Podcast appearances and mentions of roland frasier

There are a number of trend-based marketing strategies you can implement to achieve profit breakthroughs in 2022.   In today's episode, host Roland Frasier gives us the inside scoop on a lot of cool things going on right now in the business world. He walks us through the first five today and will share the rest in an upcoming episode.    Listen in if you want to stay on top of both what's happening now and what's coming down the pike.   Trend #1: ESG   This is one you hear a lot about in the investment banking world. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. There's a tremendous focus right now on sustainability and corporate responsibility to keep the environment healthy (E), doing social good (S), and building in protections against the companies doing bad things (G).   There are a lot of funds right now set up to do ESG investing. The more focused we are on being sustainable, environmentally-conscious, and socially responsible, the more we'll get business from these bigger companies focused on it. Consumers are demanding this too, so you're winning on both sides.   Ask yourself: what could I do in my business, or what business could I acquire to become more sustainable? Things like rethinking your supply chain, reducing your carbon footprint, and giving back environmentally. From a social perspective, what can I do to contribute? Give back to your local community or the world at large, or specific organizations like Black Lives Matter.   Trend #2: DEI    Yes, there are a lot of acronyms to keep track of. DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  From a diversity (D) standpoint, when it comes to the people working with us—at all levels of the business—we should be diverse both racially and socio-economically.    How can we get people of different genders, however they might identify, to get involved in the company so we can get different perspectives? How can we be friendly to the LGBTQ+ community? Not just people we're selling to, but people in management, in executive positions, on the board. Studies have shown that diverse companies are more profitable, come up with more ideas, and are more innovative.   The equity (E) part is how do we give people ownership and have stakeholders that are diverse? Stakeholders who will profit and be uplifted by their involvement and the things they contribute to the company.   Inclusion (I) is very broad. How are we going to be aware of all these different interests out there, and how can we serve them? What opportunities do we have in the company to bring these diverse viewpoints in and how can we facilitate this? There's a lot of money flowing to companies that are DEI-aware. This is a huge trend and theme in 2022, and will probably go for the rest of this decade.    Trend #3: The Great Resignation   There's a whole flow of people, mostly young people, leaving their jobs saying, “I'm not happy with where I am. I'm not happy with the progress I'm making, with the prospects I have of getting to do something profitable and fulfilling and socially responsible.” People want to contribute to the world, feel good, and take care of themselves.   The Great Resignation is creating real problems for businesses. The opportunity here to think about is: how do we serve all the people who are leaving the workforce and starting businesses for the first time? People want to be entrepreneurs and go into business for themselves.    Starting a business is really hard, so you're going to see people wanting to reenter the workforce, but in better jobs. We'll need career counselors, headhunters, people to help those who failed in businesses and have challenges, business coaches, career training, etc. Anything that will serve the significant portion of people who are working remotely.   Trend #4: Reallocating the Supply Chain   For the past two years, there's been a big challenge in getting goods. We're seeing huge inflation rates. A lot of it has to do with a catch-up period after production was reduced or completely stopped when the pandemic hit.   There are 96 cargo ships in the LA/Long Beach port right now backed up. This will be worked out, but will probably take a couple years. Big opportunity: how can I reallocate the supply chain?    A lot of companies that were acquiring supplies from overseas don't want to get blindsided again and will move some/all of their manufacturing to North America (Mexico or the U.S.). If you can look and find markets where labor and location is inexpensive, this will be profitable.   Trend #5: AI   A lot of humans are being replaced with AI (Artificial Intelligence) right now and this is only the beginning. There's a huge need for companies with the ability to integrate AI with humans. We have AI agencies where AI is writing campaign ads and copy, and it's coming out better than what the humans were writing. The AI is winning. We're hitting the point where computer intelligence is exceeding human beings.   Where's the profit here? Get involved in AI verticalizations. Be part of the companies that are providing AI solutions, AI integrations, helping companies integrate AI, training people to service and work the AI as an AI technician, displacement training to help the people being displaced by AI.    These are five of the biggest trends Roland believes will provide some very profitable opportunities in 2022 and beyond. Stay tuned for Part 2!   OUR PARTNERS: 7 Steps to Scalable workbook Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge  

Could acquisition be the answer to your business needs? On this episode of the Making Bank podcast, Roland Frasier talks about his entrepreneurial influences, acquisition and accomplishment, and advice for starting new business practices. Roland is an entrepreneur with a passion for business. He began his career in real estate, and soon his business practices evolved, leading him to bigger and better entrepreneurial success. Roland has a history of building, buying, and selling businesses in e-commerce, e-learning, SaaS, and real estate. He is currently the CEO of All Channels Media, LLC, and principal in Scalable.co, DigitalMarketer.com, Traffic & Conversion Summit, Praxio.com, TruConversion.com, War Room Mastermind, Fully Accountable, Everbowl Restaurants, Big Block Realty, Scribe Publishing, and Real Estate Worldwide. Additionally, he has a virtual course called “The Epic Challenge,” where he teaches his methods for entrepreneurial achievement. Listen to Josh and Roland discuss acquisition and accomplishment: Starting in Entrepreneurship (5:17) Roland explains how he got his start as an entrepreneur and credits his father's tax attorney profession and entrepreneurial practices as motivators. Roland was inspired by his father's business connections and wanted to grow up and become a successful entrepreneur like them. Roland's Influences (7:10) In his youth, Roland displayed entrepreneurial behaviors to support his band and make money as a teenager. He discusses Robert G. Allen's book “Nothing Down” and how its concepts fascinated him at a young age and inspired him to get his real estate license at age 18. Since then, he has been evolving in his practices and experiencing business success. The Epic Challenge (11:43) Dale and Roland chat about Roland's new virtual course called “The Epic Challenge,” where he teaches participants how to gain entrepreneurial achievement. Accomplishment Through Acquisition (12:37) It is Roland's belief that acquisition can help you accomplish anything. He explains that there are seven different reasons one may have for desiring a change in their business and how these seven primary business needs can be solved through acquisition. The Acquisition Wheel (16:30) Roland expands upon his ideas regarding acquisition in business and the seven categories he refers to as the “Acquisition Wheel.” Using the “Making Bank Podcast” as an example, he describes the different categories and subcategories for acquisition, as well as his methods for using this practice to his advantage. Scaling Your Business (25:28) One of the most common challenges entrepreneurs face is determining how to scale their businesses. Roland elaborates on this challenge and how his acquisition strategies can apply. Additionally, he explains the importance of mindset for overcoming challenges in business. Overcoming Fear of New Business Practices (29:55) Roland chats about the acquisition process and how people are scared of potential risks when taking on new or unfamiliar business practices. He explains how starting something new like acquisition will seem difficult the first time, but the process becomes easier by starting small and gaining experience. Links mentioned: Making Bank - Website Nothing Down by Robert G. Allen - Amazon Roland Frasier - Website Roland Frasier - LinkedIn

Could acquisition be the answer to your business needs?   On this episode of the Making Bank podcast, Roland Frasier talks about his entrepreneurial influences, acquisition and accomplishment, and advice for starting new business practices. Roland is an entrepreneur with a passion for business. He began his career in real estate, and soon his business practices evolved, leading him to bigger and better entrepreneurial success.   Roland has a history of building, buying, and selling businesses in e-commerce, e-learning, SaaS, and real estate. He is currently the CEO of All Channels Media, LLC, and principal in Scalable.co, DigitalMarketer.com, Traffic & Conversion Summit, Praxio.com, TruConversion.com, War Room Mastermind, Fully Accountable, Everbowl Restaurants, Big Block Realty, Scribe Publishing, and Real Estate Worldwide. Additionally, he has a virtual course called “The Epic Challenge,” where he teaches his methods for entrepreneurial achievement. Listen to Josh and Roland discuss acquisition and accomplishment: Starting in Entrepreneurship (5:17) Roland explains how he got his start as an entrepreneur and credits his father's tax attorney profession and entrepreneurial practices as motivators. Roland was inspired by his father's business connections and wanted to grow up and become a successful entrepreneur like them. Roland's Influences (7:10) In his youth, Roland displayed entrepreneurial behaviors to support his band and make money as a teenager. He discusses Robert G. Allen's book “Nothing Down” and how its concepts fascinated him at a young age and inspired him to get his real estate license at age 18. Since then, he has been evolving in his practices and experiencing business success. The Epic Challenge (11:43) Dale and Roland chat about Roland's new virtual course called “The Epic Challenge,” where he teaches participants how to gain entrepreneurial achievement. Accomplishment Through Acquisition (12:37) It is Roland's belief that acquisition can help you accomplish anything. He explains that there are seven different reasons one may have for desiring a change in their business and how these seven primary business needs can be solved through acquisition. The Acquisition Wheel (16:30) Roland expands upon his ideas regarding acquisition in business and the seven categories he refers to as the “Acquisition Wheel.” Using the “Making Bank Podcast” as an example, he describes the different categories and subcategories for acquisition, as well as his methods for using this practice to his advantage. Scaling Your Business (25:28) One of the most common challenges entrepreneurs face is determining how to scale their businesses. Roland elaborates on this challenge and how his acquisition strategies can apply. Additionally, he explains the importance of mindset for overcoming challenges in business. Overcoming Fear of New Business Practices (29:55) Roland chats about the acquisition process and how people are scared of potential risks when taking on new or unfamiliar business practices. He explains how starting something new like acquisition will seem difficult the first time, but the process becomes easier by starting small and gaining experience. Links mentioned: Making Bank - Website Nothing Down by Robert G. Allen - Amazon Roland Frasier - Website Roland Frasier - LinkedIn

What if you could use the same five-step formula that helps candidates win elections to win big at digital marketing?   On today's episode, host Roland Frasier sits down with Phillip Stutts, CEO of Win Big Media to talk about using data to grow your business. Phillip worked in political campaigns for years, using a systematic formula to elect candidates (1433 victories!). When he turned 40, his answer to the stereotypical midlife crisis was to start a business in a new-to-him industry.    Five years ago, a business owner, a large landowner, came to him. He had hired a marketing agency and spent $50k on a marketing campaign and got one lead, not even a sale. After working with Phillip's team, and spending just $5k, they got him over 700 leads, and he converted a bunch of them.   Phillip realized that the same formula used in successful political campaigns could be used in companies' marketing campaigns as well. They just needed to take 5 simple, important steps.   Step 1: Know Your Customer's Data (What They Care About)   Phillip can't count how many times a business owner has come to him and told me they spent so much money on marketing and produced no results and fired a marketer. It's like a broken record. He always asks them: what did you know about your customer data before you built your brand?    In politics, before he spends any of his candidate's money, he has to make sure they know what the voter cares about. The voter doesn't care about a 25-issue platform. You can do a survey, get some data in the field, and figure out the two main issues they care about, that would get them to vote for you.    Phillip is obsessed with Step 1 and formed a partnership with a data and analytics company. Before you spend any money, he can tell you everything you need to know about your customer. The data is the most important thing. He won't work with any client who isn't willing to do a deep dive understanding of their customers. It's just not worth it to him.    His team started working with a title company that wanted to be #1. Their customer is the real estate agent, not the house buyer. Phillip's team found that 61% of the realtors in their target market owned dogs. They started running campaign ads with dogs, and now they're #1 in their region and #3 in the state. Realtors come into the title company to close on a house and say, “I saw your dog ads and loved them.” It's all about making meaningful connections, because you know what they want.   Step 2: Put Together a Strategic Plan   Phillip says that Step 2 is where everybody screws up. Almost everyone is running a marketing campaign based on tactics. You have to put a strategic plan together that aligns the vision of the company with what the customer wants. You have to align your budget with where your customer actually is.   Step 3: Build the Brand   Building the brand is not Step 1 like a lot of people think. It's a waste of time to build your brand haphazardly without first studying the data to figure out what your customer wants and putting together a strategic plan.   Step 4: A/B Testing    You've got to run test ads before you launch your campaign. You've got to compare at least two versions of something to see which one performs better. Successful political candidates run all kinds of test ads in all different versions. It's the best way to get it right.   Step 5: Launch Your Marketing Campaign   Now that you've eliminated your risk in Steps 1-4, you can launch your actual marketing campaign.   Phillip says that any company of any size can use data. He was criticized when he first started his agency, because people told him he needed to go niche—all SEO, all Facebook, all YouTube, whatever. He had a problem with that, because he believes in following where the data tells him to go. He has no dog in the hunt on any certain platform. They're going to do what's best for each client based on the data.   They use data in messaging, marketing, and targeting. And they've already found ways to get around pesky issues like iOS updates and other privacy concerns.   RESOURCES: phillipstutts.com (get a free data assessment) winbigmedia.com   The Undefeated Marketing System: How to Grow Your Business and Build Your Audience Using the Secret Formula that Elects Presidents   The Undefeated Marketing podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge

OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse and Mandy McEwen

The final steps to acquiring a company are very important. Do them well, and you'll be the proud new owner of a business.   This is the third and final episode of an invaluable series where Roland Frasier has been walking us through some important questions to ask when buying a business. All three episodes are important, but this one in particular will help you finish strong.   Listen in, take notes, then go connect with Roland on social media (Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn). He'd love to hear what you took away from these episodes and what you'd like to hear next on the podcast.    Target Questions to Get the Data You Need   In the previous episode, you were finding common touchpoints and building rapport with the owner of the business you want to acquire. You showed interest, asked questions, got them talking, so you could take notes to help you craft an offer.   Once you've had that conversation, the next set of questions is more specific. Roland has a target data information sheet he fills out. You don't need a financial statement to get these questions answered. Here are some of them:   What is the top level sales? What is the profitability of the company? What are the assets and liabilities of the company? What kind of cash is in the company? What are the accounts receivable/payable?  What is the long-term debt of the company? Does it own any real estate? What other assets does it have? Does it have inventory? How many employees do they have? What is the owner's reason for selling? What will they do going forward?   The reason you ask that last question is because you want them to get excited about life after business. Then you've built a common goal.    How Do You Start the Research and Outreach Process?   A lot of people believe businesses to acquire can be found through online and offline brokers of businesses. The truth is, those are really the worst deals. Here's why. Think about when you list a house. You're emotionally invested in it, so you typically think it's worth more than it really is. When someone goes to a broker to sell their house or business, the broker will say, “What do you want for it?” They'll either say, “I don't know” or “I want x.” The broker has to think of how to keep the seller's expectations reasonable and get the deal. There's a compulsion to let someone list something for sale at a higher price than they can actually get for it. You're fighting against a seller's expectation. Plus they need to get enough to pay the broker. If you have someone who has received multiple offers they've turned down, that will be helpful for you, but you're still going to pay the highest price the broker can get.    Wouldn't it be better if you could get off-market deals that aren't listed? Or deals that were listed but the listing expired? They've gone through the “expectation curve” process and are much more reasonable in what they'll accept. Keep in mind that 80% of businesses listed do not sell.   Roland recommends finding businesses organically. You're probably not going to find businesses by running an ad. Most of this happens through word of mouth and networking. The more you meet people and tell them what you're doing and what you're looking for, the more likely it is that you'll meet someone who knows someone who can refer you to someone who has that business you're looking for.    Some places to ask about businesses for sale:   Friends and family Email signatures Social media contacts  Networking groups Meetup groups  Angel groups Contractors, employees, consultants Join masterminds Investment bankers, accountants, attorneys Trade shows/trade associations.   The more you plug yourself into the industry you want to acquire a business in, the more likely that you'll get referrals. Referrals are the best, because you're getting introduced to the person with someone's arm wrapped around you saying, “This is a good person to do business with.”  Letting your whole world know is the best way to start.   If you're doing cold outreach, there are several things you can do. The easiest in the U.S. is to go to secstates.com. This site lists all 50 Secretaries of State where filings of business entities are done and registered.   You can also find businesses on hoovers.com or zoominfo.com. Names, phone numbers, and addresses are often available. Call the company, ask who the owner is, and say you have to send them some information. Or go to the website and look at the About Us page or Team or Contact Us. You can also Google information about business licenses. Then send them information like Roland talked about in the previous episodes.   LINKS AND RESOURCES: meetup.com secstates.com hoovers.com zoominfo.com   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge  

Over the next few podcast episodes, we'll walk through the 7 Levels of Scale—everything you need to know to grow and scale your business. Today is about MONEY—doubling your take-home pay.   Co-hosts Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss have developed a powerful and proven framework for scaling your business. It's been a long labor of love. They had all the pieces, but they needed to tie it together in a simplified way that was transferable and repeatable. And they made it happen.   Here are the 7 Levels of Scale:   Level #1: Sell and serve 10 customers. Level #2: Build a growth flywheel. Level #3: Build an upgraded scalable operating system.   Level #4: Double your take-home pay.   Level #5: Build your board. Level #6: Complete an acquisition for expansion. Level #7: Hit your number.   They covered Levels 1 and 2 in Part 1 and Level 3 in part 2. Today is all about Level 4. Listen in for some actionable strategies to double your take-home pay (AFTER you've hit levels 1-3).   Scared Money Doesn't Scale   People hear “double your take-home pay” and think, “If I do that, I'll go broke and not have enough money to grow. Shouldn't I be putting that money back into my company?”   Ryan says there are two things at play here. One is nerd finance stuff (which Roland loves and Ryan is learning to like). There's a big mindset shift that needs to happen for many people at this point. It's time for you to be feeling more abundant, feeling some of the gains of owning a business. Ryan's first mentor back in the day once told him, “You're doing well, but you're not taking enough money. You need to pay yourself well, because scared money doesn't scale.”   This step is so important. Roland and Ryan want you to have a plan to personally bring twice as much money home. If you haven't brought home anything up to this point, you need to do more than twice, more than enough to pay for your basic expenses.    “But I could lose everything,” you think. “I need to make another sale or I could go out of business.” That fear is really good in the early days. The intensity of the lion chasing you is great for launching a business, but not great for scaling a business. That fear will hold you back, keep you stuck in short-term thinking. You need to make more money so you can start thinking longer-term.    One of the obstacles you face in business is feeling guilty taking money out of the company. You do have a tight situation when you're boot-strapping, so you've got to think about your people you need to take care of, and the growth you need to get, and the resources, media, inventory, people you need. You're spinning plates, and the plate that gets ignored is you. You actually deserve this. You need to take care of yourself. If you don't build in some profitability for yourself, any ding in the company could end it.   Don't Over-Parent Your Company; Let It Soar   Your company won't scale if you don't let it grow up. You've got to let it go out on its own and live and survive and perform at a level it needs to perform at for you. At level 3, we separated the founder/entrepreneur from being the brain of the business. We upgraded from you being the operating system to having an actual operating system. You're no longer the brain; now you have to stop being the beating heart of the company as well.   There's always another expense. If you don't pause and say, “I've got to pay me,” you'll never do it. Roland taught Ryan this lesson. Back in the day, he told Ryan to just double his salary, and Ryan freaked out. “I can't,” he said. He set his first salary at $10k/month and thought to himself, “This is all I could ever need or want.” He has since changed his mind. Four kids and all the other stuff later, that money goes pretty quick.   He doubled his salary, and wouldn't you know it, there was enough money. That felt good, so he doubled it again. The business didn't miss it. The business grew. Because the person running the company was no longer terrified about paying his bills. He could think out into the future more strategically, less scarcity-minded.    If you don't set that money aside, then the business is a gaping void that will suck up any extra money you've got. Your salary has to be like rent. The business can't go on if it can't afford to pay you to be there. You've got to take care of yourself. It's not optional.    Seriously. Take the Money.   People always fight this. The guilt can be strong. “I need to put the money back in the company.” Ryan says that, when people are struggling, he asks them why they started their business. “To make money,” they say. “To make a difference. I'm passionate about this. I wanted freedom and to be my own boss.” All of that is great, and it requires money.    “We can't afford it,” they argue. You need to structure the business in such a way that you can afford it. Look at your finances. Look at your expense ratios. Where is your money going? What changes can you make? Do you want to scale or not? You can't go to level 5 until you've doubled your salary.   Also, go back and look at levels 2 and 3. What does your growth engine look like? Is it the right growth engine? Did you follow it correctly? Should you tweak it? Is your OS operating correctly? That's the cool thing about the 7 levels. Each level supports the rest, so you can always go back to do simple tweaks and add in some things.    You really can have a lot of fun at Level 4. Roland and Ryan say that helping their clients solve the “problem” of doubling take home pay is a blast. If you're early in this journey, you want to sprint to Level 4. It's not just where you start to get paid more. It's where your company starts to professionalize and become more profitable and grow. It's where we can share the good stuff, because you're scalable.   When you make the decision to double your take-home pay, you become a better leader, and your company becomes better.    RESOURCES: 7 Levels of Scale Workbook  Take a brief assessment to see where you're at and what's next. scalable.co (sign up to work with Roland and Ryan)   The Richest Man in Babylon (book by George S. Clason) Profit First (book by Michael Michalowicz)     OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge

Roland Frasier, Co-founder and/or principal of 5 different Inc. Magazine fastest growing companies (e-commerce, e-learning, SaaS + real estate). Serial entrepreneur who built or sold 24 businesses with adjusted sales ranging from $3 million to just under $4 billion. Currently CEO of All Channels Media, LLC, and principal in Scalable.co, DigitalMarketer.com, Traffic & Conversion Summit, Praxio.com, TruConversion.com, War Room Mastermind, Fully Accountable, Everbowl Restaurants, Big Block Realty, Scribe Publishing and Real Estate Worldwide. Roland's work includes infomercials with Guthy-Renker, publishing deals with Simon & Schuster & Random House, shows with major hotels on the Las Vegas strip, over 100 private and public offerings, running an international hedge fund, advising major brands on a variety of business and legal related issues (from PepsiCo to MacDonald's). Roland has a real passion for business and putting deals together and is always looking for businesses to invest in or acquire, re-position and sell. Recent strategic partnerships and clients include Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Etihad Airlines, Harper-Collins Publishing, Fedex and Uber. Specialties: Acquiring or partnering with entrepreneurs to scale businesses through acquisitions, strategic relationships and marketing. Roland is also adept at negotiation, copywriting, marketing strategy, structuring and funding of mergers and acquisitions and, public exit strategies for businesses and entrepreneurs.  

You want to hire people you know, love, and trust, and quite often those are friends and family members, but how do you avoid favoritism and nepotism?   On today's episode, host Jeff Mask is joined by his brother, Clate Mask, CEO and co-founder of Keap (formerly known as Infusionsoft), a sales and marketing automation platform. Clate loves entrepreneurs and has great respect for the grit and tenacity and perseverance they show as they build their businesses. He built a company that helps entrepreneurs overcome the challenges and frustrations that go with the territory. Automation helped him and his business, and now he shares it with others.   Clate and Jeff have a lot of experience working together in multiple companies over the years. They've seen what works really well and what can be really painful, creating family strife.   So how do you work with family and friends? How do you lead through nepotism and favoritism? How do you avoid those horror stories we all hear about when family members work together and end up ruining their relationships outside of the office?   Listen in for some encouraging stories and practical tips—all born from years of experience, both good and bad.   What NOT to Do When Working with Family   Years ago, during the dotcom era, Clate was Jeff's boss in a company he didn't own. It was a lot of fun, and they learned a lot. Jeff is six years younger than Clate and idolized him. They had a good relationship, but as Jeff started tasting success, he got prideful, and Clate would try to keep him in his place. Clate had the mental game and knew how to push Jeff's buttons. Both of their weaknesses came out.   Their company had a ping pong table where they'd play lunch tournaments. Clate won 95% of the time, because of his skill and mental edge. They always played best of three. One day, they had each won one game, and Jeff was one point away from winning game three. He smashed it and won. An employee had walked behind Clate at just that moment, and Clate slammed the paddle down and said, “If you want to win that way, sure.”    They replayed the point. Clate won and gloated, and 21 years of little brother exploded inside Jeff. He lost it, started swearing, and they were yelling at each other, totally embarrassing themselves. They went back to work and kept fighting over Instant Messenger.    Learning From Their Failures   They eventually got over it and healed. Fast forward. Clate started a new company with two of his brothers-in-law. Jeff could have joined but didn't want to mess up their relationship. Jeff went out on his own and found success. After two kids and a cancer diagnosis, he wanted to find purpose and vision in business. At the same time, Clate was looking for a Jeff Mask in his company and thought, shoot, we just need Jeff Mask.   Jeff was hesitant at first, because he really didn't want to risk ruining a family relationship he treasured. But he and Clate sat down for a ground rule-setting conversation at the very beginning. They knew they had to be intentional, and they were. They set ground rules for what they would be and not be. They decided together that they would avoid these three things at all costs:    greed pride laziness   And they would make sure they demonstrated:    selflessness humility grit    There were certain standards Jeff had to meet, results he had to get, and if he didn't measure up, they agreed Clate would fire him. Clate told Jeff “I don't want you to be my younger brother. Just be my brother.” He had matured and was no longer trying to hold a psychological edge. He said it was having two sons of his own that opened his eyes and caused him to reflect. He watched their older/younger brother dynamic, and his heart went out to the younger brother.   Some Practical Tactical Things To Consider   The perception of nepotism is worse than nepotism, but you have to deal with it. Nepotism and favoritism are real, but it doesn't mean you can't hire friends and family. You just need those ground rules, clarity, and core values, so we can have awesome relationships. You've got to practice open communication, confront issues, and put your relationships above the business.    That doesn't mean that, because of our relationships, a friend or family member can do whatever they want in the business. It means that, if we part ways in the business, our relationship is stronger than that and won't be destroyed. It means saying I love you more than I love the business. We might not be working together at some point, but my love and care for you is greater.   Sometimes the business requires you to let go of family/friends, even when it's hard. Don't hire anybody that you can't fire. Two of Clate's brothers-in-law founded the company with Clate, and the younger brother, Brad, worked for them. Over time, Clate knew he had to let him go. The brothers (and Clate's wife) pleaded with him not to do it, but he did. They went a year or more where family gatherings were really hard, especially for Brad's wife and Clate's wife. Clate told Brad his life would be better when he moved on, so he could be a business owner. When he got his own business going, he realized it was the best thing that could have happened to him. But it sucked for over a year. The leader has to have the courage and conviction to do what's right for the business and love the family member.    If you're a family member, the bar of performance is higher. You have to be a star, or it will be “that's just because he's a family member.” Clate has two sons in the business right now, and the bar is higher for them. You have to push yourself to be great. Results will calm all concerns. When the family member does well, people will know.   As your company gets bigger, try to avoid having family members report to each other. The company runs better that way. Guard yourself on favoritism. Don't show lesser trust with others. Give them a chance too. You can't have courage/conviction and not love. And you can't have love and not courage/conviction. It's both/and.    A Happy Ending   Jeff joined Infusionsoft (now Keap) before any outside capital came in, and it was bringing in $3 million a year. When he left 11 years later, they were north of $100 million. Jeff and Clate remember Jeff's exit interview well. They had the conversation, and there was some deep emotion happening. Clate's office has a glass door, and Jeff knew three things:    He was about to cry. Everyone could see him. He didn't care.   Clate and Jeff cried and hugged for a long time. They just couldn't get over the amazing fact that 11 years earlier they had committed to each other to not be proud, selfish, or lazy, and they did it. And their relationship was stronger and more powerful than ever. It was hard work to do that. But it can be done.   They went their separate ways four years ago and remain best friends. Even if you don't work with family or friends, these core values are still powerful. You don't have to be a statistic in the horror stories of working with family. But it takes intentionality and ground rules and open communication. It takes courage and humility and love.   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Did something in today's episode resonate with you? Anything you disagreed with? What experiences do you have to share about nepotism in the workplace? They'd love to hear your feedback on this episode. Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    LINKS AND RESOURCES: keap.com clate@keap.com    OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse and Mandy McEwen  

Acquiring and selling businesses is one way to live a rich and happy life, but how do you convince someone to sell you their company?   In today's episode, Roland Frasier walks us through some important questions to ask when buying a business. This is Part 2 in a series (be sure to check out Part 1!) where he'll be sharing some of his extensive knowledge and acquisition experience as well as tactical strategies you can go out and implement right away. Acquiring businesses is Roland's specialty. He's actually written an entire book on it.   Listen in as he talks about the two questions he asks the target company's owner as he's starting the conversion about acquiring the company.   Question #1 to Ask the Owner   Roland says a lot of people create more friction than is necessary at the beginning. They jump in and say, “Hey, do you want to sell your company?” When you're ready to talk to the owner of the company you want to acquire, hopefully you've determined your acquisition criteria and the profitability level you want. But “Hey, do you want to sell your company?” is a walls-up question.   If you're going in cold, you might get this common angry response: “Who told you our company was for sale?”    The question Roland likes to ask instead is more investment-related. “Hey, I'm an investor. I'm looking for a company in [specific area] that sells [specific industry] and makes [x level of sales]. Would you be interested in having a conversation about the possibility of investment or working together?”   Coming in as an investor is very non-threatening, because almost all businesses need investors and capital. You want to be coming from a place of authenticity, so get clear on what an investment means to you. An investment doesn't have to mean you have a pool of cash available. You can have other resources and assets to bring to the table.   If they say yes, another mistake people make is asking for a financial statement or tax returns. Don't ask for that upfront. You don't want them talking to their accountant or attorney and getting their walls up again, before you even know if you want to buy the company.   Instead, just say, “That's fantastic. I have a few questions to see if we'd work well together. I'd love to know some basic numbers. Could we meet now, or do you need a few days to gather that information?”   Question #2 to Ask the Owner   This brings us to the next question: “Can you tell me the story of the company?” This one helps build rapport. You'll get the long-form narrative response about the history of the company and how it has evolved. Take notes here, because they're giving you priceless information. And it's so much less threatening to them.   While they're telling you this history, find places you can build rapport with them because you have commonalities of experience. Find common touchpoints that will build trust. Bring them up when they're done talking.   Then say: “That's great. So interesting. I love learning more about the company. I'd also love to know more about you and your entrepreneurial journey.” People love to talk about themselves. Find more commonalities. Ask more questions. Build more trust. And you'll be well on your way to acquiring this company.   Stay tuned for Part 3!   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge  

Over the next few podcast episodes, we'll walk through the 7 Levels of Scale—everything you need to know to grow and scale your business.   Everyone always asks Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss “Where do I start?” when it comes to scaling their business. Their new framework they call The 7 Levels of Scale answers that question.   In the previous episode, they covered Levels 1 and 2. In today's episode, they unpack Level 3, but here are all seven:   Level #1: Sell and serve 10 customers. Level #2: Build a growth flywheel.   Level #3: Build an upgraded scalable operating system.   Level #4: Double your take-home pay. Level #5: Build your board. Level #6: Complete an acquisition for expansion. Level #7: Hit your number.   If you haven't listened to Part 1, go do that now. This framework doesn't work out of order. Sequence matters in a big way. Then listen in for everything you need to know about Level #3: Build an upgraded scalable operating system.   Two Big Errors Entrepreneurs Make   The first error entrepreneurs make is setting up an operating system without going through the first two levels. You don't need an operating system if nothing is happening in your business.   The second error they make is just go go going without putting an operating system in place. If you build your growth flywheel, then fail to build and implement an operating system, you'll grow your business into non-existence. It will implode from system overload. You can't serve the people coming in, because it's all happening too fast, and you don't have a system in place to handle it. This will wreck you, wreck your family, and wreck your business.   This happened to Ryan. He almost lost his marriage over it. To build something that's actually working—but have it almost destroy you—is one of the worst things that can happen.   What Is an Operating System Exactly?   No one can actually agree on a definition, but Google says this: “An operating system is a set of algorithms and a common language that enables different components to communicate with one another in the support of the desired outputs of a machine.” It's like a computer where the mouse, the CPU, the printer, and everything else has to communicate with each other in order for it to work.   What do we mean by a set of algorithms? Standard operating procedures. What is a common language? Communications and meeting rhythms. What are desired outputs? Your goals and objectives.That forms the foundational framework of what it means to have an operating system.   The business owner generally knows what the desired outputs are, but they haven't really been fully flushed out. You need goals and objectives and a way to communicate them throughout the company. You need standard operating procedures (SOPs) where one person knows how to do something, and documents it so others can learn and repeat it.   Roland and Ryan built a tool for their company internally and now it's available to people in their  Scalable OS Accelerator.    Document Your Set of Algorithms    Visualize how your company creates value. What is your growth engine? Once you've acquired a customer, how do you serve them? That's the fulfillment engine. In the entire process, you might have half a dozen value engines. There might be 3-4 stages that are really important. These are the ones that need to be documented.    Start with the customer and work backward. Go all the way back to Level 1: sell and serve 10. How do you do this well?    Document the entire process value flow Identify the power stages and build step-by-step checklists/playbooks around those Assign accountability.   Then use that to build company scorecards and establish the meeting rhythm. When will you meet as teams, leadership, all hands? Figure out your meeting schedule once you know about the scorecards. The meeting and scorecards are your common language.    Map Out Your Weeks, Months, and Quarters   Roland and Ryan do 90-day quarterly sprint plans. They look at their scorecards and ask: how are we progressing toward our goals? What's working and what isn't? What do we need to optimize? That determines the activities you need to do in the next 90 days.   If you don't have all these systems in place, then what do you do? Everybody just has their own ideas, their own pet projects, then no one can agree on what to do next. You have to have the OS in place.    One you've got your growth flywheel spinning, you'll need to spend 8-12 weeks building your operating system. While you build, you're also tracking and measuring. That's all through the scorecards. Then, the way you install the OS is to host your first quarterly sprint plan. Day 1 is a clarity day. Day 2 is your first quarterly sprint plan. You're looking forward but also back.    Every three years: clarity day Quarterly: sprint plan Monthly: business review Weekly: team meeting reviewing scorecards   Roland and Ryan aren't big believers in annual planning. They plan in 3-year cycles and execute in 90-day sprints.    The 6 Primary Tools that Go Into a Scalable Operating System   Value engine (visual representation like a whiteboard with post-it notes) Playbooks (step-by-step checklists that drill down into power stages) HOT canvas (High Output Team, assigning responsibilities) Scorecards (metrics and tracking weekly, reviewed monthly) Meeting rhythm (how often each team is getting together) Clarity compass (visually demonstrating desired outputs)   Roland and Ryan want to create more Level 7 entrepreneurs. They want to help more entrepreneurs scale themselves so they can scale their companies. They're sick and tired of entrepreneurs burning out and quitting on themselves. They want them to stay at the helm of their companies for as long as they want to. It's better for the world.   When you pass Level 3, you pass the scalable line. That's when your company is officially scalable. Next up: making more money. Stay tuned for Part 3!   RESOURCES: 7 Levels of Scale Workbook - Take a brief assessment to see where you're at and what's next.   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge  

Acquiring and selling businesses is one way to live a rich and happy life, but how do you know which companies to buy?   In today's episode, Roland Frasier walks us through some important things to know when buying a business. This is part one in a series where he'll be sharing some of his extensive knowledge and acquisition experience.   Listen in as he talks about the first two questions you need to answer before you buy.   How Am I Going to Define My Acquisition Criteria?   That's question #1. If you don't know what kind of business you want to buy, it's easy to get overwhelmed. You're like a kid in a candy store. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches by establishing criteria first. Roland uses a matrix for this. It can be as simple as a whiteboard or a piece of paper with four quadrants:   What you enjoy What you have experience in What skills you have What connections you have   Quadrant #1: Make a list of things you actually like to do. Being an entrepreneur is hard. It's more motivating to go forward and deal with problems if you're actually passionate about it. Take an inventory of your interests.    Quadrant #2: What do you have experience in? Brainstorm all your prior experience and things you've actually done in the past. Write down all of it, even if it doesn't seem relevant. You might see connections later.   Quadrant #3: What do you have knowledge, training, skills in? This is similar to #2, but this time you're writing down specific skills you have.   Quadrant #4: What are your connections? What networking resources do you have access to? What things are you a member of? What business contacts do you have? List all of them; don't leave anyone out.   These four things will help you determine what kind of business you want to buy. You're looking for common threads among things you're passionate about, have experience in, are skilled at, and have connections for. What kind of business makes the most sense when taking all four of those things into consideration?  How Do I Select a Target Type?   This is the second big question to ask yourself. How do I select a target type of business? The type of company you're looking to acquire can fall into several categories:   A company that no longer exists A company that exists but isn't profitable A company that's breaking even/profitable   Roland recommends focusing on that last category, unless you have specific skills in turnaround. Not everyone is cut out to acquire failing businesses and turn them around. It's hard. There are plenty of profitable companies to acquire. In the break even/profitable category, if he doesn't see things that could make it profitable in 30 days, he'll pass.   How do you decide how profitable a company needs to be before you acquire it? Roland doesn't care about sales. He cares about profits. There are two types of profit. The first is SDE (seller discretionary earnings). That's how profitable an owner-operated company is. Then there's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for a company that's professionally-managed.   You might want a company with an SDE or EBITDA of a certain amount. What do you want that amount to be? First, ask: how much do I want to pay myself for doing this deal on a monthly business? Let's say $10k/month. That's his new target type—a company that's profitable and making at least $10k/month.   In addition to that, ask: what am I going to do with this company? Let it go as is, or do you actually see growth potential and there will be a little bit of investment to help it grow, either to sell or to make more money to pay yourself more?   And finally, ask: how much money do I want to budget to spend on increasing growth? Let's say you want to spend $10k/month on growth. So you need a profit of $20k/month total. You need to find a company with an SDE or EBITDA of $240k/year.   That's how Roland selects the kind of company he wants to go after. He asks which businesses fit his four criteria and have a profitability of $240k/year or more.    Stay tuned for Part 2!   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge  

Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What did you learn that you've applied to your leadership? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com  OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse and Mandy McEwen

If you want to own a business but don't want to build one from the ground up, you can always buy an existing one. Best of all, there are ways of doing this that cost you nothing upfront.In this episode, Roland Frasier, Co-founder and/or principal of 5 different Inc. Magazine fastest-growing companies talk about his expertise in buying businesses and how he does it without spending his own money. He also shares what consulting for equity is and how he uses his expertise to create a win-win scenario.Listen up, business owners!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEUse an entity or a company to make an acquisition. (SPV - Special Purpose Vehicle)Know what the company wants to do with the business and if they are willing to finance what you want to do. (Deal stacking)There are a whole lot of ways to be not personally liable on deals. You just have to know that you can do that and be creative in your negotiating.Be part of the deal in exchange for the value you bring.Build relationships with highly qualified people.Recommended Tool: Riverside.fmRecommended Podcast: Philosophize Thishttps://www.philosophizethis.orgToday's Guest:Roland Frasier is a serial entrepreneur who built or sold 24 businesses with adjusted sales ranging from $3 million to just under $4 billion. He is also Co-founder and/or principal of 5 different Inc. Magazine fastest-growing companies.Currently, he is the CEO of All Channels Media, LLC, and principal in Scalable.co, DigitalMarketer.com, Traffic & Conversion Summit, Praxio.com, TruConversion.com, War Room Mastermind, Fully Accountable, Everbowl Restaurants, Big Block Realty, Scribe Publishing, and Real Estate Worldwide.Connect and learn more about Roland and his companies here:Website: https://www.consultingforequity.iohttps://www.scalable.co/epic-challenge-c/https://www.rolandfrasier.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandfrasier/This month's sponsor is Oribi. The conversion-driven analytics platform that gives you valuable insights on your funnels, events, drop-offs, and channel attribution metrics with no coding required. Try Oribi for Free!We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:https://mindfulmarketing.co/growthplan-applyIf you've been paying attention and your brand is ready to GROW, apply now to be the one new brand we take on this month!https://mindfulmarketing.co/apply

Kendra Scott started her iconic brand with $500, a spare bedroom, and a newborn—and now her company is valued at over a billion dollars.   The 1st Annual Scalable Impact LIVE took place in Austin, TX in early November of this year, and Kendra Scott was one of the big-name guests. She sat down with Roland Frasier to talk about how she started her business, how it became so wildly successful, and why she's so passionate about giving back.   Listen in for some inspiration and brilliance from this woman on fire.   How It All Started   Kendra's first son was born on 11/11/01, just two months after 9/11. She vividly remembers what it felt like to be given this tiny human being in such an uncertain time. No one knew what the world was going to be like going forward, but there was an incredible opportunity for hope and connection.   Kendra knew she wanted to be the best mom she could be, but she'd also loved fashion and design since she was a little girl. “If I could do what I loved,” she says, “that would be the greatest thing in the world.” Her first business failed, then her stepfather died, leaving her with this thought: “We have one life, and it is short and it is fast. While we're here, we need to use the gifts we've been given to do good.”   She started her business very quietly, because she didn't want people to see her fail. She was terrified that people would laugh at her.    How She Worked Through That Fear   Fear is real, Kendra says, and it is okay to be scared. “I wake up every morning, leading a business that is bigger than it was the day before. I'm walking in uncharted territory every time I get out of bed.”    It helps knowing she doesn't have to do it alone. She's not afraid to ask for help. Mentors are huge for her. And she has built “the most awesome team ever.” She has 3000 employees, and 96% of them are women. The brand is the DNA of all the people who work with her at her company. It's her name, but they're truly a team. She was alone in it for a long time. Now, when she has a problem, everyone puts their heads together and rolls up their sleeves, excited to help solve the problem.    Choosing entrepreneurship means not choosing the easy route. It is so fun when it's fun and so scary when it's scary. Entrepreneurship is peaks and valleys, just like life. When you're in the valleys, you think this is it. I'm going to lose my business. When you start realizing you can get out of the valley, and you have a team doing it with you, it's so cool. You overcame something together, and your bond is so amazing.    The Kendra Scott company is on a mission to do good. Their core values are family, fashion, and philanthropy, and their customers share those values. They're caring, optimistic, and fun, and have a heart that beats for their community. “You can put your team and your community first and still have a fiscally successful company,” Kendra says. “And now I'm teaching others how to do it.”   What 2020 Was Like For Her Business   In a retail business where you have 120 brick and mortar stores, “a pandemic isn't great,” Kendra says. She remembers all the news channels with their doomsday pronouncements of “brick and mortars have seen their last day.” She didn't sleep for a couple days in March 2020. She and her team went back to the white board and started completely over. They changed everything overnight.    The only thing that didn't change was their core values. How do we stay true to our core values? was the only question that mattered. They did all their Kendra Gives Back events virtually. They created new connections with their customers—sending them letters, calling people and checking on them, making masks, delivering things to people's homes.    They fought the urge to over-strategize. “We have to paint this train while it's moving,” Kendra told her team. They couldn't stop the train. They knew they might make mistakes, but they were determined just to learn from them. You can't be inflexible and unwilling to change your plans. You've got to be agile. You've got to pivot. Or you won't survive.   How She Managed Growth While Maintaining Control   When Kendra first started her company, no one would invest in her. She had two small sons, went through a divorce, had no investors, and was doing everything on lines of credit. She signed everything she owned up for collateral. Her sister, who had a good job, moved in with her to help with rent. She couldn't pay for her tiny team and couldn't afford to lose anyone. She sold her car to pay a vendor for stones and jewelry.   Looking back, she says she's not really sure how she did it. But she would look at her sons' little faces and think, “Failure is not an option. We are going to figure this out.” She didn't get any investment capital until 10 years after she started her business.    After 10 years, she wanted the cadence of going to a board on a quarterly basis and getting feedback. So she set up an advisory board with three people and gave them an earned-in, very small equity position over a four-year period. One of them became her first investor. He gave her a very generous $20 million evaluation and bought 5% of the company.   Building a Team and Stepping Away from CEO   Bringing on a COO changed everything for her. She read a book by Marcus Buckingham called Now Discover Your Strengths that talks about writing down everything you love and loathe. She loved the customers, engaging, design, marketing, and creation of the experience. She loathed dealing with vendors and negotiating marketing contracts. She knew she needed a team that loved the things she loathed. She hired a COO and everything elevated, because she was no longer doing the things that sucked the life out of her.    She knew she wanted someone with a personality that fit with hers, a winner, someone with passion and drive, who gets excited about this age and stage of a business. He got an offer from Whole Foods at the same time that Kendra couldn't match, but he saw something in the Kendra Scott company that he believed in. His equity position turned into $40 million.   Kendra recently stepped away from CEO into a chairwoman position. After 20 years, her strengths have changed. “The biggest impact I can have is to be out there and focus on our core pillars,” she says. “I'm out in stores, I'm on calls. I want to learn so I can make this brand better every day. The philanthropy pillar is huge for me. My mission is to get more women entrepreneurs funded and help them be successful in their businesses.”   She sees the Kendra Scott brand as a pre-teen. Ralph Lauren did men's ties for 25 years before he branched into other things. This doesn't happen overnight. She knows there are opportunities to expand beyond jewelry, but she doesn't want to do just anything. She wants to do it thoughtfully. She wants to see where the white space is, where the gaps are. Where are things her customers need and desire that they can't find? It's got to be something disruptive, and that excites her.    We all have the opportunity to change the world, she says. Lead with your heart. Let your team fly. Give them the tools to soar. When they become leaders like you, that's how you'll know you've become a true success.    RESOURCES: kendrascott.com   Now Discover Your Strengths   ethicallyprofit.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE Join Roland's next EPIC Challenge

What does it mean to lead well through the holidays with all its distractions and deadlines, and people's different beliefs and cultural backgrounds?   On today's episode, co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask talk about the holiday season and how it can be exhausting and loaded with dangers and pitfalls. But it can also be rewarding, even life-changing, with a few key mindset shifts.    Listen in for some heartfelt tips on turning the holiday season into an incredible opportunity for you and the people you lead.    Who Gets Your Time and Energy This Holiday Season?   In the past, Richard has taken on more responsibility as a leader during the holidays so he could give his team the gift of recharging and spending time with their loved ones. But his “selfless” act often turned into him feeling resentful. On the flip side, he's thought, “I'm important, and I deserve this time off, so everyone else can take care of everything.” Neither one of these extremes is healthy.   So, how do we make sure the key initiatives are still accomplished, but the workload isn't given to one side or the other? Not 100% or 0% delegation, but working together to complete the truly important tasks while also giving the gift of recharge to ourselves and our team? How do we focus on what's important and avoid resentment?   Jeff often talks about work/life integration and making sure you know where you're going to spend your time, making sure your loved ones know you prioritize them. But how do we do this and get the work done? Most leaders have individual roles, management roles, and a family life. That's a lot of hats.   The next level after work/life integration is work/life harmony. When you create a chord in music, everyone knows the role they're playing and we're all on the same page. This harmony requires proactive communication. What are the critical tasks that still need to happen and who is owning them? What are our contingency plans?    At the root of a lot of our stress is workaholism and fear of failing. That fear drives us. Get a plan in place to make the holidays awesome and full of love and life instead of fearful and exhausting and being a martyr.   Ask Questions and Get Curious   Richard says he used to think leaders had to have all the answers, but he's learned that asking questions and being curious as a leader is invaluable. He looks at the holidays as an opportunity to be curious and asks questions individually and to his team.    What holiday traditions or rituals are important to you? Which days are big for you that you'll need time off for?  What do you do over the holidays and with whom?    Seek to understand and build a calendar for when people are engaged outside of work. The team as a whole can start to understand each other better. It gives people a more diverse understanding of what this season can mean.    It's very valuable and powerful when people step in to help others, but be mindful of people who always volunteer to do extra work. Look for opportunities to avoid resentment. Where does it build? Leaders need to ask, because people probably won't volunteer those details.   Don't Forget About Your Indirect Employees   The family and loved ones of your actual employees are what Jeff and Richard call indirect employees. If resentment builds up with a life partner or a child toward the company, you're putting the employee in a difficult place.    Seek to understand what's important to them and their family. You want someone at home who loves the company and the manager. If the employee even thinks about exploring other opportunities, the person at home says, what in the heck? Why would you leave this amazing place?    You have an opportunity to engage your indirect employees and let them know you value them and their family's mental health as much as you value your employee. How can we be a blessing instead of a burden to our team's families? How can we win them over through genuine care and authenticity and sensitivity?    Look for ways to make the holidays a better time for everyone. Ask: “Who wants to be home for their family for the holidays for once? Let's create a new date to meet our goals.”    You Have the Power to Change Your Mindset   Deadlines are often about our own mindset. We can change this. What would need to happen for us to take the last two weeks of the year off? What's important to your team members? How can they set really meaningful goals and get rewarded when they meet them? Let them challenge themselves and their peers. Reward them in a deep and meaningful way. That's what Q4 should be about. We have to meet our goals. We have to support the customer. What needs to happen so we can do that? And also take time off?   Jeff believes Americans culturally have an issue. We don't know when to turn off and let the creative functions of our brains really take over. European culture has this rejuvenation figured out. He says there's something to be learned from a culture that knows how to rest and when to rest, knows how to prioritize, a culture that works to live, not lives to work. We have some things backward that create burnout, fatigue, fear, and scarcity. We can't become the best versions of ourselves.   Ask yourself honestly: what are my fixed beliefs? What are my biases? What would need to be true for you to meet your goals at work and spend time with your family? How do we prioritize the things that are truly important and will be a force multiplier? What can we do that takes less time and has more impact and is more energizing?    Richard and Jeff challenge you to figure this out for yourself and everyone who reports to your company. Do it this year. Try and fail. Acknowledge what went well and what didn't. If you better your best, you won't stop growing. If you make this holiday season feel different, if you make your people and their families feel important, you'll build trust and loyalty. Don't miss this opportunity.   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What did you learn that you've applied to your leadership? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com  OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse and Mandy McEwen

What is often called “the five evolutions of a business” can also be thought of as “the five exits every entrepreneur makes in a business” over the course of their entrepreneurial journey.   Today's episode is another snackable one with Roland Frasier. It's short and sweet, something you can listen to while you're running a quick errand or getting something done around the house. This one is all about the five exits you make on your journey from solopreneur to selling your business.   Exit #1: From Solopreneur to Manager   When you first start a business, you're wearing all the hats, doing all the services. You're the CEO, CMO, janitor, sales team, and everything in between. Your first exit is from doing to delegating. Instead of you doing the basic thing the business does (offering a service or actual product creation), you hire someone (or several someones) to do it for you. When you hire your first person, you start this first exit.   Exit #2: From Manager to CEO   The next level of exit is going from manager to leader or CEO. We're not talking about a CEO who does everything—that's a solopreneur, not a true CEO. A true CEO is someone who has people reporting to them and getting their marching orders. The CEO is truly leading the company and figuring out how to implement the Board of Directors' vision for the company. When you stop managing and delegating, and you're responsible for bigger things and being an actual leader and communicating/channeling the directors' vision, that's the second exit.   Exit #3: From CEO to Board of Directors   The third exit is when you go from being the CEO to being on the Board of Directors. At that point, you're really responsible for the strategic direction and vision of the company, how it's doing in the world as a corporate citizen. You're communicating with the CEO and saying, “This is our vision, and it's your responsibility to communicate this to the company and get them to execute it.” You're not the leader. You've stepped off the organizational chart of the company, but you're still very involved in it. You may have sold a majority part of the company at this point.   Exit #4: From Board of Directors to Investor   Your fourth exit is when you go from the Board of Directors to investor. At this point, you might sell more of your company. You might decide you don't want to be burdened with, or responsible for, creating the vision of the company any more. You're interested in what the company is doing, and you're a shareholder/owner, and you have the ability to impact who is on the Board of Directors, but you've moved back several levels to being a simple investor. Your main concern is: how will this asset perform for us in terms of income generation?   Exit #5: Exiting Ownership   The fifth exit is exiting ownership. You don't want to be an investor anymore. You've gotten enough return on your investment, and you're going to retire from the entire relationship you have with the company. Now you're a free agent with your capital, moving on to whatever else you're ready to do.   It's good to know about the different exits, the different levels of evolution. It's good to know your options. Maybe you're tired or burnt out or have other ideas to explore, and it's time to start making those exits one at a time. Maybe the responsibilities are more than you want to shoulder as CEO, and you can move to the Board and still have impact, but less responsibility. You don't lose the ability to impact the company until you go through all the exits. Seeing the big picture helps you figure out what fits best with your life and other business opportunities.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

Football great Emmitt Smith knew two things from a very early age—that he would play football and that he would need a plan for life after the game.   The world-famous NFL Hall of Fame running back and serial entrepreneur was a guest speaker at this year's first annual Scalable Impact Live. Emmitt sat down for an intimate chat with Roland Frasier to talk about his entrepreneurial journey and everything he's done since retiring from football. The man has been busy, to say the least.   Listen in as he shares some secrets to his success and what drives him as an entrepreneur and a human being.   The Entrepreneurial Spirit Was With Him As a Kid   Emmitt became an entrepreneur at a young age without even realizing what he was doing, whether it was taking a lawnmower around the neighborhood cutting grass or working for a TV network in high school or detailing cars in college. “I did whatever I needed to do to subsidize,” he says, “to get the money I needed for clothes or gas.”    He remembers one incident in particular when he was at his Pop Warner football coach's 3600-square foot house. It was his first time ever at a white person's house, his first time seeing a home office. He saw papers laying on a slanted board, and his coach started explaining what he did for a living. He started teaching him how to read blueprints and floor plans.   “He said football wouldn't last forever, and I'd need a plan after it was over,” Emmitt says. “I was 11 years old.”    He put that advice in the back of his head, because football and getting to college were at the forefront. He started getting college letters early on. He got so many he was sick and tired of looking at them. “Boxes and boxes and boxes of letters. It was ridiculous.” When his friend told him he could get a scholarship, and his parents wouldn't have to pay for college, football became his first business.    The Business of Football   Things have changed very recently in the world of college sports. Athletes are finally getting the opportunity to pocket some of the money that once went entirely to their schools. Emmitt remembers in 1987 getting a Pell Grant for $7000 and he only saw $700 of it. They also told him he couldn't work and be on scholarship at the same time. He'd look up in the stands and see all these people in #22 jerseys and think, “Where's my cut? They're making millions of dollars off of me.”   He remembers being in class trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He was reading textbooks but not getting anything from them that would help in the real world. When he left school to become a professional athlete, the world opened up to him.    He started asking Cowboys owner Jerry Jones questions. He said, “I know how much you're paying me. How much are you making?” He told Jerry he wanted to sit down in his office and listen to him negotiate contracts. Jerry said sure. “He knew I was on a mission physically in the world of sports, but he could tell I was thinking much broader. It helped me out learning his tactics when I was negotiating my contract.”    It wasn't long before marketing and endorsements entered the picture. Michael Jordan paved the way for all athletes to understand what endorsements could be like and how to package yourself. Then he met guys like Roger Staubach, a childhood hero of his, and started to understand what he was doing beyond the game.    Entrepreneurship After Football   By the time Emmitt hung up his jersey for the final time, he already knew what he wanted to do. Roger had asked him to come talk to him when he retired. Emmitt wanted to get into the real estate business as a developer. He wanted to build big things, like retail shopping centers. Roger asked him if he'd ever thought about the broker side of the business, but Emmitt saw the developers making all the capital.    He called Magic Johnson and said, “I'm about to cut a deal with Roger. What should I know? What should I ask for?” Magic told him everything. Emmitt says, any time you're going down a path someone you know has already gone down, reach out to them for insight before you jump full in, before you get too deep, or make a mistake in your negotiations. That's what he did with Magic.    One of the first deals they did was a big shopping center in Arizona just before the recession hit. It was poor timing, but it was a good experience. Emmitt learned how to put a deal together and how to get out of a deal. He went to CCIM and got his certification. He told Michael Irvin that the two of them should put their money together and buy some land in Dallas. He knew it would be valuable someday. He has an eye for what could be. He has vision. “I can see the potential of things,” he says, “whether it's land or people. What I've done in my life is try to maximize my gifts.”   As he saw all the new roads and bridges happening around Dallas/Fort Worth, he looked around and asked, “How many African Americans are in this space?” He couldn't find any—not at a high level anyway—so he started his own construction company.   Authenticating Sports Memorabilia   Over the course of his career, and in the years following, Emmitt signed a lot of sports memorabilia. But he became concerned when he started seeing fake signatures on items. Someone was ripping his fans off, and it bugged the crap out of him. He tried to find ways to protect these consumers, but nothing worked very well.    In 2002, this guy came to the Dallas Cowboys with this new technology, a tracking system. Emmitt said to him, “If you're tracking it, you can authenticate it, right?” The answer was yes, but if the consumer didn't have a reader to scan it, then they were out of luck. The process of verifying and authenticating was spot on, but the timing of getting devices in the hands of the consumer was off. Emmitt and his team perfected the art of putting tags on and inside the items and got 7 patents. Then 2010 rolled around. Emmitt had his first Android phone. The phone could read the tags. Now iPhones can too.   Emmitt's company, PROVA Group, is a resource for sports memorabilia collectors who want to verify items before they buy them using the PROVA tag. The sports memorabilia industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it's been proven that 70% of it is fake. He's looking to partner with the NFL to get players to take better care of their merchandise.    Emmitt's father told him long ago, “Son, keep everything you have, because you never know your place in history.” He took that advice, and he kept every single one of the 164 footballs he used to score rushing touchdowns (the NFL record) over the course of his career. He kept most of his jerseys and helmets as well.    Speaking of good advice, his mama always told him, “no matter how high you go, never forget where you came from.” He's never forgotten that. “Your attitude determines your altitude,” he says. “I try to stay positive and upbeat every day. I enjoy and love what I do. I love who I am. I love being grounded. I like to keep it real with myself. I could easily get caught up in a whirlwind of stardom, fame, and fortune. But then I'd miss out on opportunities to connect with people and who they are. I always think about people and how things will impact their lives.”    RESOURCES: provagroup.com ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

Kate Hancock and Dan Robbins have broken the record for longest running room on clubhouse. They had a run for 85 days! Kate, is a entrepreneur, who is known as the Pivot Queen. She started her journey as a serial entrepreneur with $20 in her pocket and grew it into over a million dollars in one year with over $15 million in online sales to date. Dan is also a serial entrepreneur who is the COO of IBH Media.  Together Kate & Dan have created a space on clubhouse to inspire thousands of entrepreneurs which stemmed from the pandemic. When clubhouse launched these two put their initiatives together and have broken the record for longest running room which attracts speakers like Daymond John, Ashton Kushner, Roland Frasier & other successful business leaders looking to provide free advice to entrepreneurs in need of real time solutions. 

When it comes to building your board, what are the most important things you need to know?   Today's shorter, snackable episode was taken from a session Roland Frasier did at this year's Scalable Impact LIVE. It was very helpful for the sold-out crowd, so we're passing it along to you.   Listen in for some expert tips on structuring your board and advisors.   Your Business Needs a Board-Friendly Structure    The two boards that will be important to you are:  your board of directors your board of advisors.    They're two very different things. A board of directors has power; a board of advisors does not.   There are also a few different types of entities you might choose for your business: a corporation an LLC (limited liability company) an LLP (limited liability partnership) an LP (limited partnership)   And there are at least 8 different objectives to consider: Limiting liability Having a different cap table (who the owners are) Saving on taxes Whether you want income to pass to you personally or not Preferential law Geographic diversity Funding-friendly  To prepare for sale   Where Do You Want to Hold Value?   What is the value of cash? We don't typically leave it all in one place in a company. We put the value of a profit center in one entity and we'll put tangible assets in another company. You can also put intangible assets in another company. And intellectual property in a separate company. And create license relationships back to the original company.   How this all shapes up is the goose and egg structure. We like to be able to exit part or whole of the company. If you structure it properly, you can keep the momentum and still sell the thing that makes the money. Roland recommends that you don't own your business individually. He doesn't own anything in his name. He has no net worth per se, but he has plenty of money. He recommends having a holding company that owns all your assets. It gives you so many planning options.    Then you have your primary operating entity. Roland and his partners have a separate company that they put all their shared resources in—their media properties, finance team, sales team. They put all of their employees in one company. Then, if you sell one of your companies, you don't lose your team. Or you can sell a company without losing your intellectual property. There's nothing shady about this. It's all in the documents.    The next thing you want to think about: what if I want to have a new product line and want to separate the liability for that from my existing company? You can do this. It's a good idea. You can have a separate company. Or you can transfer some of the risk to investors without giving them any more ownership. Give them more equity in the new unproven company, not in the holding company or the operating company.   Roland has found that this structure works really well. How does it relate to boards of directors and boards of advisors? You have your holding company. This will typically have a board of directors. They have power. They can vote you out of your company. Then there's a board of advisors. They don't have power; you're just asking them for advice. That's the difference.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

It can be hard to know how to navigate a really tough environment as a leader. This is how one woman did it really well.   On today's episode, host Jeff Mask sits down with Karen Pierce, CEO of KMP Consultants, to talk about best practices in leadership and how to deal with tough, even toxic, work environments. Karen and Jeff met at an event where Karen told him, “we speak a very similar language.” It's true. They do. The bottom line? They both believe deeply that leadership is all about putting people first. It's not as much about skills and getting things done. It's about developing people, inspiring them, motivating them.    Karen heard someone say once: “You can't be a leader if nobody's following you. And if nobody's following you, you're just out on a nice walk.”    Listen in for some great examples of leading well when things aren't going so great.    What Karen Does Now and How She Got Here   Karen helps leaders in organizations navigate change by developing an environment where people can thrive and have fun, feel valued, like they have a place, like they're a part of the organization, not just someone who gets assigned a task.   Work doesn't have to be a four-letter word, she says. It should be rewarding and affirming. We spend at least a third of our waking hours there. Rather than endure it to the weekend, we should feel like we're contributing to something better than ourselves. As we look at this Great Resignation, employees are voting with their feet. If we don't create an environment where they can thrive, they're heading somewhere else.    Karen's journey started when she was a young female aerospace engineer who faced a significant amount of resistance in spite of her ability. Women just weren't respected in the field, in general, and being good at what she did turned out to be more negative than positive. She could work really hard and do a great job and still not be part of the team.    People felt threatened by her. Her work was sabotaged. When she got promotions, people talked about who she slept with to get there. Her life was even threatened. She came to a decision point. Pursue this or quit and find something else. “I have a purpose here,” she decided. “I can try to make a difference.” Maybe she could change people's minds and make things better for the women who came after her.    Dealing with Toxic Work Environments   Over the course of her career, Karen has handled toxic work environments with grace. At one point, Karen's boss sent a problem employee to her. This employee was frustrated with his job, was feeling very threatened, and had almost hit his manager. He was dealing with mental health issues that people didn't know about at the time, putting Karen in a difficult situation. He threatened her life at one point, but no one believed her. It wasn't until they were in court (he sued her) and had an outburst, that her lawyer realized her life was in danger.    Leading through mental health challenges is so tough, and is part of a leader's reality more now than it's ever been. Passing employees from one leader to the next isn't the best idea. Help them be extraordinary first in their current role, before passing them on. If it's happened more than twice, don't be seduced as a leader, thinking you can be a hero. There's a pattern there.    Not being believed is a frustrating, even terrifying, thing. It took a lot of guts for Karen to raise red flags, because she was young and female. She didn't want to be a failure. She asked good questions and kept good records, and eventually the truth came to light.    Fast forward in her career to when she got a leadership position that several people she was leading wanted. They were in an open office environment with about 40 people. The VP came barreling in, hair on fire, screaming obscenities, and heading toward her desk. Apparently, she had written something in her weekly report that had made its way to the President's desk, and this guy had gotten flak for it and decided to humiliate her.    She calmly stood up and said, “I think this conversation would work better in the conference room.” She went and he followed, and it just got worse. She finally said, “I think we're both upset and should take a breather and reconvene when we're calm.” Everyone saw her walk out and walk back to her desk where she had a private meltdown.   What Karen Did Right   Karen noticed immediately after that encounter that her esteem at the company rose incredibly. She had shown that she respected herself, sending a message to her team that she would have their backs and respect them as well. She could have cowered in the man's presence, f-bombed right back at him, even assaulted him. But she responded with grace and dignity, clarity and confidence.    She had the discernment to know to take it somewhere private, then the discernment to stop it so he could calm down. People gravitated to her to be led by her because of how she led herself in that moment. Her boss recognized that he could rely on her to be professional when things were uncomfortable, and her peers stepped up their game. She elevated the game for everyone.    Ask yourself these questions about Karen's situation:   Where does this apply to me as a leader? How has it applied to me in the past? How might it apply to me in the future? How will I choose to respond if this happens to me?   In the end, good wins over bad, Karen says. It's up to you to maintain your own principles. Jeff likes to call these character-revealing moments. Our character is developed in the private moments when no one is watching. In business, we have all sorts of moments where things don't go the way we want. Whatever the stress is, those are character-revealing moments.    Choose to respond positively, powerfully, and productively. It's our choice. It's a lot easier to lead when things are great. In leadership, we show our face when tough times arise.    Leadership is about others, Karen says. It's about the people you lead. Take the ego out of it. Don't take things personally. Think about how you can help others get through it.   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What did you learn that you've applied to your leadership? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: Connect with Karen on LinkedIn KMP Consultants   OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

As an entrepreneur, if you want something, and you can map out the journey, there's no reason why you can't make it happen.   On today's episode, host Roland Frasier sits down with Karl Alomar, Managing Partner at M13. Karl has achieved massive success as an entrepreneur, and his journey is inspiring. He's a strong believer in the mantra nothing ventured, nothing gained. “The stuff outside the box is what creates great businesses,” he says. “I admire the founders who have the guts to go out and make the world different.”   He says there's a difference between ideas that sound crazy (and really are) and ideas that sound crazy, but when you think about them logically, there's a journey to get you there.   Karl's Diverse Entrepreneurial Experience   Karl's entrepreneurial journey began in the late 90's when he started a video networking company. He exited in 2000 when they were on the downswing of value. His background was actually in engineering, but that degree wasn't helping him much in the business world, so he decided to go to business school and get an MBA.   He says he would do it all over again. The first 3-6 months of the MBA program is basics, and things started making sense to him that he'd previously faked his way through. He could hardly read a financial statement properly with his first business. He says he built that business with “guts and glory” and really didn't understand much of what was going on. By the time he finished his business degree, he got really good at fundamentals.    He started a company called China Export Finance. His first engineering job involved doing projects in Asia, China in particular. And he grew up in Europe, so he was used to different cultures. “Different markets are very different,” he says. “You have to understand the customers.”   He partnered with a friend in London who really understood the sourcing problem and illustrated it for him. Once they had the framework, he flew to Shanghai and sourced a handful of local talent. He wanted to create an entity that felt really open. He found a great Chinese business partner who helped him set up the Shanghai office and create a localized feel so the customers were comfortable.    After China Export, he made a few small investments, then accepted the COO position at Digital Ocean in 2013. They had just launched a few months earlier. When he came in, they were at $50k/month. When he left, they were doing $250M a year.    How He Orchestrated that Significant Growth    Karl says there are two parts of growth: things that drive it and things that allow you to manage it and keep up with it. Essentially: growing and scaling. He says that failure is usually more of a lack of ability to manage it. It's a scale challenge, not a growth challenge.   Right out of the gate, Digital Ocean built a machine that was organically building on it. They had a simple model, clean offering, relationship with community, and great content. It was an incredible recipe for creating an engine that would build on itself. The formula was built to create a perpetual engine that would grow. One of the key learnings he says he'd pass on is that it's never too early to figure out how you're going to grow your organization.   “Think about what you want to get done, and think about mapping out the journey of how you get there,” he says. “Is it a logical journey? It may not make sense by the standards and expectations of the current market, but how is the market changing? What are the key components and how do they connect, and is each one realistic? If you can figure those out, there's no reason you can't go out there and make it happen.”   Karl says there are two positions you need as you grow. When you grow so much that you can't touch everyone, you need a Head of Talent. It's not about hiring; it's about optimizing the performance of your organization. This person is focused 100% on culture, energy, and productivity. They're incredibly valuable and will lift your delivery and performance 20%. He doesn't like HR as a word. “Humans aren't resources; they're talent,” he says.    Technical Program Manager is the second position. When Karl hired this person, the organization of their work and allocation of their resources was uplifted, leading to a 20% increase in their organization. This person is someone in the middle coordinating traffic. Both of these positions are essential once you have 20-50 people working for you.   How Is Investing Different From Leading a Company?   “Go try something you haven't tried before,” Karl says, “and you'll find a bunch of weaknesses.” His tendency as an entrepreneur has always been innovation. He's always been inspired by founders and the guts they have to do the things they do. As an investor, he'll never be at the table every day executing with these people. He says you have to believe that you're aligned with the founders you're working with and you share a vision. They'll address problems in a way you feel confident will result in positive outcomes. You have to believe in your team's ability. It wasn't a hard adjustment for him to step back; he just had to recognize it.   Three years into his investment with M13, he feels like a really proficient investor. When deciding whether or not an investment is a good fit for him, he says it goes beyond just liking the people at the company. Does he like the way they think? Could he work with them? What is their core business model? How is the industry changing? How is the world changing? Does the team have a logical process for staying in step with that?   He also looks at the big picture, the overall opportunity. And he's learned to be very cautious of the white hot opportunity everyone's in love with, the flavor of the day. It's very short-lived. He tries to focus on fundamentals. Does the data support the vision? What does the business model look like at scale? “Dig in a few layers deeper to make sure you're not making silly mistakes,” he says. “Get to know the founders better. Is there scalability? Does your initial good impression stand?”   If so, then you're good to go.    RESOURCES: M13 Connect with Karl on LinkedIn Connect with Karl on Twitter ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE  

Rituals and routines, done with intention, can help us prepare ourselves to show up emotionally and mentally and lead from a place of power.   The theme of routines and rituals is popping right now. People around the globe are finding that the routines that once worked so well are no longer serving them. Life has changed, and our routines need to change too, if we want to stay on top of our game.    In today's episode, co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask kick things off by telling a true (and painfully embarrassing) story about how this is actually their second time recording the episode. Why? Because the first attempt was a miserable failure. Why was that? Because, ironically, they went into it without putting in the work of mentally preparing with a routine. It was an hour of their lives that they will never get back, but what an amazing validation of today's topic.   Listen in for some great tips on implementing routines and rituals into your day so you can be your best for the people you lead.    What Do You Need in a Ritual or Routine?   As leaders, we need to be present physically, mentally, and emotionally for our team. How do we get there? One way is by implementing rituals and routines that prepare us to perform and give our best. Some questions to ask yourself:   What roles do I play where I need to be at the top of my game? Am I at the top of my game right now? If not, why not? How can I get there and what will it look like?   How do we upgrade, level up our routines and rituals to today's standards? Things are evolving. Our routines/rituals need to evolve with them. We have to be willing and humble and self-aware to know when and how to update them.   Ask yourself: what are my most critical roles in life? What does performing at the highest level look like? What would need to be true in my thoughts, words, and actions to make sure I can perform at the level I need to so the people I lead can create and work and change?    Are Routines and Rituals Inherently Selfish?   One way of looking at a routine is: how do you take the time to be intentionally selfish so you can ultimately be selfless? You actually do need to be selfish in your routines so they fill you up, put you in the best possible place, so you're not responding to yourself and your needs when you're being called to lead someone else.   Jeff brings it back to the oxygen mask analogy once again. When we take care of ourselves by making sure we're in a high-oxygen environment, what's the motive? To be able to serve other people. Where this gets misconstrued is where we hear a lot of talk about me time and pampering. That's okay but to what end?    When we intentionally invest in ourselves in order to bless the lives of others, that selfishness enables us to be sustainably selfless. When our tank is full and our foundation is solid, we bless people, and receive more oxygen, and it's this awesome cycle.   You might need me time for a season for healing and regrouping, but then it's time to take time for yourself in order to bless others.   Rituals and Routines at Work   Richard shares that early on in his executive leadership, he didn't prepare for meetings in a powerful, meaningful way. One of his biggest breakthroughs was to put in a 15-minute buffer between meetings. He would take that time to review his numbers and ask: what story are they telling, what context needs to be added to tell the actual story, what does he need from the room, and what can he get from the room?    Showing up like that was more powerful. He started having more of an impact on his peers. He would ask: what do people need to know, think, and feel? He made a concerted effort to think of them, not himself and how he was being perceived.    What does your audience need? Think of them first. What are they hearing? How am I making their job easier? How am I enabling them to grow? So much of the preparation is a pivot in mindset. Jeff suggests studying anyone you admire personally or professionally. He guarantees they have rituals and routines.   Maybe you're thinking “I'm not a robotic, rigid, ritualistic person. I'm much more free-flowing, so this doesn't really connect with me.” Jeff and Richard say that anyone with any personality can apply this concept. You don't have to do a specific thing at 6:02am each day. It's all about intentionality and starting with the end in mind. Figuring out how to create an environment that enables that desired end result to be achieved. We have to have intentionality to create a new outcome.   Richard has had the privilege of leading creatives. One of his first sins as a leader was to think that everybody needed to do things exactly like he did. He says it's important to acknowledge who people are at their core and where their genius is. Creatives need rituals and routines so they can be at their creative best.    Startup and Shutdown Routines   Jeff has learned that, if he doesn't do certain things before bed, he doesn't sleep as well. He's not as refreshed in the morning. Figure out what works for you, he says. Experiment. Be a scientist. Test a hypothesis.    Richard has two shutdown routines to take him from work mode to home mode and vice versa. If he doesn't shut one mode off and turn the other one on, it's detrimental. There are times he needs to make quick decisions at work, and he needs to be in work mode from the moment he walks in the door. His shutdown routines allow him to transition from one role to the next.   When he closes his day professionally, before he drives home (or walks around the block if he's working from home), he has routines. The pandemic blurred the lines between work and home. That's why we're going through routine/ritual audits. We stopped doing them, and when we started back up again, the world had changed and they no longer worked.    At the end of the day, how does he prepare to make sure he's ready the next time he puts his hat back on as professional Richard? He has to close mental doors, go through his calendar for the next day, his inbox, his 3 big initiatives for the day. Did he get done what he needed to? He cleans up his desk a little bit before he leaves so the mess isn't there when he gets in the next day. He shuts down so he can transition and also be prepared for the next time he steps back into the role so it's seamless.   How About You?   What are your rituals and routines? What do you need to uplevel? What end do you want to create, and what do you need to change to make that happen?   Before Richard and Jeff do the podcast each week, they pray and ask for divine help so that they'll have a bigger impact. They also talk about their thematic goal, then 2-5 bullet points, then make sure they're not too scripted or robotic. They do have intentionality though.   When they hit the red button, during the countdown, they make stupid faces at each other. They don't take themselves too seriously, but they take the show very seriously. If this podcast is just about them, they failed you, the listener.    They believe they can share their failures and help thousands of leaders not to make the same mistakes. They share honestly so you can learn from them, because it's not about them. They want to help you be ready to lead.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What did you learn that you've applied to your leadership? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse  

There are three ways to buy a business—a normal acquisition, a no-money-down acquisition, and a no-money-out-of-pocket acquisition.    Of those three kinds of deals, Roland Frasier has a favorite. Roland has bought and sold a lot of businesses over the course of his career, so he knows what he's talking about. In this bite-sized snackable episode, he shares which acquisition deal is his favorite and why—and how you can make it happen for yourself.    3 Types of Deals and the Distinctions Between Them   A lot of people ask Roland what the ROI is on no-money-down deals, but first you need to make a distinction between the three main types of deals.    Traditional acquisition deals No-money-down acquisition deals No-money-out-of-pocket acquisition deals.   With a traditional acquisition deal, you need a lender, whether that's a bank or a fund or an individual or an SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) or whatever. Typically, they'll provide 70%-90% of the funding. That's going to be debt. These creditors will loan you this money, then expect you to come up with the difference, the down payment. They typically don't want that to be borrowed. It has to be your money so you have skin in the game.   Let's say you're going to acquire a $5M company. You get a loan for $4.5M and put $500k of your own money down. You do some cool things with it, grow it, and sell it for $10M. That's a 100% return on your investment, but it's a 2000% return on your $500k down payment.   That's when we start thinking of more creatively financed deals, where we're not coming out of pocket at all. That means our ROI is really going to be infinite, because we have zero investment.   The first kind of deal where you'll get infinite return is no money down. These are rare as you get into larger deals. There is literally no money going into the seller's pocket at closing. You've got to find a seller that's totally cool with 100% financing. These deals are very common in small companies, but less common as you get above $1M. You're probably buying a company from a motivated seller that's not that great.   The quality of deals, size of deals, and number of available deals with a “no money down” deal is pretty low.   The “No Money Out Of Pocket” Deal   In between the “no money down” deal and the traditional deal is a deal Roland likes to do, and that's called “no money out of pocket.” No money out of pocket is significantly different because the sellers often receive a whole lot of cash at closing. The only difference is that it's not coming out of your pocket. And you don't have to tap your personal credit or assets.   Roland and his team have come up with 219 different ways you can finance your company without getting a commercial loan, and adding to that list all the time. They teach this in an 8-week course, and even then they don't scratch the surface. What it boils down to is that you're using the assets that exist in the company and some other creative financing techniques to provide the seller with whatever down payment they want at closing.    You can do hybrid deals where you use some of these strategies and some commercial loans, but it's really fun to play the game of “how can I do this without any commercial lending?” One thing you can do from the standpoint of credit is use an SPV (special purpose vehicle), a company that's set up for a special purpose of acquiring the business.    Those are the three types of deals you're looking at doing. When we think of ROI, we've had to come out of pocket zero dollars, we've gotten the seller money at closing, so it increases how many deals are available, and we've come up with creative ways of financing. And we're not limited to how much money we have.    When you do a no money out of pocket deal, it's a win win win. You can buy an infinite number of companies, you don't have a capital constraint of a down payment, and your return is infinite.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE  

Are you getting in the way of your company growing, scaling, and becoming all it can be? Maybe it's time to hand over the reins and step away.    In today's episode, host Roland Frasier sits down with Cody Bjugan, Founder of VestRight, a company that transforms lives through real estate. Specifically, they teach people how to put together raw land deals in the real estate space. Cody recently handed the company over to a CEO and stepped into a founder/visionary role.   Listen in as he shares his entrepreneurial journey, mistakes he made along the way, and the challenges of handing over your business so it can continue to grow.   An Early Start to the Entrepreneurial Journey   When Cody was 12 years old, he loved to collect sports cards. He grew up in the small town of Damascus, Oregon with its solitary streetlight, and he'd go to the flea market on the weekends. He'd set up a booth and buy, sell, and trade sports cards.    Cody's grandfather was a homebuilder and land developer. He passed away when Cody was 15, but Cody still pulls inspiration from his life and accomplishments. His father had the spirit but didn't have the mindset to be successful as an entrepreneur. He got injured and never got back to self-employment after that. Cody says he programmed himself not to give up like his father had done when he was met with failure.   When Cody turned 15, he bought his first car for $800. Throughout high school, he bought and sold cars, put lipstick on them, and turned them. He had plans to go to college, but his girlfriend got pregnant, and he got married two months after high school instead. He entered the workforce in the floor and counter industry in the union to get health benefits to pay for his unborn child.    His coworkers told him he was so lucky to be starting at 19, because he could retire when he was 40. But all he could think was, “I'm miserable. Why would I want to be miserable for my most prime 20 years?” As soon as he got health insurance, and the baby was born, he bailed, and got a job in a private business in the same industry.    Unfortunately, he says, he failed his family, hobbies, health, and spirit by becoming a workaholic. He took this company that was doing $70k a month and turned it into a business doing $1M a month. He was making really good money in his early 20s, but it came at a high cost.    He had gotten to know a lot of homebuilders and land developers as clients. One thing led to another, he networked, and in 2002, he faced his fears and jumped off the cliff into the land development space. It's been a journey, he says. Entrepreneurship isn't easy.   The Importance of Mentorship   Cody made a phone call recently. He reached out to the guy who gave him that first job after he left the union and thanked him. He says, looking back, that man was his first mentor.    He admits that he never put much value in mentorship until three years ago. He would always say he was an introvert and wouldn't put himself out there. He would fly under the radar, hide under rocks. It was just an excuse, he says. He didn't want to be uncomfortable.   He has joined a few masterminds where he seeks mentorship from groups of individuals. “I've grown more in the last three years than I did the previous 18 years of my career,” he says. “I've allowed people to speak into my life and help me see things in a different way.” He says he went into these relationships with two important perspectives:   If I don't go in there being real and transparent and vulnerable, these guys won't get to know the real me and be able to touch me like they could.  I'm here to also give and pour into their lives.   He says he's still growing in that second area. He's always had a giving heart when it comes to money, but giving of himself and his time has been a huge process for him.    He recently hired an executive coach to help him through his newest transition, and he's really excited about that.    Handing Over the Reins of the Company   This year Cody stepped into the visionary/founder box of his company. He brought in a CEO, and it made him realize he has a lot to work through. He's always believed in empowerment and letting people do their own thing, but it was a lot harder when it came to handing over his baby.   In 2020, he had an aha moment that his identity was his company and his company's identity was him. Yes, he had made a lot of money. But at the end of the day, he had a vision of what he wanted his company to be, and he had to humble himself and realize that he was actually the reason the company wasn't getting there.   “In order for the company to scale across the country and do the things we wanted to do based on my unique business model,” he says, “I had to get out of the way.”    To find his CEO, he hired a headhunter, interviewed tons of people, and established an intense 8-step process to put the candidates through. It ended up taking seven months, and the CEO started in January 2021. Now Cody is the only one who's virtual/remote in the company. They're all in Dallas, TX and he's in Scottsdale, AZ. They don't want him in the office, because he'd disrupt the environment. His business has grown more this year than at any other time.   Before hiring a CEO and stepping back, Cory had been the hub of his business, the center. Everything fed off of him. He was in the hub for 20 years, and it hasn't been an easy transition, but he's committed to staying in his new box and doing what's right for the business.    Off-Market Acquisition in the Land Development Space   Speaking of the business, what is it exactly that VestRight does? In a nutshell, they acquire land, create lots, and flip it to developers for significant profits—and teach other people how to do the same. Cody says that what they teach works for any asset class.    He only does off-market deals. He says that any deals that go on market have already been passed on by guys like him because there's something wrong with them or they're too expensive. Off-market acquisition is where it's at, because most people in this space are doing on-market deals, and they're not in control of their own deal flow.    VestRight teaches how to find these deals, what to look for, how to be in control of your own destiny. They also teach the entitlement process, how to exit the deals once they're approved. The entitlement process, or zoning, entitles you to use it for a certain purpose. You increase the value by getting a higher and better use and flipping it to someone else.    “We're in the value add business.” Cody says. If you'd like more information on flipping land, check out the links below.   RESOURCES: Email Cody for info on courses: codyvip@vestright.com  VestRight website FREE 7-figure Raw Land Payday Playbook ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE  

"It's short-term versus long-term. If you're in it for the money, you're going to make short-term financial decisions that will ultimately cause the business to suffer in the longer term" - Roland Frasier What gives a business potential for success? How will the legal industry change with outside money coming in? What do “seller finance” and “earn out” mean? How can leaders keep up with market trends? Why is it important to focus on long-term goals? Life of a Salesman From magic shows and lemonade stands to multi-million dollar business deals, serial entrepreneur Roland Frasier has been a salesman his whole life. As co-founder and principal of five different businesses listed on Inc. Magazine's list of fastest-growing companies, as well as CEO of the All Channel Media company, Roland has bought or sold businesses with adjusted sales ranging from $3 million to just under $4 billion. Roland has worked across a multitude of industries, from software technology to airline management. With a skill set that includes copywriting, strategic marketing, and negotiating, Roland has the expertise to evaluate potential, increase value, and get strong return on a business. In the art of the deal, Roland's the artist. Joining Forces For Roland, if the question is "How do I grow my business?" there's a clear answer: acquisitions. "I don't think there's anything that you're looking for in terms of growth and scale that you can't get through acquisition. I think that's the fastest way to do it. You literally double your business overnight." If you have the capital, acquisition can be an unorthodox way to solve any number of problems. Want to grow your caseload or market share? Acquire a competitor. Looking for talent? Join forces with another firm's lawyers. Need to develop software? Find a company that has a dev team in place. The way Roland sees it is simple: You have problems. They have solutions, and this is a proven way to get access to them. Have a Heart: Empathy and Growth Roland doesn't subscribe to the cutthroat, zero-sum school of business. In fact, his success is keyed by some pretty compassionate competencies. "Empathy and creativity are really some of the most important skills. Empathy allows you to put yourself in the shoes of your customer or your employee, and creativity allows you to draw on untraditional solutions to the problems that they face." Roland says that strong employee relationships are key to both workplace communication and morale. He values the "happiness and satisfaction level" of his workers and thinks that businesses that ignore employee well-being are destined to stagnate. Key takeaways: Bigger picture: Understand your long-term goals and execute them correctly. Empathize: Bring a human touch to your work practices, and apply that to those around you. Up-to-date: To stay on top of your game, stay in-tune with the market and trends. Links and Resources The Game Changing Attorney Podcast Michael Mogill Facebook Michael Mogill Twitter Michael Mogill Instagram Michael Mogill LinkedIn Crisp Website Crisp Facebook Crisp Twitter Crisp Instagram Crisp LinkedIn Roland Frasier Website Roland Frasier LinkedIn Roland Frasier Twitter Zero Down - Book Website

When you invest in appropriate relationships with the people you lead and make them feel valuable, you become all the more effective as a leader.    In today's episode, host Jeff Mask sits down with Kimberly Holmes, CEO of Marriage Helper to talk about some universal principles that work across all relationships, whether personal or professional. Kimberly is passionate about championing marriages and creating strong families. She and her team want to take over the world with hope for great relationships.    Listen in as she shares how you can implement these powerful relationship principles into your leadership.    How Kimberly Became CEO of a Successful Company   Kimberly's story starts back in the mid-1980s. The founder of Marriage Helper was a very successful speaker whose schedule was booked five years out. He was married with two daughters when he fell in love with another woman, and left his family to be with her. He was divorced for three years, became a drug addict and an alcoholic, lost his friends, was living out of his car, and almost died. He told God he was going to turn his life around, called his ex-wife, and asked her to take him back, which she did, against the advice of her loved ones.   They remarried, even though they weren't in love, and they had a third child in celebration of their remarriage. That child was Kimberly. She says, “I literally would not be on this earth if it weren't for two people committed to trying to make it work, to put it back together.”   She entered the family business part-time and saw the amazing change that was happening in the 3-day workshops her parents hosted. The service worked, but they had no marketing whatsoever. Her dad was considering shutting it down, because it wasn't profitable. She knew they had to get the message in front of people, because it was needed. They were an organization driven by mission and believed the stakes were high.   Kimberly became CEO with a staff of four. They started an email list, and experienced 100% growth for two consecutive years. There was really nowhere to go but up. In 6 years she had 5x'ed the company. She learned marketing, got clear on her why, and worked hard to scale. And now they have a staff of 75.    How to Invest In Relationships   You have to invest in people if you're going to take your business from 4 people to 75. Kimberly has invested in relationships on her team, and the team helps people invest in their marriage relationships. What are some things she has learned about relationships over the years that can apply to us as leaders?   Kimberly says people want to leave a relationship for one of three reasons:   They don't feel liked. They don't feel loved. They don't feel respected.    At the core, if someone feels liked, loved, and respected, they'll feel more attachment to the relationship they're in. So, ask yourself: what am I doing that is showing the other person that I like, love, and respect them? People are attracted to those who evoke emotions that they enjoy feeling. Am I helping people feel edified, uplifted, supported, liked?   If leaders can do this in an appropriate way in their relationships at work, it makes all the difference. It changes us and the people we're leading. People need to feel valued, like they're not just a number. You want them to like the way it feels to be a part of your team and a part of your company.   The Four Stages of a Relationship   There are four stages to any relationship, and understanding each one of them can help you make your relationships stronger, whether at home or at work.   Stage 1: Attraction    Attraction isn't just physical. There are four components to attraction: physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual. (PIES, to help you remember) As a leader, how are you providing intellectual stimulation? How do you make people feel emotionally? And spiritually, we're attracted to people who are aligned with our core values. Attraction is what makes us want to get closer to a person. When team members are attracted to our organization, they want to get closer, stay longer.   Stage 2: Acceptance    Once I'm attracted and move closer, as I learn more about them, can I accept this person for who they are without trying to change them? In business, sometimes people do need to change. They need to be coached into who they can be. But how do we approach this? I see your giftedness and potential, and what you can grow into. I accept who you are now, but I'm also not going to leave you here, because I see what you can be.    Stage 3: Attachment    The bottom line of attachment is I will be there for you, no matter what. That's powerful. Sometimes it's just sitting there, just listening. The way you build attachment and show someone you'll be there for them is done in the small things consistently over time when the person needs you. You show up the way you say you're going to show up.   Stage 4: Aspiration    You have a vision for your relationship, something you can look forward to together. When we can give the people on our team a vision of where they can go, the conflicts and drama at work don't seem as big, because we remember our vision and our mission.    Leading As a Woman in a Male-Dominated World   As Jeff listens to Kimberly speak, he hears clarity, confidence, and conviction. He hears her knowing how to lead from her place of strength, leading as a female CEO powerfully and consistently. “How do you lead from a place of power and confidence in a very male-dominated world?” he asks her.   “I'm going to be completely vulnerable and open,” Kimberly says. “It probably hasn't been until the past 2-3 years that I've trusted my voice. As a child, someone did and said things to me they shouldn't have, and when I spoke up about it, nobody believed me. It wasn't until I went to therapy and EMDR and faced my demons that I realized I wasn't wrong. I was right. What happened to me was wrong. I can trust myself. I have discernment. I'm learning to know when to trust myself and when to get support from the people around me who believe in me.”   She goes on to say, “I've never seen men as the enemy, but I also want to empower women to trust themselves. We actually have innate parts of us that come naturally to some of us that can make us exceptional in our own way. I don't see it as competition but as a collaboration.”    Jeff leaves us with some wisdom: The sooner we can be clear and calm with our past, the more powerfully we can lead in our present and future. We put those stories in our minds that tell us why we can't do certain things, and they're just not true. We have to find our voice, find our core values, and humbly and authentically lead from our strengths.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What did you learn that you've applied to your leadership? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: Marriagehelper.com Marriage Helper on YouTube Relationship Radio It Starts With Attraction podcast   OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

If you're thinking about acquiring a business, pass it through this set of filters first.    Roland Frasier has bought—and sold—a lot of businesses over the course of his career. He knows what to look for, and what to stay away from, and he shares his expertise in this snackable episode.   Listen in for 9 things to consider when looking to acquire a business.    #1: Buy a profitable business.    Don't buy one that's in trouble and needs a turnaround. That's a whole different skill set and a lot of extra work. There are plenty of profitable businesses out there that you can acquire.   #2: Know if you want to work in, on, or above the business.   There are three places you can work when it comes to a business. You can work in it where you're doing all the work. You can work on it where you're more of a CEO/manager. Or you can work above it—Roland's choice—where you're thinking more of the business as a product or an investment. Where do you want to fit in the hierarchy?    If you want to be above, then you need to look for a business that's not owner-operated. But owner-operated businesses are more affordable and readily available. If you do decide to buy one, you look first at the owner who's selling. Maybe they don't want to leave the business entirely. Maybe they still want to work there; they just don't want to own it and have all the responsibilities.    If the owner wants to leave, and you don't want to be the operator, there's a good chance that there's someone in a managing role in the business (the CFO, CMO, COO, or CRO) who would like to run it. That's a good person to think about interviewing, because they already have the experience.   If not them, then maybe a key employee who has been there 15-20 years would love to step up into the role. Even if they're not qualified to do everything, you can hire someone to support them.   If not them, look at consultants or contractors the company has hired in the past for key roles. They have a long history and knowledge of the company.    The next level is to query your network, to ask around. If that doesn't work, you can hire a recruiting company.    #3: Stay away from industries with a lot of regulations.   If you want simplicity, steer clear away from these. If it's in the health space, and you don't have experience/credentials in the industry, stay away from it.    #4: Think about industries where you already have experience.   This will be very helpful and will give you a head start in growing your business.   #5: Consider an industry where you already have contacts or connections.   Do you have people who could advise or consult with you or connect you with people who could help?   #6: Find a business in an industry that's growing.   One of the best ways to grow a business is to find one in an industry that's already on a growth trajectory. A rising tide raises all ships.   #7: Find a business that's likely to last.    Don't buy a business that's just a fad, like a Y2K business. That's a very ephemeral industry. It's fleeting. It's not going to last long.   #8: Find a business you love.   If you're passionate about it, it will be way easier. Just make sure all the other qualifications apply too (no regulations, in a growing industry, likely to last, etc.).   #9: Find a business that doesn't require a lot of capital investment to keep it going.   An audio/visual business, for example, has a lot of technical equipment that has to be constantly updated. You'll spend a lot of money on things that depreciate quickly. If you can find a business that's simpler, and doesn't require that capital expenditure, go for that one instead.    RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

Martha Stewart headlined at T&C 2021 and gave attendees an up close and personal look at her empire, her passions, and her life.   In this episode, host Roland Frasier sits down with Martha and a long list of questions (something he's famous for and Martha compliments him on). They talk about everything from CBD gummies to peacocks to Snoop crashing her daughter's tea party and a whole bunch more.   Listen in for an entertaining conversation with one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs of our time.    What do we need to make a good cocktail?   You shouldn't skimp on the quality of the booze you buy, Martha says. Your bar should be elegant. If you're going to drink, you might as well drink the really good stuff. Her liquor of choice is Casa Dragones tequila. She has a new wine coming out, but the details are hush hush. She's pretty excited about the name. Stay tuned.    Tell us about some of the new things you're doing now.   They just soft-launched Martha.com, where you can buy all of Martha's products plus other people's products that she's curated. She has two words that help her choose the products: Need & Want. There are a lot of things that look great, but do you need it and want it? If you live by those two words, you won't waste money. You'll save money. You won't clutter your home, and you'll have good things.    What did you mean when you said “it's a good idea to re-pot yourself every 10 years?”    I think change is good, Martha says. When you're through changing, you're through. Change often enough that you surprise people and keep them on their toes. Make sure you stay out there, not back here. Look to the future. It can get very boring doing the same thing over and over again. Branch out, try new things, look ahead, adapt and adopt.    What's your favorite Snoop story?   Snoop called one day and asked Martha if he could come over. Her daughter and her friends and kids were over at the farm. Snoop said he was bringing three people, then showed up in his Mercedes bus with a group of eight. They were all sitting on the terrace of her farmhouse and Snoop asked, “what's that building down there?” (It was Martha's stable.) “I'm going to go down there and look for some grass,” he said. Every adult followed him.   Tell us about creating this category of entertaining that didn't exist before.    I looked for the void, Martha says. At that time, she wanted a magazine that taught people how to run a home, go to work, take care of the kids, be a well-rounded woman, homemaker, business woman. She was making all these painstakingly handmade Christmas decorations and realized that a lot of women would love them for their homes but didn't have the time to make them. “Let's make it for them,” she said. That's how the product line started.    What is Canopy?   Canopy is one of the largest cannabis companies in the world, and the founder told her, at the behest of Snoop, that she should be getting involved. She's in the CBD world; Snoop is in the THC world. Her gummies are the #1 gummies in America right now, and she has new products coming out for the holidays. She tried hard to emulate the French confection that you get at the end of a dinner in a restaurant in France.   You're on the board of AppHarvest. Tell us about that.   Martha says she's very concerned about feeding the world. She wants everybody to have good food. She visited acres of greenhouses in Russia where everything is grown because the climate is so cold. AppHarvest is doing the same thing in Appalachia (Kentucky). It's a very central location so that people can eat fresh tomatoes instead of shipping them from far away. It's sustainable agriculture using a fraction of the water.    You were one of the first people to realize the value of owning your own media.    In 1997 she put together a deal to acquire all her media from Time Warner. “They shouldn't have let a property like Martha Stewart Living go,” Martha says with a smile. They wrote on a piece of paper “45 million” and that's what Martha paid. Nothing went well for them after she acquired her media from them. She tried to raise money, but venture money wasn't as accessible to women back then. She went to one businessman who loved the deal and offered her 60/40 (60 for him, 40 for her). She said no thank you, walked out the door, and did it herself.   You were really early in the crowdsourcing idea. How are you using it now?   They started a wonderful program called American Made, looking for young entrepreneurs around the U.S. to celebrate. Lots of good things happen, Martha says, when you help other people build their businesses. Just a few photos in a magazine can change the life of a person and their business. She's also starting a podcast featuring people they've worked with in the past who are doing great things.   What opportunities do you see now in the field of homemaking and entertaining?   So many. They're working on an affordable wine and also have a curated collection of wine—Martha Stewart Wine Co. They're opening a restaurant in Las Vegas in the spring. She just published her 99th book, Martha Stewart's Fruit Desserts.   One of the things you're known for is that you insist on not dumbing things down.   “I'm a teacher,” Martha says. “If my teachers dumbed things down, I'd be really upset. I want to teach the whole thing. You can always simplify things, find a better way to do things, but that's not dumbing it down. Our content is evergreen, and we will continue to use that method or recipe or technique until we find a better one to replace it. That's been my philosophy forever and will continue to be.”   What's a typical day like for you these days?   She gets up early to take care of her animals. She has a lot that live both inside and outside her house. Lots of birds, cats, dogs, peacocks, and chickens. 147 hens, 37 roosters, 20 peacocks, 22 geese, all different nationalities. They all coexist very nicely. Guinea fowl, homing pigeons from all over the world. They moved a lot of the operations of her company to her farm during Covid. She keeps busy with lots of Zoom conferences, TV things. They never stopped working.    RESOURCES:   martha.com Martha Stewart Wine Co. Martha Stewart's Fruit Desserts   Martha's CBD gummies AppHarvest American Made ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

Corrective conversations are never fun, but as leaders, it's our responsibility to help people become better versions of themselves.    Today's episode with co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask is all about having those difficult, but necessary, corrective conversations. How do you give correction? When do you give it? How do you do it well? It can be an easy thing to mess up, and Jeff and Richard want to help people avoid that pain.    Listen in as they talk about why correction matters and how to do it in a way that truly benefits everyone.   WHY Have Corrective Conversations?   Why is it so important for leaders to give timely correction when something gets off track? The biggest reason is this: we need to lead people for who they can become, not for who they are today. We want the people we lead to become their best selves, and a lot of everyday actions prohibit them (and us) from doing that.   Jeff says that, as leaders, we have the ability to change the trajectory of ourselves and those we lead. When we don't give that feedback, we're not helping people see the implications of their behavior so they can be better. It's an obligation, an opportunity, a blessing, to help people elevate their thinking and behavior. When we don't, we're just thinking about ourselves.   Richard says that the hardest pivot for him was changing the way he thought about correction. It doesn't have to mean confrontation. Correction isn't necessarily coming from a place of judgment. It doesn't mean the person is bad. There's just an action that needs changing. It's pain avoidance when we don't have these corrective conversations. We like to lie to ourselves and think we're protecting the other person from pain, but we're protecting ourselves.    WHEN to Have Corrective Conversations   Jeff once had a team member whose behavior was not in line with their core values. It wasn't off-the-charts horrible, but he knew he needed to talk to this person and kept putting it off. His delay resulted in a chain of events that occurred in a short period of time that was very destructive to the brand of their company and the overall vibe of their team. It got out of hand quickly because Jeff didn't have the courage to address it at that moment.    If something strikes you as off on your core values, that's your first and clearest red flag. Core values can be a guiding light for how to behave. Maybe you have that spidey sense that something is odd or a little uncomfortable—or you notice a reaction or body language from the person that person is talking to. In a virtual world, this can be more difficult. Don't avoid it and let it grow into a larger problem down the road.    Richard always looks at attitude, effort, and effectiveness. Those are the categories he puts things in when evaluating each team member. If something is off in any of these categories, then a conversation is needed. Attitude and effort are more of a corrective conversation. Effectiveness is more of an exploratory conversation.    Jeff says that Richard married data and intuition. Data can be taught; intuition can't be. Going down the intuitive path (spidey sense) isn't helpful if there's only an intangible aspect. You need intuition + data.    Definitely don't wait until the time is right, because it never will be. Don't wait until your next one on one. The more time that goes by without correction, the more it communicates that the behavior is acceptable. This is how a good work culture deteriorates.    Have the conversation that same day—with one caveat. If there's a blow-up and someone loses their cool, that needs to be dealt with, but there needs to be a cooling off period. The deeper question is: how do we know if we are calm enough as a leader to offer the correction? If my motive to correct is in love and care for the person, I know I'm ready.    Cool down. Get your mindset right. The outcome of the correction will be vastly different.   Learn to give the benefit of the doubt. Fight the urge to go to the worst story. What's the best possible version? Come from a place of curiosity. What do you need to do to break you from that triggering place and help you calm down? Jumping jacks? Rehearse Ted Lasso quotes? Take a walk?   WHERE to Have Corrective Conversations   You've heard the phrase “praise in public, correct in private,” right? For the most part, Jeff likes that statement, but with caveats. If you're leading a leadership team, and there's a behavior that's off, hopefully you have enough trust within the team to address it at the moment. You can say something like: “This isn't how we roll. We hold ourselves to a higher standard.” When you don't correct in public, you've communicated that it's tolerated. Or, worst case, “ah, there's the leader's favorite.”   Jeff shared a story of a time he was meeting with a team doing annual planning. It was all about creating a future you don't know exists yet. People's livelihoods were on the line. The energy from one team member was very negative (“this is why it can't be done”). Jeff is a fan of constructive criticism, but he's not a fan of looking for all the reasons “why not,” and sucking all the life out of a room.   It was the middle of day one of a two-day meeting, and Jeff told the guy in front of the rest of the team, “You know I love you, so before I say anything, I need you to know that. Everything coming out of your mouth is why things can't happen. I need your help to change it from why it can't to what needs to be in place for it to happen. Sometimes you act like a victim, and I need you to be the champion you are.”   He looked at Jeff, and the rest of the team looked at Jeff, but Jeff knew he had done what he needed to do. The whole energy for the year they were creating was getting destroyed by one negative person. That happened 10 years ago, and 3 different times that guy has told Jeff that that one conversation was more pivotal than any other conversation in his career. “When you called me a victim in front of everybody else, at first I was pissed,” he said. “But I knew you were right, and I had a choice to make. I had to change.”   HOW to Have Corrective Conversations   All of this leads to HOW. How do we have a corrective conversation that leads to the desired outcome of growth, change, and alignment?   First, how NOT to: don't use a medium that's not open to corrective conversation. Not Slack, text, or email. This needs to be done over Zoom or in person. Don't start it with written communication. It feels efficient, but don't do it. It doesn't end well 99.99% of the time. The intent isn't understood. It's more judging than curious. We're missing out on the richness of nonverbal communication. The person will read the written text through the tone of what they're feeling, like we all do.   Remember, from the book, Fierce Conversations—I want to talk with you, not I need to talk to you. Want and with, not need and to. Start with that, pull them aside, and say, “let's chat for 15 minutes.” When your motive is love and care, the energy will be so different. When you're annoyed and want to stick it to them, they know it.    Another tip: replace “but” with “and.” Don't say a bunch of good stuff about them, then say “but.” Say the good stuff, and use “and.” I know you're kind and good AND I think there's a problem with x. Then ask inquisitive, thoughtful, inspiring questions. Not incriminating and condescending. “Hey, I saw this happen, and I'm curious, how did that occur to you?” At the very beginning, seek to understand their point of view. “What were you feeling when this happened?” is sooo much better than “what were you thinking?” Richard likes to ask: “What were you reacting to?”   Repeat what they just said, using slightly different wording. “What I hear you saying is ________.” And then the next question is the pivot. “So how do you think it occurred to the other person in the situation?” If you start with them, they won't react with self-preservation. They'll feel safe and can access that higher level of thinking. They can empathize with the other person. Then you can tell them how it occurred to you.   How did it occur to you? What were you feeling? What were you reacting to? How do you think it occurred to [the other person]? This is how it occurred to me.   Key Takeaways What are we doing as leaders? We're inviting people to change their behavior for the good. We're not forcing, pushing, or requiring. Inspire, not require. Inspiration comes through thoughtful, well-worded questions. When they see in you the passion for them to become better, they can't help but become better. They'll rise to the occasion.    Richard suggests a why, why, how sequence: Why is what happened detrimental? Why is the action going to keep you/the company from meeting goals? How are you going to get in alignment?   Last step: follow everything up with an email. “Thanks, Dan, for the conversation today. Just wanted to recap so we're on the same page. Can you give me a quick reply to this email to confirm that you received it and agree?”   Hopefully you heard some actionable steps you can take. Put your own personal twist on it. You've got this.   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? How do you handle corrective conversations as a leader? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: Fierce Conversations (book by Susan Scott)   OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

What does decluttering have to do with leadership? Way more than you think.   In today's episode, host Jeff Mask sits down with Kathi Lipp, world-renowned author of over 20 books and host of the Clutter-Free Academy podcast. Kathi has dedicated her life to serving people who are overwhelmed by clutter and people with a mission who want to communicate it.   Why talk about decluttering on a leadership podcast? Because there are a lot of grounding principles here for leading ourselves and leading others. When we have cluttered minds, when we have cluttered systems and processes, when we don't have clarity, it's so much more anxiety-inducing to lead.    Listen in as Jeff and Kathi talk about how decluttering leads to more peaceful, powerful, and effective leadership.   The Damaging Effects of Clutter   Years ago, Kathi was a young mom, heading into a dark place, overwhelmed by her house and life and stuff. Her dad was a hoarder. They didn't call it that then, but that's what he was. She tried all the programs and strategies, but nothing worked. Until she figured out that it was more than just having too much stuff. What is my relationship to stuff? she asked herself. Why do I have this need to keep bringing things into my home?    She realized that it was more of a mental/spiritual issue than a stuff issue. “Once I dug into that and dealt with it,” she says, “I was able to find freedom. I'm not Martha Stewart, but I could invite you in for a cup of coffee at any time without having to apologize, and that's a big leap for me.”    Kathi says that, when you know that you're different and you don't understand why, it wreaks havoc with what you can potentially do. When you can't have people over, when you can't get out the door on time, when you only have one area of the house where you can aim your Zoom camera, it limits who you can become and who your partner/children can become.   Clutter is just a physical manifestation of what's going on inside of us emotionally or spiritually. If you're not coping in an area, it will seep out somewhere else. Clutter can lead to depression for many people. If you are depressed, you have clutter. If you have clutter, you're dealing with some level of depression.    How Clutter Affects Us As Leaders   Decluttering enables us to clear out the closets of our minds, to help us be more present as leaders. It helps us let go of the heavy, painful anchors that are holding us back from becoming the true person we could be. So we can lead our team to be their best selves too.   What is one thing leaders can do to start down this path toward peace and clarity? Kathi says she's a big believer in picking one thing and focusing on it for 15 minutes. If you have 20 things on your to-do list, and you haven't prioritized them, you aren't going to be able to tackle them without feeling frozen. She uses this 15-minute principle in her work, her environment, and her creativity. It ups her creativity and productivity—everything she needs to be a good leader.    She recommends that leaders start by clearing a space on their desk. She sits down every day and writes ten 15-minute items. Things that will push her business forward. She also chooses one thing to do an hour-long deep dive on. She asks: What is one thing I need to spend some concentrated time on? Then she puts it on her schedule.   “We overestimate what we can get done in a week, and we underestimate what we can get done in a moment,” she says. “Fifteen minutes is a moment, and we can actually get a lot accomplished.” Kathi suffers from bright shiny object syndrome. (Don't we all?) Everything else in the world besides what she's doing looks more fun, more awesome. But she keeps bringing her focus back to the task at hand.    She reminds herself constantly: “I have to do the things I have to do so I can do the things I want to do.”   Setting Yourself Up for Success   Every new day, when you sit down at your desk, that's your launch pad. This is what you're launching from every day. Are you constantly in recovery from the day before? Or are you starting each day moving forward? Ask: What can I do right now to take care of my future self?   Right now Kathi is concentrating heavily on her health. If she wants to have a good week, she has to set aside time on the weekend to roast vegetables, cook brown rice, and lay out her workout clothes. She's taking care of her future self. She also does that for her work when she clears her desk and makes her coffee the night before.   It's not just being organized for the sake of being organized, she says. It's about: can I make decisions now to make it easier tomorrow? Decisions take energy. Jeff agrees that so many leaders struggle from decision fatigue. If you get home from the office, or you leave your home office for the day, and you can't decide what to eat, where to go, or whatever, you're suffering from decision fatigue. As leaders, we're constantly making decisions. If we can eliminate some of that through future planning and organization, we'll make our lives a little less taxing and trying and heavy.   Don't Spend All Your Time Organizing Instead of Living   Kathi has met a lot of leaders who like to appear organized, but don't understand what true organization is. She once worked with a guy (back in the pager era) who had all the systems—notebooks, planners, everything cross-referenced. She was in awe. Then a coworker told her that this guy spends all this time just saddling up. He spends so much time on his systems that he never gets on the horse and goes anywhere. If you're spending more than 5% of your time getting/staying organized, look at your systems and see if you're doing the right thing. Don't over-engineer this. If you're spending all your time organizing your life and not actually living your life, you're avoiding something.   Set yourself up for success the night before. Get really clear on what the most important priorities are. Set 15-minute power times. Know yourself best. Know your rhythms. And schedule everything around that.    For Kathi's life work, part of her has to be creative and part of her has to execute. She's most creative in the morning. That's when she does her writing, blogging, and podcasting. Executing and meetings are in the afternoon. It's not because she wants to give her coaching clients less. It's because she's already lived out her purpose today. Meeting with people is her most energizing work. She writes 500 words a day, but writing does not bring her joy. People do.   She says we are constantly having to balance our space, time, energy, and money. Why would we allow things into our space that aren't serving us? The more you get rid of, the more it will increase your peace.    She says we keep stuff for three reasons: fear (what if I need it someday?), guilt (Aunt Tillie gave it to me) and shame (I spent so much money on it, I need to keep it for the rest of my life). It's a spiritual issue and it can be dealt with. We are not stuck.   “There is a message, a business, something that only you can bring to the world,” Kathi says. “Throw off anything that is keeping you from doing that. Spend time on your biggest hindrance so you can be the biggest blessing to the world that you were created to be.”   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What clutter do you need to remove from your life so you can be a better leader? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: Kathi's website   OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

You know what they say about the word “assume,” right? Well, it's true.   Welcome to another snackable episode with Roland Frasier, where he shares bite-sized actionable strategies to help you take your business and life to the next level.    Two separate events happened to him recently that had one important thing in common: someone made an assumption, and things did not go well. Listen in as Roland tells both stories and what he learned from them.   Assumption Tale #1:   Roland just finished their newest event, Scalable Impact Live, in Austin. He had invited a family member to the event who was there when Roland got off the plane. Apparently he was eight feet away from Roland, but Roland didn't see him because he was texting/calling his team, trying to get a VIP guest checked in.    He texted the family member the next morning, “I'm at breakfast. Want to join me?” He ended up sending 5-6 texts with no response. Finally Roland texted, “Are you okay? I'm worried about you.”   They responded. “I'm upset with you. I waved at you when you got in, then we were standing a couple people behind you in line, and you turned around and looked, but you didn't say hi. So we went home the next day.”   He thought Roland was blowing him off, but he wasn't. He just wasn't focused on looking for him. He didn't walk in thinking he would be there. He said Steve Wozniak made him aware of the fact that he has this inability to recognize faces out of context. Between that and actually looking for someone else, he accidentally blew off a member of his family.    They patched it up, but whew. What a mess.   Assumption Tale #2:   The second episode happened earlier, but Roland just found out about it last weekend. At Traffic & Conversion Summit, there's a private room set up for Roland, Ryan Deiss, and Richard Lindner where they meet with celebrities before they go on stage. It's called the Founders' Room. They also have a Mastermind called the Founders' Board. You'll see where the confusion comes in.   Roland walked into the Founders' Room with Chip Wilson, the founder of lululemon, and there were some people in there who weren't supposed to be in there. He asked if he could help them, and they said, “No, we're just having a meeting.” He said, “Well, you can't. This is a private room, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave.” They were very upset with him.    Roland got a text from one of those people this past weekend and he said he was upset. The guy had asked the event team, “Hey, do you have a place where I can do a meeting?” They asked if he was a founder, and he said yes (because he's part of the Founders' Board), and they pointed him to that room.   This room is super private, because celebrities have it in their contract that they get a room where no one can bother them while they get ready to go on. But this guy didn't know that. He was told by the team working the show that he could go in the room. Then Roland came in and kicked him out. He didn't understand why there would be a lounge for people in the Mastermind, and then he'd get thrown out of it. It didn't make any sense.    Thankfully that one got straightened as well.   Don't Make Assumptions   It comes back to one thing. And it's one of the Four Agreements in the excellent book by Don Miguel Ruiz. Don't make assumptions.    Roland's family member shouldn't have made the assumption that Roland saw him but blew him off. He could have asked himself, what other version of this story could be at play here? Roland shouldn't have made the assumption that the guy was in the room without permission. And the guy shouldn't have made the assumption that Roland was a jerk.    Whatever situations we find ourselves in, if something doesn't seem right, or someone is treating us unfairly, what else might be going on? What important information are we missing? What can we do to make sure there isn't a misunderstanding?   Roland was lucky that his cousin felt bad about it and texted him. He was lucky that the Founders Board member reached out to him as well. Both situations could have ended badly.   Two takeaways: Take the time to think how the situation could be interpreted in another way. Communicate with the person to give them the opportunity to clarify any misperceptions.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE  

The Great Resignation has had a huge impact on teams and organizations. How do you respond as a leader when you lose a really good team member?   In this episode, co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask talk about what happens when one of a leader's biggest fears becomes reality: a key player on the team decides to leave. Instead of just speaking in generalities, Richard shares a very personal and recent story, and he and Jeff walk through these important questions:   How do we process it internally? How do we communicate it? How do we make sure the company is better because they were here instead of worse off because they're gone?   Listen in for some great tips to help you think about—and become better from and through—these experiences.    Richard's Team Loses a Key Player   Richard says their company was blessed not to lay anyone off during Covid, but they still experienced the Great Resignation to some degree this summer. He recently had the scary realization that his team was at the definition of a skeleton crew. Everyone was perfect for their job—right person, right seat, right attitude, right cultural fit. “If anyone here leaves,” he thought to himself, “we're going to be in a bit of a bind.”   And then it happened. Someone who had been with the company for five years (in internet years, that's forever, Richard says) put in her resignation. In the growth they had seen over five years, this person had been critical in figuring things out and ushering in that change. She was always smiling, had the best attitude, and owned her role. When Richard got the news, his mind went to “not her, not her.” This was going to hurt.    Richard said this is when you start to spiral mentally, no matter how long you've been leading. He went immediately to a bad place, because he always processes the worst case scenario first. This person embodied their core values. The company could have written its values by following her around. When she left, we asked, where did we fail in leadership and vision? Where did we fail in growth and opportunity? What are the rest of the team members going to think? Will others leave because she left?   If “bad people” (an underperformer, someone who's not a cultural fit) leave, we get it. But when a good person leaves, the fear is that other people will think, “Wait a second, if she's leaving, should I leave? What does she know that I don't know?”   How Do We Process It Internally?   Important question #1: how do we internally process the impact of this person leaving? How can we work through it in a way so that it's a growth opportunity instead of something that paralyzes us? If we don't work through it in our own minds in a healthy way, it has a negative ripple effect on everyone around us. A negative spiral is not helpful.    Every failure is a failure of leadership. However. Good people leaving is not always a failure. It just means that, organizationally, their growth has outpaced your need. When done correctly, sometimes we grow people too good, too much. They outgrow the company. It's a job well done. You're called as a leader to grow people. You're called as a leader to align that growth with the company. When they outpace it, you fulfilled your calling. If the company can't support their growth, you let them go with your blessing.   Jeff summarizes Richard's process. First, he went to a dark place, thinking “where did I fail? What will people think?” That's totally normal, human, healthy. Where the unhealthiness comes in is when we stay there. We have to reframe. “Where's the good in this? Where do we go from here?” It comes down to selflessness as a leader. Seeing the situation from the individual's perspective and being happy for their growth.    How Do We Communicate It?    Once you've internally processed this person's departure from the company, how and when and what and to whom do you communicate it?    Richard says that, first, you talk to the person leaving. There's an HR process they follow, but it needs to be collaborative. Create the tone and plan together. Be honest with the person. Say, “I'm concerned that other people will think there's a problem. The story you told me, your truth, is awesome. I want people to hear that.” Partner with them on the truth. Jeff says that people's BS meters are strong. When we spin it, people connect the dots. Truth and honesty is key.   After you talk to the person and make a plan, then you tell the people affected by this person leaving before you tell the company as a whole. One of Richard's company's rules is: no surprises. If someone is impacted by the change, don't surprise them with the announcement at the company level. People who are unaffected should not be told at the same time as the people dramatically affected.    The person leaving usually announces it at the team meeting. Keep it short and sweet. Don't say goodbyes yet. Don't be like the people who say goodbye in a restaurant, then walk out in the same direction. That's awkward. Allow the person to say goodbye through a company channel—email or Slack—on their last day.    Celebrate the person leaving, then dial in the critical areas of responsibility and functions of this role, and start the search for someone to step into that.    How Do We Make Sure This Betters the Company?   You absolutely want your company to be better because someone was here, not worse off because they're gone. And this can only happen if you put repeatable systems and processes in place. Hopefully, their replacement can take the company from great to greater because of what the previous employee was able to put in place.   Richard's dad told him something when he was 13 that has stuck with him ever since. “Son, your job is to go further than I did, because my job was to give you a better starting point.”   When a great team member leaves, the next team member can go further because they had a better starting point. The first thing to do, after communication and timeline, is that the person needs to evaluate critical tasks they do. Is it documented? Is it up to date? Cross train someone by recording Loom videos of how you do this. Hand that playbook to the person who comes in, and they should be able to do it at 80% of the person who left—right away. How long did it take the person who left to get from where they started to where they ended up? A long time. The new employee just runs the playbook from day one.    If the person does this the right way, they can't wait any longer. They have to follow their dreams. Set up their successor for success. Then the only thing you should feel is gratitude and express it. Say goodbye on the last day, publicly or privately. Honor them in a powerful way. See this as your last opportunity to lead them. Then keep leading after they go.   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Anything you disagreed with? What have you discovered about yourself and your team? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

Over the next few podcast episodes, we'll walk through the 7 Levels of Scale—everything you need to know to grow and scale your business.   Co-hosts Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss just wrapped up their newest event, Scalable Impact Live, where they had their first opportunity to roll out a new framework they call the 7 Levels of Scale. People are always asking them, “Where do I start?” The 7 Levels of Scale answers that question.   It took a long time to develop the framework. They had all the pieces, but they needed to tie it together in a simplified way that was transferable and repeatable. In this episode, they unpack the first two levels, but here are all seven:   Level #1: Sell and serve 10 customers. Level #2: Build a growth flywheel. Level #3: Build an upgraded scalable operating system. Level #4: Double your take-home pay. Level #5: Build your board. Level #6: Complete an acquisition for expansion. Level #7: Hit your number.   Two things to keep in mind as you work through these levels one by one. #1: Sequence matters. This is the absolute order of operations. And #2: You can't skip a step. If you do, it won't work.   Level #1: Sell and Serve 10 Customers If you have not sold and served 10 unaffiliated customers, that's the only thing you should be thinking about. Before you get business cards and a logo designed—and that's just busy work that won't make you money—you have to prove that people actually want what you're selling. They want it, and they'll buy it. And these are 10 people who aren't your friends and family.    Nothing else matters until something is sold. But there are two phases to it. Sell and serve. Let's say you sell 10, but you can't deliver. Or you sell 10 people, but none of them are happy; they're not getting what they want. You don't have any business scaling until you've sold and served 10. No automation until you've sold and served 10. Sell and serve 10, then make a list. Congrats, high five. You've ascended beyond Level 1 to Level 2. Now you can think about automation.   Level #2: Build a Growth FlyWheel Now you want to make things predictable and build a system around that. There's a three step process for doing this: 1.) Map. 2.) Measure. 3.) Plan to improve the measurement.   Step 1: Map your growth engine. How are you going to initiate general awareness? Maybe there are multiple awareness channels. What are the biggest 2-3? Do some basic business process mapping to show the flow. At DigitalMarketer (Scalable's sister company), they do customer value journey mapping. It's simply mapping/documenting how customers happen from point of awareness to engagement to subscription to that initial point of conversion to ascension and delight.   Having a visual map of the journey is the first part. Step 2 is having a scorecard to show you how something is performing. Not random metrics in no particular order. No vanity metrics. Let's say you're buying ads on Facebook and Instagram. How do you know it's working? Let's track our average cost per click. Let's track the click-through rate. And let's track our ROAS. The scorecard shows poor, acceptable, good, awesome.    It's color-coded, and a human goes in there each week and says, for this metric, here's what it was and updates the status to red, yellow, or green. Doing it manually changes your perspective. When people are accountable to a metric and have to record it manually, they actually know their numbers.    Creating a growth flywheel isn't just about putting in a lot of automations. It's about aligning your sales and growth process—and the people who are responsible for it—toward a common objective.   Everybody agrees that this is how a customer happens. Then everybody agrees what “good” is at each stage and creates the dashboard. Then there are people responsible for each of those.  On the front end, this is how it should be—that's the map. This is what good is—that's the scorecard. This is how we fix it when it ain't good—that's the growth planning. Map, measure, plan to improve the measurement, then analyze to see if it worked.   Putting that process in place is what level 2 is all about. You need all the pieces, and you need to be consistent with it. This is the thing that gets businesses stalled out at 7 figures. Don't be disheartened that you're stuck at Level 2. You have a plan now. You know what to do. Do it.    Stay tuned for Part 2!   RESOURCES: 7 Levels of Scale (the website) The Customer Value Journey The Customer Avatar Worksheet ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

Ed O'Keefe is the Co-founder of Consulting For Equity, where he teaches Roland Frasier's CFE™ method that generated 20,000 new customers through a 5 Day Challenge. Ed is also the Author of the book Time Collapsing! The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning. He has used his time collapsing methods to leap to the top of industries. He has started multiple companies from scratch and built them up to seven and even eight figures. In the dentistry field, Ed sold over $50,000,000 in marketing systems and seminars. He started Marine Essentials and has sold over $60,000,000 in health supplements. On top of having seven kids and running his businesses, Ed is a graduate of Kokoro 40, the 51-hour mini hell week challenge created by Commander Mark Divine. In this episode… How do you push yourself to do what scares you? Many people stop themselves from doing physical challenges by thinking that others who have achieved these feats do not feel the same pain.  The episode is about pushing yourself mentally and physically and having others help drive you towards your goals. Ed O'Keefe has been through it. He was a graduate of Kokoro 40, a 51-hour mini hell week created by Commander Mark Divine. If you want to successfully take on a physical feat or challenge, this episode is for you!  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Co-founder of Consulting For Equity, Ed O'Keefe. Ed challenges Jeremy to do a Murph, and they discuss how people stop themselves from taking on physical challenges, the importance of remaining positive and present, and how to do what scares you to death. Stay tuned.

Roland Frasier is on a mission to help entrepreneurs become rich and happy. One of the best ways to do that is to build businesses you can sell at a profit.   Today's episode is bite-sized and snackable, designed to give you five minutes' worth of valuable tips that will take your life and business to the next level.   Here are some things to think about when you're looking to sell your business, things to have together before you go to market, tips for creating a business that has high appeal to someone looking to acquire.   #1: Make sure you're in an industry that's trending up.    You don't want to sell if your industry is out of favor right now. That's a terrible time to sell.    #2: Make sure you have a depth of management team in place.    You need to have enough people to take over and run it if you, or any of your key people, leave.   #3: Have SOPs in place.    The more standard operating procedures you have, the easier it is for someone else to come in and run the business.   #4: Identify acquisition targets that your company could buy or be a part of.    A lot of private equity firms are looking for a platform company that can then be built by acquiring other companies.    #5: Make sure you're in the top 5 in your niche.   Obviously, the more competitors you're beating out, the better.    #6: Be mindful of the sector growth prospects for your industry.   #7: Elevate the stability and quality of your revenue.   #8: Ensure that your business model is a proven one.    #9: Grow your customer base.    #10: Make sure you've got an online footprint.   #11: Work on your brand recognition.    #12: Give back and do good in the world.   Pay attention to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and ESG (how sensitive to the environment is your company?).   #13: Know the barriers to entry.   #14: Make sure your business isn't highly dependent on equipment that will wear out or need to be upgraded.   #15: Make sure you have reliable supply chains.    Selling a business that meets all these requirements will take you down the path to being rich and happy.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

How to Become a Disruptive Entrepreneur with Rob Moore   The word “disruptive” can have a negative connotation, but it's really all about stepping in, shaking things up, and making the world better.   Rob Moore is a powerhouse, and he's super great at what he does. He loves entrepreneurship and property investing; he runs several businesses and two podcasts; and he lives up to his brand as an entrepreneur that disrupts. In today's episode, he sits down with host Jeff Mask to share his incredible story.   Listen in to be inspired to do some disrupting of your own.   Rob's Rock Bottom Story   Rob's dad owned a pub in the UK where Rob worked from age six. In 2005, when Rob was 26, his dad had a massive nervous breakdown in his pub. The police were called, beat his dad up as they tried to restrain him, and his dad was ultimately diagnosed as bipolar. Rob was humiliated, and he determined right then and there to make something of himself, to “make up for lost time after a decade of acting like an idiot.”   Fifteen years later, he has written 18 books, runs several companies, became a millionaire at 31, a decamillionaire at 35, and has raised more than a million pounds through his charities. He says he owes it all to his dad. He's been able to help his dad retire, buy a house, travel, drive a great car, and he's going to send him on a 55th anniversary trip overseas. “That's what being an entrepreneur has given me,” Rob says.   Jeff says that, “when we rattle off CVs that are stale/cardboard, it doesn't get to the essence of being a human being.” Rob's story is so relatable to so many. And it really begs the questions:    Why do we do what we do?  How were we raised, and now how do we lead?  How do we take this to a higher, healthier, more productive level based on the difficulties we've gone through?  How do you disrupt yourself?  How do you disrupt an industry?  How do you become a disruptive entrepreneur?  And why does that even matter?  How does the world benefit from us thinking that way?   Rob answers these questions and more.   What Do You Do?   How often do we hear that question: “So, what do you do?” Jeff asks Rob what his answer is when people ask what he does for a living.   “I never answer what I do,” Rob says. “I don't fricking know what I do. I spin a lot of plates. I like variety. I don't want to be labeled or typecast. So I don't answer what I do. I answer what my vision is, because I'm really crystal clear on that.”   Rob's personal vision is to help as many people on this planet start and scale their business and get better financial knowledge. Full stop. He's got billions of people he wants to help, and that is what he does. He answers that question in a vision statement.   Jeff has a vision statement as well. He helps CEOs confidently grow their business without losing their souls.    Knowing your vision statement is an awesome leadership lesson. Why do we do what we do? Why were we put on the planet? The clearer we are with our vision, the more naturally things will flow to us that accomplish and further that vision, and the easier it is to say no to things that aren't relevant to the vision.    What Does It Mean to Be a Disruptive Entrepreneur?   A few years ago, Rob realized that, if he wanted to grow globally, which he did, he needed to extricate himself from his UK training company. One year he did 250 days of training, teaching courses. Everyone wanted “Rob and Mark at Progressive.” Rob and Mark painted themselves into a corner with their brand, because they were so intrinsically linked to it that they couldn't really scale it and they definitely couldn't sell it.    Rob went on a rebrand mission to move himself and his partner out of the brand and brought in a team of trainers. He did research surveys to ask people to describe things, and they all kept saying “disruptive.”   Disruptive can have negative connotations. It often crosses the line. Especially in the UK. You can't just be disruptive. You need to have something behind it. You need to better an industry, decrease friction, increase speed, something. Otherwise, you're just noisy.    They decided the brand, the Disruptive Entrepreneur, worked, since everyone was already saying it about him (in both positive and negative ways). So they just went for it. Seven years on, it has stuck with them.     To be disruptive is to shake up how things are done and do them better with boldness and bravery in spite of the ridicule you might get. It's about finding an industry that's lazy, monopolized, not representing good value, and improving it, removing the friction, and interrupting the status quo.    Don't Just Disrupt an Industry; Disrupt Yourself   Rob believes the greatest challenge is continually disrupting yourself so you're not complacent. With every new level, there's a new devil, and your reward for solving a problem is a greater problem. Learning to disrupt yourself is critical to staying away from apathy and entitlement and continually pushing ourselves.    Where can we disrupt ourselves as leaders?  Where are we not serving our teams well?  Where are we apathetic?  Where might we level up a little bit?   It's human nature to get in a rut. Get out. Find ways to serve your team in a more engaging, selfless, and powerful way.    Disrupting Yourself By Loving Yourself   In a recent post, Rob shared two photos—one of him as a 12-year-old and one of him now. He says, “I wish I could go back and tell that young kid that everything is okay and that he's useful and valuable and loved.”   Rob has learned so much from leaders and thinkers, but it wasn't until two years ago that he hired a therapist. He'd had a lot of hesitation. His therapist keeps telling him over and over that he needs to love his younger self. As a kid, he was bullied, felt so much on the outside, wet the bed at boarding school, and suffered from loneliness, shame, and embarrassment. He learned to cope and fit in by being nice to everyone, but he became such a people pleaser and created pain around conflict. He spent his teenage years in pain.    His therapist asked him recently, “What would you say to your 12-year-old self if you met him? What would you feel about him?” He said he'd be embarrassed and ashamed of him. She said, “I can't believe you're saying that. You should love him.” He's working on it.   Therapy and personal development courses have helped him learn to use that loneliness as a force for good. “I did things for recognition and praise for a long time,” he says, “which was fine, because I needed it. But it really has to be about serving others. Since I had that shameful experience, I feel like I can help a lot of people.”    As Jeff leads, especially coaching CEOs, he often says, “All we are as adults is adolescents in big people's bodies.” We're all working through being at peace with who we've been, who we are today, and who we're going to become. That's the journey and beauty of life. That is leadership. The most respected, most successful, most sustainably impactful leaders are the ones who have made peace with who they were as a child and adolescent.    The Universe Is a Mirror   How do we disrupt those negative feelings and love the child within and find gratitude for who we were and who it made us today? Because, otherwise, we project it on the people we're leading.    Rob says that, if you are hurt as an individual, you're going to hurt other people or retreat/hide. You can only effectively lead others consistently when you let go of the hurt you're feeling and the negativity you might experience toward yourself.   He believes the universe is a mirror. If you're hurt and hurt people, your whole life will be a combat. To love, you have to love within. Your self-worth projects out and attracts or helps lift people out, then the universe as a mirror reflects that back to you.    Being comfortable with who you are means you can accept challenge and criticism. Can you say that, despite your failings, you're not a failure? And despite your experience, you're still useful and valuable? That's the strong foundation to be a leader.   How you receive information from people is fully your responsibility. Don't take things personally, and you won't be triggered. And you can be a brilliant leader. Be humble, self-aware, at peace with yourself. Have compassion for others.    Rob says, “I really believe greatness and beauty and wealth and relationships and experiences and success is on the other side of being bold and taking risks, doing things that are uncomfortable, scary, a bit big for you, that you're not quite ready for.”   He finishes every piece of his content with this saying: if you don't risk anything, you risk everything.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? What risk are you going to take today? What have you discovered about yourself and your team? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: The Disruptive Entrepreneur Podcast Rob on IG   OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

Trust among coworkers has never been more important than it is in today's virtual environment, and leaders have to intentionally design experiences that help build that trust.   As leaders, it can be tempting to bypass team building exercises and just get down to business already. There's work to be done, goals to be met. Who has time for “shared experiences” and “team bonding,” right?    In today's episode, co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask build a solid case for why leaders can't afford not to design trust-building experiences for their team. If you want to make an impact—and you want it to be enduring—you have to rally people to do their best work, or it won't be sustainable. Your dreams and aspirations will crumble, and work will be a drag.    When you align people, connect with people, build deep strong relationships with people, the output is the best work of your career. You can accomplish way more, way faster, and more profitably when you have a strong foundation of trust.    Listen in for some great practical advice on designing organizational trust as a leader.   The 3 Levels of Trust-Building Experiences To build trust with each other organically and consistently, you have to do it with a consistent cadence. You have to build these experiences into your company's rhythm. But where do you start? How do you design these experiences? How do you develop the appropriate amount of intimacy based on the level of trust you have? You don't want to do too much, too soon.    There are three types of experiences you can create as a leader, and they need to go in this order if you want to go at a good, healthy pace.    shared experiences vulnerability-creating experiences healthy conflict experiences   Start with Shared Experiences Shared experiences require no real relational equity. You could do a zipline together. Ride go-carts. Play a round of putt-putt golf. Tackle an obstacle course or an escape room. No one has to get vulnerable with anyone else. You just show up and play the game. Jeff recommends not going to a movie together. It's better than nothing, but there's not a lot of interaction. You're just sitting there. Personalities don't come out. There's no struggle, no common goal.    A shared experience should incorporate a challenge of some kind. You're architecting and engineering something in a non-work environment that mirrors what you'll go through at work. You start together, struggle together, and emerge victorious at the end. You can have your trust at a level 0 out of 100 and get it up to 10 after this shared experience.   Richard's leadership team does something called the Hot Wings challenge, which is Facebook-famous. The show interviews celebrities who have 10 hot wings in front of them, with sauces that build from “not that hot” to “oh my gosh why would anyone ever eat this?” Along the way, you'll see the person's mask coming off, bit by bit.    Richard's team members take turns in the hot seat. When you want to talk about difficulty and shared experience and pleasure and pain, he says, this one's loaded. You ask questions along the way like, “What would your wrestler name be?” It's one thing to answer that question when you're sitting around a table. It's another to answer it when your eyes are watering, your lips are burning. It adds something to it.    He also suggests a board game like Apples to Apples. Jeff says jackbox.tv, Quiplash in particular, is great for when you can't be together physically. These games provide time to get to know one another, share emotions, laugh, bond. It's something you can anchor back to, reference time and time again as you're working together.    Next Up: Vulnerability-Creating Experiences You don't jump into this category right away. Ease into it. Make sure you've got one or two shared experiences under your belt first. The personal history exercise by Patrick Lencioni is a good one. You go around the room and ask everyone the same three questions:  Where were you born and raised? Where were you in the family's pecking (birth) order? Tell us a meaningful experience from childhood that shaped who you are today.    Ideally, the leader goes first and is more vulnerable than they'd like to be. The point isn't for everyone to break down in tears (but that does happen). The end goal is to share details where people say, wow, I never knew that. One of Jeff's mantras is: “If I don't like someone, I don't know them well enough.” And this experience helps you get to know someone better.   Richard says it gives you new data points to reevaluate previous interactions. You can say, “Oh, when I thought this person was intending to make me feel a certain way, now I realize that's just because they feel this…” You can change the narrative of how they made you feel with what you now know. Increased data = increased empathy.   You can also do what's called a Life Plot exercise. The y axis top to bottom is high and low. The x axis is time. Plot your top 3 highest highs of your life and your 3 lowest lows. This shows you—and your team—what you've gone through and how resilient you are.    The Deepest Level: Healthy Conflict Experiences A few years ago, Richard's company flew Jeff out for one of their strategic offsites for their leadership team. He took them through an exercise called Trust Maker, Trust Breaker.    If you've built shared experiences, then had vulnerability conversations internally, now you can do them externally. Now, each person can go around the room and talk about each other. “Here are the things you do that build trust in our relationship. Here are things you do that break trust in our relationship.” You can see why you wouldn't want to start with this exercise.   You as the leader have to model this, being even more transparent than you expect them to be. Who will give you strong feedback and see how you take it and respond? That will allow others to see this as a safe place.   Another activity you can do is what Jeff calls “Start, Stop, Continue” and Richard calls “Keep, Start, Stop.”  You talk about what are we doing well, what are we not doing well, what do we need to keep, what do we need to start doing, and what do we need to stop doing? And you get really honest with each other and deal with any conflict that arises in a healthy, productive way.   Sometimes you need an outside facilitator for these things. You can't fully participate and facilitate, and your team needs you to participate.   If you've never intentionally done a trust-building exercise with your team, schedule a shared experience for this quarter—or the next one. Then the following quarter, do a vulnerability experience. Then the next quarter, do a healthy conflict experience. You're building trust intentionally and appropriately.    The Role Assessments Can Play Assessments are another important thing to do with your team. There are two different types: Who I Am and How I Work. Myers-Briggs and DISC tell you more of who you are, while something like StrengthsFinder breaks down what type of work you're good at, that energizes you. When you can align the work with the person's personality, they'll be on fire. But so often we mismatch that, because we just don't know.    Richard says assessments are “slightly better than a horoscope.” In other words, don't put all your stock in it. It gives you a third party with a standard rubric that is grading everybody the same way. It's not perfect, but it allows us to have a conversation. Everyone does the assessment, sends them to the leader, then each person presents their own assessment. Share: here's what I agree with, here's what I'm unsure about, here's what I disagree with. Then open it up to the rest of the room for their feedback.   The goal is getting to know who someone is. How do I better intentionally communicate with each person on my team? And how do I better receive communication from each person on my team because of what I know about them?   Don't assume like everyone communicates like we do. It takes humility and self-awareness to recognize that. Take a backseat to your own personality and let other personalities shine. Don't try to get everyone to conform to how you do things. Give other people the space to lead from their strengths.   How often should we be creating/leading these trust-building experiences? Richard believes you should do an experience and an assessment back to back quarterly. Jeff says to allocate more time than you think is necessary. You need at least 30 minutes per person to walk through assessments. Don't cut people off when they're sharing who they are. That's the opposite of trust building.    Thank you for investing in leading others. When we take it seriously, it has a massive impact.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Have you tried trust-building experiences? What has worked well? What hasn't? What have you discovered about yourself and your team? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com  OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse  

One of our roles as leaders is to identify and unlock people's gifts. Today's guest tells us how.   Unlocking people's gifts presupposes that we believe everyone has gifts to unlock. Stacey Ferguson, Digital Director at Time's Up, believes they do, and host Jeff Mask wholeheartedly agrees. In today's energizing episode, the two of them sit down for a fun and enlightening chat about bringing out the very best in the people you're leading.   Know What You Want and Go After It Stacey's story begins with her thinking she knew what she wanted in life, getting it, then realizing it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She dreamed of being a big entertainment lawyer and landed an “amazing” job with a big firm that represented artists. Turns out, at the end of the day, it was just a lot of contracts/paperwork and long days and weekends.    One night she was working late; she was 8 months pregnant and hungry; and she took a brief to this guy in his office. He looked up at her, like he was seeing her for the first time, even though she'd been in and out of his office all day, busting her butt for 12 hours straight.    “Have you eaten today?” he asked, almost as an afterthought, and she thought to herself, “What am I doing here?”   She immediately started looking for another job. She says she could have been more courageous and quit on the spot, but started quietly applying at other places. She also asked the managing director of the firm if she could switch to a department with more reasonable hours. He said sure.   Then another employment opportunity came through with the Federal Trade Commission. Her director was actually happy for her, a reaction she wasn't expecting. This experience taught her that it's always best to go with your gut.    Why We Suppress Our Gifts Once Stacey had more free time, she was able to start a blog. That's where she found her voice and developed an online community. She started creating. She started a blogging conference for women of color. Everything took off and exploded from there.   Jeff recognized in her story that she figured out what she wanted, had the courage to follow through, and going down that path herself has allowed her to authentically unlock the gifts of others. Those are the steps we need to take in order to let the gifts we have within us breathe. Fear and insecurity and self-doubt are what suppress the divine genius within us. It comes in all shapes and sizes. We all have something amazing inside, but those loud voices can suppress what we know we can create or do.    As Stacey built this community of bloggers, she realized that being a leader was about so much more than her. It's about other people. The greatest leaders aren't the ones who just do great things themselves; they're the ones who inspire others to greatness.   Identifying and Unlocking Gifts in Others Everybody really does have a gift. But a lot of times they don't see it. It's buried. You have to help them comb through the junk to get to the gift. One way to figure out what your gift is: ask some of these questions. What do you enjoy doing? What do people come to you for? What feels organic and natural to you? What can you do as a no-brainer in your sleep?   Maybe you make the best cupcakes. Maybe your friends ask you to plan their trip. Maybe you don't see the value in it; you don't think it's special. A thousand other people make cupcakes. Everyone has that thing, but they take it for granted. You're unique; you're different; you have to bring your full self to whatever it is you're doing.   When you look into someone's soul, see the gift, highlight the gift, and speak to that person, it's so fascinating to hear their response. “Oh, doesn't everyone do this?” We're wired to assume that, if something is going to have massive value, it should be really hard. Sometimes that's the case, but not always. When something is natural/intuitive to us, we don't see it for all it is.   Stacey recommends to people who are stuck to gather the people close to them and ask, What do you all think I'm good at? A lot of them will have the same answer. Do an informal focus group with people who know you well. It's easier to see gifts in others than in ourselves.   Jeff once had a professor who encouraged her students to look at different facets of their lives and pay attention to the patterns. Look for words. Do word clouds. If you're wondering about your own gifts and the gifts of those you lead, this can be a cool team-building exercise. You want to recognize gifts and leverage them, so people can flex them in a healthy way.   How Unlocking Gifts Energizes Your Workplace Stacey read an article years ago about Oprah and how she tries to always be “in flow.” Once Stacey began to discover her gifts and live them out, she felt that flow. And that flow can “overflow” into the workplace. When you unlock the gifts in the people you lead, work is no longer stressful and friction-filled.    When we can help people figure out what they do well, then align the work around those gifts, they are fired up. They are so excited and energized instead of completely drained. We have to help the people we're developing find the place where they do magical work.    Stacey says that, when you're miserable, treat that as your spirit saying, “this isn't the right place for you.” There are opportunities where you currently are to flex a muscle, get better at something. If you don't love your job, treat it as your first investor. Do what you love on the side, and build that up to a place where you can make that transition.   Jeff says to think of the lives of people we're working with. We have such an awesome opportunity to help them flourish and to feel valued and seen and heard because they're doing what they're born to do. We can do it if we look for it. Don't just forge ahead, focused only on projects. We can still get projects done, but in a way that's harmonious, in flow, and works with people's gifts.    Take a quiet moment to think through: Do I believe that everyone I'm leading has gifts inside of them inherent to who they are? If I do believe that, do I know what they are? If I do know what they are, am I helping them leverage them? If I'm not, am I trying to figure it out? And do I know what my own gifts are?   When you unlock your gifts and others' gifts, work becomes way more meaningful, in flow, powerful, productive, and ultimately? The bottom line of your business improves dramatically.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Did you try a gift-unlocking exercise? What have you discovered about yourself and your team? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: Time's Up Follow Stacey on IG @timesupnow on IG   OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse  

Roland has 6 tips to help you be more productive, and he shares them concisely in this bite-sized episode.   They're each a little bit outside the normal time-blocking and schedule-setting templates and tips we're used to, but they work for Roland and just might for you too.   #1: Develop an indifferent attitude about things you can't change. Just decide not to care. You can't change these things. They are what they are. Who cares? Stop letting them bother you so much.   #2: Deprioritize the tasks that are stressing you out. Especially if there's really no benefit to focusing on them. How we prioritize tasks in time management is important. And you have to constantly re-evaluate tasks you've already prioritized to make sure they still make the cut.   #3: If you're burnt out, take time to recharge. If you find yourself unable to focus, unhappy, or dreading something in particular, take some time off to relax and do something you enjoy. This will seem like it's making you less productive, because it's taking time away from things you need to get done, but you'll come back more focused and able to get things done more quickly and easily.   #4: Forgive yourself and others. Forgiveness is important. First, forgive yourself for things not going the way you want. Instead of putting a label on yourself (“I'm not good at this.”), forgive yourself for mistakes and failures. Failure is really the only way we learn how to be successful. If we do something right and succeed, that could have just been luck.    Studies show that, in a culture where people are punished for failure, they're typically 230% less productive than people in a culture that accepts failure. Forgive yourself and others around you when you/they don't achieve the exact results you wanted.   #5: Use the scientific method to find your most productive working habits. Scientists have a control (the way things have always been done) and an experiment to see if it can be done better. Introduce new habits that might make you more productive. Test those out for 30 days and keep the ones that work best.   #6: Create hard boundaries around unproductive distractions. Set limits for social media and emails. How many times will you be on a Zoom call? Have a schedule so you spend time where you want to spend it instead of letting the world do it for you. Schedule time for yourself (read, relax, watch TV), time with your friends and family, and time for work. If you've got all three of these things in your schedule and block those hours out, then you'll get more accomplished than any other way.   You also need to talk to yourself and review all of this every Sunday evening, and make sure it's all scheduled how you want it. Then talk to your family or your significant other, and ask if there's anything on your template you should tweak. Then, on Monday morning, ask your boss or your team if they have any changes to your work schedule.   And there you have it—six not-so-obvious tips to help you be more productive.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE

Roland has 7 rules he follows when it comes to money, and he shares them succinctly in this bite-sized episode.   #1: Invest in quality over quantity. If you're buying a stock, if you're investing in a company, if you're trying to buy a suit, if you're buying anything in life, if you invest in quality over quantity, you're going to be happy. Quality lasts. Quality gives you greater utility. Quality generally gives you greater happiness and way fewer problems.    #2: Invest in yourself. The investment that will pay the biggest dividend is always the investment in yourself. Whether that's having a great coach, joining a Mastermind of successful people, educating yourself through books/courses/trainings, investing in yourself will generate the greatest returns. You are a renewable resource. You are able to take your skill anywhere. The more skills you have, the smarter you'll be about making choices, and the more options and choices you'll have. Always invest in yourself.   #3: Use a barbell investing philosophy. The bulk of your investments—90% of the things you're investing—should be conservative. Roland has a lot of money in cash so he can take advantage of opportunities when they come up. Invest that remaining 10% in things that could pay off in big ways. Preserve 90% of your cash, have 10% at risk, and know that a few of those risky investments could pay off huge.   #4: Think in buckets. You should have a bucket for cash, a bucket for philanthropy and doing good for the world, a bucket for doing things with/for your family, a bucket for travel/entertainment, and a bucket for savings. Then, every month you allocate a certain percentage of your money into each bucket. This way you'll always have money for the things you need. It's a great way to manage your money.   #5: Your business should always work for you, not the other way around. Roland sees so many people who get into a business and stick with it no matter what, because they don't want to fail. That's a terrible mistake. Give a business a certain amount of runway and capital, and if it's not performing, you don't keep feeding it. Let it go. If it's not working for you in the time period you've allocated to make it go, stop investing in it. It will change your life when you stop working in businesses that really shouldn't exist.    #6: Buy back your time first. Whatever it is that you're doing right now—from walking the dog to mowing the grass to doing your laundry to cooking meals—if you don't enjoy doing them, use your money to hire someone to do them for you. If they're worth less than what you could be earning doing something else with that time, then pay someone else to do them. That buys back your time so you can spend your time doing more valuable things.    #7: Money serves to buy you freedom and options. This one is more of a mindset principle. Money is nothing more than a store of value, so you can do things in the future. It gives you options to do whatever you want to do. It gives you the freedom to spend less time making money. If the pursuit of money is costing you your freedom, or it's limiting your options in a negative way, then don't do it. Use that as a guideline. It should govern everything you do. Money should provide you with freedom and options. Don't sacrifice freedom and options to get money.   RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard Get Roland's book, Zero Down, FREE  

Leading people was already difficult in a pre-Covid world, but learning how to engage in healthy conflict is extra challenging in a virtual environment.   It's a leader's job to assess human dynamics and behavior and guide people in and through conflict in healthy, productive ways. But it's so much harder to read people when you're not face to face, rubbing shoulders with each other every day. Sometimes things might feel okay, but it's often “artificial harmony” (credit to Patrick Lencioni). It's difficult for many organizations to get people to speak their truth.   In this episode, hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask speak directly to those leaders who feel like “something's off” and want to know how to get things back on track. Not by pretending everything's fine, but by dealing with conflict in a healthy way.   How We View Conflict   Richard prides himself on his ability to “mine for conflict” (another Lencioni term). Years ago, he correctly identified conflict avoidance as one of his weaknesses, so he leaned all the way into it to get the muscle memories, the reps, and make it a strength. Soon he could smell it everywhere. He even started off all of their team meetings with “healthy conflict is good.” But he admits that he's having more trouble with it right now than he used to when it was one of his weaknesses.    He finds it a lot harder when he doesn't have that frequent/close in-person connection. He often feels like he doesn't have enough relational equity to take people to the mat, even for the right reasons. And he knows he's not alone. When he has this conversation with other leaders, they have so much to say. They're all feeling it. So, how do they fix it?   Jeff says that, weirdly, one of the reasons he “loves” this pandemic is because anything that was a weakness before is exacerbated now. Why would he love something like that? Because it gives us insight into which aspects of our leadership need to be improved. When you look at it that way, it's more of a fun quest, rather than a draining exercise. This mindset shift changes everything.   Recognize Conflict and Name It The first thing you have to do is recognize that conflict exists and name it. Call it what it is. Think back to the 4 Zones of Leadership. The Friend Zone is one of the reasons we avoid the “danger zone” of conflict. We often avoid conflict because we want to be liked. If you continue to avoid going there, the cycle will continue, and your work environment will turn toxic.   In the book, The Three Laws of Performance, authors Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan talk about how the way people perform correlates with how situations occur to them. How we see the world is how we show up. How we see things arises in our speech/language. We need the self-awareness to recognize that other people see things differently than we do.    So, what are some of the signs that we have conflict in our virtual workplace? It's hard to pick up on context clues from Zoom windows. Richard says they've hired team members that don't live in the area. There are people who have never had consistent shoulder to shoulder time with the rest of the team. They're not building that sense of trust just from being together. How do we diagnose conflict? How do we know what's off and where?   3 Common Signs of Conflict Jeff shares three common signs that there is conflict you need to deal with in your workplace.    Sign #1: When the conversations in public do not mirror the conversations in private. You're at a leadership team meeting, and someone is saying a, b, and c. Then you're one on one with that person and they're saying x, y, z. They're nodding and smiling in front of the group, then being negative (and honest) in private. That's a great telltale sign.    Red flag #2: when someone used to be able to deliver results on time, better than expected, and now they don't, and they haven't communicated why. Their word isn't their bond anymore.    Conflict indicator #3: When you can see departments no longer aligning. There's a lot of infighting and friction. If there's 2% variance of alignment at the leadership level, you can 10-50x that at a department level. It's easier to see/detect at the departmental level than at the leadership level. When departments start to go around each other, there's a lack of trust.   The Stories We Tell Ourselves Listen to your language. The language you're using validates the point of view you have. When we have all sorts of stories going on, beliefs we think are true, it's all stuffed in a dirty closet or junk drawer. How does it feel when you finally organize that junk drawer? A big sigh of relief, right?   We have stories collecting dust in the drawers of our mind that we need to let go of. We have 1.) a persistent complaint about a person. 2.) Then there's a pattern or behavior that person does that matches what we think. 3.) Then there's a payoff because I've been validated in my complaint and 4.) There's a major cost to that behavior that hurts.   The stories we tell ourselves form our bias, and our bias becomes truth. And when something validates what we believe, we think there's no point in having conflict because it won't change anything. If we think conflict is pointless, then we're going to avoid it. We have to believe it's worth it.    The Two Root Reasons We Avoid Conflict The human need to be liked We believe nothing can change   At the core of both of those? Ego and lack of humility. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and admit those ego-driven results to ourselves. Our need to be liked and our need to be right. Ask that mirror: “How am I a part of this problem? What have I done to create this?” We have to care enough about people to go there.    As leaders, we are able to change the course of someone's life, but only if we have the hard conversations. Conflict isn't dangerous. It's actually the joy and happiness that comes from achieving something great. If we can see the end from the beginning, we'll be happy to do it. Just that little moment of awkwardness. Awkward, then onward.    Let's freaking stop talking about conflict and call it resolution. The goal is the end, not the middle. And the desired end result is alignment. And the responsibility for alignment lies with us, the leaders.   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Is there a topic you want to dive into? Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Or did you disagree with something?  Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: The Three Laws of Performance (book by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan) Radical Candor (book by Kim Scott) Fierce Conversations (book by Susan Scott) Babe's Tragic Day on YouTube OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse  

As leaders, we have privilege, and it's up to us to empower the people we've been charged to lead.   Today's guest, Mike Yates, empowers people on a daily basis. Mike is an educator, the host of the Schoolish podcast, TED talker, and runs the Reinvention Lab at Teach for America. In this episode, he sits down with host Richard Lindner to talk about recognizing privilege and power structures and how leaders everywhere can leverage that knowledge to gain a better understanding of their team.   Mike's journey is fascinating and unconventional, and he's doing some pretty awesome things with his life.   Jack Of All Trades: An Insult or a Compliment? Mike grew up hating school. His mom was a teacher, so that didn't go over very well in his house. He remembers being raised to be a well-rounded person, so he had his hands in a lot of stuff. “No one ever told me to hyper-specialize,” he says, “and I developed an ability to multitask. I decided to use my varied interests as a strength.”   Ironically, he became a teacher, and not surprisingly, he hated it. So he found a side hustle which led him to build a teacherless school that utilizes technology in cool ways. He built his personal brand, started a podcast, and became a jack of all trades, a phrase he discovered is actually misquoted (or incompletely quoted) most of the time. The actual phrase is “A jack of all trades is a master of none but better than a master of one.”   Richard, who identifies as a “generalist,” was thrilled to hear him say that. It took Richard a long time to appreciate that quality in himself. It always seemed to him like the most successful people had an extremely narrow area of focus, while Richard was just generally good at a lot of different things. Now he realizes that, if you want to excel organizationally as a leader, you have to have a general understanding of how every area of the company works.    The Culture of Power Richard loved Mike's TED talk on recognizing privilege and asked him to break down the culture of power for listeners. Mike says that the “culture of power” is a phrase coined by Lisa Delpit. It's this idea that power structures exist all around us.    Mike used the example of his mostly Black and Latino students, who would say to him from a place of major deficit, “I could never go to college. I'll never be Bill Gates or Elon Musk or Lebron James.” Mike would try to dig deep to find something to help empower them. “No, you're probably not going to be Lebron James, but you can be JJ Redick, if you do the right things and can see yourself differently.” He wanted them to have an alternate way of viewing what they thought were deficiencies.    Each of us needs to understand power structures and accept where we have privilege. There's white privilege (which people get all up in arms about), but there are other privileges too. “I speak English,” Mike says. “As long as I live in the U.S., that gives me an advantage. I have the use of all my limbs. I went to college. My mom went to college. There are things that give me privilege.”   Empowering Those You're Charged With Leading Mike says that, as a leader, your words carry a lot of weight. When you recognize the qualities and skills of the people you lead, you can metaphorically lift their chin when you see greatness in them. He knows a guy who's often the most powerful person in the room. He saw something in Mike back in the day, and told him so, and it made a huge difference in Mike's life. Good leaders help their people see themselves as powerful, give them that chin-up moment.   Richard agrees. “You don't need to flex your power for people to know you have it,” he says. “True leadership is pulling greatness out of people. When we struggle with impostor syndrome, we're worried about getting people to know we deserve to be here. Instead, we should focus on others and bring out their power.”    Someone on Mike's team told him recently, “Do you understand what happens when you show up in a meeting?” He didn't. He sometimes forgets he's a senior leader of an organization. This person said, “You basically control the energy of every meeting we have. You have the ability to suck the air out of the room or make it go really well.” It was a weakness Mike has turned into a positive power because he recognizes it now.   The Critical Characteristics of a Good Leader Mike says a good leader isn't afraid to take the blame. They know how to put out fires, to take responsibility when someone on the team drops the ball. Richard adds that every failure is a failure of leadership. He tells his company's up-and-coming leaders, “you get all the blame and none of the credit.” It's humbling, but you also understand your role in caring for and growing the people you're charged with leading.    Mike says good leaders listen. The best leaders he's had listened deeply. They have the ability to listen past what you're saying and get underneath it, asking the right questions, guiding people to the solution. Along those same lines, a leader should know everything, be an expert, make that extra effort to be educated/informed. They should hire smart people, but should also know enough not to be threatened by anyone in the room.    The best way to create good leaders in your company is to be a great leader. Model good leadership, and people will imitate you. Lead with confidence, work hard, have humility, and seek to understand others' areas of power and bring them out.   “I really think leadership in any industry is a people game,” Mike says. “We're in the people business. You do it for human beings. As technology gets better, the ability to be human will be more important than ever.”   Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Is there a topic you want to dive into? Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? What did you learn from Mike and how will you apply what you learned? What other guests would you like to hear from on the podcast? Email Richard and Jeff here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: yatesmike.com The most popular Mike Yates on LinkedIn Mike's TED talk on Recognizing Privilege Schoolish (formerly the School Sucks podcast) The Reinvention Lab at Teach for America OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast with Mark de Grasse

What makes a good business partner, and how do you know if you are good business partner material?    In today's episode, co-hosts Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss, who happen to be longtime friends and business partners, talk about what it means to be a “partner person.” If you're not a “partner person,” can you become one? And what does that involve? Related: how do you go about finding another “partner person” to partner with?   Before they dive into all that, they take a quick detour into where to get your funding when you're getting ready to start a business.   How To Fund Your Business Roland does a decent amount of consulting for high-quality people who are looking at new business opportunities. He talks them through where their funding will come from—bootstrapping vs. raising capital—and how to figure out what it will cost. What are the resources they'll need to make this new thing go?   You've always got to start with your budget. Don't dive in without knowing that. How much money will you need, and where's the best place to get it? Will you self-fund? Let the company fund itself? Or go out and get funding from an outside source, like angel investors or venture capitalists? There's also franchising and licensing. Pick a path, decide how much you need, and state upfront at what point you'll fold if things aren't going well.    When you're looking to start a new business, the first rule of thumb has always been to find a need and fill it. And figure out ahead of time if people will pay for your end result. Do people want what we're offering? Dry test it to make sure. Don't take people's money and then not deliver. And how do you decide if you need/want a partner? And how do you pick the right one?   How to Be a Good Partner Ryan attended a recent Mastermind where they talked about people who make good business partners and people who don't play well with others. Partner people and not-partner people. What does it mean to be a partner person? How can you tell if you're one or not? If you know you're not, can you become one?   When Roland was practicing law, he got to see a lot of people forming partnerships, many of which didn't end well (hence the need for bringing the law into the picture). He always tells people they should do a partnership agreement, because partnership expectations are hard to agree on if you don't write them down.    A history of successful partnerships is a good indicator that someone is a partner person. If you've been in litigation with people you were in business with, that's a bad sign. If they've sued or been sued by everyone they've been in business with, that's a problem. If they talk crap about former partners, also not a good sign.   Good partner people own their stuff when a partnership goes bad. They don't blame everything on the other person. Honest communication is really important. You need people who are aware of their own faults and tell you what challenges you might have with them as a partner. Solid self-awareness and ownership and the willingness to change are all important.    When you go in, you have to believe that together you'll be better than you were separately. The sum has to be bigger than the parts. You also need to complement each other. Ryan had a partner once who was too much like him; their skill sets were too similar. They couldn't stay partners. You need to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.    The other piece is that you need to see value in other people's strengths. Non-partner people tend to devalue the strengths that other people have. They think the thing they're really great at is the only thing. You need to see the other person's skill set as being equally valuable. You can't treat your partner like an employee. It's frustrating when you're in a partnership and the person is me me me all the time. You want to hear “we” and “us.”   A good partner excels at conflict resolution. Roland likes partnering with people who have long-term relationships. Those require you to get past challenges you'll inevitably have, get comfortable with people who don't think exactly like you. Is this person's tendency to run at the first sign of trouble/difficulty, or do they stick around and work things out?   The Good Partner Checklist So, let's look at all of these characteristics in one place. And, remember, this checklist isn't just for finding a good partner; it's also for being a good partner. A good partner:   Has a history of successful partnerships Owns their own crap Is self-aware and willing to change Has complementary skill sets Values other people's strengths Is good at conflict resolution   Partnership isn't for everyone. Some people work best on their own. Roland and Ryan aren't those people though. Roland loves partners. He doesn't own 100% of any of his companies. And Ryan says, “I'm not just a partner person; I'm freaking co-dependent.”   Look at all the successful partnerships out there and study how they do it. If you want it bad enough, work hard to find the right partner and, more importantly, be the right partner.  RESOURCES: ethicallyprofit.com getepicchallenge.com Scalable.Co The Ready to Lead podcast DigitalMarketer Podcast Perpetual Traffic podcast Episode 48 of Business Lunch with Tucker Max   OUR PARTNERS: Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard

OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast

Ryan Deiss was recently featured on the Perpetual Traffic Podcast to talk about the future of marketing and conversion.   Marketing, at the end of the day, is the crafting and amplification of a message—and the crafting piece is more important today than it's ever been.   We've been receiving so much positive feedback about adding Ryan as a co-host on Business Lunch. We recently featured Ryan on another one of our podcasts, Perpetual Traffic, about the future of marketing and some cool things happening at Scalable. (One of those cool things is Scalable Impact LIVE. Get your ticket HERE.) It's a great episode to listen to as a leader and entrepreneur—and to have your marketing team listen to as well.    No one knows marketing like Ryan Deiss. Listen in as he chats with Perpetual Traffic hosts, Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam, about what we can expect in the world of marketing in the weeks and months to come.   How Digital Marketing Has Changed in the Past Two Decades Ryan has been in the digital marketing game since he was 19, and he's almost 41. If you do the math, he's been at it longer than he hasn't. And he's seen a lot of changes. When he first started, obviously there was no Google or Facebook or YouTube or TikTok. Over the first decade of his career, he watched it move toward marketers' ability to target. There was this push when it was all about “right person, right time” (and the right message wasn't as important).   In the past few years, we've seen a shift away from that. Things got harder, more expensive. It's been fun with Facebook ads from 2007 to 2017. There was a new social channel coming out every other month. You could get in early, build your following. We watched influencers become celebrities.    But paid ads have straight up doubled in the past year. The average marketer has to spend more, and it's only going to get harder. We peaked, we crested, and now we're seeing a shift back toward digital marketer looking like mass media marketing. Our ability to get our message in front of the right person at the right time is slowly getting taken away from us—through competition, algorithmic shift, and being priced out.   With all this mass media, the message matters more now. It's the message that reigns. There's always going to be an edge if you're really a student of this stuff. It's really important as marketers that we own our message and become good copywriters again. Bad copy used to work if your timing was perfect. The message could be “want this thing?” People would be like, “I do!” And it was as easy as that.    Now? The sky isn't falling exactly, but you have to realize that the 2015 playbook isn't going to work in 2022. You have to build your own community, your own media brand. You need an email list, a podcast, a community of people invested in you and what you do.   The Best Message Wins Roy Williams, one of Ryan's mentors, is the author of The Wizard of Ads trilogy, which “everybody should read,” Ryan says. One of the fundamental themes is that the best message wins. Roy knows this because he's done primarily mass media marketing, and there's only so much targeting you can do through radio/TV. Roy always says, “The most valuable target is the untargeted target that you target through messaging.”   Why is this true? Because, the more targeting you bring into play, the higher the cost. The holy grail of marketing and advertising is the ability to craft a message, yell it out to the masses, and have people who didn't even know they were in the market have their ears perk up. That is the greatest skill that has ever existed and will always work in marketing.    Ryan says there's going to be an absolute bloodbath in the digital marketing space. You had so many agencies and consultants who had their trick. Ooh, I can juggle. In a world where everyone wants juggling, that's great. But now it's like juggling sucks. Nobody wants juggling. You're out of business. Because they weren't actually marketers. They weren't even really craftspeople or artists. They knew how to do one thing.    Marketing is all about crafting and amplifying a message. In recent years, all of the emphasis has been around amplification, traffic. Now it's going to be all about messaging. The folks who win will be those who see themselves as messengers and communicators first. Where the edge will be moving forward is on the messaging side. Most of these marketers have never learned how to craft a message. They've never learned how to dig in and figure out “what does this person really want?”   The Concentric Circles of Marketing It's easy to market to someone who already knows, likes, and trusts you and desperately wants what you have. Just show up. Then you go out to that next ring—people who are solution-aware and in the market and actively looking. But the biggest gains will come from the problem-aware market and the unaware market. That's where you've got to learn to speak to people about their unspoken need/desire—things they aren't even talking about.   Roy Williams once wrote a Rolex ad for Justice Jewelers, a regional jewelry company in the Midwest. When Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Everest, he got a Rolex. The whole point of the ad is that you, too, deserve a Rolex when you conquer your own Everest. This ad is for people who might never have even thought about wanting a Rolex. This is for someone who has conquered a mountain and they're looking for a way to celebrate. You're selling them identity reinforcement. That's what great marketers understand.    The New Marketing Playbook for CEOs A lot of CEOs are struggling with this new world—going from being their own CMO to having others do it for them. Ryan says the days of running the company and doing all the marketing are over. And he says this as the CEO of a company called DigitalMarketer. He doesn't market anymore. He's not even in the marketing meetings. His primary job is communicator-in-chief. He's good at messaging, and that's where he'll keep his focus.   Internally, they focus on messaging, and for all the mechanics of a given channel (Google, Facebook, YouTube), they work with external agencies and consultants. Everything has gotten so specialized. Let other people handle it.    Back in 2016, DigitalMarketer set a vision and mission for the next 5 years. They wanted to be all about doubling the size of 10k businesses. It was a cool mission, but they had no way to track it. This year they reset their mission. They're going to be all about serving and enabling marketers. They're going to simplify and systemize marketing so marketers can freaking win and do their best work.    See You at Scalable Impact LIVE That shift meant they were no longer speaking to the small business owner and entrepreneur. So they started another company for that at Scalable.Co. Ryan tells founders to get out of the dang marketing meetings. As the leader, you're not the person coming up with all the plans. You're communicator-in-chief and questioner-in-chief. He knows it's a hard one to hand off, but you've got to do it if you want to scale.    They didn't just launch a new company; they launched a new event. Scalable Impact Live is an annual event for the CEO and entrepreneur. It's not T&C; there's literally not a single marketing session. It's all about asking: what does it look like to scale your business to the next level? Growth is not enough.    It's single track, old-school, highly interactive, with just 500-600 people. Ryan and his business partners, Roland Frasier and Richard Lindner, will be teaching and walking through different workshops with special guests Marcus Lemonis from The Profit; the NFL's Emmitt Smith; and brilliant businesswoman, Kendra Scott.    Come confused and frustrated; leave with a scalable impact plan.    RESOURCES:   Scalable Impact Live (November 2-3, 2021) Wizard of Ads (trilogy by Roy Williams)   Justice Jewelers Rolex ad OUR PARTNERS: Scalable Impact Live (November 2-3, 2021) Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard PodBean, your all-in-one podcasting solution

When we focus the bulk of our time on underperformers and fixing problems, we bring the rest of the team down.   Every time you fix something, does something else break? Are you constantly drained from plugging leaks and putting out fires? Does it feel like your workweek is just a giant real-life game of Whack-a-Mole?   If so, chances are, you've probably fallen into the trap of always focusing on the underperformer. We're hardwired as humans—and especially as leaders—to fix what's breaking. We bounce from one broken thing to the next. Some of us hang our identity on that. But what happens is that we unintentionally neglect and overlook what's going well. And our reward for fixing one problem is being handed the next.   In this episode, co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask talk about our tendency to focus on underperformers and how it's not a sustainable way to run a business. There's a much better way to get things done.   The Business Law of Thirds Jeff walks us through a framework where you envision a rectangle divided into thirds. It's The Law of Thirds, but the business one, not the photography one. In the top third are your high performers. When you're growing something, leading through change, they're lifting everyone around them, championing the cause, on board, a joy to lead.    At the very opposite end of the rectangle, the bottom third, are the people who are frustrated and super cynical. They're not just questioning the strategy (that can actually be helpful), but they're always pessimistic, sowing seeds of doubt, a lot of toxicity.    In the middle third are the fence-sitters, not quite sure where they stand. They could really go either way—and they do.   So, where do we as leaders focus? Our tendency is to pay attention to the bottom third and invest time there, because they need TLC. They're loud, squeaky, and we're concerned they're going to affect everyone else.    But, when we focus on the bottom third, two things happen. The fence-sitters realize where the attention is, and they start gravitating to the bottom. They do it subconsciously. We just go where the attention is, as human beings. Focusing on the bottom means you get more people doing the grumbling.   The second thing that happens is you alienate the top performers. Some of them will leave, frustrated with the situation. They get sick and tired of the hand-holding of all the mediocre people. They don't thrive in that environment.    Be Careful Not to Perpetuate the Cycle When we focus on the underperformers, we're modeling how to get attention: negativity. Negative actions get positive rewards. We've got to rewire that.    When you're so focused on trying to get an underperformer to the bare minimum, what's happening to the ignored high performer? You might be thinking about High Performer Jane, “If everyone could just be like Jane...” Well, are you talking to Jane, investing in her, challenging her? Or are you putting her on a pedestal, comparing people to her, but then not focusing on her, giving her any attention, helping her go from good to great to greater?   Jim Collins, in his incredible book, Good to Great, says, “People are not your most important assets; the right people are.” Are you focusing on the right people, or do you need to flip the rectangle? Richard and Jeff would challenge you to focus just 25% of your time on the underperformers and 75% on the people who want to go from good to great.    When you focus positive attention on the high performers, people who are excited, then the people in the middle will gravitate to the attention, the excitement, the energy. Some of the bottom third will jump out of the boat and leave. Fine. Leading them is one of the hardest things you have to do. We don't want to lose the mediocre people, but they suck everyone's energy.   High performers are 400% more productive than average performers. Think of what else could be done, how much more profitable, focused, energetic you can be if you focused on them. Leading excited overperformers makes Sunday night fun and energizing. You're actually excited for Monday morning. Where our focus goes, our energy flows. Where energy flows is where we grow.   Recognize, Replace, and Recite Be honest with yourself. Sometimes we focus on underperformers because we secretly enjoy having these problems to solve. It makes us feel like we're needed, valuable. When you find yourself saying “I'm just so busy,” what we're doing is feeding our ego that we're important. We're tired and saying we don't want to be busy, but we're feeding it. We do want to be busy, and a martyr vibe happens. Shift that mindset. Instead of a little bit of glory and brownie points for being a fixer, flip it. You don't need to put out fires to be valuable. Change the narrative.   Recognize, Replace, and Recite are the 3 Rs of the mindset framework.Recognize when things are off. Replace it with something more powerful. Recite who we are. I lead high performing people. Focus on the overperformers and watch everyone else rise, get better, or bail out. Or: I take things that are working and scale them. When problems come up, you can still solve them. You just don't look for them every waking moment.    Leadership is an awesome journey because we're truly affecting lives for the better, if we so choose.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. Is there a topic you want to dive into? Was something in today's episode a big aha moment for you? Or did you disagree with something?  Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: Good to Great (book by Jim Collins) OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast  

Once you know when you need to hire, the next question is who do you need to hire? In this micro-episode, host Jeff Mask walks through a simple, but effective, model you can use to determine whether or not a person is a good fit for your company. The bottom line? You can do all the research, all the due diligence, and still mis-hire. Then you've got someone who doesn't fit your team or culture, and you have to fire them. Listen in as Jeff takes a dive deep down into some frameworks that he's loved over the years that are super powerful and help you know exactly who to hire for the long term. Don't Hire Too Quickly Once upon a time, Jeff was tasked with growing a brand new team from scratch. He had to go from zero to six people in 4-6 weeks. He let the urgency get to him. “I've got to hire people, get things going, meet this massive revenue target, and make sure we're being wise stewards of resources,” he told himself. He quickly looked at resumes and skill sets and figured out job descriptions and did all the right things. Or so he thought.  He realized later that he had let the urgency to hire by a certain time trump the necessity of hiring the right people for the long term. His short-term focus translated into a lot of turnover, wasted effort and time, and frustration for people. Ultimately, they ended up keeping only two of the six hires long term. He knew he could have done better.  If you've hired too quickly or don't have a hiring process, hopefully you can learn from his mistakes. Years later, he stumbled across an awesome book by Patrick Lencioni called The Ideal Team Player. It's full of powerful systems and frameworks, and he wishes he'd had it sooner.  How to Hire The Ideal Team Player Jeff loves the simplicity of Lencioni's models and how, when you use them and apply them, they actually work. The first one is called The Ideal Team Player (link at the end), and you ask three basic questions about a potential hire. Is the person humble? Is the person hungry? Is the person smart? Are they humble? To borrow a quote from C.S. Lewis, humble isn't thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less. Is this person coachable? Can they listen? Are they looking out for others, not just for themselves? Are they hungry? Are they driven, self-motivated? Are they self-aware? Can they take that and know when to take the initiative? Are they growing? Are they devouring books and wanting to learn more? That's a great indicator. Are they smart? Not intellectually smart—although that's important—but people smart. Do they have emotional intelligence? Do they understand how to work well with others? Will they bring cohesion to your team? You Need All Three: Humble, Hungry, Smart Right smack dab in the center of humble, hungry, and smart is that ideal person you want to hire. This begs the question: what if someone has just one or two of the qualities and not all three? Is that good enough? In a word, no. If someone is just humble, but not hungry or smart, they're a doormat, a pleaser. They don't stand up for things. If someone is just hungry, ambitious, but not humble or people smart, they're just a bulldozer. And, if they're people smart, but not humble or hungry, they're just a charmer.  Lencioni has names for people who embody two of the characteristics but are missing the third. What if you're humble and hungry? You're an accidental mess maker. What if you're humble and people smart? You're a loveable slacker. What if you're hungry and people smart? You're a skillful politician. You need to be really careful of the counterfeits. You have to have all three. Two doesn't cut it. When you find that ideal person, you can hand them any challenge or opportunity, and they can get it done—and take feedback well. Action Steps If Jeff had known about this genius model back when he hired that first team, he would have found the right people instead of pushing his timeline and settling for less than what was best. Here are steps you can take right away: Check out The Ideal Team Player model PDF. Assess yourself first. Where do you stand? Are you an Ideal Team Player? Check out the “How Do I Ask Great Interview Questions?” PDF. Use these frameworks in your hiring process.   Definitely have a framework as you hire. Make sure you have a great purpose, and implement advice from the previous episode on How to Know When to Hire. Once the when is clear, you can develop the who based on this awesome model. Implement something TODAY. Don't just listen and move on. Write something down and take action.    Richard and Jeff want to hear from YOU. What worked when you used this model and what didn't? Was there anything that wasn't clear and you'd like more explanation/clarity? What questions do you have about hiring? Do you have any positive tips or stories about hiring to share? Email them here with your thoughts/questions: feedback@readytolead.com    RESOURCES: The Ideal Team Player (awesome book by Patrick Lencioni) OTHER SHOWS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: Business Lunch with Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss Perpetual Traffic with Ralph Burns and Kasim Aslam DigitalMarketer Podcast

In an interview with Roland Frasier, Marcus Lemonis, host of the hit TV show, The Profit, breaks down what really matters most in business. Marcus was scheduled to speak at T&C 2020, but the event never happened. Roland and Marcus still had a chance to sit down and chat though, and this podcast episode revisits that brilliant interview.  And exciting news! Marcus will be speaking at Scalable Impact Live in Austin, TX on November 2-3, along with NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith and Kendra Scott, who has had a billion dollar exit in her fashion brand. Marcus is known for looking at the 3 Ps—people, product, and process—when he's evaluating a business to invest in. When asked to break that down, he said it's important to first establish the fact that this framework works for everyone. It's an easy way for him to communicate with people on TV about how to think of their business differently. The application is universal. Product, Process, People These are the three things that matter in a business, but you have to rank them in terms of priority, Marcus says.  Product is the easiest one to think about. A relevant product or service is something everyone can understand. It's got to be real time, digestible. It has to be able to change when the environment changes, and it's got to be driven by the market, not your emotion. Process is all about how you develop the idea, how you properly document it, build the case study around it, test it, roll it out to people, and continue to improve on it. Where a lot of companies die is that they don't evolve, and you have to. Your process has to evolve and take into account new technology, trend changes, etc.  People are the most important. It's easy to say you care about people, but Marcus has started to rev this up a little more recently. Start with yourself. You can't respect other people if you don't respect yourself.  2020 has been a crazy year. It has wreaked havoc and played tricks on people's minds. We've lost a lot and need to take stock in who we are as individuals, family members, community people, and leaders. Then apply that to people who work with you, not for you. We get frustrated with people, and we change our tone. We have this mindset of you work for me, instead of you work with me. We can be collaborative and thoughtful and still be good leaders.  “I can go into any business and help them to think differently about themselves and other people,” Marcus says. “If you're not capable of thinking differently, you shouldn't be a leader.” What Is So Attractive About Turn-Arounds? The Profit is all about turning around businesses that are having challenges. What makes someone want to tackle something so difficult? Marcus says he's always just been more at home with looking at things that are broken (processes, products) and really understanding it. “I'm more comfortable with things that are fractured,” he says, “because I like to be the guy with the glue who puts things back together.” How does he decide when to help people and when to cut his losses? He says a lot of people think he's crazy. “Why do you waste your time with knuckleheads?” people ask him. And he does it because of what other people learn while they watch him do it. He invests time in people to prove something to himself, to help others, and he knows it also resonates with the people watching. He wants to raise people's self-awareness about their behavior. How does he deal with people attacking him while he tries to help them? Well, that part isn't much fun. When the cameras leave, those relationships don't always work out. If they're delusional about themselves, they usually don't change. Don't rely on the other person to dictate your behavior, he says. You can't let people take you off your game.  The Profit is one of the longest running shows on television today. He's ultimately learning for himself and teaching others to think differently. It would be easy to kick people to the curb, but it's better not to. Marcus thinks of people like himself when he was starting his own business. How would he have wanted people to have treated him while he was struggling? That's what he does for others.  The key to business isn't about being the toughest person in the room and having a poker face. We all struggle in our businesses at some point. Businesses closed daily because of Covid. At the end of the day, be transparent about who you are and where you've come from, and don't try to create a fantasy life. Create wealth for yourself that allows you to have freedom and to invest in others. Don't create wealth to separate yourself and have an elitist mentality.  A Business Partner Has to Bring Capital, Expertise, or Contacts The important part of a roll-up, Marcus says, is partnering with like-minded people. You don't have to agree on everything, but share goals and vision. A lot of people talk about balance in life, but he doesn't subscribe to that.  Any potential business partner has to bring capital, expertise, or contacts to the table. And, honestly, capital is the least important asset of the three. Marcus loves networking. He loves to learn from people like Roland and share his own experiences so people can learn from him. Surround yourself with people who can be additive, he says.  What he really wants a partner to bring to the table is a new way of thinking about something. He wants to hire people who are smarter than him, people who can make him better.  The Importance of Diversity in Your Business Marcus doesn't do equal partnerships. He won't ever do a deal that's 50/50. He'll either be the minority and let the other person take the lead, or he wants to drive. You can't get in a car and have two people take the wheel. There might be exceptions to the rule, but he won't do it. There's got to be a clear leader. However, when he gets into a deal, even if it's just 10%, he does like to have financial control.  “For those people who own 100% of your business,” he says. “I would encourage you not to. I think it's important to have gender and racial diversity. I'm not saying it to check a box. You have to represent your consumers. All of them.” He says you have to truly know your audience. And to know them, you have to reflect who they are, or you'll serve them one thing when they're asking for another. Surround yourself with people who look like your audience. Your audience isn't all middle-aged white guys. You need a diverse team running your business.  How Covid Changed His Investment Thesis Marcus used to be very public about not investing in technology, because he didn't understand it. He likes brick and mortar, tangible products. Then someone approached him about a technology-driven fund/deal. They wanted a $2M investment. “They wanted me to think in new ways,” he says, “and they wanted me to partner with them, because I see things differently too.” Now he finds himself only wanting to invest in digital tech stuff.  “Covid accelerated my need to change my thinking,” he says. “I realized that the brick and mortar environment we lived in won't exist anymore. Technology is the future of the world. What I do hope happens though is that technology people and digital marketers can lend their credibility and experience to brick and mortar stores.” He says we all come from different places, have different experiences, and we all think about life and business differently. “We don't want to get into a homogenous way of thinking about things,” he says. “The key for me in business is that conflict is healthy. Getting different opinions and learning from other people is essential to growing yourself and your business. The key for me is respect. Respecting others' opinions, no matter how much you disagree. Make me better. I want to make you better too.”  OUR PARTNERS: Scalable Impact Live (November 2-3, 2021) Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard

A good leader communicates directly and truthfully without sugarcoating.   In today's episode, co-hosts Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss recount a recent leadership meeting of their central holding company, Scalable Equity. According to Ryan, the meeting was going “fine” until Roland “started yelling at this one guy out of nowhere.” Roland's rendition of what happened is nothing like Ryan's.   These differing perspectives caused Roland and Ryan to reevaluate things and ask some important questions like: How do you yell at people when they're screwing up? How do you talk to people at an executive leadership level vs. your subordinates? Do we need to worry about people's feelings? What's the best way to deliver uncomfortable truths?   Listen in as they tackle a hard topic head-on.   Two Sides to the Same Story Ryan gives his version of the leadership meeting first. Things were going fine. They were talking over their priorities. Then Roland started yelling about how they had goals that didn't get met, projects that didn't get finished on time. He was frustrated and let his feelings be known. Ryan said they were all frustrated, but he was still surprised that Roland came in with “guns blazing.”   Roland says Ryan's characterization isn't accurate. He felt like the meeting was all BS. Everyone was being inauthentic and pretending to be this perfect image. He was surprised that people were faking fine.   From Roland's point of view, it started with looking at one particular company's financials. They received PPP money, and have a line of credit. The company had missed its goals by a fair amount, and the current month was tracking even worse. They'd made a lot of changes, but they were using PPP money that was supposed to be sacrosanct.    Roland says there had been rumors of people complaining about variable comp, and they needed to understand they were underperforming. A company called DigitalMarketer shouldn't have a struggling marketing department.  He loves them all, but they need to fix this, and the leadership team is responsible.   He says he wasn't picking on one guy. He was talking to everyone. (He called this person after the meeting to clear things up.)    Sugarcoating vs. Being Real Roland and Ryan discuss the whole “praise in public, reprimand in private” concept. They agree that yes, you need to be careful not to damage someone reputationally by coming down on them hard in front of others. But, in a leadership meeting, you need to be able to talk directly. It's tempting to sugarcoat, but the longer you go without saying what you need to say, the harder it gets.    If you're going to talk to a person about their performance (or lack of), that should be done in private. But when you're talking about the company and saying, “Here's where we're falling down and here's where we stand as a consequence of that, and that can't continue and we all need to pull together and figure out how we're going to help correct that,” you've got to be able to have that conversation with your leadership team. They don't need to be beat up on or singled out, but they need to hear the truth and where the collective leadership is failing.   Roland said he didn't make an emotional outburst; he delivered the facts intentionally in the way he thought would convey the biggest impact. He thought about the words he was using and chose to say “marketing” instead of a person's name.   Ryan said he wished he would have known ahead of time that Roland was going to bring it up, so he could have been prepared. But he realizes that a leadership meeting is literally for discussing problems. If they're not going to meet for real talk, then why are they even meeting?    He says a leadership team can't be effective unless they can piss each other off and still move on from that. If you're hyper-obsessed with not hurting people's feelings, how will you ever get good work done?   From This Point Forward In the past, Roland would have said, “Screw those people if they don't get it. I don't care if their feelings are hurt.” But Ryan and Richard have taught him a lot about being focused on culture. He now sees the importance of hearing people and apologizing and constructive criticism.   From now on, Roland is going to talk to Richard and Ryan ahead of the meeting, then bring up negative things by saying, “I've talked to Richard and Ryan, and we've agreed this needs to be addressed.”   The company will go so much further so much faster and the praise will mean so much more when everyone is willing to be constructively critical of themselves. They need to know they're all there to improve the company and each other. Be honest when things are great, and be honest when things aren't going so well.    Let's tie a bow on this, be done with it, and get back to making money.   OUR PARTNERS: Scalable Impact Live (November 2-3, 2021) Get a free proposal from Conversion Fanatics Get 3% cash back on your ad spend with AdCard PodBean, your all-in-one podcasting solution