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places of interest

10 Ways to Find Places of Interest In Your Own Backyard

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When I was growing up, I lived in a small town in the middle of flyover country. (I wouldn’t be until later that I even knew that the Midwest was called that.) One of my biggest goals in high school was to go out and see the world. This interest, I’m pretty sure stemmed from watching way too much Discovery Channel over the years.

That, and well, mom was an art teacher. And she loved teaching art from around the world.

It just seemed like something I was always going to do.

Then college hit and I ended up telling myself that if I wanted to graduate on time, I need to book it. Traveling abroad, for the foreseeable future, was not in my cards.

Even though that was the case, I did do a fair share of domestic traveling during the long college summers. When I wasn’t taking a summer class, you could find me making road trips to all kinds of places east of the Mississippi.

Sure, that might not sound like a lot compared to other online entrepreneurs, but here’s the thing. I feel like I appreciate more of what we have in our own backyards a little more than others might.

I don’t feel like I need to leave the country to get the same benefits they do.

Heck, there are still places here in the Midwest that are on my list to check out!

That being the case and it being a new year, I thought I’d share with you guys some of my favorite ways to engage more with your own hometown or places that aren’t so far away.

That way you still get some of the benefits of traveling, but don’t have to go out of the country!

 

1. Pick up Travel Guides and Local Magazines for Nearby Destinations 

This is probably one of my go to cheats in finding interesting things to do when I’m traveling around Indiana. When I was working at AMS daily back in 2014, we found ourselves going to various towns around Indiana as part of our whirlwind tour of events. When I was at those towns, I made sure that I got travel brochures while I was there to find out more about them.

Now some of my favorite towns in Indiana are those that might not seem too special if you’re just traveling through. Towns like Richmond, New Castle, and Noblesville are much higher on my list today.

Another thought, if you’re into museum exhibits, check to see what’s coming up in your city and cities that are within a day trip. Some of the best exhibits I’ve seen have been in Chicago, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio.

2. Seek out Free Activities: Festivals, Art Shows, etc.

One of my favorite activities to take part in during mid summer to early fall is to attend festivals throughout Michigan and Indiana.

For example, in Traverse City, MI they have the National Cherry Festival. Many people who tell you that they’ve been to Traverse City is because of this festival. While I’ve never been, I know it’s a great time.

That said, there are tons of other festivals that are going on around the area at this time due to the harvest period. One of these festivals is called the Venetian Festival which takes place in the town that I’d visit my great aunt in yearly – Charlevoix.

If you like fireworks and being up close to them when they’re going off, their Friday night display could possibly be one of the best shows you’ve ever seen!

After that, I always make it a point to go to Indiana festivals including the Johnny Appleseed Festival, James Dean Festival, and any others that might be happening in Indy. Many these festivals have tons of artisans selling their wares – so festivals make great places to find one of a kind gifts.

Not in the Michiana area? Check and see what kind of festivals are in your area!

3. Let your Phone Guide You

Some of my favorite apps help me discover towns (and cheap gas) I’m traveling through. If you haven’t added them to your phone yet, check out these out:

 

Gas Buddy

One of the first apps I downloaded when I got my first Android back in 2010. It’s changed a bit since then, but still pretty useful if you like shaving a few bucks off your fillup.

During my quick detours off the interstate, I might find myself traveling a few miles to get to where I’m going. During that time, the area might catch my eye for future exploration. This is especially true in Indy when a quick drop off of i-465 might lead me to discover a new store.

 

Yelp

Tired of the same ol’ cuisine? Maybe want to see if there’s any new stores in your area? This is a classic app that I’ve been a fan of over the years. Those that take the time to review on here are usually very transparent, so what you see in the reviews of a place is probably right. You can’t say that all the time for Google Reviews.

 

FieldTrip

Perhaps you’re the type that while you’re driving down the road, you don’t mind a notification that suggests you might like a certain landmark that’s a mile or two off this upcoming exit. Or maybe you’re staying with some extended relatives and want to make yourself your own tour guide of the area?

If either of these seem plausible, you’ll love this app.

Side note: If you live near or in Virginia and you haven’t witnessed the Natural Bridge – you have to go check it out and many of the caves in the area.

 

4. Wander until Your Curiosity Piques!

When I was in high school, there was a popular activity called “Cruisin’” that many of us took part in. If you’re not familiar with the term, It’s basically when you’d aimlessly cruise up and down a certain main stretch on a given evening and eventually bump into friends from school. Then, depending on who was out, you might continue on the same route or perhaps you and a convoy of friends would go on a short excursion somewhere in a nearby town or country.

People had been doing this for decades, so it was ingrained pretty heavily as “something to do” in my hometown.

When I was in college, I took this method to explore Lafayette and the surrounding counties so that I felt like I actually knew where I was. I’d go drive to the Purdue airport and watch planes take off and land while I was doing some homework. Heck, I’d even find some legendary backwoods restaurants that only the higher-ups in the community knew about and socialized at.

If you live in a small to mid sized college town and you don’t really know the surrounding area that well, I challenge you to just drive and find out what’s out there without using your phone. Just make sure that you have enough gas so that if you get lost, you can get back to where you started!

5. Switch up your Transportation: Walk, Bike, or Take Public Transportation

When I was at Purdue, I was definitely a different person than I am today. I feel I was certainly more introverted… but I think that’s just the nature of the beast when you’re studying engineering!

When I went to grad school, I felt like I had the opportunity to make changes in my life and one of those changes was, when it was cold, take the bus. Up through this point I had always ridden my bike, but one too many slips made me change my ways.

When I started riding, no one told me that I wasn’t aloud to talk to people on the bus. So I started striking up conversations with whomever I was sitting next to. Interestingly enough, sometimes those conversations were interesting enough that a bus stop might be missed!

Eventually those people I had engaged with before, started shouting back at me. Whether it was on the bus or on campus, there seemed to be people coming out of the woodwork to say hi!

 

6. Check out Nearby Sporting Events

If you’re not into sports, I understand. This might not work for you. But if you’re into one sport, there’s a good chance you might like to dabble in others from time to time.

Or maybe, while visiting other towns, you might want to get a taste for their fandom.

When I’ve visited Pittsburgh, for example, you can’t help but realize that you’re in a sports happy town. Having all their teams’ colors the same really makes it all part of a unified group of fans. Even though the Steelers have been a rival to the Colts over the years, if I was given the opportunity to go to one of their games, I’d consider it to just take in the atmosphere of one of their games.

7. Be a Visiting Friend’s Tour Guide

You know your town better than someone who’s visiting. So what better way to explore than by seeing it from the perspective of a visitor?

When Maria and I were first married, there were a couple of things she hadn’t visited yet in Indy. One was the zoo, believe it or not. Having been there a number of times growing up, I had the chance to show her some of the old exhibits as well as learn about the new ones that they had put in there in recent years.

 

8. Try New Restaurants in your Town or your Friend’s Favorites in Theirs

If you’re in a medium sized town to the size of a city, there’s no reason why you should run out of places to go try out on a week to week basis.

When I was at Purdue, we had a selection of all kinds of international cuisine. Plus, some restaurants would change from year to year while others, like XXX, have been staples for years.

Make it a point to try as many places as you can so you really have a taste of the town your in. And likewise, when you’re visiting friends in other towns, have them take you to their favorite places as well as experimental ones. You might help them find a new favorite!

 

9. Make a Bucket List and Commit to Achieving It

I remember a few years ago a friend of mine randomly went skydiving with a group of her friends. They didn’t stop talking about that event for the entire year.

Is there something that you’d want to do in your area? Maybe it doesn’t have to be skydiving. Maybe you could just learn how to fly a plane? Or perhaps take pictures?

Maybe 2018 is the year that you stop talking about something and finally actually do it?

 

10. Create a Mini-Adventure!

If you’re finding it hard to find something to do, then maybe you can make a circuit of activities. Having been part of AMS for awhile, I know that there’s some adventure races out there. And if there’s nothing like that near where you’re at, maybe there’s a scavenger hunt company, or a murder mystery company you could utilize to help you and some friends have a good time together?

 

Action Steps

So hopefully these give you a little spark in coming up with places to go to in your immediate area. The big thing about travel is that it gives you new perspectives. You can find new perspectives in your backyard by simply seeing how others work on their own crafts.

If you have any other ideas in how someone might be able to explore their own backyard, let me know below!

side business

Rachel Pedersen – From College Dropout to International Influencer: How a Former Hairdresser made her Side Business a 6 Figure Recurring Revenue Machine (AoL 112)

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When we’re building a side business, it’s easy to get the mindset that because we have some sort of disadvantage compared to someone else that we won’t be able to do what they’ve done.

Truth is, though, that’s usually an excuse more than anything else. It’s a victim mentality.

If you truly want to do something with your life and your work, then having that mentality isn’t going to get you anywhere.

For me, when I was growing up in my hometown, I knew I was going to go to grad school. Both of my parents had their master’s degrees, so it was an automatic that I would at least have that. It didn’t matter how long it took or what I had to do to achieve that goal. It was going to happen.

However, a lot of my peers didn’t have that perspective and/or support that I did. So their goals weren’t as “big”. While they might have dreamed about leaving our hometown and doing great things, many fell short. They just didn’t have the missing ingredient to get to that point.

I’d argue that this particular missing ingredient, for most, is unfortunately hitting rock bottom. Where things are so unbearable that we are forced to dream of a better life.

For this session’s guest, this was definitely the case. Rachel Pedersen has lead a life peppered with all kinds of ups and downs. Growing up in Minnesota as a pastor’s daughter, she had great expectations. But somewhere along the line, life took a turn and she found herself a college dropout with kids AND on welfare. But her story doesn’t stop there. It got much better.

In fact, today she finds herself working on her own 7 figure marketing business. What happened in the middle there? That’s what we’re going to be finding out in today’s session.

Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • Did she ever see herself being as successful as she’s become? 7:50
  • While growing up, did she live her life based on what others expected of her or did she do her own thing from get go? 9:49
  • What was the first mental click Rachel had where she realized she needed to start building a side business? 12:38
  • Did she start working with her clients for free like Russell Brunson suggests in his book or did she charge right away? 19:03
  • What are some tips for someone to become as successful as Rachel even if they live in a “small town” or don’t have the best support in getting there? 23:34
  • What are 5 steps that someone should take if they want to start their own side business? 29:44
  • How does Rachel build a real human connection with people through social media? 39:14
  • Who does she pay attention to when it comes to watching FB Live videos? 42:42
  • How do you build a following and how does one define that? 44:52
  • What’s Rachel looking forward to in 2018? 46:57
  • One gift she likes giving others? 53:11
  • What’s something that’s going to affect entrepreneurship in the future she’s excited about? 53:37
  • What’s an issue that’s not being talked about enough? 54:42
  • How can someone be a difference maker in their community? 55:04

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

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

3 Ways of Finding Social Media Clients

Why Small Businesses Fear Social Media

3 Secrets of Facebook Ads and Funnels

How to Become a Fully Booked Social Media Manager

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 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!

relationship building

Making Winning Connections: Relationship Building Tips for Life and Business

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As the Junto is starting to grow, I realize that there’s going to be more and more opportunities for people to connect with others who are seemingly going the same direction as they are.

To make sure they are, here’s a few notes from a recent John Maxwell course called the Mentor’s Guide to Relationships. I hope you can use the information presented here to make sure that a pursuing a certain relationship is worth your time.

At the very least, I want to help you realize if you’re in a one way relationship. One that you might be putting way too much energy in yourself and not getting anything back from it.

So let’s start off by looking at the four different levels of relationships.

 

Four Levels of Relationships

Surface Relationships

Now, when you’re on social media (or anywhere else for that matter) and you’re just meeting someone – you’re engaging in the most basic and common form of a relationship. A surface relationship is one where there’s really no strong commitment from either person and it’s a very passive interaction.

An example of a surface level relationship is just randomly adding a “friend” on Facebook and they in turn accepting that request. You might have just added them to your friends list because they have a lot of mutual friends – even though you don’t really know who they are.

Acquaintances would be part of this this level.

Just remember, all real friends start off as strangers at one point. So, just give it some time if you want things to grow…

 

Structured Relationships

The next level of a relationship is what’s called the structured relationship. These relationships are with people who meet at certain times. This can mean daily, weekly, or monthly.

Generally speaking this type of routine based engagement is centered around some sort of interest or activity such as an Meetup. In the online business world, it might mean a mastermind group. Or in the typical offline world, it can mean a group of students.

Outside of that group, there’s not much meaning for those people to interact – so they don’t.

 

Secure Relationships

The next level of relationships are those that when members of a structured relationships start appreciating the bond.

At this level, trust begins to form as the need to spend more time together grows. Most of the time, these folks will have no problems sharing with each other. And there’s a bit of a comfort zone feeling with these folks.

When you were going to school, these were the study friends. Perhaps they were the friends  that you hung out with before games. Or maybe they were your fellow band friends who you’d play euchre with each day. But the main thing was that these folks started relying on you as you relied on them.

In business, this might be someone that you decide to joint venture with on a particular project such as a course or new podcast.

 

Solid Relationships

Next up, we have the highest of all relationships – the solid relationship. At this level, not only do full trust and confidentiality exist, but there is a need to give back to the other party if they’ve helped you in some way.

Of course, this is the basis for a long term relationship.

If we were to think of the school analogy, your close friends were (or are still) examples of this! While, in the business world, you’d start new businesses with these folks.

 

Avoid High Maintenance Relationships

When I first started dating Maria I had a very strong feeling of “normality” when we were together. She felt like someone that I had known for a long time.

Society suggests – especially TV – that a normal romantic relationship is something that has a lot of maintenance to it. Drama and fighting is to be expected – not calmly discussing the issues at hand.

The truth is that this shouldn’t be the case in ANY relationship you want to make long term – including romantic relationships!

So how do you know if you’re in a high maintenance relationship?

In his book, High Maintenance Relationships, author Les Parrott talks about 12 different types of people who it would be hard to get along with – especially over a significant amount of time.

  • Critic – constantly complains and gives unwanted advice.
  • Martyr – forever the victim and wracked with self-pity.
  • Wet Blanket – pessimistic and automatically negative.
  • Steam Roller – blindly insensitive to others.
  • Gossip – spreads rumors and leaks secrets.
  • Control Freak – unable to let go and let be.
  • Backstabber – irrepressibly two-faced.
  • Cold Shoulder – disengages and avoids contact.
  • Green Eyed Monster – seethes with envy.
  • Volcano – builds steam and is ready to erupt.
  • Sponge – constantly in need but gives nothing back.
  • Competitor – keeps track of tit for tat.

 

Are you with one of these types of individuals? If so, you might want to move on.

If you wouldn’t be in romantic relationships with someone with one or several of these particular traits, why would you want to be in business with them… or visa versa?

Going from Surface to Solid Relationships

In the past week, I’ve relearned how awkward people can be when it comes to developing real relationships. Whether it’s simple friendships, jv partnerships, or going after a life partner… the goal is to not be a weirdo.

Believe me, I learnt the hard way!

So how do you go from adding a friend on Facebook to making them a good friend, business partner, or building something that could be even more?

Here’s 5 traits of a solid relationship.

 

Mutual Enjoyment

Here’s the truth. Spend time with people who enjoy your presence. If you feel that you’re having to pry and overly try with the relationship, it’s probably not a good foundation and you should move on.

Don’t be an irritant!

 

Respect

What’s the best way to make sure you’re not an irritant?

Be respectful of the other person.

Forget the golden rule of treating people how you’d want to be treated. Instead, treat people like they would like to be treated.

What’s that mean?

Learn how they want to be interpreted. Find out their story. Be curious and let them be the storyteller. Find out where they went to school and for what. If they didn’t go to school, find out what they’ve learned “the hard way”.

If you’re unclear as to how to read a certain topic with them – don’t feel like you have to assume something – this usually works out negatively if you do. No question is dumb. Just say “I’m not sure how to ask this but…” if you’re completely unsure how to ask something.

Have a problem with them? Let them know. Likewise, if they feel like they have a problem with you, they should come to you about it.

Make a point to get to know someone, but not for manipulative purposes. If they tell you something that’s a secret, don’t tell anyone. If they are hesitant in a certain area, learn how to help bring out the best in them through their own permission.

 

Mutual Shared Experiences

There’s a reason why military veterans get along as well as they do even if they didn’t know each other prior to them first getting together.

What’s the reason?

They have shared similar experiences.

From day 1, they’re taught to trust each other to be part of a larger organism. When you count on someone to do a certain action which allows you to do your job, then you’re going to care about that other person more. Cause if they get taken out, then you won’t be able to do what you need to do properly.

Sports players are the same way.

When talking about developing a winning football team, Vince Lombardi said, “The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other.”

It makes sense. If the line doesn’t do their job and block, then the ball handlers can’t do their jobs. The result is that the ball doesn’t go anywhere.

 

Reciprocity

For the above teams to win, that caring feeling needs to be mutual between teammates – whether on a battlefield with bullets… or on the gridiron.

Right here is how you can tell if a relationship is worth your time to develop. If you feel like everything is running smoothly, then everything is fine.

However, if you feel that the other person is getting a better deal, bring it up with them. If they don’t acknowledge it, then it might be time to move onto another relationship.

If you feel like you’re getting a better deal, then it’s your job to make sure that they’re being evenly compensated.

 

Trust

Trust comes over time and is the result of the previous 4 traits humming along just fine. Don’t forget that intentions don’t really matter when it comes to other people.

It’s all about actions.

When your actions match your words, that’s how you build trust.

Just make sure that those actions are positive and truly helpful to the other party!

 

Action Steps

As you might have realize, relationships are something that I take seriously. There was a time when I wasn’t super great at them – so I made it a point to go out of my way to learn about them. If you want to learn more about building great relationships, I’d check out the book by John Maxwell and Les Parrott 25 Ways to Win with People: How to Make Others Feel Like a Million Bucks

As you probably know, I’m a big fan of John’s and he has ton’s on this topic!

online income

Building an Online Business: An 11 Step Blueprint to An Online Income Generator

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The below is a post that I recently posted in the Junto. It helped quite a bit of folks over there, so I thought I’d go ahead and post it on the official blog just to make sure I had it around when I needed it.

I think it’s a great representation of the online business world we live in and… in fact, it might even be something had I known a couple of years ago, I would have done things a bit differently!

So, without further adieu – here’s 11 steps to generate growing online income

Money Making Myths

I hear it all the time from people here in Indiana.

“There is no money in small town business – why should I stay?” or “Only people in big cities make the big income.”

There might have been a time I agreed with this. In fact, most would have at some point. It’s why Indiana and many states in the middle of the country have been suffering from brain drain.

However, today I’d say that both are myths – especially in 2017.

Why? It’s simple. The internet.

The Rise of Internet Commerce

Just like the introduction of interstates killed the local economies of so many small towns, the internet has essentially done the same thing to those metropolitan areas. We’re starting to see less and less of particular retail stores because it’s just simply easier to buy certain products offline.

And the great thing? ANYONE can be a seller online just as much as they can be a consumer.

Not only can you buy new releases of entertainment online, but we can also sell it and other goods and services on the internet ourselves as well.

If you’re someone who would like to make a larger impact in the world with your work, but you’re unclear where to start, here’s somewhat of a blueprint to get you started.

1. Find Clarity in how you want to help people.

Make sure you have clarity. What do you want to help people with? Do you want to help people with woodcarving? Fly fishing? Photography? Maybe even football. The first step is figuring out what you love to discuss and naturally help other people do if they’re interested.

2. Start building a following online.

Whether that’s a Facebook Group like the Junto, a YouTube channel, or a real Instagram account. (Actually you can do all 3 – this is what Laila Rahmatian is doing!)

3. Provide value by Teaching what you know.

If you’re just learning your craft, that’s fine. Get interviews with people who know the craft equally or better than you. Or if you’re funny – just be entertaining. There’s been a lot of channels which have boomed because the person is simply hilarious.

4. Hustle if you need to make income right away.

If you’re just starting out and in need of some income, there’s a few things you can do. You can do retail arbitrage like Tyler Philbrook, or learn some digital marketing skills. Whether you are creating content, working on SEO, or helping with sales funnels – these are all things that people have made thousands (even millions) online with. Check out JR Rivas’s group for help with that.

If neither of those are for you, perhaps you can sell your skill online. For example, a photographer can take stock photos for companies. Or if you’re a musician, write jingles for podcasts. Check out fiverr to see what’s available out there for quick cash.

Make sure you’re getting testimonials as you do things at the beginning for free or for the cheap. Having these testimonials along with case study videos of what you’ve done can be useful when going after bigger fish with larger budgets to pay you.

Also – start working on making contracts so you can cover your rear properly for work you’ve done!

5. Don’t Quit on Your Other Endeavours.

As you’re building income as a freelancer, you need to continue to build your following. Eventually you don’t want to sell your time for $. To stop doing that, you need products online. The most cost effective products are those that are called infoproducts. And since you’re probably already doing something successful in your life already, You can start building products that your following is going to potentially buy. I’d employ the teachings of Dane and the Foundation as much as possible. You can hear about that method in last week’s post.

6. As you’re learning more about your craft, share with your following.

How many times have we seem someone jump from one building to another or from one cliff to another after seeing the person they’re with do it first?

Same thing applies in business. If your followers see you succeed, they’ll more than likely have the right frame of mind to accomplish the same thing. Help them do what you’re doing and learning about. If you’re learning about ways to create passive income, teach what you’ve learned about that topic. That’s exactly what Pat Flynn did with his blog – and people are STILL replicating his success! (Just goes to show you don’t have to worry about originality!)

7. As you provide more and more value, find out what what your group members or followers really want.

Learn how to perform idea extraction, verify, and do presales of MVPs (Most Viable Products). Having a process for these 3 steps will help you craft anything your tribe wants!

8. Capitalize on your Testimonials!

If so, it’s time to go after those bigger fish! Heck, even better, just create a website showing what you can do, then send out emails to prospects redirecting them to the website. There’s all kinds of ways to find potential clients – it doesn’t have to be manual (Use Facebook ads if you’ve worked on that skill – that’s what JR did to find his chiropractor clients.)

9. Don’t forget to Grow the size of your Team

By this point, you’re probably making a decent income. Congratulations!! But we’re just getting started and there’s some things for you to start thinking about.

For example, I’m sure at this point you might feel that you’re overstretching yourself. Maybe it’s time to hire a VA or start mentoring someone to help you with stuff you suck at? A good place to start is Airtasker.

Also, if you haven’t already (which I know you have!) it might be a good time to invest in yourself. Start going to conventions and meeting people. Start thinking about buying those big name courses you always wanted.

10. Repeat the Process.

Build more products – hire more people to help! This is how you start scaling. As you grow your services and company, keep bringing on more people to help you with various things so you can spend more time doing what the founder should be doing.

11. Do what the Founder (or President) should be doing.

It’s totally up to you what that means. This might involve you working in your local community more and/or helping to start an incubator where you can mentor younger creatives. Perhaps it means going out and becoming a speaker? Or heck, maybe you could get into politics if that’s your thing.

Actions Steps

I hope this helps you guys a bit. I think the biggest thing that I didn’t do on purpose was focus on getting results for someone. That needs to be the first thing you focus on. Then, from there, get 3 to 5 testimonials that you can use on your first landing page for a course, eBook, etc.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or thought I left something out in this post. I might actually make it into a more detailed opt-in sometime.

survey research

Why Start with a Guess? – Using Survey Research to 10X Your Business

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Recently I posted a survey in the Junto of what members would like to get more from the group. I’m already getting promising results which will help me and the other mods help serve the group better.

On September 9th, 2012, I first learned of how important it is to question end users of whatever it is that you’re making. Since then, I’d like to say that I’ve become pretty proficient at it. After that, it was something that I noticed that many successful courses ask their students to do. It was also something that we implemented during my time as an employee at AMS.

The next day, I wrote about what I learned on the drive home from my uncle’s memorial service. And to this day, I think it was one of the most pivotal days in my development as an entrepreneur. 

Enjoy!

Yesterday as I was coming home from a memorial service for my great uncle Paul Arnold, (Detailed write up can be found in Oberlin College’s Archives. He was a really cool guy if you’re into fine art.) Here’s an example of his work:

survey research

“Friends” – One of Paul Arnold’s wood prints

I decided that I’d go ahead and listen to yet another episode of Pat Flynn’s podcast. I knew when I downloaded it, it had to be a rather long drive because it was an around an hour and twenty minutes long. This is MUCH longer than his usual half an hour versions.

Well, the wait and time into the podcast was definitely worth it. I was exposed to another form of passive income – Software as a Service (SaaS).

 

Why Passive Income?

Passive income, I personally believe, is the goal that many who want to live out their passions should strive for. Otherwise, you get stuck working for each dollar and have to rely on faulty systems when we’re in old age. For many of us who are Generation Xers or younger, I fear that we’re not going to have a great retirement plan that our parents have or had. Nor do we have the loyal companies that will give us great pensions that they had as well. Heck, many of our parents aren’t getting what they were promised 30 years ago!!

So basically, the sooner we start building systems that make money on their own or with little to no help by us, the more comfortable life we’ll live when we’re older AND if we do it while we’re young, the better life we’ll live sooner!

 

What I Obtained from the SPI Podcast Interview:

I learned that there is more to passive money on the web outside of “expert space”. There is also space for web applications. Now, the great thing is that the guy who Pat interviewed started these web applications with no ideas and usually little investment money. Also, most of the development of these projects were outsourced. The guy’s name is Dane Maxwell.

The way Dane developed each one of his 7 companies in his first 6 years of business were very brilliant. I’ll let you listen to the interview for his process.

But what I most admired about Dane, is that once he proved the system of developing these companies and setting them into automatic, he wanted to teach others to do the same. (That’s why he landed on Pat’s podcast, I’m sure!!) And that’s what he’s doing with the program that he mentions on the podcast.

 

Adjustments to My Portfolio

I need to get to know Dane better as well as explore the world of online apps. I also need to use the tools that I already have available to figure out his process for myself. While he does have a program that he’s put together to teach others his tips and tricks, I think that stumbling to figure it out will give me more appreciation for it. It really seems that these online apps can be way more profitable than member sites. However, I still plan on continuing with the development of New Inceptions and it’s magazine (yes, there was a digital magazine for NI!) and potentially look into doing a software solution in the future.

So anyhow, thought I’d go ahead and let you all aware of this great podcast episode. You should definitely listen to it if you’ve ever considered ways of making passive income. Especially if you have any technical experience OR think that you’re techie know how is somehow keeping you from creating passive income for yourself.

Since originally posting this post, I ended up signing up for The Foundation. In fact, it wasn’t too long after I had heard this particular interview. Since the course, I’ve been able to use what I’ve learned from it in many ways outside of building a SaaS based company. I’ve also got placed into a huge network of awesome entrepreneurs – some of which have been on the AoL Podcast.

Below, I’d love to hear from you about your use of surveys in figuring out what your tribe or clients want. Have you used them? What kinds of successes have you had with them? Perhaps you tried doing something without proper research beforehand – how’d it turn out?

Also – we’d love to see you in the Junto! If you have any questions about the Foundation – that’d be a great place to ask!

block schedule

How You Can Master Your Time and Productivity with a Block Schedule Including Themes

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I recently posted this in the Junto:

block schedule

When you read this, what comes to your mind?

Is it a sense of frustration?

Is it a sense of irritation?

If so, do you have too many tasks and ideas that you’re trying to get to, but keep running out of daylight?

If that describes you, I completely feel where you’re coming from. It used to describe me too.

I always thought it wasn’t fair that others had found the secret to getting their own stuff done.

But after a few mastermind sessions in 2016, I realized that my problem was that I was TOO structured in my scheduling.

This post is all about making sure that you have balance in your schedule while chipping away at those things you really need to be doing in your life – especially if you’re in a day job you don’t like or you’re a super busy college student.

Setting the Guidelines of an Amazing Schedule

Often times when we’re picking the things we want to do, we often feel this battle between what’s right and not right to do. We feel a pull of what our inner self tells us we should be doing vs what the external world is telling us that we should be doing.

Ideally, we’d like everything to be what’s right and we’d like to be self directed. Unfortunately for those of us who have day jobs, we feel that this is an uphill battle we’re not going to win. (Great example of a self limiting belief right there.)

The first thing we need to do in winning back our time is to follow 12 guidelines – and they are:

  1. Know thyself in what makes you feel the most alive – this is your passion and is part of your Mission.
  2. Realize that as long as you’re in the United States (or another free country), your default mission in life is to find out what your personal mission is and fulfill it.
  3. Once you have determined that, you need to commit to yourself that you’ll spend your time fulfilling that mission.
  4. When you’re putting things into your schedule to fulfill said mission, make sure that you have a good and clear understanding of how those tasks are going to help you achieve it. (If you’re working a 9 to 5 – your job should be helping you fulfill that Mission. If it doesn’t, it’s time for a new job.)
  5. Are there any points in your schedule that you dread or fear, ask yourself why you fear them. Don’t dwell on the worst that could happen, but instead, simply sit with them and realize that they have to be done for you to move on.
  6. Realize that any changes you’re making are going to take time to get going if you’re just now starting them. But, here’s the key –  if you keep at it, you’ll start noticing that things are going well for you. Like me, you’ll think “Well, if I hadn’t made this connection or done that, this wouldn’t have happened.” This is the truth. The problem is, you have no idea what will set future motions in place. (This is known as the Law of Momentum.)
  7. If you’re stuck in a rut, you need to realize that you are. Then ask yourself – what do I need to learn to move forward?
  8. Make sure you set aside a time for learning. Learning new things regularly allows for you to constantly move forward. Action is one thing, but taking the same action over and over and expecting different results is… insanity. (Also, don’t burn yourself out thinking that you can find the answers by taking simple repetitive action.)
  9. If you DO find yourself burning out or sucking at something you should be better at, it’s best to notice it and don’t hide from it. This is the universe telling you you need time to rest.
  10. Be precise in making your schedule until you can look at it and you look forward to every event that’s on it.
  11. Make your schedule so that it doesn’t imprison or trap you, but, instead, frees you.
  12. Always remember your schedule is meant to nourish you, so you can relax and enjoy your life. (If you’ve gotten to this point in the list and you still dread getting up in the morning, you should start over at #1.)

 

Key Points to Remember about the Guidelines

Now, from all that you might be thinking, “Well, that’s all good – but I know there’s going to be some things that I don’t like doing even when I’m working towards my Mission”.

And you’d be right – maybe you hate paperwork. Maybe you’d rather be out interacting with folks. Perhaps you’re really into helping people with sales funnels, but you hate having to find clients.

That’s par for the course.

If you want to know you’re still in the right, here are two questions to ask yourself:

  1. Overall, is this week going to be enjoyable? Am I doing what I want to do – for the most part?
  2. What’s the first thing that I can do that would allow me to be me?

The reason that these two questions are important to ask yourself is because, again, we’re working from a mission perspective.

If you feel you’re doing more things that you don’t want or like to do – than you’re not in the right position in life (or at work). Secondly, if you don’t have enough autonomy to do an act that you actually like to start your day and/or week off with a simple win – then there’s probably something wrong there as well.

In other words, do things that get you to your mission. Don’t do them because you think it’s the thing to do. That’s the will of the World forcing you to do something. Other people have no problem telling other people what to do. That’s the way the world works.

Also, don’t avoid things just to avoid them. Sometimes you’ll have to embrace the suck – but it’s so worth it if it’s in alignment with your mission.

For example if you want to become better at copywriting for marketing purposes – go find some great examples of marketing and use it as a guide to craft your own. (Arne has us do this in his FB group growth course student group all the time.)

 

Note to Newbie Time Blockers

Now, if you’ve never time blocked before, then this next part will be a little easier than if you have.

See, I used to be a scheduling Nazi. I had to be very specific in when I did this, this, and that. Otherwise, I didn’t think I was doing a great job in scheduling.

Well, long story short, I realized that I learned to schedule from a Driver-Analytical personality-type person. The thing about Driver-Analytical types of people, they are all about completing tasks. The more, the merrier.

That’s not what I’m about.

I’m more about building relationships. Why? Because from good relationships come opportunities which yield possible income.

So, in the end, depending on your own personality, what takes priority on your calendar might be different than mine.

That said, here’s how to time block with themes.

 

Time Blocking with Interval Themes

Generally speaking, these days I have two types of weeks as a solopreneur. One week (called ‘A weeks’) I focus more on content development – a blog post, a podcast post, and a video in the Junto.

The other week (which I call ‘B weeks’) I focus more on marketing and group development as well as learning.

As you can see, I have two main themes that I use. However, I’ve known people that use 4 themes a month. I also know folks who theme their entire month.

What do these themes consist of?

Well, for me, they’re general guidance of the things that I have to do in a given day. Other folks use them to get better at something, while yet other some people use it as a way to control their overall content building and marketing structure.

 

Interval Themes in Practice – A Step-By-Step Guide:

So let’s look at this from a weekly example – because that’s essentially what I use.

  1. The first thing you want to do is determine what kind of theme you have for that week. Usually you want to do this on Sunday after reflecting on how your previous week went.
  2. Next, you’ll want to set the time that you want to get started on your work. Honestly, I don’t usually get started on my work day until 10am. I don’t finish until 5 or 6. But during that time, I’m usually very focused on the work at hand or, for short breaks, posting in the Junto or building relationships with its members.
  3. When it’s quitting time – it’s quitting time. I learned early from Pat Flynn that you want to be able to turn things off for the night when your loved ones are home. Even when he had a one room apartment, his computer was in a corner and he used his laptop for more personal things.
  4. If you’re more of a task oriented person – I got you! Make sure you plan out time for relaxation and fun. Seriously. If that means throwing date night on your schedule, do it. Fortunately for me and Maria, we’re pretty lackadaisical when it comes to our evenings!

 

The General Structure Of My Daily Schedule

Just an idea of what a typical day might look like. I really don’t have this all laid out in

  1. Morning Routine – Breakfast (no carbs!), workout, a bit of meditating, finding out what’s going on in the world
  2. First item of the day – Something that gives you an easy win. For me, I knock out my emails. Once I do that, I close Mail. I’ll reopen it later – but emails are super distracting throughout the day!
  3. Second item is usually an easy win item as well. These days, it’s posting in the Junto and few other groups.
  4. Then, until lunch, I’m either doing growth related activities (meeting people, meetings, learning) or working on production of content.
  5. After lunch, I’m focused more on finishing said content, mastery, and marketing.

 

Alternative Version for Someone who Doesn’t Own Their Entire Day

So, this is a pretty sucky situation – but a lot of us have to start here. So realize that you’re going to have a bit of a handicap but you’re not alone.

Depending on whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, you’re going to aim to work 2 hours a day on your craft before you go to work or after you come home.

Ideally, the last part of the day should be spent just chilling for at least an hour. Again you’re looking to enjoy your life. So, if I had to decide, I’d go for 2 hours before work. That way when you go to your day job, you have the bonus of having already worked on your craft and not having to dread it coming home.

So, go to bed one hour earlier, then wake up 2 hours earlier. You can really start your day on fire this way. Those first two hours can be focused on heavy amounts of action.

But keep in mind, don’t sacrifice that much to the point of feeling empty. Enjoy each minute you can now. You want to make sure you’re enjoying every single day.

Action Steps

So, there you have it. Again, this is just what has worked for me combined with my new schedule for building the group.

Obviously there’s a huge difference if you have a day job. So if you can find a day job that supports your mission, that’s even better. That’s what’s great about this new sharing economy of ours.

Heck, even Laila started substitute teaching and tutoring before she got completely up to speed with her coaching practice. But what’s great is that those tutoring spots got her some of her clients!

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know below! 🙂

how to overcome insecurity

How to Overcome Insecurity when You’re Starting Something New

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Do you feel insecure?

Maybe about your passions? That they’re not shared by anyone else?

Maybe you’re insecure about social situations. Perhaps you’re wondering what people are thinking about you?

Or, are you simply worried about putting your art into the world? Again, thinking that someone might compare it to some great artist? Or they’ll make fun of it – or you’re afraid of the feedback you might get?

 

These are all insecurities that most of us face from time to time. If you weren’t then you’re not human.

There’s a trick, though, to not letting them stop you from putting yourself out into the world in a meaningful way.

Actually, there’s 4 ideas that you can use on yourself to psych yourself into doing things for the first time.

 

Competence Means Confidence

For me, I hated the way I sounded on the AoL Podcast when I was first starting. However, as I grew into the craft of making the show, my brain just grew accustomed to that voice. And what I would hear in my mind after a while, wasn’t so much me, but it was more of the talent that was the host of the AoL Podcast.

I had the opportunity to make that person sound good.

2 years into the podcast, I get compliments by guests that I actually sound like I know what I’m doing.

Today, I’m facing the same thing when starting this new group thing. A part of it is doing Facebook lives. While I’m not posting every day, I have already done a couple of them. Still not completely used to my face yet, but I’m sure I’ll get over that as well.

So, the first thing you need to do is just start.

You’re not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master the day. Then just keep doing that every day.

You’ll see that that action will yield results which then yields new beliefs.

Then repeat the process!

overcome insecurity

Feedback Yields Power

Don’t tie your work or feelings to anyone’s approval. Even to this day, there are people out there who don’t like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek – you name it. If it exists, there’s more than likely going to be people who don’t like something.

However, those who do like your stuff, when they let you know that they like it – it means you’re going in the right direction.

If they have constructive criticism, that’s even better. Not only is someone showing you that they care enough to let you know what they thought about your work, but they’re giving you feedback in a way that matters.

As an entrepreneur and leader, that’s what you want from your followers. To have feedback so you can know how you can help them!

Don’t search for the attitude with them or even yourself – use it as a way to get better in you craft.

And finally, you can’t perfect something if you don’t have other’s input about it.

 

Rejection Doesn’t Happen that Often

Here’s the thing, you’ve probably already interacted with plenty of people in your life. Hundreds, if not thousands of people. From all of those people, how often have you really dealt with rejection?

In fact, what life actually tells us is that people are going to be indifferent about what you’re doing more than they’ll actually reject it.

The main reason that I think people reject something is that it starts out being seeing as one thing and then, for whatever reason, it changes.

For example – New Coke.

How many New Coke situations have you heard of in your life? Not many! (I’m still not too thrilled about them changing Coke Zero to Coke Zero Calorie. It’s not the same thing!)

If you’re newly putting yourself out into the world, people are going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re new.

Plus, there’s a heck of alot more supportive people in the world than trolls.

 

Your Soul Won’t Settle

Take it from me. Ever since I heard from Pat Flynn about the online business world in 2009, I’ve been wanting to follow in his footsteps.

Here it is, 2017, and I’m still not to the level I’d like to be. BUT I will mention that things are going better than i would have expected a year ago at this time.

I now have a plan for the future.

But I wouldn’t have had that plan if I hadn’t have taken action.

I would be still wondering “Can I? Will I? Should I?”

And frankly, that wasn’t going to cut it… for the rest of my life.

So, if you already have that aching suspicion that you’re supposed to be doing something else than you’re already doing – and you continue to put it off, then you’re always going to have to fight those demons.

Do yourself a favor and get started as soon as you can in doing the work that you’re meant to do.

Your mission is waiting for you.

Action Steps

If you’re in that place right now, whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or not and you’re not sure if you’re ready for the next big thing…

Ask yourself this one question.

What does my gut tell me I need to do next?

If it’s telling you to get up and do something different, then do whatever it is.

If you think it might help, make a mission statement. Let the world know that this is who you and who you see yourself becoming. Not tomorrow, but eventually.

If you need help figuring out what your mission is, check out this interview with David Anderson. It’s quickly becoming one of my go to episodes as I answer this insecurity issue from time to time.