates with is that John Galt is taking away all these producers of society and is making her life harder because ... Imagine you being an entrepreneur and all of your entrepreneur friends that you buy stuff from and that you send all your people to, your referrals and everything, you buy all your supplies from, imagine they're all just disappearing and you think it's because of this one guy who's taking them all away and you don't know what's happening to them. Obviously, they'd become your sworn enemy. Josh: So for the first two thirds-ish of the book, that's kind of this premise of they're painting this really, really vivid story of the ... what are they called, the great thinkers of society? Yeah, the great minds of society, basically disappearing. And Dagny and ... there's a guy by the name of Hank Rearden, I think. Russell: Yeah, Rearden Steel. Josh: Rearden Steel, yeah. So Dagny and Hank Rearden are the two major ones left right before the big plot twist happens and you're like, "Oh," and then you get introduced to John Galt. I'm going to let you explain John Galt now. Russell: Oh, man. Okay. So that's the first two thirds of the book. By the way, there's movies. Don't watch them. They'll ruin the book. The movies were really bad. Josh: Yeah. Read the book. Russell: So two thirds into the book, she starts trying to figure out this mystery of who's John Galt. She ends up finding him and turns out that he has been going around and getting all these producers to go on strike, convinces them to, "Look, it's not worth fighting for anymore. All your incentives are gone. Let's leave. Let's go on strike," and they leave. And John Galt's trying to get her to leave and she's like, "I can't. I have to do everything in my power." The last third of the book is her leaving John Galt's presence and going back and trying to figure out how to do this thing as she's watching just government regulations getting harder, and harder, and harder, and harder to the point where everyone just has to disappear. Russell: But one of the things John Galt and the people say, "When the lights of New York go out, then we'll come back and we'll rebuild society from the ground up, after the looters and the people are gone." Josh: And that's basically how the books ends is lights of New York go out and then- Russell: For such a long book, all of a sudden it just ends and you're like, "Oh, I need one more chapter. Come on. Just end it." Josh: And we're never going to get it. Ah. Russell: Well, maybe I'll write it. Josh: Yeah. So that's the storyline of the book, but what I think we really both want to focus here is kind of the premises and the overarching ideas that the book presents, and capitalism versus socialism, and I think we'll talk religion and politics and kind of everything that’s in that, but I kind of want to, if it's all right with you, I kind of want to turn the conversation more towards us now and just kind of start geeking out just about that. Josh: So guys, we'll obviously go back and ... By the way, we want all your comments if you're ... Actually, comment below right now. Where are you watching? Are you watching it on YouTube? Are you watching it on Think Different Theory page or are you watching it on Russell's page? Comment down below because we went to multiple different locations. So we have a bunch of different people tuning in for everything. So just comment down below. Leave your comments, leave your questions, smash the like button, love button, share this out, and we're going to be here. Josh: All right, Russell. What's up? Russell: Hey, man. Josh: All right. Dude, I've been wanting to, and I hate this terminology, but just pick somebody's brain like yours for the longest time. And this book, oh, my gosh. So what do you like about the book? What was your favorite thing? Russell: Yeah. Well, let me tell the backstory. So 2008 is when the market crashed last time, right? Josh: Yeah. Russell: And I didn't realize that, that year, over 500,000 copies were sold organically by people talking to me about it, talking about, "Everything's she's prophesying is happening right now." And so, back then, I remember all my entrepreneur friends, like, "You have to read this book." It was the word-of-mouth buzz that sold 500,000 copies of a book has been ... The author died, whatever, 30 years earlier. There's not active marketing out there. It's crazy. And everyone's talking about it, like, "What's happening in this book is happening in 2008." And it was just this prophecy that was being fulfilled. Russell: And so everyone in 2008 was telling me to read this book. I remember buying it and I was like, "This is a really, really big book." And it took me awhile to get into it and I could never get into it. I read the first, I don't know, first 200 or 300 pages four or five times. And then, finally, this summer, one of my very first trips where I didn't bring a laptop since my marriage. So my wife is very proud of me. Josh: Dang. Russell: And so as I was leaving the office, I grabbed this book. And I picked it up and I was like, "I have no computer, but I've got this." And usually, I bring 20 books just because I know I'm going to read. I just brought one and I was like, "I'm going to do this. I'm going to be forced. I'm on a lake for a week and a half with my kids and all I can do is read this book." So I brought it, got the audiobook, as well. It's funny, I do the same. I listen to the audiobook and I read along so I can listen to it way faster, that way. And I started going through it. It took me a little while. She does such a good job of character development at the very beginning, it took awhile to get into it. Josh: Yeah, for sure. Russell: And then the story hits and then you're just like ... And you couldn't- Josh: It's like thing, after thing, after thing. It's so quick. Russell: Oh, yeah. And it got crazy. So for me, it was interesting because I think, if I would've listened to it 10 years ago or read it 10 years ago, I had never experienced any of the things they talk about in this book. Right? Josh: Now you don't have to worry about it. Yeah. Russell: Even better. I never experienced government regulations and things like that or just those kind of things. And as ClickFunnels has grown from me and Todd to our first member, to our first thousand, 10,000, 100,000 members, 400 ... I don't know how many employees, a lot, 400 plus employees. As it's grown, it's been crazy because you would think all we'd be focusing on here inside ClickFunnels is the next feature in the app, next thing. Russell: And there's the year where we had to spend an entire year just refactoring the software for GDPR compliance. We have regulations that come in on taxes and this. It's constant where most of the battles we fight at ClickFunnels right now is not about, how do we make this thing better for the customer? It's, how do we protect our customers from the government? It's crazy. And just so many regulations and things. Russell: And so I have been feeling this pressure. Some of you guys may have seen my interview I did with Tony Robbins ... not interview, but Tony Robbins did an intervention with me last year in Fiji. Josh: Yeah. That was fascinating, by the way. Russell: I'm so glad we captured that. It was a really cool moment in my life, but if you listen in there, I talked about ... He's like, "Well, what do you want to do?" And I was like, "I don't know, but the pressure ... I love the same, so I love everything I'm doing. I love the people we're serving, but there's these other pressures that aren't the game, that aren't the people, that they just get so heavy sometimes where it makes me want to just walk away." And again, as I'm reading this book- Josh: You hadn't read the book at the time. Russell: I hadn't read it yet. Josh: Yeah, okay. Russell: As I'm reading this, it's like- Josh: Did you know anything about the- Russell: I did not know the premise, no. Josh: You knew nothing. Okay, okay, okay. Russell: I didn't know what Atlas Shrugged meant. I was just like, "Oh, it's Atlas ..." I didn't know ... And it was like, when I read this title, like, "What would you tell Atlas if this was happening? Just shrug." And I was like, "Oh, that's why they called it Atlas Shrugged." And then I remember vividly feeling the pressure of this calling and how heavy it is. Russell: And there's so many times I wish, like, "Okay, sometimes it'd be so nice to walk away or to shrug or whatever." And so I instantly, with Dagny's character, I was like ... I feel that with Hank Rearden. I had so much empathy and understood their characters because I feel that so many times. Hank Rearden just wanted to invent his steel and put it out. That's all he cared about, right? For me, funnels are my art. I can't draw, but funnels, that's my art and entrepreneurship. That's my art. And so I just want to do my art. That's it. He just wanted to create steel. And it's all these other things and it's just like, "I just want to do my steel. I just want to do my art. Why do I have to deal with all this other stuff?" Russell: And so as I'm reading this, I just had so much empathy for the characters because I felt like I was the characters, even though it was weird because it's railroads and stuff like that and I'm internet, but I think that's why I really got into it. And then I got just curious, what happens? How does this story end? Be I'm in the middle of it. And depending who's listening, you may or may not have felt some of these pressures. As you grow, you feel them. Russell: It's interesting. As ClickFunnels has grown, we've talked about the pressure that I feel today would've crushed me five years ago. Right? And so you have to go through this thing where you build capacity to handle the next set of pressure, and build capacity, and build capacity. And nowadays, stuff happens daily that's just like, "Man, that would've destroyed me five years ago." Russell: And so I think, if you guys haven't felt that, as you grow, as you continue to try to get your message out and try to grow your businesses, whatever, the bigger you get, the more that pressure comes. Josh: Do you think…with that ... And I want to continue that because it's such a good conversation, but with the pressure, the things that are happening now daily that would've wrecked you five years ago or three years ago, whatever it was, do you think it's good, though, that they would've? Is it good that, at the capacity that you understood, that you took those things seriously then or would it have been better for you to just be in this mindset? I know it's not possible, but looking back, if you could snap your fingers and back then would've had the mental capacity to just ignore all those things and go up, would that've been a good thing? Or the fact that you went through all those things, does that help? Russell: The going through it is what makes you worthy of the things, right? Josh: Being able to… Russell: It makes you ready for it. Otherwise, just like lifting weights, if you try to squat 800 pounds, that's what it feels like. Right? Your legs buckle and you die, but because you went through that thing, you're able to have the capacity to hold the weight. Josh: Okay. Russell: Yeah. So anyways, the thing for me that was the big thing is reading this. And so I was just fascinated because I was like, "This is kind of my story. How does it end?" Josh: How long did it take you to get through it? Russell: I'd say about two months. I got a lot of it done on the boat, and then I got into biking for a little while, so I was listening to it while I was biking. Josh: That's right, I remember that. Russell: I just kept biking and biking, like, "One more chapter, one more chapter." I'm in really good shape because of it. It's funny because one of the premises ... And they don't say greed is good, but there's a chapter, I think it's called Greed. And I remember, if you guys have ever seen Wall Street, Gordon Gekko talks about, "Greed is good," and I never understood that premise. Right? In the book, they start talking about that, how greed is what drives this whole thing. Is it called Greed? Josh: I'm trying to find it. Russell: Utopia of Greed, yeah. Josh: And then Anti-Greed. So Utopia of Greed and then Anti-Greed. Russell: So what's interesting is ... because all of us are taught that greed is bad, right? That's just, like, you shouldn't be greedy. That's, I think, a principle that's instilled in most of us, but then I think about, for me, when I started this business, why did I start this business? I wanted to make money. That's greed, right? And you think about any of us, we go through a phase in all of our lives that greed is the driving factor. Right? When I wanted to become a good wrestler, I wanted to become a good wrestler. It was greedy. I went and got coaches and spent all my time and it was a very selfish time in my life. Not that it's bad, but it's a very greedy time. Right? Kids, when they're first born ... I love my kids. They are so ... not in a bad way, but they're greedy. It's about them. Right? Josh: Right. Russell: And it's this growth phase where growth ... You have to be greedy. You're in the growth phase. Right? When you're trying to learn, you're sucking things and you're learning and you're not contributing it. You're just learning, you're growing. And it was interesting because, as I'm going through this, I'm like, the greed is what got me into business. Right? And it's what got these things started and then the byproduct of that is jobs were created and things ... All the byproduct of it is ... I think, in the book, how it justifies it, Hank Rearden going after ... he wanted to build his steel and make a bunch of money, created tens of thousands of jobs and changed the world and changes all these things. Russell: And so the premise of the book is that greed is this driving force that gets you moving. And it is. If you think about any aspect of your life, from sports to education, to business, to everything, it starts with greed. Now, we'll go deeper into this. I don't want everyone to think that I'm just into this for the greed, because there's a transition point. We'll talk about it in a minute, but there's a transition point from growth to contribution that happens, but that's in the book where it starts talking about that. Russell: And I remember I was on the greenbelt here in Boise, riding my bike with James P. Friel, listening to that chapter. And I was trying to think, "Is this true? Did I get started because of greed?" And it's like, yeah, I didn't start a business because I wanted to change the world. Eventually, that happened, but it wasn't like it was ... Greed was the driving force that moved me forward. I think it moves all of us forward such a long time. And as I was listening as I'm riding my bike, I'm like, "Yes, I understand this," and the other half of me was like ... I started thinking about my spiritual upbringing. Right? Josh: Yeah. Russell: I'm very Christian. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints and I started thinking about Christ and his teachings, which are, honestly, the opposite of that. Right? It's like- Josh: Really the polar opposite. Russell: Yeah. Josh: Which it's funny, whenever you say that, people are like, "You know, Jesus was a socialist." I hear that a lot. I'm like, "You need to read the Bible." Anyway, but I think a lot- Russell: But he definitely is way more liberal leaning, 100%. Josh: Right, right. And I think that that's where Republicans, conservative, traditionally on that side of the aisle, fiscally Republicans get into trouble is where we're like, "Yeah, we're Christians, but we also want to get rich," and they never talk about all this other ... People like to use Christianity, I feel like, when it's convenient. Russell: We call it cafeteria Christians. Josh: Right. Russell: They pick and choose the things off the menu they want. Josh: Right. And then they go through and do it. So I definitely want to dive further into that, but continue that. Russell: Yeah. So that started this question in my head, though, of just, so is greed bad then or is it good or where does it fit in the whole grand scheme of things? Because it is something that's instilled in all of us from birth. Right? When you're born, you're a baby, if you didn't have greed, you would just die. Right? It's me. I need food, I need love, I need shelter. It makes you cry, which creates people coming to you. Greed is a driving force that's instilled in humans from birth, right? When we come here, greed is what helps us survive the first part of our life. Russell: And first, I was having this conundrum. I'm just like, "God, is this book evil? I don't know what to do with myself." Right? But all good things in my life that happened happened initially because the seed of greed started me on motion, started me in momentum. And then I started thinking, if you've read the Expert Secrets book, which- Josh: If you haven't, come on. Russell: If you haven't, you must hate money. Come on. No, but in the beginning of Expert Secrets book, I talk about this concept, as well, where as an expert, there's two phases to go through. The first is a growth phase. Right? I want to be an expert in whatever. You go through and you're a consumer, consuming everything. And that's greed, right? And then there's this transition point where, eventually, you keep trying to grow, grow, grow, grow, trying to learn everything, going there. I'm listening to all the podcasts, I'm reading all the books, I'm growing, growing, growing. And eventually, there's this point. I remember feeling it in multiple parts of my life. In wrestling, I felt it. In business, I felt it where you can't continue ... The ability to grow through consumption slows to almost a halt where you can't continue to grow. Right? Russell: I've shared this story. I think I shared it in the book with wrestling. I was a really good wrestler. I was a high school state champ. I took second place in the nation. I was an All-American. And my senior year, I got invited to go to a wrestling camp. My coach was like, "Hey, do you want to come coach wrestling this summer?" And I was like, "Why would I do that? What's in it for me?" Josh: Before you go on here, I want to ask you something. So you're riding your bike, wrestling with this whole greed thing. Is this the first time that you've thought about greed in this way? Russell: 100%. Josh: And this is, what, six months ago? Russell: Not even that. Maybe four months ago. Josh: So you've built most of what ClickFunnels is today and now this is the first time you're really sitting down and wrestling with this idea of greed and is it bad, is it good, what's the balance there and stuff like that? Russell: Yeah. Josh: That's fascinating. Russell: Yeah. It never crossed my mind, really. And then it became this thing where it bothered me because I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. I don't want to be a greedy person." You know what I mean? Josh: Right. Russell: I'm like, "I don't feel like I am," but I was stuck. I couldn't figure that out. Right? And so I'll rewind to the wrestling story because I think it will set it up. Josh: Yep. Russell: But my senior year, again, I'd been growing as a wrestler. I was going to camps. I was getting coaching. I was greedy. I was sucking up everyone's brainpower I could and I became a really good wrestler because of it. And then my coach asked me to go coach a wrestling camp. So I say yes, go to the wrestling camp, and I remember he's like, "Okay, I need you to teach ..." My best move… I'm really good at tilts. So for all the wrestlers out there, I'm really good at cheap tilts. And he's like, "Teach these kids how to do a cheap tilt." Russell: And I was like, "Okay." So I walk out, there are like 30 kids. I'm like, "Yeah, you do this. You just do it like that." And they all look at me and they go try and they try to do a cheap tilt and they all just fall apart. I'm like, "Are you guys dumb? This is not that hard." I'm like, "Come back in, come back in. No, you did it all wrong. This is how you do it." I show them again, like, "Go do it." They go back out, nobody can do it. Russell: And then, all of a sudden, I'm like, "Gosh, they're missing something. What is it?" So I have them come back in and I start breaking down, "Hey, for the move to work, your hips have to be here, your legs have to be here." I start walking through all the things. And as I'm doing that, I start realizing, "Oh, the season why I'm able to do this is because of this," and I started realizing what I was doing as I was teaching people. And as I taught it to people, then the kids started doing it and they got better and better. And all of a sudden, I started realizing, "Oh, my gosh. This move works because of this." Russell: And now that I was aware of the situation, now I was able to make these tweaks and stuff on my own. And I realized that, but coaching the kids, that was the next-level growth. It was a shift from selfish greed growth to contribution. So that's why I started coaching camps every year and that's why I went from slowing down my progression to, all of a sudden, it sped back up again by shifting from growth to contribution. Okay? Russell: And so I think the same thing happens in business, right? I got in business because that seed of greed is in us. It gets us moving, gets us in the momentum. And some people never get out of that. Some people live their entire lives chasing greed and they die and it's a tragedy, but I think for most people, there's this transition point. And I don't know where it happens. It happens different spots for everyone where, all of a sudden, you realize ... you make the money, you started the business, and you realizing how unfulfilling that is. You're tapping out. You're like, "I'm not growing anymore. I thought I wanted money, but I don't. I want growth. That's what we're here on this planet for, is to grow as humans. Right? Russell: You don't get that and, all of a sudden, you realize money's not fulfilling and then you start seeing the other people you're contributing to and you're helping. Then it shifts to ... We hear people talk about, "This is about impact, about growth, it's about helping other people," and that's that transition. That's charity, love. That's pure love of Christ. It's that transition, but greed is the seed that gets us moving, right? And so there's this handoff. It doesn't happen all the time. And are you guys cool if I share scripture stuff? Because- Josh: 100%. Russell: -all this stuff is scriptural. It's not just- Josh: They don't get to decide, Russell. I get to decide. It's my podcast. You can talk about whatever. Russell: If you hate scripture, just close your ears and go, "Blah, blah, blah." So I wrote down some scripture. This is a scripture because it illustrates this point. I think it's so good. Josh: Also, I just want to say, Russell Voxed me and he said that this is the first episode of a podcast that he's ever prepared for. When you said that, I'm like, "Ha! I was the first for something for Russell. Let's go." Russell: I want to be ready. Okay. So this is a scripture. It says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam and will be forever and ever." I'm going to stop right there. Okay. So natural man is an enemy to God. Why is that? We're born. We have this greed inside of us, so the natural human is the enemy of God because we're chasing after greed. Right? But God gives us that seed because it creates momentum. It creates motion. It creates us doing something. Right? Russell: And then it says in here, it says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam, will be forever and ever," and then this is the transition point, "unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit." So he's greedy forever, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and puteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ, the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Russell: So growth is the seed. It's the natural man. It's the thing we have that's ... It's good, right? God gives it to us because it gets us to do stuff, gets us to learn, gets us to not die in our crib because we need love and attention and to get fed. Right? So then it gets us off our butts, off the couches, us being producers that gets us moving. And if we're not careful, though, the natural man will destroy us. You see so many people who made tons of money and they destroyed themselves in their lives because they don't do that second thing, which is, "Unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit." Russell: That's the thing saying this is not about money, this is about the impact. Look at the people you're changing. And it shifts, right? If you make that shift, all of a sudden, now this thing you’re creating is not about greed, it's like, "Oh, my gosh ..." I remember, for ClickFunnels, when I had that transition was when I started seeing Brandon and Kaelin Poulin. I started seeing the ripple effect of their business. And I can name hundreds of people, person, after person, after person. Russell: I was like, "This isn't about money. This is about the ripple effect of what we've created in each person's life." Now, that's charity. That's love. Now the mission isn't about money. We don't care about the money. We keep score with money, but that's the mission, is the people's lives and the impact. And I think that's that transition where greed is the thing that gets us moving, but if we don't have that ... Russell: I think that's happened in the book. We talked about it. You said this at my house earlier, like, "A lot of people in the book seem like they have a miserable life." And it's like, yeah, because they never yielded to the spirit. They never made that shift. It was all greed to the point where they let everything collapse as opposed to the charity side of things. Josh: Yeah. So one of the things about the book ... And I'm sitting on the plane on the way over here and I'm like, "How do I articulate this?" Because that's always the hardest thing. You have this idea in your head and you're like, "How do I get it out and explain it in a way that somebody else can be like, 'Yes, I understand that?'" I'm going to go kind of political here for a second. I'm going to bring it back, too, specifically to the book. So I am pretty vocally a conservative. Right? I'm a blatant Trump supporter, very much so conservative when it comes to everything fiscal, but I call myself a libertarian because I actually think that I lean left on a lot of social issues. I think the government should stay out of gay marriage. Right? There's a lot of things that I lean left on, but when it comes to money and finances and things like that, I lean to the right. Josh: But the reason I lean to the right and I typically go with the right is because I like what the left is trying to do in concept. It's like, okay, there's a bunch of people that are really truly in need. I agree. We need to help them. The problem is is that the way they go about doing it, I so radically disagree with it. It's against everything that I stand for. Right? I'm like, it's not that I disagree with what you want to do, it's I disagree with how you want to do it. Josh: What's interesting is I feel like, in this book, I feel like it's the opposite. I actually don't agree with why they're doing it. This concept of ... I mean, Hank Rearden says it over and over again, "Everything that I do is for profit." That is it. Even to his friends. He took a bullet for John Galt, right? He gets shot. And John Galt thanks him for it. He goes, "You know I only did it because it's what I wanted to do, right?" Literally saves a guy's life. Josh: So it's all about what he wants and only for him and that's it. And it's profit and money and dollars. It's not about everything that he helps. And I'm like, I disagree with that premise, but what that leads to, I actually do like. And I feel like it's flipped compared to the world I'm living in now. Half the stuff that the Democrats ... I hate to… oh I want to go into politics so bad… Russell: Left and right. Josh: Yeah, the left. Guys, we're going to say left and right. Generalized here, right? Oh, my god, but generally speaking. And so when it comes to the whole greed issue, I'm like ... It's interesting to hear your perspective because I never, even throughout the book, I'm like, "Greed is a bad thing." And hearing your perspective, I'm like, okay, I understand what you're saying, but is it greed or is there some other driving ... If I were to ask you a year ago ... When were you in the heart of ClickFunnels, like a year and a half ago, two years? There was a time of your life when all you ... I know all you do is ClickFunnels, but when- Russell: It's the last six years of my life. Josh: But you know what I mean? Wasn't there a year or two period in there, in the growth phase, where 100% of everything you do was just ClickFunnels, ClickFunnels, ClickFunnels. It felt like you were going nonstop. It feels like you're a little bit more balanced now. Maybe not, but from the outside perspective looking in, it does. Anyway, during that time of growing ClickFunnels, before you read that, would you have described yourself as greedy? Russell: No. Josh: What would you have described yourself as? What's the word? Russell: I don't know. That's a good question. I was always trying to create stuff. It's art for me, right? So it's like I was trying to create stuff. I think, initially, I was creating for myself as opposed to, "Oh, my gosh. I create this for myself, but look what happens to the people." Josh: What point was that shift for you, though? Russell: You can see it in my marketing, by the way. And by the way, for those who are greedy capitalists who only care about money, it actually is a better marketing way, too. My marketing went from- Josh: For all you greedy capitalists out there, switch to being a contributor, you’ll make more money. Russell: Well, think about it. My marketing is always like, "Here's Russell. Here's how much money my funnel made. Here's how much ..." It was me talking about me all the time. And then I realized, "Who cares about me? I don't care about me. Let me show you what this person ... Let me show you all the results of the people we're serving, what's happening there," which first off, is better marketing and, second off, it's that transition where I was literally like, "Everything I've accomplished is stupid. What they're doing, that's the real ... What we're doing, that's the thing that's amazing." Right? That's the spiritual side of it. That's the thing where it's like, the thing that got you into motion now is doing good in the world. And when you start seeing that, it's like, oh, my gosh. That's so much more fulfilling and so much more exciting. Russell: And people ask me, "The last six years, why'd you keep getting up? Do you need more money?" I'm like, "No, that's not what keeps me up," but I can tell you 100 stories of people who ... literally the ripple effect of how many lives they've changed because I did my thing. Right? We made a documentary of the Two Comma Club and Jamie Cross has this whole part there where she's bawling her eyes out and she said, "Where would my family be if Russell wouldn't have fulfilled his God-given calling?" And every time I see that, I start bawling, myself. That's why, eventually, you start doing it. Right? Josh: But when did that shift happen? Russell: I don't know. It wasn't a day that it happened. The energy of it shifted. Right? I don't know. It gradually kind of happened. Josh: What's that? Dave: Tell them about your dad. Josh: Yeah. Russell: Dave, come on in. Dave's here. Dave, take the mic. Here. Dave: Yeah. No, honestly, I think… this has been one of those things. It's been fun for me to watch Russell from the sidelines here. I think, honestly, it was your dad's 60th birthday. Josh: Which was how long ago? Dave: I don't even know. Russell: Three, four years ago probably. Dave: But it was the reflection on that and it was the difference from having your hand raised versus ... because I remember you… Russell: Yeah, you want me to tell that story? Dave: Russell is a much better storyteller. I'll seed the thought, but I'll let him finish. Russell: All right. Josh: Oh, thank you Dave. Russell: Thank you. Interesting. Josh: Guys, we have a live audience here. Russell: So yeah, my dad turned 60 and we have our little family reunion every year we do. And so it was during his birthday. And I remember my mom gave him $60, six $10 bills. And so she gave them to him one at a time and said, "Okay, the first decade was one to 10. Tell us something you remember about that." He's like, "I don't remember anything back then." The second one, he's like, "10 to 20, that's when I was a wrestler. It was so much fun for me." And then, 20 to 30, he was like, "Okay, that's when I was starting my business, trying to figure things out and trying to get our family stable." 30 to 40, "That's when my kids were wrestling and I was coaching them." And then 50 to 60, he kind of went through everything. Russell: And then, after it was done, I asked him, I said, "Well, Dad, of all the decades, what one was the best for you?" Thinking, in my world, the best was going to be when he was a wrestler because I was like, for me, the greatest part of my life was when I was wrestling. And my dad said, "The greatest decade was when I got to coach you." I forgot that story until Dave said that, but I remember coming back and telling Dave and other people that I always thought the best part was being the all star. For my dad, the best part was coaching other people and seeing their hand raised. Josh: That was a good interjection there, Dave. Huh. Russell: …which was really cool.

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

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

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

02:20 - Motivation: Enthusiasm is Contagious 11:22 - Tax Tips from Cosmo Kramer  27:59 - Guest: James P. Friel  44:14 - Little Mistakes: Huge Problems