Just The Tips, with James P. Friel and Dean Holland

Something magical happens when you get the right business partner. Plus getting it right can add a lot of zeros to your bank account and eliminate a ton of stress. But getting that RIGHT person is not as easy as it sounds, because this topic isn’t discussed enough. This week’s guest, Damian Lanfranchi, is Todd Brown’s business partner, and they’ve been business partners for over seven years. Tune in to hear what makes their partnership successful and profitable as well as long-standing; and how to find the right business partner for you. Outline of This Episode 4:29 The first try (and why it didn’t work)11:14 The glue that holds it all together18:58 How to tell whether you should have a business partner26:15 The visionary and the integrator31:14 Who’s who in the partnership?46:47 Successful implementation51:57 Don’t get “married” on day one What holds it all together? This might sound a little fluffy, but according to Damian, a business partnership cannot succeed without trust. Nobody’s perfect, and you may not always agree with your partner, but you’ve got to be able to trust them to do right by you and have your back. Damian and Todd have bumped heads during their partnership, but there was never any doubt they had each other’s backs. Don’t fill the same roles as your partner One top cause of conflicts between business partners is both of them trying to fulfill the same roles. It’s super awkward and inefficient, and leads straight to conflict. Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of each partner eliminates a lot of head butting; and of one partner feeling like they’re doing all the work. Tune in for an example of how this aspect of a successful business partnership works in Damian and Todd’s case. When NOT to bring on a partner Sometimes people bring on a business partner because they don’t want to do it alone. “It’s more fun to get lost in the woods with a buddy than to get lost in the woods with yourself,” as Damian says on the episode. But basing your business partnership on insecurity or loneliness isn’t a healthy reason to work with a business partner. Tune in to hear more on this, plus other bad reasons to team up with a business partner. Be strategic, not desperate When Damian and Todd teamed up for their second crack at a business partnership--the one that succeeded--it was strategic. Both were running their own businesses, and found they each had a need for the other person’s gifts. The partnership was strategic, not desperate, and definitely not based on insecurity or loneliness. A business partnership that doesn’t make sense, strategically, is unlikely to go well. Who’s the visionary and who’s the integrator? Damian can function as both visionary and integrator. But since Todd is pure visionary, Damian serves as the integrator in their partnership. Todd sends him ideas, Damian helps bring them to life. The most successful partnerships operate like this, because it’s unlikely two pure visionaries (unless they have identical visions) or two pure integrators will do well in a partnership together. In the case of two visionaries, what if one wants to sell marketing funnels and the other wants to sell sweaters to cats? The company’s unlikely to get far in that situation. If you want a business partner, look at partnering with someone who’s your opposite in this area. Resources & People Mentioned ToddBrown.mehttps://www.instagram.com/toddbrown/https://www.facebook.com/ToddBrownMarketing/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWlIIwel956xVecFuBC80BA The Marketer’s Mind Podcast Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/Facebook Group (BulletProof...

“How do I scale my business?” is a question on many entrepreneurs’ minds, but there’s a lot more to scaling your business than most entrepreneurs realize. It’s not just about whether your business is growing and successful. It’s also about whether your business has all the pieces in place to scale without collapsing. In this episode, James and Dean share some telltale signs your business is ready to scale. They also reveal how to avoid the many potential pitfalls of trying to scale before you’re ready, and what being “ready” to scale actually means. (It’s not what most people think.) Outline of This Episode 6:30 What does it actually mean to scale?10:15 Growth and scaling are not the same thing16:25 You’ve got a winner - what’s next?21:01 Find out what breaks25:02 Get your ducks in a row FIRST30:55 Scaling for the first time in a new business or industry33:59 The most dangerous traffic source Growing is not the same as scaling The word growing is often used interchangeably with scaling, but they aren’t the same thing. Growth is about getting traction in your business, creating predictable results from your sales, marketing, delivery, operations, and finances, and creating the infrastructure your business needs to be able to scale. Scaling is about adding more volume to what’s already there. Some overlap is expected, but don’t make the mistake of confusing growth with scaling. Success doesn’t mean you’re ready to scale Another mistake many entrepreneurs make is thinking that because their business is successful, it’s ready to scale, but there’s a lot more to being ready to scale than being successful. Scaling even a successful business without the right infrastructure in place is like putting up the walls of a house with no foundation under them. It’s only a matter of time before everything comes crashing down. Tune into the episode to hear how to identify which areas of your business still need that infrastructure before you’re ready to scale. Find the breaking points Odds are excellent that if you tried to scale right now, some parts of your business would “break” because they’re not structured in a way that supports scaling. Before you try to scale, identify the breaking points, and a way to fix them. For example, if you’re getting 100 orders a day now, and want to scale to 500 orders a day, could you keep up with inventory and delivery, or would something break? If you’re a service-based business, do you have enough support and systems in place to serve all the people who want to work with you? These are the questions that have to be addressed BEFORE you try to scale. Beware scaling with one traffic source In light of the war between Apple and Facebook over who gets access to what data, along with other changes Facebook has made, business owners who depend on Facebook ads as their only source of traffic are experiencing rising ad costs and lower profit margins. The Google “slap” from years ago also illustrates the danger of depending on one traffic source. As you look to scale your business, make sure your plan includes additional sources of traffic. Simplicity equals scalability The simpler you structure every facet of your business, the easier it will be to scale. Look for ways you can make things simpler instead of more complicated. What that looks like for your business depends entirely on what you do and where you’re at. It could be you need more software, or it could mean you need LESS software. It could mean you need another team member, or it could mean you have too many because you’ve overcomplicated the way your business is set up. Look for ways you can simplify. Resources & People Mentioned Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook...

Freedom, time, and the ability to make more money are the top three reasons most entrepreneurs will give as their reasons for becoming entrepreneurs. So how is it that so many entrepreneurs find themselves stuck in the hustle and grind, with LESS time and freedom than they want, instead of more? That’s exactly what James and Dean are diving into in this week’s episode. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or already have a team, tune into this week’s episode to hear how to detox from the hustle by turning your business into an asset that works for you (instead of the other way around). Outline of This Episode 2:54 Do you HAVE to “kill yourself” to grow your business?6:06 Busy is not the same as productive11:32 Unintended consequences of success19:31 Where to focus to get results23:59 Take action on the right things28:40 The efficiency trap35:47 Spread super thin You’re not doing it right A false perception has taken hold of the entrepreneurial space--that you HAVE to hustle and grind 24/7, lose sleep, alienate your loved ones, and destroy your health. If you’re not doing all those things, you’re not “doing it right” and you don’t want success badly enough. It’s true that hustling has a place, especially when you’re in a growth phase, but not how your business has to always and forever operate in order for you to become and stay successful. Think like a CEO, not like an employee Many entrepreneurs, without realizing it, think like an employee instead of like a CEO. It’s a huge part of why they end up shackled to their business, instead of their business becoming a vehicle to freedom, time, and unlimited income potential. Growing and scaling your business without 24/7 hustling and grinding requires making intelligent decisions at a high level, and that comes from thinking like an effective CEO. Productivity vs. activity A lot of people mislabel activity as productivity. Activity is “being busy,” which may or may not grow your business. Productivity is focusing on what will move your business forward NOW. If you’re active without being productive, you end up stuck in the grind with nothing to show for it. Make sure what you’re working on is the next best step to help your business grow. Focus, then execute Step one is to identify where your focus needs to be right NOW. Where that is depends on your business and how far into it you are. Once you’ve identified where to focus, step two is to execute...but not just on any old thing. It has to be focused. Mediocre execution focused on the right thing is always better than perfect action focused on the wrong thing. When things that are proven to work don’t work, always assume it’s because there’s a flaw in your execution. Then work on finding and removing that flaw. Are you efficiently doing the wrong things? Efficiency is not about doing more, better. It’s about doing the right things better. A mistake a lot of people make when trying to systematize their business is efficiently doing things that don’t need to be done at all. The quickest path to a more efficient business is to remove tasks that don’t need to be there. Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/Facebook Group (BulletProof Business):https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/Site:www.jamespfriel.comInterested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog:www.DeanHolland.comFB Page:https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQBillion Dollar Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BillionDollarProject/ JTT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/justthetipsshow/ JTT Listeners Free Portal: www.JTTShow.com

Most people think of persuasion as selling a product or service. That’s one use for persuasion, but there’s so many more. If you’re a parent, you’re persuading your kids to take a bath and eat their vegetables. If you and a group of friends are deciding where to go to dinner, you may want to persuade them to choose your favorite restaurant. Plus law enforcement officers need to persuade people out of hurting themselves or other people. Doctors may need to persuade a patient to participate in a scary but life-saving surgery. The art of persuasion is not limited to selling something in your business. In this episode, persuasion master Kenrick Cleveland joins James and Dean to reveal his secrets to persuading people in a way that feels good to them--and to you--instead of resorting to outdated tactics like problem-agitate-solution and grinding away at pain points. Kenrick is known worldwide for his charismatic teachings in sales, including what’s known as conversational persuasion. If you want to get to Yes more often in your communications with other people--including your customers and clients--tune in to hear how to master the art of persuasion. Outline of This Episode 4:20 How to use persuasion for good8:01 Why problem-agitate-solution is garbage14:23 You don’t have to grind people’s pain points18:24 What to do instead of “bring the pain”25:17 Leverage without negativity30:32 Help them realize it for themselves38:09 How to inspire people to buy in a way they feel good about Persuasion Is Not Evil, It’s Misused Like any tool, persuasion can be used for good or evil. Fire in the hands of an arsonist is dangerous, but to someone dying of hypothermia, fire is life-saving. A scalpel in the wrong hands can hurt people, but in the hands of a surgeon bypassing a clogged artery, it may allow you or a loved one to live for several more years. Use persuasion for good, and you can help a lot of people who might otherwise continue to suffer. Sooner Or Later, Pain Points Backfire In Kenrick’s extensive work with a neuroscientist, he discovered that when you get people into a negative, depressed state, their ability to see solutions shuts down. If someone’s not in a state to see or believe a solution exists, they’re not going to buy. Even if someone does buy while they’re in pain, they’re only motivated long enough to get away from pain. When avoiding that pain is no longer motivating, you’ll have to hit them with more to get them to stay. Eventually they’ll tire of being around someone who’s constantly reminding them of pain and suffering, and cut you (and your solutions) loose. Any way you slice it, grinding away at pain points will cost you the sale - either up front or in the long run. Ask The Right Questions Asking questions is a powerful way to persuade, but only if it’s done the way Kenrick teaches. A lot of salespeople ask irrelevant or obnoxious questions that make them seem disconnected, pushy, or both. For multiple examples of how to ask the right questions at the right time, in a way that leads to YES, tune into this episode. (Do this part right, and in most cases you won’t even need to close the sale, because your prospect is already persuaded.) Ditch The Scripts One of the worst examples of persuasion you’ll ever encounter is someone reading off a cookie cutter script. Companies often hand their employees a “sales script” and instruct them to follow it. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a sales call where someone’s reading from a script, you know how cringe-worthy it is. You don’t feel heard or understood, and you definitely aren’t inspired to buy. Ditch the sales scripts and instead do when Kenrick talks about in this episode. From Nice Guy To Creep One of the worst things you can do in persuasion is get needy and desperate. In this episode Kenrick shares a classic example of a guy trying to ask a girl out. The girl says no, she’s busy. The guy pushes, saying he’d really like to hang out with...

Four years and 200 episodes later, Just The Tips has moved from “arguably” the best business podcast in the entire world to THE best business podcast in the entire world (at least, according to its “humble” co-hosts). Seriously, Just The Tips was born after James P. Friel and Dean Holland met in the same mastermind and decided to host a podcast together. Both agreed that building a business could be fun AND profitable, and decided to bring that same mentality to a podcast. Tune into this 200th anniversary episode for the guys’ favorite tips, lessons, and insights from the past 200 episodes (along with plenty of jokes at each other’s expense...because it wouldn’t be a Just The Tips episode without them!). Outline of This Episode 7:20 Why James and Dean created Just The Tips11:06 The difference between marketing and selling15:16 The $300,000 decision21:49 When thinking things through backfires (and what to do instead)25:27 How to make your social media ads more effective35:47 Why network marketing has such a bad rap38:10 Always this before you start a business Business Can Be Fun Somewhere along the line it was decided business had to be “serious.” A lot of misery and burnout have resulted from business owners being afraid or unable to enjoy the business they’ve created. All this was a factor in why James and Dean created Just The Tips. They wanted to show their fellow entrepreneurs and business owners that business can be profitable AND fun. Stop Mistreating Your Audience One of the guys’ favorite insights in 200 episodes came from direct response marketing master Brian Kurtz. Before email and the Internet, businesses had to mail their leads, and that cost a lot of money. For that reason, the most successful businesses put a lot of thought into every single piece of communication they sent out. To do otherwise was to lose six figures, easily. In today’s world, you can post on a social platform and send an email for a fraction of that. As a result, a lot of business owners take their leads for granted, and easily forget they’re talking to real people. Just because communication is on the Internet doesn’t mean you’ve stopped talking to human beings. Just Do The Thing One of James and Dean’s favorite mindset tips came from a guest who exploded his online presence over the last few years. There’s value in thinking things through, but thinking about things can also backfire. If there’s something you know you’ve got to do in your life, don’t think about it. Instead, just do it. Whether it’s pushups, making a sales call, writing and sending that email, just do it. It’s A Scrolling Platform Every social media platform is designed for a specific user experience. YouTube, for example, wants people to stay and watch. Facebook, on the other hand, wants people to stay and scroll. The mistake a lot of business owners make is taking a piece of content that does well on one platform and repurposing it to another, without taking that platform’s unique user experience into consideration. To get the most bang for your content buck on any given platform, take the platform’s specific user experience into account. Network Marketing’s Bad Rap There are people making millions of dollars in network marketing, and there are people going about it all wrong and giving network marketing a bad rap. Several networking marketing companies encourage them to do so! It’s a shame, because networking marketing can not only be insanely profitable, it can help you develop foundational business and relationship skills...IF you learn it from the right people doing it the right way. Tune into the episode to learn about network marketing from a guest who does it the right way. Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook...

This episode was SO good, we’re re-airing it for you this week! If you’re ready to scale your company fast, tune in to hear how Brandon and Kaelin Poulin took LadyBoss Weight Loss from a startup to a company with 350,000 customers in just a few short years. Don’t miss this in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to grow and scale a successful company like LadyBoss, which helps women lose weight, transform their health, and love themselves and was named number 4 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in the United States in 2019, in a few years instead of a few decades. The strategies, the mindsets, the vision, the customer relationships--you’ll hear it all. Everything you do starts with you Brandon and Kaelin started in network marketing separately, before they ever met, and both found their way into weight loss, health, and fitness. Network marketing taught them how important developing and maintaining relationships are to success. It taught them how to listen and find out what people really want. It also taught them how to face rejection, over and over and over. Finally, it taught them about personal development, something they now know is critical to both their early success and their ongoing success. Everything you do starts with you, and if you’re tripping over the same issues within yourself, it’ll trip up everything you try to do. Dig in and do it When Brandon and Kaelin were ready to start their own company, it wasn’t the ideal time to pull away from the company they’d been with for five years. They were two months behind on rent, on their car payment - basically everything - and in danger of sinking even further into a financial black hole. With their backs against the wall, they locked themselves away from the outside world for two straight months, and worked around the clock to launch their company. It didn’t take stars aligning, or a fairy godmother waving a magic wand. All it took was the commitment to dig in and do it. How to get off the shiny penny highway With no shortage of tools, training, and strategies available in the world, Brandon and Kaelin often found themselves cruising along the shiny penny highway. Look, another awesome software we need! Look, another “new” marketing strategy we have to try! There was always something new to try. To avoid getting stuck on the shiny penny highway, Brandon and Kaelin developed a litmus test to help them decide whether “the next thing” was worth their time and energy: Was it what their customers and their company needed at that exact time? If not, they steered clear, because it was a distraction, not a step on the path to fulfilling their vision. Saying no to what didn’t align with their vision also allowed them to simplify, while simultaneously (and quickly) growing their company and better serving their customers. Don’t neglect the customer relationships A lot of companies fall into the trap of being cool and aloof with their customers. Brandon and Kaelin’s experience in network marketing helps them see it differently. They know, from years of experience, how crucial the customer relationship is to their success, so rather than shut their customers out, they encourage communication with their customers. Without customers, you don’t have a business. Don’t neglect them. A must-have mindset for all business owners Once your success reaches a certain level, it’s all other people see. But Brandon and Kaelin have been kicked in the teeth, made mistakes, and have had to get very resourceful to make it where they are. And it’s likely to continue to be that way, because that’s just the nature of business. Brandon and Kaelin are successful not because they haven’t faced challenges, but because they know they have the power, always, to overcome any challenge. Believing and accepting that no matter what comes your way, you have the power to deal with it and find another way forward, is a must-have mindset for all business...

Since the pandemic, a lot has flip-flopped including the fail rate of startup businesses vs. established businesses. Startup businesses went from having a 95% fail rate in the first five years to just 30% in the first five years. Businesses with a decade or more under their belt, on the other hand, are at a staggering 70% fail rate. To help business owners build a scalable and sellable business they love, and avoid becoming the next statistic, James and Dean welcome Michelle Seiler Tucker, a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and co-author of Exit Rich, as this week’s guest. With small businesses making up 80% of the American economy (which heavily influences the world’s economy), Michelle is on a mission to save as many American companies as she can, by teaching them how to become sellable. She’s personally sold over 500 businesses and her company has sold over 1,000! For more than 20 years, Michelle’s been in the trenches helping create a business that works for them, rather than the other way around. She’s helped thousands exit rich! Tune in to hear exactly how to make your business sellable, including why a sellable business is your best bet even if you have zero intention of selling it. Outline of This Episode 4:01 Why established businesses are in more danger than startups9:33 The #1 reason 70% of established businesses are failing14:44 The most dangerous number of buyers23:51 This determines whether a business is sellable28:02 Where most companies go wrong with processes33:00 Branding for a sellable business43:21 Lack of profits is never the problem Premium Pricing For A Business That’s Not Premium? The number one reason most businesses don’t sell, according to Michelle, is probably not what you think: Denial! Business owners tell themselves, “It’s too much for me to do.” Then they burn out, or a catastrophic event hits (which is the worst time to try and sell), and they desperately need a premium price for their business. Yet they haven’t built their business to where buyers want to pay them a premium price. Businesses where the business is 1000% dependent on the business owner are a prime example of this. If you pull yourself out of your business, can it operate 100% independently? If not, you’re going to face buyer resistance to premium pricing. “This Is My Baby” A lot of business owners see their business as “their baby” instead of as an asset. When you treat it like “your baby” instead of like an asset, you’re going to miss things that would help you ensure it’s sustainable, profitable, and sellable, including the corporate veil. Even if you have no intention of ever selling your business, there are multiple benefits to structuring it like an asset instead of “your baby.” Tune in to hear these benefits (many will surprise you). You Don’t Build A Business, You Build This If you want your business to be sellable--or to continue if you need to step away for any reason--don’t build a business. Build people, because they will build the business. Michelle shares a story of a dentist, in business for 15 years, who approached her to sell his business. He was burned out and ready to be done. But because he was so mired in the day-to-day runnings and customer interaction, Michelle explained it would take two to three years before he could leave, because he built a business instead of building people. Blockbuster Or Amazon? Is your business going the way of companies like Blockbuster Video? Or is it in its prime, like Amazon? It’s really key to understand this, because if your business is going the way of Blockbuster and many other once-hugely successful companies, you’ll have a harder time selling it. Michelle shares three questions to ask yourself to help you identify whether your business, whatever its size or industry, is a Blockbuster (on its way out) or an Amazon (in its prime). The Customer Experience, Not Your Agenda Companies with the most long-term success design their business around the...

In its nearly 200-episode (and counting) run, Just The Tips has welcomed several of the top marketing minds on the planet to share their best business-building marketing tips. In this week’s episode, James and Dean have gathered the best of the best of these marketing tips from recent episodes. You’ll hear about everything from email marketing, to Facebook ads, to affiliate marketing, to SEO, and MUCH more. Tune in and soak up all the gold (including from James and Dean)! Outline of This Episode 0:10 How the “email marketing is dead” myth was born8:02 When your page isn’t converting from an ad, check this first14:26 How to use your competitors’ offer to your advantage20:01 Successful brand-building for entrepreneurs25:02 Are you making this huge email marketing mistake?30:04 Getting and keeping GOOD affiliates35:31 The single biggest online writing mistake Why People Incorrectly Assume “Email Marketing Is Dead” If you’ve ever gone fishing, you know the importance of the right hook and the right bait. You could be fishing in a lake full of fish, but with the wrong bait, you’re unlikely to get a bite. If you do, and your hook doesn’t work, you lose the fish. If that happened enough, you’d decide, “Fishing doesn’t work.” These days a lot of people try to do the same thing with email marketing. Their hook is ineffective or their bait is wrong. They send offers to their list, no one bites, and they decide, “Well, email marketing is dead.” No, it’s not. It’s that too many people are fishing with bad hooks and the wrong bait. Make Your Page An Easy Yes There are many reasons why a Facebook ad might not work. One of the top ones is lack of congruency. If there’s a disconnect between your ad and the page it sends people to--for example, it looks totally different, it talks about totally different things than your ad does, or it’s just so vague people can’t tell either way--your page will not convert. The goal of a page you send people to from an ad is to make the page an easy yes. Congruency is a key component of making that happen. Stand Out From Competitors With This People in today’s world have no shortage of choices, which means in order to stand apart from your competitors’ offers, your offer needs a unique mechanism. In other words, a unique way your offer solves your customer’s problems. One of the best ways to figure out your unique mechanism is to check out what your competitors are doing. Find the unique mechanism no one else is using, and make it yours. Make It As Easy Possible For Affiliates To Promote You Affiliate marketing, when properly utilized, is a proven and powerful way to bring more people into your business, and providing your affiliates with new products to offer is a powerful way to keep them coming back. Promoting the same offer over and over, with nothing else, ever, gets tiresome--for your affiliates and for their audiences. Creating three to five new offers a year gives your affiliates interesting new things to promote. New offers are just one way you can make it as easy as possible for people to promote you. Tune into the episode to hear other ways. The Single Biggest Mistake People Make When Writing Online According to legendary ad man, David Ogilvy, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy of written content. That means, if the headline doesn’t even get their attention, they’re certainly not going to read the body copy. As far as they’re concerned, they have no reason to. Spend some time on your headlines, including on your sales pages, social posts, blog posts, and email subject lines (which are the “headline” of your email). Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/Facebook Group...

Back in episode 193 of Just The Tips, James and Dean covered several foundational steps you need to have in place before you create a perfect sales pitch. They included: Who are you serving? Who are the RIGHT people for your offer? Why are they the right people? And, of course, why selling isn’t selfish--it’s a service. In this week’s episode the guys up where they left off, sharing their proven process to crafting a sales pitch your ideal buyer can’t resist, including: What to say first when you get on the phone with them, how to handle the conversation (and how NOT to), and how to ensure they never see you as “just trying to sell them something.” If you want to get better at selling, don’t miss this episode! Outline of This Episode 5:15 Recap of part one9:10 Managing the sales call freakout13:13 Control the frame18:50 Go into fact-finding mode26:03 Ask questions, then keep your mouth shut30:05 When to start your pitch38:01 Leave them better than they found you Control The Frame The person who leads the conversation has the power. That’s why allowing your prospect to take the lead in a sales conversation is a huge mistake that can backfire in any number of ways. For example, if your prospect gets you telling them the price before they’re sold on the value, you could lose them. Prevent this from happening by controlling the frame, and keeping control of it for the entire conversation. Tune in for tips on how to do exactly that. Be The Investigator Your goal is not necessarily to make a sale on every call, and it’s not to force your offer on your prospect. Your goal is to find out if your offer is right for this person. To do that, go into fact-finding mode. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Show this person you’re paying attention and you actually care about helping them. One of the worst sales-killer mistakes you can make is to sound like you’re not listening. Ask your prospect questions about why they’re on the call and what they hope to achieve, and listen to the answers. You’ll need them! Speak As Little As Possible A common mistake James and Dean see in people new to selling is that they talk too much. It’s understandable. You’re nervous or excited, and you really want the sale. But your prospect, meanwhile, isn’t getting a word in edgewise, and isn’t feeling heard or understood. Remember that this person came to you because they have some sort of problem, and they’re hopeful you can solve it. The more they talk about their problem, the better. Ask questions, close your mouth, and let them tell you about their problem. In the episode you’ll hear exactly what kinds of questions to ask them. Don’t Sell What Won’t Help Them Once your prospect has talked about their problems, including other things they’ve tried, you can segue into explaining how you can meet their needs, and how your offer is different from the stuff they’ve tried that didn’t work. If you’ve done your job with the listening aspect, you’ll shine in this part. If you haven’t - if you just rattle off random benefits you think are great but have nothing to do with the problems they expressed - you’ll lose them. Find Out What They Want In addition to finding out what they’re struggling with, find out what they want. Find out their definition of success. Help them get really clear on that, so that even if they don’t buy from you this time, you’ll leave them better than when they started talking to you. You’ve served them even if you don’t end up working together, which puts you in a position of trust and authority. If they don’t buy, they’re SO much more likely to circle back and buy later. Plus they won’t be trashing you to everyone they know because they felt like you didn’t listen and “were just trying to sell them something.” Leave them in a better place for having spoken with you. Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By...

Ever have days you can’t wait to leap out of bed, and before you know it, 12 hours have passed and you realize you didn’t even eat? And how about days where, no matter how many hours you sit in front of the computer, nothing positive or productive happens? How far up the success ladder you climb is determined by your mindset. Mindset is something everyone agrees is important, yet it has a way of tumbling down the list of priorities. In this week’s episode, James and Dean are diving into what mindset means, exactly why and how it makes or breaks your success, and what you can do to start shifting yours if you still aren’t where you want to be. Outline of This Episode 5:50 How important is mindset, really?9:20 The definition of mindset14:01 Getting a different outcome than the one you have20:05 Why a fixed mindset blocks success26:30 Keep looking for the solution32:10 It’s not a lack of resources, it’s a lack of resourcefulness35:03 If you don’t have the knowledge, go get it The “Surprising” Secret To Success On a recent coaching call with clients, a client asked James about one thing that’s enabled him to acquire the success he now enjoys. The client was expecting James to share a marketing tactic, like Facebook ads or this podcast. Instead, James remarked it was his mindset, because without the right mindset, even the best marketing tactics will fail you sooner or later. Change The Filter Your mindset is how you perceive and interpret what’s happening, and what you choose to do about it. It’s a collection of beliefs that filters data from the outside world. When your actions aren’t leading to results, the problem is rarely a specific tactic. Usually it’s a belief “hiccup” in your filter that’s leading you to either AVOID the action required to reach your desired outcome, or to take an action that will pull you away from your desired outcome. To change your actions, change your beliefs. Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset Dr. Carol Dweck wrote a book about the Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset. The fixed mindset is all about refusing to do things differently, or even believe there’s another way. The growth mindset is about finding that other way. The fixed mindset blocks results, and the growth mindset creates them. If you struggle with the fixed mindset, remember this: You’ve had to evolve to get to where you are. If you’re unwilling to continue evolving, you cannot obtain or keep results you don’t already have. Doing so requires growth. If it didn’t, you’d already have the results you want. There’s Always A Solution James shares a story about a group vacation on Lake Powell, where he and his family wanted to stay an extra week, but had no plan figured out to return to civilization. They also had no cell service in most of the area. Figuring out how to stay when the people they vacationed with wanted to return was the challenge, and multiple times his attempts at a solution didn’t pan out. But James kept exploring options until he found one that made everyone happy. The other travelers got to leave, and James and his family got to stay and had a way to return when they were ready to leave. This is an example of the growth mindset in action. Instead of believing there’s no solution and giving up, keep going until you find one. Lack of resources or lack of resourcefulness? When somebody doesn’t have the result they want, it’s common to blame a lack of resources. As in, I don’t have the time, the money, the willpower, the help, the training - whatever it is. But when you’re resourceful, you’ll find a way to get the resources you need. Not having results is never a lack of resources. It’s a lack of resourcefulness. When you’re presented with a challenge, are you willing to do what it takes to solve it? Are you willing to get outside your current comfort zone, knowledge, and skills to get the resources you need but don’t have? It’s a question you’ll face over and over in your journey as an entrepreneur. Music...

Most entrepreneurs don’t start out thinking of themselves as leaders. Besides an entrepreneur, you might see yourself as a product creator, service provider, coach, marketers, copywriter, or any other number of titles. Then your business hits a point where you can’t do everything yourself, you bring on a team, and next thing you know, people are coming to you with decisions that need to be made. Suddenly, you’re a leader. On this week’s episode James and Dean welcome Melanie Parish, author of The Experimental Leader, to break down what makes a good leader and how to discover your leadership style. If you feel like parts of your business aren’t operating as well as they could be, tune in to hear what you, as the leader of your business can do about it (and hear the leadership mistakes to avoid that could be contributing to the problem). Outline of This Episode 4:50 Is leadership harder for entrepreneurs?8:30 Characteristics of a good leader13:03 The Experimental Leader19:01 What it means to be neutral as a leader22:02 How do we measure success?27:13 Don’t try to fix everything yourself33:02 Hiring and firing What makes a good leader? Melanie advocates a neutral leadership style, where you don’t react to what’s happening around you. It’s not that you shouldn’t have standards for your business and team. It’s that you stay neutral so that when your team brings you decisions that need made, you’re able to take things in, ponder them, ask questions, and send it back to your team. By approaching leadership in this way, you’re helping people move tasks forward vs. being a micromanager. Leaders are willing to experiment A lot of people get so attached to their ideas they’ll insist on sticking with the bad ones for months, even years, longer than they should have. Melanie, on the other hand, sees leadership as a willingness to experiment. Any time you want change to happen in your business, you’re trying something new to see whether it works. Whether it does or not, you have data you can use to conduct the next experiment. Approaching idea implementation as experimenting protects you from clinging to the bad ones and helps you flesh out the good ones. Pass the buckets to your team Think of the tasks your team members are assigned as buckets. For example: Scheduling out an email sequence. Your role as the leader isn’t to take charge of your team’s buckets (in this example, to schedule the email sequence). It might be to approve the sequence, or perhaps write it (if that’s something you handle in your business). But not to schedule it. When your team hands you a bucket, make the decision and pass the bucket back. Stop fixing everything yourself When someone on your team is responsible for certain tasks, and they aren’t fulfilling their duties in the correct way, it’s tempting to fix it yourself (i.e. put yourself in charge of the bucket). The problem with doing that is, your team member never learns how to solve the problem themselves. Remember: As the leader of your business, your job is NOT to collect buckets. It’s to make a decision and pass the bucket back. If a team member isn’t performing, they might need more training, more feedback, or it might just be they’re the wrong person for the job. Tune into the episode to hear where to draw the line between investing in more training for your team member and recognizing they aren’t the right person for the job. When firing someone is a gift In this episode Melanie shares a story about a job she once held that didn’t work out. She was good at the job and the money was good, yet she was miserable. Leaving the job was actually a relief. Firing someone on your team is uncomfortable, but if that person is miserable, and is bringing that energy to your entire business, you’re not doing them - or your company - any favors by holding onto them. Let them go so they can find a place where they are a good fit and enjoy what they do. Resources & People Mentioned The Experimental...

You’re probably all too familiar with both ends of the sales spectrum. On one end are people unwilling to sell anything, because they feel slimy at the thought of selling. At the opposite end are people willing to sell you swampland in Florida if it means they can make a quick buck. When you have something of legitimate value to offer--something you’re proud of that makes people’s lives better in a way that matters to them--it is your ethical and moral duty to learn how to sell. Selling is not tricking people, or twisting their arm, until they buy a product or service they don’t need or want. True selling is a service, and in this episode, James and Dean reveal how to create the perfect sales pitch so you can get your solutions into the hands of people who need AND want them. Outline of This Episode 3:30 Two opposite ends of the sales spectrum9:15 Do you believe in what you’re selling?12:05 First, truly understand the problems you’re solving17:10 What needs are your prospects trying to meet?29:01 Putting your message together38:07 When the close actually starts43:02 Focus on selling on the right people, not to “everybody" Not Selling Is Selfish When you offer people something that genuinely improves their lives--where they’ll be better off with your product and worse off without it--withholding your solution because you “don’t like selling” is leaving them to suffer unnecessarily. It would be like you going to a pharmacy for cold medicine because you’re sneezing, coughing, and miserable, and the pharmacy staff not allowing you to buy because they “don’t like selling.” See selling as a service and get good at it so you can help people decide to buy your solution. Why Are You Selling That? Do you believe in what you’re selling? Are you excited about it? Do you care about the people your offer helps? If not, why are you selling it? It’s not that you can’t be successful at sales with a product you don’t believe in or a demographic of people you don’t care about. But selling is a lot more fun and effective when you believe in your offer and love the people it can help. We have more problems in the world than we do solutions, so if you’re not excited about a solution, find something you are excited about. Know The Problem You’re Solving No one buys your product. They buy the transformation your product creates for them. Remember that, because it’s SO easy to get focused on “having the best product.” Step one to creating an effective sales pitch is to become intimately familiar with the problem you’re solving. An example of this in action: Dean and his wife own a cosmetics company. It’s successful now, but it struggled initially because they focused on what a great product they had. Only after getting clear on the problems their cosmetics products solved did their company take off. Without clarity on which problems your product solves, your sales pitch isn’t going to land. Know The People You’re Serving Another must for an effective sales pitch is intimate knowledge of who you’re helping, and what needs they’re trying to get met. Knowing the problem you’re solving is critical, and so is knowing which needs your product helps your prospects meet. Only by listening and getting to know your prospects will you be able to hear their needs and pitch your product or service in a way that’s relevant to them. This episode is packed with examples from James and Dean on what kinds of needs people are trying to get met. Sell To The Right People Most people start out believing that if they do anything to filter out people who aren’t the best fit, they’ll lose money. The truth is, not everyone is your customer, and working with the wrong people wastes your time and money, as well as theirs. It’s also what leads to ticked off customers and poor results that can cause you to believe your offer doesn’t work. Not only do you owe it to your customers to sell them your solution, you owe it to them to make sure they really are a good...

There’s an epidemic facing today’s entrepreneurs--one that all struggle with at some point: Shiny object syndrome. You’ve heard of it and may even be intimately familiar with it. Considering human beings are hard-wired to seek out the fastest, easiest way to get the best possible results, it’s not a surprise shiny object syndrome is a problem IF it’s not properly managed. In this episode James and Dean break down exactly what motivates shiny object syndrome, then share simple tips to ensure it doesn’t come between you and hitting your goals. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve battled shiny object syndrome, and probably always will. Tune in to hear how to keep it from pulling you off course. Why Do We Do It? Every entrepreneur James and Dean know struggles with shiny object syndrome, but some manage it and some do not. Tune in to hear the differences between the entrepreneurs who master shiny object syndrome and continue growing their business, and the ones who don’t and get stuck. The differences probably aren’t what you think. When Shiny Object Syndrome Is Useful Shiny object syndrome is only a problem when it distracts you. Properly managed, it may even be an asset. For example: Brand new business owners have to explore a lot of different areas to find their product-market fit. Otherwise, they can end up married to an idea that’s never going to work. Once you find your product-market fit, however, your focus shifts. You still experiment, but with different things. You say no to things that won’t help you advance to the next level. It’s all about where you need to focus. Anything that pulls you away from where you need to focus to reach your goals is shiny object syndrome gone wrong. No One Wants The Hard Way It’s ingrained in our DNA to seek out the fastest, easiest possible path to getting what we want. This wiring is responsible for some of humanity’s greatest inventions, but like anything, it can go too far. You can easily get so distracted hunting for the easiest possible path that you never get where you’re going. Parts of your journey will feel hard. Beware the urge to flee the hard parts at all costs. How To Stay Out Of The Rabbit Holes One way to prevent shiny object syndrome from distracting you is by answering this question: What’s your goal? It sounds so simple, but when you stay focused on your goal, anything that doesn’t move you closer to that goal is a distraction. The pull of shiny object syndrome is so strong you may still get sucked down a few rabbit holes. But reminding yourself of your goal will pull you back on track. What’s Your Driving Force? One reason shiny object syndrome is so alluring is the dopamine hit you get when you start something new and exciting. That new and exciting feeling is intoxicating, but eventually it wears off. When it does, having a real, raw driving force that motivates you even after the excitement of the new has worn off is critical to staying focused. Tune in to get the guys’ tips on identifying your driving force, along with their take on the myth of how motivated you have to be in order to succeed. Outline of This Episode There is no silver bullet [5:05]When you’re just starting out [11:01]The easy way or the hard way [16:10]Cure #1 for shiny object syndrome [22:25]Cure #2 for shiny object syndrome [25:06]Beware the entrepreneurial roller coaster [31:31]What no one wants to hear [35:35] Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/Facebook Group (BulletProof Business):https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/Site:www.jamespfriel.comInterested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog:www.DeanHolland.comFB Page:https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQBillion Dollar...

How is it possible to have a multi-million dollar business and not be making any money? Simple: Because sales are not the same thing as profits. Everywhere you turn are businesses boasting about making six figures, seven figures, and up, but when you peek behind the scenes, are these businesses actually profitable? If not--or even if they are--the best way to make them profitable may not be to simply make more sales. More sales can help, but only to a point. There are other key areas of your business influencing whether or not it’s profitable. Neglecting these areas in favor of “more sales” is exactly how your business can make millions a year yet not be profitable. Tune into this episode as James and Dean share three of these key areas, and how to use them to easily boost your profits. First, Reduce Expenses Here’s a little math to show you why “making more sales” in an effort to increase profits isn’t as always as effective as it seems. Let’s say you sell an item that grosses $100 per sale, but only $25 of that is profit because the rest goes to expenses and overhead. By selling two of that item instead of one, yes, your gross sales are up to $200 and profit is $50, but the percentage of profit--25%--is the same. That means the economics of your business haven’t actually changed. One way to change those economics is to first reduce expenses, so that, using our previous example, each $100 sale nets $50 in profit instead of $25. With a 50% profit per sale, you’ll get a lot more traction a lot faster than if you’d only focused on “making more sales.” How To (Potentially) Free Up Thousands A Month Pull up your bank and credit card statements and take a look at how many subscriptions and other products you’re buying or hanging onto “in case you might need them one day.” If you’re not even using them, odds are you can cut them and won’t even miss them. Even if it’s “just” $1,200 a year per subscription, those smaller expenses really add up when you’ve got a bunch of them. If you’re not using them, or can find an effective way to live without them, do it. You could potentially free up hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a month. Reduce The Most Expensive Cost Acquiring a new customer is typically among the most expensive parts of running a business. Many businesses lose money on customer acquisition on the front-end. It’s even expected. Even so, the lower your customer acquisition cost, the more customers you can afford to bring in. The best way to lower customer acquisition costs is to test, test, and test some more. Tune in to hear examples from James and Dean on which things you should test to reduce what it costs to acquire a customer. You’ve Got A Customer - Now What? So you’ve put in all this time and money to acquire a customer. Your customers have more problems to solve. If you aren’t solving them, they’ll find someone who will. Yet a staggering number of business owners do NOTHING once someone becomes a customer. We’ve already established that new customers are the most expensive to acquire. Instead of doing nothing, help your one-time customer become a repeat customer. Stay in touch with them, send more offers, and get a feel for what else they need help with. To do otherwise is miss out on potentially thousands upon thousands of dollars PER CUSTOMER. The Valuable Real Estate You’re Probably Not Using Yes, consistent followup is a must. Yet no matter how skilled of an email marketer you are, there will always be a percentage of people who rarely, if ever, open your emails. But nearly 100% of people who buy your offers will see the thank you page. Use that valuable real estate to keep people engaged, promote another offer, send people to your blog, or even watch a video. Give people who buy from you a compelling reason to stick around, even if they never open another email from you. Outline of This Episode The difference between sales and profit [6:05]The simplest way ever to increase profits...

If something’s not working in your business, tactics are the first place a lot of entrepreneurs look. As in, if you tweak a headline, get more views, or change a button color, you’ll make more sales. If you’ve got your fundamentals in place, tactics like those might make a difference. If you don’t, focusing on tactics like those is like putting new hubcaps on a car that has no engine. New hubcaps won’t make the car run. In addition to wasting time and money, the tactics-only approach can add unnecessary and overwhelming layers of complication to your business, especially if you haven’t mastered the three fundamentals this week’s guest, Tim Fitzpatrick of Rialto Media, is going to share with you in his 3-Point Marketing Method to simplify and scale your business. Tim’s start in entrepreneurship came from partnering in a wholesale distribution company, where Tim and his team grew the company 60% in nine years before selling it. In that time, Tim learned exactly how critical the fundamentals are to success in business. Tune in to hear how Tim’s 3-Point Marketing Method can help you both simplify and scale your business. There’s Always Another Whizzbang One of the top mistakes Tim sees business owners make is focusing on tactics when they don’t have the fundamentals in place. Tactics like “weird tricks” to get your emails opened, headline tweaks, the latest social media platform, and so on, may be a lot sexier to talk about, but here’s the problem: Focusing on tactics without your fundamentals in place is like building a house by putting up walls and windows before the foundation’s been poured. It just doesn’t work. Tune in to hear what you need to have in place before tweaks and tactics are of any use to you. They’re The Hero, You’re The Guide It’s not enough just to have a product. It’s got to be something people want, and that they KNOW they want. To show a prospect how your offer or product can help them, Tim advocates a storytelling framework where you position your prospect as the hero, and your business as the guide. Show them how your product or service helps them win, and how working with you is the key to making that win happen. Tune in to hear how this framework not only helps you sell more, but also helps you avoid getting so cute and clever that you confuse instead of convince. Succeed At Planning By Keeping Things Simple Most people are aware they need a plan--for their marketing, their business, their email strategy, and so on. But when it comes to actually creating the plan, a lot of people freeze, or move forward without one anyway. The most common reason Tim sees this happen is a false belief your plan needs to be long-term and complicated. Not the case! Tune in to hear Tim’s simple 90-day plan framework, along with his take on why 90-day plans are superior to year-long plans. Product Not Selling? Trace It Back Dean and his wife own a cosmetics ecommerce company that features top of the line makeup brushes. For nearly two years their makeup brush sales were less than expected, and they couldn’t understand why more people didn’t want them. Turns out the problem wasn’t with the products, it was with one of the three fundamentals Tim talks about in this episode. Tune in to hear which fundamental Dean and his wife traced the problem back to, and how doing so skyrocketed sales. Why Tactics Without Fundamentals Are Expensive Let’s say you’re paying an SEO expert $2,000 a month to drive traffic to your site, and this expert gets you 100,000 views a month. Impressive, right? On the surface you might think so. But if none of those views are leading to opt-ins and sales, can you really call it a success? Vanity metric “results” like these are just one possible danger of focusing on tactics when your fundamentals aren’t in place. Tactics like views, likes, and headline tweaks will not fix targeting the wrong people or a product no one wants. Outline of This Episode The marketing mistake holding you...

Social media’s been around long enough that more and more people are starting to view it as “required” for starting or growing a business. Multi-million dollar businesses are regularly built on social media, so there’s no denying its power as a business-building tool. Yet multi-million (and billion) dollar businesses existed long before social media did. There are also entrepreneurs with very successful businesses who do not rely on ANY social media platforms. So, do you need social media, or not? If you decide to utilize it, how do you go about it? In this episode of Just The Tips, James and Dean throw down the gauntlet with regard to how necessary social media is to build a successful business. And if you choose to utilize it, tune in to hear their tips on both how to get the most out of it, and how to avoid platform pitfalls that sabotage your business instead of build it. Nobody Cares About Your Business Card Collection The ability to network, engage with prospects and clients, and get your products and services in front of the right eyeballs is where social media really shines. You don’t even need to leave your house to do it. But just “being on social media” is no guarantee of business success, any more than collecting and having business cards means you have a successful business. Don’t use social media for the sake of using social media. Use it strategically, so it becomes an effective business-building tool instead of a time-sucking distraction. Is It Authentic For You? If you build a business doing things you hate, odds are you’re going to be miserable and more susceptible to burnout. Consider this when deciding whether to utilize social media. If you love going live on Facebook, or doing Instagram stories, or cranking out YouTube videos, then those social media platforms are probably great vehicles for you. But if social media just isn’t your thing, there are other ways to reach people. Pick The Right Platforms It’s true that visibility is key if you’re going to use social media correctly, but don’t make the mistake of trying to master every platform you can get your hands on “just because.” Research platforms, choose the ones your customers use, and get good at those one at a time. Being a “social media influencer” doesn’t help much if the people you’re trying to influence aren’t on the platform you’re devoted to. Be Strategic With Your Efforts James hired LinkedIn experts to build up his LinkedIn profile. But the posts the guys he hired created weren’t cutting it. These guys were also “liking” and interacting with random things James would never like or engage with. It all built up his presence, but not in a way that attracted his ideal clients. Being everywhere “just because” will not grow your business. Remember to be strategic. Get Your People Off The Platform Love him or hate him, Donald Trump had a huge Twitter following...UNTIL Twitter kicked him off. Whatever your opinion on that, make no mistake: You don’t have to be as polarizing as Trump to be banned from a platform. It can and does happen to anyone. Sometimes it’s as simple as a bot misunderstanding an algorithm. Relying only on social media is risking your entire business. Use social media to bring people into YOUR world--someplace you have control over, like an email list you can download and back up. Outline of This Episode Colorado kiing mishaps [2:00]Is social media required to be successful in business? [9:10]Likes don’t pay for your house [15:05]Where social media excels [22:01]What not to do on LinkedIn [30:13]Anyone can be de-platformed [34:06]The mental pitfalls of our overly plastic world [39:02] Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook...

“How can I make more sales” is top of mind for most entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs can do even better in their business by focusing on valuation. Valuation has to do with the amount of money a willing buyer would spend to buy your business. Even if you never intend to sell your business, increasing its valuation gives you access to creative ways to increase profits and take money out of the business without focusing solely on sales. In this episode of Just The Tips, James and Dean welcome Aryeh Sheinbein for his second appearance on the show. This time Aryeh is sharing his best strategies for increasing the valuation of your business. Think of it like home equity Even if you don’t intend to sell your home, making improvements to it makes it more valuable. That may come in handy if you ever want to tap into its equity. It’s the same with your business. You may not intend to sell it, but making the kinds of improvements Aryeh reveals in this episode will make it more valuable (and more profitable). Raising prices isn’t the only way There are multiple ways to increase profit margins without raising prices. For example, making small tweaks to reduce expenses while maintaining quality and service can grow your cash flow without requiring customers to spend more money. Small reductions in expenses really add up. Tune into this episode for additional examples of ways you can increase profits without relying on product price increases. The power of recurring revenue Most people hear the phrase recurring revenue and think of subscriptions. Subscriptions are definitely the most common example, but they aren’t the only example. Any way you can inspire customers to spend money more frequently with you contributes to recurring revenue. It might be with ancillary products, bonuses, bundles, and any other number of strategies. Tune in to get more ideas of recurring revenue (plus hear why engaged customers, even if they aren’t your biggest spenders, still contribute to your business valuation). Scared of business debt? Reckless consumer debt and strategic business financing are often lumped into the “bad” category. But the truth is many of the world’s top entrepreneurs and real estate investors use strategic financing to their advantage and reap the rewards thousands of times over. Companies that sell physical products can especially benefit from strategic financing. Don’t settle for “sounds good” The higher your business’s valuation, the more attractive it is to potential investors. Even if you’re not planning to sell the whole business, you may decide you want to bring on investors. If you decide to do that, absolutely do not use spoken agreements or back and forth emails as your “agreement.” Get official terms drafted up, in writing, by a qualified expert. Yes, it’s more work, but it’s also for your protection. Outline of This Episode Even if you’re not going to sell, increase the valuation [8:01]How to improve margins without raising prices [12:50]Increase the average order value [21:55]A billion dollar valuation without a dime of revenue [26:15]How, why, and when to use financing [29:03]You don’t have to sell ALL of your business [35:13]Get it in writing [39:30] Resources & People Mentioned www.SolutionAdvisory.comwww.InsideTheLionsDen.comOn Instagram: @aryehthebusinessmanGuest on YouTubeInside The Lion’s Den Podcast: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/ Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Connect With James and Dean James P. Friel: CEO Quickstart:https://jamespfriel.com/ceo-quickstart/Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/hustledetox/Facebook Group (BulletProof Business):https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107362546297055/Site:www.jamespfriel.comInterested in being a guest on the show? Dean Holland: Blog:www.DeanHolland.comFB Page:https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQBillion...

If you judge the entrepreneur’s journey based on Photoshopped social media images, you’re getting only five percent (at most) of what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur.. One moment being an entrepreneur feels like the best day of your life. Five minutes later you could easily be asking yourself, “Why am I putting myself through this?” and questioning whether to stick with it. Like anything else in life, being an entrepreneur has flip sides. Your ability to manage the rollercoaster of those flip sides determines how successful you not only become, but how successful you stay. In this week’s episode James and Dean share their real world tips for managing the entrepreneurial roller coaster. Learn how you can avoid mistakes they made, and get the exact tactics and mindset they use to manage their own entrepreneurial journeys. Stop comparing yourself to slivers Most people don’t post on social media about the day to day challenges of running a business - the disappointments, the struggles, the moments where you’re terrified and failing. All you’re shown are the triumphs. Success is part of the entrepreneur’s journey, but so are the struggles. Remember that the next time you start feeling inadequate after encountering someone’s post about their amazing results or a trip they took. You’re only seeing one little sliver of their life, and none of what they endured to get there. Instead of comparing yourself to other people’s slivers, remember that their journey is theirs, and yours is yours. Eliminate overwhelm with clarity Years ago James and Dean realized that when they felt the most overwhelmed, it was due to a lack of direction. Without clarity on where you need to be focusing, it’s all too easy to get swallowed up by the day to day grind, where you’re making decisions but not making progress. When you find yourself in that situation, a sure way to burn out is to hunker down and try to hold out. Instead of sticking your head in the sand, face the situation. Take an honest look at what’s going on. Only by doing that will you get the clarity you need to solve your situation. Hustling isn’t your savior The 24/7 hustle disease is rampant in entrepreneurship, and many entrepreneurs are under the mistaken impression that if they just hustle long enough, everything will be okay. But believing you can hustle your way to success is like believing that new tires and a new coat of paint will fix a car without an engine. Without an engine, that car’s going nowhere. James and Dean know people who’ve been hustling for 10, 15, 20 years, and are no better off now than when they started. Yes, effort is required to grow your business. But it has to be focused on the right things. Otherwise, you’ll be what’s called the busy fool - hustling away with nothing to show for it. Say yes to the right things Don’t feel like doing the things you know will bring you closer to success? Do them anyway. People who get the result they want say yes to what moves them closer to their goals, regardless of how they feel in the moment. If you want fitness, say yes to going to the gym instead of an ice cream binge. If you want to grow your business, say yes to emailing your list instead of watching another Netflix show. This isn’t to say you have to hustle 24/7 and never enjoy your life. Just get into the habit of saying yes to what moves you closer to your goals - especially since, each time you say yes, it gets easier to say yes next time. That’s true whether you’re saying yes to the right things, or the wrong things. Say yes to the right things! The world is created by people no smarter than you James and Dean are experimenting with a new feature on the show: What’s going on NOW in the world of business. Tune in to hear their take on Jeff Bezos stepping down as Amazon’s CEO, including lessons they share pertaining to this week’s topic of managing the entrepreneurial roller coaster. You’ll especially want to catch the part about avoiding the...

Cold outreach is one of the most misunderstood methods of growing your business, which is why it’s also among the most feared and especially, the most mishandled. Whether it’s reaching out to get on a podcast or to start a conversation with a potential client, cold outreach has HUGE growth potential for your business. The key is doing it correctly, something Brandon Fong, our guest in this episode, is going to help you with. After three years managing a 100,000-plus person email list and sending millions of emails, Brandon’s discovered a formula that compels people to take action. He even used it to get himself booked on Just The Tips! Tune into this episode to get Brandon’s simple three-step cold outreach formula for inspiring even cold prospects to take action. Brandon’s also got an exciting free gift exclusively for Just The Tips listeners that you can start using IMMEDIATELY to uncover hidden profits in your business with the use of cold outreach (and do so without sounding like a stalker). Is It Really Success If You’re Miserable? One thing Brandon teaches his students is how to grow your business while also enjoying happiness, health, and relationships. There are a lot of people in the world who, from all appearances, are successful, yet hate everyone and everything. Having “all the things” doesn’t mean you’ll feel successful, so tune in to hear how to avoid ending up with a business and a life you hate. The #1 Cold Outreach Mistake Everyone Makes A painfully high percentage of cold outreach attempts start the same way: With the person reaching out talking about how great they are, how many employees they have, what they do, their years of experience, and so on. Leading with you and your qualification is a surefire way to get your email or social post ignored by cold prospects. Tune in to hear why this method is destined to flop, and learn an effective way to communicate with cold leads. No One Calls Me James P. James gets loads of cold outreach LinkedIn messages, and it’s very clear which ones are generic (probably copy and pasted or automated), vs. from people who’re truly serious about working with him. One dead giveaway is when they call him James P. Though he’s listed as James P. Friel, nobody calls him James P. Systems definitely have their purpose, but when it comes to cold outreach they often backfire. Instead of automating or being generic, use Brandon’s three-step cold outreach system (which he’ll tell you all about in the episode). A “Backwards” Way To Get A Yes Inspired by an FBI negotiator’s tactics, Brandon teaches his students how to get a Yes by getting a No. It’s called a no-oriented question. Saying yes requires us to give away our time, our energy, and our effort. We’re committing to something. Saying no, on the other hand, feels much safer and much more secure, instead of feeling like you’re being backed into a corner. Tune in to hear exactly what a no-oriented question is, and how to use it to make prospects feel safe agreeing to talk to you. You’re Dealing With Human Beings The normal rules of social interaction seem to go out the window when we’re communicating virtually vs. in person, and it leads to bland, desperate, forced attempts to inspire action. Never forget that even when you’re contacting “a business,” what you’re really doing is reaching out to a human being. Tune in for Brandon’s tips on how to connect like a human being, while still being professional, and finally get a Yes instead of ignored or turned down. Outline of This Episode The Magic Connection Method [6:10]How to be rich and miserable [10:51]Overcoming your fear of cold outreach [16:01]Make it easy to say yes [20:05]Standing out in a sea of noise [23:58]Use no-oriented questions [28:03]Stop trying to force it [32:12] Resources & People Mentioned MagicConnectionMethod.com, use coupon code 7FMVisitbfo.ng/tipsfor a free gift for Just The Tips listeners Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy...

Nearly everyone in the internet marketing world is spending ridiculous amounts of money on ads. Yet after investing so much money and time bringing someone into their world, these same business owners turn around and give their leads the cold shoulder. Customer acquisition is a critical part of growing your business, but inspiring people to stick around is even more critical. New customers are the most expensive to acquire and the least likely to buy. When all you’re doing is chasing new customers, while ignoring the people you’ve already paid to acquire, you’re costing yourself obscene amounts of time, money, and energy. Tune into this episode to hear from Yara Golden, an email marketer working with some of the biggest names in the Internet marketing space (including Russell Brunson), as she joins James and Dean for her third appearance on Just The Tips to show you how to grow and monetize your email list in a way that you AND your followers feel good about. When done correctly and consistently, emailing leads you’ve paid to acquire can add several zeros to your bottom line. Check out this episode to hear the best way to get started, why list size matters less than you think, how NOT to grow your list, and much more! Invite Them To Dinner, Then Ignore Them Human interaction is often weirdly different online than it is in person. For example, most people don’t entice someone over for dinner only to completely ignore them. Yet that’s what a lot of business owners do online leads. You create lead magnets, tripwires, and other means of enticing someone onto your list, then ignore them. Instead of giving your leads the cold shoulder (and costing yourself a lot of money in the process), tune in to hear exactly how to start the conversation with your leads (just like you would if they were over for dinner). It’s Not What You Have, It’s What You Do With It One of the most common excuses Yara hears from people who aren’t emailing their leads regularly is, “My list only has XYZ people on it.” But the size of your list matters a lot less than you think. A small list of quality leads will outperform a giant list of leads who are “meh” about you and your products. If you have any doubts that quality trumps quantity when it comes to your list size, tune in for Yara’s story of a client who closed over $9,000 from a list of 500 people. Start With This Six-Email Sequence After someone opts-in, what do you do with them (after fulfilling whatever lead magnet or product they opted in for, of course)? Start with Yara’s six-email sequence that answers six questions anyone who opts into your list will have about you and what you do. Use these emails to build the know-like-trust factor, share how they can work with you, and set expectations right up front. It’s important to be yourself in these emails, so the people who are a good fit for you stick around, and the people who aren’t realize they’re better off elsewhere. Tune into to hear exactly what to write in these emails. Stop Climbing Mt. Kill-Them-With-Knowledge There’s endless talk in the internet marketing world about providing value, and when most people hear the world value, they think “I have to teach and show how knowledgeable I am!” But bowling your readers over with knowledge is rarely the best way to build a relationship with them and keep them coming back to your emails. Plus, if you share everything you know for free, why would they buy from you? Instead of trying to “Kill-Them-With-Knowledge” in your emails, build the relationship and increase engagement with the content strategy Yara describes in this episode. What If Your List Is Ice Cold? The thought of reaching out to a list you haven’t communicated with in months - maybe years - gets many an entrepreneur’s hackles up. But it’s not as challenging or terrifying as you think to re-engage a cold list. Tune in to hear a simple three-email sequence anyone can use to revive even an ice-cold list. Outline of This...