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Tag: Launch Your Business

  • Why Starting From The Bottom Is An Asset — Not a Liability | Entrepreneur

    Why Starting From The Bottom Is An Asset — Not a Liability | Entrepreneur

    I decided to attend business school out of desperation. One year after graduating from undergrad, I still didn’t have a “real” job and was struggling to define myself.

    I saw attending business school as a chance to establish not just a career, but an identity. Unfortunately, I was also flat broke. I couldn’t afford any fancy test prep programs or a tutor who would help me develop the skills needed to ace the GMAT, a standardized test you take when applying to business school.

    Instead, I rented a book from the library. There was literally only one book to help me prepare for the GMAT and Google wasn’t really a thing back then. So, I did the best I could with what I had.

    Looking back, I believe one reason I did well on the test was that my resources were so limited. I didn’t have the luxury of choosing which route I would take to prepare for the test, there was only one, so I had to make it work.

    Fortunately, I did well enough on the GMAT and was accepted into the University at Buffalo MBA program. Months later I’d be surprised to learn that I did better on the GMAT than many of my classmates who spent thousands of dollars on test prep services.

    That was the first time I realized the advantage that comes with having limited resources. You know you don’t have much, so you find a way to make it work.

    My buddy Darrell Vesterfelt shares a similar mindset, even though our experiences are different. He grew up in a trailer home and didn’t have any real role models in regard to chasing his dreams or living up to his potential.

    But instead of giving up, Darrell forged his own path. And as you’ll learn, that path led him to found several multi-million dollar companies including School of Traditional Skills and Good People Digital. He’s also one of the most intelligent, thoughtful and altruistic people I know, so I know you’re going to learn a lot from him by listening to our recent interview on the Launch Your Business podcast.

    I’ve shared a few of my key takeaways below.

    Your disadvantages can become an advantage

    Darrell said something that piqued my interest: Often, what people think it takes to be successful is different from the reality of what it actually takes to be successful. He calls this the “myth of success.”

    “The bottom line thing that it takes to be successful is this ability to just not quit and give up. What you have to overcome is actually what sets you up for success.”

    The benefits of coming from less-than-ideal circumstances? You have all the soft skills you need to push forward and figure things out. Darrell said that when you’ve overcome something in your past, you have “the ability to understand resilience, the ability to understand the stick-with-it mentality, the ability to understand that you have to make something work when you don’t have all of the answers — or when you don’t have all of the things that you need, or you don’t have the know-how. There’s a lot of advantages that I’ve gained coming from a place of not knowing.”

    Unhappiness is a guidepost

    Darrell said that for some reason, he was never happy about that status quo. There was an expectation that he – like many of his peers – would graduate from high school, learn a trade, and then work that trade until his body started breaking down in his forties or fifties.

    “I think there’s something to be said about being unhappy,” Darrell said. “And I don’t think people will actually change until they realize that they are not where they want to be. They don’t have what they want. And that pain has to become bigger than the pain of change.”

    Darrell uses discomfort as a catalyst for change by asking what the discomfort wants to teach him. What is there to learn? Sitting in the discomfort while determined to learn from it will take you much farther than quick fixes that bring temporary ease – but no long-term change.

    What to do when you feel like quitting

    Despite having built his resilience over the years, Darrell said that he feels like quitting and going back to a normal 9-to-5 on a regular basis. He said that the big surprise here is that this is normal and we should look for the lessons in it.

    “I think there’s a myth of leadership where we feel like we don’t know what we’re doing,” Darrell explained. “We feel like we’re struggling. We feel like we want to give up, and we think we’re the only one. And the reality is, everybody feels that way on some level.”

    Here are the two ways Darell says you can stay on track, even in the face of uncertainty that makes you want to throw in the towel.

    First, know your core values and have a firm grasp of your vision.

    Second, have relationships with people who will hold you accountable to that vision. Honest relationships with folks who will call you out are hard to come by – but they’re worth their weight in gold.

    What’s next?

    Ready to learn more from Darrell?

    • Visit his website
    • Follow him LinkedIn
    • And of course, listen to the full interview below

    Terry Rice

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  • Transform Your Life — and Business — By Focusing on Health | Entrepreneur

    Transform Your Life — and Business — By Focusing on Health | Entrepreneur

    What’s your daily schedule?

    I usually wake up around 5 a.m. so I can get some reading or writing done before my four kids get up. From there, it’s pretty much what you would imagine. A mad scramble to get everyone dressed and fed before they’re off to school or daycare.

    But after that, I don’t immediately start working. Instead, I head to the gym. I usually get back around 10:30 or so, down a protein shake, and then get to work around 11 a.m.

    You might think my schedule seems a bit off. People sometimes ask “How can you start work at 11 a.m.? What about your clients, don’t they want to talk to you?” Yes, they do, but I normally don’t take any client calls until 2 p.m.

    I’ll explain.

    Sure, I could go to the gym later on, let’s say during lunchtime. But I tried that in the past, and far too often something would come up that caused me to miss my workout. I’d feel guilty about missing my workout and annoyed that I had to skip it for something that wasn’t on my schedule for the day.

    As a result, I now prioritize my mental and physical health by scheduling work around my workouts and of course, my family obligations.

    And as you’ll discover during the most recent episode of the Launch Your Business podcast, prioritizing your health and wellness can become a competitive advantage for your business.

    Our guest, Dan Go, is a high performance coach for entrepreneurs and the CEO of High Performance Founder. After the early death of his mother, Go left a cushy corporate job to become a personal trainer and eventually brought his message of taking health seriously to entrepreneurs. Go’s theory is that taking care of your health is a way to transform your life — and your business.

    During our interview, we discussed:

    • How he’s making time to work out with a newborn, and how you can eliminate excuses as well.
    • Why water is your greatest ally when working towards health goals.
    • The surprising reason why doing less can actually help you achieve your goals faster.

    I’ll share a few of my key takeaways below.

    Related: Cozy Sweaters and Coffee Dates Can Boost Your Productivity — Here’s How

    Working out is not a frivolous extra activity

    It’s easy to think of exercise as an add-on that you’ll get to when you’ve accomplished your other goals for the day.

    Here’s the problem with that: If you leave exercise in the “maybe” category, you will constantly find other things that are more urgent or feel more important.

    “The biggest misconception that entrepreneurs have is the fact that they need to trade their health in order to make more wealth,” Go says. “From my perspective and from my experience, I found that if you neglect your health, you’re actually leaving some major monetary gains on the table.”

    Related: Sports Legends Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece Want to Power You Up With Tastier and Cheaper Superfood Drinks. Who’s Thirsty?

    For consistency, start small and focus on the essentials

    When you’re getting started with exercise, building the habit is the first goal. So before you go out and buy a ton of workout gear or invest in equipment, start small.

    “The thing that I say to my clients all the time is, ‘You don’t even have to work out — just cross the door into the gym,’” Go says. He noted that high achievers usually show up (even when they’ve set low expectations for themselves) and get a few reps in.

    Even after you’ve built out a more robust exercise routine, you may need to cut back due to different life circumstances. When we recorded the interview, Go had just celebrated the arrival of a newborn, which meant he was adapting his routine to suit that season of life.

    “I’m doing the minimum effective dose at this very moment,” Go says. “I’m appreciative of the fact that I put the work in before that because there is something called maintenance and I’m not trying to gain a bunch of muscle or anything like that. I’m just trying to maintain my sanity and my body all at the same time.”

    Related: How to Start a ‘Million Dollar’ Morning Routine

    Drink more water

    I know this seems basic, but there are a lot of grown adults — particularly entrepreneurs — who run on coffee, soda or tea. If you’re feeling run down, it’s worth considering what your water intake has been recently.

    “Energy is currency,” Go says, “and a lot of people would be surprised at how much energy they can gain by being more hydrated.”

    Another perk that comes with drinking water is that you can use it to replace the habit of mindless snacking.

    Next steps

    Ready to learn more from Dan Go?

    Visit his website to learn how he helps high-achieving entrepreneurs get their ideal body with minimal stress.

    Sign up for his newsletter to discover how you can build your body and increase performance in four minutes or less.

    Follow him on Instagram and LinkedIn for all his latest updates

    And of course, listen to our full interview on the Launch Your Business podcast.

    Terry Rice

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  • Follow This Wealth Builder’s Playbook to Success | Entrepreneur

    Follow This Wealth Builder’s Playbook to Success | Entrepreneur

    I was recently speaking at a mastermind for Mawer Capital. It was a two-day event, and even though I spoke on day one, I stuck around so I could learn from the other speakers.

    On day two, Brian Dalsamo, founder of Matrix Success Networks, took the stage. Two thoughts came to mind after his presentation.

    The first was, “Man, I’m so glad I don’t have to go after him.” Seriously, the guy just crushed it. He delivered incredibly valuable information in a short period of time and provided tactic-level responses to the questions raised by the audience. No fluff or trite responses.

    My next thought was, “I gotta interview this guy so I can share his knowledge with my audience.”

    Brian is the founder of Matrix Success Networks, an organization that serves individuals and businesses who wish to accelerate their wealth-building and performance. And if you only do one thing after reading this article, you have to head to his website and complete his free wheel of life exercise.

    It’s an interactive chart used to map out exactly where you’re at in all facets of life at the present moment so that you have a blueprint to achieve the highest level of fulfillment. I suggest blocking off at least 30 minutes so you can get the full impact.

    And, of course, check out the latest episode of the Launch Your Business podcast so you can listen in on the full interview. You can see a few of my key takeaways below.

    To change the world, change your entire outlook

    Brian noted that the people who create huge shifts aren’t looking for outward inspiration – often, they’re creating the reality they’d like to see, regardless of what is in front of them.

    “They’re using their imagination – this sounds maybe rudimentary – but they’re not looking at the environment, they’re not looking at the current anything to cause their thinking. They’re thinking to cause new results.”

    This reminds me of a quote by George Bernard Shaw: “Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.”

    So, if you want to change the world and your future, it’s time to be unreasonable.

    There’s a distinction between wealth and money

    If you stop random people on the street and ask them what they want, chances are a lot of the answers are going to boil down to, “I want to be rich.”

    But Brian said that the reality is that most people don’t actually want a billion dollars and all the responsibilities that come along with that.

    “What they really want, what we’ve come down to is between $10 and $20 million liquid invested properly, so they can do what they want, with who they want, when they want, and where they want,” Brian explained that it’s about freedom to shape your life – which is still impossible if your making millions, but are tied to the office for 80 hours a week. “That’s not freedom. That’s just a lot of money coming in.”

    You should also focus on the emotion that accompanies what you’d like. How will it feel to be rich?

    • Limitless
    • Empowered
    • Free from worry

    Then, find opportunities to feel that way now so you won’t get caught up in the “I’ll be happy when” trap.

    For example, I currently live in an apartment in Brooklyn. I eventually want to move to a house with a large backyard (the location is still being determined), and I’ll feel more expansive once I have that huge yard for my family.

    So, how can I feel that way now? We can head to the park! Sure, it’s not quite the same, but we can still experience the same emotions that will take place in our future home.

    One habit to boost your performance: Create a life script

    A life script is a document where you speak about your future life as if it’s the present day. You do this across all the sectors of your life – physical, wealth, emotional, spiritual, relationships. You get specific about what this future life entails, how it feels, and what you’re grateful for – and then you record yourself reading it aloud and listen to this recording at the beginning of your day.

    Brian compared it to method acting.

    “You see whatever they’re acting. And what’d they do to get there? They read a script over and over and over and over again. See, real actors at a high level, [like Robin Williams] can go from comedy to horror —they’re not acting. They literally become the character for a period of time. For us, we use that same technique to script out your life, and your words, and your sound as if it’s already done. And you listen to it every morning.”

    You’re both the author and main character in your life script, so put in the time and effort to create an epic story.

    Next steps

    Ready to learn more from Brian?

    Head to the Matrix Success website and be sure to complete your wheel of life exercise.

    Check out his YouTube channel, where you’ll discover ways to shift your mindset, elevate to a higher level of awareness, and attract greater abundance in your life.

    And, of course, listen to our interview on the Launch Your Business podcast.

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  • Boost Your Productivity and Creativity in 3 Steps | Entrepreneur

    Boost Your Productivity and Creativity in 3 Steps | Entrepreneur

    I met Matt Ragland while I was speaking at a ConvertKit conference. And, I was just struck by how present he was in the conversation. While we were chatting, he was focused on being interested as opposed to being interesting.

    And when he finally did share more about what he’s up to, I was impressed with how he took a disciplined but creative approach to his work. For some reason, those two seem at odds but he was able to find an integration that led to him being extremely productive and a world-class content creator.

    Matt is the Managing Director of Good People Digital. An agency that works with companies to create human-focused brands and web experiences that help them connect with their customers.

    Outside of that, his work focuses on the intersection of productivity and the creator economy. So if you’re struggling with either of those, Matt’s here to help you out.

    I’ll share a few of my key takeaways from our conversation below.

    How to start creating content that connects

    When it comes to creating newsletter content, just getting started is often the biggest hurdle. Matt said that there are a couple of ways you can jump-start your content creation – starting with analyzing what has already worked well on your social media. What is already getting engagement? What do you feel is important?

    “The other two things that you can ask are number one: What is the thing that people often ask me about in regards to my work or specific area of interest? … And then the follow up to that is (whether it’s on social or through replies on your newsletter), if you’re new at this, ask for a reply at the end of each newsletter.”

    This ensures that you’re creating content that serves the needs of your audience, because that was your starting place.

    If you’re really starting from scratch

    “That’s all well and good,” you might be saying, “But this assumes I’ve already created content. What do I do if I’ve never posted on social media?”

    Matt suggests searching Reddit for questions to answer.

    “I don’t often say that. But Reddit as research is great.” Matt said. “See what things people are asking that they’re not getting good answers to, and you can just answer that in your own content. You can also, on social media, find people that you follow that are in the same relative niche as you and see what topics they are talking about that you have a different opinion on. Talk about what they’re doing, not what that specific person is doing, but give that in your own opinion.”

    How to have the most productive week ever

    The most productive week ever is a big promise, I know. And Matt said that the key to the most productive week is actually counterintuitive: You should not overcommit.

    “Mental over commitment to goals or projects, that leads to a lot of overwhelm, that can lead to a lot of context and task switching.”

    Matt referenced The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, adding that he can’t pick one thing to focus on for the entire quarter — but he can do that for his days and weeks. Once he has that one big thing selected for the week, Matt moves forward with what he calls the GAP framework — Goals, Actions, and Protection.

    “If I know what that goal is, then I’m going to analyze it, and I’m going to look at it and say, ‘Okay, what are the actions that I need to take that if I were to check off all of these to do items, all these action items, it will naturally lead to the completion or achievement of the goal?

    And I’m going to look at this and say, like, okay, I have these four to five action items. How much time do I need to protect? Let’s just say two hours. Okay, I’m going to protect the time to do this for one hour on Monday morning and then one hour on Thursday morning.”

    Next steps:

    You can learn more about Matt by visiting mattragland.com and following him on social media at @mattragland. And don’t forget to grab his free email course, 5 Productivity Principles for a Great Week.

    Terry Rice

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  • Your Top 10 Business Building Tips from Shaquille O’Neal, Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn and More | Entrepreneur

    Your Top 10 Business Building Tips from Shaquille O’Neal, Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn and More | Entrepreneur

    I’m often asked how I determine the guests on my podcast, Launch Your Business. The answer is pretty simple. I just think back to when I first started my business and all the associated challenges and confusion that I experienced.

    Then, I bring on the people that I wish I could have talked to back then. Maybe it’s because they’re a subject matter expert who can teach the nuts and bolts of running a business. Or maybe their story is inspiring and provides a much-needed boost of motivation.

    But either way, after each episode, you’ll gain insight on how to do at least one thing better.

    Here are some of my top takeaways from recent guests. Afterward, I’ll let you know how you can be a guest on the show as well.

    Pat Flynn: Become part of the audience you want to build

    When you’re trying to build an audience, it’s tempting to dive in and offer what you think the audience would like. Instead, Pat says that you ought to become part of the audience — that way you know what their likes and dislikes are, what annoys them, what key terms they use and the gaps in the market that you can fill.

    “I think empathy is so key, and it’s impossible to empathize with somebody or a group of people who you just met for the first time,” Pat said.

    Listen to the full episode.

    Shaquille O’Neal: Delegation is the key to unlocking opportunities

    While chatting with Shaq, I asked him to share the one question almost nobody asks him, but they should, because his advice would be so valuable.

    “How do I do so much? And the answer is delegation. For example, if I was going to own an African American successful media company, I’d call you brother. Cause I know you’re educated. I know you’re smart. I know you’re well respected in the business and I’m not gonna micromanage you. I’d call you once a week.

    I’m not gonna do any work. I’m calling you. I delegate and I don’t micromanage. That’s how I can own a bunch of things and still be here in my country and state.”

    I’m pretty sure Shaq offered me a job, I’ll keep you posted on that.

    Listen to the full episode.

    Quentin Allums: Systems are necessary for scaling

    Quentin Michael Allums is a serial entrepreneur, and he said that one mistake he made early on was avoiding systems. The thought here is that systems and set processes are constraining — but really, they free you and your team up to spend your time and energy on other things.

    “If you have a process, a system, you will go so far,” Quentin said. “Even if it’s not perfect, just keep up-leveling as you go. It will help you with hiring, it’ll help you with content, and it’ll help you scale. And you don’t wanna build on a rocky foundation, which is what I did.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Anthony Trucks: Disconnect your identity from your output

    During my conversation with Anthony Trucks, former NFL player and current international speaker and coach, he brought up a powerful analogy. He said that at a difficult time in his life, he should’ve thought of his life as a tree, and his successes as the fruit.

    “Playing football fell off the tree and it rolled somewhere and it died, right? … But I didn’t realize that I (and none of us) have ever been the fruit. We’ve always been the tree. And when you don’t take care of the tree, all the rest of the fruit dies,” Anthony said. “And so for me, I had to realize you are not football, man. You are the kind of person that created that outcome for your life. So do it somewhere else.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Amy Porterfield: Courage and confidence are different things

    “I always say that confidence is something that comes when you start to see a track record,” Amy said. You start with small steps, you see small progress, and your confidence grows. “Courage happens when you don’t have a track record yet, you have no proof this is going to work. You’re going to take a leap of faith, you’re going to have the courage to move forward because you know you want it badly enough. And so we all have to start with courage over confidence because courage will absolutely be there before confidence ever will.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Ashley Kirkwood: Your team is not there to make you money

    When I asked Ashley what she wishes she’d known earlier in her entrepreneurial journey, she gave me an answer I’ve never heard before: Your team is not there to make you money — they’re part of your big-picture mission.

    “I work for my team,” Ashley explained. “I try to become a better person for my team. I want to encourage and help my team grow like they are everything to this business. And I wish I would’ve known that earlier because I would’ve hired earlier. I would’ve cultivated them earlier. I would’ve started reading personal development books even earlier at the same time as I was reading sales and marketing books.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Tanner Chidester: If you’re not willing to send some DMs to grow your business, you probably need to change your perspective

    One thing that Tanner Chidester said he encounters while coaching is the lack of grit for the startup phase. When you have a big idea and no team, you are going to need to power through some less-than-pleasant jobs – but the good news is, there are worse things than sending sales emails or DMs.

    “People forget, I did door-to-door sales for eight months, six days a week, 12 hours a day,” Tanner said. “I’ve told people doing that was harder than building a 20 million per year business. He continues “I’ve had guns pulled on me [and] knives. So I just think people, they don’t really understand what it takes to be successful.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    T.I.: Don’t let other people’s opinions cloud your vision

    T.I. has come up with plenty of ideas that have led to numerous entrepreneurial ventures. He said that one key is keeping your vision to yourself when it’s in the early phases.

    “Your vision is yours for a reason. My vision is mine for a reason. Usually, the first thing we do when we get a vision is take it to the people around us and say, ‘Hey, look, this is what I had an idea of doing.’ And they’ll probably (because of their fears, their failures because they don’t believe that they could do it because it’s not their vision), they would say, ‘Nah, that ain’t gonna work.’”

    The worst part of this? If you let your friends talk you out of a good idea, when you see someone else making that vision happen, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

    Listen to the full episode.

    In his work as a coach, Alex Schlinsky says that everyone is pursuing freedom – but often the definition is blurry. Maybe the person defines it as financial freedom without taking into account the time it requires to generate lots of income quickly, or maybe they’ve allowed someone else to define freedom and fulfillment for them.

    “The anti-hustle model is all about identifying for you very specifically what time and financial freedom means, what success really means, what happiness really means and doing that deep work so you can build the formula to your ideal and dream life instead of allowing me or anyone else to decide it for you.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Hala Taha: Showing your process can rally an audience

    While many entrepreneurs are tempted to showcase only their polished finished product, podcasting network mogul Hala Taha credits her early devoted fanbase to her willingness to let her audience in on the process — even when it was as unpolished as showing her recording setup in her mother’s basement.

    “I think what made me magnetic is because I was sort of the underdog,” Hala said. “I just think that it was magnetic and I was just trying to be of service. My goal actually wasn’t to monetize the show, I literally would tell people that it’s impossible to create a business out of podcasts. And now I literally have a business from my podcast, and for two years I was like, podcasting is just to be of service.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Craig Siegel: Failure is part of the process, and it can be a good thing

    “Full disclosure, spoiler alert: Entrepreneurship (or anything in the world really worth creating) is going to be challenging,” Craig said. “Specifically in the beginning, I don’t think you can replace that season of grind where you’re really working.”

    He went on to add that there’s a gift in failure if you’re willing to find it.

    “As long as you’re having good misses, and you’re learning, and you’re figuring out what doesn’t work, so you can reapply to what should work … It’s all part of the process.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    Ready to learn more from Craig? Check out his new book The Reinvention Formula: How to Unlock a Bulletproof Mindset to Upgrade Your Life.

    Want to be my next guest?

    I want to help you get unstuck so you can multiply your revenue potential. And, I’d love to chat with you about it on my podcast. Here’s how to make it happen.

    First, leave a review on your favorite podcast platform and share at least one thing you’ve learned from a previous episode. It can be one of those listed above or any other episode that has been released. Then, share that review as an Instagram story and tag me at @itsterryrice as well as Entrepreneur magazine using the handle @entrepreneur. One last step. Screenshot your review and complete this Google Form.

    We’ll then select participants to appear on the show so you can share more about your business and receive a real-time coaching session from me. This will be an ongoing opportunity but you must post your story by August 31st in order to be considered for the first round of guest appearances.

    Terry Rice

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  • How This Coach Helps His Clients Become 7-Figure Earners | Entrepreneur

    How This Coach Helps His Clients Become 7-Figure Earners | Entrepreneur

    Have you ever struggled to express how you help people and why they should buy from you? If so, you’re going to enjoy listening to the next episode of the Launch Your Business podcast featuring Seth Czerepak.

    Seth is the head marketing coach at Mawer Capital, a mastermind for new entrepreneurs serious about growth or experienced six and seven-figure business owners wanting to go to the next level — faster.

    He’s described as the world’s premier expert on sales funnel copywriting and my head coach at Mawer Capital. I meet with him every Monday to review my sales emails, website copy and the creative work I develop on behalf of my clients. He’s not just good with words though, you can easily see a measurable impact from his work. The number of leads generated from my 1:1 coaching page tripled after Seth made several changes.

    He’s incredible, but our calls almost always get sidetracked by me asking questions about how he discovered one technique or another. It’s hard to describe how his brain works or how impressed I am with the output. So, I decided to bring him on my podcast so you can hear from him yourself.

    You can check out a few of my top takeaways below.

    Expanding your market is the key way to grow

    Seth compares expanding your business to a plant growing in a pot. After a certain amount of growth, the roots are expanding and you need to move to an entirely different, bigger container to allow the plant to keep growing.

    “You have to get outside of your warm network,” Seth said. “Being able to convert complete strangers (a cold audience), using paid ads to your customers is the way that you break out of that “small pot” of marketing only to the people in your warm network and having access to almost a limitless sea of prospects.

    And that, in my opinion, is the only way that you can grow to seven figures unless you just become a viral sensation overnight, which is a lot of time a game of luck.”

    How to make your message relevant

    When you’re reaching out to a cold audience, it’s critical to grab their attention with relevant information. “Your message has to be relevant to the conversation going on in their head every day, surrounding the problem that you’re going to help them solve,” Seth said. “So if you were to follow your prospect throughout their entire day like you’re filming a documentary, think about the times during their day when they run into the problem that you’re going to help them solve. And what does that experience look like? What are they saying to themselves? What’s [their] internal dialogue like?”

    Seth used the example of selling cream for plantar fasciitis (pain in the heel). You don’t start your ad with, “Do you have plantar fasciitis?” You start with, “What is that pinching pain in your heel? It started small, but now it’s so bad you can’t walk.” Because you’ve started with their situation — not jargon — you can move forward with introducing your solution.

    Don’t bury the lead

    “The most common mistake I see people make is a lot of the time: Their best headline is usually about three-quarters of the way down the page,” Seth said. “There’s too much throat clearing, too much preparation before they actually get to the point.

    And a lot of times you can chop off the top of a sales page, find the buried lead, move that up to the headlining and increase your conversions right away.”

    Another common error is not understanding your audience. You need to be so inside their head, that you’ll know whether you should be selling to their pain or pleasure points. The sooner you can address that internal dialogue and sell what’s most relevant to them, the better.

    Next steps

    Seth has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs become six-figure earners and dozens more break the seven-figure-a-year mark.

    His signature copywriting framework, “The Antifragile Sales System,” has been endorsed by direct response marketing legend, Dan S. Kennedy, and is the topic of his upcoming book, “The Antifragile Sales System,” which will be coming out in January 2024.

    Connect with Seth on social media to get more of his content and updates about upcoming books, podcasts, and products. And if you’d like to work with him 1:1, just like I do, consider joining the Mawer Capital mastermind group.

    Terry Rice

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  • How to Balance Entrepreneurship and Parenthood Without Losing Your Cool | Entrepreneur

    How to Balance Entrepreneurship and Parenthood Without Losing Your Cool | Entrepreneur

    Like many parents, I thought things would get “back to normal” after the pandemic. My kids would start attending school in-person and I’d finally be able to get my work done during the day without any interruptions.

    I was wrong.

    Sure, my kids are back in school. But they’re still home quite often due to breaks and other unexpected reasons. Beyond that, I often cut the workday short to attend their events or take them to various appointments. Is this all part of the job? Absolutely. Is it still frustrating at times? Yep! And, it creates an interesting paradox.

    I work so I can give my kids the resources and opportunities they need. But they often interrupt my work, and it’s usually to tell me something about the resources and opportunities they need.

    So if you’re also balancing the world of entrepreneurship and parenthood, the latest episode of the Launch Your Business podcast is for you. We’re joined by parenting expert and licensed educational psychologist Reena B Patel. Get ready to take some notes as she shares the secret to getting your work done while still giving your kids the attention and support they deserve.

    You can check out some of my key takeaways below.

    Work-life balance is a myth

    Reena started our time together with some myth-busting. Although many of us get into entrepreneurship for flexibility, many of us expect to find some kind of perfect equilibrium between our work life and our real life/family time.

    But perfection doesn’t exist – you might get one day a year that feels like the exact right balance of each. “There is going to be a give-and-take,” Reena said. “There are going to be days where you’re going to have to put in more hours at work because you might have a deadline, and there are gonna be days where your children really do need you.”

    But Reena also says that the give-and-take can actually be good for our kids:

    “I think that fluidity and flexibility is the one life skill, if we can give to our kids (but also teach ourselves) is really important.”

    Having a schedule is your friend

    While committing to being flexible is important, Reena said it’s also critical to maintain a schedule and a routine. This can look like getting dressed for work after you make the kids breakfast, or setting your preferred work hours and looping in your partner.

    You can still arrange this schedule around your kids (Reena said she made sure she took her lunch break at the same time her kids did during the pandemic), but the main point is that there is a schedule and shared expectations of what your time looks like.

    “I think that’s really important to establish an environment, a workspace that’s conducive for you to be productive,” Reena said. “The last thing we wanna do is finish the day and feel like we got nothing accomplished.”

    When your child is your coworker, use novelty to keep them busy

    The younger the kid, the harder this is – but Reena said that one key to keeping your child entertained is bringing novelty to your child’s time at home (or in your office/workspace). Give them a designated place for them to play, and cycle through different kinds of toys/puzzles/games.

    “You don’t want all the toys out at all times,” Reena said. “You wanna rotate them because that keeps that novelty and excitement there. Put the things that they haven’t engaged with in a long time in that bin. And so there’s that excitement, there’s that newness.”

    Some other ways this could work: Bring in books they haven’t read from the library, add some new toys or crafts to the mix from the dollar store, and reserve “headphones on” activities for when you really need to work uninterrupted – like when you’re hopping on a Zoom call.

    Bonus: Be annoying

    Here’s one of my favorite tips from Reena, teaching your child empathy. Of course, this is an important trait to instill, but Reena provided a unique way of doing so.

    Start by having your kids engage in an activity they enjoy. Let’s say it’s coloring for example. Then, continually interrupt them while they’re engaging in that activity. Get obnoxious with it to the point where they get frustrated.

    Once that happens, say something along the lines of “You don’t like being interrupted when you’re doing this, and I don’t like being interrupted while I’m working, so let’s find a way to give each other space when we need it.”

    In the best-case scenario, your kids learn how to keep themselves occupied when you absolutely must focus on your work. Worst case scenario, at least you’ll have some fun messing with them!

    Next steps

    Ready to learn more from Reena so you can get your work done while still giving your kids the attention they deserve?

    Visit Reena’s website to access her latest guides and tools.

    Follow her on Instagram and LinkedIn

    And of course, listen to the full podcast episode below.

    Terry Rice

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  • How My Kids Helped Me Launch a $100K Service | Entrepreneur

    How My Kids Helped Me Launch a $100K Service | Entrepreneur

    My wife and I pay $4,200 per month for daycare. So, that’s roughly a lot. I get it, the daycare workers provide excellent care for my children and I appreciate them. But that’s still a lot of money. And the way I think about it, I’m pretty much paying, just so I can go to work.

    I’m not saying all this just so you can listen to me complain. I’m telling you this because I want to share how I found a solution to my problem, which was not wanting to pay $4,000 per month for daycare. Or at least find an easier way to do it.

    And if you follow along, you’ll learn how you can take control of your finances by creating revenue-generating services.

    So, here’s how I solved the problem. I started with a lofty goal. I wanted to create a new service that would consistently provide enough revenue to pay my kids’ daycare bill.

    And, that service had to meet the following criteria:

    • It has to be easy to sell based on the obvious value provided.
    • It must be a service that I can sell on an ongoing basis.
    • There must be a natural way to sell those clients additional services.

    And, honestly, this is how we should be thinking about all our services anyway, but this one felt more meaningful because it was designed to pay one specific expense. My $4,200 daycare bill.

    So now I’m going to walk you through how I created this new service based on the established criteria and how you can do the same.

    1. It has to be easy to sell based on the obvious value provided

    People often come to me for help with various aspects of their business. Maybe it’s getting more leads, raising their prices and building their Linkedin presence. All that good stuff. But they sometimes haven’t addressed the most critical part of their business model, having a good offer.

    And, I’ve talked about this before — which you can read here — so I’ll spare you the lengthy recap. In short, you need an offer so good your audience would feel silly saying no.

    I’ll give you an overly obvious example of this: “If you were drowning and I threw you a life vest, would you take it?” Suffice to say, most people wouldn’t turn down that offer.

    So here’s what I came up with for my offer; an accelerated program to help entrepreneurs create an irresistible offer so they can attract and convert high-paying clients. Ready for your first action item? Create an irresistible offer for your audience.

    If you’d like to see an example of this, just head to terryrice.co/convert.

    2. It must be a service that I can sell on an ongoing basis

    Once you have your irresistible offer, let’s talk about how you can sell this service on an ongoing basis. I could have just sold one person on that accelerator program and made enough money to pay my daycare bill.

    But, I wanted to make this offer more accessible to people who may not have as much money to invest in their business. That’s why I decided to create an exclusive workshop — it’s called the revenue accelerator, which is only available to eight members at a cost of $600 per person.

    Reason being, I could charge less per person and wouldn’t need a bunch of people to take me up on the offer. Quick math coming at you.

    8 X $600 is $4,800, so if I sold out, that would be more than enough to pay my daycare bill. I then decided to offer the workshop on a monthly basis. This approach works well for a few reasons.

    Since there are only eight spots available, it was more likely to sell out which builds anticipation for the next workshop. This scarcity encourages people to stop considering and start converting due to fear of missing out. And, ironically, I teach you how to do that in the workshop too.

    So, here’s your next action item. Think of a templated service or workshop that you can sell on a recurring basis with little to no customization needed.

    3. There must be a natural way to sell those clients additional services

    This part was a bit tricky. There isn’t an obvious next step everyone must take after the workshop. Some people may need help with branding, others may need help landing speaking gigs. But then I thought of something everyone needs, accountability. Here’s why.

    According to the American Society of Training and Development if you have a goal, and meet with an accountability partner just once per week, your chance of hitting that goal increases by 95%.

    So, no matter what goal you have I can help you achieve it, just by keeping you accountable. That’s why I created the Strategic Advisory & Accountability Program. And, it’s pretty simple. Every Monday program members fill out their weekly goal sheets.

    They can then meet with me during weekly office hours in order to get real-time support. And, there’s also a Circle community so you can learn from and support your peers. Every Friday members provide a status update, ask more questions, and get video feedback.

    For now, the cost is $500 per month, which I’ll eventually increase. And, I’m still capping membership — this time I’m opening up 10 spots.

    Again, let’s do some quick math: 10 spots times $500 is another $5,000 in monthly recurring revenue for this program. It only takes me a few hours a month to maintain it since my wife is handling community management.

    Tying everything together

    The Revenue Accelerator brings in $4,800 per month and the Strategic Advisory & Accountability Program will bring in $5,000 per month. So that’s close to $10,000 per month and I’m working about a day and a half to earn it. Of course, it takes time to market it, but you get the point.

    This idea stemmed from my frustration around paying a bill and now I’ve set up two revenue streams that bring in $120,000 per year. You can do the same thing, so here’s what I want you to do.

    Pick one bill that you’re sick of paying. That part shouldn’t be too hard. But, if you’re just getting started with your business, keep it small, maybe it’s your cell phone bill. Then, think of a service offering you could provide that will pay for this bill on a consistent basis. Maybe it’s selling an hour-long consulting session and you charge $100.

    That’s it. That’s all you have to do to get the process rolling.

    After the first month, think of another bill that’s a bit more expensive. Maybe it’s your car payment or something like that. Pay that bill and the other bill using the service you’re providing. You get the point, just keep going with the process.

    Try this out, it will work. And if you need help creating your offer, consider attending my next revenue accelerator workshop. You can learn more about it and register by visiting terryrice.co/convert.

    So if you’re ready to stop haggling over prices and want an irresistible offer that attracts high-paying clients, sign up.

    Either way, now is the perfect time to turn your frustration into the fuel you need to multiply your revenue. So get started today.

    Want more details and additional tips? Check out the latest episode of the Launch Your Business Podcast below.

    Terry Rice

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  • From Hustle to Happiness: Redefining What It Means to Succeed with Alex Schlinsky | Entrepreneur

    From Hustle to Happiness: Redefining What It Means to Succeed with Alex Schlinsky | Entrepreneur

    I don’t know of many people who have taken a straight and narrow path to entrepreneurship, myself included.I studied entrepreneurship in college but didn’t actually do anything about it until about ten years later. Most entrepreneurs I know had a 9-5 for a while then decided it was time to do their own thing.

    But my most recent podcast guest, Alex Schlinsky, is different. He bypassed having a traditional 9-5 and immediately pursued entrepreneurship. Reason being, he thought there was a chance he might die at a young age.

    I don’t want to make this overly dramatic but I can imagine feeling like you don’t have a lot of time left can encourage you to truly live for the day and make the most out of however many days you have left.

    Fortunately, you don’t have to go through a life or death experience in order to take more control over your future because Alex shared the lessons he learned during the most recent episode of the Launch Your Business Podcast.

    Some key takeaways from our interview, which you can listen to here or below:

    • The power of persistence in getting where you want to go in life
    • How to build a robust and lucrative online community
    • Why the “hustle hard” mentality makes no sense (and what you should do instead).

    We also discussed Alex’s new book, The Anti-Hustler’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Hardworking Entrepreneurs: Who Want To Redefine Success Now & Discover Infinite Choices for Fulfillment Without Sacrificing Everything That Matters.

    The power of persistence and purpose

    Alex got to the anti-hustle movement unintentionally (he hustled himself into burnout at a young age). It all started with a diagnosis of a congenital heart defect at 18. Alex said that when you know you have open heart surgery at some point in your future, you want to make your time count. So in school, he worked himself into the ground to earn a degree in psychology while running a business on the side.

    After graduating, the idea of putting more years into school became untenable. He also wasn’t quite ready to be an entrepreneur and grow his digital marketing agency – so he threw himself into his passion, which was local sports. In pursuit of media credentials with the Miami Dolphins, he called their media department every day for two months straight.

    “After hearing every single objection in the book, I knew one thing that was really important to me, which is I was willing to hear no more than they were willing to say it,” Alex remembers. “And so I just called and called and called eventually knowing that the brow beating will eventually make them capitulate and they would give me this opportunity.”

    His persistence paid off, and he still has the Dolphins media member’s badge in his office, reminding him of the feeling of achievement after months of work – a feeling he says he wanted to chase over and over.

    Accidentally starting a 7-figure business

    The season was rewarding, but it yielded about $500 for his coverage. To make income, Alex turned to the business he had accidentally started during his last year of high school, when Facebook had released the business page feature. Alex’s neighbor (who was a personal injury attorney) was convinced that Facebook would be crucial to bringing in business. The neighbor offered Alex $1,000 per month to post once per day on Facebook and run his email newsletter.

    Alex worked for about ten attorneys throughout his college years, waking up early to pull potential case opportunities (like recalls) and post them on Facebook, then heading to class for the day.

    “It’s so crazy because I never really thought about it as a business. It was just a side hustle the whole time. Fast forward four to five years later, finishing college, realizing journalism isn’t really gonna make me money as much as it is passion. What can I do? And, and so naturally I thought, ‘Is social media a business?’”

    It doesn’t take much Googling to find the answer.

    Alex got some training, transitioned his offer from social media to Google advertising, and quickly built a seven-figure agency.

    Alex’s moment of reckoning

    Because he had open heart surgery hanging over his head, Alex worked in overdrive, putting in maximum effort into all of his endeavors.

    About 10 years after his diagnosis, his heart had grown to the point of needing intervention. Alex said he accelerated the need for help by 30 years – and although the doctors couldn’t give him a straight answer, he connects early surgery and the 10 years of working in overdrive.

    “But it was enough in my mind to know that putting the engine in red all the time, what happens to the engine?” Alex asks. “It dies, it breaks, and that’s what ended up happening.”

    Alex said he was so bought in to hustling, when the doctors told him that they needed to operate as soon as possible Alex’s first question was if they could push surgery until after a business event he had coming up.

    “That’s how skewed my mind was,” Alex said. “I just got the bombshell news that I had to have open heart surgery, and my brain was [saying], ‘Can I push it until after we do our business event?’ And that was a really big wakeup call for me.”

    The End of Hustle

    Waking up doesn’t necessarily mean slowing to a complete halt. Alex now runs a community called Prospecting On Demand, which offers mentorship for agency owners, digital marketers, coaches, and consultants looking to scale their business.

    This is the tricky part: Alex said that for most people, “scaling” means acquiring more at all times. So even when you reach the top of one mountain, there’s always more to be gained. It leaves the business owner feeling a lack of clarity, always churning towards bigger accomplishments (whether or not that actually adds benefit to their life).

    “The anti-hustle model inherently is all about identifying what the true goal of entrepreneurship is,” Alex explained. “Everyone wants to be happy and they want to be free. The thing is with freedom is most people posit freedom as financial freedom and time freedom. And yet so often time is just thrown aside for the benefit of financial freedom, financial freedom, financial freedom – without ever defining what even financial freedom was (and worse, never taking the time to define it and allowing someone else to define it for you). … You can actually come out with a very clear understanding of particularly how much money you have to make instead of this indefinite more, right? Because that lack of clarity is what creates that anxiety and frustration and – for so many people – that burnout.”

    Alex said that the results of defining success and scale are beneficial for the business and the business owner, but they also expand to the friends and family.

    “I think most people, when they come into a coaching program, mentorship program, their intention is very directly related to bottom line ROI, which makes a lot of sense and I respect that completely,” Alex said. But ultimately what we end up finding is how much impact we have on people’s lives, on their family’s lives, on their relationships with their children and their friends, their family, their peers, their network.”

    Next Steps

    Ready to learn more from Alex so you can make more money without sacrificing the people and experiences that matter most?

    • Check out Alex’s mentorship program, Prospecting On Demand
    • Connect with Alex on LinkedIn
    • Check out Alex’s book, The Anti-Hustler’s Handbook

    Terry Rice

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  • 3 Lessons I Learned from Speaking at a Berkshire Hathaway Event | Entrepreneur

    3 Lessons I Learned from Speaking at a Berkshire Hathaway Event | Entrepreneur

    When delivering keynotes my mission is rather simple. I just want to help my audience build their resilience, reputation and revenue. However, during a recent speaking engagement in Last Vegas, a series of mishaps and meaningful interactions taught me the same lesson.

    And I know, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, but sometimes the experiences are too good to keep to yourself. Especially if my story will help you avoid common pitfalls and build your business.

    So, here’s what I learned.

    You must advocate for yourself

    The Berkshire Hathaway conference took place in Las Vegas. Honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of Vegas since I’m married, I don’t drink and I don’t gamble. So it’s not quite the “adult playground” I’m looking for.

    However, I had a pleasant surprise upon arriving at the airport. I ran into a good friend from college, Anne Magur, who I haven’t seen in almost 10 years. We caught up for a few minutes before parting ways, I then hopped in a Lyft en route to my hotel.

    That’s when I was hit with a not so pleasant surprise. While attempting to check in I was told my hotel room was no longer available. Why? My hotel was booked from March 26-March 29th. I arrived on March 27th, so they gave my room away.

    Should I have noticed and corrected this in advance?

    Yes.

    Did I?

    No.

    And I should note, later on the organizers graciously expressed their empathy for my situation and let me know I could call them immediately if something similar ever happened again.

    Back to my story. The front desk agent then proceeded to tell me the hotel was completely booked, but the Horseshoe hotel might have rooms available.

    By now it’s after midnight and I’m tired after flying in from New York City. There’s no way I’m going to walk around Las Vegas hoping to find a hotel room when one was already booked for me. I asked to speak to her manager about it. She said I couldn’t, but she would for me. Two minutes later she came back with the same response “There are no rooms available, try the Horseshoe”.

    I’m going to fast forward a bit. She went back and forth between me and her manager for ten minutes before the manager suddenly found an open room for me at the hotel. Was I annoyed? Yes, but the situation was resolved and venting wouldn’t help. Instead I just asked her manager a simple question.

    “Why did this have to be so hard?”

    And, I’m sure you’re going to have to ask yourself that same question in the very near future. Maybe it’s in regard to a client taking forever to pay, or being disrespected during a meeting.

    You’re going to want to give up. Don’t.

    Instead, fiercely advocate for yourself and demand the respect you rightfully deserve.

    Be Yourself

    My friend and award-winning social video expert, Kim Rittberg, was speaking at the same conference. She got in earlier that day and recorded a quick video from the event. I watched it as I was unpacking in the hotel room.

    The video was great but here’s what stood out to me; all the guys were wearing blazers, most were wearing suits. I was planning on wearing sneakers, BYLT pants that kinda look like slacks and a hoodie. But once I saw all those guys in suits I started second guessing myself.

    I was tempted to rush out and see if I could buy something that would help me fit in more. I even thought to myself “a lot of people unexpectedly get married in Vegas, there must be somewhere I can buy a suit in the middle of the night.”

    And if you’re following along the answer is “yes”. That same guy who wouldn’t look for a hotel room at midnight suddenly felt compelled to go shopping at 1am.

    But then it hit me. These people all paid to see me on stage. I’m a keynote speaker, I deserve to be here, and I can’t deliver the experience they’re looking for if I’m not comfortable.

    Back to you.

    There will be times when you feel like you have to change who you are to fit in. Maybe it’s the way you dress, do your hair or how you talk.

    You’re going to want to conform. Don’t.

    The best version of yourself is all you need to be, but you can’t do that if you’re pretending to be someone else.

    Challenge yourself

    After my presentation this guy in a really nice suit walked over to me.

    I was immediately disarmed by what he said; “Nice shoes, I need to start wearing sneakers too. These events are great but my shoes are so uncomfortable I sometimes skip sessions because I don’t want to walk that far.”

    He then told me how much he appreciated the session I led and was looking forward to sharing the key takeaways with his team.

    Normally I would have just said something along the lines of “That’s so great to hear, I’m glad you found value in my session . . .” But then I thought to myself; now is the perfect opportunity to pitch your LinkedIn training program. Just bring it up and see what happens.

    I pitched him on my LinkedIn training program and he only had one question “Can you lead it remotely?”

    That’s it. No questions about cost, references, none of that. I already proved my worth on stage and he was ready for more.

    Your turn.

    At times you’ll be afraid to pitch a prospect or partnership opportunity. Don’t let that hold you back. If you ask, the answer will be yes or no. But if you don’t ask, the answer will definitely be no.

    Next Steps

    I love feedback! If you have any questions or suggestions for future podcasts please connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

    Listen to the full episode below.

    Terry Rice

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  • No More Excuses: Tanner Chidester’s Harsh Truths to Improve Your Business | Entrepreneur

    No More Excuses: Tanner Chidester’s Harsh Truths to Improve Your Business | Entrepreneur

    I was recently scrolling through Instagram and a video caught my eye: A guy asked his viewers, “If you’re not willing to send DMs, are you really sure you want to start a business?”

    The guy, it turns out, is Tanner Chidester. As the Founder of Elite CEOs – among other companies – Tanner has generated over 60 million dollars in the online coaching world.

    But as a college athlete turned entrepreneur, his path to success was not always straightforward.

    So If you’re struggling with your business, sometimes the answer isn’t the latest tool or someone to hold your hand and tell you it will all be better. Sometimes you just need a wake up call.

    Tanner is here to give it to you.

    I sat down to interview him for this week’s episode of the Launch Your Business Podcast where he shares:

    • The hard truths you need to know as an entrepreneur
    • The unexpected traits you need to be resilient as a business owner
    • How to avoid “miserable success”

    You can check out my key takeaways below:

    Tanner shares the benefit of mentorship

    “If I paid for help sooner, I probably would’ve made another $20 million and I probably would’ve saved myself from a lot of struggle and heartache.

    Tanner recalled how he struggled for the first few years of his business and how it shaped his view on mentorship.

    “Two years may not seem like a big deal but when you’re doing 16, 18 hours a day and you live in a shithole and you have a terrible car and girls are laughing at you; it doesn’t feel like it’s not a big deal. It feels like the world’s ending. And so I almost quit five times. And the only reason I didn’t is I had a mentor that told me not to, and I’d figure it out.”

    Fortunately his mentor not only encouraged him not to quit, they provided him with the actions, tools and mindset needed to succeed.

    The one tactic that led to his explosive revenue growth

    “People forget, I did door to door sales for eight months, six days a week, 12 hours a day.”

    Tanner describes this as one of the worst experiences of his entire life. This is why he was so excited about the idea of using direct messages on social media to grow his own business.

    “When I was able to start making sales just using my phone it wasn’t fun, but I was making 10 times more just sitting on the couch. Before I was sweating all day, I would chafe my legs and even have guns pulled on me.”

    This experience contributed to his confusion around why other people aren’t willing to take a similar approach; simply messaging prospective customers and pitching your offer.

    “There’s so many other things you could go do, and make so much less, that are so much harder in terms of work and effort.”

    Tanner clearly wants to win, but he wants you to as well

    I often say perfection is the enemy of progress. Tanner shared his perspective on how a delay in taking action can lead to failure.

    “You have to move quickly because if you don’t and you extend this timeline to success. Every day you go past that, you increase the chances that you’re going to quit.”

    He continues and shares his motivation for helping entrepreneurs.

    “That’s also probably why I’m so passionate because people, they don’t get it. And they think by not taking action they lose nothing. But you are losing something, you just don’t know what it is. Until maybe you meet your maker.”

    Tanner concludes with a simple, but grounding statement that defines his mission.

    “I just want people to win. I know what it feels like to lose, so I just want people to win.”

    Next steps:

    Ready to learn more from Tanner? Here are a few ways he can help you.

    You can also learn more about Tanner by visiting his website, and be sure to give him a follow on social media at tanner.chidester.

    I love feedback! If you have any questions or suggestions for future podcasts please connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

    Listen to the full episode with Tanner below.

    Terry Rice

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  • Are You Using the Most Powerful Marketing Tool on the Planet? Ashley Kirkwood Shows You How. | Entrepreneur

    Are You Using the Most Powerful Marketing Tool on the Planet? Ashley Kirkwood Shows You How. | Entrepreneur

    When I first started my business I spent two weeks cold emailing members of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. I lived in Brooklyn, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to quickly get some local clients. I got two responses.

    One person booked me for a small project. And by small, I mean I made $100. I was disappointed but eventually found success with a different approach. Instead of messaging individual members, I asked my contact at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce if they were interested in me leading a workshop for the entire community. I believe the topic was “Digital Marketing for Small Businesses” or something along those lines.

    They said yes, promoted me to their list, and even gave me access to a conference room at no charge. The day of the event I was shocked to see over 50 people show up to hear me speak. After the event, several attendees rushed over to speak to me. Mind you, I’m positive I reached out to some of them via email just weeks before.

    But after hearing me speak, their perception of me changed. I wasn’t just some random person trying to sell them something. I was the guy who already shared valuable content and they wanted to know how I could apply that information to their specific business. I walked out with a stack of business cards and closed two deals within the next week.

    That’s when it hit me: speaking was a much more efficient process for building my credibility, attracting leads and closing deals. And that’s why I was so glad Ashley Kirkwood agreed to appear on the Launch Your Business podcast. Ashley is the author of Speak Your Way to Cash®: How to Start at the Top of the Speaking Market Instead of Working Your Way Up from the Bottom! Her organization, also called Speak Your Way to Cash, teaches professionals to better package, pitch, and sell their products and services.

    During our interview she shared tactic-level strategies on how you can get paid from and through speaking opportunities. I’ve shared some of my favorite takeaways below.

    Don’t sell better than you deliver, and don’t deliver better than you sell

    We’ll start with the first part: don’t sell better than you deliver. This can be catastrophic since you’re letting the client down and damaging your reputation. Plus, you won’t be able to generate leads after delivering a lackluster performance. So while it may be tempting to charge big bucks from the start, make sure your fee is aligned with the results you’ve already been able to deliver.

    At the same time, don’t deliver better than you sell. As an expert you have a skewed perception of how valuable your knowledge is. But remember, what comes easy to you may be quite difficult for others. So don’t undersell yourself. Otherwise you won’t make enough money and you’ll be less likely to continue speaking, which means you won’t be able to help those who need you.

    How much to charge for speaking engagements

    Although you may just want to speak for lead generation and branding purposes, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get paid at the same time. And while I recommend speaking for free to get your feet wet, you should seriously consider charging for your services once you’ve begun to establish yourself.

    Asking for $1,000 is enough to justify your time without being too expensive for many organizations. However, Ashley encourages you to continue ascending so you can charge your true value. She referenced an industry report that revealed the average professional speaker charges $7,500. So consider this a next step once you’ve landed a few gigs at a lower price point.

    How to create a $100k speaking package

    This was by far my favorite take away from the conversation. Most speakers only pitch one event to potential partners. As a result, they’re automatically limiting their revenue potential.

    Instead, Ashley encourages you to pitch a series of talks and includes additional options such as e-books, courses and VIP dinners. Beyond that, you can greatly increase your rates by including consulting services. Offering to help individuals or organizations apply what they’ve learned during your event is a great way to form a deeper partnership and greatly increase your rates.

    Next Steps

    Ready to learn more from Ashley?

    Learn more about her programs and community

    I love feedback! If you have any questions or suggestions for future podcasts please connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

    Listen to the full episode with Ashley below.

    Terry Rice

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  • Pat Flynn Teaches You How to Build a Revenue Generating Audience | Entrepreneur

    Pat Flynn Teaches You How to Build a Revenue Generating Audience | Entrepreneur

    You know that building an audience is important. Whether it’s on LinkedIn, YouTube, your newsletter – you want to grow the base of people who know, like, and trust you, and will eventually buy from you.

    But, knowing that an audience is important is entirely different from having the skills to build an audience that lasts. So how do you do it? How do you build an audience of engaged, vocal followers who will not only buy your product but spread the word on your behalf as well?

    For this week’s podcast episode I sat down with Pat Flynn to discuss just that. Pat is the co-founder of SPI Media, a podcast, and owns several successful online businesses – when it comes to audience building, he’s the real deal.

    You can read the key takeaways from our discussion below and listen to the full episode here.

    Being an expert isn’t enough to find success

    Just scroll Instagram or Linkedin for a few minutes, and you will find people with way less skill and knowledge than you who have an audience hanging on their every word.

    Here’s a tough truth: You can be the most skilled expert in the world, but if you don’t know how to communicate that skill in a way that resonates with your audience, you’re going to be outdone every time.

    How do you build a presence that creates lifelong fans? Good question, we’ll cover that next.

    Be the audience before seeking an audience

    Pat advocates for becoming part of your target audience before you start to build a presence there. This gives two big advantages:

    1. You speak the language – by the time you’re ready to sell, you’re using the same vocabulary, know the inside jokes, and know who key players are. If you come in with no background knowledge, you aren’t offering expertise or a unique perspective. You’ll just be white noise to that audience.

    2. You can empathize with your audience. When you’ve been a part of a group, you know the problems they deal with, what motivates them, what slows them down. And that enables you to solve problems for an audience more effectively.

    Master one platform before expanding to others

    While you’re joining the audience, notice what platform they gather on. Then start with mastering just that platform.

    Pat said that if your effort is distributed across five platforms with five different sets of best practices, you’re going to fail. Instead, pick one platform and take courses on how to best utilize it.

    Invest in your community there. Learn about the individuals that follow you, care about their lives, decide how you’re going to show up on that one specific platform.

    Calculating Return on investment

    This part is tricky, because most business owners would like to know for certain that if they put in a certain number of hours, they’ll get a certain number of dollars out.

    Pat says ROI is the wrong way to look at it – when you discover who the people are, and what they need, you have an infinite number of ways you can solve their problems.

    He also points out that knowing your audience increases the impact of other areas in your business – copywriting, lead magnets, sales. All of those are infinitely more effective when you know your audience.

    Another note on ROI: If you measure it after your first project launch, it’ll feel lousy. The value of investing in your audience compounds over years.

    Next Steps

    Want to learn more from Pat? First, listen to the full interview Pat Flynn Teaches You How to Build a Revenue Generating Audience.

    Then, check out SPI Media’s All-Access Pass. In addition to gaining access to interactive DIY courses, you’ll also join a community of entrepreneurial peers of all levels who are committed to learning and improving their skill set.

    And, here are a few ways I can support you.

    Either way, I wish you the best of luck and feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

    To hear the full conversation and get access to additional resources tune in to this week’s episode of the Launch Your Business podcast.

    Terry Rice

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  • How to Write Proposals That Get Accepted and Don’t Take Forever to Write

    How to Write Proposals That Get Accepted and Don’t Take Forever to Write

    Time kills deals. So if you’ve ever struggled to write a business proposal, check out the most recent episode of the Launch Your Business Podcast.

    You’ll learn how to write proposals that get accepted and don’t take forever to write. I’ve provided a few of the key takeaways below.

    But as heads up, this is a rather detailed guide (which includes a sample proposal) so I suggest saving it, blocking off time to read it, and sharing it with another business owner who could use the help.

    The three questions you must ask before creating a proposal

    The process of writing a proposal actually starts with the sales call and the questions you ask. So, once the prospect indicates a willingness to move forward, here are the three questions you must ask.

    “What do you need to see in the proposal?”

    Too often we assume the prospect wants a 30 page essay on how you’re going to change their life when they really just want an invoice. Asking this question upfront will save you a lot of time and stress.

    And, you can go as far to ask if they’d prefer a specific format, details or even an example of a proposal that’s been accepted in the past. The more you know, the faster you can move and the more likely you are to have your proposal accepted.

    “Who else needs to see this proposal in order for it to be approved?”

    You might have a great relationship with the prospect you’re chatting with but you never know if there’s a spouse or coworker – who you haven’t met – that also needs to be involved in the approval process. And since they weren’t involved in any other conversations you wouldn’t be aware of any stipulations or questions they may have about the engagement.

    You can speed up the sales process and avoid a lot of back and forth by understanding whether or not it makes sense to have a call with an additional stakeholder. This additional call would allow you to develop rapport with them and answer any questions they may have before you write the proposal.

    “How soon would you like to start?”

    You’re going to ask this just in case they take forever signing the proposal. So, let’s say the state they need to get started by May 29th. If it’s May 22nd and they still haven’t signed the proposal you can email them and say “Hey, if you want to get started by the 29th the contract needs to be signed this week. I’ll need to send you some onboarding materials and it will take me a few days to prep in advance.”

    This should get you a response since you’re referencing the deadline they created. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that point but you’re prepared just in case it does.

    Key elements to include in your proposal

    So now that we have all the information we need, it’s time to write the proposal. And, my approach is based on the book Million Dollar Consulting proposals by Alan Weiss. I picked it up when I first started my business and was surprised by the fact a proposal didn’t have to be a dissertation. In fact, his recommended format is only one and a half pages long. I’ll walk you through all the sections now.

    Overview

    The first is the overview. And, this is the part where you explain what you’ll do along with the impact it will have on the company or organization. The example you’ll find on my website is based on a service provider who helps companies optimize their email marketing campaigns.

    The overview is fairly basic. I’ll share an excerpt from the sample proposal below.

    The goal of this engagement is to provide tactic-level guidance and support as it applies to your optimizing your email marketing strategy. Key outcomes include increasing your list size and revenue generated per subscriber.

    Key Performance Indicators

    The next section is where you’ll indicate how success will be measured. These are the key performance indicators or KPIs. And, I’ll share an excerpt from the sample proposal again.

    Key Metrics of Success:

    • Email list growth
    • Email open rate
    • Email click rate
    • Website purchases

    The metrics you mention will obviously be different and you want to agree on these during a conversation with the prospect.

    For example, let’s say you offer training that helps companies boost their employees morale. And, the goal is to reduce turnover and increase employee satisfaction.

    The KPIs might be:

    • Reduction in employee turnover
    • Increase in employee satisfaction (based on a pre and post training survey)
    • Net Promoter Score. (how well did participants rate you and your training)

    Your KPIs are important because anyone should be able to quickly scan them and immediately understand the impact of your work. So, be sure to put some thought into these.

    Services Provided

    We have our overview, and our KPIs, now we’re going to list the specific services you’ll provide. And, unless requested, you should keep this relatively brief. Stick to bullet points if possible.

    Here are the services referenced in our sample.

    The Consultant agrees that they shall provide their expertise to the Client for all things pertaining to optimizing their email campaigns including:

    • Email list maintenance
    • Subject lines optimization
    • Email copy best practices
    • Increasing revenue per subscriber

    Again, this will all be based on the service you offer but you get the point, keep it brief. If you want to provide more details I suggest adding sub bullets as opposed to paragraphs.

    For example, I referenced email list maintenance . A sub-bullet could break down exactly what I mean by that.

    • Email list maintenance
      • Removing people who unsubscribed from the email list
      • Labeling subscriber who buy specific products
      • Identify individuals who spend more per purchase

    I don’t want to turn this into an email marketing lesson but you get the point here, provide additional details without getting into the weeds.

    Fulfillment Process

    After providing information on the services, it’s time for the next section, which is your process. What does the client journey look like from start to finish? The more you can help someone visualize the entire engagement, the easier it will be for them to wrap their head around it and say yes. Again, you want to use bullet points here.

    So, here’s the process based on the email marketing training we’ve been talking about.

    • Client grants access to email marketing platform
    • Consultant audits current campaigns
    • Consultant delivers summary and optimization roadmap
    • Consultant trains team members
    • Team members implement new techniques and tools for 30 days
    • Consultant audits new campaigns and identifies improvement and ongoing opportunities for optimization

    So now it’s your turn. Jot down every milestone that takes place from beginning to end, but say it in a concise manner.

    Delivery & Communication

    The next section describes how you’ll provide this service and how you will stay in communication during the project. This one is rather basic as well but it’s important. So, here’s an example for you.

    The Consultant will perform work remotely unless otherwise noted.

    In addition to emails and messages, the Consultant will meet with the Client once per week to discuss progress and continue implementation of solutions. The consultant agrees to respond to all client communications within one business day with the goal of answering any questions within 48 hours.

    That last part is important since it establishes expectations for how quickly you’ll get back to a client. I usually get back to people relatively quickly but this is a great way to establish communication protocols.

    Terms of Agreement

    The next part is the terms of the agreement. And by terms I’m not referring to a legal contract, this is just a summary of when the engagement will start and end.

    This Agreement shall begin on [Begin date] and continue for [Time period]. Either Party may terminate this agreement for any reason with [Days written notice] days written notice to the other Party.

    Again, this clearly isn’t a legal contract. But if you are looking for help with writing legal contracts I’ve provided more information on my site at terryrice.co/proposal

    Compensation

    The last part is exciting and scary at the same time, compensation. As you may have guessed, this is the part where you state how much it will cost and when you’ll get paid.

    Here’s the copy provided in the sample.

    In consideration for the services referenced, the client shall pay the consultant a flat rate of $30,000.

    Consultant shall invoice client on the following schedule:

    • 33% upon agreement
    • 33% at halfway
    • 33% upon completion

    So, a few things to call out here. Always get paid before you do any work, even if it’s just a 20% deposit. And youre doing this in case the client backs out for one reason or another after you’ve already started working. For larger engagements I like to break these down into phases, especially if it’s going to take several months. You can choose to get paid upon completion of each stage of the process.

    Putting it all together

    So there you have it, an easier approach to writing proposals that don’t take forever.

    And, if you want to create them even faster, use a template that can be quickly customized. I use a tool called Honeybook for this and you can also use it to send invoices.

    As a heads up they have a promotion where you can use the service for just one dollar per month for the first eight months. So it’s a great opportunity to try it out for a very low price. You can sign up here. And, I should note, I’m an affiliate partner for HoneyBook and will receive a small commission if you choose to use their service. But like I said, it’s my go-to platform, which is why I highly recommend it.

    A quick pep talk for you

    I know the process of creating proposals can be challenging so my goal here was to help you save time and avoid confusion.

    But before we go I want to address a few questions that may be on your mind.

    • What happens if something is missing from the proposal?
    • What if they want more details?

    And those are valid questions. In fact, it happens to me quite often. But fortunately the foundation you’ve established is so clear, the prospect will ask more pointed questions as opposed to being confused about what the heck you’re going to do.

    These are buying questions, not “What the heck are you talking about?” questions. So you may just need to make a few adjustments before your prospect is ready to sign and you get paid!

    What’s next?

    Block off one hour to complete your proposal. But remember, done is better than perfect.

    And if you’d like help growing your professional service business consider joining my video course, The Solopreneur’s Shortcut. Through a combination of videos, worksheets and templates you’ll discover how to package, price and promote your services so you can attract high-paying clients.

    Either way, I wish you the best of luck and if you have any questions feel free to contact me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

    To hear the full conversation and get access to additional resources tune in to this week’s episode of the Launch Your Business podcast.

    Terry Rice

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