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www.atravelpath.com Ryan and Katy's Social and Website: https://www.instagram.com/smilkos_lens/ https://smilkoslens.com/ In today's segment of Travel Tips, Ryan and Katy Smilko join us again to share one of their favorite destinations, Redwood National Park. Having been to 49.5 states (tune in to Part 1 for the explanation!), over 40 national parks, and have explored all over California, they know a thing or two about travel. This was a super informative guide for any first time or returning visitors to Redwood National and State Parks. A few quick clarifications from today's show: We (Tyler and Hope) saw our elk on Bald Hill Road near where it turns into dirt road. The sunset location we mentioned in the video was the Redwood Creek Overlook, not far from Bald Hill Road. This location is about an hour south of the Klamath River Overlook that Ryan and Katy mentioned. Dogs ARE allowed in Mt. Rainier National Park but must be leashed and only allowed in campgrounds, parking lots, and paved roads. Resources: https://smilkoslens.com/booking-travel-with-points/ https://smilkoslens.com/credit-cards/ https://smilkoslens.com/activities-in-redwood-national-park/ https://smilkoslens.com/redwood-national-and-state-park/ Elk Farmhouse: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/28871227?source_impression_id=p3_1700937679_ukelVdhQBMvpf7bF Internet:  https://soliswifi.co/ https://www.starlink.com/   Epic California Map & Guide https://www.rexby.com/Smilkos_Lens/unitedstates Within the above map/guide, there is an itinerary for Redwood National Park. If it's easier to link to that directly, you can use: https://www.rexby.com/Smilkos_Lens/i/B4saWK_JTcanSHqGSwxV2Q Other services/links for travel hacks https://www.going.com/ https://www.google.com/travel/flights https://www.travelzoo.com/   Transcript: All right Ryan and Katy so thank you for coming back to the show we had an awesome time chatting with you guys the other day so let's now talk about destinations so let me know where we're going to talk about and where have you guys spent a lot of time this was really tough um you know we've been to 49 and a half States and we've spent an enormous amount of time exploring California in particular but uh we decided to nail it down to one place in California which is Redwood National and state parks for those who don't know it's in the far Northwestern corner of California so it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere uh not really near any major cities or anything um and we've probably spent a week or two their total um combined because you're originally from California right I am I'm from California but I'm from the Bay Area and despite it being called Northern California uh I think it's about a seven hour drive still from the Bay Area to Redwoods so redwoods what would you say it's a great destination for someone who likes to do what soft Adventures it is definitely a soft Adventure Park soft Adventures for us is um hikes and things that are accessible to the majority of people and you know you don't have to be an expert hiker or Backcountry camper or rock climber or anything like that so typically hikes that are less than like three to four miles yeah scenic drives Scenic overlooks you know things that most people W could and would want to do so there's no like specialty or special skill sets required yeah and we're big on that is that a term you guys coin yourselves soft adventurers or is that I wish yeah we definitely cannot take credit for that honestly I don't know where I saw it became like a daily term like we were with people who were very hard adventurers and I was like this is not for me this is I'm very soft adventure and like we started using it so much in our daily life we're like oh like this is our like how we Define what we do because when you're traveling people like for some reason gravitate towards rock climbing or like the hardest hike or like the 14,000 foot you know Peak Pikes and I'm like you guys can just skip inviting me if you need a bear canister I probably don't want to go yeah it's a good gauge but um that is one thing we love about redwoods is um it actually so it's a national park and state park so there's I think three state parks uh California state parks that make up Redwood National Park and it's the only National Park in the US that is a joint partnership between state parks and National Park it's ideal for people who like to be surrounded and immersed in nature and trees in particular so it's just um I mean it's just a magical place the trees are bigger than you could possibly imagine and it feels like there will be like a fairy that will pop out behind every corner and like it's just one of the most peaceful places and I think what most people don't maybe think of when they think of like a Redwood National Park is that it butts up to the ocean so it's really where like the forest meets the California coast and it's just like a really special place that I feel like you have to see in person to understand like the magic of it all I always call it Fern Gully because it if you remember that movie from way back when but it you just really made yourself old I know I did I mean if people could see the video the white in my beard would give it away first but um the I mean these trees are so big that you can drive through them they are you can walk through them can walk through some I mean they're almost 2,000 years old they are literally just towering sky scraper trees but it's also super-duper Lush there's Fern and yeah it's just incredibly beautiful and magical and it's one of the easier parks to visit to hi hike to experience um and so it's we also love a good drivable park where you get a lot of the views from the road um or if it's just beautiful from the road just you feel like you're in it without having to hike seven miles to get to that one Lake that everyone takes a picture of um so we love that about redwoods yeah oh that's awesome so how do you what would you say you need to spend in Redwoods to really enjoy that full like Redwood experience see all the big spot you know do that drive how many days are we talking because of its remoteness um drive time and travel time definitely needs to be factored in um for anyone who's flying in to visit at the park they're likely either going to fly into the San Francisco Bay area or maybe Eugene Oregon um further north and both of those are going to be basically a six to seven hour drive and so day one and then the last day of the trip are basically just travel days yeah so excluding those I would say two to three days is absolutely perfect it would allow someone to really kind of hit all the top spots best hike the best views scenic drives family fun adventures and experiences and really get to go home feeling like they saw it all oh awesome now and as far as time frame during the year what would you recommend as the best time to go that's really tough I think the blanket answer would be any time of year um California especially along the coasts the temperatures are pretty temperate and don't change drastically with the seasons so at worst in the winters I think the average high is about 40 um which is chilly it's not super fun for being out but you don't have to worry about six feet of snow or ice or you know freezing cold temp like the low even at that high the low would probably be like 35 like it would be such a small window and then in the summer at its warmest the high is maybe like 75 really I would guess that wow yeah it's pretty temperate most of the time um and because it's so remote it's also not a heavily trafficked Park so it's not like you're going to a Yos or a Grand Canyon or Yellowstone where you're going to have millions of visitors there every single day um so you don't really have to worry a ton about massive crowds but I think our preference if you could pick it would be spring or fall and I think one interesting thing to think about um when visiting this park is it doesn't have like you don't go for fall full foliage the trees don't turn for someone who doesn't like pay attention to that it would be like a maybe a letdown if they went for fall thinking I'm going to drive by trees it'll be pretty um so that's something to consider if you're looking for a fall destination yeah that's a really good point because the there's not those like drastic seasonality changes to it that does mean that people wanting to visit have a lot of flexibility because if they decide you know if they go I can only go in June or the only time I can get time off is in October it's not like they're going to go and have a completely different experience at the park than if they went at a different time of year so from a flexibility standpoint I think it's a great destination all right so I know you guys have Junior so obviously you're always on the hunt for those dog friendly um places and trails and just places and things you can do um but do you notice is there a lot of dogs when you go are there a lot of kids I mean there's not a lot of anyone but um it's not a very dog friendly Park unfortunately um but luckily if you're van traveling because it's always temperate you don't have to worry about the dog when you're hiking I mean not dog friendly like hotels or not dog friendly Airbnb's are not dog friendly um there are definitely accommodations that are dog friendly but they're pretty spread out and in some cases you might be paying quite a bit more or might not be convenient based on location you found campgrounds the three each of the state parks that makes up the National Park have campgrounds and all of the campgrounds are dog friendly so whether they're tent camping or RV camping or otherwise um those places are dog friendly I would say it's very kid-friendly though it is very kid and as someone who doesn't have kids from a dog friendliness perspective I would say um and this is sort of getting to one of the upcoming questions but it would be our only complaint I think of the park sure I find that a lot of national parks too like they're not allowed in the park but there's just a lot of trails where they're not allowed to be on the trails and I think I think one of the parks Mount Rainier actually there were no dogs allowed anywhere I think you remember that yeah so that's definitely something if you're going to National Park just keep an eye out when you're going to plan that we were actually just going over there's I think 17 dog friendly national parks Junior's been to 16 of them oh no kidding which one is he missing Alaska oh that's very interesting about Rainer I really want to look that up because for the most part dogs can enter but they have to stay in parking lots and paved that's good yeah definitely fact check us on Mount Rainier let know you find we'll put we'll put the uh I think you are right I think it is they can go in they just can't like you said they have to stick to the pave Trail but we'll put the answer in the description here down below so cool thanks I'll look for it yeah um so as far as like nighttime what is there to do or what have you guys done or like to do when you know the sun goes down because you're kind of in that that you know secluded area uh we're definitely not your nighttime crowd yeah uh we are early sleepers um and Ryan mentioned the remoteness so there's not like a city life or night life if you so our our ideal night life is like campfire um hanging out and just like enjoying definitely like a Sunset and yeah if there's campfire involved we're there I would also say because of its remoteness and the fact that there isn't any kind of major city nearby means that there's not a ton of light pollution and so from a night sky perspective it is definitely a beautiful place to sit outside and stargaze or look for way so that would be those would be kind of our those would be our nighttime activities yeah that's perfect that's what it's all about right up our alley yeah how about um speaking of nighttime what about sleeping Arrangements like where do you guys find that you can sleep when you're visiting um redwoods I would say that you know a lot of our travels we look for places that are free and legally allowed to park and um gosh why am I drawing a blank on the word Boondock boondocking I had no idea what he was saying thank you I was like you know you think after living in a van for two years that would beat you in these years but yeah there's not a lot available up there in terms of that California doesn't really have a lot of um like BLM land or free land that you can just go drive out and park on and so for the most part if you're in a van or an RV of some sort um it's going to be one of the state park campgrounds there are some RV parks scattered about the area as well that's typically what we do we did stay at an Airbnb once um during one of our visits which we loved it was there's a river up there and it was right on the river so you know whether it be for Sunrise or Sunset it was very beautiful and closely located to the parks I would say camping and campgrounds are going to be the best way to stay and EXP experience the parks but there are Airbnb's and hotels very nearby for those who aren't looking to Camp or families or you know or if it's in those colder temperatures it's just not fun yeah you're not GNA find me in a tent in a cold temperature yeah us NE it's not a soft Adventure no our we're glamping here with our with our same that's a borderline medium Adventure yeah yeah yes temperature does play into how soft our adventures are definitely it's good point what have you experienced with wildlife in the in Redwoods uh deer and Elk yeah I think are the only two that we've come across the elk are everywhere outside of the park um there's actually a place called Elk Meadow every day the elk migrate from one area to another and there's like a road crossing and it happens daily and so it's like if you are at that spot at the wrong time of day or the right time or the right time you're basically stuck there for like 30 minutes as this massive herd of elk just migrate from one area to another and then there's actually an Airbnb that the elk might like go into the front yard and I'm talking like 50 50 elk go into the front yard of this like Farmhouse Airbnb every single morning and just lay there and graze and it's absolutely incredible we've never stayed there but we've gone past it multiple times and seen people where they're just out there on the patio sipping their coffee and there's 50 elk just in the front yard hanging out can't be that is that that's actually inside the park I take it you know I'd have to double check and look it's weird because there's the park is made up of three state parks and they don't all they don't all up against it to one another and so there's kind of like gaps in between each section of the of the Park yeah elk and deer we've seen deer on the trails yeah they come really close too yeah they're like not really scared of people anymore yeah but it definitely adds to the beauty of the park and just sort of the majestic Ness of it you know being out there to see these beautiful animals just you know yeah it's incredible I know when we went to Redwoods we saw plenty we were up I think on the more southern part of the national park it was on our way out and we went to we went to the Elk Lodge or the elk crossing where you're supposed to be able to see him and we didn't see him over there but we drove up this hill um to eventually completely cleared out and it didn't look like Redwood National Park at all and then we just saw a bunch of them grazing never find yeah it's so fun just sitting there you know recording watching them you pull over for you know 10 20 minutes just watching them hang out we definitely did that every time we saw them it's like every time it's different right doesn't matter how many times you see them or how many different Parks you just have to sit there and watch you can never take too many videos and photos that's so true problem it's a good problem to have do you have a special sunrise or Sunset spot at redwoods or something where you've enjoyed in the past um Sunset would be the gold gold Bluffs Beach yeah um is really beautiful um that's actually where one of the campgrounds is also um so it's a great place to stay and experience sunrise and sunset nice obviously Sunrise would be on the opposite side of the sky so you're not getting it over the water but um still get the beautiful colors you still and to have the ocean right there is really really ma amazing I'm wondering if the Overlook that we went to for Sunset is the same one you guys went to because it sounds very similar but there's the I think the river that runs through is called the clamo river the place we went to is called clamo River Overlook and you drive up like up a a road and you get up there and there's just like a small parking lot and it overlooks the ocean and the river yeah that does sound like where we were I'm pretty sure the just said vist to overlook maybe there was another sign but that does sound because I remember something on the Internet different than like the actual signage yeah so I remember like we saw looked at the ocean we couldn't it was like kind of the neatest thing because we were looking at the ocean but there was a layer of fog where we couldn't see the ocean but we could see on top of the fog and it was something you know coming from the East we had never seen anything like that before and then there were clouds on top of that with the sun set and yeah that was it was like magical that was really cool how many videos do you think you have of that too many we had two phones and a camera so we had all three of them going I can tell you oh my goodness that would be us also y it's just like you can't you you can't stop yeah because we did have to drive a little bit for it so I think we that's one of the things why we enjoyed it so much and why we stayed there so long is cuz it was one other couple they watched sunrise or Sunset and then they left but like Tyler said we like when you wait a little bit afterwards and that whole Sky just lights up and like everyone's left cuz I think oh the sun went down so that's what we always wait for I do remember the bugs came out so I don't know same with you guys but we were fortunate we had bug spray and like there were mosquitoes that came out of nowhere once it that sun kind of set and it got dark so I don't know if that's uh well I guess September SE last year when we've been it's been cooler I don't think yeah I know we went in November once yeah it might have been it might have been cool enough that the bugs were yeah that sounds terrible though they came out of the Woodworks for us yeah so I guess just bring it in case you need it hopefully don't but we definitely did that night and we're glad we had it wonderful all right awesome so we're going to move to this next segment it's called the final four countdown we have four more questions and the first question is going to start with actually Four answers so um in Redwoods National Park or outside nearby um what are some of your favorite breakfast lunch dinner and dessert spots got to be careful at redwoods not a not a ton of uh hip happen in spots you know many of the places are kind of like small roadside gas station type places um um so I don't I don't have any specific dining spots whether it be for breakfast lunch or dinner the two nearest cities that kind of bookend the parks there's Crescent City which is at the North and then there's Eureka at the South um that's where you're going to find the largest cities and the most options in terms of dining and restaurants outside of that if you're kind of in the three state parks or the you know the overarching national park at all you're really going to be on your own for food want to pack it in you're going to want to pack it in and pack it out um which is typically what we do anyways I'm glad I asked someone might not know that and they don't show up with any food so that's good to know yeah I think that's a a very good you uh eat out of the van when you were there or probably we yeah we did most most of it was eating little Weber que we'd open up and you know PB and JS for lunch you know yes ham sandwiches and whatever we found usually you know Farmers Market stuff we'd Chef up for dinner nice yeah that's yeah stay at a campground bring all the grilling fixin and Grill some food at the campground that's that's the way to go what are three things to do in or around Redwood that somebody might not be aware of if they hadn't spent um a little bit of time there this is uh ideal for anyone who might be coming up from sort of the San Franc San Francisco Bay Area about an hour or so south of the park um there's a few really cool experiences there's a place called uh Avenue of Giants and it's basically a Scenic Drive that is I think like 10 15 miles long and it's just beautiful redwoods on both sides of the road and it's one of the one of the best places to kind of get a Scenic Drive type experience while surrounding yourself with the Redwoods there is a place called driveth through Tree Park and inside this park I think you pay $ five dollar to go in but there is a tree called the chandelier tree that the base is cut out and you can actually drive through the tree providing your vehicle is small enough I think the I think it's like six and a half feet by 6 and a half feet or something so Vans are not going to fit but if you've got you know a sedan or a smaller size SUV they will definitely fit but even if you don't drive through it it's a really neat place to park you can walk through it they've got a bunch of different things in the surrounding area um that are um you know we've got like gift shop and there's some little hiking spots that you can kind of walk around and peruse the area it's great for families kids adults Etc there's a place called Skywalk Redwood Skywalk it's some something Skywalk but essentially it's two things one they have a zoo it's called seoa Zoo cool and then the other one is they've got these uh like canopy Bridges where you can go up and actually walk walk among like up above amongst all the trees and so you got kind of get to experience the giant redwoods from above ground um I think it's like 50 feet in the air or something W you kind of get to learn about the trees they've got different um you know stations and displays and things to kind of help educate you of the surrounding areas and how the Redwoods came to be and how they Thrive and all that kind of fun stuff so those are three things that I would say aren't typically super common or well known when people are going into the Redwoods um they're all south of the park and kind of give you a different experience of not just going into the park and going on a hiking trail and sure yeah they're all they're all three things we did not do on our trip so yeah thanks for pointing that out there're some nice soft Adventures for us for next time I'm to go back they're great for families yeah they're very very accessible things to do so if somebody were to have two complaints not necessar NE complaints about the park but things that they might not be aware of or wish they had known prior what would they be we think the dog friendliness was kind of a bummer for us um and just that two two days basically our travel days so like the remoteness of the park um if you think people think they can go to California and like fly to San Francisco and then visit LA and visit like we have family come and they're like well we want to see the giant trees we're like well that's a whole another week trip so um those would be our two great and one last question what is the one thing you simply can't leave Redwood without doing that is really really difficult can we both answer one we can both answer yeah yeah I mean I think the scenic drives I can't pick one the scenic drives and uh okay so you go with the scenic drive that's perfect so similar to The Avenue of Giants that I mentioned earlier there is a en drive inside um the park called Newton bewery Scenic byway and similar to the other one it's like 10 or 15 miles long and it's in our opinion it's better than the Avenue of Giants it's the trees are bigger and wider and taller and the fact that it's inside the park um The Avenue of Giants is because it's outside of the park there are some kind of suburban areas that are kind of like intertwined with it and around it whereas be Drury it's just you and the trees and it's one of the most beautiful scenic drives that we've been on anywhere in the in the country I think the other one would be um there is a there's a couple Trails within the park where you can actually walk through a tree that has fallen over at some point and they basically carved out a section of the tree where you can walk through it um one of them is is not soft adventury so I'm not going to mention that one the other one is and it's sort of a combination of two Trails so depending on if you're looking on all Trails or if you're looking on the Redwood National Park website you might see different names for it but it's the Carl nap Trail and it's in addition to the tree that you can walk through it is also one of the just prettiest most MJ Majestic Trails that we've hiked in the park there's Fern everywhere it's one of the places we saw a bunch of deer um there's many many red giant redwood trees that you can just stand right up against and just you know have them towering over you and so I think those two really kind of give you some you know really cool and beautiful and unique experiences awesome yeah thank you for sharing that that was this has been such an informative video on Redwood National Park I think everything you mentioned pretty much we had not done before unless we did the same sunset at some point I'll have to find that out but you're totally right when you're driving through the that's it yeah but when you're driving through the Redwood National Park it's you're totally right when you're looking at these trees like I remember they're impressive when you're looking right out at them but it's not until like you start looking up and you can't see how high they are it's like oh my gosh these things are like massive that's when it kind of hits you like they're incredible yeah yeah it's when you start to do the pan and you're like this is a 25 second video and I haven't reached the top of the tree yet yes that's exactly it yeah good stuff all right guys hey thanks again for um spending the time chatting with us about Redwood National Park and previously your adventures and how you got started with Van life and everything else abolutely great talking with you guys and hope to do it again sometime we do have uh quick Shameless plug um on our on our website and blog we do have two different articles that we've written specifically on Redwood National Park and so kind of touch on how to plan your visit and so the drive times where to stay when the best time is to go that type of information and then we have a separate one that touches on like things to do inside and around the park and again all the things that we've talked about here are listed there as well um so that's smilkoslens.com and then we also have an interactive map for California um that we have um points of interest national parks hikes Trails accommodations wineries breweries Scenic views scenic drives you name it all the best places that you might might want to visit in California we have this interactive map within that we also have an itinerary um specific to Redwood National Park so if someone wanted to check any of that out those are available um the interactive map is easiest to access by going to our Instagram smilkos_lens and within the links in our bio we have a California map link there great and we'll be sure to link those both those two articles in your map I want to check that out we'll link that in the description below and yeah thanks again guys absolutely thanks for having us   *All content from atravelpath.com, including but not limited to The Travel Path Podcast and social media platforms, is designed to share general information. We are not experts and the information is not designed to serve as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always do your own research and due diligence before making a decision.   

Transcript: All right, welcome to this week's edition of the business owners not my call, John Pyron, the business stalker, your host, and several of you are going to be listening to the recording. So definitely want to should be here today, this is gonna be a fun call. And I want to remind everybody the format when you're here on the live call, you can talk about whatever you want. Okay, I'm going to talk about a very specific topic. In the first week is marketing. The second Monday is sales. The third Monday is operations, service delivery, which is what we're talking about today. And then the fourth one is administrative finance. So just FYI, for next week, I'm gonna be on vacation, but I'm gonna have Adrian lead the call again, except he's going to have a special guest, leading Madeline Ferguson, or the owner of the company, and they are my go to bookkeeping company. And so they're going to talk about admin and finance. And we are very action packed calls. So when you show up here, definitely write down your biggest business problems or challenges, anything you want to talk about, that you can use the group's help on. And so with that said, I'm gonna share my screen here real quick. And let me introduce you guys to a really cool tool. Where is screensharing? There it is. So so. So if you're not familiar with checked GPT, or GBT, or whatever it's called GPT check GPT. It's an AI tool. There's a lot of talk about chat, GBT, it's the top one in the market. But I'm like, I don't want to learn this, I want nothing to do with it, I would rather hire somebody and outsource it. And so you know, which is exactly what we're talking about today. At some point in your business, you're going to want to create processes and systems and things like that. So this specific mastermind that we're involved in here is you are not putting 100 grand in your pocket after all expenses. And everything else is said and done. You're not doing that yet. And so everything we talk about is geared towards that. So when you start getting into 250 400 $500,000, Business, operations and service delivery in systems and processes become extremely important and extremely valuable. What I want to let you know, after having built all these businesses and consulting a lot of business owners start the operations and service delivery process now, while you're small while you're the one doing everything. You want to have systems in place. By the time you get to the point where you have to outsource that skill because there's just not enough time in the week left for you. And thing I like about this like okay, what are the All I did was I went in there ago, what are the top 1010 challenges facing small business owners as it relates to operations and service delivery. And immediately it came back with this list right here. It says small business owners face a variety of challenges when it comes to operations and service delivery. These challenges can vary depending upon the industry location and the specific nature of the business. However, there are 10 common challenges that many small business owners may encounter. And I'm not going to read this whole thing. I'm just going to hit the highlights limited resources cashflow management, customer acquisition and retention, technology integration, compliance and regulation, staffing issues, inventory management, scalability, quality control and supply chain disruptions. And so these are the things that ultimately you have to solve. When you're first starting out, the limited resources and cashflow management, customer acquisition and retention are really I agree with this top three. You got to figure out how to get that dealt with. You're only one man show one or one man or one woman show. And so when it comes to tools, a tool like a chat GBT it's free. When you do the paid for version, I'm thinking this is only 20 bucks a month really? And you can type in whatever you want. Okay, so like yesterday I was talking to or last week I was talking to Kevin, right and Kevin's an awesome mortgage person. So I was just curious. I'm like, Okay, what are the top 10 The challenges mortgage lenders are going through right now. Right? What are the top 10 challenges facing mortgage lenders in 2023? Because Kevin, and I'm gonna give Kevin some props here, because his is now going to be coach Kevin. And so all of you that are going to listen to snippets of this, I, I am coaching, consulting Kevin on how to be a great coach and consultant in this space. So you can definitely count on the fact when you hire Kevin, as a coach, you're getting me to, okay, so, and I've consulted well over almost 800 business owners now 1000s of mortgage people, 1000s of realtors. And so working with Kevin, it's not just Kevin, you're getting a team associated with it. And so one of the biggest tips I gave him is you create a video on these top 10 things, right? And so it'd become, it becomes a system. So the first exercise, he's going to create 10 videos around the top 10 things facing his target market. And once he goes through the efforts of doing that, okay, how do I do the video? What do I say? How do I say it? Do I edit it? Do I cut all the things that are associated with creating 10 videos 10 Separate videos, it's going to become a process. And and you'll want to definitely document how you did it? What tools did you use? What were the results. And that way you have a process and a system that you can train somebody else on that. Okay, so when you're building a new business from scratch, or you're a small business owner, and you're not at a level where you can afford to hire somebody, or you can afford to outsource, at some point, you're going to want to outsource it. And the easiest place to start is document what you're doing right now. So there's a couple tools I want to give you today. Number one is see when number one is going to be let me get rid of this screen here. One of the tools that I want to encourage you to get is going to be a thing called Brain toss. B R A INTOSSK. Brain toss. Brain toss is an app that goes on your phone. And it allows you to take a photo, it allows you to do a quick voice memo, I think the max is 30 to 45 seconds. And then it has a place for you to text or do voice to text. And the moment you press send, it goes to your email. Now you could customize the backend to go wherever you want it to go. In my case, I have a folder setup called Brain toss. I have a rule in my inbox that says if you get any emails from this brain toss thing, automatically routed to this folder. So I've been doing that for well over two years. The reason this is going to become super valuable, is I think, double check something tomorrow morning. I am going to be talking with a guy named Andy Sharma, which I highly recommend at this point because I've vented their company heavily. Matt, he has a company called get virtual services is a huge team of people out of India. And I'm going to be doing a call from with him at 8am to 8:30am. Because I'm I'm at a point where I'm like Okay, kids back in school, gone through my three year hiatus of not purposely not growing and expanding. And now I want to grow and expand. The very first hire that I'm gonna make is an octopus is a personal assistant of virtual personal assistant. And my, my, I'm going to finalize what I'm looking for with him tomorrow. But essentially what I'm going to tell me tomorrow is I'm gonna say Listen, I need someone that I can have a either a a chat dialogue with, or a zoom call for about five about probably about 10 minutes at 8:30am. Monday through Friday. Okay, that's number one criteria, that person has to be available 8:30am Monday through Friday to do what's called a daily huddle. Right. You have a team of people or you got to be a daily huddles are was really that term was coined by John Rockefeller when he was building his competence and he called it the name and the value is i is I'm gonna go there I'm going to have all this stuff over the last 24 hours, that I have tossed into brain toss, okay, all the ideas, all the things I'm going to do, what I want to do this email that I want to send out, all these things that go through our heads as entrepreneurs, I use that tool to just toss it out of my head. It's why it's called Brain tossing, apparently, okay. 8:30am, what I'm going to train this person how to do is to organize my thoughts before our call, right? So when I talked to him, I'm like, I need someone who has a skill set, that I can, I can get on a phone call with that person, dump all the crap off of my plate onto their plate. And they have to figure out what to do with it. If I don't want to train them how to do anything, I don't want to train them to go do it, I want them to ask me very important questions, and I want them to be better than me. That's my number one criteria. So Andy, you need to find somebody that has at least a bachelor's degree in business, somebody who is organized, somebody who is resourceful, I'm going to assess them with an assessment to make sure that they have the skills. And then every Monday, every morning at 830, I'm going to show up. And before I even show up on the call, she is going to she or he is going to look at my brain toss folder, because I'm going to give him access to and they're going to add they're gonna write down all their questions. So when a three happens, I'm on Zoom, we hit record. And I'm gonna say, Hey, here's what I want you to do. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, she's gonna ask some clarification questions, I'm going to properly delegate to her. In other words, I'm only going to give her stuff I know, she can actually do. And I'm gonna say, hey, I want you to send this email, or I want you to create this social media post, or I want you to write this document, or I want you to take over this process. And and here's the folder where I have recorded over the years how I actually do that. I want you to master how I do it first. And then once you have mastered how I do it first, then you're going to show me that you know how to do it exactly how I've done it. That's the next step. And then from that point forward, you have my permission 100% to make it better, make it more streamlined. You own it from this point forward. Okay, I'm gonna take one thing at a time. So brain toss is a tool. The other one is fathom, like you're seeing right here since John Pyron, is recording his call this call for note taking purposes. And it's called fathom, it's free dot video, it's right there on the screen. Okay, highly recommend, it's actually part of the Zoom app stack, it's, you go to zoom and you look up apps, it's part of their stack. Now, you just add it to your zoom. And this thing takes notes, I can highlight certain sections of this call, it will tell me if I'm going on too long. Right? It has a monologue detector, okay. And, and so forth. So, but I'm going to take that tool, one would bring to us, and those are going to be and probably otter, I'm trying, I'm getting away from otter more and more, because they have gotten so proud of themselves that they've tripled the fee on that. So we're gonna get rid of that. But I'm gonna have these systems in place so that we when I do ultimately outsource to someone, which I'm doing, when I get back from vacation, I'm just going to interview for the person tomorrow. I already have a ton of stuff on my Google Drive, of how I've done lots of things. And it's going to make me onboarding her so much less stressful, and so much easier and faster, because I've collected how I do things over the years. So knowing that one day, this day is going to come. The other thing that I'm going to toss in here is a four list. If you go into your resources section and dropbox folder, look up for list, business systems audit. I'm going on vacation next week. So somebody else is going to run the call next week. But while I'm on vacation, I'm going to update my for list business systems on it. Because I'll be on a ship and there'll be plenty of downtime. And I'm going to update my list of all the crap I don't want to do no more. Yeah, when I get back, and I hired this person person and cost me $5.50 an hour when everything's said and done. It's cheap, guys, it's been it's been that on a Well, my thing might go to Starbucks thing is a is a grande vanilla latte with an extra shot. It's about $5.50. Okay, so, exactly. So I'm going to break it down, I'm going to get her for 20 hours a week. So we have 440 bucks a month. And once I get her dialed in on my stuff, and this is a tip for you, Kevin, once I get her dialed in on my stuff, then I'm going to turn around and have her do stuff for my clients, and I'm going to charge my clients $25 an hour. So I'm gonna have certain clients, not you guys, obviously, you're a part of this, because you already know this trick, I'm gonna hire that person, and I'm going to build them out to somebody else. So I'm gonna make about 20 bucks an hour off this lady. I want once I have that nailed down, give her up to 40 hours a week, and I'm gonna go find four or five more. Why? Because why not? So when I have a business owner plant, there's all kinds of things that they they pay 20 to $25 an hour for those challenges. They have to put them on payroll. And, and they have to cover workers comp, and all this other stuff. And I can go into business or go let your let me have my VA worklog work for you for 10 hours a week. Yeah. So knowing that getting your four lists down will tell you what is the next step who is the next skill set that you should hire? Right. So I hope that's been valuable for you. I'm gonna open it up for q&a. Kevin, you were here first. So would you like some coaching? You want to comment on anything we've talked about? Or would you like some coaching on some other stuff? For your VA, your setup, I assume that you just the price is based on a flat fee, so much per so many hours for the month kind of thing. They want me to commit to 20 hours minimum per week. Okay? It's $5.50 an hour. It's month to month, so there's no long term contract there. I actually got it. I've worked with a lot of VAs like this, I had an entire team going before COVID. And I just had to put it all on home. So times 20 hours a week. And it's 110 a week, times 4.3 weeks in a month. So that's gonna cost me about 475 bucks a month. But this person is dedicated to me. And I'm sure this agreement comes my employee. Okay. And before COVID I had Sonia, she was costing me $10.50 an hour. But she, she ran the show on a lot of things in my business like she ran it, because over time she really learns Yeah. But the guy that was the the Jedi Master of this is Tim Ferriss, he wrote a book called Four Hour Workweek. Sure, and that's where this whole VA craze started going very well the key to vas. And the key word I told Andy is I need someone who talks perfect English, and understands perfect English, right? Because this person is going to be responsible for all the other VAs that I'm going to hire. Okay, I only want one person to manage. And that is my assistant, she's going to find the videographer, she's going to find the content editor, she's going to find all these people that are going to be you know, speak her language, I don't care if they talk English or not. Right? I want her to be able to talk to them. Right? Because I've learned the hard way trying to manage VAs myself, it's it drives me crazy. So I just won't do it. So if I can't find somebody in his organization to be that person, I'll find somebody right here in the United States to be that person. Right? But I'm gonna fight I'm gonna find somebody that can give me an hour a day of doing nothing but managing John Pyron. And getting all the stuff John wants to get done through other people. So the difference is the between a 2x jump in the business versus a 10x jump in the business, which you have the book and you know, what I'm talking about is I'm looking at okay, how do I make that 10x leap? Not that 2x leap and there's about 80% of the stuff I do right now that's gotta be outsourced, delegating, automated or go by the wayside. In reference, to get to that next level and so clarifying question. Yeah, I was more just, I mean, I have other questions about vas, but I can come back to those. It's really around logistics and more compliance things. So it's a little more specific. That's really all I had. I don't have much about it. I I'm kind of in that place where I still need to be better at documenting what it is I do that there is for brand new small business owners. I just had this conversation with another client this morning. Michael Gerber used to be the go to guy for that space. He's now at an age where he's going to retire not producing the more books. his protege David Jennings, who he hired to for six months to promote his last book. Michael Gerber wrote the foreword to the new book called system ology. System. ology is by David Jenny's. And it's, it's kind of Michael Gerber's work. We engineer for startup businesses. And there's a whole system online about it. But I love the work that the guy has done. He's basically taking Gerber's work. There's a lot of Gerber's work, because you're already established, right? You have a big business, and you know, but there's that gap between startup and having a team that this guy fills that spot. And, and so I would highly endorse, you're looking to build systems, and you've never gone through the process of building systems. Definitely get that resource. And that's going to help you a lot. Okay, Lisa, any comments, feedback? Questions about the topic that we've talked about? Yes. So how did you find this VA? Would you care to share them? Or? I mean, because I'm looking for vas. And it just seems like there's so many out there, and it's hard to find one that actually syncs, you know, and also like, they're in Philippines, or they're in the Pakistan, or they're in India, and it's kind of like, hard for me to, to like, trust them, if I don't have, like a referral that's had already worked with them, because I don't know, you know, like, where, or whom do I pull the trigger? So I'm gonna put his contact info in the chat window. Tell him I referred you. I've vetted him and about five other companies. And references and also their stuff. And they're legit. So it's, it's secured through contracts. Companies like this, I hire a company versus an individual. Because the company, they have lots and lots of US based clients. And so what I ended up doing for this with this guy is I had him give me five references of USPS people that have used his services. And then I called each one of them and had conversations with them about him and his company, man, and it's legit, so they're in business to increase their hours with you. That is why they're in business. And so depending on the type of like, in your case, neither one of you have these types of regulations. But if I'm like, an IT company, or I'm dealing with sensitive data type stuff, then I have to get my clients permission to use somebody like this. Because there is a potential exposure to a foreign content. country with data. Okay. In this case, having known for companies, I have a really good security in place with Google Drive. And now I have my Google Drive setup, that they don't need to do jack without my approval. Yep. So and they would be slicing their own throat, if they did something with my stuff. So where people go wrong is they'll get somebody that they really like with a company like this. And they'll go hey, how about we just work directly together? Yeah, only trying to bypass the company. But it happens. challenges when you're dealing with a company, they have insurances, they have cybersecurity insurances, they have all the stuff that protects you, their customer. And you're going directly with an individual. Again, you don't know it's not like I can sue them in small claims court. Yeah. Right now, I think I'm very careful on what I give them access to. And I never give them the keys to the kingdom. So that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. All right, before we get to you guys's individual needs us or anything else that you guys like to talk about on this topic. Nope. Okay. So Kevin, what can what can we help you out with today? I mean, I, not much I need just be more in action. So I, there's not much you can help me to. Yeah, I mean, I got plenty to do today. And I don't know that there's much to figure out about it. It's more just doing it. Right. So do you have your the two videos you just sent me? Do you have them on your computer? On my phone, okay. Feel free to send it, put it up in in their Facebook group. And that way you can get feedback from everybody. Okay, yeah. Do you want feedback from everybody? Kevin? I don't, but I really need it. So. Right. Absolutely. Because this is your target. So getting feedback from from the group is just going to help improve it all. So yes, I agree. You got this natural speaking ability, which is really cool. And it's just gonna get better, the more you do it. Thank you, Lisa, what can we help you out with today? Well, I like scaling my business, how do I like break out of this mold of just working with like, my current status quo. And like, you know, I'm thinking about making a leap of just doing more commercial and bigger deals. So how do I make that leap? I know like the market right now. It's kind of like a scare mentality, right? Or that, you know, market it's tight. Interest rate is crazy. No one can afford anything. And so it's like, you know, what, what is like a good precision for me, just like stepped out at this moment is like, you know, yeah, work on the bigger things are bigger deals. You want to do more commercial, right? Yes. And so thank you. I'm just I have a client named Maggie Capitano. And she's in Yuba City of Marysville. And one of the strategies that we went through last week is because of what farmers is doing to the insurance industry in California, she's going to have to diversify. And now farmers is requiring 1818 minimum, either commercial or life insurance policies per quarter. Okay, for all farmers agencies, they want more and more life insurance, and they want more and more commercial insurance because they get they're getting decimated in the state with their residential stuff. Right. So her thing is exactly what you're talking about us, okay, how do I go after commercial? Successful because it's a bigger sale. Right? There should be, unless you tell me differently, there should be a lot more inventory in the commercial space, then because a lot of you aren't coming back to work. And so it's relationship driven, that that space right there is very, very, very relationship driven. So the very first thing I would do is make a list of potential poi relationships. Making some notes here. person of influence relationships have. So let's say who would be the person of influence relationships, give me a second. I'm gonna pull up the data. They get a great list here. See if I can pull it up on some of the screen and I'll share it while I'm finding this So, there is an organization in Sacramento called BOMA, which stands for business owners Management Association or building owners Management Association and they have a Sacramento Chapter so you know, hang out where this building owners and management organizations hang out if you want to get access to those people talk with the categories commercial say that again, have you done commercial before? Yes, I have a little or a lot and what kind? Well, I'm, I'm you know, I do like the smaller owner user kind of commercial like I did a couple retail strip did a couple of come mean commercial residential stuff. mixed use properties. Yeah. Yeah. wherever they come from. sphere of influence. Cool. So go ahead, John. Sorry. Categories LIS, right. Definitely, you want a commercial lender? Someone that when Kevin can do commercial lending, but what you're looking for is somebody who's only focused on commercial bank. That's all they do. They don't want to they're anxious in or in residential, Nebraska, wants somebody who has insurance and commercial lending. And I'm just making some notes here for you. I have a few and commercial lending, they're actually even better because they can pay you a referral fee. Absolutely. Yeah. Somebody who specializes in commercial insurance, specifically commercial insurance. Right out the gate. Let me refer you to is a huge presence in the San Francisco market. He just moved here three years ago, and he has only focused in life is commercial. And so his name is Dimitri Golodryga. Alright, I just texted you his cell number contact info everything. He's got a connection for you because he's been wanting more and more to expand the into the Sacramento region. He lives in Rockland. You've got eight or nine people that work for him. So he's an agency like he's got 1000s of commercial properties and commercial businesses that he does insurance for. Yeah, I don't know if he has a realtor in this market that is specifically focused on that space. A good commercial banker business banker my go to business banker is Renae Anderson, the tri Counties Bank. She moved up here from LA and this woman has been able to get more stuff done with business owners I've referred her to then all these other documents referred to their own well they can't get them they can't get it done. She doesn't take that tactic. She was like hey once once you once she has she is clenched like I if I can't get it done, I got lots of resources help me get whatever you want done business. commercial lending buying buildings things like that. Good solid CPA that specifically focuses on companies that are 1 million and over a business attorney so make a list here for you It managed services bank card services I'm gonna land the plane here in just a second just helping you build your network here remodeling contractor signs and banners are printer what can you keep react as long as they're focused on like the bookkeeper I refer to she's going to be here next Monday. Their main focus is one to 1 million plus businesses and $1 million a year revenue. So that's that's their go to don't take everybody. But when it comes to their focused marketing, it's going to be that business that is between one and $5 million and security systems now, this is 1-234-567-8910 11 I'll scroll snapshot this to you, I'll snapshot this and text it to you. But the strategy is this we need to find people in this space that are vetted that you enjoy talking to that can become what's called poi for you you only really going to need for to get to your goals quickly. For people and my goat my requirements are listen I have that five part video series in the Google Drive called poi you just look it up follow it to the tee but I look forward to I like them are they actually act? What is their say? Are they actually out constantly, you know going after new business in aside I'm going to put a star next to to a couple of things here so insurance banker CPA, it managed services bookkeeper, security systems. I'm specifically looking for an employee II in that space, not the owner of the company. Okay, now the reason this that is is because I'm looking for the salesperson that has a quota on their head that they have to hit every month with new business. Okay, so I'm looking for a commercial insurance broker who has an employee that's a commercial sales rep that I can develop a relationship with because that employee is required to hit certain numbers every month. They're very active in their sales approach a cabling company just started a couple other people cabling company, office furniture you follow the money trail. When I buy a building, or at least a building. I'm going to use a commercial real estate versus commercial leasing agent commercial real estate versus all those buildings. Okay, we're gonna need ti work. They're gonna be cabling infrastructure. They're gonna need office furniture and we blinds and shades and, and all this all the stuff that these commercial spaces do. That's why BOMA is probably a really good organization to join. If you're going to go after the space because you get access to all the vendors that are BOMA members. Then it comes down to relationships. Who who going through this list now there's 13 on this list, all you need is for you is finding somebody in each one of these spaces here, that can be your go to person, when it comes to a commercial person, so you meet Joe Smith, Joe comes to you, he wants to buy a building. Or Joe Smith comes to you, and he wants to lease a building. And you're like, hey, let's talk. So all of a sudden, you, he agrees that you're going to be his real. So you're going to meet, okay, this is what you're looking for, this is the exact spatial or go forward, this is a square footage, if it's a lease, this is the terms of the lease that you're looking for. And once that all happens, and Joe goes, Great, let me sign the lease, let me you know, I'm gonna buy this building. And you get to that point, so you either hook him up with the banker, or the commercial lender, or, you know, you get them to sign the lease. And now you need all you need any relationships and all these other spaces. Because you want to have your IT company in there, you want to have your model, contracting your contract, when they're remodeling, you're gonna want signs and banners, you're gonna want security systems, cabling, office furniture, all these things that go into buying a building, or leasing a commercial space. And if a word gets out that you're the go to person to make a move easy, you're gonna get a reputation. Okay? So it's taking, usually, if it's a big company, when they're looking for 20,000 square feet, or 30,000 square feet, you're usually dealing with the office manager at that point that first right? I would imagine that with MLS or any other systems that you guys have access to, you can get a list of all the leases that are coming up for renewal. Yeah, these people probably are tired of leasing and they want to buy it's a great time to buy. You see I'm saying so if you're wanting to break into that space, you've developed relationships with people that already have the middle like the cabling company. Typically the it cabling the cabling company are usually or the the banker are usually the first people to know that I'm interested in moving around interested in buying because that's the infrastructure that has to be done. So, your homework will be to take this list and create for poi relationships in the space take a picture of this and these are all people that you want to develop a relationship with overtime. So now you become the go to commercial realtor from them. So and you build this team, and and this, this system, if you will, to buy a commercial building this commercial space. That's how to even turn it into a system. So Am I answering your question? Am I Am I the academy any feedback here? I was gonna ask you, John, did you start at the new love tip? Chapter were you able to? Wow We're starting to win in Marysville. Oh, Marysville. Okay. I'm still that's not going to happen till October. I'm still looking for someone that wants to start one in where you're at. Oh, Grover, wherever you're at. Elk Grove southern Park. This if you look at this screen here, these top uz it's the top four here, the top four or you can go look at any of the tip chapters across the country. Usually the top four categories here, or even the top 10 but mainly the top four are the people that usually start these because once once they have the group, those categories have never opened ever again for a long time. You know, Bill hoagie is the founder of the tip of Carmichael. They've been around for 36 years. And he's built his company. He's got about 12 people on staff and about 85% of his businesses come through. That's it. Millions and millions, millions doors. So he didn't leave anytime soon. That category will not be open until he retires or dies. Yeah. And then gonna probably have an employee ticker. So, but yeah, you want to be the go to person to start tip chapter. You said oh growth? Yeah, self Sacco growth? Yeah, I mean, that's no growth is an untapped market. And, and I'd be more than happy to help you build it. And so all the homework, I would give you same homework, I gave Maggie Capitano. Open Marysville is getting the top 10 list here, you probably know somebody in there and just go out and say, Hey, we're thinking about starting leave a tip chapter, you know, growth. You're the you're the mortgage person that I know, you're the financial advisor. I know, you're the property and casualty insurance person I know. Would you like to have a conversation with John Pyron, about what that entails? And while you say yes or no, either way, if you decide you're going to start it, there's going to be a line out the door with certain categories here. Because I'm gonna go, I could all I got to do is to do a couple of social media posts. And listen, I'm starting with Chapter Millgrove. And it's first come first serve your property casualty insurance company, you want to get a spot because what's taking stake in those categories get fed a lot of business. So the only commitment that you actually have to make is I want to start with and because I'm going to do the lion's share of the work for the first three or four months to build out this chapter. And the tip is excited that I decided to do this. Because I want to speak at the convention in April. What's the annual fee for the tip 440 to join, that can be split out at $200 a month to $200 down 125 a month. And then the annual renewal is $360. That's up directly to the tip. Work. If you bring in two people or if you bring in six people into the tip anywhere in the country, you never clear any. And once you get to where you brought in 25 members into the tip, you have what's called a gold badge, which is what I am because I I wouldn't go back because I never wanted to pay the tip and never die. So once you hit 25 members, your lifetime member you'll never pay another dime. Yeah. The only fee only reoccurring fee that you have is each chapter has their own chapter dues, which covers either breakfast or lunch, whether it is whether it's a lunch chapter or a morning chapter in your case, because you're wanting residential, or you're wanting to real estate type connections. It needs to be a morning in the morning group that started about seven o'clock, till about 830. The reason morning groups are successful is because a lot of contractor type people. Once they're once they leave the meeting, they're not coming back to the lunchmeat. There's not many successful contractor real estate center groups that are lunch means there are mostly afternoon means and if you want to check it out in real time. Carmichael Lipton of Carmichael is the best example in the region of a real estate based chapter. They meet 7am North Ridge Country Club in Carmichael. And like I said, Chad has been around for 36 years. If you want to attend, I just got to let them know that you're a realtor, you're gonna come and attend as a guest just to see how the chapter runs because you're thinking about starting your own shop. And they'll be okay. You just won't be able to get a commercial as a realtor in that. In that group meeting. You just fly on the wall to see how the meeting ends. Yeah, I joined the one in West sac last month. It was eye opening. It was an impressive West SAC is a yeah, this in West SAC, you know with who was it a duck Coville and oh, you join the chapter. I mean, I didn't join them. I did a visit. Okay, okay. She did the Sakhalin champ. Yes. Was that one goal? Second Chapter. Oh, that is the Sacramento Chapter. Okay. Yeah. With Want to say what's her name? Oops. I can't hear you now. No, I'm still here. I'm just pulling up some. Okay. Yeah. So if you go chapters, Northern California, Sakhalin was the largest chapter. region. And the nice thing is, is once you're part of the team, you get access to all this nationwide. So they meet Tuesdays seven o'clock. And they're president is keep Kamala, she's the bank. Yeah. But this chapter has been around for 20 years, they said, Yeah. See that? The oldest member in the group is John and Troy and COVID. So you guys are real here. Financial Advisor, mortgage loans and residential real estate. Yep. And then since 1992, okay, those chapters, those categories have not been opened. So, whenever will be so long as these people are alive. So but yeah, it wouldn't be hard at all to duplicate this in your so f4 at 25 members of group averages about $1.5 million in shared business. At 30 people, they average about $2 million in shared business amongst themselves. If 44 members there, that group probably averaging about $4 million in shared revenue per year, shared commissions, because they're realtors, they don't report the value of the sale, they report their commission. So, but the nice thing is, is and how the only reason I actually joined looks it is let me share my screen. is I want to I wanted to go to my client and say yes. And so they wouldn't say okay, do you know, they like had somebody recently? It's like, Hey, do you know of a family law attorney? Absolutely. All I do is I go here and I go, attorney. Family Law was 28 of them. With guns 28. searched by the area here. And a man in Northern California, all the way home. He called me. Yes, sir. We have two family law attorneys in my backyard. So I just click on Dominic. And I happen to know Dominic, not from experience just being their manager. And I'm just going to pick up the phone and I'm gonna call Dominic, the one person that's the hardest to get a hold of on this planet as an attorney. But when I call their office, their receptionist is going to answer. Can I tell him he was calling? I'm gonna say yes. It's John Pyron. From the tip. Hold on. Just a second, sir. Yes, let me pass you through. Okay, I actually get to talk to the guy. And and he'll actually returned my call. Because I haven't I mean, no tip. And then I'll say, Hey, I got this person looking for a family law attorney. Are you are you taking new clients yet? Let me do a referral to them. So now I go here. And I'm going to give him the defaults to my chapter, which is the one I'm a part of. And all you got to do is take this filter off. And I'm going to look up Dominic. And here he is, I'm gonna send him this is also on my phone too. I can do this on my phone. And I have personal contact company name, phone number, email address, where the details are, I'm actually marked as a private tip because if it's a family law attorney, it's probably a personal thing. Right? And I'm going to hit submit, it's going to give an email and a text that I just gave him a referral. We only pass warm referrals here. We only have passed a referral where I've actually had the conversation with the person I would refer him said, Hey, I talked to Dominic, he's open to talking to you do you want me to refer him to absolutely is a warm referral So and I have access to everybody nationwide. There's 4900 members nationwide to earn 12 chapters. So I can meet my client's needs anywhere. Where this comes into strategy for both of you. Right? Is there's only one other business consultant in this whole region. Her name is Gina macaroons, socialism tip of Carmichael. And I don't think there is a business coach, there used to be a business coach in the Sacramento Chapter, but he retired. So the business coach and business consultant category is wide open anywhere in this region set for my chapter in Carmichael. But once you join, now you get access to all these people nationwide and where your categories not represented. You can talk to the people in that group, about you and your services, and so forth. So as a commercial realtor, if you join, if you start your own chapter, you're gonna get access to this. And now you're gonna build your network of vetted resources, you're gonna go in there, though, who's who's the electrical contractor, who's the business, commercial number, who's this and you've ever looked at the categories and call them and say, Hey, I just joined the tip, I'm going to be going after a lot of commercial business, and I'm looking for go to partners to refer my clients to your in luck tip, I'm gonna tip love to have loved to have a phone conversation, I will do a phone conversation. Too many people want to have a coffee and a meet and greet, no lunch and all this other stuff. And it's a waste of time. Until you know you like the person. So that's how I would approach that. And like I said, if you want to start your own chapter, just let me know. Because Celerina just paperwork. We don't even you don't even sign up on anything until you go, I want to do it. And then we'll say, Okay, three weeks from now, we're going to have a meeting. And our goal between now in that meeting is to find five other people just like you that want to join, we have a meeting. Here's what we're thinking about doing. Here's what we're going to do. And you have a meeting of the people that would be a part of that initial group. And everybody says, Yep, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to do it. Okay, so everybody signs up, the tip sends you the kit, I come down there once a week help you run the meeting until you can learn on your own. And I'm gonna add a bunch of people to the group. So that's how you do it. How many hours do you think you have to spend on on this like a week or dedicated to your case, probably, while the meeting time, obviously, which is going to drive to the meeting, I don't know, hours, yeah, I would, I would obviously, select a location close to your home, since you're the one store, you get to control all these decisions. Close to the freeway is the best, you know, easy access. And, and so once you decide on that, then the meeting time, you know traveled to and from the meeting time and the meeting time itself, and then probably an extra hour to two hours a week at the most. Because those those two hours are going to be spent building your own power base in that group. So we're not just going to add members, we're going to add people that can keep you business up to everybody else to add people that will feed them business. But we're going to be very selfish in the beginning. And which is definitely what I've recommended everybody is you're going to add people that can feed your business and you can feed them business. Just fine. Turn the Fill box. So yeah, wouldn't Would I be able to say okay, I'll take the real estate category, both residential and commercial, one category, each category is represented by one member, and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Okay? If you want both categories, then you sign up for a company membership under the real estate residential. And you have somebody else in your company come to the same meeting and they sign up as a real estate commercial company name now you both are part of the group. So like Kevin has Michael working with him under his broker's license, and Kevin wanted to be the realtor or the mortgage person in the group? both commercial and residential? Yeah, man MicroPen join under the same company name. The benefit of doing the company membership versus the personal membership. There's no cost difference it's the company owns the membership, not the person So if Michael and Kevin part ways, Kevin keeps the membership and just find somebody else to represent. So, that's how that works. So, alright guys, I've just noticed the time. So have a blessed day. And I will see you in two weeks. Adrian boisdale will be leading the call next Monday. And let me ask you two questions real quick. Someone put it out is Adrian and I are thinking about teaming up on this mastermind call. Because both of us have massive networks. And we're thinking about just blowing this thing up. So would you guys find it more valuable? Having more and more people on this call? Or do you like it small and intimate like this? I think we can invite more people. Well, yeah. All right. Well have a blessed day. All right. Thank you. You guys said

Transcript: All right, welcome to this week's edition of the 10x business owners mastermind group call John Pyron. Your host, the business doctor, and this is the third Monday of the month. So we're talking about operations and service delivery. And prior to starting call me and the group of people that are on here live, when we're talking about networking groups, specifically the tip, which is very similar to BNI, and specifically about this guy on the East Coast, that really has nailed down a mentoring process. And so it fits right into our topic today, because there's 212 chapters nationwide, almost 5000 members, and this guy has seemed to crack the code in attracting people giving them to a meeting and converting them into new members. And it's a process, it is a system. And so when you look at business processes, usually when you're first starting out in business, you just want to survive, you want to create money, and, and you don't care how much out how many hours it takes to do it, you want to create money and and that is your number one goal is to survive. Once you've gotten your income needs, that could vary to be $60,000 a year, it could be $150,000 a year, it's whatever that business owner has decided this is the income that I need to have to where I never have to go back to work for someone else. That's usually the first milestone. The next step is operations and service delivery. It's okay now that I know how to create money now that I know how to market my business now that I know how to generate leads and convert those leads. I have proven to myself that if I get a lead, I can walk them through a process and get them to give me money no matter what type of business you have. Okay. gratulations if that's you, because you have figured out the number one problem that most business owners have, the number one reason that 85% of all small businesses fail in the first five years is they can't figure that piece out. And they run through their savings. They run through the money. I have a guy that we're closing escrow on the sale of his business this Friday. He started this business in June of last year, took us two mines hired me to help them start the business been working with him ever since. And but he didn't he didn't want to he only wanted me to help him in sales. They want to help me, let me help him in any other area of the business. Which he's now looking back and going that was a huge mistake. Because he invested well over $250,000 and we're finalizing the sale on that business for $150,000 This week, because the wife said I'm retiring. Moving on going now. Now, he's hired me to sell it in some getting into the melon, oh man, you know, this is this right here, this right here, this right here, this right here, this right here really needed to be fixed and done correctly. This is well over $55,000 a month. But by the because of the inefficiencies of his processes of his systems. The net profit on that is extremely low. And so there's some things that you'll want to as you grow your business to remember that some day unless your whole goal and there's and I want to preface what I'm about to say there is nothing wrong with being a sole proprietor, a solo entrepreneur for the rest of your life. Okay, just just so I'm clear, okay. Challenges if something happens to you. The music stops Okay, so I have a very dear friend of mine, I'm not going to get into the name in but he has been in very high level ICT D for many, many years. I personally mentored him and coached him as a salesperson when I used to train salespeople. I turned into him into a badass sales engineer. Okay, he worked for an IT comp it managed service company. He was an engineer. He wanted to learn sales because you can either make money fixing computers or you can not only fix computers, but you can make even more money If you know how to sell, so I taught him how to sell, which ultimately made him number one in the company, which ultimately led Cisco to come and completely recruited his butt away. And then ultimately, Salesforce. But I kept telling him along the way, you need to get all this stuff out of your head, as to what you do when you give a lead, what you do, how you contact them, what you do, when you set the appointment, how you set the appointment, what you say, what the process that prospect goes through, to ultimately say yes, and the easiest way, if you have been in business, is to go back and look at the last 10 to 15 customers that you have, that you would like that you want more of, and reverse engineer from right now all the way to the back to the point where they they discovered who you are. Okay. And it's gonna leave a fingerprint. This is this works. This is like the number one strategy for real estate and mortgage is you have a buyer fingerprint. So an example would be if I got a lead, somebody wants to buy a home, somebody wants to sell a home, somebody wants to get a mortgage. My very first question, if I'm a realtor is tell me about the last home you bought. Tell me about the home that you bought. I mean, you're in a four bedroom, two and a half bath house two stories on a half an acre lot. Tell me about that process? What made you buy this home? What did you like about that home? You know, and I'm going to have them explain to me exactly what the process they went through to buy that home, because they're going to tell me exactly how to sell to them. Okay, how to walk them through the process, because they are have already been through that process, they obviously liked the process because they bought same thing with it. Same thing with the handyman, is you go back and you look at all your clients you've ever had, and reverse engineer the process. And the nice thing is, is if you just take this one little system, this little system will make you a ton of money. Okay, because every single time you get a client, you just reverse engineer that process. And you're gonna find that as you grow as you change over time, your process and your system is going to get tighter and tighter and more converting. The more you do this, is once you have the code once you know what the code is. So okay, how many people can I add to this, I was talking to my counterpart, Nancy, who by the way, is volunteered to be a guest on next week's call. And I'm going, I trained her to go from being real estate attorney to business consulting. And so next week, and in very specific niche, like she is a genius when it comes to operations systems. But more importantly, now that I'm the business owner, now that I actually have money, how do I maximize that money? And how do I keep that money. So she's going to do a whole training on business finance. So you definitely don't want to miss that. Definitely listen to the recording, but it's a process and it's a system. And so every single thing that you do in your business, always be thinking if I get hit by a bus, I get hit by a bus. If I went away for three weeks, if I went to Vacation for three weeks, you know, is it what aspects of my business has to run without me? Otherwise, if you stop the music stops, right? So personal story that I'm opening up for live q&a, as I've been on the hunt, specifically for one or two business partners, not employees, business partners. I've had three very actually 1234 Very successful partnerships. And so I'm like, why am I going to reinvent the wheel I can I can implement this funnel. It's on my wall here by myself, me myself and I with some employees and subcontractors, and at the end of the day own 100% of it. And I've been totally fine. What I found for me personally, is that's been on that wall for two since prior to COVID. Okay, and And I was already going down the road of implementing it COVID Hit and I'm like, I don't need the I really don't need to implement. But I am well, fully were aware of this. If I leave this house, something happens to me, all the music stops. Okay. And to me, that's unacceptable. This is the first business I've ever had in the last 25 years that completely depends on me. And so I'm like, You know what? Preston's back in school kids are back in school, that to foreign exchange students, they're back in school. Now's the time. So when found two business partners, I've been talking to him for a while we're forming a new company this week. And we're gonna build that funnel. By the time that funnel is said and done to me about 25 to 50, coaches, and consultants in all different disciplines where nothing depends on me or any of the other partners. The reason I'm bringing on partners, and here's the system, by the way, I will bust my ass a whole lot more. Okay, and do things that I really don't want to do, if I have a good solid business partner that I have respect for. Okay, the only other flip side is if I go out and hire a W two employee that will put a fire undermined by as well. But I would rather do it with a business partner. Because Adrian has incredible digital marketing skills. Chris is the other partner he's as incredible operational skills and getting things done. The three of us combined the Dream Team, when it comes to this type of consulting business. In the real estate business, right, there's a couple of ways you can do it. There is a you can duplicate yourself through other agents, if you're relatively nice is going to start your own brokerage. And so you can recruit other agents, you can also go and maybe become an exp realtor, build your own group, Kevin and Michael work together. So you can go and find another mortgage person, there's so many different ways that you could partner and, and really leverage each other. Right. And so I'm just one of those systems that I've used for years is divvying up the work responsibility. So that way, a year from now, which alone is going to probably only going to take six months to a year to have the business in such a way where if I am gone for three weeks, one, or both of my business partners who show up to this call, and rocket, like you guys will get a tremendous amount of value out of both of those guys, because they're both serial entrepreneurs, and they're both very successful at what they do. Okay. And so that's my, my two cents for today, as far as operations and systems is look at, okay, what is the next thing that needs to be duplicated in your business that will give you the most leverage and increase in revenue without you actually having to do all the work? Okay. So with that said, Any questions, comments, suggestions about what we've talked about? Or do you have something specific nonrelated? Go ahead, Josiah, do you want to talk about today? Hey, yes, just I have no more handyman of the group here. And I was just thinking about the the ways for myself specifically, to get ahead, in that respect of what you were just talking about. In my mind, I would either need to train someone, like my partner who I can do some like medium sized projects with how to do my quotes, because I have a specific way that I run everything from, you know, what I've found in my district to, you know, the not just the sales tax here, but my overhead and what I need to, you know, accomplish and Loomis and then the discounts that I can offer to my clients for multiple kinds of projects. So there's a lot that kind of goes in, you know, like you would know, like, you know, you know, building any business when you're starting from the beginning, how do I maybe not feel like I'm just kind of starting from scratch trying to get someone else up to date on everything that I've had to learn, so that, you know, I can maybe have them, put in some quotes and schedule them out and maybe I go on vacation for, you know, a week or something like that is there. Yes. Great question. So, if you pull this straight out of McCalla Watts his book called clockwork especially The big one, the one that just got revised. In that as a handyman, I would be investing in like a GoPro. Okay? And part of the agreement that you have a customer sign before you start work is releasing, you know, giving you authorization to use that GoPro when doing your work for them. Okay, now obviously, you want to wipe out any personally identifying parts of that video, right? So getting a good solid video person is gonna be key. But now all of a sudden you you're able to train, you're able to video you doing the actual work and walking people through, you know, walking yourself through the process, you're basically creating a training module, if you will for your company. So that's one thing. The other thing is using an app like otter, right, OTT II are using an app called Brain toss. And then having a Zoom account. Now, unless it's going to be longer than 40 minutes, a free Zoom account will suffice. And so when you're sitting down to do your estimates, you're sharing your screen. And with yourself, you're hitting a record, and you're walking through the process of doing an estimate. You're walking through the process of doing a quote, okay, it'd be a big pain in the beginning. But once you get the process down, you're done. Next process done. Next process done, there's only so many processes or systems that you're going to need. Put it in a Google Drive folder categorized in the four key areas of business marketing, sales, operations, service delivery, admin, and finance, start dropping that content in there. Don't worry about editing that, right. The only thing that you really need to edit is going to be the GoPro video stuff that you do. Okay, so now down the road, when you do want to bring on an apprentice. You already have all that stuff done. Okay. The flip side, okay, and there's there's actually a really solid book out there written by David Ginny's called system ology. So a whole culture that got released last year. Because Michael Gerber is his mentor, and the E Myth is really geared towards an established business. It's been around for a while. system, ology takes it from startup, like brand new. I just started my business just got my business license, to the point of being completely independent of your business, or your business, being completely independent of you is worksheets and all that stuff in there. But really, if I was there, give you a revert night, a lot of everybody on here, except for maybe Jack is old enough to remember, let me give you the Reader's Digest version. Right. And that is, well, maybe Michael is not old enough. Hey, I still had those. I know what those are. Yeah, back in the day, it was the Reader's Digest version of, of the book. And that is document as you go, especially when you're in startup mode. Because one day, you're gonna want to have somebody do that. And the thing that the number one problem that gets in the way of an a solo entrepreneur hiring somebody is there, they usually don't hire until they're completely maxed out. Until they're working 5060 hours a week, and then just the thought of bringing on somebody becomes a few let me get this straight, dude. Do I have a root canal today? Or do I have open heart surgery? I mean, either one sounds good. But I'm kind of stuck now. Right? Don't wait. Right? Do it now. Get your processes and systems done now one of the time. And when you do go to hire somebody, it's not this big pain in the butt. That you think oh my god, I have to take out now how am I going to do all the work and keep the business going and make the money and now I'm responsible for an employee and I gotta take my time to train them. And I already work 65 hours a week, 70 hours a week. I might as well just do it myself because nobody can do it better than me. Right? That's the big trap. So that would be my answer as their seniors. Okay, different things that you want to implement. And before anything else on that one before we want to jack Thank you, Jack. Song along the lines that I did a big project. This is kind of Not this is one I raise my hand for. But that's funny. So I did a project I had probably a dozen people have a mother in law's house yesterday. So my dad owns a property. So I grew up pretty handy. I didn't need to do a lot of housework. So I divvied up people based on their skill level and what they could do. And so I tried to put people unfortunately, what I knew I can fix too. So if I had someone who wasn't skilled enough, they could do most of the way, right, it wasn't so wrong, that I can fix something. So I went and redid the whole basement floor over the day and a half. So, which was a lot of fun to do actually enjoyed that project. And then, you know, I see like some little small things that are missed upstairs. I'm like, You know what, that's what I get, you know, they're good enough. And I could, I tried to not beat him up. Why did you put the dropcloth down? No, I just kind of go the other way and say, Hey, listen, this might help you next time. So I have some of these things. So try not to beat up people on projects. And one thing I was also taught, was never be afraid to teach someone to become better than you at something. And you might show someone something. And they're like, like I like I'm really good with spackle. But there's this one guy I met who was almost a surgeon, and I was doing liquidation. And we had to do, we had to repair the whole building this is in. This is going back 10 years. And I want to say we were in Hamilton or something. And we had to patch every single hole in the wall. And I showed this guy a little bit of what I was doing. He was a machine, he was perfect. He's about four feet tall. So he needed a ladder. But he was absolutely great with everything he did. The other so mad enough, though, and actually thought this is interesting, because I've been listening to this recently to is when you're talking about also the people that you're able to work with, with these processes. What's important is Respect, respect and trust. It's not just that you like someone, when it comes to professional, you don't want to not like someone but respect and trust and to be a much more fundamental and higher on the list of priorities than whether or not you'd like someone, are they able to do the job without it becoming a problem is the system in place, you know, maybe maybe they are too sarcastic for you, but you don't care, they get the job done. But respect and trust is really important when it comes to systems. Do you trust that they can go through this system? And I do actually no, you said E Myth might be a little advanced. But I do think about the E Myth all the time about am I doing something that can be replicated to so if I find something that works really well. Even the other day I do with literally everything, whether it be work personal life, if I'm doing something more than one time, I'm gonna look at can I improve this every single time I put down a floor and I was trying to see is there a better way to get these tiles in place than what I was doing and continue to improve on the process? Even for something I've done before? Is there a new tool? Is there something that makes my life easier? Both ways? I just look at that every way. And I think as I just talked about, I think I actually got this from as a kid playing video games. Because you know, when you couldn't save a video game, you had to figure how to finish it. So you have to figure out which pattern you things you can do. So I do still know readers that I just grew up with a basic Nintendo at least. Not quite Atari. I know what it is. But I didn't have one. It wasn't the newest, newest, greatest thing. But that was my two cents. Trust. Weird transition age, I kind of had a typewriter too, when I was a kid, and then, you know, obviously that went away very quickly. Yeah. Any anybody else have anything they would like to go over today? How's everybody's business plans going? Okay, me actually questions that you can ask yourself is ask yourself this, are you on track with the action items in your plan for this month. Remember, action items in the one page plan or monthly strategies or quarterly objectives or annual mission very rarely changes. It's just what you do. Vision gets updated every year. Because it's a three to five year vision or 10 year vision. Even if it was a 10 year vision, like I have a client that's been able four and a half years together now they've hit every single objective they've ever set. Because every week I hold them accountable to their action items and their plan. Every quarter we adjust their strategies. Every year we adjust your objectives. They've gotten so confident now that they set a tenure objective for 102 employees and multiple locations. So you can see that far out well. Every year. It goes from a tenure plan to an nine year plan to an eight year plan to you know, so forth. Once it gets down to a five year that we reset and we add backup five more years. So the question comes down to I'll ask you guys the same question I asked every single one of my one on one clients is number one, are you still committed to your vision statement? And the answer is yes. or it's no. Now. Most of the time they say yes. So my next question to them is okay. Are you on track with completing your action plans? And your one page plan this month? Well, no, I'm not. Okay. So let me go back and ask the question, when are you 100% committed to your vision statement? Yes, then two things, one or two things has to happen. Either that vision statement has to change and lower itself to match your activity. Or your activity has to rise to a different level to match your vision. But and I tell him this, when I'm in a one on one situation with him, I go, I don't want my job is to prevent you from lying to yourself. Okay, so if you can't get your activity have to match your vision statement that we need to lower the vision statement to match your activity. Okay, so how about this? How about we just draw a line in the sand today and call it a clean slate and between Now in our next meeting next week, you get your activity up to match what you say you want. Okay, and so when in a one on one setting, that's what I do now. The reason I'm sharing this with you is, take a look at each one of you over this next week. Take a look at your one page plans. Next Monday is our final meeting of the month before we go into September. So now's a good time to get your plan updated and come prepared next Tuesday. To ask questions you are more than welcome to ask any question you want on this call about your one page plan and get mastermind you know, information from multiple people on this call about your plan. Right that's the advantage that you guys have over what my own one on one clients don't have. Okay, so go for Jack. So one question while I'm working my plan and continue to find that I was wondering what would you say if you want to if I want to keep reaching for bigger and higher clients, so bigger size clients? What are some ways that you can because I heard an interesting thing recently that a client had a one of his clients made up 50% of his business when he first signed him up that this point that guy same client only makes up 5% So keep searching for for Wales because the situation of ours is hard to reverse engineer or the owner ran into when the craps table decade plus ago. And they had 12 people now that just blew up. So it's hard to replicate that one unless I have a gambling problem. But for other ones trying to find larger clients how do you keep looking and searching and keep trying to jump up to the next level? So I'm going to open up a whiteboard here. And while it's opening I am going to and actually this applies Yeah, this would apply to everybody here. So hold on just a second here. So in your case we're talking now actually probably your level let's just say 10 to 50 users will be considered small business. And this is relative to everybody. Okay. This would be this in your case is going to be we're still sticking to what Microsoft's definition is going to be this right here like this whole whiteboard thing All right, anyways, you get the gist? All right, then we're talking, let's get up here. This is going to be large, which is going to be 250. Plus. The difference here is this small business. That was a quick, fast sale cycle. Okay? So in the real estate business as long as I can get somebody qualified, if I'm bernisa, and I find somebody a mate, that's a renter, my conversation is going to be like, Hey, how would you like to actually own your own home at some point? Oh, yeah, we just don't, most people don't even know how to even do that. Right? Or they don't think they qualify, or, you know, something's happened. It's like, you know, I've only connected with Michael or Kevin, hey, there were friends of mine during the mortgage business, let me just have you meet with them, and have them get you pre qualified, once they get you pre qualified that we can talk about your buying, but it might take a year for you to get pre qualified, I don't know. There might go to guys, right. And, and that can happen like that. Once you get to pre qualifying now I'm going to go and sell them a home. Because there are first time homebuyer and they're probably not going to go after a 500,700 50,000 $1 million home. Okay, the larger the deal, the longer the sales cycle. But in the meantime, I gotta pay bills. Okay, so if I'm trying to pay bills, and I'm in the mortgage industry, or the real estate industry, in the IT industry, I'm going after the smallest client, I can find the smallest job I can find some cash in right now. So the small business owner tend to fit to users, there's a ton of them. I like that space, just simply because they're too big to not have an IT person, they're too small to hire an IT person, they are outsourcing to a competitor. So in your case, Jack, I'm going to leverage all the information you didn't learn about business on this mastermind call or any other call and your whole focus is okay, Mr. Small business owner, what's your biggest problem that you have? How can I solve that problem so I can earn the right to talk to you about your it because I guarantee your current IT company ain't talking to you about how to build your business. Okay. So that's a shorter sales cycle, I could meet somebody today, I could have been on site meeting with them and their office manager tomorrow, I can have them signed up on a managed service agreement by this Friday. Okay, just boom, boom, medium sized company, typically going to have a CFO, typically going to have an office manager, typically going to have maybe a part time person or definitely a long term relationship with an IP company. Between that 51 and 100. user space, definitely going to have an IT company, once it gets 75 users and above, probably going to hire somebody internally that has screwed up their network to a point where it cannot operate without that individual, and he knows it or she knows it. And they think it's job protection. Okay. So those setup sales cycles could take anywhere from two weeks to six months. Okay? The large enterprise space in the payoffs bigger when it happens, right? The large enterprise space could take anywhere from six months to two years. Okay, so when I'm building an IT company, or consulting anybody in the IT space, I'm drawing this pyramid out, and we're setting goals on how we're going to go after all of this at the same time. This thing, I'm gonna send this to Jack, it should be a part of the recording. But I used to have this diagram on my wall. When I owned it companies, I knew exactly how many prospects and clients I had in small business space and medium business space, a large business space. The reason I built this like this jack, is on September 18 2008, Lehman Brothers announced that they're going bankrupt. Okay. One year prior September of 2007. I converted every single client from break fix to a managed service flat rate service agreement. Bunch of people in these different areas so when the economy collapsed the following year, I kicked me Karl politic kicked everybody's ass in this town. Right? And it's not. Now we just did is we converted our businesses to to protect the downside. So if I'm a handyman, right, I I'm going to have a ton of, you know, small jobs. Okay. I'm going to have a ton of small homeowners who give me little small jobs here and there. Okay, my medium size clients. I'm gonna start targeting more professional class homeowners. Okay? husband works. wife works. Both busy. Both make a shit ton of money, right? They don't want to be doing their own lawn on a Saturday. Okay? Because I'm a handyman. Well, well, your handyman, you're not a lawn guy. I know. But I'm a handyman. I'm your property management company. Okay, without you having to hire a property management company. You let me worry about how the lawn gets molded. You let me worry about how the pool gets cleaned up. Let me worry about how the HVAC gets maintained. I'm basically switching my hat from being the handyman doing the actual work to being the project manager and Property Management dude. Having my vendors in there doing all the damn work. Okay. And okay, clarify your grades ticket now. Go ahead. So, how do I get paid to organize that? I am charging a fee for that. So what I'm doing with a medium sized client like that, and then what then again, in your space, medium sized client, husband and wife work? Both professionals both make a boatload of money. Okay, both can pay me. Okay. So I'm going to come up with a package that basically says, Hey, any one or to our job, aside from materials cost, okay. Any one to two hour job? At least twice a month. I will just come in and do. Okay? Because you're going to be on my quarterly bi annual yearly subscription. Okay, now, this is advanced ship because no handyman does this stuff. Okay. But I'm going to create a package that says, Hey, pay me 250 bucks a month. And I'm, I'm your property manager. Okay, any little minor jobs that are one to two hours, I'll just take care of right now. Any blonde stuff, any things like that? I'm not doing the work. But I'm going to coordinate the vendor to do the work and make sure they do the good job. Now, I'm just throwing out numbers here. This is not this is something you're going to want to look at and go okay, is it 250 bucks a month is a tuner $95 a month. You know, if I have a husband and wife, and they're both combined total income, probably $150,000 a year, divide that by 2000. At each hour of their time is were $72 An hour 72 point 12 times four hours a month is $288. Okay, $280 is how much time they're gonna spend trying to find somebody to do something that you already have a network of people that know how to do it. You see, I'm saying? So I'm gonna get myself into a reoccurring revenue model. And, I mean, I did this with a carpet cleaning did, I did this with scrap monkey, I did this with who was that client? Epic, he has a handyman, and he does pressure washing. Okay. And so we created these packages, that once somebody does a job with you once, all you got to do is have a conversation with them and go, Hey, you're probably going to have other stuff that breaks or other stuff that needs to be done. Do you really want to take your time and go and find the right person and vet them and make sure they're licensed? No, I liked the plan. I just it sounds also like, it has a lot more steps that may include doing something like you know, trying to build a plan like that or trying to you know, sell a package like that to someone like I work with, you know, property management companies, and I'm thinking they might be a particular side of the medium size type projects, especially since I get paid, at least like two weeks out from them usually. So now I think that's a great plan now but just someone thinking that I'm doing all of this by myself. Like when I mean, I guess I imagine you with these plans, you have to just build a plan that works to do it step by step, you know, to eat that elephant one bite at a time, right? Yeah. So, you know, once you do the math on this, it's like, let's just say that, let's just say it's 295 bucks, right? States $295, you know, a month, or if you pay the whole year in advance, I'll give you two months for free. So 2950, okay. And depending on the homeowner, not, it's not going to be a problem. Okay, but let's just say it's 295. And you get 10 of those people, that's 29 $150 a month, I can realistically hire a subcontract stay at home mom to coordinate everything, for a third of that cost. And so I'm no longer even having to do that shit. So it's back to operations and service delivery in my business, right? When I'm beginning, I'm the guy wearing all the hats on the guy doing all the work. My goal is to max is to create enough of that work, where I can hire a contractor or an employee to do the work. Then you build it one at a time. So my client, engineering client, a client of mine, than the other four and a half years of hiring their 11th employee, now, hey, we've averaged 1.5 to two employees per year, like clockwork, is every time we hire an employee, the owner goes back to work in that position and maxes himself out again. And then we hire the next one, then we max out again, then we hire next one. Now we've gotten to a point where we max out this employee we hired the next. Right, but each employee along the way is profit. So if we just hired the employee, he wouldn't play golf. Yeah. So, but it's how can I create leverage with my time, if I'm Kevin, if I'm Michael, if I'm Lisa, if any of you, I want to look at that for list exercise is shared with you guys. I think last month, go back and listen, go back and look at it. It's labeled for list exercise. Okay, under the recorded calls, I want to keep track of that. Because once I have a certain task, or a combination of tasks added, added more than 10 hours a week of my time, I'm gonna go hire somebody to do that shit. I'm gonna have to hire an employee. Now, I'm gonna go hire somebody to do that. Because now I've got 10 hours a week for my time back, etc. Now, if you're in mortgage real estate, I just had a conversation with Nancy, she's like, oh, man, nothing's happening here on the East Coast. And we, you know, we're not gonna we're not having, you know, the market is slowing down. Right, the market is slowing down. Alex has ever heard that my life and the market slowing now. I'm like, freaking badass man. What do you mean, I know, when the market slows down, all the non professionals retreat to the hills. Okay, they they they retreat. The ones that make the money are the ones that face that storm and drive right into it and go, Okay, I'm going to up my game from a sales from a content standpoint, I'm going to reach out to more people on the call more people on connect with more people, because your competitor is going back and getting a job somewhere. Because the easy mortgage or the easy refinance is gone. Or the easy house sale or listing or buyer is gone. Right? But go back and talk to anybody that was in real estate in 1980 81 and 82. When mortgage rates were 21% and ask them how many homes got sold that year, and I guarantee a bunch of homes got sold. Right? Why? Because all the people that were amateurs went back and got a job somewhere. That professional said, Okay, this is a huge opportunity for me. I'm just gonna go and plow, right? It's like, oh, it's upstairs in chapter I think chapter seven of the 10x rule book it talks about four levels of four degrees of action. Okay, and the third degree is the most dangerous which is normal levels of action. Yeah, comfort, love comfort zone. Comfort level. Need to be at a massive action level at all times is especially when the markets getting ready to switch Which in the real estate market is getting ready to switch in a big way? From everybody I've talked to, and everybody I know. And so most of your competition is going to head to the hills. They're going to reach. Press in. You're like, man, well, I know you'll get a job now. And so yeah, go go make your ends meet. But I'd be freaking taken every waking hour, sharpening my axe, sharpening my skills contacting more people, because nobody else is going to be doing it. Everybody else is gone. Yeah. So same thing as a handyman. No digital AI robot is going to come in and replace a bathroom showerhead. Okay, I've got a frickin you know, up in my, in my house here, all you have to do is pick up the phone and hack harass my wife. Okay. And because I already let you know, already said, Hey, man, I got work to do around here. Right? But I'm not gonna follow up with you. Because I'm busy. Right? And how many more people out there like me. They have a lot of crap to get done. But it's like, okay, well, shit. Yeah, the only reason I took apart that I'm looking out my window here, the only reason I took apart that damn bed is because I waited till the very last damn minute before that, check, check. Exchange Student Well, right here the other night. Now, I should have what I should have done. If you would have been harassing my wife, I wish and I just have to cycle over do the shit. I don't want to do this took me two hours to do that damn thing. Because the bolts were strapped and all this other crap. And I'm like, I'm like, I can go down to my garage and get my grinder and go to town. But I'm like, I just, I was gonna resell the thing. I'm screwed. I destroyed the thing. Because I got pissed when I could have sold the thing for a couple of 180 300 bucks and paid you 100 bucks to take it apart. You know? But, and then I wasted two hours of my time. Okay, so the point is, is in each one of your businesses talk to prospective prospects and ask them how can I help you? Okay, how, how often would you check back with people after you give them a quote? or speak with them initially? If I give you a quote, If I if you give somebody a quote? Yeah. Jack, let me ask you answer that question. So when somebody you give somebody a quote, what's your process Jack I start with trying to find the mute button, which is quite elusive at that point. So when I give someone a quote, If I don't leave with a signature, I'm leaving with a follow up step of when I'm doing the next step of talking to them. So and if it's needed to do a second presentation. So like, for some clients, I'll do a presentation put a quote in front of that, I know that there's more people involved in the decision making process, and I don't trust the telephone game. And I give them a story of how it's okay, you know, so and so client, I actually present the to each one of them. So instead of you trying to remember the whole thing I just went through, I'll just do it again, for them. You don't have to sit there and two, when's a good time for them to sit down. So if there's not this decision maker, I scheduled that same same thing scheduled appointment, don't wait for them to hear back from you. Always leave scheduling the next step. Because if you don't, it'll fall by this this undefined wait time, which you might not catch back up on. And again, like sales cycles are all gonna be different per person, per industry per every variable. It could be something simple, but if you I also start off before I get to the contract part, one of the first things I do my presentation is tell them to walk me through their buying process, whether they're buying a car or buying it services, they usually have well, you know, I kind of like to sit on a quote for a little bit, see how I feel about it, whether someone's like, Hey, this looks great. I'm firing away on it, because I know it solves a problem for me. So start in the beginning how they buy a product, whatever your product is, if you were to buy a new shower for a year, well, what do you would think, what's your process of buying a shower, they don't have one. You can give them examples. And you can see if one feels closer to them, you're trying to see if the you know, putting the right size shoe on their foot there. But so it starts in the beginning at the entry level. That's another step of what are you doing next. And I also took this thing from someone else that because I know a lot of times and I'm quoting and they're gonna go and get several quotes like everyone else. You're gonna shop up and they say, Hey, listen to your site. Can you just do me one favor? I know you're gonna look at a couple other companies here. So can we just say either way have a conversation at the end just so we can see where we stand on things to, even if we aren't your favorite war fits there? Or can be, hey, that we love what you put in front of us. What are next steps, we could start right away most of the time, it's what are next steps. I had a client who actually came back gave me my competitors quotes, which I hold on to because now I know more of my competitors in the industry near me. And we were we were actually the most expensive one. So they weren't shopping our price. They're shopping on the value and everything else I gave them. But I found that out by what they gave me. So I just told them that either way, have another conversation them because I told them how to read my clients contracts and look for the fine print and where they're going to lose their money. And appreciate that. Only you send them a quote. I mean, if you're sitting next to him, the best way to close deals presented, right? So hey, can I go over this with you? Right? If you can't do that, then send them a quote, I send them a text going, Hey, I just sent you a quote. Hey, got a couple of spots open this afternoon. Let's talk about it. If I don't hear from him, and you know, text always gets read. If I don't hear from him with it, by the end of the day, I'm picking up the phone and I'm calling him he gets a quote. Any questions? Are you ready to roll on this? Okay. Well, let me think about it. Okay. What do you need to think about? Okay, how about today is Monday? What do you think about it between now and 5pm? Tomorrow? And let me know what you think. Okay. Now the thing that works is put a put a expiration date on the quote, squats, Smith, told Friday. Like some guy booked a strategy session with me last week, he happens to be an old client of mine was scheduled for tomorrow. I told him I said, Hey, you got by Friday to pay that bill? And if you don't pay it, then it's gonna get rescheduled? Well, he didn't pay it. So I'm gonna send an email, basically canceling the appointment. Okay, and saying, Hey, if you want to reschedule, here's the link to my calendar to go to reschedule. And if you don't reschedule by the end of today, the price is going up if you do want to reschedule because I don't really care. Now, the reason you could do that is when you have a big old pipeline business. Right? A big pipeline. You can say stuff like that, because you don't need one person. Right, Kevin, you got a question? Or just gonna comment on kind of what y'all are talking about. For me, I'm a little softer than that most of my business is referred. And so I can pretty, I can stay on people pretty tight with the excuse that he listened. Steve referred me to you. I want to make sure I get back to Steve about how we're doing. Because the biggest problem people have is the job they want to get done. Doesn't ring. Friday night, they go back, I'm back on it. Should I need to do that? That pipe out in the back? Yeah. Okay. I'll call somebody on Monday. And they go on with their, their day, right? So he doesn't ring. And that's what I tell them. I say, Listen, I know that doesn't ring. So I'm going to bring your phone to make sure that you get done what you want to get done. And to I'm going to have I want to get back to Steve and tell him how I did. Because it's important to me that he knows I'm doing a great job following up with you. Otherwise, you won't be continuing for a business. Absolutely. So I want to go at the same pace you want to go. Like I want to follow up with you as fast as you want me to. But at the same time, I want to make sure I can report back to Steve, because I want to make sure that relationship is more importantly, honestly than me doing business with you today. I mean way but I say the way they understand. And the other thing I'm trying to do is see them for referring the business. Yeah, absolutely. Keep them informed and so forth. So very, very important. Very, very good stuff. So that's a great way to close out our call is solely refers you business. The most important thing I got from this and Thanks for the reminder, Kevin is the most important person in the referral process. Is the person referring you the business, not the referral itself? I liked that. That's a great quote. I'm gonna steal it. So there you go. All right, guys. Have a blessed day, man. Call me or text me if you need anything. I'll be going

Transcript - All right, welcome to this week's edition 10x business owners mastermind group call. This is the first Monday. And so we are talking about marketing today. And as always teach some principles for 510 15 minutes and then open it up for live q&a. But this is the one thing, the one area that I can just tell you just from working with hundreds of business owners now it's the weakest area most business owners hands down beyond a shadow of a doubt, probably 90% of the business owners that come to me and get referred to me your strategy session. Marketing is unless they're a marketing company, obviously, this is one of the weakest areas. Because it's a mystery. To understand marketing. Now, the one thing about marketing is this, it's all about attention, it's really all marketing is getting attention. And the more attention you can get, the better. So it's a quick story as I was in my locker, and a brand new member that had joined our low tip group. Advertising specialties they make stuff well he, he himself is full time in the Air Force, he's going to be in the Air Force for another seven years, okay, his wife is full time in the business. And after talking with them, and doing the strategy session with them. I just told him, he goes, he goes, let me refer you to some three of my friends. So he refers me to these three guys in England. And I do a strategy session with them yesterday. And one of the things that we talked about is marketing, okay, you're starting a business from scratch, okay. And right out of the gate, you understand you got to get attention. The reason you need attention is because if I don't know you, I can't give you money. And in today's society, you're not going to get the attention that you need with one post a week on social media. Okay, you're not going to, you're not going to get the attention that you need to grow your business, if you're contacting one person a day. Okay? Until you are, I'll tell you what my mentor told me a long time ago, and it's something I continue to do myself, every time I start a company or every time I help a company start until you are absolutely 100% buried in business. You're the marketer. Okay? So you have to make it a habit of getting attention for your business every single day. Because your business operates on, you know, it's just like a human being the human being operates on oxygen and air marketing to a business is like areas to a human being. Without it, you don't achieve anything else. It's the top part of the funnel. Nothing happens until you get the attention that you need. So with that said, let me give you some step by step stuff that you can take action on starting today within the next hour right after you get off this call. And that can become a system for you. Two things, okay, the number one way to get attention without spending a dime, okay, is called power base if you're a part of this mastermind group, so if you go to the Dropbox folder under the folder called resources, you're gonna see a folder called power base strategy. And my client back in Sonya Benson who is on the east coast, Jack knows Sonia. She paid paid me for a strategy session. So I did a strategy session with her. And I taught her power, she had 853 active clients, or 853 clients are gonna last two years. And I said, What are you doing to keep in touch with those clients? She goes, Well, you know, I'll call some of them. I know we need to get a system in place to contact these people. So I said there's two things that we're going to do. Number one is we're going to run a power based strategy on them. And then we once I get rid of this This spring thing, we're gonna run a power base strategy on them. And so I says, she calls me back about a week later she goes, I think I need more coaching on this power base thing as it relates to clients, because there's there's couple different power bases, you got your family, friends, colleagues, people that they can be high school, people, college people, you know the person that beats you up in school, okay, that is part of your power base that was on the personal side, on the business side, its customers, past customers and prospects, in her case, the fastest path to cash. And in your case, every single one of you on this call, the fastest path to cash is your business power base. So I basically said, Hey, I will, I will give you another strategy session, but I'm gonna give it to you for free this time, because we only need about an hour. But you're, here's what I'll do. Let me record it. I'll send you the recording. And then I get to use it, to give to future clients to train them on this process. Because you have 150 Something clients, she said, absolutely. So when you go into the resource section of the Dropbox folder, and look up power base, watch that thing. Download this transcript, there's otter transcript, lip sync the crap out of that thing. And until you have until you have mastered that, now, here's why I want you to do that. Anything you want, in life, anything you want, in your business. First, decide what you want. Go and touch it, get a picture of it, feel it, it's a car, go test drive it, okay? Make it real. Once you really are clear, hey, I want this item. Or I want this lifestyle or I want this trip or I want, you know this, whatever. Okay? The more real you can make it visually for yourself where you can visualize you being there, doing that thing, driving that car, being in that house, being in that relationship, whatever that is for you. Getting clear on the vision first, that's what marketing is. Marketing is helping a process a prospective customer, visualize doing business with me. Okay, visualize solving their problem. Okay. So once you have that down, once you once you really are clear on what you want, the next thing is, is you need to go find someone to pay for it. And I'm going to go ahead and mute everyone real quick. Because occasionally, there's a little background noise. You go and find somebody to pay for it. And from now on in your business, if you operate that way, your business is always going to be profitable. Okay. And the strategy I'm sharing with you the power base strategy is the answer to that question. Okay, I sit down when I was setting out my August goals. I have we're going on a cruise sometime on the 24th of September. Okay. And I totally forgot about it. I'm like, Oh, okay. So she goes, we got to make the final payment for the cruise. Because I guess we booked this cruise back in January. Yeah. And my wife goes, we need to make the final payment for the crew that was only like, the final payment was only 400 some bucks or something like that. And I go right, can you EP Are you gonna go we're gonna find somebody to pay for it. Right? Cuz that's, that's how my wife and I that's one thing I taught my wife when I met her is like, I don't pay for Jack out of my existing money. I just don't. Okay, because otherwise it becomes easy not to stretch. And so I went out and found somebody to pay for it. And then she actually no, she went out and found somebody to pay for it because she ended up booking a booty call in a day of coordinator thing. Okay for weddings, because that's what she's doing right now. And so she's like, okay, great. So, but here's what she did. All she did was powerbase she's picked up the phone called a friend of hers. Hey, how's it going? You know, do you know anybody that is is considering getting married. Do you know anybody that has a wedding party plan? And, you know, and she went to her Facebook group and started helping you know, she's there's a thing called brides on a budget, I guess it's a Facebook group started adding a ton of value there. Okay? But ultimately she landed the deal. Okay. So your business power base makes it even easier. And so if you go and I'm not going to take up too much time on today's call, because I did an unbelievably excellent job doing this with Sonia and she roleplayed it perfectly. Okay, but just go watch that video exactly how I told her to approach her existing customers and her past customers. And if like Michael, the nisa, Josiah, Kevin, all of your power base people, okay, all of you can feed each other business. So I would highly recommend you learn this principle together and roleplay on one another. Okay, leverage the power of roleplay. And Jack, you and I will roleplay this as well. Okay, and so, but practice that before you go call your customer. And I don't call your customer cool, by the way. Don't practice on your customer. Okay. So if I wanted a referral this week, because I just had a client meeting this morning, and he goes, he goes, Hey, I got the the other two businesses are going really great. And just third company that you're helping me build, I want to put that on pause for 30 days, and like, okay, no problem. But what that's going to do is it's going to open up a slot in my coaching program, because I only work with 12 people at one time. Okay. And this customer, I gave a strategy to Session Two, Yesterday, I talked about hold a slot until Tuesday at 5pm. They will make the decision about the contract. Tuesday at 5pm. That window close. Okay. Now this is the benefit of doing great marketing because I have a full pipeline. Okay, I lose a customer, I can replace that person in 24 hours. Okay. And that's why marketing is so important. Even if it's just a little drip. Okay, so important. And so basically, he's not going to have it open, but I was sitting already going through my mind. I'm like, Okay, who am I going to call? Where's my cart? What did I do with that thing? So I sit down. And fortunately, I did it anyways. Because I started thinking of it in my head. And I'm like, Okay, well, obviously, I'm gonna have an open slot and I need to replace it. I just gave myself a raise, because that guy is $3,000 a month, and my new rates $4,500 a month. And so I'm like, I'm getting myself a raise right now. Because he's going to open up a slot. And so Okay, well, I gotta market. I gotta market i, okay, what's the easiest, most fastest effective way for me to get another client? It's my power base. It's contacting existing customers, past customers and POS. So I make a list of 1234567 eighths. 910 1112 Jack, you're on this list. So I made a list of 12 people that I know, have my client, or they No, my client, my potential client. And all I was gonna do if you go to my calendar, I booked a time a slot now. Because already booked and I'm gonna keep it anyways, even though he's here he is secure in the spot. But between 330 and 4:30pm I am making those calls. You get back to my screen here. And all I'm gonna do is I'm gonna call it Jack. Yeah. Jack, do you want to roleplay this with me real quick. So we have an audio recording in this group session so people can ask questions. Sure. Okay. So I've already laid out the scenario. Okay. You're answering the phone. I'm calling you. Because I'm first I'm going to text you hey, I need about 10 minutes of your time. And Jack is gonna say yes. And Jack is on the east coast. So at 330 I'm calling Jack at about 7:30pm right now jack that is available earlier than I'm gonna call but basically go ahead and answer the phone. Hey, John, how you doing? You know, dude, I'm great, man. How about yourself? Any better? I'd be twins. Here you go, buddy. Hey, you got a quick second. Yeah. Okay. So hey, I had a client of mine this morning. They're going to do a 30 day pause on working with me. And that's just going to leave Have an open slot in my coaching program. And so I'm calling you I'm calling a bunch of the people that deal with business owners. And so just out of curiosity, who you don't know me, you know my personality. Okay? Who do you know, in your group? That if you said, hey, you need to talk to John, that they would consider it a value if I actually reached out to all right, my personality, you only because you know me, you know, I'm going to help them whether they work with me or not, I'm going to give them a bunch of stuff for free. Who do you who in your client base can you think of that would benefit from just a conversation with me? Sure, I got I got a couple of yours that come to mind. Probably gonna, I could reach out to them and see, just like you said, you know, I've sat and I got a couple people I think might be of a like mind with you that can sit down with you. Just give me an example. What's the first name? You haven't seen the last name or company name that you Sure? I think my buddy Craig. I know he's still getting started in his current business. But I think you'd benefit more from little more coaching. himself a little too busy. It was quick do it he says a financial kind of financial advisor, but for people who want to do it themselves to kind of guide them along that. Okay, cool. I've had some success there. And why do you think Craig would be a fit for me? Cuz I think he's got big goals and he wants to move on to being a manager of another area. And I think that to get there, he needs some some guidance on how to go from where he is to where he's gonna go. And as much as books and audios are good. I think when you get another person, I think that's a little better for some people. Okay, so I'm gonna go off script for just a second. I'll give you guys some hacks, some expert tips here. Okay. My next question is going to be very important. Okay. So you don't quit for how long? We'll call it 10 years, I think they might be longer actually. Kind of 15 years, I guess. So I can have an idea of how to talk to him and how to approach him see more of an outgoing person or an introverted person is definitely an outgoing person. Knowing, okay, when he walks into the room of any networking event, you probably have been around him when he's in a group environment. Is he flashy? Is he like the person that likes a lot of attention? Or is he more like one on one with someone? I'd say more flashy, but he knows how to pull it back. He actually spent a lot of time in the liquor industry and did really well. No reason he left there's just wasn't a long term life like schedule that he wants to live through. So he would show up to events in a red suit. I mean, you can see the guy from space and but he but he knew how he can confidently walk around in that too. So I think he really knows where you can draw attention, but he's really good at pulling some aside and have a candid one to one. So the two of you were in the room, just yourselves. Who would you consider more successful? Mentally? Way more successful? Hmm, I don't know. Maybe myself, but I don't know by a longshot here because he really is very ambitious. Never settled kind of guy. He likes to go after big goals and big things, right? Yeah. Okay. We're both chasing pretty high goals. We actually talked about some of that. So now I know that this guy is going to be a high D or high personality, okay? Most likely going to be high. And the flashiness, the red suit, things like that. You know, I'm gonna approach this guy in a certain way, when I talk to him, I'm gonna pay attention to his energy level. Pay attention to how he talks. Real quick question, Jack. Does he talk fast? Or does he think before he talks? I'm gonna say talks fast. It does think but I mean, one stories. Yeah, he's a story guy. He's He's a jersey guy, though. So he's ready to jump into the conversation at any part and see where he can relate and come in. So now I know he's a high. It's not a high beams man is not icy? Because high eyes talk a lot. High Ds are outgoing, but they're straight to the point. Okay, they're more telling, not storytelling. Okay. So now that I know this, okay, and let me make some homework for myself. I'm going to drop a bunch of advanced I'm going to create a whole new folder called TTI training in our Dropbox X folder. And I'm gonna give you guys the entire farm, I'm going to give you guys some advanced training of this stuff. This is how you go from a 40% close ratio to a 90 plus percent close ratio. It's all about understanding the personality type of the person, which tells me how to communicate with them, how to approach them, how not to communicate, okay? And when I can connect with them, and speak the same language, that conversation can go anywhere, they can either become a customer, or they can lead me to customer. Okay, so now the only thing I would do with Jack is to close that go, hey, well do me a huge favor, if you can, calling. The gesture offers, okay. It's not just me. Looking for a new client to work with. And he's interviewing clients right now. Yeah, John, you froze for a second there. So I think a couple of missed the last 15 seconds. What he said is my internet connection was unstable. So what I would do is I would contact Craig and say, hey, my mentor, John Pyron. I'm in a mastermind group with him. Let me know this morning, that your case this afternoon, that he is got an open slot coming up in his coaching program. Okay, he's actively looking for somebody to work with. And I thought he asked me if I knew of somebody that would resonate with him that he would be able to help hit their big goals. And I thought to you, okay, I talked to him about you, and he's open to meeting you. Do you mind? If I do an email introduction to the two of you? He's gonna say yes. Okay. And then I'll just take it from there. Okay, so, but that go back when you guys get the recording, okay, and you get the transcripts. Okay? The reason I do that SOS fluid, is because I've done it hundreds, probably 1000s of times, anytime I want a customer. Okay. I go to my power base first, that is the first place I go. And right now, I would say probably 100% of the time this year, I haven't had to do any other strategies. Okay. And because the more you do it, the more you you master the deal when you're in real estate, or your handyman service or you're in it, the Holy Grail is adding contacts to your database every single day. And you do that with marketing. Okay, I want the contacts in your phone. Okay, I want the contacts that my friend has that my associate has? Because they know people I don't know. And so if you use the script that I just did the roleplay I just did with Jack. Right. And I have to think back when I was starting the business I have now I started from nothing. Right? And literally, you know, brand new business brand new industry went from the IT industry to the coaching completely separate businesses. Okay. And, number one, I worked with a mentor. Okay, that's always going to be my number one. Number two, is I laid out a plan and I go, Okay, from eight to five, Monday through Friday, that's when my customer is going to be available. My potential customer. I am going to protect that time. I talked to my wife. I talked to my kid, which we'll see he's six teams, so he was five and a half at the time. Now try to control a five and a half year old. That's interesting, but I told him flat out I said, when this door to my office is close. You don't knock on the door. Okay, under any circumstances. Unless the house is burning down. You go talk to mom, or you call 911. Okay, because if I don't focus, we don't eat. Okay? If I don't focus, we don't succeed as a family. Okay? And that's just the mind, the mindset I've raised my kid with. And so as a result, you know, he did it a couple of times, obviously. And then I had the overtime he understood because I started saying, when Daddy gets a new customer, Preston gets to get a goal that he puts on the fridge. Okay, so once I started having him put his own pictures of his own goals on the fridge, he left My daughter loves. Okay. So, and it taught him a very important skill. But there was all that was the only way. Because I could yell at him all I want. Yeah. But all he's basically saying is something else is more important than him. And I didn't want to instill that into his head. But once I tied it to his needs, okay, he's like, Hey, how many? How many appointments Did you set today? Oh, he calls did you have a, Hey, when are we going to Disneyland, you know, and so, but it all comes down to marketing. So when you're starting off, or you don't have customers, or you're not completely maxed out, you've got to do it in the structure. And its revenue producing activities. What are the revenue producing activities, taking care of an existing customer, that's number one. Number two, taking care of a prospect that I have an appointment with. Number three, setting an appointment to talk to a prospect about my business. Number four, if I don't have enough leads, it's going to be marketing and generating leads. Once I have enough leads, you only need 200 qualified leads. Okay, in the Dropbox folder, there is a section called sales process training. There's a sub folder in there called appointment setting, there's a system in there that I have used, I invented in 2003, because I didn't want to make cold calls. And it basically creates a crock pot that 200 leads, it's called a marketing Touch system. It is the number one system i i is my go to system, every time I started a business, if I was going to become a mortgage person, I would do that system, if I was going to become a real estate person, I would do that system. If I was a handyman, I would do that system. Definitely the it spaces I built for businesses in the millions of dollars with that system. Okay, and I can't work 1000 leads successfully, I can work 225 a day for eight business days cycles, and then rinse and repeat. Okay, and I lay it out step by step in there and how to do it. That is the best marketing and appointment setting system I've ever used. And, and will continue to use if I ever started another business. Okay, so power base, here's the homework, go through power basics, call each other and roleplay with one another. What's gonna be funny as heck is what you guys talk about next week, when we show up to this call, because Michael is going to call Josiah Josiah is going to call Michael or Vanessa, the four of you, some of you are going to feed each other referrals this week. And it's going to be funny because Josiah is a very popular handyman and he's damn good. And I guarantee you he can introduce the two of you, the realtor the two mortgage people to someone this week. I guarantee you, the two mortgage people and the real estate person, okay, because I'm doing this for the recording because we got a couple other people are gonna listen to recording are going to be able to feed joke business. And then all of a sudden, it's going to go back and forth and back and forth, and back and forth. And every single week you guys are going to feed business back and forth. Right? Because even though Joe is in a networking group with me, okay, unless the mortgage person or real estate person in that group is doing the same thing with Josiah, he's probably going to do it with the person that gives him the most business. Okay, so, go for it. Jack and I are going to do this this week. And we're gonna come back next week and we're gonna report on the results. But this strategy for marketing will create everybody referrals this week also how to go and contact your customers. Okay, so I hope that's been helpful. I'm going to open it up for q&a. And if you want to talk about this, you need clarification. Or you just want to talk about something else because it's a mastermind group. First come first serve who wants to go first. So I always thought this is a funny thought I had use years earlier when I was a young professional that I had the comfort and competence saying that if I had to move out from any of the companies that I was with when I was younger, I had no problem or worried that I'd be able to move somewhere and start over again. And friends family Oh, how can you do that? You're so young, what are you going to do? And I said I know the relationships I know the network I've built I know that I can start there and build up from there so it didn't matter to me and I genuinely wasn't nervous that if one door closed that I couldn't open or start or create my own door to open for next part but it really does come to power base and every time I rethink this and rewrite this list I think at first something and okay I've got I've gotten you know six people on this power base then thing that's that that's not enough. I need to increase this because I need to find more people that'd be can be a reoccurring parts of this that can sit down with and I have started to get more frequent on scheduling those and making sure that I'm having reoccurring conversations with these people too. And just if if I don't hear from more for a while, some of these people, I might just stop in and just drop into their office, because that's the kind of person I am. And that's also what you can get with jersey, just hey, I'm here, you want to sit down I had a client of ours, showed up to and I heard him for a while. And he said, man, just so busy, it's like, Well, sounds like you still do lunch, right? You got you got to some time to eat. And him and I went out and found out that he actually needs a lot of help with a lot of it compliances too. So he was busy and too busy, too busy to reach out to me. But when I showed up there was happy took that took things off his plate. And I actually found a way to earn that time. Because now he wants to sit down with me the next time I reach out to him because it's not just self serving, it's not just me trying to pitch something to him, he knows that we're able to benefit each other. And that's another part that was one of happen if I didn't feel like at some point, just kind of show up there for that one. But again, this base is really important to know that you can take your your skills and transfer them. That's why you can do it for doing again and again. And it Yeah, it's uh, it's amazing. Like, I went out and had breakfast with a client of mine this morning. And what's funny is I'm brokering the sale of my other clients business to this client. And so it's kind of having to walk that tightrope between the two, because I have to represent both sides. And it's kind of interesting. And so when I get out of the meeting, I'm coming here, and I call my other client who's selling and he goes, Hey, what's the sale goes through this new job that I landed, is like the, the my dream job, like, it's a big fortune 500 company. And, you know, they brought me in at the top pay scale because of my background, but I got a commission component to my deal. And so, you know, I'm gonna want to, you know, do a strategy session with you. And, and I was very fired up with him, because I've worked with him now for two years. And I'm like, Dude, it's, if you want to get a head, start on that, just make your power base list, create your poi list, we'll get together, we'll take your compensation plan, we'll put it in an Excel spreadsheet, you need to decide how much money you want to earn. And then we're going to reverse engineer it. And you're going to know what to do every single day, every single week, every single month, and you're gonna hit the goal. I said, it's no different than what we've done before. Because like he just started the business he's selling a year ago and is now having to sell it, but it's the same for all of us. You decide what you want. Now, if you want, you know, if you're already super, super profitable in your business, that could also be a detriment. Grant Cardone released a book called The Millionaire booklet. He wrote it in like two hours, got all inspired one day, and came back from a fundraiser and nobody could meet helped meet the goals. So he had to write a million dollar check to help them meet the goal. And he's like, I cannot believe people. It's so easy to become millionaire. So he sat down, he wrote a book called The Millionaire booklet. Well, one of the things from the millionaire booklet is, keep yourself broke. When money comes in, take the money, funds, your business funds, your personal lifestyle, the rest of it goes into a sacred account is no longer allowed to be touched and now you're broke again. Okay. And and that is going to force you to hustle. Right? And so, I think it was yesterday. No, it was this morning this morning. I'm like, one of my clients was supposed to pay their bill. And they didn't pack and he's like, man, you gotta give me cell Friday and blah blah blah or whatever. Right? I don't care. Yeah. And my like I said, my number one rule is like I don't go and grab existing money man, I stay broke. CARDONE taught me this and I have made it so much more money sense. And, and so I'm like, Well, shit, it would be easy for me just go to the bank. Transfer the money. not miss a beat. Now, but I'm like, You know what? Because for me, I make clients pay for shit. Okay, like, this guy that was supposed to pay me that that is supposed to pay certain bills because I am paying those bills. He's paid. Okay. And I'm like, You know what? Mike Sasser, you told me a long time ago. Your income is not allowed to ever go down ever. Okay. And the Grant Cardone taught me how to be broke, and actually be okay with it because I have some serious trouble childhood trauma from being poor and broke. It took some emotional growth to be able to actually make the strategy work for me. But I'm like, Okay, well, let me do it. You talk to God, I'm like, You're responsible for it, not me. I'm just gonna show up and do the work. So I made my list. I got my list right here. Yeah. And I'm going to call these people. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna not only land some new sales and some new clients, but Mr. client that didn't pay me on time might not be a client anymore. Okay, so. So here's the point of the thing. When you know how to do power base, when you know how to do poi, when you know how to do the marketing type system that hitting believe I haven't even shared that with you guys. The marketing type system is the holy grail man, when it comes to marketing. It creates a marketing consistency in your business. It would like I have taught it to 1000s of real estate people. Okay, 1000s of mortgage people. Okay. I taught this to exp when exp first started. Okay. Me and Steve Harper developed the first training program for exp. Okay, I trained Brent goes team on this system. I trained Marguerite crystals team on the system, I trained Tom Dave's and his team on the system. And all of you locally know who I'm talking about. Okay. So this system implemented, you get to show up here on this mastermind or text me in between and go is my system set up? Right? Okay, but I promise you this, you do this system, and you'll have more more freaking business. You even know what to do with the challenge of this system is is I I've had to shut it off many times because it creates too much business. And I didn't want to hire somebody. Okay. But now, yeah, well, Sonia, Sonia out of the Philippines used to manage the system for me. Yeah, because I didn't want to do it either. But COVID Hit internet script. Now, I think I'm gonna relaunch it again. But do the system as its laid out. Okay. And again, it's in the Resources folder, under sales process training, appointment setting, okay. And you can I use less annoying CRM for it. Because when I was doing it, personally, I needed to get the entire first part of it done in nine minutes. I didn't want to spend a half hour doing this crap every day. And so I chose a CRM, that's not my primary CRM, but it works for this system. Let me show you. Let me go into drive real quick that we have it on the recording here and show you exactly what I'm talking about. Get my screen set up and I'm gonna share my screen share your screen to boom, guy, and under business owners mastermind group which you all have access to. And you go to Resources. And you go down here to number seven sales process training by John Pyron. Under appointment setting, how to set up your marketing tech system step by step video how to actually do the marketing Touch system. Okay, step by step, okay? If you find because I'm sure they updated their systems since 2015, I still use that CRM, even today. It's gonna be if there's anything that's changed about it, and you would like me to walk you through setting up your own system, and you allow me to record it and use it like I did. My grant, my buddy grant Perry, back in 2015 wanted me to set the system up for him. And I said, I get to record it. And I get to train 1000s of people for however long I want. He said okay, so that's that video is me setting up his system from scratch. Okay, and then how to how to implement, okay, so there's no reason you can't succeed here. If you find that you get stuck, let me know I'd be more than happy to hop on a call with you and I get to record it and I get to use it as a training module. But at least you get the system set up the way you want it. It's a win, right? But what's the System Setup? Dude, I swear, do you have an ISA sorry about that, what's a system setup dudes and dudettes, okay, then you just implement this thing. And it's the consistency of the marketing, the appointment setting, all the stuff that will produce that predictable result. Okay, marketing is all about consistency. Who's next? Had one other thought it also deals with that power base, it's also important to realize, and this is a conversation we had the other day, when someone's not trying to be a part of that parent base, I sat down with a person who could write cyber insurance. And it was apparent to me after sitting down with them, that they were only looking for it to be a one way street. So your power base, learn to know that you can play hardball with some people, but if it's only going one way, especially for your industry to for anything, real estate, it's only going one way and they're not trying to, you can let them know there's someone else, there's, there's always someone else who does the same thing you want to relationship, and you want to be something where we both benefit it but if it gets to where you try it out, and it doesn't come back to you, you can let that person know you're going to move on and find someone else that will reciprocate and they'll lose out on their own business as part of that. salutely Any comments, feedback questions about what Jeff just said? Any one other thing was Mario case, we talked about power base talked about poi and talked about marketing type systems. When it comes to marketing, and literally make getting, if you don't have your name as a domain, I would get it. Okay. So Lisa lam.com Give it a go because you can redirect it to wherever you want. And but you never know down the road where you're gonna want to use that. Okay. And you know, if you go to 10x Consulting Group inc.com, which is my corporation, it forwards to John pyron.com. And, you know, any other any of the other companies, so, having your branding down, having a good solid call to action on your website is going to be very important.On the CRM, you just use this less annoying CRM just for this one strategy or use it for everything. Mostly for it's just that system. Now I've used it for pipeline management, I've used it because it snaps it snaps in seamlessly with MailChimp. Okay. And so when I was using doing email marketing, I use MailChimp in it all seamlessly works. But when I was building my business from scratch, I needed the fastest path to success, and the least amount of expense. So if you use the affiliate code, actually, I think I have a new affiliate code, then you get it for free for 60 days. And then it's like 10 bucks a month afterwards. Give me one second, I'm gonna I'm gonna post the affiliate link in there. But yeah, I used to, I used to use it every single day. And built built, built businesses very quick. Every every client I've taken on it doesn't have a CRM and I work with one on one. I started them out with this year's another CRM in addition to this, currently, where do you use just now I still have less annoying CRM. And I have a digital marketing agency that's out sourced that does all of my blogs and newsletters and email blasts and they use Constant Contact, they don't use MailChimp, or they don't use. So I've had to carve off a list of them. But I personally have I don't I'm not very active in listening serum right now. Because the referral systems I have in place, I get more referrals every week than I can even get to. Okay, I get an average of three to five referrals a week, like clockwork. So a lot of that should go into my CRM. And one of these days it will get put in there. But I'm too busy meeting clients and closing business right now that I don't really care if everything crashed, if I decided to start a new business right now, or for whatever reason, you know, half my client base just fell off the planet. You know, something major happened. My very first thing I would do is go back to my database relaunch my systems and go, I've been through I've been through three economic disasters the.com bomb, the 2008 crash and COVID. And every single time I relaunched that system right away. Oh, like clockwork, yeah. I relaunched power base poi and marketing type system, and I don't do anything else. I cancel everything else. And unlike a machine, and I'm like, oh, and so and it works every time. So when COVID hit this was the number one strategy I read. One of my clients went through only had one client go out of business, when they were brand new client and 90% of their, their clients closed their doors. So they went out of business. But all my other clients We got the power base poi and marketing dispatch system. And every single one of them grew during COVID. Because it's a high touch, it's high touch, high touch, high touch, high touch. And it's referral based marketing. And it's, it's a big, it literally takes the law of sowing and reaping, and puts it on steroids. Because if you follow the system's how I've taught it and how I've laid it out, you're the biggest server you're calling me on Hey, Kevin, what's going on, man? John Pyron? How can I help you, man? What is the biggest challenge you have right now? How can I help you? Okay. Well, if you can find somebody to come out and pick up the dog poop out of my yard, you can help me Hey, man, if I bite know somebody that does that, would you want me to referral? Absolutely. Now that they've helped you, I'm gonna be able to ask you for your help. Okay, and if you can help me great, if not, you probably know somebody, you know. But that's why that system works. The less annoying CRM The reason I like that is because it's simple to manage. It integrates with Google, it integrates with Outlook and integrates with any system out there. And it's just simple. Okay, that's why they call it less annoying. CRM. Yeah. And so there is a think the affiliate link is still good on the one that I shared with everybody. You see, refer friend, where's that refer a friend, here we go. Boom, copy, chat. I promise you this. And it's easy to it's easy to migrate, like I could take context of my Outlook, I can take it out. And whatever system I have, I can throw them in here just specifically for the marketing type system, and nothing else. And and be successful. The reason I went with this system is I've tried Salesforce, I've tried Goldmine, I tried. Zoho, I tried all kinds of other systems is just too many clicks. To get it done. And the fastest, I've been able to send out 25 emails. Without it being an email marketing system is nine minutes and 36 seconds. Because it's already pre is just how the system is set up. So it creates a simplified system that you're allowed to be consistent with. And the key is being consistent. Yeah, and adding a tremendous amount of value. And you'll see what I'm talking about once you go through the training. And if you guys want to spend time on next week, or, you know, if enough you go hey, man, you know, I need some more clarification, we'll set up a different call outside of this, I want you guys to be successful with this because this this is a money printing machine. This solved my problem in 2003 from having to make 300 cold calls a week, I hated that freakin activity more than I'd rather go get a root canal. Okay, and I'm a high D personality, and I'm a master sales trainer. And I hate cold calling with a passion. Okay, nothing pisses me off more than wasting time. Okay. And so, if you look in that folder, there's a training in there called the deck of cards distinction. Because in order for me to psychologically get through making cold calls, I had to have a deck of cards in front of me, and I had to shuffle them constantly. And I had to constantly remind myself, I cannot find the ace in here without flipping over all the cards. But there are four aces in here and I have no idea where they're at. All I can do and all I can control is picking up the phone and dialing the phone number. Okay, I can get I can get a person on the line. Or I can flip over a card and it's a jack of spades and I can sit there and argue with that card all I want and try to turn it into an ace of spades and no matter how much beg try, it's not going to become an ace of spades. Okay, it's better for me to identify it's not an ace of spades as quickly as possible. Turn the next card over. Here's a serious here's the analogy. It's easier for me to identify the person I'm talking to is not a fit for me and hang up the phone and dial the next number in it is for me to try to convert that person into being the right person. Okay, and so and cold calling is not sales, okay? People confuse that cold calling is marketing. Okay, so marketing is that are getting attention once they say yes, I agree to have a 10 minute phone call with you. Yes, I agree. Now sales kicks in. Okay, so if I'm in marketing if I'm in or if I'm in mortgage if I'm in real estate if I'm a handyman if I'm in it all roads lead to a 10 minute phone call. If I had to pick one thing I've learned while Steve Melbourne is on top to me, May 17 2015. The number one thing I learned from that guy is stop spending time with people that are not a prospect. Okay, give them 10 minutes, but no more than that. Okay, qualifier. So, even in the mortgage person Hey, Joe, this is Michael, well, mortgage person I got your information from Joe or Sally Smith. I was at Granite Rock grill, I saw your card there, I wanted to get a hold of you. And I see that you're a landscape company. I'm in I'm in the mortgage industry. I might have some people that can refer you to and vice versa. Do you have time this week or next week for a 10 minute phone call? I'd love to get a chance to know you better and see if there's anybody in my network that can benefit from your products and services and vice versa. Do you have time this week or next week for 10 minute call? That is going to convert it 91% Because you if he says no. I've now verified he's stupid. And I don't want to spend any more time with him anyways. Okay. He is going to say yes, because oh, there might be something in it for me. Okay, so I get him on the phone. If I can't get 10 minutes of a person's time, I can't get to know okay, they can't get to know me and I know that this is going to work for all of you because nobody else is doing so and all of you can succeed with this. So role playing this with one another. Okay, I see that Jack had a drop off because he's got another appointment but the four of you are power partners. Like the four of you should literally get together on a regular basis and roleplay was one of them. Yeah, sharpen each other skills you both all of you will refer business every week back and forth. So all right Jack, this chat window Yep, though 230 Gotta go by great okay, yep, I'm gonna go to so hope this has been valuable we're gonna have to have the recording chopped up because I a little bit because they shared a bunch of CARDONE stuff in there that I don't want to out there anyways, have a great week guys, I'll talk to you later. All right, well the recording before I let you go the recording of this call will be put in the Dropbox folder for you guys regardless. Okay, in the part on the on the cardinal stuff will be there. But personal do it later on today. So, alright, I'll talk to you guys later. Thank you. Bye

Transcript: All right, so today we are, this is our fifth Monday of the month. So this is gonna be more of a quarterly business review, mastermind group, Strategy Session, etc, I got a very specific couple of things that I'm going to go over. And then we're going to open it up for live q&a, we'll stay on this call, I've got our normal hours set aside, but also got room beyond that. Everybody wants to stay on and strategize for their quarter. But that's our agenda for today. And so let me get my screen set up here. And go ahead and mute you guys. Okay, all right. So the Okay, so every single calendar quarter. For as long as I can remember, I've got a process that I go through. And I like the last. You know, it's different for everybody. Like, for me, it is the last day of every single actual calendar quarter that I do this. And so but for the sake of this group, we are reserving the fifth, Friday, or the fifth Monday, the fifth, you know, when there's a fifth meeting of the month, or the end of our calendar quarter. Okay, so it's, I plan on doing this group for probably another 1520 years. As I'm probably going to even switch my own planning that before the, you know, this particular cycle, because there's a very specific thing that I go through. And it has served me well, I learned this. Actually, I do you know, when I started this, this was in April of 2009. I had built my IT company to a point of doing $1 million a year in revenue. And there was an organization back then called Heartland Technology Group. The original group, the original founders were Arlen Sorensen. Arnie billini, who was the founder of ConnectWise, managed services and ultimately ConnectWise, the PFA tool, Eric Simpson was a part of that group who founded the MSP University. And I think there were two other people and they started HTG. So Armand Sorensen's one ticket, turned it into business, grew it to 37 mastermind groups, and I think 16 countries at the time, and I was part of HTG 08. And so that's how the structure was. And the thing I really wanted to do with this maximum I group is kind of take a lot of the stuff I've learned from that mastermind group and bring it to this group. And so some of these forms that you're gonna see things like that are things that I learned and I got through there, in order to even join that group, you had to be a million dollar business had to be at the time a managed service company, largest one in the group of 18 and a half million, the average MSP was $4.5 million. So the association alone was, was stellar. I mean, I, I, there's so many things I got out of the group. But really, the association was number one, being able to associate with successful people, upwardly mobile people, and that's one of the things so a lot of you are going to be listening to this recording. And so that's one of the things it's like, when people join this group, you know, we're maxing this particular group of 12. And the only way a spot once it gets to 12, my goal is to get it to 12 by the end of the month. And, and so I want to get there by the end of the month, because why not? I haven't even really focused on doing it. But it's, we've got a second mastermind group, we want to start in September, and that is going to be okay, you're already at $100,000 in personal income, that means that your business revenue is income in your pocket after taxes, everything. Once you hit that level, then the next group that we're starting is, is you're at that level and you want to get to a million dollars a year and top line revenue. And so we want to we're going to start that probably September one and I say we because I'm finalizing a partnership with one of the top AI companies, digital marketing agencies pretty much in the country, he and I have decided that we're going to actually form a business together. And so you're in the area of Aneesa. So, Adrian Boyle, he runs Adrian agency. And he has Lee Butler, and he is digital manager for content at scale. So he and I share very similar values, and that we want to help small business owners. Both of us came from very humble backgrounds, we both have made lots and lots of money, but lots of businesses and had it all crumble, and they had to rebuild it. So we have very similar values. But the skill sets with the two of us combined, just gonna make this call even more valuable. So my goal for this is to help everybody here really take their business to whatever level they want. But every single quarter, it's important to take the time out. Important to come in and, and really look at things. And so in the Dropbox folder, I uploaded there this morning, a thing called a quarterly business review template. Feel free, you know, in your case, Jack or the other people that you're listening to this call, feel free to take this document and make it your own, do your own quarterly business review with your own clients. And feel free to use whatever you want here. And so really, when you're coming to the table, this is what we were required to do every single quarter that we came together. And for us, it was two days, we had to fly in the night before it was a welcome dinner and then two full days. Well, one full day, from 8am till 8pm. At night. The only breaks we really got was to check our email and go you know, change but it was a working lunch working breakfast working dinner, Happy Hour was mandatory, etc. And you get to know somebody in that timeframe. The second day, we went until about 4pm. And then at the end of the quarter, the end of the two and a half days or two full days if you math. They handed out flips MLS sheet of paper and had every single business in the room, they Max they met. It was a max of 12 business owners and they had a facilitator in this group, it's going to be an acts of troll business owners. I'm the facilitator. And so for two full days, they deep dove into this and they went around the room. And they said okay, based off of what you heard over the last two days, if you own stock, I'll just use my own company, for example, Intelligent Business Network Solutions if you own stock, and IBM s John Pyron. Lee and the President, would you buy more? Based off of what you've heard over the last few days? Or would you hold your stock and give him another calendar quarter to implement what this group has given him? Or would you sell and get out while the getting's good? Well, if the majority of the room sold, you were kicked out. You're, you're done. You're out. Okay? If it wasn't. So that's how important a group was. Okay. And so over time, we want to get a culture of everybody in the group showing up playing at a higher level, hitting their goals hitting their targets, I mean, it just creates a culture that we have here, that is going to elevate everybody's business. So this is what we did, we did a quarterly business review, we would come to the table, this is all be filled out before we even got here. So we're just gonna go through it this time. So that way, the next quarter, everybody's prepare, okay, and it'll be in place before we get there next time, but highly recommend you go and download this. And each one of you can bring this than that to the group, send it to me, whatever. I'll give you feedback. What areas do you need assistance? What are the items that you need help with in the next 60 minutes? Okay, what is the biggest crisis on your hands? And then we go into the quarter, we want to baseline strategy the quarter. So for those of you that are not familiar with baseline, baseline is let's just take money to say we're going to measure money here. Let's say you look back, so the homework is this. We're at the end of August. So August, July in June. So in June, wait, we're at the end of July. So May June July, right. What are the numbers? Okay, let me give you some numbers here. That are probably important. Okay. Total probably line revenue. Total boss Have goods sold. So if you're not familiar with cost of goods sold cost of goods sold is I sell a pair of sunglasses, or a pair of reading glasses, or $1. Okay? My cost of goods sold is how much labor, Arts Etc went into making this pair of glasses. And let's just say it's $8.80. So my total cost of goods sold in that example would be 80 cents. My revenue was $1. So my profit is going to be 20. That's nice. So the next line item is going to be total gross. Profit. Total, what's called S G, the ampersand sign and a census. That's insurance, that cell phone bill that's administrative stuff that's office supplies, that insurance. That's gas, it's not being billed to client. It's all the other expenses that have nothing to do with delivering the product or service. So you have your total SGN expenses and then you have your total net profit which is called permit you're gonna want to know EB i t da, your total EBITA. Okay, which stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Okay, so earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, part of your SG and a expense and I'm going to give you this secret, while you all are still young in your business life when you start enjoying the fruits of being a business owner, meaning I pay my cell phone bill, okay, and because my son is 16 and he's over zero, because the tax thing in 2017 allows me to do this and because I am married, my wife's cell phone bill, her Apple Watch, line, my son's cell phone bill, my Apple Watch line my iPad, everything is all on one Verizon bill and it's all paid for by my business 100% legal etc. Because it is a company expense. Here's the point when under scna since find a way to categorize owner senses Okay, your salary, the insurance, payroll taxes associated with you health care coverage home office reimbursement expenses, your cell phone bill your car, you have two cars, one of them should be sold to your company. Bank One um should be used for business purposes only if you're a sole proprietor should have two separate checking accounts personal checking accounts are fine, okay. The only tip I'll give you as a sole proprietor that's very important is go to the IRS website and type in SSH for and do an EIN for your personal sole proprietorship. So you don't have to give out your personal social security number. Okay? So go there even if you're a sole proprietor, it all is going to come on to your personal return under a Schedule C. So you'll want to get your own EIN number so when somebody is having you give them a W nine you're not giving your own personal social security number. When you go to the bank and you open up a checking account, you can open up a personal checking account, it does not have to be a business account. Those things don't charge a fee for personal accounts. He is is have one for business and one for personal and don't mingle funds. Okay? You're gonna take money out of if you're a sole proprietor and you're gonna pay yourself write a check or transfer from the business account to your personal account that way it's clean. But if you start tracking your SG and a expenses and separating out all your own personal expenses when it comes time to sell the business or comes time to properly evaluate the business, it's easy for someone like me to pull out if I got rid of the owner, how much EBIT are actually exists? Right so I have a client. He owns an insurance company the the 300 almost four $100,000 a year in commissions, she's got a staff of five people. She is employee number five, escort. She's been at it for 29 years. And we've worked together for the last two and a half years for the sole purpose of giving the business to the point where she can disappear for an entire month and not have to worry about the business. So she's coming back from Alaska, I think today, she's been gone all month. Well, while she was gone, some guy reached out to her and said, hey, I'm interested in buying your insurance business. He said, No. Cash Machine. No. And then she slept on it. And she goes, Wait, everything's for sale. I wonder what I wonder what I can get. So she calls back, the guy says, Yeah, I'd be open for the right price. And so she calls me up. And I said, Well, it's outside of the purview of my normal coaching arrangement with you, but I will do it. And that's X amount of money. And so I will facilitate the whole deal. So when I went to measure the EBIT, or when I went to actually do the valuation of the business, first thing out of my mouth is I need the last three years of tax returns, I need the last three years of profit and loss statements balance sheet and the year to date, statements as well. And then when I got on the phone with her bookkeeper, she had so many different hidden expenses in the profit and loss, it took about an hour to drill down to go okay, that's a that's an expense to legitimate, but it's, it would be considered personal in nature. In other words, when she goes bye, bye from the business, that expense goes bye bye. And that's what I needed to capture. Welcome to find out after $400 in annual revenues, she's bringing in about $205,000 into her pocket and only make only 4000 a month and his payroll rest of it's just legal, legitimate business expenses that she can write off as a business owner, okay, but when she goes by by all that gets added back, okay? So that's when I calculated the EBIT. Aw. And because it's an insurance company, you can times that by three or four of the top line revenue, so we're able to sell that business for about 1.2 to $1.4 million, while the investor, the guy that wants to buy it once all that break down, okay, I have to now spend two hours of my time on the phone with the dude explaining where those things are buried. When in reality, if she just had the one category set aside for business owner expenses, I would just be able to print the report and go, here you go. When it comes to printing the report for the IRS, I'm going to take that that geo code and I'm gonna hide it and it's going to go up to the next level. And that's the one I give to the IRS. Okay. So totally legal, nothing I'm saying here is a Shamy or anything, it's what is allowed as a business owner. So baseline, always measure your baseline every single quarter if you keep track of these numbers, you track these things, okay? And you measure them but is measured will improve. Okay? And the numbers are what they are don't fudge them don't do anything else. Just top line revenue, cost of goods sold gross profit SG and a expenses, total net profit. Next, what I would track when it comes to baseline is how many total clients in this past quarter. Okay, break it down by revenue or client. And total number of transactions be the reason you want to do that is I can take the total revenue, I can divide it by the number of transactions and I can get my average transaction amount. I'm going to show you what to do with that here in a minute because once I know that number, right, I now can plan and increase that number but if I don't know the number very makes it very difficult to plan. Next is how many new clients in this past quarter meaning they were not clients of yours before. Again, we're going to break it down by revenue and total number of transactions This is very helpful in the MSP sales space. Okay, it's very helpful even in the real estate space because of the number zero, the number zero. But here's the deal. Whatever the number is, we can net we now know what the number is, right? We can we can set goals now. Okay? And so how many returning? or recurring clients? Right? Yeah, revenue Total Transactions put this calculator in place you can you can always do this on a report in QuickBooks or you can just print it. Okay. How many new client appointments are actually not you sale appointments? Meaning Did you run? Okay, me? Went there. I might have this might have been my first appointment, it might have been my fifth appointment. We're only going to count the appointment where I presented. I asked them to buy and they got an opportunity to say yes or no. And that number is is very, very important. Okay. Lastly, or maybe Lastly, depends on your business is Ada base inventory the number of suspects you need, I haven't contacted them. I don't know if they're qualified for me. So now in queue L which stands for marketing qualified leads have a suspect I qualified them. They they have identified that I should market to them. Okay. They subscribed to my newsletter, they they went through a funnel. They I talked to them on the phone. I said, okay, yes, they are qualified, they fit my target. Okay. Next is going to be SQL, which is sales qualified. Leads. Marketing has done their part. They said yes. They're interested in having a conversation with you, Jack. Yes, they are interested in having a conversation with you visa. Now they are a sales qualified lead, we're handing them off from marketing to sales. Okay. So prospects, I contacted them, I'm in sales, I contacted them, we set our initial appointment, they are now in my proposal pipeline, okay. And why it's past clients? And bosses, okay, those are all eight different tags, or eight different categories, I would segment your database into you can have all kinds of other stuff. But once you have these tags in place over time, this I'm going to be selling my clients database for it's going to be about $450,000 of the transaction. Okay, because she has it segmented properly. And it's because value your database, no matter what industry, you're in 20 years from now, 30 years from now, whether you're employed for somebody or you're not, okay. Your personal database is one of the most valuable assets you have in this lifetime in the world when it comes to business. Okay. I wished I would have learned this lesson prior to 2012. The Garrick law firm pounding this into my head to realize the value of a contract. Because there are people in my database. If I launch a new product or service, or Jack calls me up and says, Hey, who do you have? That would be a candidate for my services. All I got to do is go to my database and I can instantly give him probably 50 to 60 contacts. And he said because she's in real estate, because the person in my little tip group is in real estate and she won't call me up and she won't say hey, let's go to lunch. I'm buying, let's go to coffee. I'm buying, I want to sit down and talk to you about your database. John, if she did that, and I gave her the strategy, if she did that, she would walk away from every sit down with me with 10 referrals every single freaking time like clockwork. Okay, and they wouldn't be like, Oh, I think they might be interested in your services. Now, it'd be 10 people, you call them say, Hey, man, John Pyron told me to call you, I'm a real estate person. You know, he tells me that you're a good person, he wants me they wanted to introduce me to you. Now, I always go beyond that I was make a call myself and set you up. But that's the reason you want to have a database that segment because I used to do nothing but train realtors, and mortgage people. And I have a massive network. And it's all segmented out. And, you know, that's what you want, because you become a valuable resource for somebody. Okay? So when it comes to baseline, these are some of the things that you want to measure. And then you pick the other stuff you can put in here health, you can put in there, like I'm having a sit down with my own wife this afternoon. 530 Okay. 430 Okay. So, and I'm basically running this, we run this strategy, we're gonna run it on our marriage, our health, our fitness, our finance, our relationship, our kids. And we're gonna go, okay. And we do over the last three months. What are our goals for the next three months? But if we don't measure it? Now, I mean, we might need some counseling after today. No, I'm just kidding. But you know, but at the end of the day, we want to go into this next quarter, knowing exactly what we're going to do and what our goals are. Because life becomes more fun when you're consistently hitting your goals and objectives. What strategies were used this last quarter, right? So baseline, right, so let's just pick money, let's just say we're going to target money. And this is a strategy. So I just want to go over the strategy, and then we're going to open it up for q&a. Okay. So let's just say you did $15,000 In total revenue over this last three months. Okay, so the baseline is 15,000. Part of that baseline is okay, how much cost of goods sold? were associated with that, and how much was the profit? How much was were my expenses? How much was my net profit? How many total clients all these questions? Okay, if I have the answer these questions, great. If not, and I want to, if you want to do the work fine. Okay. But if you start tracking this going forward, when the next quarter comes around, you will have the numbers if you want to be ambitious, and go back and recreate the wheel, knock yourself out. Okay? But we're gonna measure what is the baseline, what worked, what did not work? Then we're gonna go into the rest of this, this questionnaire here, key facts, it breaks it down. Okay, year to date, revenues. How much of an increase over last quarter operating expenses? How much of an increase or decrease over last quarter EBIT? Ah, how much of an increase or decrease over the last quarter? How much cash? Okay, if I'm doing if I'm like, in Jack's type of business where I have accrual based accounting, I probably do my taxes on cash base. Okay. I want to know, how many cash transactions income expense and net operating income happened over this last quarter and on the accrual as well? What were the key issues that I faced over this last quarter? I want to update all my business objectives for that I have for the year. Where am I at year today? We're finishing up in July. So if I have a revenue number, I'm going to divide that by seven. That's my average monthly revenue, I'm going to times that by five more months. And that's if I don't do anything different. That's where I'm probably going to end up by the end of the year. Strategies, what were the strategies that you actually used in this last quarter? And be honest, man, if you didn't use a strategy? If you can't say, Hey, man, I did whatever it takes with that strategy. Don't just don't lie to yourself. Just say, I didn't even freaking try. That'll be fun. While I was doing a mastermind group, we had a green red and green yellow red. Green means I knocked it out of the park. I use the strategy freaking rock and roll. Yellow means that kind of used it but it didn't quite get it done. Red means I didn't even try. know if there was objectives that are looking at my forward looking metrics is what is my strength or strategy for the next year. Now I know what my baseline is. What are some things I can add to my baseline or subtract or modifying improve? Because all I'm going to do is I'm going to keep doing the same thing I've been doing because it gives me a result. Add modifier some tracks to my baseline going into the quarter. What were my major wins or losses for the quarter? Okay, notable items in the in the quarter pipeline, new clients prospects, etc. That's that listing at a time. Okay. What were the results of this quarter? What were the top three or four goals for the quarter? Where do you need help? Your leadership plan? Thank you And here we're going to upload a leadership plan. It's not in here. But I will we're I will upload it in here. It's a life plan, leadership plan life plan. I'll put it in here legacy plan I'll put in here as well. We'll evaluate your personal life. Okay, your work life balance, or the market conditions and trends right now? What are the conditions of the market? Okay. These are all things to look at when you're looking at you're planning out your quarter. You want to look at okay, what can I set as a goal for this next quarter? What is my top line revenues are going to going to be let's talk about business because all the other stuff is personal. Once you know this, these results of this past quarter. All these results right here from top line revenue all the way down. Then it becomes Okay, what do I want those numbers to look like? Three months from now. And so it's August. So September, October, November is the 30th, I believe is going to be a Monday. And that's going to be the fifth Monday. So those are the things stop sharing here real quick. I'm gonna go and verify that between now and November 30. No, that is incorrect. between now and October 30. August, September, October, yeah. Okay, so between now and October 30 is the next time you do this. So if you just put these things in place right now, and you measure them between now and the end of October. The nice thing is you're going to have things that you have measured. Don't allow us to set your 2024 plan a lot more accurate. Okay, because you're gonna have actual numbers. All right. So that's the lesson for today is to go through the quarterly business, review your baseline, dialed in your database updated and set your targets for the next quarter. And bring those things to the next meeting if you want or don't come to me via email and go here's my goals. Here's what I expect for the next quarter if you want me to give you some feedback on that, right. I'm gonna open it up real quick. Any questions about this first? And if not, then is there something that you would like to get dive into on this week's call? With Lisa I don't have any questions. I was just getting ready to speak No, I don't have any questions. Anything that you would like some feedback or help on today? Yeah, I have a bunch of stuff. I don't really even know where to start. Yeah, good. Yeah. So yeah, I'm taking my business kind of like on my own leaving REMAX. And so I have, you know, like when I started with my, with my, you know, II and Oh, my file system, all that kind of stuff. Alright. So are you looking to using their database right now? Obviously. Well, their file system Yeah. Your file system, their database, etc? Because you're at a broker's place, right? And you're gonna be a broker yourself? Yes. gratulations thanks. All the paperwork, you're, you're a broker now. Well, I've been a broker, but I just haven't started my own business. My license has always been a broker. Not always, you know, eight years of the 20. Yeah. Got it. And so what? So this is something that you're, you're at a point where you're considering going out on your own You're gonna run your own show. And the question is, okay, where do you start? Yeah, that's what I'm hearing. Yeah. And, and so I would say it starts with a one page plan. And treat it as it's not going to be much different than what you already have just that there's certain eyes that need to be dotted, and t's that need to be crossed when you're going to go out on your own. And looking at it and making sure that you're making the move at the right time. And that you're teed up and set up for success, right? Because you look at okay, what do I have by having my license with REMAX or it can be with you know, exp can be with whatever, right? Just use where you're at, okay? Because I have my license with REMAX, here's what I get. I pull my license, and I hang my own shingle. Okay, what am I not going to get? Thank you, what am I now going to have to figure out and once you have that list down, then and you have your one page plan, then you can either bring it to this call, we can strategize on that here. Or you can do a one on one strategy session with me if you want. And I will walk you through step by step exactly what you need. So but congratulations, that's a big step. A lot of freedom associated with that, and a lot of maneuvers you can make that are a lot more freedom, that's for sure. And you close a whole lot more deals and a whole lot more transactions. So one of the quickest way is I will go back and evaluate because you can pull this list go back and evaluate all the deals that you brought in and closed over the last three years. And list them all out. And then look could I have done these deals without REMAX? And, and you know, being a part of REMAX of that influence are closing these deals and put a checkbox next to the ones that probably could not have done it without that. You'll be able to do the math on that and go, Okay, why? Let's just say there's four deals that you really got, because you're a REMAX realtor. What can you do to make up for that? So just knowing the numbers and everything. I know personally a lot of mortgage brokers that I helped fire their broker very successful. But that was that was a you went from I have nothing and not sure where to start. That's great. That's exciting. That's fun stuff to share on these calls. Thank you. I had a real estate question for you. And I don't know where to start with this one either. So I'm just gonna fire from the hip here. So if someone is let's say if someone's quarter, for whatever level of it. Now I'm asking for a friend of a friend or a friend at this point, we'll call them like six degrees of separation from actually I've never seen the house. But they said hey, listen to me. That talks like that. But it's actually them. Yeah. Very close. You know, it's, it's funny. My so my dad, my dad was awful about this. And my mom was laughing with me that the other day she goes, Thank God you didn't get that gene, but your brother definitely did. And it's not for him. It's for someone else though. That's not directly family, but my dad absolutely was. And my brother 1,000% is a hoarder. And I'm like, I don't know how you live like this. So either follow suit or swing the other way. I'm like, I throw out stuff all the time. My wife's like, I look at my closet. And I'm like, I should probably donate clothes again. She's like, What are you going to wear my Kayani like three shirts. I have all my work shirts. And then what? What do I need stuff to work out and that's it. We'll need other clothes. So I'm trying to figure out more about the situation because there might be an opportunity for someone else but they said, you know, the house isn't really something that really staged the person has too much stuff in the way and I kind of want to be like now I've seen real bad hoarders and I've seen okay, this is a mess. But what would you say? What would you suggest to someone to make it so if they want to present the house like that because it's too much house they need to get out of? Do they need that? Does it need to get cleaned up first like You can't show it without that, or where would someone start on something like that? Speaking of not knowing where to start, I don't want to, right. So you're saying this person lives in the house and they don't stand a chance for them. They're they're having trouble keeping up on the bills, you know, was good back in the day. It's it's the house that she raised her kids and her husband passed away years ago. So now it's just one woman and her house is too big and she's retired, doesn't have money and still has, I think 100,000 Maybe less that that they owe on the house. And as I actually said, it's probably and I told my sister, because she's already told my story, this person, it's probably a great time for them to try and sell. But the problem is they have a lot of stuff. And I'm like, What's a lot of stuff like jackets everywhere? And I said, Okay, well, that's probably more of a challenge, because it's devaluing what you're showing, to some extent, right? Because you can't truly show an empty room. If say, Hey, if you just imagine all these clothes aren't here, this dresser. And you're like, but I thought this was the dining room? You're like, yeah, yeah. And I've seen some horrible situations. Where would you tell someone like that's a start? Well, I just noticed people who are hoarders really have a lot of emotional attachment to their stuff. And what when they're really ready to sell my measuring stick is, are you ready to move. So I would say move out and have the place clean as if your house has already sold. You know, that's the only way you can get the potential of looking at the house like you know, people coming in and take a look at the house and they were able to see it would none of her stuff there. Because if any of her personal item is there, people wouldn't give his full value because they can't imagine themselves in the house. And that's the biggest price tag is if somebody is able to imagine themselves in that house. Yep. That's kind of why I was thinking somewhere along those lines. I'm a little again, I'm very minimalistic. And I said so I'm going through something halfway similar right now. I'm moving into my in laws house. So when they're not looking good, we're gonna move in with my mother in law because my father in law's health isn't isn't great. So he's not able to medically probably never going to be able to come home. So clearing up stuff I'm like, I told my wife I said, Hey, I'm sorry, if I come off as instead of consensus provide my thoughts always, well, if you don't need it brought the eff out. Like we had we did a VA donation. So we didn't just like throw stuff out. And you know, try to be like, but I can't say I'm always more sensitive with this stuff. Because I've grown up just my dad owned 10 property. So when someone wasn't in the property, it wasn't emotional. It was objective, it was this this space needs to be empty, pulled the dump trailers, let me rip out what I need to rip out. But I never was connected to the person then. There was never so I try to be 1% more thoughtful. Someone I can actually still talk to someone. We're going through the same thing in my house. My father in law just moved out from you know, our house. And so we're decluttering my husband throws away everything he does his favorite things to do is go throw stuff away. The one thing I want some I kept my dad's wallet and wedding ring. It's only things I want it so my wedding ring was my dad's wedding ring. I didn't want anything else in the Kipper. Like, do you want this? I'm like, I have my dad's Michigan State jacket. And they're like, do you want this? I'm like, No, I didn't go there. I don't want this jacket. Throw it out. But he went there. It's like, yeah, he went there decades ago. That's great. It was nice. Yeah, I'm never going to where it doesn't fit me and I never went there. Yeah, so yeah, I have like, I don't know how many pieces of paper across my desk right now to because after our conversation the other day, John, I hit the ground running. Especially with some of the power partners I'm sitting down with. I also have like, I have a cyber insurance quote, I'm holding in my back pocket that for both those people that I want to sit down with tomorrow stuff to cyber insurance companies that, hey, listen, I've got some officers looking for this quote, you know, but, you know, I've given you a couple of quotes now at this point. And I've given them to more than one person sometimes I'll say, Hey, listen, John, let me introduce you to two people. And you can see who fits better for personality and coverage for you. Because I know that's important when it comes to the insurance too, because I've had people have had different experiences with that. And I do those one or two things. So if I have two people that I've worked with, and they've both done a good job. I even let the client know like Hey, I use this one like for websites they use one person who actually helps me with my nonprofit. And I have another one who does he's a more complete shop. He does the social media that on top of this the website SEO. So I say Well, which one do you need? This one's more I'd say inexpensive but not cheap and quality, but does less things. Here's a more complete thing. You can still get whatever you need, which one fits and I'll let you when you pull for them, so I've used them both. But with the cyber insurance, you know, I haven't seen reciprocation for those two. So when a meeting, actually the two of them tomorrow, I'm going to hold that that client that needs a quote in my back pocket, as I'm gonna be with a lot of the surveillance because I'm just kind of like people auditing their auto insurance, cyber insurance is getting out of control. I mean, our MSPs feels like we're taking on an extra salary per year, just just for our cyber insurance, it's 10s, if you want to throw numbers, see how much that is like, what are we talking about? It, I would say, by the end of the year, because we also our insurance is always higher, because we have to account for all of our endpoints, all the other things by by proxy of what we're connected to. So we're just looking to change our insurance to one an insurance through a company called Casaya, which is probably my my arch nemesis at this point, but they're the necessary evil in my life. But our insurance is dropping down to about I think $17,000 a year, but it was it was probably almost double or triple that actually was almost triple that. So so when you're when you're paying, you know, again, another person's salary, just an insurance just to do that, you have to think about that, like we're talking about all these costs here. You know, that's, that's somebody who's think for the business too, and not for any benefit, or additional coverage. And they're always reasonably qualified for this other program is, a lot of the solutions we bought, that we use. There's a company called Datto, which we absolutely love to say it was a company that had a breach three, four years ago. But what they did is they instead started to buy up competition, because they had so much money, they actually like the Miami Heat plays at the Casaya center. So they now own the company that we use, and we're like, oh, we thought we got away from just like, I know, you said connect wise actually have my little coffee cup here. So this is their network assessment tool. So also, they know I live off coffee, like most people know that about me. So yeah, that's one real quick before we should move on to that. Denise, is there anything else on your side that you want to talk about as far as what to do? This calendar quarter? Um, no, I mean, I yeah, I think I pretty much you know, kind of got it i It's like a similar system that I was taught before used. So let's do a one page plan. Part of the one page planning process is you're gonna list there will be a list of all the things that you need to get done. That will be a part of that plan. And then we can review it and see what help you need and just rock and roll. Yeah, there you go. And then Jack, what's on your mind man? I do like that list though. Talking about the so the Automate delegate and whatever. Really, those are the two main things or if I'm still doing it myself, automate delegate or outsource. Yep. Or is this this network partner concerned? You're familiar with the poi strategy that I've shared and taught. Right. And, and so part of that whole process is betting that person in the very beginning I give them the lead for referral. And I want to circle back and see how that referral went. And if it went well, I call personally referred them too and vice versa. But if they don't refer me somebody in return, that is part of my next conversation with and conversation kind of goes like this. It's like I wrote you know, if I was I had referred you if you and I Jack had agreed to become a POA. Right. And, you know, I did my part I refer somebody to you walk them through the process and give him a quote proposal and and here we are, we're at the agreed and agreed upon follow up time. That so it's a, it's a sandwich approach. It's very easy. And I just say, Hey, I just talked to my client a couple of days ago and the one I referred you to and he said he really enjoyed how you engaged with them. enjoyed walking through the process. I understand he didn't buy but he is considering you in the future. But the thing I liked about what he shared with music you were Professional, you contacted him you did every single thing that you said you were gonna do. And so he needed a great big thumbs up. So any feedback that you like how I referred you? Yeah, I like how you proved me right when antastic Alright, let's talk about the referral that you were that you committed to give to me. Now shut up. Let's talk about that referral that you're gonna give me. And it's a very awkward silence. Oh, yeah, shit, I've totally forgot that I was supposed to give you some money. So I go, Yeah, go ahead. I want to I know, we only have a couple minutes here. I want to ask one question about also, like I said, I'll stay on as long as you need me to go for it. I think we have our office meeting in four minutes if they're holding too because we pushed it back because I said I was on here till at least 230. Did you ever find benefit in cross training or visiting other MSPs or visiting people that are in your industry? Or is it just from networking events and other things that you continue to grow and train and hone your skills? So I have a couple that I liked that are friendly that I thought about visiting? Some might not necessarily be in the state. But I want to see that I want to see the $10 million MSP and how they operate. Absolutely, man. If they got no issues and they play nice in the sandbox and I would say go for it. Are you a part of the IT MSP users group on Facebook? No. So I see it and MSP Business Owners Group Okay. So let me invite you to it real quick. 20,000 members doesn't invite funniest one I'm in is called a tech degenerates I got invited to I thought was the funniest thing. So it was the inner circle of the people from that. That it somewhere I was at. But my God, they text like a teenager who just figured out how to use a cell phone it is I haven't looked at it. And since it's been seven days since I've looked at it, there's 2000 messages in it. So that's one I want to be a part of ever back when I had an IT company the other one is it and MSP marketing with my buddy Chris Weiser one of the top marketers in Yeah, he actually archive this group and now it's the ITM MSP business owners group. Okay, that's the new group. But yeah, I mean, he Yeah, yeah, that's right. He, he archive it is created this group. So this group 1000 people. And there are people in here that have 25 $30 million IT companies and there's people here in startup. So and just follow the rules group. Chris is an amazing guy. If you want to meet the guy got a small number. He's a good friend of mine. I'll probably take you up on that. Because I think one thing I learned was there's the old one of my favorite lines is the older I get, the less I know. And I think it's a it's a phrase that served me well, knowing that there's a lot of people out there that know a lot more than I do. And the more I open up and to learn from people, I like to be also a jack of most and master of none. As I know there's always someone who is a specialty and an expert in any given field. So I think my competitive advantage this is the Steve Jobs effect of knowing that I don't have to be the smartest guy in the room. It's sociation reading and audios and videos and if you manage those three things, always socially with people that are better than you you'll you'll always grow so I know you gotta run and you have people looking at you probably beating down your door when you're going to join the meeting. So feel free to jump off if you need to. And but Lisa, you got any more stuff you want to talk about? Are you good to go for today? Um Thank you guys. I probably want to pick up a couple of things. Sure. Yeah, go for it. Yeah, so um what your ex wife or something will in? Yeah, so do you want me to keep the recording going? Or do you want me to stop recording is just a conversation between us? Yeah, just stop the recording is conversation between you and I Okay all right yeah

Learn about the ONE thing you always need to be thankful for, as well as how to nurture more of it to improve your life in this talk. Listen to the podcast to learn more. Have questions or comments? Submit them here, or on twitter. Additional resources: Transcript All past episodes Eight Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power (listen free with Audible trial) Topics: Gratitude, Blessing, Luck, Lucky, Thankful, Health, Good health, Wellbeing, Physical health, Mental health, Happiness, Success, Peak performance, Unlocking your potential, Working out, Exercise, Physical activity, Health is wealth, Healthy habits, How to live longer --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/growth-philosophy/message

Interested in a Clarity Coaching Day? Send Jamie a DM on Instagram @JamieMSwanson Sign up for podcast  email reminders here  >>> http://brightentrepreneurpodcast.com/email Join the Insider's Telegram Channel Here  >>> http://brightentrepreneurpodcast.com/telegram Transcript: All right, my friend, how are you doing the fact that you decided to listen to this specific episode tells me that maybe right now you are feeling just a little bit or maybe a lot of overwhelm. In your life and you are hoping that you can find some relief and let go of some of the heavy burden that you are carrying. And that's what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about a few things that I do to help overcome the overwhelm and move forward with clarity, focus, and energy.  it's that time of year when it's really easy to feel incredibly overwhelmed. And this year is especially stressful. Not only is there a global pandemic, just as a reminder as if you could have forgotten, but we've got the elections coming up just around the corner and the holidays come soon after that. And so she feels like everybody and their sister are launching something right now, or really trying to, do what they can to prepare for the holidays. And in some places it's been especially rough because a lockdown has been starting again. In fact, I just talked to somebody tonight who is struggling because they are now in lockdown in their area and they can no longer. Do their brick and mortar store. And so their income has fallen away and that's coming in this fourth quarter when income is usually really high, especially for retail stores. So I want to talk about this because it's really easy when we feel overwhelmed to just want to burn it all down, to go back to working for somebody else to give up and to just throw in the towel or worse yet to just. get burned out and not do what you know you need to do. And self-sabotage really indirectly, but very noticeably. And I want to help you avoid the self-sabotage. I want to help you avoid wanting to burn down your business. And I want to share the one thing that has been helping me in a huge way. As I have been restarting my own business and dealing with the overwhelm as well, because it's definitely been a difficult year for me. So the biggest thing that I have been focusing on that's been helping is when I am working in my business, I'm really paying a lot of attention to the activities and the things that I'm doing that really light me up in a big way and give me energy versus the things that really drain my energy. And I talked about this a little while back, but you know, there's something I want you to remember is that, you know, it is never too late for you to make a plot twist. And the story of your business, you can pivot at any time. Now I know in my old business, it didn't even cross my mind to consider doing things differently. I had a course, I had a membership. I had a challenge that helped me get people enrolled in the course, and it was all working really well. And it never really dawned on me to think, huh, is there something else that I could be doing that was more aligned with my zone of genius? That brought me energy instead of sucking the life out of me that last year, before COVID hit. I spent several months really transitioning away from a launch model and into an evergreen model in part, because launching is risky and I had a. Well, I mean, it was still a good launch, but it was a bad launch compared to what it should have been and ended up being about 30% of what we normally got because Facebook had made a little bit of a change and it threw my whole challenge out of whack. And, basically, without going into all of the details, we spent a ton of money on ads and I'm talking like $45,000. And we knew we could do that pretty comfortably because we had done several launches in the past and knew that if we had a certain number of people signed up, we were likely to make a certain amount of income. Well, because of this Facebook change, which basically made our challenge not work as well. w barely worked at all was super disappointing because Facebook wasn't showing stuff to people in the same way that it had been. We only ended up getting a third of the results that we were expecting to get. Now, thankfully, we still made far more than the 45,000 we spent on ads. But it was really a big pillow and it showed me how much risk is in a launch model. Even when you have things, prepared, even when you've done it several times over, there's always things that can shift. And we hadn't launched four or five months prior because we were only launching a couple of times a year. And so there's just so much risk that you put when. You make the majority of your money in a launch. Honestly, I really love the excitement and the connection that happens when you launch. And I love running challenges because I get to work with so many people. I get to see so many people getting results and it just feels really, really good when you can make a massive impact on your industry and see literally. Thousands of people getting results. It's amazing. And then to have them turn around and buy your product afterwards is just cool. You get to make an impact and you get to make an income. And it's just a beautiful thing. However, I just didn't want to deal with that risk anymore, because that was really a significant blow. Like, well, he lost multiple six figures of income because of that one little change that happened in Facebook. So we decided to move to an evergreen model and my team, and I spent several months switching everything over and changing things up. And honestly, it was really a struggle for me because. There's something about having stress, which sounds terrible. And I really hate that this is how I am, but there's something about having a healthy amount of stuff where you're on a deadline. You've got to get things done, yeah. Act into a corner and you've just got to make magic happen. I, I do my best work. Under those settings as much as I don't love that fact. for example, right now, as I'm building a new business and money is incredibly tight, I'm finding that my best work is coming out because I'm, I've got to do it. Like I have to make this work and I need to make it work fast. Or we need to make some massive life changes   right. Despite the fact that I really love launching, and I love the energy and I do some of my most creative and best work with it. We decided to make the switch to evergreen and it wasn't quite the same energy because number one, when you go evergreen, you're not interacting with people one on one in the same way. And I didn't have 5,000 people doing a challenge in my free group all within the same week. And it really. Was a huge drain to my energy. Now I don't regret it. And I actually believe that having a steady stream of income in your business, especially if it's a recurring stream of income is incredibly valuable to help offset those launch, you know, the launch variability and to really bring in a bunch of consistency and remove the anxiety from your business. However, I found that setting up an evergreen funnel and doing all of the assets for it. It did not light me up. It did not excite me in any way. I didn't realize this at the time, but the main reason that it drained me so much was not because of the technology or any of that. It was because my zone of genius is in connecting with people and inspiring them and really. Working with them on a one-on-one basis or a very close, intimate way. I love to connect with my people in real time. I don't want to automate my connection. And so all of those months, when I was working on my evergreen funnel, I was working outside of my zone of genius because I was stuck in the details. I was stuck in the asset creation. I was suck setting up the technology and the funnels and converting everything over from a launch model into an evergreen model. And I was changing up my conversion mechanism at the same time, because what we had done before wasn't working in the same way because of that lovely Facebook change. And so it was just really draining for me. It was incredibly draining for me. I wasn't sure exactly why I didn't love creating the evergreen funnel until this fall, when I've started paying a lot closer attention to the things in my business that light me up and. I really spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what exactly is my zone of genius. What are those things that I do because they bring me energy and that I just do so naturally that I don't even realize I'm doing them. And how can I do more of that in my business and avoid doing the stuff that really is far outside my zone of genius and really brings me. It just drains me. It just takes all of my energy away. And so that I didn't realize that that was why creating this evergreen funnel was so exhausting for me until this fall. So my commitment right now is I am rebuilding this business. has been to be very, very honest with how I'm feeling about what I'm doing. I've tried to be very aware and very curious about what lights me up. What am I really enjoying doing? What leaves me feeling energized and alive. And for me, I almost always feel my best. After I've been directly working with people in small groups. And when I've been working with people one on one, that's why I enjoy doing the clarity coaching days so much. That's why I love doing masterminds. And I am so excited about getting the brighter together, mastermind up and running, which should be happening super soon. And I am so. Like, I'm just so excited about how I'm doing things. And honestly, it's only been what, three and a half months at this point, and I've already kind of done a little bit of a plot twist. Like I haven't given up on the bright future method workshop in any way, shape or form completely, but I don't think that's going to be my main focus. I believe that the masterminds that I am creating and I'm starting with one, but I eventually want to have multiple groups. I believe that this mastermind that I am creating. Is going to be nothing but light and easy for me to run. I know that after every single meeting we have, I am going to be filled with energy and literally energized. I'm not going to be exhausted. I'm not going to dread showing up. And because this is so deeply part of my zone of genius, I know that serving my people and. Really helping them get the growth that they want to have in their business. And being able to work with a small group of people for the next 12 months, at least twice a month is really exciting to me. I know it's going to just bring me so much joy and that when we're working out of our zone of genius, we're going to help other people get their best results as well. So as you are looking at your business and you're looking at all of the things. And, you know, sometimes there are seasons when you're just getting you're done and you know, you just need to get through it. Like, I'll be honest. It is really exhausting to always be worried about cashflow and how can I keep bringing it in more? And how can I bring it in more and say, Oh, do I want to do this? Do I not want to do this? All the questions are exhausting. All of the emotions. Oh my goodness. The emotions that you have when you're starting over or. At any point, really? They never go away, but they seem especially acute when you're starting over ban, they are exhausting. But I want you to know that it's never too late for a pivot. It's never too late for a plot twist in the story of your business. And when you find those things in your business that just light you up. Do more of them. And when you find those things that you feel like you just have to do, cause you just have to do it when you're working out of that sense of obligation and should ask yourself, is there another way. Could I accomplish the exact same things in a different way. So as you're going into the next few months, when overwhelm is very likely to be high, and there's going to be a ton of obligations on your plate, both personal with the holidays. And business with the end of year stuff and just all of the things, Be really mindful as you, you go through it of the things that you're just dreading and of the things that you just love doing. And if you're at the point in your business, this where you don't love doing any of it, because you are just burned out and exhausted. The best thing you can do is to take a few days and step away. If you can take an entire week, that would be even better, but at a minimum four days, step away from your business. Don't worry about it. Don't think about it. Do what you need to do, you know, if you have lessons to teach or something, accord them in advance, but take a few days and step away from your business and just make space and just let your brain. Rest. I mean, literally don't sit and try and figure things out. Don't think, think, think, think, think, go play, do the stuff you love, spend time with your family, whatever it is. And I just did this, this weekend in a mini form. I took two days completely away from my business, which is hard to do when you're starting over and everything is crazy busy. Right. And I mean, completely away, there was no checking email. There was no responding to messages. It was like, Off grid only, not really off grid. I was off the business stuff and just totally, being present and taking time to rest and do the things that I love that really fill me. And it was the best thing I could've done. I came back so energized and I came back so focused and you might need more than a few days, but just know that, you know, you're probably burned out if you don't enjoy everything. And if you really. Go on rest and you make the space and you come back and you still don't love anything. Then it's probably time to ask yourself, what are the kinds of things you might love? What other things could you be doing if you weren't doing this? And don't be afraid to create a business that is perfectly aligned with who you are and what your goals are in life. Because when you do that, It becomes so much easier when your business is created to be perfectly suited to who you are and what your strengths are. It doesn't drain your energy. It's not a burden. It is a. Joy. It gives you energy and you get excited to show up and do the work. And that's what I want for you now, you know, there's always going to be some tasks that you don't love doing, but that's where you start to outsource. That's where you build your team. That's where you hire other people who are lit up by doing that thing to come in and work beside you. I know how hard it is to get out of that messy middle. And I know how hard it is to make space and really breathe. But if you continue to operate out of a sense of obligation and you live in that place of overwhelm for too long, Eventually it is going to catch up to you. It's going to cause massive problems for you, either in your business or your personal life or your health, whatever it is, but that's not why you started your business. You did not start your business because you wanted to live in a constant state of overwhelm. You started a business because you wanted to make an impact. You wanted to do something that you love. You wanted to design a life. That's incredible. So, if you're looking at your business and your life right now, and it's not what you thought it would be, and you're just feeling defeated and overwhelmed, know that it can get better. Use the process that I outlined in this podcast episode, to help you start finding hints as to what it is that might let you up, how you might want to change. And then when you find those things that bring you energy double down on them. And ask yourself, how can I bring more of this into what I'm already doing? So for the bright future method workshop that I've been teaching, I've found, I don't love teaching lessons. I mean, I love helping people get results. And so that's part of it, but I love. The Q and a side of it. I love when we get together on zoom and we do these coaching calls and we walk through the material together and make sure everybody's understanding it and applying it to their businesses. And I love seeing the aha moments that happened from that. And I played some for you here on the podcast, just a couple of episodes ago. And so what I've been asking myself, Is how can I do more of that in the business? And so that's why I'm launching the masterminds and that's why that's going to be more of the focus. And I've even been thinking, huh? Maybe instead of teaching the course, maybe that's just included in the mastermind. I don't know. I don't know. I haven't decided those things yet, but I'm asking myself the questions and I'm asking myself, how can I bring in more of my zone of genius into my business? Because then I know it's easy. It's the most important question you can ask yourself to truly create a business that you love and that gives you the lifestyle you want, and that helps you make your greatest impact in the world. Because when we're working from our greatest strengths, we're going to have our greatest impact so my friend, if you are struggling to find clarity or maybe you've discovered, gosh, I love these things, but I don't know how to bring more of that into my business. Or maybe you just have so much stuff going on that you can't even take the time to sit and figure out. What you really should be focused on, or you just get so overwhelmed when you're trying to figure all out. If you'd like some help, And would love to do a clarity coaching day with me. You can reach out to me using the contact information. That's right here in the show notes. And what we'll do first is we will do a 30 minute clarity consultation. That's totally free just to hear kind of what's going on and make sure that I'm going to be able to help you get clarity and move forward. And then if we both feel like it's a good fit, we will schedule a day to really sit down and go through whatever it is that you are working on and really help you get clarity and try and figure out how you can take your zone of genius. And go deeper with that in your business. And if you need to make some sort of business pivot, if you are ready for a plot twist, I'm happy to help you figure out the strategy that can take you from where you are now and gently redirect your energy so that you can create a business. That's. Truly aligned with who you are, that's light, that's easy and that's simple for you to run so that you can scale it in a big way. So just reach out to me, use the contact information in the show notes, and we can talk about moving forward. Would that my friend, I want you to remember that we are brighter together and that the world needs us. So let's go out and make it brighter.

Interested in a Clarity Coaching Day? Send Jamie a DM on Instagram @JamieMSwanson Sign up for podcast  email reminders here  >>> http://brightentrepreneurpodcast.com/email Join the Insider's Telegram Channel Here  >>> http://brightentrepreneurpodcast.com/telegram Transcript: All right, my friend, how are you doing the fact that you decided to listen to this specific episode tells me that maybe right now you are feeling just a little bit or maybe a lot of overwhelm. In your life and you are hoping that you can find some relief and let go of some of the heavy burden that you are carrying. And that's what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about a few things that I do to help overcome the overwhelm and move forward with clarity, focus, and energy.  it's that time of year when it's really easy to feel incredibly overwhelmed. And this year is especially stressful. Not only is there a global pandemic, just as a reminder as if you could have forgotten, but we've got the elections coming up just around the corner and the holidays come soon after that. And so she feels like everybody and their sister are launching something right now, or really trying to, do what they can to prepare for the holidays. And in some places it's been especially rough because a lockdown has been starting again. In fact, I just talked to somebody tonight who is struggling because they are now in lockdown in their area and they can no longer. Do their brick and mortar store. And so their income has fallen away and that's coming in this fourth quarter when income is usually really high, especially for retail stores. So I want to talk about this because it's really easy when we feel overwhelmed to just want to burn it all down, to go back to working for somebody else to give up and to just throw in the towel or worse yet to just. get burned out and not do what you know you need to do. And self-sabotage really indirectly, but very noticeably. And I want to help you avoid the self-sabotage. I want to help you avoid wanting to burn down your business. And I want to share the one thing that has been helping me in a huge way. As I have been restarting my own business and dealing with the overwhelm as well, because it's definitely been a difficult year for me. So the biggest thing that I have been focusing on that's been helping is when I am working in my business, I'm really paying a lot of attention to the activities and the things that I'm doing that really light me up in a big way and give me energy versus the things that really drain my energy. And I talked about this a little while back, but you know, there's something I want you to remember is that, you know, it is never too late for you to make a plot twist. And the story of your business, you can pivot at any time. Now I know in my old business, it didn't even cross my mind to consider doing things differently. I had a course, I had a membership. I had a challenge that helped me get people enrolled in the course, and it was all working really well. And it never really dawned on me to think, huh, is there something else that I could be doing that was more aligned with my zone of genius? That brought me energy instead of sucking the life out of me that last year, before COVID hit. I spent several months really transitioning away from a launch model and into an evergreen model in part, because launching is risky and I had a. Well, I mean, it was still a good launch, but it was a bad launch compared to what it should have been and ended up being about 30% of what we normally got because Facebook had made a little bit of a change and it threw my whole challenge out of whack. And, basically, without going into all of the details, we spent a ton of money on ads and I'm talking like $45,000. And we knew we could do that pretty comfortably because we had done several launches in the past and knew that if we had a certain number of people signed up, we were likely to make a certain amount of income. Well, because of this Facebook change, which basically made our challenge not work as well. w barely worked at all was super disappointing because Facebook wasn't showing stuff to people in the same way that it had been. We only ended up getting a third of the results that we were expecting to get. Now, thankfully, we still made far more than the 45,000 we spent on ads. But it was really a big pillow and it showed me how much risk is in a launch model. Even when you have things, prepared, even when you've done it several times over, there's always things that can shift. And we hadn't launched four or five months prior because we were only launching a couple of times a year. And so there's just so much risk that you put when. You make the majority of your money in a launch. Honestly, I really love the excitement and the connection that happens when you launch. And I love running challenges because I get to work with so many people. I get to see so many people getting results and it just feels really, really good when you can make a massive impact on your industry and see literally. Thousands of people getting results. It's amazing. And then to have them turn around and buy your product afterwards is just cool. You get to make an impact and you get to make an income. And it's just a beautiful thing. However, I just didn't want to deal with that risk anymore, because that was really a significant blow. Like, well, he lost multiple six figures of income because of that one little change that happened in Facebook. So we decided to move to an evergreen model and my team, and I spent several months switching everything over and changing things up. And honestly, it was really a struggle for me because. There's something about having stress, which sounds terrible. And I really hate that this is how I am, but there's something about having a healthy amount of stuff where you're on a deadline. You've got to get things done, yeah. Act into a corner and you've just got to make magic happen. I, I do my best work. Under those settings as much as I don't love that fact. for example, right now, as I'm building a new business and money is incredibly tight, I'm finding that my best work is coming out because I'm, I've got to do it. Like I have to make this work and I need to make it work fast. Or we need to make some massive life changes   right. Despite the fact that I really love launching, and I love the energy and I do some of my most creative and best work with it. We decided to make the switch to evergreen and it wasn't quite the same energy because number one, when you go evergreen, you're not interacting with people one on one in the same way. And I didn't have 5,000 people doing a challenge in my free group all within the same week. And it really. Was a huge drain to my energy. Now I don't regret it. And I actually believe that having a steady stream of income in your business, especially if it's a recurring stream of income is incredibly valuable to help offset those launch, you know, the launch variability and to really bring in a bunch of consistency and remove the anxiety from your business. However, I found that setting up an evergreen funnel and doing all of the assets for it. It did not light me up. It did not excite me in any way. I didn't realize this at the time, but the main reason that it drained me so much was not because of the technology or any of that. It was because my zone of genius is in connecting with people and inspiring them and really. Working with them on a one-on-one basis or a very close, intimate way. I love to connect with my people in real time. I don't want to automate my connection. And so all of those months, when I was working on my evergreen funnel, I was working outside of my zone of genius because I was stuck in the details. I was stuck in the asset creation. I was suck setting up the technology and the funnels and converting everything over from a launch model into an evergreen model. And I was changing up my conversion mechanism at the same time, because what we had done before wasn't working in the same way because of that lovely Facebook change. And so it was just really draining for me. It was incredibly draining for me. I wasn't sure exactly why I didn't love creating the evergreen funnel until this fall, when I've started paying a lot closer attention to the things in my business that light me up and. I really spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what exactly is my zone of genius. What are those things that I do because they bring me energy and that I just do so naturally that I don't even realize I'm doing them. And how can I do more of that in my business and avoid doing the stuff that really is far outside my zone of genius and really brings me. It just drains me. It just takes all of my energy away. And so that I didn't realize that that was why creating this evergreen funnel was so exhausting for me until this fall. So my commitment right now is I am rebuilding this business. has been to be very, very honest with how I'm feeling about what I'm doing. I've tried to be very aware and very curious about what lights me up. What am I really enjoying doing? What leaves me feeling energized and alive. And for me, I almost always feel my best. After I've been directly working with people in small groups. And when I've been working with people one on one, that's why I enjoy doing the clarity coaching days so much. That's why I love doing masterminds. And I am so excited about getting the brighter together, mastermind up and running, which should be happening super soon. And I am so. Like, I'm just so excited about how I'm doing things. And honestly, it's only been what, three and a half months at this point, and I've already kind of done a little bit of a plot twist. Like I haven't given up on the bright future method workshop in any way, shape or form completely, but I don't think that's going to be my main focus. I believe that the masterminds that I am creating and I'm starting with one, but I eventually want to have multiple groups. I believe that this mastermind that I am creating. Is going to be nothing but light and easy for me to run. I know that after every single meeting we have, I am going to be filled with energy and literally energized. I'm not going to be exhausted. I'm not going to dread showing up. And because this is so deeply part of my zone of genius, I know that serving my people and. Really helping them get the growth that they want to have in their business. And being able to work with a small group of people for the next 12 months, at least twice a month is really exciting to me. I know it's going to just bring me so much joy and that when we're working out of our zone of genius, we're going to help other people get their best results as well. So as you are looking at your business and you're looking at all of the things. And, you know, sometimes there are seasons when you're just getting you're done and you know, you just need to get through it. Like, I'll be honest. It is really exhausting to always be worried about cashflow and how can I keep bringing it in more? And how can I bring it in more and say, Oh, do I want to do this? Do I not want to do this? All the questions are exhausting. All of the emotions. Oh my goodness. The emotions that you have when you're starting over or. At any point, really? They never go away, but they seem especially acute when you're starting over ban, they are exhausting. But I want you to know that it's never too late for a pivot. It's never too late for a plot twist in the story of your business. And when you find those things in your business that just light you up. Do more of them. And when you find those things that you feel like you just have to do, cause you just have to do it when you're working out of that sense of obligation and should ask yourself, is there another way. Could I accomplish the exact same things in a different way. So as you're going into the next few months, when overwhelm is very likely to be high, and there's going to be a ton of obligations on your plate, both personal with the holidays. And business with the end of year stuff and just all of the things, Be really mindful as you, you go through it of the things that you're just dreading and of the things that you just love doing. And if you're at the point in your business, this where you don't love doing any of it, because you are just burned out and exhausted. The best thing you can do is to take a few days and step away. If you can take an entire week, that would be even better, but at a minimum four days, step away from your business. Don't worry about it. Don't think about it. Do what you need to do, you know, if you have lessons to teach or something, accord them in advance, but take a few days and step away from your business and just make space and just let your brain. Rest. I mean, literally don't sit and try and figure things out. Don't think, think, think, think, think, go play, do the stuff you love, spend time with your family, whatever it is. And I just did this, this weekend in a mini form. I took two days completely away from my business, which is hard to do when you're starting over and everything is crazy busy. Right. And I mean, completely away, there was no checking email. There was no responding to messages. It was like, Off grid only, not really off grid. I was off the business stuff and just totally, being present and taking time to rest and do the things that I love that really fill me. And it was the best thing I could've done. I came back so energized and I came back so focused and you might need more than a few days, but just know that, you know, you're probably burned out if you don't enjoy everything. And if you really. Go on rest and you make the space and you come back and you still don't love anything. Then it's probably time to ask yourself, what are the kinds of things you might love? What other things could you be doing if you weren't doing this? And don't be afraid to create a business that is perfectly aligned with who you are and what your goals are in life. Because when you do that, It becomes so much easier when your business is created to be perfectly suited to who you are and what your strengths are. It doesn't drain your energy. It's not a burden. It is a. Joy. It gives you energy and you get excited to show up and do the work. And that's what I want for you now, you know, there's always going to be some tasks that you don't love doing, but that's where you start to outsource. That's where you build your team. That's where you hire other people who are lit up by doing that thing to come in and work beside you. I know how hard it is to get out of that messy middle. And I know how hard it is to make space and really breathe. But if you continue to operate out of a sense of obligation and you live in that place of overwhelm for too long, Eventually it is going to catch up to you. It's going to cause massive problems for you, either in your business or your personal life or your health, whatever it is, but that's not why you started your business. You did not start your business because you wanted to live in a constant state of overwhelm. You started a business because you wanted to make an impact. You wanted to do something that you love. You wanted to design a life. That's incredible. So, if you're looking at your business and your life right now, and it's not what you thought it would be, and you're just feeling defeated and overwhelmed, know that it can get better. Use the process that I outlined in this podcast episode, to help you start finding hints as to what it is that might let you up, how you might want to change. And then when you find those things that bring you energy double down on them. And ask yourself, how can I bring more of this into what I'm already doing? So for the bright future method workshop that I've been teaching, I've found, I don't love teaching lessons. I mean, I love helping people get results. And so that's part of it, but I love. The Q and a side of it. I love when we get together on zoom and we do these coaching calls and we walk through the material together and make sure everybody's understanding it and applying it to their businesses. And I love seeing the aha moments that happened from that. And I played some for you here on the podcast, just a couple of episodes ago. And so what I've been asking myself, Is how can I do more of that in the business? And so that's why I'm launching the masterminds and that's why that's going to be more of the focus. And I've even been thinking, huh? Maybe instead of teaching the course, maybe that's just included in the mastermind. I don't know. I don't know. I haven't decided those things yet, but I'm asking myself the questions and I'm asking myself, how can I bring in more of my zone of genius into my business? Because then I know it's easy. It's the most important question you can ask yourself to truly create a business that you love and that gives you the lifestyle you want, and that helps you make your greatest impact in the world. Because when we're working from our greatest strengths, we're going to have our greatest impact so my friend, if you are struggling to find clarity or maybe you've discovered, gosh, I love these things, but I don't know how to bring more of that into my business. Or maybe you just have so much stuff going on that you can't even take the time to sit and figure out. What you really should be focused on, or you just get so overwhelmed when you're trying to figure all out. If you'd like some help, And would love to do a clarity coaching day with me. You can reach out to me using the contact information. That's right here in the show notes. And what we'll do first is we will do a 30 minute clarity consultation. That's totally free just to hear kind of what's going on and make sure that I'm going to be able to help you get clarity and move forward. And then if we both feel like it's a good fit, we will schedule a day to really sit down and go through whatever it is that you are working on and really help you get clarity and try and figure out how you can take your zone of genius. And go deeper with that in your business. And if you need to make some sort of business pivot, if you are ready for a plot twist, I'm happy to help you figure out the strategy that can take you from where you are now and gently redirect your energy so that you can create a business. That's. Truly aligned with who you are, that's light, that's easy and that's simple for you to run so that you can scale it in a big way. So just reach out to me, use the contact information in the show notes, and we can talk about moving forward. Would that my friend, I want you to remember that we are brighter together and that the world needs us. So let's go out and make it brighter.

Safe Work Australia Chair Diane Smith Gander AO launches National Safe Work Month October 2020 - Work Health and Safety through COVID-19. Transcript: All workers have the right to a healthy and safe work environment, and no work-related injury, illness or death is ever acceptable.

This lecture by Denver Snuffer entitled “A Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit” was originally recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 25, 2014, in front of a live audience. Transcript All right, so, let’s begin. I wanna remind you that when we were in Orem, we talked about priesthood, and I’d like you to keep […] The post A Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit appeared first on Restoration Archives Blog.

Have you ever dreamed of living in an actual utopia? Sound too good to be true?  Turns out it’s closer than you think! Serenbe is the world renowned pioneering self sustaining community about 40 minutes south of Atlanta. Recognized by Time Magazine, The New York Times, Oprah and more, Serenbe boasts edible trees, a professional farm, a focus on art, education, and a lifestyle steeped in wellness. Today, I got to speak to the sought after CEO and founder Steve Nygren.  One thing that stood out is the amount of a-ha moments of what we can do in our own homes that can instantly improve our health, mental wellness, prevent cancer, and promote happiness. For instance, in the Serenbe community, there are about 100 kids that live there and not one of them has asthma. You’ve got to hear this interview! Steve is clearly a person who is committed to the purpose of marrying old fashioned values and community without sacrificing modern back lolcity life. And inspiring other people to elevate the importance of nature in our own communities.  And it got me thinking about the people that I love that struggle with their health, struggle with depression, struggle with a lack of motivation - and it made me wonder if all of it is connected to our environment. I mean what if we used ourselves as Guinea pigs and made some simple changes - or even big changes - and it improved our overall conditions? What if it improved the quality of life for aging parents?  What if it reversed  medical conditions? What if it could help the earth? Serenbe | Instagram | Serenbe Real Estate | Serenbe Events Little Left of Center is also broadcasting on DecaturFM and Salesforce Radio. If you haven’t hit subscribe yet, please make sure you do so you never miss an episode of these perspective-shifting conversations. Leave a review. SHARE it with your friends and enemies.  Connect with me on the socials at Instagram, LinkedIn,  Facebook or good old fashioned email.Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you next week!   Transcript: All right. So we are here today with Steve Nygren. He is the CEO and founder of the Serenbe community. And I'm sure I'm going to butcher this, but it is a, a really inventive, self-sustaining Agora, Agora, Agora hood, agrihood, and it is amazing about 40 minutes South of Atlanta. And so I'm so thankful for you to sitting down with me. So my podcast is called little left of center and I interview culture changers and I couldn't think of anyone better than you. As far as culture changing, you really have started a movement, so I'd love to hear a little bit more about it. How did this idea come to you? Well, first of all, welcome to Sarah. Thank you. Interested in what we're doing here. Thank you. Thank you. Well, this is, is Really a reaction to urban sprawl and what we didn't want to have in the 70s, 80s, 90s. I am the hospitality guy in Atlanta and in other cities. Yeah, that's right. And we, we brought fine dining in a casual atmosphere to Atlanta in the 70s. And, and it was a movement that was happening in America and we really were the leaders in the Southeast on this. And so I built that to a company that was in eight States and then had an opportunity to sell it and stepped off the treadmill. We lived in Ansley park at the time and a full community in downtown Atlanta. Yes. And, and where we could walk two blocks, one way to symphony hall high museum and all the restaurants along Peachtree and the other side we could walk to Piedmont park, the botanical gardens. So it was the ideal place. In fact, we'd planted gardens for our small children to be married in one day. And so we, we weren't looking for any lifestyle changes but we bought this farm on a a weekend drive out of a whim really. And I decided it was a good investment cause it was so close to Atlanta and there was this beautiful countryside cheap as is all get out or was I considering, yes, because there were no real roads here. So this wasn't on the way to anywhere. And most of metropolitan Atlanta was not aware of this beautiful rolling countryside that had been forgotten in, in the urban sprawl. Everything went North and then West and East and even South East, but not West because there were no roads to anything really major here. And so this was just sort of a whim. We rented the old historic farmhouse out and fixed a shack in the back in case we ever wanted to spend the night. You know, I, I imagine getting, you know, a, a horse and a couple of things for the kids and we'd just come out and it'd be fun. Was it a second home? It was a second home in 90 when we purchased it. And to my amazement, everyone was anxious to leave that wonderful city house with the pool on the media room and matching Barbie cars for all the three girls, you know, battery operated. You know, we, we, we, we, we thought we had the ideal world. And so it was my surprise that everyone wanted to come here to the country where we stayed in the shack. And connected to nature. And so doing that for three years was my value shift. And so I had an opportunity to sell the company, sold the big house, retired from most of the boards. And we had a wonderful seven years in retirement, but in that seventh year we became concerned about urban sprawl because Atlanta was running out of available land this close to the city and there was some development threats. And I started buying land and at 900 acres I realized I couldn't keep buying land to protect us. And 900 acres in the path of urban sprawl really doesn't protect you from anything. Anyone who's been in Metro Atlanta for the last several years understands how fast that train couldn't couldn't come. And so this was really a reaction as to what could we do first thinking about how can we be a model to do it differently. And then bringing 500 landowners to actually regulate the zoning on 40,000 acres. How did you find 5,000, 5,000 landowners? 500, 500 that owned 40,000 acres. So this was the Southern tip of Fulton County that was not zoned. And so it was still agriculturally zone, but that's what happens in metropolitan Atlanta. And so today we have what's called the Chattahoochee Hill country Alliance and that 65,000 acres in four counties here rewriting the corner of Fulton County to Carolyn Douglas. And this is a green space and, and a path with 30 miles of the Chattahoochee run Chattahoochee river running down through it. And we are the first to develop under these regulations. We now 40,000 of it in the two counties. We're allowed to become our own city of chat Hills. We're in, in, in I think the fifth geographic largest city in the state. But our population is in the bottom 2%, I think. So that, you know, even know where to start developing. Like how did you, well, I was, you know, and as I look back of course my first restaurant was in Midtown in the 70s when that was trash. And then in the early eighties, I became head of the Midtown Alliance. And then thanks to the Woodruff foundation and we brought in Tony Nielsen out of Boston and really looked at the rezoning for metropolitan Atlanta or Midtown Atlanta. And so you look at what's happened to Midtown today from the zoning that was put into the place in, in, in the late eighties. So, so that's why it's one of the largest zoning plans in Metro Atlanta. So I realized that that was really my training ground when I saw what was in front of me to bring these landowners together of diverse pro development, pro preservation. It was very similar to what we did in a very urban area of Midtown Atlanta. And so that was my, in my a roadmap. Did you find any resistance at that point or was it such a green space that you were able to kind of do what you want? Well, the important things to understand is I didn't come with a plan that I asked them to either like, or not like a, we came in and said, okay, what, what do we want the future to be like? So this started with neighborhood coffees of both small and large, large landowners. We divided people into groups of, of equal a similar sized property. And it's a wonderful journey on how you can bring a coalition to people that normally are fighting and all these zoning battles that you hear about. Of course we started with skepticism. What's this going to be about? But we were able to turn the majority of the landowners by the time we took this forward, 80% were paying dues into the organization to move this forward from, from all extremes. And we've come up with a plan where the pro-development, which has really economic value realize they can make more money than they would have. And the preservationist realized we're going to preserve 70% of this land and yet we'll put 20% more housing in the 30% by creating a dense model. The countryside of England was our model because after world war II, they couldn't afford urban sprawl. The Island was only so big. And so that was our, our, our real model now. It was quite a trick bringing English land law to a property rights Southern state. But we work with all of this. We worked with university of Georgia, Texas a and M, Georgia tech. And so this was really an academic process. Most of the people were in the professional planning thought we were nuts and this didn't make sense. But you really look at what we created here. It's, it's how we developed 80 years ago or more, you know, it was dense villages before the automobile allowed us to, to sprawl everywhere. And so this is why what you see is very European or very reminiscent of how people 50 grew up. Chances are, it's funny when you talk about, you know, you hear about food being organic and it used to be just food and now everything is processed. But here, isn't it something like 70% of the plants or trees are edible, but that's, I think you're referring to our common area. So in Grange for instance rather than a lot of ornamentals we have 70% is all edible landscaping. So at every crosswalk there's a blueberry bushes. There's banks of figs. The kids all know that when the service berries come out, that that's the beginning of the spring season and there's excitement. The is, is the, the bud start coming on the blueberry bushes and then the Apple trees and, and it's a natural understanding of the seasonality of our foods. And of course, we, we bring the farms right up to the houses. You mentioned Agri-hood. Well, we were really an agri-hood is, well, we were the, I'm not sure what I think about that name, but it actually Sprong from a New York times reporter doing a story on Serenbe and the fact that we were included farms while a couple of developments had had farms in a master plan such as Prairie crossing outside Chicago. It was off in the corner. And we were really the first to bring it right up to the edge of the houses. There was a perception that farms were smelly and dirty and not something you wanted to live next to. And so we really led that effort. And now farms are seen as the future. Amenity as golf courses were back in the eighties and nineties. Yeah. That's the thing that there's no golf course here. People move here because of the living cause of the wellness because of the food being sourced here because of the farming that sourced here. That's right. I want to hear more about, about what, what have you seen, I mean, you've been on this property for 20 years now, 32, three years. Wow. And Serenbe hasn't been created that long, but that's how long we have here. But the people that live on this property that are residents, what kind of health benefits have they seen from choosing to live on a self sustaining pioneering community like Serenbe? Well, we're reaching this year is our 15th year anniversary of people actually moving here into the community. And we started as a community really looking at the environmental aspects. So this is why we do not allow lawns because to have a beautiful lawn, you have to chemicalize it. And I realized that was not an environmental thing. And so you know, the way we've saved the tree, 70% saved. So these all started out as environmental principles and now that 15 years later, it's all the health benefits come from the same thing. So environment and health are very tied together. So over a hundred children here, no asthma the people have reported to me, they've gotten rid of their antidepressants. And now there's real medical proof that connection to nature does affect your mental attitude and connecting to one another. And I don't know if you notice people are waving in one another, that they're smiling, that you, you can fill fashion in such a really beautiful way. That's right. And, and it's some of that old fashioned connection to nature and connection to each other. That does affect our mental health and our mental health. Now. Its documented affects our physical health and some of the main diseases. And yet we had been building places over the last five decades that remove us from both nature and each other. So that's so this is, is really basically how the built environment is causing some of our health problems that we have today. We have a lot of regulations so that people can park near their back door near the stores or whatever they're going to. We're obsessed with the convenience for the automobile and no wonder we have obesity. We are not worried or even aware of where our food is grown in. You know, it should be regional, local, yes. Organic is, is a tag that has really come on what was a very natural thing 50, 60 years ago. And you know, for the first time ever we have obesity and malnutrition in the same body. So there's something very wrong with what we're calling food and where, how we're trying to nourish people. So here's what I'm wondering. This is very in Vogue now. I think people are starting to figure out the connection between the food and the environment. I think because there are so many environmental catastrophes that are happening outside our door and people's sicknesses are getting worse and worse than chronic diseases. How did you have those foresight 20 years ago or 30 years ago? How did you, it's very hard to go against the grain, you know, but it sounds like you have some type of vision. How did you know this? I have a lot of entrepreneurs that listen to this. Where, where did you feel this in your body? Well, I think there is a lot to be said about following your heart or you know, in your gut. And I believe that these organs are actually thinking functions and the mind is set up to organize. And we have gotten in Western society the idea that we should be led by the mind and that's not so, and if you find a lot of people that are out front one, any concept in any area is because they had that gut feeling or they followed their heart on what they wanted to do. Our, our mind is as far too organized. It won't let us go out in front. There were. And so I'm one of those people who have always sense things and been willing to follow my senses rather than what conventional wisdom tells us. I did that with the restaurants. We were the leaders and going into places like Midtown, one pinned down was nothing, no place. We were the first liquor license in Roswell, a first table service restaurant in Decatur. We were part of the Pennsylvania development authority renovation of Pennsylvania Avenue in the 80s between the white house and the Capitol downtown Pennsylvania. So we were really willing to take those, the, those gutsy move just because it seemed right. And those were all places that are fabulous today. You have won awards for this, you are world renowned for what you've done in this community. And I think it has sparked an inspiration to be able to duplicate those. How do you replicate this beyond these walls? Because it's, it's very expensive to live here. So some of the critiques are, you know, I can't, it sounds great. I can go visit, you know, there are yoga retreats. There's ways to do that. There's an in that I could stay on, but I can't afford to live there. So you've touched on two things that I'd like to both the address both of them separately. So first of all, let's talk about how do you replicate this? And the important thing, it isn't, it is not about the granite curbs, the custom streetlights the incredible physical things that you see here. It's really the principles that you, you see you know, when we started everyone thought I was crazy. And at times I did too, but I had crossed through that path threshold of passion that I knew we had to do it because I suddenly realized that no one was doing this as I searched for somebody to help me and I, I couldn't believe it and I realized it had to be done. And so we just we're busy doing because anyone I talked to about aha, sure. But we found out the market was ready. People were showing up to buy it, even though the financial community and the real estate community thought we were just nuts. He sold a lot before it even broke ground. We did. But, but, but that, that was strictly one-on-one, people that had heard about it and knew about it, and it started selling out. So I started very, very slowly. And then of course, the recession hit and, and that was difficult for us as long as everyone else. But were some of the few people our size that remained alive. And during the recession then or after the recession, there were a lot of analysts that realized walking communities and environmental communities where some of the first to step out of the recession. So suddenly there was a lot of interest in places like Serenbe, what were we about? What were the principles? Why were buyers interested in this? And that's when I realized that many people were putting us in boxes whether it was a new urbanist, environmentalist Agra hoods. And we're all of that the urban land Institute, which is the granddaddy of all developers. They published a book on the 10 top environmental communities where one of those 10, they also have a pamphlet on the 10 top dense or newer business communities. And we're also there. We're the only one in both. And now they have a whole pamphlet and teaching about bringing agriculture in and, and we led that effort and we're the only one in, in that, in, in all three. And so I thought, well, who are we? What are the principles? And I real fault lies that it's really following the biophilic principles. I meant to ask you what is biophilic? So it's, it's it's great if, if, if any of your listeners come to visit find the Halsa restaurant and we've created a room next door to really educate people on what biophilia movement is. The term biophilia was popularized by EO Wilson. And then Yale has done a lot of work Stephen Kellert out of Yale and Tim [inaudible] out of the university of Virginia. And it, it, I realized that I had to deal with about 13 silos that I have identified, both in public perception and policy. Because 50% of what you see here at Serenbe was not allowed when we started in 2002, three. Who was governing it though? Well, these are local zoning codes. It's federal storm water environmental protection division. There's, we have so many layers of regulations and they are layered on decade after decade without really understanding why sometimes something happens in a regulation. And then we might put another regulation on 20 years later, but we haven't removed the earlier one. And, and a lot of these regulatory boards are now in such silos. They don't understand even the unintended consequence that another entity has within the division. And so this is what we started running up against is all this. So, so we've identified and you'll see a big board and, and, and we can get you a picture of it if you, if you put on, but it's, it's those various silos that we brought all together. And so it's just like so many things that happen naturally, 50, 80 years ago, we didn't have to identify him. It's become society. Just like you identified food. It was just local good food. Yeah. Now we've tagged it as organics, dif, you know, do we say that's organics versus chemicalized food? I mean, that's, that's sort of, it'd be better from a psychosomatic person. That's what it should be. We should say we're having to identify good food versus what we've turned food into or what we call food. So it's just a lot of those things. This is really a, a movement I believe that we have been part of from the built environment people are doing in other ways. And now working with Tim Bartley of the university of Virginia we host the biophilic summit, and these are leaders of both educators and policymakers. So planners of cities MIT, Harvard, Yale, they all come now and to big planners head of Google campuses, for instance, to just come on our board. And every spring you can go on our webpage is the biophilic summit. And people are coming from all over. We've also in the fall, now we have Nygren placemaking. We're planning, I think our seventh conference. And this is geared for developers to really address what these principles are. So if you want to do it you can bring your local legislators, your, your city council people or your bankers. And many times we've had some local governance bring developers to show them this is what they want in their community, something more like this. So we're now a good model that, that can be used to show this makes economic sense, is quality of life, it's health, it's a lot of these things that we're searching for today. And we're now a model that makes that happen. And a 40% of the people that come to this conference are outside the United States. So this is a, this is actually a global concern. It isn't just in the United States. And then we'll touch on the affordability as well. So that's a good question. So you see when we started, that was part of the original plan to have affordable housing. Right? Well, number one was looking at environmental. And I found when I talked about the environmental aspects, people say, Oh, are you going to be one of those eco villages with straw bale houses and imagine in the earth. And you know, there I realized there was a real stigma towards environment and what have you and that if we were going to change things, we had to bring influencers in from various places. And you don't do that through affordable housing. The other thing I looked at is this area did not need affordable housing. We were in an area that was depressed this 40,000 acres could not cover their own bills for services. So we were a detriment to Fulton County. And so the understanding is that that we needed executive housing to balance the tax base. So it's popular today to talk about affordable housing because the stories that hit the press are those places where workforce housing is displaced. We're not talking about enough is the communities across the United States where the executive housing has disappeared and services have had to been cut to the very bone, or those local jurisdictions have gone bankrupt because they have not kept an equal balance of housing on both sides. If you look at what's happened to rural America and the anger, and that's coming, that's the big issue. We have created places with only affordable housing. And so this is a, another thing that we have to look at both sides of the coin. And we're a good example of that. So in the 40,000 acres we were able to convince the state legislature that we could have independence of our own city because Serenbe's tax base that we projected forward. So today we have disturbed 80 acres that's tax producing in a 40,000 acre city, and we represent 50% of the tax base. Wow. So this allows farmers to stay on their farm, land at a reasonable tax base. This allows for affordable housing in the area. And the leadership from our community has stood up an incredible charter school for the greater area. 500 kids attending that school. The majority of them come from low income housing. And it's a real model. If you look at CBS Sunday morning, Google that Chattahoochee Hills charter school alive, you saw at the school, I saw, I saw your, your special on. Oh, so you see, we really, and there's where health these, you know, we, we built cottages for the classrooms in the woods. Kids spend a third of every day in nature and we have the lowest reported absentee due to health of any school in the state. And so this is a good example. There are some simple solutions out there that aren't that hard, but we are in such ruts of how we do things that, that we're missing these solutions. Have you seen people from these, these summits that you have here? Have you seen this duplicated? Is that, I think the farmers are the real heroes too. You know, like how have you seen it? Have you seen it pop up elsewhere? Well, the thing is is you do not see replicas, but you see principles applied in various areas. So you look at the number of developers putting farms in, you look at the number of places that are now doing geothermal and not allowing lawns and they're, they're taking pieces of it. The idea of putting a blueberry Bush as your, your crosswalks were really influencing development around the country and even some people that haven't been here. The other key thing is universities are really showing up. And so this is some of the, your future planners and Texas a and M has the connection, you hear them say an N. They have had two semesters where they bring the professor and students for a complete 12 weeks where they live on campus. So it's a semester away program. We are working now with the university of Georgia to create a program where students from anywhere can apply as long as their host university accepts the, the, the curriculum that they're setting. And we hope that leads to an actual dorms that we're going to build a us so that university students from anywhere in the world could come. It's an opportunity for corporations. Bosch had their experience center here for five years. And so a good example they have, they're in 36 countries. This could be a scholarship program they create for all their communities too, where kids in those communities could apply to spend a semester here on environmental education. And this may be a meta question, but I'm thinking about, I know you have daughters, I know you have grandchildren and your grandchildren. Are they growing up on the property? They are, what is it like to watch them grow up in this community that must have been different from your daughters who grew up in the city? It is such a reward. I mean, that, that, that, that is my, that's your legacy, you know? Absolutely. And you know, we, we, if you have children, you start looking at the world through a different lens. And it was the weekends here in the country. W w our girls were three, five and seven when we first purchased the land, they were six, eight, and 10 when we moved here. And that was just following my gut and my heart as to what I thought was necessary for them. Did your wife freak out? Like where are they going to go to school? Well, they were going to Woodward and they continued to go toward where, so you, we're, we're on the edge of the city, so we didn't, you know, we're not in nowhere. That's the beauty. We didn't have to change our doctors, our hair stylist, we didn't change anything except where we lived on a day to day basis. And we had a great house. We, we had the second largest lot in Ansley park on a Hill. We had an acre and Ansley and anyone who sees acres that just, you know, that that's, most of them are about a quarter acre, you know, if that, and some smaller. And so we, you know, it was ideal, as ideal as you could have in the city. And we loved it and we just changed. And so after we lived here full time for about six months at dinner one night, I asked the girls if they were happy. We made that change because there was changes. Excuse me, I expect them to say, Oh yeah, we have bunnies, we have a horse. And they looked at each other and Garnie, my oldest looked at me and she said, the freedom dad. And I said, what do you mean to freedom? And she said, well, we had that big yard in Ansley fans too, but we always knew you were looking out the window at us and we could never ride our bicycles unless there was an adult with us on along the sidewalks. And she says, when we moved out here, we became free. And I had no idea that I was that uptight about them or they were in the city or that they were aware of it. And so so that, that was about 11 years after that. Richard Lou wrote the book last child in the woods, and I don't know if you're familiar with that, but this from that book is a medical term, that derived of nature deficit disorder and it's children's brains really are not developing. There's a piece of it that's that you think of as common sense because they live in such structured, built and social environments that they never have the opportunity to develop. And so I, I, I sent rich a note and said, thank you for giving voice to what we intuitively knew 11, 12 years before that. I said, all of our friends in the city thought we were nuts. Now I can just send them your book and they can see that we were, we really understood something. I think one of the best examples is a big picture of a group of kids that are out running a various ages and they, they cross a stream with, you know, a couple inches of water. Not a big deal if you hit it, but there's rocks in it. And all the bigger kids know how to hit the rocks and get across to the other side. And off they go. And this picture zeroes in on about a three year old and you can see he hasn't crossed the stream yet. And he's standing there looking at the rocks and trying to figure out if his legs are long enough to hit those places to keep going. And that's the kind of brain development that doesn't happen today because very few kids are in a natural environment. And if they are, there's an adult that picks him up and puts them on the other side of the stream. And so we're depriving our young people of that opportunity. And this is why you hear a lot of professors talking about the smart kids arriving at college that can't figure out simple things. Yeah, that's true. And this is where nature deficit disorder came into be. This is hitting a little bit close to home because I live right in the city. I live in old fourth ward. So I live right on the Atlanta BeltLine and my kids. We have a little backyard, we have a little front yard, we have a garage, we have a gate, you know, so for there, that's a big, big deal there. There aren't a lot of it. But I would not let them for a moment out of my sight. Even though it is cleaned up a lot, you know, and, and the one thing that I miss more than anything is the chance for them to run and be free and to not have us watching them. And I took my kids at, they're four and seven, and I took my kids to a photo shoot and it was at a blueberry farm and I'm in Lawrenceville. And they had a whole thing of wild flowers and they could not be still, they were so happy to just run. So I get that. I believe that too. It must be amazing to watch your grandkids be able to be free. Well, it's, it's incredible. And, and it was the best decision we ever made in our girls. Anyone who knows them, talks about how self-assured they are. I mean, they were, they were leaders in both high school and college. That, that foundation we gave them by moving here and giving them that connection to nature and that freedom that I didn't, not realize we were depriving them of at the time. And now they have all chosen to come back and live here to raise their children and to see my grandchildren and all the kids here. And we, we talked many times about the free range kids and is probably one of the big things people notice is these kids running around without any obvious parents the nature trails, the things they can do. And so I, I think one of the big things we need to do is, is, is look at the two bookends of our society. And now as we're dealing with motto, our community on health and wellness, we really looked at Scandinavia a lot where intergenerational living is very common. And the programming in America we tend to cage both our children and our elders. And that's one thing I think we have to have to change. So I, I'm all for free range kids and uncaged elders. It's completely different. Parents are caged, they're gate. I think there's self-imposed cage. Well they don't want to leave anymore. And that I think is because they don't have access to something, a healthier environment. Will you look at the wa, I mean this is all very convenient for everyone to walk. They, you know they can sit on their front porch and people of all ages come by to wave and just say hello and what a difference that makes. For an elderly person that's maybe especially they lose their driver's license or their homebound for our health reasons to have a bunch of kids run them by your front door all the time. That's the way it used to be. And it, it, it, it lifts our spirits. Tell me about the art in the community. Your whole face just lit up, but also so you see, we, you know, the basis here is, is, is preservation of land. So 70% is, is going to be preserved. And then the density creates the density. So that's the basic underlying of the zoning. But we realized there were four other pillars if we wanted really a vital lifestyle. And that's art, agriculture, health and education. And art is an important piece. It has been through generations through centuries. But we seem to not be funding it, not giving it the respect or the importance that it needs. And so we wanted to develop areas for artists and we wanted to put policy in place. So we created the serum B Institute for art environment and there is a 1% transfer fee for every house is sold or resold in the future. So this gives a permanent annual funding for arts programming. This allowed us to do some early things. Our artist in residence program was the first program we borrowed people's carriage houses, guest rooms. Now we have a 40 acre campus that we're developing for our visiting artists. Wow. Because we had those funds we were able to launch the play house and now Serenbe play house is house is like, I, I, I've never been there, but people rave about it. It's, well, the, the playbill out in New York said we were one of the 20 important regional theaters in the United States today. You must be so proud. And then because of our Institute, when the contemporary dance group left the Atlanta ballet two years ago, we were able to catch them so that they, Metro Atlanta did not lose them. And so now we have Terminus, which was the contemporary dance. So and then plus we have smaller. So those are each now large enough that they are their own divisions under the umbrella of the Institute. It's a little bit like Woodruff arts center and has the divisions under it. And then we're also have other groups dealing with music and film and things that might emerge to to major divisions in themselves. So that's growing. In fact, the 2020 budget is three and a half million dollars. Wow. Funding the yards a lot, especially the play house and Terminus, a lot of their tickets, that's unheard of. Unheard of. And it's sustainable because a lot of their budget comes from ticket sales and classes. So it's earned income. It isn't always with their handout. And that's part of what sustainability is. If there, if there's a foundation of money somewhere then you inspire them to go out and do these things and not always having to worry about whether they're going to survive for the next year. That base is there and it allows creativity and entrepreneurship within the arts. That's gotta be amazing to be able to have that kind of well-rounded offering here. Do people never leave? I mean, are there some people that just stay on property? You know, we have this incredible pool and the arts and all, and I, and I know of three families last year that shared with me that when they were planning their summer vacation, they couldn't figure out any place to go that they would like better than staying home. You get depressed, you know, like driving off the lot therapy. I don't dry off that much, you know. But you know, I've been, Atlanta is right there so I don't miss anything that I want. But and you see like the, the Playhouse, only 1% of our ticket sales conferences, zip code people are coming in from all over. In fact, we have an amazing number of season ticket holders outside the state. Wow. Isn't that something? But you do have a lot of programming for holidays and for season and for children and for families here, if you go to our page, we have things every week. I will never try and go yoga. But I've been to a yoga retreat here within, try the Ariel now she, you know, the yoga studio now that they boot in their new space in the one Moto building, they have aerial yoga and that is an incredible hit for coming. So I will do that, but not go yoga. Yeah. Well you know, you could watch, I have a girlfriend that is desperate cause she comes down here from Roswell to do goat yoga and she's like, you're going with me? And I said, no, I'm not. I'll go for any other reason. She's, she's convinced. I'll try it. But but I love what you're doing. And, and one thing I was thinking about, cause I think our other problems to solve and you found a problem that has been solved here. Where do you go from here? Well, we have a lot of things to do. Yeah. What's next? You know, when I think about where we were 20 years ago is we were just thinking about saving this. And luckily a dear friend was Ray Anderson. People in the environmental movement would know him as he founded interface carpet, which brought carpet squares to America. And then after reading Paul Hawkins book in the 90s he changed his company to be an environmental footprint for 30 years. And when the white house created the council on the environment in the early nineties or mid nineties, he was the first chairman of that. Now he's a dear friend. His stepson's godfathered are a 31 year old. So we knew Ray through all this. And so at dinner one night when I was concerned, I said, Ray, you know, the smart people who, who could come help us, who's, who's developing responsibly. And of course, there were no developers doing this kind of responsible development to this degree, but he asked the Rocky mountain Institute out of Colorado to help. And so Ray and the Rocky mountain is to convene 23 thought leaders here in September of 2000. Now, this is back when there were only a few voices talking about the environment. Today, while there's still a lot to be done, we at least have a roadmap and we have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done and what the problems are. Today I think we're at the same place with health that we were 20 years ago with environment. We know we have to do something. We know we can't continue. How can you contribute here on what has been done? We are, we are really at the forefront of this. We are, as a society, we're sicker than we've ever been. And I depressants increase four fold each decade. For the first time in the last two years, our life span has become shorter rather than longer. And that, that trend has, has turned at the current rate through some of the CDC figures. If we don't reverse the amount of money we're spending by 2035, it will be 50% of our GDP towards health. This is a train wreck that a lot of people are talking about and there's going to be something different. We, we feel well, we know we're at the forefront. Two years ago, the global wellness summit that looks at this internationally gave us the international award and innovation for built environment and what we're doing here very few people here use their insurance, but everyone feels they have to have it. And I call the, our current insurance. That's extortion. And so if you have people doing health where, you know, where's that going to change? How's are, how are people going to take, start taking control of their own responsibility for their health? We should own our own health records instead of these medical institutions. We should be looking we should be making it a lot better for natural. We, we have a medicinal garden that was planted planned by the university of Georgia. We're teaching people how to harvest their front yard rather than run to the pharmaceutical company. And so we are, we're in a very broken society is we deal with our health and you just look w w we're getting sicker and more depressed and starting to die younger. So there's something seriously wrong. I think a lot of it comes from the built environment and that's the piece that we're demonstrating and showing it, it can happen. And we're an option for people that want to change their lives. Sarah and B and places like Sarah and B are, you start looking the fact that we do not have lawns that have to be chemicalized I think deals a lot with the asthma issue and probably cancer. You know, we, we w we live in fascinating. Yeah. We live in a chemical society. Yeah. We, we you know, almost all houses have lawns. You, you have to chemical eyes it to keep the weeds down and make it look like it does. And we're in a tendency to want things to bloom rather than edible things. We're, we're, we're putting things that bloom. And then we put chemical fertilizers on that to make them grow more. And then pretty soon the bug started coming out. I was wondering how you guys handle bugs here. Well, we are in Georgia as though it's amazing. You walk by our streams, puddles of water. More people call me and ask me what we do to prevent the mosquitoes and the pesty bugs. Yeah. The, you know, the, our ecosystem works pretty well if we leave it alone. But if you start putting these chemicalized things, the natural predators of those pesty bugs disappear. They're going to get out. And so we're left with these pesty bugs that are overpopulated then such as mosquitoes. And then, then we wonder what's wrong. You know, when we lived in Ansley park, it drove me crazy. At least twice a year I came home and there was a sign in my neighbor's yard. Do not walk on the lawn for 24 hours. My cats could never read that across the lawn, into the house, onto the sofas. But you know, how does that disappear for 24 hours? So, so, you know, it's dangerous enough that they have to post these signs and then we wonder why we have cancer and asthma and depression. We need to wake up as a society and as buyers start demanding different places that we're going to live and that we're going to raise our children. What are some ways, what are some ways that people can help take steps for a healthier life? Well let's just talk about the built environment. For instance wherever you live. This was a tour I had about several months ago and I was talking about this and there was this, this, this woman and after I was talking about this, I thought she was ill because she kinda got white and she, I could tell she'd lost focus. And I said, are you all right? She, she asked, she said, I've just been thinking, we live on a call to SAC with about 20 houses and our whole bigger community, there's a big prize on the yard of the year, tons of chemicals. And we pride ourselves at someone on our call. The SAC always wins. And I had been sitting here thinking about each house and there has been an cancer in almost every house on our call to SAC. And she says, I'm, she says, you have just scared me to death. She says, what you just said makes so much sense. And I'm just applying that to my own neighborhood. So one thing is get your neighborhood together and decide that, that, that this is a problem and you're going to change what you're doing. And everybody thinks, Oh my God, what's the neighborhood going to look like without lawns? It's amazing how few people notice. We don't have lawns. I didn't notice. See, I love it. I bring developers through. I do tours of landscapers and their clothes that the front porches are close to the road. That's right. Yeah. And, and so it and many times we've walked 40 minutes through the community talking about the very aspects of, they'll say no, what's one of the biggest things you notice that's different about most communities? And they talk about the granite curves, the streetlights, the width the the car, all sorts of things. And, and it's, it's rare, maybe 10% of the time that people notice there are no lawns and they all look surprised when I tell them, Oh, there's no one. So, so just start looking about where you live, that, that's a huge thing. Start using your, your local farmer's market, really think about the food you're putting on the table and what that food is and where it's going and where it's coming from. It can, you know, organic from Argentina, I don't think, you know, makes sense. I would rather have a locally grown from a region around here. So support local farmers, local food, understand that you know, meet part of the problem with meat is, is all the steroids and things that is put into it. Yeah. Where if you're getting local meat, local chicken grass, the grass fed, you look at just the color of a, of a chicken in a grocery store that comes from grass fed and comes from a chicken farm. And the color of it is very different. You look at a grass fed, a egg versus a regular egg that the colors are very different. So start being aware of of the food you're putting on the table and what you're doing. Start thinking about your daily habits of, of, of, of, of where you're, where you're walking. We're in, can you walk, where can you walk to places versus constantly worried about convenience. That's a huge piece is the physical activity here at Sarah and B, we have winding streets, but we have a path grid. So generally you can get everyone faster by foot than you can by car. That's an intentional design yet attentional design. Wow. And, and you find we really don't have that much room. So someone shared that they had been on diets for 30 years and finally gave it up about five years before moving here. Hadn't thought about diet, but suddenly they had lost 20 pounds. And it's purely the lifestyle of the food available and the fact that once you park your car, you're, you're walking to everything here. And so that, that, that's a real lifestyle. So there's, there's a lot of simple things in what we're doing. I think the wakey the awareness part, it's things like thinking about lawns that I would have never thought about even though it is right in front of my face, you know. So I thank you for that. I think it's really helpful cause I think people are starting to understand that what they eat and what's around them is really affecting their health. I think people are starting to connect that there is sickness or the antidepressants are because of some of the things that are not really their fault, just not the awareness of a better way. And now I think it's becoming more in fashion to to have sustainable, better energy. Do you guys have solar panels here or is it electricity? How, how do you, when you've touched another great thing. So, you know, it's another one of those issues where everyone understands the issue, but they come in at the wrong place on it. So when you're talking about things like solar, we really need to talk about reducing your demand of energy. Tell me more. And so every house here has to be certified. Most people know about lead certification. We use earth craft, which is out of the South. Well, I like it. It's local. It, it's out of Atlanta and it's in the Southeast. I really like it because they have a minimum of three inspections. So I know when that house is completed. And so I, I love you, I love your perceptions because you're, you're, you're exactly where we are as a society and in, in talking about the expense. So I want to talk a little bit more about that. So if you, if you reduce the demand in, in building a well built house, that reduces your energy demand by about 30 to 35%, then if you put geothermal in, which is a very natural system of using the temperature from the earth to heat and cool your house, that reduces your HVHC costs by 50% or about 35% of your overall energy demand. The other thing about geothermal is it's silent. So you don't have those air compressors going, which a lot of things I think disturbs our nervous system is the noise of a lot of these things. And the compressors are one of those things that our air conditioning, so if you have reduced your energy demand by 65 to 70%, then solar becomes very affordable. And the next step to put a solar on a non-energy efficient house, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's, it's very costly. And this is why the, the payback. So most people, when they talk about things, it is more expensive to build a good house. It's a little more expensive. You put solar on. But a good example is the demonstration house we built with BOSH. And so it was certified. It was geothermal. And then on a 1800 square foot house, they were able to put a third of the solar. So it cost a third to actually put solar to run the house. You can watch the meter running backwards. It was more expensive when we sold it. They got a 75 or 80% mortgage. So their monthly mortgage bill was more expensive than it would buy on a comparable house somewhere that wasn't certified, wasn't geothermal, it wasn't solar. But the increase in their mortgage was less than what their power bill would have been. So it's cash positive year one, month one. And so what happens is we are used to comparing silos to silos rather than overall things. And, and, and that's a problem that keeps us in these ruts of doing the same old thing because of this stereotype that it's more, and actually it's not, it is more expensive to build, but it, it's less cashflow every month out of the family pocket. Those are the kinds of things we're not looking at. And then if you reduce your health costs by having an environmentally built house, no asthma, just just think of what that starts doing. Quality of life as well as actual medical bills. So in America we are really not applying costs of things, the true cost of everything. And so that's why we're having troubles measuring and we don't do a lot of things because we perceive it as being too expensive. Yeah. I think when you put it into context like that, it makes a whole lot of sense. And it sounds so idyllic here and it makes me sad that I don't know that I could live here, you know, like can I, but if I could take certain steps to get better and to bring this awareness to people, that's how it starts. I suspect you're an aware enough person and you have children that you'll do anything for them. And as you become aware of these issues, there's things that you haven't noticed that will probably really start bothering you when you think about how it's affecting your kids. And that's, that's where we're going to change the, the, the public has to start with what we're willing to put up with as buyers, whether it's home, whether it's what our food or what, where are we? And so what Sarah, and be in places like Sarah and be, we're making people aware of these differences. And I've had a lot of people that come back and say, you know, I, I hate you. And I said, why? And they said, you've made me aware. Yes. And now some of these little things I didn't think about driving me crazy. You know, whether it's, you know, this woman said, I, I, you know, I never really realized how irritated I was at the compressor, outside our bedroom window. And now that you talked about it, she says, now it's louder than ever. She said, it's just driving me crazy. It's like nails going down. You know, I think there's a lot. And so if there's anything we need to wake up as a society because we cannot continue in this path. It's just, it's, it's just that serious. That's why I was so interested in thankful to have some time with you because I think it is an important change that needs to be made. How do people find you? We can go to our webpage at www dot Serenbe dot com E R E N. B. E. And it's tell me where the name came from. Well, it was when we came out here. And you tend to name your land and w w when we slowed down to simply be, we found the serenity we had been searching for. That's beautiful. You know, we, we tend to go faster and faster searching and the reality is if we just slow down, chances are it's right there. Well, thank you so much Steve. You are blazing a trail. I'm so thankful for the example that you're setting and the time you spent with me and for my audience, and can't wait to see what's next for you. Well, I'm looking forward to you bringing your children back and spending some time in nature and on us, our of our trails that they will love it. Thank you.

Transcript -- All research starts with a question or problem

Transcript: All atoms or molecules are in constant motion or vibration. The emission or radiation that results is called thermal radiation. Thermal radiation is directly related to the temperature of a substance, and it has a peak wavelength of the emission or characteristic wavelength given by Wien’s law. By contrast, non thermal radiation has no characteristic wavelength. The radiation extends over a large frequency range in what’s called a power law, and non thermal radiation does not correspond to an equilibrium physical process. Non thermal radiation can be observed at all wavelengths from radio to gamma rays.

Transcript: All ring systems in the solar system have outer edges that are somewhere between 1.8 and 2.5 times the planet radius from the center of the planet. What is particular about this ratio and how does it arise? The answer was derived in the mid-nineteenth century by the French mathematician Edward Roche. He calculated that the edge of planetary rings is defined by tidal forces. If we consider the gravity force between particles composing a planetary ring, the Roche limit, as it's called, is defined by the distance in which the tidal force caused by the planet on the particles equals the gravity force between them. Therefore beyond the Roche limit rings cannot exist because the tidal force is too large.

Transcript -- All the speakers work at The Open University’s Faculty of Science. Here, they talk about their own experiences of being a woman in science today.

Transcript -- All day long we have to make choices. Professor Russell Stannard asks if were really free to choose.

Transcript -- All day long we have to make choices. Professor Russell Stannard asks if were really free to choose.

Transcript -- All about La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Arts and Science Museum) in Valencia: one of the most visited attractions on the Mediterranean Coast of Spain.