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mental wellness

Mental Wellness & the Creative Entrepreneur

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Over the weekend, there was yet another mass shooting. 11 people were injured, 3 people – including the gunman – were killed.

At this point, we’re not sure what caused the guy to do what he did. But many would guess that it was the fact that he was upset that he didn’t do as well as he wanted. He took it out on those who, in his mind, he could blame for his failure.

In the last couple of years, we’ve seen all kinds of people acting out in similar fashions. Whether it’s the series of mass shootings we’ve seen or it’s those cases where the person opted to take  take their own life, creatives seem to be pretty prone to being involved in either situation.

 

Nature of Success

One might think that those of us who have had success in our lives, that we might be able to rise above these thoughts. Unfortunately, that just simply isn’t the case. As The Notorious B.I.G. said, “Mo Money, Mo Problems!”

I’ve mentioned this before, but those who are often the most depressed are the ones who usually have the fire to become successful. They think that money, fame, and freedom will solve their woes. But in the end, they don’t. They’re as unhappy as they were when they first started.

If these things made us happier with life, then there’s a good chance that people like Robin Williams, Chester Bennington, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain would still be around.

 

We’re Aliens

Recently I came across a new video by the infamous group Die Antwoord. If you’ve never heard their music, then the best way to describe their work is if you mixed a hip-hop artist with an EDM DJ.

It’s not for everyone. However, the message they produce with their songs is one of the most creative I’ve seen in the last decade.

In the case of this video and song, they’re talking about not fitting in.

Here’s a few of the lyrics

I close my eyes and float into the night I like to let my mind drift

Make a jump into a new dimension

Thank God I got that gift

…

Sometimes it feels like coming from this planet people are so sick and twisted

I don’t wanna fit in anyway, I’d rather be a misfit

…

They laugh at me because I’m different, I laugh at them because they’re all the same

…

I am a alien

No matter how hard I try I don’t fit in

Always all on my own, sad and lonely

All I want is for someone to play with me

mental wellness

Do you feel like an alien? If so, know you’re not alone.

 

If I’m understanding this song correctly, I appreciate its message. When I was growing up, I was bullied constantly. Sure, I was the biggest kid in my grade, but I was also a pretty big geek compared to my classmates. And in my small town, that was two strikes right there!

However, looking back, I can now say that I was definitely a proto-millennial. I always had a better time interacting with kids who were younger than me. It’s one of the main reasons why I’m proud to be called a Xennial.

But man, when I was in the thick of it – where it got especially bad was my first few of years at Purdue. In high school, the one thing that saved me was that I was a good student. However, when I started at Purdue I struggled to get C’s in my classes. During that time, I’d try anything to make my grades better. So I can definitely understand why people can just do crazy things when they’re depressed. Depression and an overall feeling of not living up to your own or others standards can really make you into someone you’re not.

 

Coping with Depression

So how did I get out of my funk?

Well, first, I think the biggest thing I did was start hanging out with people who had similar goals in life. Luckily for me, just when I was starting to hit the bottom, I gained several good friends. Two of which were my groomsmen. They weren’t judgemental and really helped me take my mind off of worrying about tests all the time.

It was also about that time where I started actually thinking about working out on my own. I had always heard people talk about exercise as a stress reliever – so I started going to the Co-Rec pretty regularly. (In fact, that was one of the places where I’d see alumni cohost Laila from time to time!)

Another thing that I did was take advantage of free services provided by the Department of Psychology at Purdue. I think I probably had 3 different issues that I saw them for. I still remember some of the issues that people in my support groups had… and I don’t even remember why I went!!

That said, that last one there might be the only way that some people might be able to get help. Seriously, seek professional help. If it’s good enough for Lucifer, then us mortals can probably benefit as well!

If you’re having suicidal thoughts, get help right away. Call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-TALK.

 

Keep Up with the Weeds

Now just because I got out of my funk, doesn’t mean that I stopped utilizing those habits that I developed back then.

Today, I try to be as social as I can. I still walk Max (RIP Sadie and Sable), and I try to be mindful of what I’m eating. And I also make sure I get a great amount of sleep.

That said, I’ve learned that there’s a couple of other things that I do these days that I didn’t back then. One thing I try to do is be as optimistic as possible by using the 5 Minute Journal – which can be found on the App and Play Store. Since using it, I’ve come to realize that affirmations really help drain your brain of negative thoughts.

Another thing that I’ve found that helps me is not “subscribing” to all the things that I could. Meaning, I don’t put myself into situations where I feel that I could become addicted to something. For example, even though I still call myself a gamer, I limit myself to playing a handful of games only a handful of hours per week. Even more, I could never see myself as someone who plays to get paid. It would take the enjoyment out for me by adding stress to it.

Another example is with it being the football season, it’s time once again for fantasy football. To make sure I don’t get too involved with it, I only play free leagues. The stress from watching the games is enough for me!

 

Action Steps

So, I hope that helps someone. The shooting this past weekend really hit me. Again, it could have been something avoidable. I can see why some people think that removing the gun from the equation might help, but the real problem isn’t the firearms. Guns are simply a tool. It’s the people behind the tool that we have to worry about.

That dude was going to kill one way or another. And it didn’t have to be that way.

If you or someone you know is having issues make sure to get help. Heck, even you reaching out and saying hi to someone you know that’s having some issues might be all it takes to prevent them from doing something drastic.

 

Enneagram Personality Types

Erin Rocchio – Exploring the Use of Enneagram Personality Types in Coaching (AoL 128)

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It’s true when they say leadership, influence, and business go hand in hand. If you don’t have influence in your organization, company, or team, how do you expect to get anything done?

Knowing what people want and what motivates them is a big part of being influential – especially when you’re dealing with the higher levels in leadership.

And one of the best tools, I’ve found, is utilizing what I know about personality types. This knowledge allows us to group people in a manner so that we can interact with them at their level.

There’s all kinds of tests out there which will help you find your own personality. Recently, I’ve been hearing more and more about the Enneagram. It seems that a lot of my favorite podcast hosts know what number they are on it.

In this session, team and executive coach Erin Rocchio gives us a basic introduction to what the Enneagram is and how she she helps her clients use it.

Listen in as we learn how this powerful tool can positively affect you and your organization or business!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did Erin get started in coaching at the age of 17 years old? 9:54
  • What’s the Enneagram test and how does she use it in her coaching work? 15:26
  • How does knowing about different personalites assist with people transitioning in their professional roles? 22:19
  • How does Erin help someone when she finds out that their stress is coming from structural constraints in their work? 25:44
  • What kinds of things does Erin look at when she’s working on cultivating high performance teams? 33:54
  • How would Erin work with Richard from the HBO show Silicon Valley? 36:30
  • How does she want to finish up the year? 38:19
  • Who are some influencers that have helped Erin get to where she’s at? 41:48
  • If she could have dinner with anyone living or dead, who would it be? 42:53
  • Does Erin have a new belief or habit that has helped her improve her life in the last 5 years? 43:46
  • What advice does she hear adults giving children that she calls bs on? 45:40
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 48:02

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Erin interview by Ronald Couming

Erin’s interview with Nissar Ahamed

Ginger Lapid-Bogda on “The Enneagram in Business”

David Cooperrider on Appreciative Inquiry

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on Castbox, iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

linkedin lead generation

AJ Wilcox – Get Yourself Noticed by the Right People – Why LinkedIn Lead Generation Might be Perfect for Your Business (AoL 126)

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When many of us online business folks think of running an ad campaign, we immediately think of Facebook. However, that market is totally saturated and it might not be the greatest fit for your business – especially if your customers are other businesses.

If you think that might be the case, today’s guest, AJ Wilcox, might just be your new favorite marketer. His specialty is helping B2B businesses market on LinkedIn.

This is an almost a nonexistent niche. In fact, when AJ was learning about it, he realized there were relatively no search results for LinkedIn Ad Campaigns. So he’s definitely the guy to know!

In today’s chat with AJ, Harrison and I discover who this opportunity is a good match for and some key things to know when you’re getting your feet wet!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What did AJ do before he started his own marketing business? 10:22
  • What’s the difference between doing ads on LinkedIn vs other social media platforms? 12:40
  • Are the ads on LinkedIn strictly B2B or is there room for B2C advertising? 14:41
  • What’s the UI like for LinkedIn when it comes to placing ads? 18:13
  • What should newbies consider when they’re first placing ads on LinkedIn? 19:33
  • What’s a good way for a beginner to budget their ads so that they actually move the needle? 21:44
  • How has LinkedIn changed over the years as a whole? 24:39
  • How is videos changing LinkedIn and can people use them in ads? 28:35
  • What are the metrics that matter on LinkedIn when someone is running a campaign? 31:43
  • What are mistakes that newbies make when they’re starting with marketing on LinkedIn? 33:45
  • Are there some trends that AJ sees on the horizon? 36:35
  • Might LinkedIn start using Chatbots and other AI on their site soon? 39:05
  • What does AJ think about the barriers that are preventing social media platforms from fully utilizing AI? 42:49
  • What’s the experience like to work with AJ? 44:21
  • How does he incorporate his faith into his business? 46:49
  • What’s he looking forward to in the future? 48:26
  • What are AJ’s top 3 favorite podcasts? 49:23
  • If LinkedIn wasn’t a thing, what would he be doing? 50:52
  • One thing all high school students must know? 51:47
  • Something under $100 that has changed his life? 53:58
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 55:23

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

The Ultimate LinkedIn Ad Checklist

Do’s and Don’ts of LinkedIn Ads

Search Ads vs Social Ads

How to Structure Your Social Ads

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on Castbox, iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

balanced lifestyle

Damion Lupo – Don’t Live to Work! Discover Your Own Balanced Lifestyle (AoL 125)

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The saying goes, “If you can do it once, you can do it again!” This is especially true for us creative types who might see success with one project, but on our next, we might start seeing our metrics go down.

This session’s guest, Damion Lupo, once owned 150 single family houses as as a real estate investor. But in 2008, everything came to a grinding halt. He was no longer able to live the lavish lifestyle that he was pursuing at the time.

It was soon after that he started on a quest to put more meaning into his life.

In 2012, he coauthored a book called Reinvented Life, where he talks about many of the things he learned during that journey.

In today’s chat, we go over some of these concepts as well as some pointers that he’d give someone just starting in investing.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did Damion become so resilient as an entrepreneur? 6:36
  • How does he see wealth and how can abundantly thinking people reach out to others? 10:22
  • What’s his thinking behind financial freedom and retirement? 12:23
  • Why entrepreneurs might not make the best investors. 20:20
  • If someone has a $5,000 – $10,000 to invest in something, what’s a good strategy to get started? 27:41
  • What’s the best way for someone to find great opportunities in REI? 33:28
  • What are the pillars of Yokido? 37:05
  • What does Damion believe about Elon Musk’s perspective on having a universal income? 43:45
  • Who are the three influencers that has helped Damion get to where he’s at? 51:21
  • What’s an issue that more people should be talking about? 52:01
  • If Damion woke up tomorrow as a 10 year old and all his memories were intact, what would he do? 53:17
  • Something he’d like to do in his lifetime that no one knows about? 54:18
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 54:54

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Yokido is Born

The Financial Freedom Formula

Damion on the Bigger Pockets Podcast

Damion Interviewed by Dom Brightmon

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on Castbox, iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

achieving the dream

Achieving the Dream – Why One Degree Makes All the Difference

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I recently got the opportunity to spend some time with Harrison and Dr. Ping up at Purdue. We had a chance to see a lot of the change that is going on around campus – and… man, there’s a lot!

While we were exploring a bit, we also paid a visit to the Triple XXX Family Restaurant. Whenever someone’s new to the area, that’s one of my go to places because it’s been a Purdue establishment since 1929. In fact, it’s such a local treasure that Guy Fieri visited it back in 2007 for his show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

achieving the dream

After leaving there, we went to meet up with one of my business mentors – Mike Cassidy – on campus.

As Mike was chatting with us about our plans, we came to a part of the discussion where we were talking about his students and members of the Amplify Hope program.

Something got stuck in my mind about both groups of people. I realized that they were trying to build their dreams without fully having a real plan in place. They’re doing what they’re doing because their emotions are telling them to. (That’s actually one of the things that Mike helps his students with – getting out of their own head and looking at their business objectively.)

There might be a few minor issues they’ve overlooked, but over time those minor bugs can lead to huge problems.

 

Why One Degree Can Make a Huge Difference

These minor issues might not seem like a big deal. I mean, a few minor tweaks going along the way and the problems they might cause can be mitigated, right?

Well, sure.

However, if they’re not taken care of, then we’re looking at problems that might be noticed until it’s too late.

The traditional illustration of this principle is one of distance traveled:

Let’s say you’re going somewhere and you’re off course by just one degree. After one foot, you’ll miss your target by 0.2 inches. Trivial, right? But what about as you get farther out?

 

  • After 100 yards, you’ll be off by 5.2 feet. Not huge, but noticeable.
  • After a mile, you’ll be off by 92.2 feet. One degree is starting to make a difference.
  • After traveling from San Francisco to L.A., you’ll be off by 6 miles.
  • If you were trying to get from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., you’d end up on the other side of Baltimore, 42.6 miles away.
  • Traveling around the globe from Washington, DC, you’d miss by 435 miles and end up in Boston.
  • etc…

 

See what I’m talking about?

In real life, this can mean the difference of creating a business or nonprofit that is sustainable or pursuing a mission that makes someone take a 2nd or 3rd mortgage out on their house.

The key is to not let emotions and the pursuit of passion get in the way of our own success.

 

Delusions of Passion

David Anderson and Mark Nathan spoke in detail about this in their book, The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success.

In the book they argue that there’s several delusions we Millennials struggle with.

  • Where there is Passion, There is No Pain
  • Where there is Passion, There are No Problems
  • Passion Precedes Total Commitment
  • You Must Be Passionate About the Process
  • Living Passionately Is all About You

When we believe one of these delusions, we’re knocking our navigation off by a degree or more from the very beginning!

 

Action Steps

If you haven’t had the chance to read this book, here’s the link. Also, I’ve had both Mark and David on the podcast to discuss their perspectives a bit further.

I imagine it’d be worth your time to see if any of these perspectives are sabotaging your efforts to get to where you want in your career in life.

best places to invest in real estate

Kevin Bupp – Investing in Mobile Home Parks: Are They the Best Places to Invest in Real Estate? (AoL 124)

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In this session, we’re continuing on with our education about the real estate investing (REI) world. Again, REI is something that a lot of us online folks are familiar with. Mainly because one of the most recommended books about passive income was written by Robert Kiyosaki. It’s no mystery that he made most of his income through REI.

As we’ll be reminded in today’s conversation, you can get started at any level. Ideally, you’d be able to put your own money to work for you just like Robert suggests. However, if you don’t have the resources, you can find opportunities for people who do.

These are a couple of the ideas that today’s guest, Kevin Bupp talks about.

Kevin has seen it all. Starting nearly 20 years ago, he went from single family homes to owning all kinds of property.

Today he focuses on one type in particular – mobile home parks (Or better yet, manufactured housing communities).

Why? Listen in to find out!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How’d Kevin first get into real estate investing? 10:03
  • How did he get started with his first property? 13:39
  • Should people new to real estate investing focus on wholesaling or buying to produce recurring revenue from the property? 14:44
  • Why did Kevin start investing in mobile home parks? 17:23
  • Where can someone do research to learn more about doing REI with mobile home parks? 20:53
  • How does Kevin alleviate the problem of tenants not paying on time in his parks? 27:48
  • What would Kevin of today tell himself back in 2000 to invest in if he only had $5000 to $10000 initially? 33:14
  • If someone wants to bring opportunity to someone like Kevin, what kind of property should they be on the look out for? 35:16
  • How can someone find those opportunities for established real estate investors? 36:51
  • Could someone develop their own mobile home park? Why might it be a good or bad idea? 38:42
  • Is there any trend in tiny home parks starting up? 41:15
  • How important is it for Kevin to give back to his community? 42:34
  • What’s Kevin looking forward to in the future? 44:53
  • Who are the 3 most influential people in his life? 46:06
  • One gift he likes giving others? 46:56
  • What’s Kevin looking forward to in the future? 47:15
  • How can someone be a difference maker in their community? 48:24

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Kevin on BiggerPockets

Interview on the REI Foundation Podcast

Kevin on Rod Khleif’s Show

A Taste of 72 Hours to Key West

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on Castbox, iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

entrepreneurial process

4 Phases of the Mission Driven Entrepreneurial Process

/by

When I restarted my own entrepreneurial process 3 years ago, I used Fizzle to help me design a roadmap of what I wanted New Inceptions to be.

Since then, I’ve realized that I was trying to build something that I couldn’t by myself. So, last summer, I started really putting an emphasis on meeting the right kinds of people to help things go bigger faster.

That’s about the time that I started doing more things locally and getting started with Amplify and C317.

Well, fast forward to today, and I have to say, there’s a lot of things I’ve learned along the way. And one of those things is that when you’re talking about scaling a business where you’re making a huge impact, you’re talking about a business that has gone through several stages to get where they’re at.

In this post, I want to share what those phases are so you have an idea of where you’re at.

 

Definition of the Entrepreneurial Process

Traditional Process

So there’s several entrepreneurial processes out there. One is the model that a lot of people know from academia or other traditional sources. It looks a little like this:

I’m not saying that this isn’t correct, but it’s not very functional. It “might” be functional if you’re in the tech entrepreneur space. But in reality, most entrepreneurs don’t focus on these topics today – especially not “Developing a business plan”!

 

Fizzle’s Three Phases

When I was in Fizzle, they had their own entrepreneurial process. It looks like this:

This is a much more practical model. And when you listen to Corbett, Chase, and Steph on their podcast, it does make a lot of sense in why they made it this way.

However, as I’ve been going back into studying other entrepreneurs out there, there seems to be an alternative path to the one above (which, I think is a great plan otherwise I wouldn’t be a proponent of theirs!).

This 4 phase path is one I wanted to share with you guys

The New Inceptions Roadmap

So, New Inceptions – what does that mean? When I first came up with it, I had recently seen the movie Inception. In the movie, we see this world where dreams happen in dreams. And if you’ve heard the podcast or talked to me in person, you might have heard that I feel that my job in life is to pull people out of mental prisons. Whether or not they put themselves there OR they’ve allowed others to put them there, they’re stuck.

So my 4 phase process includes one phase in where the focus is simply getting “unstuck”. I believe that this is is the most foundational phase and I see a lot of entrepreneurs skipping right over it as well as the next one. They start in phase 3, eventually find that they don’t like the work they’re doing or they’re simply not happy, and then have to start something again.

Our goal here is to prevent that from happening to you!

So, just to lay them out – here are the four stages:

  • Phase 1 – Set the Foundation
  • Phase 2 – Personal Mission Development
  • Phase 3 – Product and Service Development with First Customers (Start Becoming the Expert!)
  • Phase 4 – Optimization and Growth

 

Let’s take a little more of a look at them:

 

The 4 Phases of the Mission Driven Entrepreneurial Process

entrepreneurial process

Phase 1: Set the Foundation

You guys know that I’m also a huge fan of Dane Maxwell and Andy Drish’s The Foundation.

When I heard about it back in 2012, it blew me away. Up until that point, I had only really heard of the first process I presented here.

One of the things that The Foundation does a great deal of work in is helping people with their limiting beliefs.

It’s these same limiting beliefs that keep people stuck in their mental prisons.

So in this phase, a new entrepreneur should be essentially taking dumb action. Just getting a feel for what’s out there. What sounds interesting to them? What do they feel like they gravitate towards?

Another thing we need to look at is how do we communicate with ourselves and the world around us. Are we real when need to be with ourselves and others? If not, why not? Do we lump all people into one group or are we aware of the different personalities that are out there?

Also in this phase, we need to focus on moving a external locus of control to one that is a bit more internal.

This is all important stuff that needs to be thought about before we can dive into the next phase.

 

Phase 2: Create Your Personal Mission

In this phase, we’ll be looking at crafting your own personal mission.

This is a vital phase that many entrepreneurs skip over. However, time and time again, I’ve heard those from the top say they would have gotten to the top faster had they taken the time to understand what their work actually meant.

In particular, in this phase we’re looking at discovering our Passions, Purpose, and preferred Process (the 3 P’s) and how that relates to our overall mission. We’ll also be looking at all the options you could put your unique skill set towards.

And we also want to make sure we’re starting to develop our network. But we have to make sure we’re doing it strategically. There’s some key people that we need to be meeting if we want to do extraordinary things. We have to seek those folks out who have been there before.

 

Phase 3: Product and Service Development with First Customers (Start Becoming the Expert!)

Now that we’ve developed a understanding of who we are and the skills that we can bring to the market, it’s time that we actually see if someone would be willing to pay for what we can help them with.

Here’s the thing, though. It’s not about what we THINK we can help them with. It’s about what we KNOW we can help them with. And the only way to find out what we can help them with is by actually ASKING them.

Once you know what they want – how are you going to bring it to them? Are you going to get external funding or are you going to do a presale (hint: if you’re smart, you’ll do a presale before you ever lift a finger creating a service, course, SaaS, or even a physical product).

There’s a lot of moving parts in this phase. However, if you do them in the right sequence, it can be super fun.

 

Phase 4: Optimization and Growth

Once you have your first handful of customers, you’ll need to start thinking about your systems. No business became an empire without having a set way of doing things. The more automated you can make things, the more you can leverage your time… and your TEAM’s time.

So, yes. This is the stage where we start thinking about hiring people to help.

Also, if you haven’t made a website yet, then you’ll want to do that in this phase. Because when you’re marketing to the masses (regardless of how you do it), you have to give them something to go to that’s not controlled by third parties.

 

Action Steps

So, this is a lot to throw at you. And really, it depends on where you’re at in your journey. I’ve known people who were in phase 4 and ended up having to go back to phase 2 to recreate their career. In fact, the last two books I read were all about that – people who were at the “top of the world” came crashing down only to build a less stressful and much more enjoyable life.

So where are you at in your journey? Let me know where you’re starting from and I’ll help you get to the next level.