Podcast appearances and mentions of nancy marshall communications

Our guests Nancy Marshall and Jessica Donahue from Nancy Marshall Communications provide us with insight into the value of PR marketing in today's digital age.

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning, Onward Nation -- Stephen Woessner here. Before we dive in -- and if you’re listening to Onward Nation for the first time -- I will give a very brief personal intro to provide some context behind the voice. Hi -- I’m Stephen Woessner. I am the host of Onward Nation – but – when I am not interviewing today’s top business owners, I am the CEO of Predictive ROI -- a digital marketing agency -- and I don’t particularly like that label because Predictive does so much more than digital marketing. Yes, we do the traditional things like increasing site traffic, leads, and sales. But what makes us truly unique -- is our ability to predict a client’s increase in sales -- their actual financial return on investment in the form of dollars and cents -- and then guarantee that performance -- or our work is free. And because of that -- we find ourselves deep inside a client’s systems, inventory, sales team, and all sorts of business development processes. I love the problem solving work we do -- it oftentimes reminds me of my days of troubleshooting when I was a missile technician working inside nuclear missiles silos on the prairies of South Dakota while I was in the Air Force many years ago. I have been in digital marketing since the advent of the commercial Internet. I am the best selling author of two books in the area, I spent nearly 6 years at the University of Wisconsin – at the La Crosse campus, and I taught throughout the state include the UW-Madison School of Business, and my business building insights have been featured in Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, Forbes, SUCCESS, The Washington Post and some other media. And I am currently working on my third book. Okay, let’s press on to solving big challenges in our business – big obstacles – those things that are really holding you back from jumping off the plateau you may be on right now – and leaping onward to that next level. That’s what we are going to focus on during this episode. First, we all know that building and scaling a business is hard work. But when you have the right strategy – that right “recipe for success” to follow – the action steps become more like “ingredients” and can be added systematically into your business – one ingredient at a time. And every day at Onward Nation, I have the incredible opportunity to interview today’s top business owners and ask them to share their specific recipes for success – and to break those strategies down into tactical step-by-step processes and systems. I distilled all of those ideas, strategies, steps down into actionable “recipes” you can take and apply into your business right away. If you are not familiar with my recipe and ingredient thought process -- you may be thinking you just walked into a baking podcast by mistake. Close -- but not quite. Let me explain the recipe metaphor this way. Say I make the world’s best chocolate cake. And I grew up working in my mom’s bakery – so my chocolate cake is actually pretty good. And say you come up to me and say, hey Stephen -- I cannot bake anything, in fact, boiling what is hard for me -- but -- I love your chocolate cake. Could you teach me how to bake your cake so that it turns out just like yours? How could that even be possible? I’ve been perfecting my chocolate cake for the last 30 years -- and you have zero baking skills. How could you possibly think that you could duplicate my results? To even have a shot at it – is there something I could give you – some edge – some insider’s knowledge? Of course -- I need to give you my recipe. The recipe will act as your “strategy” behind the cake. Right? With the recipe -- you can see the entire process -- the flow -- the visualization of the goal -- how you need to setup the environment, i.e. your kitchen -- all the steps -- all the tools you will need. But the recipe is just one piece -- what else do you need? Right! The ingredients. You need to know the specific amounts and specific qualities of the ingredients, right? And then there is one more thing -- you have the recipe -- you have the ingredients -- but -- you must also follow the syntax. And syntax is a fancy word that simply means the order of the process. So think about a recipe you have followed in the past -- we have all done this -- we mix the eggs together with the flour before we put in the oil and now we have goo. Not awesome. So the syntax -- or the order in which we execute the strategy really matters. So I’m going to share some incredible business building recipes with you -- but I’m going to share the ingredients -- and I’m going to give you the syntax or the process for all the steps. Hopefully that makes sense. And as Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Now, maybe you are hearing Jim’s pearls of wisdom in this quote for the first time. I was having lunch with some friends the other day and I shared that quote and I could tell they were a bit shocked by it – so I took another minute to explain. I shared several scenarios to illustrate the powerful lesson Jim taught us in that quote -- and I will share the same with you. Say you’re walking down a hallway with your one of your top clients -- and your client has a faster pace than you. What do you do? Do you walk your normal pace or do you speed up? Does your client slow down? Likely not. Our natural instinct is to speed up – to keep pace. So let’s consider a different scenario. Let’s say this time you are walking with a group of four other people through the mall and they are all walking slow -- like dreadfully slow -- painfully slow. What do you do? You may start to think of some creative ways to speed them up -- but they don’t speed up -- in fact -- they may even slow down further -- but how is this possible? And if you try to speed up -- you simply get out in front of them and create stress for yourself and for the group. Here’s the reality: you will not de-stress until you are free from the slow group and find a group that wants to move at your same – faster speed – or potentially even faster than you so you are challenged to grow and speed up to keep up. Because if you don’t -- eventually you will slow your pace to conform to the group – because you don’t want to be rude -- so you slow down. This episode will move at a pace and tempo that is uncommon -- we are going to move at the pace of today’s top business owners. And if you listen to Onward Nation on a consistent basis – today’s top business owners are the people you are spending time with – and that is awesome. So here is the first lesson I want to share with you -- if you want to move your business onward to that next level -- then you need to spend time with business owners and mentors who are ALREADY at that next level – AND — they move at a pace and tempo faster than you. And when you join that group – or have that person as your mentor – you will grow. Hope that makes sense – and I have prepared a very detailed recipe on mentorship for you during today’s discussion. More on that in a few minutes. So make it a commitment – to find other business owners who are already at that next level – and spend time with them – learn from them – and you will naturally speed up to keep pace and as a result you will be moving toward the next level yourself. So here’s what I am going to cover during today’s episode – let’s call it an agenda of sorts – as Kim Garst said to me during our interview – “you gotta have a checklist, Stephen.” First, I will show you how to spot the two biggest obstacles currently preventing you from moving your business onward to the next level Second, I will show you how to attract the right mentors to help you overcome the obstacles and accelerate your results Third, I will show you how to implement and master a specific system that will dramatically expand your network and sphere of influence So let’s dive in. What if I told you that the two biggest challenges preventing you from moving your business onward to the next level have nothing to do with the business climate, the economy, the skill level of your employees, the location of your business, your pricing strategy, your current customer base, the size of your marketing budget, the quality of your products, your distribution channels, or the myriad of other reasons we are given today by the media and government as to why businesses fail at such a staggering rate in this country. What if the obstacles in your way had nothing to do with any of that? And in instead, what was blocking you -- the obstacles keeping your business in check -- are the same obstacles that have always attempted to keep you in check throughout your entire life. Your enemy is not the myriad of reasons I just listed off -- instead -- your first challenge -- or better yet -- your first enemy is the Fear of Poverty. Many of you have read – but possibly not in a while – this incredible book, "Think and Grow Rich" published in 1937 by Napoleon Hill. If you have listened to Onward Nation episodes – and my guess is you have or you would not be here this evening – our guests often reference "Think & Grow Rich" because it is a compendium of knowledge. The book was made possible by Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie at the time was the wealthiest man in the world, met Napoleon Hill, liked him and offered to commission him to open the doors to the greatest industrialists of the time. That was 1908. And he said, “I’ll open the doors if you’ll sit down with these top business owners and figure out their secrets to success. What they do, they’re methods, they’re mindsets that have caused their extraordinary success and you put it into a book and publish it and make it available to the world.” So, Napoleon sat down with Henry Ford, Edison, Schwab, Wrigley, and both Rockefellers. Imagine being able to spend time with those business owners and pull out their best ideas for success and achievement. If you have read, studied, and applied the book -- you understand the great knowledge in this book and are already ahead of 98% of your competition. But often times -- this book is an easy to forget treasure because it was written in 1937 – but the strategies in this book are still just as applicable today. If you have not yet read, studied, and applied the book – then consider this a million dollar resource you have just been given. You can go to OnwardNation.com/book and get the Audible version of "Think and Grow Rich" for free -- that’s OnwardNation.com/book. The Fear of Poverty is one of the 6 basic fears but it is also the most pervasive, destructive, and confusing to understand. But why? On the surface, it seems as though this fear would revolve around the fear of becoming poor – and there definitely is that component. But, the way this particular fear manifests itself is what makes it easy to spot. We become so fearful of poverty -- that we freeze and are plagued with indecision, indifference, doubt, worry, over-caution, and procrastination. Just when you ought to take action -- you don’t. When sales are declining -- you ought to make more sales calls -- but you don’t -- you freeze because the fear of poverty has you paralyzed. Just when you should be investing in that new expansion – that new marketing strategy – that new development – hiring new employees – you don’t. You become overly cautious. Or -- you disguise your caution by saying you’re “skeptical”. And by the way — that is code for “I am afraid.” You become so fearful of hitting the wall – that all you do is focus on the wall. And then what happens? Exactly -- you end up hitting the wall. To be clear -- I am not suggesting that you throw caution to the wind and become financially irresponsible and then lose your business as a result of mismanagement. That would be silly. But I am trying to bring into focus that our Fear of Poverty can be one of the major obstacles that hold us back from the abundance at that next level. And it doesn’t matter who you are – we have all felt it before – especially when trying to pursue something new – that next level. Remember, if you focus on the wall -- you will hit the wall. But if you focus on the infield – you may still eventually hit the wall -- but your opportunity likely increases by a factor of 10 IF you steer your business where you want it to go instead of letting yourself and your business become paralyzed by indecision, indifference, doubt, worry, over-caution, and procrastination. So if the Fear of Poverty is the first challenge – what is the second one keeping you from moving your business forward? It is the Fear of Criticism and is also one of the 6 basic fears -- and it too is easy to spot. This fear what prevents you from making that sales call to that prospective client everyone in town wants because you hear that voice inside your head that says, “Oh come on -- who do you think you’re kidding calling them? You have nothing to offer. They only work with big companies. You’re too small.” You hear -- “You’re not good enough -- you don’t have the skills, you will never make it -- why bother trying -- there are others who are more gifted, talented, they already have all the connections -- what could you possibly offer that would be unique and different -- just try something that is more at your current level – call on someone smaller – don’t call the president or owner – call someone who reports to them – that would be easier.” “Why can’t you just be normal?” The fear of criticism can be overcome with grit -- with tenacity -- with perseverance -- with the shouting into the abyss -- I will not be defeated. You saying -- "I will WIN THE DAY". And when you do that – and I believe when you’re moving in the direction of God’s plan for your life – there is nothing that can stop you. Now that we have identified the 2 biggest obstacles holding you back – which really aren’t obstacles at all are they – they all are in your mind – now let’s work through our first of several recipes during this solocast. Recipe #1 focuses on mentorship. If you have listened to our Onward Nation episodes, you already know that I ask every single guest to share the most influential lesson they ever learned from one of their mentors that helped them become the business owner they are today. And wow -- our guests have shared some outstanding lessons. So for this solocast, I am going to share a very specific recipe for attracting and finding the right mentor because Onward Nation listeners have asked me exactly that – as well as to help them understand what would be expected of them as a mentee? But first – let’s make this more specific. Why find a mentor? And yes, there is a specific recipe you can use to find a mentor and I am going to share that with you. Before I share the step-by-step ingredients to this powerful recipe -- I will share something I have not shared during Onward Nation episodes -- two of the most influential lessons I ever learned from one of my mentors -- Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine. For 12-months, Darren was a member of our board of advisors at Predictive ROI. So we would get together either in-person or over the phone. And during one of our monthly calls, I explained to Darren some of my reservations about building a big business. I wasn’t sure how big I wanted Predictive ROI to become. And so I was nervous about it. And I said, “Gosh, Darren – you know – I’ve never thought of myself as being a great manager of people. And quite frankly, honestly Darren, I kind of suck at it.” And then Darren said to me, “Stephen -- stop SUCKING at it!” And I said, “What do you mean?” And he said -- "Don’t give me that lie or tell me that myth that you are telling yourself. Don’t use that as a fricken excuse to stop moving forward. Stop telling yourself that limiting belief and that lie that you’re not a good manager or leader. Be better at it. Don’t give me the excuse." And so I’m standing there almost like fricken naked – totally stripped down – I was like, holy crap, he totally called me on it. That’s embarrassing – because he was right! And that’s what a good mentor does for you – they call you out when you need to be called out – they support you when you need to be supported and they teach you when you need to be taught. But they don’t do the hard work for you – that’s on you. So here are the specific ingredients for finding the right mentor for you: Think about your own talents and skills you would like to strengthen — weaknesses you would like to lessen — areas of your business you would like to improve, etc. Then make a precise list that details everything you just thought about. This process helps you identify the person you need to become in order to move your business onward to the next level This is a really hard exercise because you have to force yourself to take a critical look at yourself (and by the way — most people are not willing to get really honest with themselves — and that is one of the major reasons they never grow) Once you have the list — look for people who are crushing it in these areas — the same areas where you need to grow. Then contact those people — invite them to lunch — let them know you are packed full of questions for them Be very prepared — they will love that Interview them and put what they share with you into practice — turn it into a blog post and your clients will love you for it Loop back to your mentors and share your success When you do, they will invite you to sit down so they can share more with you. Soak it all up — then put it into practice. Remember -- a good mentee takes action on what is learned — and the responsibility is on you. Let’s go deeper by taking a look at three of our Onward Nation guests and how they are crushing it with mentorship. First, Don Yaeger – episode 2 of Onward Nation. What is the difference between Don Yaeger and another professional speaker you could hire for an event? Don has mentored with the greatest champions of our time – including Coach John Wooden for over 12 years -- and Don distilled all of this knowledge into what he calls the 16 Characteristics of Greatness. Now, it would be easy to say – “Well sure, Stephen, Don can do that because he has all of the connections.” And true – Don can get anyone in the world of sports to take his call. In fact, I was staying with Don and his family for a week in Tallahassee and one morning, Don’s cell phone rang and Don said to me “It’s Bob Kraft” -- and I said, “Wait, what? You mean like Bob Kraft who owns the New England Patriots?” But don’t forget, Onward Nation -- even Don Yaeger had to start somewhere. So will you sit around and be fearful for another year – or – will you start getting mentored and move your business onward? Next, Stacey Alcorn -- episode 3 of Onward Nation. What is the difference between Stacey Alcorn and another real estate professional? Stacey has mentored with some of the best and brightest minds in business and connected those relationships back into building her real estate empire. I will later share with you a billion dollar recipe right out of Stacey’s cookbook -- and I know we have several real estate professionals on the workshop right now -- Stacey’s firm had 324 closings in June. Bam! And lastly, Nancy Marshall – episode 19 of Onward Nation. What is the difference between Nancy Marshall and another marketing or PR professional you could hire? Nancy realizes that she may be located in the state of Maine – but the market for Nancy Marshall Communications is worldwide -- which is why she has invested the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to write a book, develop a trademarked process in her agency called The Marshall Plan, and to invest in building a network through mentoring with the right people – and giving back – and now her network helps her company grow in the good times and become a safety net in the downturns – because the storm clouds will come no matter who you are or what kind of business you run. Here’s the reality -- you are the average of who you spend the most time with. So you need to spend your time with people you have a common future with – not a common past. Let me close out this first recipe by saying -- you can want to find a mentor – the recipe that I just shared with you could be worth millions of dollars in new sales to your company – but – it won’t be worth anything unless you DECIDE to take action. As Tony Robbins says, a real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken action – in fact – that you have taken massive action. And if there’s no action – then that is simply an indicator you haven’t really decided anything. Now that we have conquered and overcome the two main challenges standing in your way – and now that I have shared with you a very specific recipe with all of the step-by-step ingredients (in the proper syntax) so you can find your right mentor or mentors -- it is now time to really accelerate your results and move your business onward to the next level. The next recipe I am going to share with you could represent a billion – yes, with a “B” – billion dollar strategy for your business. I am going to share a recipe for mastering a specific system that will dramatically expand your network and sphere of influence – and – I will also share with you how you can then monetize these valuable relationships into mutually beneficial partnerships and revenue for your business. And yes, I know it may sound crass or inappropriate when I say monetize relationships – unfortunately, I can’t think of a better word – I think you get what I am driving at. But before we get to the recipe -- let me put typical “networking” into context. Most business owners go to an event with a large number of “prospects”. They pass out business cards. They chit-chat small talk with the same people they met their last month. The collect others business cards. More chit-chat small talk. They might even schedule some lunch meetings. Why do we do this? Here’s why. Because this is safe – it is easy – it does not make us face our fear of poverty or our fear of criticism. What would people think if I did that -- or went here -- or spent time with so and so -- they will all think I am too big for my britches. I am going to work hard here to shift your paradigm of what is possible. And that is why I love this quote from Archimedes. “Give me a prop strong enough, and a level long enough, and I can single-handedly move the world” This next recipe I am about to share with you will become your lever and prop. And it is big – this is literally a billion dollar recipe – and I am going to introduce you to the top business owner who is using it generate a billion dollars. She describes herself as a billionaire in the making. And I believe her. Let me introduce you again to Stacey Alcorn. Her episode is still on our leaderboard of top podcasts. During our interview, Stacey told me about the afternoon she had spent the week before with Kevin O’Leary, Mr. Wonderful from ABC’s Shark Tank – they spent the afternoon tasting wine and exchanging business mantras and best lessons. Stacey and Kevin had quite the masterminding session. There is always a strategy behind what Stacey does – and if you go back and re-listen to episode 3, Stacey maps out her entire business building strategy with precision. But we are going to focus on the billion-dollar recipe that Stacey has developed. Most people will not swing for the fences – but Stacey does. So here are the specific ingredients in Stacey’s recipe. Make list of influencers in your industry and / or your Dream 50 clients / prospects Connect via social media, email, or call Ask for 30-minutes so you can interview them on their path / keys to success Do your homework – prep excellent questions Be excellent during the interview Share what you and your company does at close of interview Invite / open the door for future opportunities Then share guest’s expertise on your blog, media outlets, your podcast, etc. – your platform Rinse and repeat – rinse and repeat Key point: if you interview the movers and shakers in your industry – they become your informal mentors -- and you become one of the movers and shakers in the industry as a result. If you want a BIGGER – more ROBUST – more INFLUENTIAL network – then YOU must become bigger -- your platform must become more robust -- and you must become more influential. Warning — ROAD BLOCKS!! Now, some of you listening to this recipe right now may be thinking – “Oh sure, Stephen -- Stacey has an email list of 65,000 people and has interviewed all of these celebrities and big-time business people – I don’t have those connections.” Or, maybe you’re thinking -- “My business just started -- I don’t have mindshare in the marketplace, I’m not a published author, I don’t have a platform, no one knows who I am, who will listen to me – what do I have or could I share that would be relevant for anyone to listen to, I don’t have a network – I wouldn’t even know how to start.” All of those excuses – all of those alibis – those are the Fear of Poverty and the Fear of Criticism working against you again. If you hear those voices in your head – if you are having thoughts that are even remotely similar to what I just mentioned – let that be your litmus test – you now know you are heading in the right direction. Push forward – don’t stop – don’t let your fear hold you back from breaking through to that next level. Remember, you are the average of the people you spend the most time with -- and look who Stacey is spending the most time with. She refers to herself as “A billionaire in the making.” And in order for that vision for her life to become a reality – she knows that she needs to spend as much time as possible with other billionaires. Well, I will let you in on a secret she told me during our interview – Stacey didn’t have those connections several years ago. But she DECIDED that was going to change and then she took action to make it happen. I hope that makes sense. Okay, Onward Nation – I hope this solocast was valuable to you. Please drop me a line and let me know what you thought. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Please drop me a line and let me know. Onward with gusto! You can also find us here: ----- OnwardNation.com -----

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media.  Good Morning Onward Nation…Stephen Woessner here. We all know that building and scaling a business is hard work…but when you have the right strategy — the right recipe for success to follow — the action steps become more like “ingredients” and can be added systematically into your business — one ingredient at a time. After 20+ years of owning five companies, and having an opportunity to work with and interview some of today’s top business owners here on Onward Nation, I’ve noticed 12 reoccurring themes – or master success strategies — that come up over and over again because they have contributed to the success of our amazing and incredible guests at Onward Nation. During today’s solocast, I am going to share the 5 of the 12 strategies with you. Unfortunately, I cannot cover all 12 due to time constraints — but — we created a free eBook to go along with today’s episode that covers all 12 strategies and how to apply them right away. You can download the 12 Success Strategies eBook here. Some of the strategies are simple and will only take a minute or two to cover, which also makes them pretty easy to put into practice inside your business. And there are several strategies that will require a long explanation. But I will guide you through the step-by-step to putting each strategy into practice. I decided to dedicate today’s solocast to these Success Strategies because during each episode of Onward Nation — our guests share lessons with you on how to make your business more systematic, repeatable, measurable – and successful! But, as Onward Nation has grown and enjoyed some success — and thank you for listening and being part of the ever-growing nation — the amount of data and recommendations is starting to grow rapidly. The eBook represents a distillation of some of the best strategies shared by our incredible guests — from episode 1 to episode 92. So let me know what you think of this solocast — please download the 12 Success Strategies eBook — and drop me a line. I recognize that getting better is a process. As Vince Lombardi said, “The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” So I would greatly appreciate your feedback — thumbs up or thumbs down. Your feedback helps us get better every day so please keep it coming. Okay, Onward Nation…here we go…the 5 Success Strategies of Today’s Top Business Owners.   Strategy #1: Fire the Destructive Customer Way back in episode #1, Scott McKain shocked me when he said, “Stephen, a business owner will find success if they are willing to fire the ‘destructive customer’.” Which if you have studied Scott’s books and curriculum — you know this is a rather counterintuitive thing for him to say. Scott is all about exceeding a customer’s expectations — creating that distinctive experience so customers are compelled to come back instead of visiting your competition. So firing a customer — where did that come from? Scott when on to explain to me that destructive customers want to buy products or services outside of your company’s core offering. And they push you to deliver. Destructive customers are demanding and time-consuming. Oftentimes, this becomes detrimental to your company’s ability to serve other customers because you are spending so much time trying to satisfy one set of needs. And when he said that…I thought… “Oohhhh. Darn it. Been there. Scott is so right.” But Scott took it deeper by also sharing how each of us can protect or business from The Destructive Customer. According to Scott…most business owners aren’t willing to say “no” to a destructive customer. Why? Because the fear of losing those sales is a near and present danger to cash flow. And by the way, Onward Nation…the fear of losing sales is the Fear of Poverty creeping back in. If you are listening for the first time, the Fear of Poverty is one of the 6 fears we all struggle with from time to time — sometimes consistently — throughout our business and life. All 6 Fears are documented and explained in depth by Napoleon Hill in his groundbreaking book, Think & Grow Rich, published in 1937 and still just a relevant today. I also do a deep dive into the Fear of Poverty in episode 65 of Onward Nation. So how do we protect ourselves? You as the business owner have to be bold and courageous enough to go an “Inch wide and a mile deep” with your company’s expertise instead of trying to be everything to everyone. Developing deep expertise will give you the ability to command a premium price for what you do at your company – and in the process – you will attract the right customers. And then you will be better equipped to say no to the destructive customer because you will no longer be in a position of need to take on whatever business you can get.   Strategy #2: Become a Master Storyteller Business owners will find success if they become master storytellers through mentorship…and that is another powerful lesson I learned from one of my mentors, Don Yaeger. You hear me talk about Don and his influence on nearly every episode of Onward Nation. AndDon is the one who said during episode #2, “Stephen, the reality is…whoever tells the best story wins.” Onward Nation, learning the principles of storytelling will help you clearly articulate your journey to yourself, to your employees, to customers, and to all of the stakeholders in your business. Mentorship is an invaluable asset that directly correlates and strengthens your ability to storytell because of the experience sharing and growth you will go through when you find the right mentor. ROADBLOCK…don’t get stuck in the mental trap of thinking you need to find mentors exclusively from within your industry. One of my closest and most trusted advisors at Predictive ROI is John Lyche — and he does not come from the digital marketing space. He has built a career in excellent in manufacturing, distribution, and product innovation. And he is an expert in scaling a small company into a large company. Oh, awesome — I want to learn those things…and he has been an incredible mentor and teacher. Because the lessons of how to scale effectively transcend industry — so don’t make the mistake — don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your business — your industry is so unique and different and no one outside of it could offer valuable insights. And that is why Don shared that oftentimes the most enlightening lessons are learned from those who can offer you a completely different perspective.   So how do you find the right mentor? Here’s a quick checklist. Think about your own talents and the skills you would like to strengthen – areas of your business you would like to improve, etc. This process will help you identify the person you need to become to take your business to the next level. This is really hard because you have to take a critical look at yourself. Most people are not willing to get honest with themselves and that is one of the major reasons they never grow. Once you have the list — look for people who are crushing it in these areas. The same areas where you need to grow. Contact those people. Invite them to lunch. Let them know you are packed full of questions for them. Be very prepared — and they will love the fact you took the time with them seriously enough to do your homework. Interview them and put what they share with you into practice. Turn it into a blog post and your clients will love you for it because you just shared some critical insights with them, too. Then loop back to your mentors and share your success. When you do, they will invite you to sit down so they can share more with you. Soak it all up — then put more of it into practice. Remember Onward Nation…a good mentee takes action on what is learned!   Strategy #3: Eat Rejection for Lunch So many of our Onward Nation guests have this strategy in common. The reality is Onward Nation, we will find success by eating rejection for lunch and ignoring the naysayers. Ignore the doubters. Ignore the people who say you’re not good enough — that you can’t do it — that you don’t have the pedigree, the education, the background to get it done. My grandfather immigrated to this country from Istanbul, Turkey in 1920…couldn’t speak the language and he had $10 in his pocket. He cut lettuce and washed dishes on the night shift at a Canton, Ohio restaurant…gritted it out…then moved to the day shift as a cook so he could make more money. And in 6 years…he had saved enough money to open his own restaurant…that he ran for over 40 years…including running the business through the Great Depression. Onward Nation…you have to refuse to take “NO” for an answer — you have to break through the fears, doubts, worries, struggles – those pits in your stomach. And as Stacey Alcorn shared with us in episode #3….she said… “Stephen, when you feel that fear and doubt are creeping in – let them be your signs – that you are headed in the right direction – and it is time to slam the gas down on the floor!” One of my favorite quotes of all time is “Fear and procrastination are the enemies of success”. My cousin, Dean Bacopoulos shared that with me when he and I were partners in a dot com together back in the late nineties. And I never forgot it. I have it now framed in my office as a constant reminder to the great wisdom in those words. So how do we break through the fear of rejection? Here are three simple steps. Step #1: Refuse to accept “NO” as an answer. Step #2: See step 1. Rinse and repeat. Breaking through the initial stage of dismay will allow you to pursue your biggest dreams. Success, Onward Nation, will come to those who refuse to accept “NO” as an answer. You will overcome your apprehension and gain the freedom to decide that NOW is your time — it’s time to take action toward your dreams. It’s not rocket science. The only way to truly ensure success is to “work your face off”. As Gary Vaynerchuk likes to say. There are no shortcuts. This is not an easy way to conquer and achieve your biggest goals. It takes persistence and tenacity. Success takes GRIT, Onward Nation. Surround yourself with mentors, books, training resources, and trusted networks will be invaluable to getting the feedback you need to grow your business. Owning a business is not always pretty — but everyone has to start somewhere – so don’t compare yourself to others who have been doing it longer than you. In the interest of time…I’m going to fast forward to Strategy #9: Good Execution Ensures Success. [Remember…we will email you the entire eBook that has all 12 Success Strategies. You can request it here.] Steve Olson, our guest on episode 15 said to me, “Good execution ensures success. Plain and simple.” A simple but very powerful lesson. Onward Nation…you can read all the books, craft an incredibly detailed business plan, and put all of the pieces into place for that product launch…but unless you execute and do the good work…you will not be successful. Jerry Rice, the hall of fame NFL wide receiver famously said… “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” And yes to say, it’s all about commitment to sound cliche — but it is the truth. So should we approach this — what are the tactical steps to ensure success? Here are four to put into practice right away? Seek out advisors who are specialized and can help support the development of the most vital functions in your company. Continually evaluate your business plan because conditions are changing in our rapidly evolving business environment. Take rapid action, find a way to get results, and be able to learn from the mistakes. Ask your clients how to improve a product because they know best. Remember, your success depends upon your ability to convert the recommendations from your advisors, and the strategies you develop, into actionable items.   Strategy #12: Build Your Network Two really amazing guests, Stacey Alcorn…episode #3 and Nancy Marshall…episode 19 are the queens of building impressive networks! Both Stacey and Nancy shared how business owners can and will find success by building their network of personal relationships — and — by being strategic about who you meet and who you spend your time with. During my interview with Nancy…she shared a very powerful story about how when her agency, Nancy Marshall Communications had lost a key account, it was her network that pulled her through those dark times. And now that once lost client — is back at her agency — and business is better than ever. But without a strong network in place — the temporary loss could have been devastating. So how should we go about building a network? Pay close attention to the little details, show gratitude, and make sure to nurture your relationships over time. Focus on clients, vendors, and most importantly family. Keep a gratitude journal to remain consistent with your relationship building. Plan strategically, identify your goals, and then measure your success along the way and then follow the interview and publish the recipe that Stacey Alcorn mapped out for you in episode 3. Put that into practice and you will see your network, your platform, and your influence grow…nearly exponentially.   Okay, Onward Nation – I hope this solocast was valuable to you. Please drop me a line and let me know what you thought. You can share your comments at the bottom of the show notes for this episode – or – you can email me anytime at Stephen @ onwardnation.com and yes – that is my actual email address – comes directly to me – no fancy filter, routing, or sorting…comes right to my Inbox. Feel free to use it anytime. Let me know…thumbs up or thumbs down? I will be back tomorrow with my interview with Mitch Matthews — and oh my word — it is a conversation you don’t want to miss. Until then…onward with gusto!   You can also find us here: ------ OnwardNation.com ------

Good Morning, Onward Nation…Stephen Woessner here… I am going to do something really different for this episode…episode 65 (and I cannot believe this is 65 already). I decided to go solo today and fly this episode without a guest.  And I did that because recently I was having a conversation with one of my mentors and he said to me…”Stephen, Onward Nation is great and it is wonderful how you always put the spotlight on the business owners – the incredible guests on your show – but I want to know more about what you think – what your path has been – tell me more about what you think about the same questions you ask your guests.” And I thought – wow – that is a really good question – but it really pushed my comfort zone. Although as I thought about his question -- I realized this would be an opportunity to add and share value with you, Onward Nation, in a completely different way. So I accepted his challenge – and depending on how this episode goes – I am planning to record a new solocast once a week where I really dig deep into a topic or business issue – strategies and ideas – recipes I have learned that you can apply into your business right away to make it more systematic, predictable, repeatable, and measurable. Again…this is my first solocast – and it feels a bit awkward – so I’d really like your feedback after you listen – drop me a line – let me know – thumbs up or thumbs down. Trust me – I love feedback – good – bad – whatever. So please share it with me. Before we dive in…and if you’re listening to Onward Nation now for the first time…I will give a very brief personal intro to provide some context behind the voice. Hi…I’m Stephen Woessner. I am the host of Onward Nation – but – when I am not interviewing today’s top business owners, I am the CEO of Predictive ROI…a digital marketing agency…and I don’t particularly like that label because Predictive does so much more than digital marketing. Yes, we do the traditional things like increasing site traffic, leads, and sales. But what makes us truly unique…is our ability to predict a client’s increase in sales…their actual financial return on investment in the form of dollars and cents…and then guarantee that performance…or our work is free. And because of that – we find ourselves deep inside a client’s systems, inventory, sales team, and all sorts of business development processes. I love the problem solving work we do – it oftentimes reminds me of my days of troubleshooting when I was a missile technician working inside nuclear missiles silos on the prairies of South Dakota while I was in the Air Force many years ago. I have been in digital marketing since the advent of the commercial Internet. I am the best selling author of two books in the area, I spent nearly 6 years at the University of Wisconsin – at the La Crosse campus, and I taught throughout the state include the UW-Madison School of Business, and my business building insights have been featured in Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, Forbes, SUCCESS, The Washington Post and some other media. And I am currently working on my third book. Okay, let’s press on to something more valuable like solving big challenges in our business – big obstacles – those things that are really holding you back from jumping off the plateau you may be on right now – and leaping onward to that next level. That’s what we are going to focus on during this episode. First, we all know that building and scaling a business is hard work. But when you have the right strategy – that right “recipe for success” to follow – the action steps become more like “ingredients” and can be added systematically into your business – one ingredient at a time. And every day at Onward Nation, I have the incredible opportunity to interview today’s top business owners and ask them to share their specific recipes for success – and to break those strategies down into tactical step-by-step processes and systems. I distilled all of those ideas, strategies, steps down into actionable “recipes” you can take and apply into your business right away. If you are not familiar with my recipe and ingredient thought process – you may be thinking you just walked into a baking podcast by mistake. Close…but not quite. Here let me explain the recipe metaphor this way… Say I make the world’s best chocolate cake. And I grew up working in my mom’s bakery – so my chocolate cake is actually pretty good.  And say you come up to me and say, hey Stephen…I cannot bake anything, in fact, boiling what is hard for me…but…I love your chocolate cake. Could you teach me how to bake your cake so that it turns out just like yours? How could that even be possible? I’ve been perfecting my chocolate cake for the last 30 years…and you have zero baking skills. How could you possibly think that you could duplicate my results? To even have a shot at it – is there something I could give you – some edge – some insider’s knowledge? Of course…I need to give you my recipe. The recipe will act as your “strategy” behind the cake. Right? With the recipe…you can see the entire process…the flow…the visualization of the goal…how you need to setup the environment, i.e. your kitchen…all the steps…all the tools you will need. But the recipe is just one piece…what else do you need? Right! The ingredients. You need to know the specific amounts and specific qualities of the ingredients, right? And then there is one more thing…you have the recipe…you have the ingredients…but…you must also follow the syntax. And syntax is a fancy word that simply means the order of the process. So think about a recipe you have followed in the past…we have all done this…we mix the eggs together with the flour before we put in the oil and now we have goo. Not awesome. So the syntax…or the order in which we execute the strategy really matters. So I’m going to share some incredible business building recipes with you…but I’m going to share the ingredients…and I’m going to give you the syntax or the process for all the steps. Hopefully that makes sense. And as Jim Rohn said…”You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Now, maybe you are hearing Jim’s pearls of wisdom in this quote for the first time. I was having lunch with some friends the other day and I shared that quote and I could tell they were a bit shocked by it – so I took another minute to explain. I shared several scenarios to illustrate the powerful lesson Jim taught us in that quote…and I will share the same with you. Say you’re walking down a hallway with your one of your top clients…and your client has a faster pace than you. What do you do? Do you walk your normal pace or do you speed up? Does your client slow down? Likely not. Our natural instinct is to speed up – to keep pace. So let’s consider a different scenario. Let’s say this time you are walking with a group of four other people through the mall and they are all walking slow…like dreadfully slow…painfully slow. What do you do? You may start to think of some creative ways to speed them up…but they don’t speed up…in fact…they may even slow down further…but how is this possible? And if you try to speed up…you simply get out in front of them and create stress for yourself and for the group.  Here’s the reality: you will not de-stress until you are free from the slow group and find a group that wants to move at your same – faster speed – or potentially even faster than you so you are challenged to grow and speed up to keep up. Because if you don’t…eventually you will slow your pace to confirm to the group – because you don’t want to be rude…so you slow down. This episode will move at a pace and tempo that is uncommon…we are going to move at the pace of today’s top business owners. And if you listen to Onward Nation on a consistent basis – today’s top business owners are the people you are spending time with – and that is awesome. So here is the first lesson I want to share with you…if you want to move your business onward to that next level…then you need to spend time with business owners and mentors who are ALREADY at that next level – AND -- they move at a pace and tempo faster than you. And when you join that group – or have that person as your mentor – you will grow. Hope that makes sense – and I have prepared a very detailed recipe on mentorship for you during today’s discussion. More on that in a few minutes. So make it a commitment – to find other business owners who are already at that next level – and spend time with them – learn from them – and you will naturally speed up to keep pace and as a result you will be moving toward the next level yourself. So here’s what I am going to cover during today’s episode – let’s call it an agenda of sorts – as Kim Garst said to me during our interview – “you gotta have a checklist, Stephen.” 1.First, I will show you how to spot the two biggest obstacles currently preventing you from moving your business onward to the next level 2.Second, I will show you how to attract the right mentors to help you overcome the obstacles and accelerate your results 3.Third, I will show you how to implement and master a specific system that will dramatically expand your network and sphere of influence So let’s dive in. What if I told you that the two biggest challenges preventing you from moving your business onward to the next level have nothing to do with the business climate, the economy, the skill level of your employees, the location of your business, your pricing strategy, your current customer base, the size of your marketing budget, the quality of your products, your distribution channels, or the myriad of other reasons we are given today by the media and government as to why businesses fail at such a staggering rate in this country. What if the obstacles in your way had nothing to do with any of that? And in instead, what was blocking you…the obstacles keeping your business in check…are the same obstacles that have always attempted to keep you in check throughout your entire life. Your enemy is not the myriad of reasons I just listed off…instead…your first challenge…or better yet…your first enemy is the Fear of Poverty.  Many of you have read – but possibly not in a while – this incredible book, Think and Grow Rich published in 1937 by Napoleon Hill. If you have listened to Onward Nation episodes – and my guess is you have or you would not be here this evening – our guests often reference Think & Grow Rich because it is a compendium of knowledge. The book was made possible by Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie at the time was the wealthiest man in the world, met Napoleon Hill, liked him and offered to commission him to open the doors to the greatest industrialists of the time. That was 1908. And he said, “I’ll open the doors if you’ll sit down with these top business owners and figure out their secrets to success. What they do, they’re methods, they’re mindsets that have caused their extraordinary success and you put it into a book and publish it and make it available to the world.”  So, Napoleon sat down with Henry Ford, Edison, Schwab, Wrigley, and both Rockefellers. Imagine being able to spend time with those business owners and pull out their best ideas for success and achievement. If you have read, studied, and applied the book…you understand the great knowledge in this book and are already ahead of 98% of your competition. But often times…this book is an easy to forget treasure because it was written in 1937 – but the strategies in this book are still just as applicable today. If you have not yet read, studied, and applied the book – then consider this a million dollar resource you have just been given. You can go to OnwardNation.com/book and get the Audible version of Think and Grow Rich for free…that’s OnwardNation.com/book. The Fear of Poverty is one of the 6 basic fears but it is also the most pervasive, destructive, and confusing to understand. But why? On the surface, it seems as though this fear would revolve around the fear of becoming poor – and there definitely is that component. But, the way this particular fear manifests itself is what makes it easy to spot.  We become so fearful of poverty…that we freeze and are plagued with indecision, indifference, doubt, worry, over-caution, and procrastination. Just when you ought to take action…you don’t. When sales are declining…you ought to make more sales calls…but you don’t…you freeze because the fear of poverty has you paralyzed. Just when you should be investing in that new expansion – that new marketing strategy – that new development – hiring new employees – you don’t. You become overly cautious. Or…you disguise your caution by saying your “skeptical”. And by the way -- that is code for “I am afraid.” You become so fearful of hitting the wall – that all you do is focus on the wall. And then what happens? Exactly…you end up hitting the wall. To be clear…I am not suggesting that you throw caution into the wind and become financially irresponsible and then lose your business as a result of mismanagement.  That would be silly. But I am trying to bring into focus that our Fear of Poverty can be one of the major obstacles that hold us back from the abundance at that next level. And it doesn’t matter who you are – we have all felt it before – especially when trying to pursue something new – that next level. Remember, if you focus on the wall…you will hit the wall. But if you focus on the infield – you may still eventually hit the wall…but your opportunity likely increases by a factor of 10 IF you steer your business where you want it to go instead of letting yourself and your business become paralyzed by indecision, indifference, doubt, worry, over-caution, and procrastination. So if the Fear of Poverty is the first challenge – what is the second one keeping you from moving your business forward? It is the Fear of Criticism and is also one of the 6 basic fears…and it too is easy to spot. This fear what prevents you from making that sales call to that prospective client everyone in town wants because you hear that voice inside your head that says… “Oh come on…who do you think you’re kidding calling them? You have nothing to offer. They only work with big companies. You’re too small.”  You hear… "You’re not good enough…you don’t have the skills, you will never make it…why bother trying…there are others who are more gifted, talented, they already have all the connections…what could you possibly offer that would be unique and different…just try something that is more at your current level – call on someone smaller – don’t call the president or owner – call someone who reports to them – that would be easier." "Why can’t you just be normal?" The fear of criticism can be overcome with grit…with tenacity…with perseverance…with the shouting into the abyss…I will not be defeated. You saying…"I will WIN THE DAY". And when you do that – and I believe when you’re moving in the direction of God’s plan for your life – there is nothing that can stop you.  Now that we have identified the 2 biggest obstacles holding you back – which really aren’t obstacles at all are they – they all are in your mind – now let’s work through our first of several recipes this evening. Recipe #1 focuses on mentorship.  If you have listened to our Onward Nation episodes, you already know that I ask every single guest to share the most influential lesson they ever learned from one of their mentors that helped them become the business owner they are today. And wow…our guests have shared some outstanding lessons. So for this solocast, I am going to share a very specific recipe for attracting and finding the right mentor because Onward Nation listeners have asked me exactly that – as well as to help them understand what would be expected of them as a mentee? But first – let’s make this more specific. Why find a mentor? And yes, there is a specific recipe you can use to find a mentor and I am going to share that with you. Before I share the step-by-step ingredients to this powerful recipe…I will share something I have not shared during Onward Nation episodes…two of the most influential lessons I ever learned from one of my mentors…Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine. For 12-months, Darren was a member of our board of advisors at Predictive ROI. So we would get together either in-person or over the phone. And during one of our monthly calls, I explained to Darren some of my reservations about building a big business. I wasn’t sure how big I wanted Predictive ROI to become. And so I was nervous about it. And I said, “Gosh, Darren – you know – I’ve never thought of myself as being a great manager of people. And quite frankly, honestly Darren, I kind of suck at it.” And then Darren said to me, “Stephen…stop SUCKING at it!" And I said, “What do you mean?” And he said…”Don’t give me that lie or tell me that myth that you are telling yourself. Don’t use that as a fricken excuse to stop moving forward. Stop telling yourself that limiting belief and that lie that you’re not a good manager or leader. Be better at it. Don’t give me the excuse.” And so I’m standing there almost like fricken naked – totally stripped down – I was like, holy crap, he totally called me on it right. That’s embarrassing – because he was right! And that’s what a good mentor does for you – they call you out when you need to be called out – they support you when you need to be supported and they teach you when you need to be taught. But they don’t do the hard work for you – that’s on you. So here are the specific ingredients for finding the right mentor for you: Think about your own talents and skills you would like to strengthen -- weaknesses you would like to lessen -- areas of your business you would like to improve, etc. Then make a precise list that details everything you just thought about. This process helps you identify the person you need to become in order to move your business onward to the next level This is a really hard exercise because you have to force yourself to take a critical look at yourself (and by the way -- most people are not willing to get really honest with themselves -- and that is one of the major reasons they never grow) Once you have the list -- look for people who are crushing it in these areas -- the same areas where you need to grow. Then contact those people -- invite them to lunch -- let them know you are packed full of questions for them Be very prepared -- they will love that Interview them and put what they share with you into practice -- turn it into a blog post and your clients will love you for it Loop back to your mentors and share your success When you do, they will invite you to sit down so they can share more with you. Soak it all up -- then put it into practice. Remember…a good mentee takes action on what is learned — and the responsibility is on you. Let’s go deeper by taking a look at three of our Onward Nation guests and how they are crushing it with mentorship. First, Don Yaeger – episode 2 of Onward Nation. What is the difference between Don Yaeger and another professional speaker you could hire for an event? Don has mentored with the greatest champions of our time – including Coach John Wooden for over 12 years…and Don distilled all of this knowledge into what he calls the 16 Characteristics of Greatness. Now, it would be easy to say – “Well sure, Stephen, Don can do that because he has all of the connections.” And true – Don can get anyone in the world of sports to take his call. In fact, I was staying with Don and his family for a week in Tallahassee and one morning, Don’s cell phone rang and Don said to me “It’s Bob Kraft”…and I said, “Wait, what? You mean like Bob Kraft who owns the New England Patriots?” But don’t forget, Onward Nation…even Don Yaeger had to start somewhere. So will you sit around and be fearful for another year – or – will you start getting mentored and move your business onward? Next, Stacey Alcorn…episode 3 of Onward Nation. What is the difference between Stacey Alcorn and another real estate professional? Stacey has mentored with some of the best and brightest minds in business and connected those relationships back into building her real estate empire. I will later share with you a billion dollar recipe right out of Stacey’s cookbook…and I know we have several real estate professionals on the workshop right now…Stacey’s firm had 324 closings in June. Bam! And lastly, Nancy Marshall – episode 19 of Onward Nation. What is the difference between Nancy Marshall and another marketing or PR professional you could hire? Nancy realizes that she may be located in the state of Maine – but the market for Nancy Marshall Communications is worldwide…which is why she has invested the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to write a book, develop a trademarked process in her agency called The Marshall Plan, and to invest in building a network through mentoring with the right people – and giving back – and now her network helps her company grow in the good times and become a safety net in the downturns – because the storm clouds will come no matter who you are or what kind of business you run. Here’s the reality…you are the average of who you spend the most time with. So you need to spend your time with people you have a common future with – not a common past. Let me close out this first recipe by saying...you can want to find a mentor – the recipe that I just shared with you could be worth millions of dollars in new sales to your company – but – it won’t be worth anything unless you DECIDE to take action. As Tony Robbins says, a real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve take action – in fact – that you have taken massive action. And if there’s no action – then that is simply an indicator you haven’t really decided anything. Now that we have conquered and overcome the two main challenges standing in your way – and now that I have shared with you a very specific recipe with all of the step-by-step ingredients (in the proper syntax) so you can find your right mentor or mentors…it is now time to really accelerate your results and move your business onward to the next level. The next recipe I am going to share with you could represent a billion – yes, with a "B" – billion dollar strategy for your business. I am going to share a recipe for mastering a specific system that will dramatically expand your network and sphere of influence – and – I will also share with you how you can then monetize these valuable relationships into mutually beneficial partnerships and revenue for your business. And yes, I know it may sound crass or inappropriate when I say monetize relationships – unfortunately, I can’t think of a better word – I think you get what I am driving at. But before we get to the recipe…let me put typical “networking” into context. Most business owners go to an event with a large number of “prospects”. They pass out business cards. They chit-chat small talk with the same people they met their last month. The collect others business cards. More chit-chat small talk. They might even schedule some lunch meetings. Why do we do this? Here's why. Because this is safe – it is easy – it does not make us face our fear of poverty or our fear of criticism. What would people think if I did that…or went here…or spent time with so and so…they will all think I am too big for my britches.  I am going to work hard here to shift your paradigm of what is possible.  And that is why I love this quote from Archimedes. “Give me a prop strong enough, and a level long enough, and I can single handedly move the world” This next recipe I am about to share with you will become your lever and prop. And it is big – this is literally a billion dollar recipe – and I am going to introduce you to the top business owner who is using it generate a billion dollars. She describes herself as a billionaire in the making. Let me introduce you again to Stacey Alcorn. Her episode is still on our leaderboard of top podcasts.  During our interview, Stacey told me about the afternoon she had spent the week before with Kevin O’Leary, Mr. Wonderful from ABC’s Shark Tank – they spent the afternoon tasting wine and exchanging business mantras and best lessons. Stacey and Kevin had quite the masterminding session. There is always a strategy behind what Stacey does – and if you go back and re-listen to episode 3, Stacey maps out her entire business building strategy with precision. But we are going to focus on the billion-dollar recipe that Stacey has developed. Most people will not swing for the fences – but Stacey does. So here are the specific ingredients in Stacey’s recipe. Make list of influencers in your industry and / or your Dream 50 clients / prospects Connect via social media, email, or call Ask for 30-minutes so you can interview them on their path / keys to success Do your homework – prep excellent questions Be excellent during the interview Share what you and your company does at close of interview Invite / open the door for future opportunities Then share guest’s expertise on your blog, media outlets, your podcast, etc. – your platform Rinse and repeat – rinse and repeat Key point: if you interview the movers and shakers in your industry – they become your informal mentors…and you become one of the movers and shakers in the industry as a result. If you want a BIGGER – more ROBUST – more INFLUENTIAL network – then YOU must become bigger…your platform must become more robust…and you must become more influential. Warning -- ROAD BLOCKS!! Now, some of you listening to this recipe right now may be thinking – “Oh sure, Stephen…Stacey has an email list of 65,000 people and has interviewed all of these celebrities and big time business people – I don’t have those connections.” Or, maybe you’re thinking… “My business just started…I don’t have mindshare in the marketplace, I’m not a published author, I don’t have a platform, no one knows who I am, who will listen to me – what do I have or could I share that would be relevant for anyone to listen to, I don’t have a network – I wouldn’t even know how to start.” All of those excuses – all of those alibis – those are the Fear of Poverty and the Fear of Criticism working against you again. If you hear those voices in your head – if you are having thoughts that are even remotely similar to what I just mentioned – let that be your litmus test – you now know you are heading in the right direction.  Push forward – don’t stop – don’t let your fear hold you back from breaking through to that next level.  Remember, you are the average of the people you spend the most time with…and look who Stacey is spending the most time with. She refers to herself as "A billionaire in the making." And in order for that vision for her life to become a reality – she knows that she needs to spend as much time as possible with other billionaires. Well, I will let you in on a secret she told me during our interview – Stacey didn't have those connections several years ago. But she DECIDED that was going to change and then she took action to make it happen. I hope that makes sense. Okay, Onward Nation – I hope this first solocast was valuable to you. Please drop me a line and let me know what you thought. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Please drop me a line and let me know. Onward with gusto! -- Stephen