SFR 202: 7 Business-Changing Lessons...
"business development" "business process" "strategic framework" OfferMind, success framework, offer creation
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These are some of the BIGGEST needle-moving lessons I've been applying in the last year\u2026
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When I did my live event OfferMind, I didn\u2019t just jump straight into the marketing bit\u2026 I started out by walking through some mental attributes that have really shifted the needle for me.
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This isn\u2019t something that I\u2019d normally do, but after coaching thousands of people, I\u2019ve noticed that if somebody doesn't have these sign posts inside their brain, a lot of times their business won't do very well.
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So I want to share with you seven of the most life-altering lessons I've learned in the last three years.
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These are especially potent when it comes to being able to function as the entrepreneur inside your business.
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ARE YOU WILLING TO LISTEN?
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A few weeks ago, Russell was doing a big push for Cyber Monday and Black Friday. I was watching the way that some people were reacting to the Funnel Hacking Live tickets being sold\u2026
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I was like "Dude, let me teach some things to help people actually make 2000 dollars in a day."
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I woke up the next morning, and looked at my phone, and I was stoked to see my an email with my name there next to Russells.
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I've pushed really hard in the game, and to see that he'd blasted his whole list about the training meant a lot to me.
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I taught for three and a half hours, and it was really funny what happened\u2026
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There was a group of people who really appreciated what I was teaching, BUT it was not necessarily a marketing education, and I think that threw some people.
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There was a small group of people who were very unhappy with the fact that I was not teaching my usual content.
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It was amusing to see the stark divide.
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However, there are some patterns that I've noticed inside of somebody's brain that makes them successful.
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These are some of the biggest lessons I've distilled down, especially in the last year.
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These aren't flash in the pan things - they\u2019re the lessons that have made the BIGGEST difference for me in my life and my business as I've moved forward.
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So, I'm gonna walk you through each of them real quick:
7 BUSINESS CHANGING LESSONS
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(An early Christmas present from Papa Larsen)
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LESSON #1:
FOLLOW THE FRAMEWORK
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It\u2019s really common for people to ask me, "Hey, Stephen, I'm gonna start building a funnel. What's the what's the checklist I need to make sure that my funnel gets off the ground well?" I understand what they're asking, but the biggest thing I've noticed is that people will get distracted by the creative process.
It doesn\u2019t matter whether it\u2019s a:
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- Funnel
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- Business
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- Product.
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\u2026 the creative is the cherry on the top. It\u2019s the exact opposite of what you need to focus on to succeed in this game.
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You add the cherry AFTER you\u2019ve made the cake\u2026 NOT before!
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Let me explain\u2026
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When I was in college guys, a lot of times I was taught, "Make something that's brand new and completely prolific. Something that no one's ever seen before."
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That\u2019s some risky crap, and I never would follow that advice ever.
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Instead, you need to follow the 80% framework. 80% of this entire game is just following the pattern. It's the 20% that allows you add your little glaze on top.
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I get stressed out when people wanna know about \u201cthis little trick or gimmick.\u201d \xa0They have no idea that they're focused on the 20% instead of \xa0the 80 that makes it work. You understand what I'm saying?
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You can get an F in funnel building or make a design that's crappy, and still make enough money to have a fantastic lifestyle just by understanding the 80% framework.
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If you are NOT a creative person, that's not a handicap. You just need to follow the framework to the \u2018T.\u2019
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So, here's my lesson to you:
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If you can't name, or tell somebody what framework you're following, then you\u2019re spinning your wheels.
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If you\u2019re frustrated because you\u2019ve been doing this game for so long, and tried tons of stuff..." But you have no idea what model \xa0you\u2019re following, and I'm not talking about funnels, I'm talking about business models\u2026.
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If you can't say this is the 80% framework l that I'm following, that\u2019s your problem, right there!
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For years, I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I was like, "I know what I'd do in that guy's business, I know what I'd do in that guy's business... Why aren\u2019t I making any money?"
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And it's because I would always go out on the cusp to these places where I was trying to learn the 20%. And that's the 20% doesn't matter.
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It's so much better to learn the 80% framework that causes cash. I only care about the frameworks that cause cash by a rule.
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If you haven\u2019t checked it out already there\u2019s a really powerful episode called Cash Causing Models that talks about this in detail.
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I don't wanna have to learn the exception to the rule in order to make money. \xa0
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I'm not throwing rocks at the financial market, but I don't do much stuff in the stock market or stuff like that anymore because I felt like I had to learn exceptions to the rule to make money.
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It was the same with a lot of the things I was trying back in the day\u2026 that\u2019s why I was broke :-(
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The thing I like about funnels is that you can learn the 80% and then just build them and make money. You don't have to learn these crazy flash in the pan strategies in order to make it work out.
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WANT A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK?
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Ok, well, what I recommend to find a framework that works is this...
(I'm gonna teach you right now how to shortcut your time to success)
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For example:
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If you're trying to be the best traffic driver for Instagram ads. What you need to do is start looking at the industry to work out WHO is yesteryear's framework master?
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Let me walk through this real quick:
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Let\u2019s look at Sales Funnels...
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Who's the person, right now, who understands the most about sales funnels? That'd be Russell Brunson, right!
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\xa0The reason Russell knows so much about sales funnels is that he\u2019s studied yesteryear's gurus.
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He's obsessed over the last generation of gurus. He knows the frameworks that they teach so well that he's learned how to distill \xa0them down, find the gaps, and create his own frameworks.
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I know one of the major reasons why I am where I am right now is because I decided, "I wanted be one of the best funnel builders in the world." Am I? I have no idea.
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...But the pursuit of that led me to follow Russell Brunson, and he\u2019s what I call ( and I know it sounds cheesy) A Framework Master. He\u2019s the master of frameworks that cause success in funnel building.
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So if you're gonna be the best traffic driver for Instagram, you need to ask, \u201cWho is the yesteryear's guru's framework master?\u201d
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Meaning they\u2019ve intensely followed loads of different gurus, consumed all their material, applied it, saw the gaps, and then produced their own frameworks.
MY OFFERMIND
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My friend, I know that the reason why \xa0OfferMind was such a big success was because I was teaching my own frameworks.
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I've spent so much time preoccupied with the offer creation and the funnel building space, that I know where the gaps are between learning it, and actually doing it.
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That\u2019s knowledge comes from the time spent with the thousands of students I've help with offer creation. That\u2019s a lot of mat time.
YOUR MISSION:
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- Identify the framework master... the Jedi master, the sensei that has obsessed over consumed all the gurus and their frameworks - \xa0then got so good that they started producing their own variations.
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That's huge. You cannot fake that - \xa0and that's why I follow Russell Brunson on funnels.
LESSON #2:
BE PEAK FOCUSED, NOT PATH FOCUSED
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An individual who\u2019s path focused \xa0always takes a long time to start moving.
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I used to do a lot of backpacking, I remember this time when we were climbing a mountain on a three-week backpacking trip...
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We\u2019d just come out of this beautiful valley. It was afternoon; the clouds had come can over and it started drizzling. There was a nice smell of rain in the air.
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Suddenly, we found ourselves on the top of a ridge we\u2019d been scaling, only to see another summit beyond it.
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We\u2019d keep going, but time after time, there\u2019d be another summit to scale. You\u2019d think you\u2019d reached the peak, but it only revealed that you\u2019ve further to go - it\u2019s what\u2019s known as a false summit.
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Here\u2019s how this relates to success\u2026
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I've noticed is that when the individual is focused on the peak, the path stops mattering so much.
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The people that I've noticed who don't do anything in this game are the people who sit back trying to analyze every single path.
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They wanna see from beginning to end before they get started, and that\u2019s crap. It doesn't happen that way.
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You\u2019ve gotta be peak focused, not path focused.
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I'm not saying you shouldn't learn the path as best as you can, but *reality check* ...everyone switches paths on the way up to the top. Everyone does!
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For a while, I studied SEO. I hate SEO. I'm never gonna do SEO again. SEO drives me nuts. I would rather hire people to do that for me. In all reality, I hate it\u2026
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BUT that doesn't keep me from getting a cool online business online off the ground.
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If you\u2019re not sure about your path, the best thing you can do is get going.
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Something aren\u2019t revealed until you\u2019re in motion
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That\u2019s just the way it is\u2026
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If you start on a path and find that you don\u2019t like it, alright, then just switch paths, you're still heading to the same peak.
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When I coach people, I know that if they\u2019re peak NOT path focused, then they're a lot harder to stop.
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If stuff starting to come up against them that they weren't expecting, they just keep focusing on that peak and they keep moving\u2026 and that's a big, big deal because it happens to everybody in anything that you pursue...EVER.
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YOUR MISSION
- Stop obsessing over the path that you're supposed to go down and just start, even if there's no path in existence. If you know where the top of the mountain is, then just start moving.
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I'm very, very proud of my lady right now. She's doing some cool seminars \xa0and things that, she's never done before... and without me telling her... there's been no encouragement. I'm not like, "You gotta do this thing.\u201d She's just doing it.
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I was like, I\u2019m so proud of you, most people don't take action for freaking ever." They just sit back and ask, "But what's it gonna be like in session two?"
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Man, I don't know\u2026
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I planned OfferMind the week before it started, NOT before I started selling tickets. You understand?
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Some people react, "Stephen, you guys are so risky, oh my gosh." No, we're not. We're letting the market guide us, and that can only happen when we\u2019re in motion. \xa0
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You can't steer a parked car, people - move!
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NUMBER #3:
LEAN IN TO YOUR CONSTRAINTS
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You\u2019ve heard me riff on this one before, but the constraints that you have... they're not real constraints.
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You need to realize that everything that feels it\u2019s against you is actually your superpower.
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That's why when someone's like, "I don't have enough time or money..." I'm like "Bullcrap; I don't believe you. I have zero sympathy for you."
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Once you recognise that, it's amazing how fast you can move in the game and there's so much less anxiety. You stop comparing yourself to other people. And you stop saying thing like:
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- "Aw man, I'll take action once I'm in that kind of position."
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- "I'll take action once I have that kind of a following."
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- "Well, of course, they can do that because they have a huge email list."
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... You stop saying crap like that because you realize that:
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Everything obstacle you've been given is a tailored opposition just for you.
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- You're bad at speaking? Perfect. It means that you're gonna learn it in a way that others that are natural at it are not gonna learn it.
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- You have no money? Awesome. Lean into that. You're gonna have a story in the future where you can \xa0say "Yeah, we had nothing," and you'll be more believable than the person that started with a lot of resources.
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Lean into your constraints and be willing to live your hook
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If you aren't willing to live the hook in front of your audience, that's a big deal because your audience is gonna call your bluff.
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YOUR MISSION
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- Stop waiting for thing to be perfect - lean into your constraints and live your hook.
NUMBER #4:
BUILD A BUSINESS THAT CHANGES YOUR WORLD BEFORE YOU CHANGE THE WORLD
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Please, please, please, for the love\u2026
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Stop trying to build a business that changes The World before you\u2019ve changed Your World.
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That's why I call myself the capitalist pig. I\u2019m telling YOU to Make Money.
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There's nothing wrong with making money. Make so much money that you can change your world, because then you'll be in a position to change The World.
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Let me ask you a question\u2026
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\u201cHow much power do you have if you're living paycheck to paycheck?\u201d
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Not much, right? You're very limited in the options that you have. I know, I\u2019ve been there.
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HOW TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD\u2026
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About six weeks ago, and we launched a new project\u2026it's really awesome, but I want to tell you WHY we launched it in the way we did\u2026
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Number #1: I chose the wealth industry. I did that on purpose because people expect to spend money in the wealth industry.
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It's not that they don't in relationships or in health, it just that they particularly expect to spend money in the wealth industry. So, it's an easier sell.
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I'm gonna stack all the cards in my favor that I possibly can.
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I don't have to turn around and say, "Hey you wanna spend 25 grand on this free plus shipping book?" Cause people will be, " Errm, No."
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I choose an industry where I don't have to sell people on the fact that they need to spend money. There's already an expectation.
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Key move right there\u2026
Number #2: \xa0I choose an industry that has existed for a while because it\u2019s gotten so good that it continues to create new customers.
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I sell in the MLM space, and that's the reason why. MLMs have been around for freaking ever and people are already convinced that it's good.
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The industry creates the customers. I don't have to create a customer. They make the customer for me.
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How amazing is that!
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When somebody builds a product and they say, \u201cWho shall I sell it to?\u201d *Wrong Order*
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The first thing I do is I look for is bloody red oceans that have been in existence for a while, and create customers.
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I want the sales message to be alluring enough that it creates a customer for me, and then I just need to figure out what message I can send into that red ocean to pull customers back out to me.
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I didn't create the customer; I collected the customer.
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As an ocean starts to expand, and the idea behind it gets more valid, the market will move from customer collection to customer creation.
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Here\u2019s what I'm looking for:
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- I'm selling into wealth, not health, not relationships - when I'm trying to change my world and NOT the world, I selling into wealth.
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- I'm looking for a market that has been expanding long enough that customers and companies reinvest the cash they made from that market back into the same market.
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- I'm looking for ways to see, "Oh my gosh, this market is so good, they're not just collecting customers from other markets now. They actually are creating customers."
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- The sales message is alluring enough and strong enough that it creates customers - and then all I have to do is learn how to sell into that market.
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There's a process...
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I never have to worry about who to sell to again. I'd never have to worry about how to create a customer. I'm just collecting them. It's a lot easier. Does that make sense?
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There's a lot of things that I walk through to see if that read ocean is ready to be picked:
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- Is it ready for me to sell into?
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- Is this a good product for me to go into?
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- What kind of sales message do I see that there's a divide beginning already inside that ocean?
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- Are there third-tier influencers rising inside of that red ocean?
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There's a lot of things, and I'll definitely do a full episode on this, but I want you to understand:
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Change YOUR world before trying to change The World.
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It's hard to pull margins out in a change the world business for quite some time and so you end up losing steam. Guys, go get money. Get rich.
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I'm all about making an absolutely sickening amount of cash and then doing cool things in the world with it that help people. That's kinda my thing. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
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However, I know \xa0it\u2019ll be waaay easier if I change my world first.
NUMBER #5:
THE MARKET WILL ALWAYS TELL YOU WHAT TO DO
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Now, what you have to understand is this game is about you learning how to be a good detective, rather than a creative genius.
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You need to learn how to go into an ocean and see what's actually going on inside it, and have it start to guide you in the creation of a blue ocean.
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It's the EXACT OPPOSITE of what \xa0I was taught in college and by a lot of the books that are out there today which tell you to,"Come up with a cool, brand-new idea..."
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Okay, but people don't just spend money because they say they're going to....
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You need to discover WHAT \xa0people are actually spending money on, NOT what they say they're gonna spend money on.
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It's all about discovering a blue ocean with a red ocean customer - that's way easier to do it that way.
YOUR MISSION
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- Become a detective in your Red Ocean, and discover you market with your customer.
NUMBER #6:
CASH IS NOT KING; CASH FLOW IS KING
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Let me say that again, "Cash is not king, cash flow is king."
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Too many times, I see somebody hit the Two Comma Club Award... they make a million dollars through the funnel and get this big payout, but then if it's not sustainable, they die.
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I'm not saying it's not worth it, but I am saying that it\u2019s not security.
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I look for opportunities...
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I have two value ladders right now that I'm building, two businesses.
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I think of businesses as value ladders with systems in them.
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There's two different value ladders that I'm building right now. \xa0In both of them there's:
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- An Acquisition Processes
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- An \xa0Ascension Processes for the customer
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- Monetization Systems for the customer
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So I'm ascending, I'm monetizing, and I'm actually acquiring customers inside the value ladder. However, it is incomplete without the fourth step, which is:
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- Continuity.
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It's not always super clear before I start, what that will be... but I want you to know that I'm always looking for a way to add a continuity base thing into each thing that I build because that continuity is what lets you build everything.
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Is there a way for me to gain a consistent monthly check from my customers?
Bringing in this huge cash influx is cool, but it's freakin\u2019 scary if it never comes again. And so I don't look for businesses where it's like, "Boom, tons of money all at once."
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I'm not saying I don't do that, but I'm saying I don't let my emotional hair down and go," Oh my gosh, I'm totally set now." \xa0Because that's freaky.
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I look for ways to build my business and build my stuff so that I have cash flow. And when I have cash flow - when things are rocking, that's a huge deal.
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That's actually what lets you build the business, NOT the funnel. The business is what supports the funnel. A business is systems.
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Because of the cash flows that we have, I can go hire a team.
I take that cash flows and hire out different pieces of the funnel build or content machine.
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I think ten people on the content team now between the two shows that I've got. Ten. It's not cheap. The reason I can do it is not because of cash flow.
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So I'm looking for businesses where I can get money coming in. The funnel breaks even on the customer coming in, then I upsell them, and then there is continuity....
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When I have that, I have a business.
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YOUR MISSION
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- Make Cash flow king in your business
NUMBER #7:
CONFIDENCE EQUALS COMPETENCE
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If you don\u2019t feel competent in the funnel game or inside of a business, you\u2019ve gotta learn more\u2026 But you have to do it in a focused way.
I don't learn anything about SEO or social media posting because I don't want to learn it. It's not what I need in order to solve the next problem in front of me. \xa0
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On my whiteboard, I have two questions I'm trying to answer right now. That's it.
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I know that if any other question that pops up, it's either something I need to solve on the way to solving the big problem... or it's not a real question.
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There's two problems I'm trying to solve right now. I can name them, so I know exactly what I need to learn.
I don't just learn generally. I don't just learn for the sake of, "Oh, it's good to just learn." No, it's not! \xa0That\u2019s the best way to make your brain feel clouded. It'll literally clog your mental shelf space.
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Go on what Tim Ferris calls a Low Information Diet
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YOUR MISSION
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- Learn on purpose - go on a low information diet.
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THE \u2018CRUSH IT\u2019 TEAM
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So, there you have it, the most 7 MOST important lessons I've learned during the last three years - and especially in the last year out on my own.
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If I look back on the things that have made the big difference in my life, these are the players:
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#1: It's all about the framework: If you can\u2019t name the 80% proven will make money framework, you're gonna feel like you're spinning your wheels. You're gonna fire off your next funnel and not know why.
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#2: You have gotta be peak focused, not path focused: Find the framework and \xa0just start moving.
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#3: Lean into the constraints: Anything that you feel, realize these are not constraint but super powers - specifically this has to do with the feelings and emotions of the individual:
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- I'm not good enough
- I'm not smart enough
- There's no way, I can't speak
- I can't talk
- I don't know how to write copy
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... blah blah blah, wah wah wah... and everytime I hear that it\u2019s usually because somebody's starting to believe their constraints are actual constraints, they're not.
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Constraints are superpowers - but not until you flip the way you're seeing them. You\u2019ve \xa0gotta be willing to feel a little pain, a little pressure, and a slight amount of discomfort in order to push through them.
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#4: Change your world before you change The World: That's a huge one. I want to change the world, that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I wanna change the world. I don't know exactly how, but right now I'm changing my world and funny enough, that changes a lot of other people's\u2019 world as well.
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The pursuit of me changing my world has been changing a lot of other worlds, but it's also been giving me more in a position of power and increasing my capacity to change the world.
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I know that those projects will come up soon, in fact, I can kinda feel they will be, but right now, doesn't matter, I'm trying to change My world before I change The World.
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#5: The market will always tell me what to do: I totally believe that.
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#6: Cash is not king; cash flow is king: Big old wins are awesome, but please build something that's sustainable.
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#7:Confidence equals competence. Stop learning generally and for the sake of it. It is the best way to feel like you're going nowhere.
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Until Next Time - Lean into Your Constraints!
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Hey, there's more marketing resources than there are sands in the sea, am I right?
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Okay, maybe not, but there's a lot. How do you know if you're paying for good ones?
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Recently I went to my business bank statement, and I counted 51 internet tools and resources that I use to run my business every day and actually keep my team size small.
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If you want to see the list, I actually filmed an individual video teaching you why I use each tool and the strategy behind it, and then I dropped the link straight to the source right below it. I
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f you want to see the list and see what you can use yourself, go to bestmarketingresources.com That's bestmarketingresources.com.