Gil Gerretsen: Helping Business Owners Find Their 'Hive' | EP 18

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The marketing is all about the
experience.

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I still think it is that I kind
of realized that you can't fix a

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company unless you get the
marketing straight.

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So Rainmaker is a person who
makes the money come in the

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door.
I've heard people say that when

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you're starting a business, the
best first step is the first.

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Fine your customers.
Find people that are willing to

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buy it before you even make it.
So many small businesses, it's

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all dependent on the owner that
they make themselves so central

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that they don't have a
replicatable business.

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The problem a lot of people make
is they put all their hope on

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social medias.
They make it their singular

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channel.
If you try to be too many things

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to too many people, you end up
being nothing to anybody.

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The business is there to serve
them, not the other way around

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there to see the customer.
But too many companies are

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entrepreneurs end up being
slaves to their business.

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Growing a small to mid sized
business is like pushing a stop

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train.
You're going to need help to get

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that initial momentum going.
Administrative tasks like

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payroll, managing health
insurance, and HR operations

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only add unnecessary weight to
your already busy schedule.

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That's why I'd choose Questco.
They take care of all the behind

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the scenes administrative and HR
work, letting you focus on what

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truly matters, growing your
business.

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Questco is your trusted
outsourcing HR service provider

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to help you get that train
moving.

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That's QUESTCO.
Questco Visit questco.net or

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call your local Questco
representative Thomas Owens at

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864-477-0843 to get started
today.

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So the list of coffee count
thing came.

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It was actually some, some
people, I guess at the Chamber

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of Commerce, I always have
encourage people to, if they're

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meeting new people, networking,
set up a cup of coffee with

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them.
So for so long the people say,

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well, let's have lunch together,
dinner or breakfast or something

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like that.
But coffee is quicker and easier

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and safer.
You're not interrupted by a

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service person all the time.
You can just go get your coffee,

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sit down and talk.
If the meeting is going well,

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you can go get another cup, cup
of coffee and continue to talk.

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If it's not going well, you can
hey, it's been 10-15 minutes,

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great to meet you.
So it, it's just a lot more time

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efficient.
So between the fewer

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interruptions, time efficiency,
if and I just, I still started

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teaching my clients and other
people when I was on the chamber

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board and involved in the
chamber a lot.

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Just do coffees.
So it's not like you're a coffee

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connoisseur kind of thing.
Oh yeah, you are?

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Yeah.
So I I lived in Seattle for a

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while in my career and got to
know Starbucks when they still

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had one store and I said really
this is pretty amazing stuff.

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So the only thing, the only
coffee you will find in our home

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is is Starbucks.
And really, Yeah, yeah.

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Which?
Do you try in the local shops

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around here or you just?
Oh yeah, we'll drink coffee.

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Coffee is still good, but at
home getting up in the morning,

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I I love the the, the deepness
of the Starbucks coffee.

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I mean, it's Starbucks coffee is
you either love it or you hate

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it, right.
And but I loved it ever since we

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were in Seattle and doesn't and
my wife is the same way.

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Matter of fact, I think that was
a good point of agreement when

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we first met.
So this is a little off script.

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Why do you think that Starbucks
has been able to grow so much

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compared to other local coffee
shops when it just started out

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as one?
Classic.

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Oh, it's a classic marketing
exam.

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They created an experience when
coffee was just the thing you

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drank.
So they just changed the game.

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They they made coffees.
They created an environment

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where it was fun to go sit.
We visit with me with people,

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but have a have a have a drink
that you couldn't get anywhere

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else.
I mean, where else could at that

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back at that time we're going to
get a mocha or a cappuccino or

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that was that wasn't.
Common.

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Then, Oh, that was not wasn't
even in the American vocabulary.

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Coffee was a coffee, OK, and
Americans didn't understand all

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this European stuff and espresso
little like what's that?

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You know?
So, so then so it caught on and

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people kind of went, this is
great.

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But it was the marketing is all
about the experience.

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I still still think it is that
Neil, they've had a little

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trouble of late, but they're
they're working on changing the

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game, turning the service around
and concentrating on the core

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experience.
And I think they're doing good

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or will do good again.
So you think?

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It comes out lots of their
customer experience.

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Oh yeah.
Yeah.

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And it's interesting.
When we travel, we, we, we

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visited like we were in New
Zealand for two months last year

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and, and we visited, Oh yeah, it
was great.

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But we visited their different
coffee shops and just to see how

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they're different and.
And it's a unique experience,

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but I still have not found a
place that quite gives the jazz

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that that a Starbucks does.
I.

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Really, I don't, I don't know
what, maybe it's just because

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Starbucks for me, I kind of grew
up with Starbucks as being all

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over the place.
So I'm like, oh, chestnut down

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the street, like I love that.
Or like Bridge City Coffee, like

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I don't know, they just seem
like the more I like the local

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stuff.
I guess it's a little different,

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but yeah.
Well, I still there's a lot of

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locals that do good job and but
yeah, it's a little bit, well,

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your question was a little bit
what what's that to the level?

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It was, it was the experience
that now others have upped the

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game.
OK.

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And and so they have a great
experience and they have their

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own versions of coffee as well.
It's it's not unlike what's

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happened in the craft brew beer
industry.

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OK is, you know, 20 years ago
you had, you know, a few yellow

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colored beers that you could
drink it at the that you can get

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at the grocery store and that
was about it.

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Now you have what I think at one
point we had 6000 breweries

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around the country.
And I think it's just this, I

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mean they've just grown.
If you look at the growth chart

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of how many breweries are now, I
just wrote a report a couple

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days ago that for the first
time, I think in 20 years, the

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number of breweries has actually
declined by a little bit.

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But again, there's an experience
and much better beer, different

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types of beer.
And so they've expanded the

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palate and I think that's what
Starbucks did.

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So anyway, that's that's a long
story on Starbucks.

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I've always been curious about
that, but for those that don't

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know Gil, what is Biztrek?
Can you give us just a quick

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summary of what that is?
So Biztrek grew out of my work

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in the turn around field where I
would fix companies and I kind

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of realized that you can't fix a
company unless you get the

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marketing straight.
So being a process oriented guy,

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my dad was mechanical engineer
and I have the belief if you

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don't develop a process, you
really can't replicate it.

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I learned that from West Edward
Edwards Deming and some of his

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writings that, you know, if you
just do it now and then you've,

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you've done something, but you,
you can't, if you can't

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replicate, you don't really have
something of value.

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So marking is one of those
things that I saw in all the

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companies I was fixing.
That was pretty much what I call

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throw stuff at the wall and hope
enough of it sticks.

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And it was a you.
You make it up.

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That's a very common marketing.
Strategy and and that just

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didn't sit with me.
I said yeah, I there's got to be

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a system to it.
And so in the course of doing

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what I did and being and I
developed the system, a process

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of 12 triggers.
I've said if you do these 12

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things in a row and you
customize it to the situation,

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you can predict, you can develop
a predictable model.

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So I turned that into a toolbox.
And so now that's I work with

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basically professional
rainmakers, primarily that

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rainmaker.
A rainmaker is a person who

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makes the money come in the
door.

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So it's, it's a like attorneys
and CPA, but I mean, a salesman

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is or a salesperson is a, is a
rainmaker.

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They're the ones, if you don't
get money in the door, then

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there's no business.
And so you've got to be able to

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know how to do that.
So there's a, there's a science,

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there's an art to it.
So the, the 12 triggers, the

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district method is basically
built around 12 triggers.

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If you if you learn them and
apply them and customize them,

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then you can you can grow in
pretty much grow any business

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so.
You think this is true to any

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industry?
I've, I've done over 200

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different industries and applied
it and, and it, it, it works.

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The, the skill is partly knowing
that the process, OK, so there's

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12 triggers, there's 100 and
roughly 120 different ways of

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developing or acquiring or
getting the attention of

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customers and then a million
variations of how every company

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does it.
So that's the customization

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part.
So when I'm mentoring a client

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with this through the district
model, we're, we're looking, OK,

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here's the principle and here's
then I have them kind of go

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through, OK, here's the things
we're doing and we start

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developing what are the right
things to be doing and put them

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into a marketing action plan and
then customizing for those

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situations.
So it's never the same thing.

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It's not like you don't do a
flick an oven on and there you

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go.
But it's it's once you customize

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it, then they've got a machine
that pretty much runs an

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autopilot.
Wow.

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So where do people most, where
do you see a lot of people go

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wrong with working on their
elevator pitch?

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They talk too long, so there's a
little story about the 32nd

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elevator.
Spit or pitch.

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Most people can't remember 30
seconds and most people can't

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get their message across in 30
seconds.

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So what often happened?
I saw this last week as a guy

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was introducing.
He rambled for over 5 minutes

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and there wasn't a notable point
in it.

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So what I teach people is you
got 5 to 7 words. 5 to 7 words.

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That's all the people to
remember.

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OK, you've got a short attention
span society.

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They just want to know where to
plug you in their brain and then

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move on.
OK, so everything beyond that is

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just feeling good for yourself,
but they, they don't remember.

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I mean, think about it, if I
would talk to you for 30

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seconds, how much of that do you
think you'll actually remember

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after being able to repeat?
Thank you for spending your

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Now let's get back to our guest.
I would say it depends on how

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much I'm interested in the topic
and how much I need the

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information per SE.
Yeah.

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Yeah, but.
If it's just off the wall,

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random person in the street,
yeah.

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Or like an elevator per SE.
And what your brain will tend to

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do is you'll tend to summarize
it into 5 to 7 words.

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OK, so because your, your brain
is just looking for a place, OK,

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what are you're a dentist,
you're a engineer.

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You're this OK, There was a one
word version.

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I don't even need to know
anymore.

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You know, this trick is a
marketing method.

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It's a toolbox.
Any more than that, if that's

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relevant, then you, it creates a
further conversation.

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So really the way what you want
an elevator speech to do is to

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say, OK, this is, is what I do.
And they, the other person would

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00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:35,480
kind of go, oh, that's
interesting.

227
00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,760
Tell me more now you're past the
elevator speech.

228
00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,560
And if they don't ask for
telling me more, they're not.

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They're not your customer.
Exactly.

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Well, so you've worked with
businesses of all sizes, people

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00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,000
that are just starting out,
people that are 10 years down

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the road.
I've done, I mean, I've worked

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00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,680
with people just getting
started, although not too, not

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00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:57,360
too many because they're still
in that first round of growth.

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00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,280
Most of them have been through a
cycle.

236
00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:04,280
We can talk about a growth cycle
in a bit, but but yeah, up to

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$100 million companies.
OK.

238
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Yeah.
So where I was going with that

239
00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,360
is where do you see a lot of
mistakes made for people that

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00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:16,560
are just starting a new company?
I would say that the main thing

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00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,360
is they think first about their
product or service instead of

242
00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,400
the audience.
So if you, if you look and this,

243
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,480
I think it's one of the reasons
why so many small businesses

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00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,160
fails because they say, hey, I
know this thing or I know that

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00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,920
thing and I'm tired of working
for somebody else, so I'm going

246
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,720
to do this or I've invented this
thing.

247
00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,120
I still remember one inventor
came to my office.

248
00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,720
He brought me a box of about 20
different things he's invented.

249
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,320
And he said, OK, I need to
market these.

250
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,040
And, and I looked at all 20
things.

251
00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,360
Was it Nobody needs any of those
20 things.

252
00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,400
So he was very proud of his
inventions and so he had the

253
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,640
thing that he went to then try
find an audience for.

254
00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,480
The right thing to do is find an
audience with a real problem to

255
00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:58,880
solve, and then figure out how
to solve it.

256
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,040
Yeah, I've heard people say that
when you're starting a business,

257
00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,840
the best first step is the first
Find your customers.

258
00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:06,880
Find people that are willing to
buy it before you even make it,

259
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,640
you know, because otherwise you
might be wasting your time.

260
00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,200
I.
Mean, going back to Starbucks,

261
00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,160
example is what did Starbucks
do?

262
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:17,000
They said we've got people who
would love to have better,

263
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,800
innovative, different coffee.
They're bored of the same old

264
00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,520
thing.
We can do that.

265
00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,280
OK, so then they created the
business to do that.

266
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,400
But the first question was who's
got a problem?

267
00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:28,720
Yeah, what's the need?
Yeah.

268
00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,000
Is there, is there a, is there a
legitimate need?

269
00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,680
You know, and you look at the
companies like Amazon, you look

270
00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:36,560
at all the big, huge companies,
they found a big need and filled

271
00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:37,160
it.
Yeah.

272
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,200
So you you, you often say that
to to prosper, businesses must

273
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,720
track and manage 5 crucial
areas.

274
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,160
So what are these 5?
Different areas so the easiest

275
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,440
way to to follow along with this
is picture a baseball diamond

276
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,760
because everybody knows it.
So I call it the five Ms.

277
00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,880
because the words all start with
with, with the letter M So the

278
00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,600
first one is once you know, kind
of know what the world is

279
00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,080
pitching at you, your what where
your need is, you have to look

280
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,240
at your mechanics.
It is and mechanics is basic

281
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,440
operation.
But the key thing is here is can

282
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,800
you deliver a reliable,
predictable result?

283
00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,920
So going back to Starbucks,
whether I have a cappuccino here

284
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:21,920
or in Seattle or Amsterdam, it
it has to be the same thing.

285
00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:23,920
OK.
So wherever I experienced the

286
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,640
purchase, I have to be able to
deliver a predictable, reliable

287
00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,240
result.
A lot of companies can't do

288
00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:30,720
that.
I mean, especially startups,

289
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,800
they, they, they, it's variable
and even sometimes restaurants

290
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:36,760
is one night it's good, one
night it's good.

291
00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,320
Who's the chef?
They're not following the

292
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,440
recipe.
And so they often stumble over

293
00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,480
that and they can maybe do it
when they're a certain size, but

294
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,840
then also they start to grow and
then they can't do it anymore.

295
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:50,720
And that's and then so they
stumble on that.

296
00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:52,240
What causes some of that
variability?

297
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,640
Because they don't have the
processes around it.

298
00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,120
OK, so then the next one is the
running from first to second

299
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:04,440
base is, is the Money Box or
money run is not that you have

300
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,920
it because there's a lot of
businesses don't, but that you

301
00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,040
know what's going on.
So if you got ACPA, you know,

302
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,760
they're they're they're able to
help, you know, here's how much

303
00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:13,720
money you have here.
You have access to this amount

304
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,920
of capital, but you have to have
it on a timely basis and you

305
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,480
have to know what's going on.
So I see some small businesses,

306
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:21,840
you know, they're working with
ACPA who doesn't get them their

307
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:23,960
financial statements until two
months after the fact.

308
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,040
Well, that's ancient history.
I mean, with all my companies, I

309
00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,760
can push a button and I know
exactly what I got where and if

310
00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,560
I need access to capital, which
I typically don't, but I would

311
00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,120
know where to go and who to call
and say I need this or that.

312
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,680
Then the third one is the
manpower box running from 2nd to

313
00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,520
3rd.
That's, and that's getting the

314
00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:44,880
right people to do the right
thing.

315
00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,280
So they tie directly to the
operations.

316
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:48,560
Have you got the right people
doing it?

317
00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,320
So many small businesses, it's
all dependent on the owner that

318
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,400
they make themselves so central
that they don't have a

319
00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,600
replicatable business.
They don't delegate.

320
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,960
They don't delegate, OK, and
they don't create processes for

321
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,680
the people to delegate to and
say, OK, here's how we do the

322
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,520
things so that if something
happened, you know, as Tom

323
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,680
Connell says, you know, you've
got the right people on the bus

324
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:10,840
doing the right things.
That's part of core part of his

325
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,560
method, EOS.
All that is got to have the

326
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:14,840
right people doing the right
things.

327
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,960
Then the ones that scores the
run is the marketing.

328
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,440
So that's the fourth end.
And if so, if you look at the

329
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,280
the first three mechanics, money
and manpower, most people

330
00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,120
intuitively know they need some
kind of process.

331
00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,160
And then they get to marketing
and they, they make up stuff.

332
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,400
They try this, they try that
growing, you know, throwing

333
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:34,000
stuff at the wall that we talked
about earlier.

334
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,360
It's definitely a lower priority
for.

335
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,680
Yeah, well, they don't.
The mind doesn't seem to think,

336
00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,960
oh, I should have a scientific
process for this and that I can,

337
00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:46,000
I can create a system.
So that's the whole that Biztrek

338
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,680
fills.
It says, OK, stop, stop this

339
00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,480
randomness and create a system
and score some runs.

340
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,880
And then the idea is, you know,
over time is you want to keep

341
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,480
running the bases.
But in between the 5th and is

342
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,280
management where you go sit in
the dugout and you sit back

343
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,600
periodically and you look at
what the world is throwing at

344
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,240
you and you make adjustments and
then you get out there and you

345
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,119
go hit again.
So if you look at businesses the

346
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,160
way they grow, they'll tend to
grow for a while and then

347
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,480
flatland, then grow for a while
and flatland.

348
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,240
And every time they're
flatlining, they're stuck on one

349
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:21,520
of those four that those ends
one of the, so they have to.

350
00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:23,720
What I had to do with people is
when I sit down with them, I

351
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:25,800
haven't scored each of those.
On a scale of one to 10,

352
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,280
whichever 1 is the lowest score
is worth holding them back.

353
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,240
So if you're stuck on manpower,
yeah, or that one, don't.

354
00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,240
Worry about marketing yet?
Because that comes after man so.

355
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,320
Take your resources from
elsewhere and put them into.

356
00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,040
The fix your manpower, yeah.
Essentially fix the bottleneck

357
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,600
in the system, yeah.
Fix the lowest score.

358
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,600
And so, yeah, I mean, if it's if
you can't produce a predictable

359
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,720
result, doesn't matter what you
market, OK, yeah, go get some

360
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,080
help or get some guidance or fix
your processes.

361
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,280
If you don't have good
information about your money, go

362
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,800
get either change your CPA or
change your expectations so that

363
00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:00,560
you know what's going on.
So what would you say the

364
00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,320
differences between business
development, marketing, sales

365
00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:05,920
and?
Customer service, great question

366
00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,520
because a lot of people just say
they talk about sales and

367
00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:11,320
marketing, which is actually
backwards.

368
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,600
Business development is the
process of getting money in the

369
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:16,320
door.
That's everything that goes into

370
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,640
it.
So this development has three

371
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,600
distinct parts.
Marketing is the process of

372
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,960
getting the conversations to the
point where you can have a sales

373
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:28,920
call which closes the deal and
the customer service is customer

374
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,280
attention, keeping the deal,
maximizing the cash flow.

375
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,360
So marketing gets the
conversation, sales close the

376
00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:38,080
deal, customer service keeps
them around.

377
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,800
So if someone's struggling with
the sales department because he

378
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,960
works mainly with marketing, how
would you advise someone that's

379
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:46,400
struggling?
With that so well, if the

380
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,800
marketing is getting the leads,
I'm thinking of a company that I

381
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,360
worked with a few years ago,
they were generating a lot of

382
00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:55,560
good leads.
They were closing almost none of

383
00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,320
them.
OK.

384
00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,400
So, yeah, I mean, when when you
get 120 leads of people says I'm

385
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,920
interested in doing more and you
can't even close one or two,

386
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,200
Yeah, that's a sales problem.
So where is the problem?

387
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:15,200
Well, it was the CEO of the
business being the salesman and

388
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,080
that person wasn't exactly
skilled in the art.

389
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,800
Would have been better to
delegate to somebody and then

390
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,040
create a sales process so they
don't need didn't need necessary

391
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,560
marketing assistance.
They needed first to get sales

392
00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,600
training or get some people who
are trained in the in the arena

393
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,840
sales to to close the deals.
So if you're in a business

394
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,080
position, you say you are that
CEO, but you don't have people

395
00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,160
that have that kind of training.
What should what should one do

396
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:42,840
there?
Then go get some training.

397
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,240
Essentially, take resources and
put it toward the.

398
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,080
There's a lot of great sales
training programs out there.

399
00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,560
I I think I would look for a
sales coach instead of just

400
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:57,080
reading books because it you
have to get somebody listening

401
00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,240
or watching what you're doing,
how you're doing it and, and

402
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,200
guiding you that way.
So a sales coach or mentor would

403
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,240
be good worth, worth the weight
in gold.

404
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,280
Yeah.
Tell me to think of what what

405
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,240
what every lost deal would cost
you.

406
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,800
Yeah.
So in regards to marketing, do

407
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,960
you think that economic
conditions change methodologies

408
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,680
that go toward that?
So marketing is basically

409
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:25,120
applied psychology.
It's it's how people do what

410
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:26,840
they do or why they do what they
do.

411
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,680
So the fundamental principles of
market haven't been haven't

412
00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,800
changed for thousands of years.
I mean, people have still buy

413
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:37,400
stuff and what motivates them to
buy what does change is the, the

414
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,080
tools and the tactics a little
bit, the customization of that.

415
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,120
What we talked earlier, there's
only 120 ways roughly of, of

416
00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:46,400
marketing.
I mean, I've got a list, OK,

417
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,560
hasn't changed in 30 years.
I've been running my company and

418
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,600
the, the, the centuries before
that and those things have been

419
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:57,760
there, but the, the specific
versions of the tools that are

420
00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,040
available to you.
When I started Biztrek, you

421
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,240
know, the Internet was just
coming around.

422
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:03,920
I was an early adopter.
I said it's going to change the

423
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:05,360
world.
Well, now it's just so second

424
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:08,000
nature and we're all looking at
AI and kind of go, oh, what

425
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,040
that's going to be OK.
It's just a different tool.

426
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,200
I kind of say AI is like the
next Internet.

427
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:13,400
Yeah, it is.
Exactly.

428
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,160
Yeah, it's just, it's still a
tool.

429
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,920
It's going to allow us to do
things that that we couldn't do

430
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,560
before to be more efficient and
it'll.

431
00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,120
Companies need to get on it.
Well, it'll create all kinds of

432
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,720
interesting new tools.
You know, the Internet came

433
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:30,240
around and e-mail came around.
It's like, now how do we live

434
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,800
without e-mail anymore?
Now it's almost like that's

435
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,440
almost getting passe is like
we're texting now or something

436
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,240
like that, right?
So yeah, but the principles

437
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:39,400
haven't changed and they won't
change.

438
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,400
What companies stick out to you
as like being the best

439
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,400
marketers?
Like when I think of marketing,

440
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,400
I think of Apple.
Just like plain black and white.

441
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:49,760
Simple, but like, still looks
prestigious, still looks

442
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,760
desirable items.
There's, I mean, there's a lot

443
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,800
of companies, there's a lot of
household names and we think in

444
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:59,280
terms of tech, you know,
Amazon's done good, Starbucks

445
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,160
has done well.
Again, the companies that find a

446
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,480
need and go fill it.
There's big names, but you don't

447
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,640
actually have to be huge to be
successful.

448
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:13,800
You can be an HVAC guy and and
still fill a need and if you

449
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,720
understand your customer and
what they need then you can

450
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:18,360
communicate with them and
they'll buy from them.

451
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,120
What do you think about social
media marketing?

452
00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:21,840
A lot of companies are using
that because it's free.

453
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,160
You can build your own platform
and spread your message for

454
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,720
free.
Social, I'm sorry, I'm very

455
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,360
active on social media.
I play around, I mean, I

456
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:34,560
literally have taken my Twitter
X accounts and, and stuff and

457
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,920
built them up and then zapped
them and tried this and I tried

458
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,160
that and Instagram.
The problem a lot of people make

459
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,080
is they put all their hope on
social medias.

460
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,400
They, they make it their
singular channel and that's like

461
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,080
standing on a diving board and
say, OK, I'm going to jump in,

462
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,360
forget to check whether there's
actually water there or not.

463
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,640
So social media works great for,
for some businesses and it's a

464
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,440
horrible thing for others
because simple question is,

465
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,880
where's my audience?
Is my audience hanging out in

466
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,120
social media?
So if you're trying to reach a

467
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:10,880
CEO of a company, do they have
time to be on social media?

468
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,480
Are they on LinkedIn or on
Facebook?

469
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,200
Probably not.
It could be like they hired

470
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,000
someone.
They may have hired somebody,

471
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,640
yeah.
And then there's other people,

472
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,600
you know, certain products and
people go and yeah, that they

473
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,280
get all their information out of
social media.

474
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,840
So you have to look at the
generation, what they're doing,

475
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,040
what they're looking for, where
they participate, you know, are

476
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,080
they on TikTok?
Are they on Instagram or are

477
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,000
they on Snapchat or what?
So it all depends on your

478
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:36,640
audience.
You have to understand your

479
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,320
audience.
So I'm not anti social media,

480
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,320
I'm not pro social media and
just practical.

481
00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:43,760
Which one is?
Where's your crowd hanging out?

482
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,080
Go be there, yeah.
That's a good point.

483
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,360
I haven't thought about that
before because I've I've

484
00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,320
obviously thought about social
media, especially for

485
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,080
advertising for the podcast.
It's like, should we use it?

486
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,320
Should we not use it?
We obviously use it, but just

487
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,760
how much emphasis to put on it
has been something I thought

488
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:57,920
about.
But that's a good point about

489
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,360
thinking where's your your
customer, your audience?

490
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:03,520
Yeah, so like with your podcast,
you would you just said, OK,

491
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,000
what kind of people are we
trying to reach first?

492
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,320
Right, Not not here's what I've
created.

493
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,320
Now try to find audiences.
Here's here's people with a

494
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:12,920
need.
Let me fill that audience.

495
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,160
So you're looking for who who
would be interested in business

496
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:20,600
leaders in the in the in the
Carolinas and but they then you

497
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:21,840
figure out where they're hanging
out.

498
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,600
You've got the thing now.
Linkedin's been the biggest 1 so

499
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,120
far.
Yeah, makes sense, right?

500
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,360
We're convincing people hanging
out, OK, But people, it has to

501
00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:32,880
be relevant.
So people who are all LinkedIn

502
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,560
doing political stuff for, you
know, that's kind of miss, Miss,

503
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:38,440
you're misidentified.
Unless your business is

504
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:39,880
politics.
Yeah.

505
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:41,720
Then go be somewhere.
Else.

506
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,160
So what is the hive that you
talk about?

507
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:49,640
OK, so the Hive is a concept
that I developed well way back

508
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,000
in the being.
It's trigger number one.

509
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,240
It is.
The easiest way is to begin by

510
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,080
saying it's not a niche.
So if you look, if you hear

511
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,720
people in the marketing industry
and advertising industry, they

512
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,200
talk about a niche.
And the problem with niche

513
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,120
terminology and thinking is, and
I put this in one of my books is

514
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,160
it's saying again, here's what
I've got, now let me go find an

515
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,440
audience for it, OK?
And I liken it to a spider that

516
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,320
just says, OK, I'm going to
build a web here and I'm going

517
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:22,880
to hope that somebody flies into
it and then I can suck them dry

518
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,280
for all they've got, OK?
And if I got enough, I've got

519
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,200
to, I'll be a nice big fat
spider.

520
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,800
OK.
But that's not how the world

521
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:31,640
works.
Yeah, there are people things

522
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,920
flying around all the time.
Sometimes you'll get lucky, but

523
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,240
often it's a very costly
engagement.

524
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,960
You got to build a big web and
and all that kind of stuff.

525
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,600
The more effective approach is,
is understanding how people

526
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,720
really live and work because
they work in little insulated

527
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,440
communities.
They have things of interest and

528
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,800
that they share.
So, you know, on a local basis,

529
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,640
some people are members of
churches, some people are a

530
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,720
member of different social
groups, some people are

531
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,280
participate inside an industry.
Well, if you look at where they

532
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,360
hang out, OK, they're very
protective of their world.

533
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:04,120
OK.
So it is just like if you look

534
00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:08,000
at a beehive, OK, it's, it's all
protected from the outside

535
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:09,640
world, except it's one little
area of entry.

536
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,200
And what what they got, they got
different bees sitting there

537
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:14,760
protecting who gets in, who does
not.

538
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,520
And if you're not one of the
right ones, they literally form

539
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,560
you and kill you.
OK, So what you want to be done

540
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,680
do is identify who the hive is
and what and, and who their

541
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,880
friends are.
And you want to be adopted as a

542
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,720
friend and they they'll take you
into their community and then

543
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:31,680
they'll tell everybody in the
community all about you.

544
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,040
So then you essentially you're,
that's your audience.

545
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,760
That's your.
Audience OK and and so if you

546
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:41,480
that's that's why I say is know
who you're for trigger #1 and

547
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,160
understand where they go for
information, hang out, go there,

548
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,440
be there with them, let them see
that you're one of them that

549
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,080
you're safe.
And then they kind of go, oh

550
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,680
look, hey, let me tell you my
bring you in.

551
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,560
Then let's let's go have lunch
with our friends or whatever,

552
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,160
you know.
So what if someone thinks that

553
00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,120
their product belongs in
multiple hives?

554
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:04,480
You can only have one hive, so
if you try to be too many things

555
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,600
to too many people, you end up
being nothing to anybody.

556
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,840
Everyone wants to be like the
next Amazon.

557
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,840
What did Amazon do first?
They started out as just a

558
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,840
bookstore online just for people
that were interested in.

559
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,480
And they concentrated on that.
I mean, that's, yeah.

560
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,640
And then then they've expanded
some other things, but then

561
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,720
they've also expanded some
things that haven't worked out.

562
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,360
Yeah, absolutely.
OK, so now they're pulling back

563
00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:33,240
some things that they stepped in
because yeah, when you're a mega

564
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:38,160
megalithic, is that a word?
But a huge company, you know you

565
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,840
can afford to dabble in some
things and see if they work out

566
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:42,480
or not.
Most small businesses and

567
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,760
entrepreneurs until you reach
major status, you can't.

568
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:48,080
You know one big mistake can
kill you.

569
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,960
So focus on a on a crowd that
matters and go do that.

570
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,760
If you go on to have serve
another crowd, spin off a

571
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,200
separate company, give it a
whole separate identity and say

572
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,440
this is about them and you.
You create 2 entities, do.

573
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:02,640
You recommend that for
entrepreneurs?

574
00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,600
Most entrepreneurs can't handle
2 locations, let alone two

575
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,520
different.
Yeah, it's best.

576
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,960
Unless you're really become
super wealthy, it's best to do

577
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,160
one thing, do it well, and and
pass on the other.

578
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,360
Yeah.
Now I've invested in other

579
00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:24,600
people who've done stuff and and
I think that's a smarter ways to

580
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:26,560
help them be great at what they
do.

581
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,640
Let them find their hive and
then serve that and profit off

582
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,920
off the investment instead of
being the guy doing it 24 hours

583
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,880
a day.
Yeah, I'm thinking of the hive

584
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,000
concept as in like working in an
industry.

585
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:42,680
It's like I'm obviously in tech.
Do you think that it's I'm sure

586
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,320
it's possible.
What do you think about someone

587
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,440
that wants to switch hives late
in their career?

588
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:50,520
Oh, it can be done.
I mean sure this.

589
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:55,400
Is difficult, yeah.
You have to look at again, what

590
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,080
do you bring to the table and.
But if you see a hive that's got

591
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,240
a known problem to be an
entrepreneur to fix that

592
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,480
problem, sure.
Because if you, I mean, I was in

593
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,080
the turn around work, I saw
these people with who are

594
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,000
frustrated because they couldn't
get their marketing going and

595
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,600
they didn't have a system that
was a career switch.

596
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,120
I could have stayed in the Turn
Around world.

597
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,440
What was the day one like for
you going full time into

598
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,720
Biztrog?
You did you really don't stop

599
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,400
and think about what day one is
like I mean, I just I launched

600
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,960
it I didn't launch until I
actually launched on April

601
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,240
Fool's day.
So tomorrow is 31st anniversary

602
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,120
of the company, but probably
said something about doing on

603
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:38,400
April Fool's day.
But it you don't really stop and

604
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,560
think about it.
I just I mean I had clients from

605
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,240
the get go right off the bat.
I knew what I was doing.

606
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,520
I from the day I launched, I was
making more money than I ever

607
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:49,040
did as a salary, really.
Yeah.

608
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,280
So how long did it take you to
build up to that point?

609
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,480
Like so you were doing this part
time all working.

610
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,320
I was, I was doing turn around
and just kind of go, OK, I want

611
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,400
to do this thing.
I sat down in the evening for I

612
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,600
think about a month just kind of
organizing the stuff a little

613
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,120
bit and making sure I was all
square.

614
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,400
And then just said, April one,
we're on the road and I had I

615
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,760
had a client clients lined up
the first day ready to go.

616
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,960
How did you already have that?
Because I knew where there I

617
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,040
knew they were.
I was I knew the hive and I just

618
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:23,280
went up to I mean, we had prior
relationships and I said here's

619
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,920
what I'm going to be doing and
here's where I think I can help

620
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:27,920
you.
And they said, OK, how much does

621
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:29,840
it cost?
OK, yeah, we can do that.

622
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,840
Boom.
Just like that you had a handful

623
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,560
of clients.
You make it sound so easy, like

624
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,760
so many other people.
Well, your question was how long

625
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,480
did it take?
And in reality, I had several

626
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,840
decades of, of training and
learning the stuff and

627
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:46,760
development.
So you really can't say, OK,

628
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,400
well, I worked all these 12
triggers out here.

629
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:52,800
I'm going to develop over time.
But once I realized that there

630
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:54,960
was a whole group of people out
there who needed something like

631
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:59,280
this and I had the thing, I can
go, well, OK, let me go tell

632
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,120
them I have this thing.
And they went, oh, I mean, this

633
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:04,760
is that's triggers one and two,
right?

634
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,560
You know, who's got a problem
that you can solve?

635
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:08,440
And they say here I got the
thing, I built the thing that

636
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,000
could solve that and they
they'll line up.

637
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,960
Do you think that your
experience at your university in

638
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,000
Calgary helped you build the
thing?

639
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,240
Of course, yeah.
I mean organizational.

640
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,280
I started my first company with
I was in Junior Achievement as a

641
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:31,000
kid, learned to sell, you know,
door to door as as a teenager.

642
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,800
So you're already doing this so.
Yeah, I was.

643
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,280
So you know the little triangle
puzzle games in in Cracker

644
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:38,120
Barrel.
Yeah.

645
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,080
So before that was a known
thing.

646
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,960
We were, we made them in our
Junior Achievement company and I

647
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,600
went and sold over 1000 of those
door to door in my neighborhood.

648
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,920
I was, I won an award for top
salesperson.

649
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,680
So this is an introvert winning,
you know, going door to door

650
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,640
selling the stuff.
And I so I was the top student

651
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,960
salesperson in the in Canada and
I actually won a free trip to

652
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:03,160
anywhere in the world I wanted
to go.

653
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,280
Anywhere in the world.
From Air Canada, anywhere that

654
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,360
Air Canada flew, Where'd you go?
I went to Europe for two months.

655
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:10,000
Two months.
Two months.

656
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:11,440
Yeah, that's quite an
experience.

657
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:12,000
Yeah.
What all?

658
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,400
What countries?
Did you have, oh, England?

659
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,840
I mean, I mean, I pretty much
saw all of Western Europe.

660
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,240
Yeah, yeah.
Did you go to Norway or?

661
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,200
Switzerland.
So we went OK, I guess I have to

662
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:30,680
think back England, Holland,
Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany,

663
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:37,760
France, Switzerland.
You'd see Switzerland, Yeah, I

664
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:39,720
love the mountains.
Like Norway, Switzerland.

665
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,000
Like I'd really want to go one
day.

666
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,680
Yeah, it's paying.
For free.

667
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,160
Well, I had to pay the, the
stuff in between the return

668
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,080
flights, but I was a student, so
I could, I could afford, you

669
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,800
know, we, we my brother decided
to come along.

670
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,360
And that's awesome.
Yeah.

671
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,040
So just shows you the trust my
parents had in US.

672
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,200
I was 18 and he was 16.
And we went to Europe for two

673
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,160
months on our own in a day where
the Internet and phone didn't

674
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,080
exist.
I mean, a phone call was over a

675
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,120
dollar, over a dollar a minute.
So we didn't we, we sent

676
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,120
postcards.
No, I did have a few relatives.

677
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,240
I was born in Holland, so I had
a few relatives there that if we

678
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,160
got into trouble, I knew I could
call somebody.

679
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,400
But but it's fine.
We just took a train.

680
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,040
We had a URL pass, went all over
the place by train, just made it

681
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,600
up as we went.
Staying on this tangent, how was

682
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:29,120
Europe and like Switzerland in
those mountains compared to

683
00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:36,760
Banff?
The the well, the beauty about

684
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,360
the Swiss mountains are a lot
greener and they're a lot more

685
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,800
populated.
They are beautiful.

686
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,440
The Canadian Rockies are what
I'd call more rugged, in my

687
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:49,800
opinion.
We took some friends up there

688
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,720
last year and they were just
astounded as as how gorgeous and

689
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,640
beautiful are and they're
they're they're different.

690
00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,240
They're both worth experiencing.
I wouldn't, I couldn't

691
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:01,960
necessarily pick a favorite one
over the other.

692
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,520
You know, I, I love Switzerland
just because of it's greener and

693
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:08,520
there's kind of rolling country
in between.

694
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,360
But the people are fabulous and
the yeah, on the Canadian

695
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,320
Rockies you can drive for quite
a while and not to see any

696
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,719
people in Switzerland.
There's Liberty Village

697
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:19,639
everywhere.
It is cool there's just villages

698
00:34:19,639 --> 00:34:21,080
out in the.
Middle of Yeah, on the side,

699
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,280
parked on the side of a
mountain, I guess 'cause that

700
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,400
area in the world's just so old.
Yeah, yeah.

701
00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:27,719
Both are bucket list strips, but
that's cool.

702
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,239
Yeah.
All reals back in there.

703
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,400
That that was great to hear.
But you've written a handful of

704
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:33,520
books now.
At this point, Is it four or

705
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:38,080
five?
5. 5 So what inspired you to

706
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,120
first start writing?
Getting the ideas out of my

707
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,360
head.
So the, the problem the way

708
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,040
Bistrick has and for mentoring,
there's only so much of me to go

709
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,400
around and I just, I looked at
it, but I just looked at

710
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:51,360
franchising a licensing and
stuff like that.

711
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:54,800
But, and we were down that road.
I actually had one point, had 20

712
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,400
Bistrac offices around the, the
East Coast from Texas to

713
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,560
Delaware.
And, and, but I just, my first

714
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:03,960
wife was diagnosed with terminal
breast cancer.

715
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:10,200
So I kind of hit a point in in
at that 2004 to 2007 where I

716
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,600
just went, you know, it's either
I'm going to grow the business

717
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,520
and do all this or I'm going to
take care.

718
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,200
And I just said we're going to
spend our time together.

719
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,280
And so we had to had that
journey.

720
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,400
But at that point when she
passed away in 2007, it was

721
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,120
like, what do I want life to
look like?

722
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,840
And I met my current wife and we
got married and we said, you

723
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,840
know, we won't really want to
travel and which we've done a

724
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,480
lot of.
And so biztruck was more became

725
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,720
the thing I want to teach the
principals, but I only want to

726
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:42,480
work with a slight handful of
clients one-on-one.

727
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,040
So they're all over the country.
So a lot of them, a lot of them

728
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,920
I've never met, but they're fun,
great people.

729
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:53,080
We share values and it's kind of
fun investing myself into people

730
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,160
who are going to make a big
difference.

731
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,520
So, but then there's all these
people out there who would, I'd

732
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,200
love them to learn the 12
triggers and, and the processes

733
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,360
and learn some practical
application around that.

734
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,160
So how do you do that?
Well, you can do workshops,

735
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,840
which I have online or, and, or
books.

736
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:16,000
So the books is kind of like a
way to get people started.

737
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,440
It's an inexpensive way.
I mean, you can buy my books

738
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:23,440
online for print book is 1795.
The newest one I got is 19

739
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:27,480
because it's all colored inside.
And you know, then if you want

740
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:29,440
to know more, they can go into
the workshops, which is what

741
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,120
they do, and they can learn in
some degree of practical

742
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,200
application.
So they greatly improve their

743
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,040
success.
And that's that's the power of

744
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:37,920
books.
I mean, I've got over 4000 books

745
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,080
in my library.
So you.

746
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,000
Don't use the Kindle.
Book No, I actually have some,

747
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,000
but I, I, there's, I love
interacting with practical books

748
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,560
and thinking about something,
pull something off the shelf.

749
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,680
I mean, I was working on a
project this morning.

750
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:52,920
So OK, let me that was this
book.

751
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:54,400
Let me go over there and get
that book.

752
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,200
And I yeah, I just like
interacting.

753
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,280
That may be part of my
generations, but I like the feel

754
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:01,440
and touch of.
A of a no.

755
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:03,840
I'd love to have a library
that's like my dream for like

756
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,640
the dream house one day.
I have a library but I've I used

757
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,200
to collect books but I've been
reading the kindle so much I'm

758
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:15,400
like my collections like none.
Yeah, electronic is is a great

759
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,240
tool when we travel.
I've still got a bunch of books

760
00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:21,880
loaded that I that I can read,
so they both work.

761
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:24,960
But yeah, I still like the
physical library.

762
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:28,560
And so I've actually started
getting rid of a bunch of books

763
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,240
that just, you know, don't need
those anymore.

764
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:34,240
They've kind of gotten old and
stuff like that.

765
00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:36,600
So what happened to the 20
offices that you had across?

766
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:41,000
The basically just gave them
permission to use their a

767
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,480
version of it.
They couldn't can't call a

768
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,400
district, but they could still
once you know the principles, it

769
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,960
doesn't really matter what you
what what you call it, right.

770
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,960
So some of them went on to other
things and some are, are still,

771
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,000
I mean, I know a few of them are
still consulting and they've,

772
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,520
they dudes are not calling you
Biztrek and they're not using

773
00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:59,520
the system exactly.
They've modified a little bit

774
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,560
just to keep clear of my
trademarks and all that kind of

775
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:04,000
stuff.
Yeah, I've got a very good

776
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:05,440
attorney who does protect my
stuff.

777
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:08,240
That's good.
That's good.

778
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:12,080
So I guess most of your books
are about your teachings, your

779
00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:13,120
consulting.
Yeah.

780
00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:15,560
Yeah.
So the first book I wrote was in

781
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,440
1999.
That was actually called Giraffe

782
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:19,120
Principles and that's not
available anymore.

783
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:26,000
Why is that?
It it, it, it was it predated

784
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:29,040
self-publishing and it was just
a very unique style.

785
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:32,080
I mean, being a giraffe
principles book, it was tall and

786
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:37,320
and slender, but and it was
published in 1999.

787
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:39,680
My goal was kind of it was a
little bit of a marketing angle,

788
00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:44,200
but was to print.
I've only printed 2000 books and

789
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,320
the idea was to find out.
Here's the thing on the

790
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:48,000
Millennium, what we sold out in
seven weeks.

791
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,040
Yeah.
So but I just decided at that

792
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,320
point, OK.
And by then I was on with other

793
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:55,840
stuff.
And then Susan's illness came,

794
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:59,560
cancer came in and was just
like, OK, got distracted So by.

795
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:05,120
But eventually I decided to kind
of tweak it came out so that I

796
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:10,720
launched, I wrote relaunch code.
And so that's the first one

797
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:11,960
that's kind of like out there
initially.

798
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,080
And then I got head trash
overcoming head trash head.

799
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:16,800
Trash.
What is head trash?

800
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,640
Head trash is trap thinking in
your brain that keeps you from

801
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,840
being successful self yeah I
mean everybody has negative self

802
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,120
talk but sometimes entrepreneur
can talk themselves not a good

803
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,400
idea.
So it's just it just came from

804
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,920
you know some people had worked
with met overtime and they were

805
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:38,640
their own worst enemies so and
then the one I published last

806
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,480
year was called relaunch or a
startup IQ.

807
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:47,320
So it's written specifically for
entrepreneurs, but in a very

808
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,800
unique format.
It each page is, is a marketing

809
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,680
message in its own.
It it has a, a yellow, my editor

810
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:58,000
calls it a Gill board, but it
looks like a yellow billboard

811
00:39:58,000 --> 00:39:59,840
with a little staying on there.
And I have a little story and

812
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,640
then I have one of Gills
principles in the bottom.

813
00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:04,920
So the idea is every day.
You look at one and there's 65

814
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:06,240
of them.
So in a calendar quarter you

815
00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:09,600
make your way through the books.
Next one I'm working out is

816
00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:11,520
working on is is word of mouth
IQ.

817
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:13,960
So I'm going to be developing a
whole series of IQ books.

818
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:15,400
What is this one going to be
about?

819
00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:17,800
Word of mouth.
Like getting your word?

820
00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:21,840
Of mouth is getting other people
talking about you when you're

821
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,200
not in the room.
Yeah, so trigger #3.

822
00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:27,120
Is it difficult to find a
publisher?

823
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:32,680
No, because I'm I'm now
self-publishing so.

824
00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:36,040
What is self-publishing so?
Self-publishing means.

825
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:40,200
So I write and I've got an
editor and we, we go through

826
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,800
multiple stuff, but I got people
to look at it and, and look at

827
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:45,720
it.
But then you go in today's

828
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:50,240
world, you can go to Amazon or
KDP publishing, you can go to

829
00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:54,920
lulu.com, you can go to Barnes
and Noble and you can publish

830
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:59,240
your books there.
And it's faster, more profitable

831
00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:02,000
than going through a publisher.
And it's print on demand.

832
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:06,280
So 20 years ago, you needed to
go through a major publisher to

833
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:08,760
get published.
But what people don't realize is

834
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:09,880
they don't do the marketing for
you.

835
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:12,640
They basically they just could
for a little while.

836
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,680
If they publish your book, they
would either say, OK, we'll

837
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,720
publish it and we need you to
guarantee that you'll buy X

838
00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:21,840
number of copies, or we'll put
them on the shelf and if it

839
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:24,240
sells, great.
If it doesn't, we'll take it off

840
00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:27,760
the shelf.
So, but you've got to do the

841
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,000
promotion.
And then they're not really

842
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,240
marketing machines because
they've got all these authors.

843
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,600
OK, So my thinking when I
started down this road of

844
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:39,640
self-publishing was just kind of
getting started was well, I can

845
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:41,440
publish it and make more copies
per book.

846
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:46,120
I can do the marketing and and
have and just promote the book

847
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:47,000
that way.
How do?

848
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:48,640
You do the marketing for a book
like that.

849
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,080
I mean, just figure out where
our startups hang out, right?

850
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,280
Like podcasts?
So you got to find your

851
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:56,560
audience.
You got to find out your

852
00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:57,160
audience.
Yeah.

853
00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:02,400
And I mean, most of the book
sales, I think come from one

854
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,920
person telling another to
another, you know, and they say,

855
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:06,760
I like this book.
It's hey, this book is

856
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,760
different.
I mean, that's been a lot of the

857
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:14,120
stuff with startup IQ is people
kind of go, oh, this is

858
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:15,760
different.
It's a unique kind of book.

859
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:18,680
And they, they, they tell their
friends about it because there's

860
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:20,880
not another book out there in
that style.

861
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:24,560
So it's kind of going out on a
limb and saying, OK, I'm going

862
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:26,120
to do something a little bit
different, but it gives you

863
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:27,920
something to talk about, right?
What would you say if someone

864
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,200
came to you just wrote a book
and they don't know how to

865
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,240
market it and they just want to
throw it on a billboard?

866
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,320
Just basic.
Let's throw something at the

867
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:38,240
wall, see if it sticks.
Then they need to learn about

868
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,400
marketing.
And it's funny that you say that

869
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,440
because I have had a number of
local authors come and say, how

870
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,080
do you sell many, so many books
so fast?

871
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:49,720
I mean, I'm not a what I would
call a massive publisher, but

872
00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:51,200
I'd probably sell more than the
average.

873
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:53,880
And they're wondering how to do
that.

874
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,440
And that's, well, that's my
stock and trade, right?

875
00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:59,840
If you want to hire me, I'll.
That's a good answer, yeah.

876
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,680
Oh man, What's been the most
difficult part of writing?

877
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:13,440
Discipline is getting keeping a
schedule and sitting down and

878
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:16,480
writing.
So I have a pretty regular

879
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:19,960
routine to write and create
content and the only time I very

880
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:22,200
often when when we're travelling
or vacation, I just don't think

881
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,680
about it.
But but other than that, I mean

882
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:25,640
I'm what's.
Your routine.

883
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:29,560
Typically on Fridays, Friday
mornings, sit down and I'll

884
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:32,760
write several pages of the book
every of of every day.

885
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:35,880
Some days I really get it's
clicking and I'll do 3.

886
00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:37,280
Some days, not so much.
I got one.

887
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:39,920
But the discipline is these are
my hours that's blocked off my

888
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:42,560
calendar.
My wife knows Gil's in his

889
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:47,120
office doing their thing and I'm
writing and then we go from

890
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:48,920
there.
Wow, that's pretty good.

891
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:50,720
Yeah.
I feel like writing would be so

892
00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:51,840
difficult for me.
I don't know.

893
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:53,440
I've never tried writing a whole
book.

894
00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:56,240
I do.
It in the morning because I find

895
00:43:56,240 --> 00:43:59,600
it.
Well, Friday morning's number is

896
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:02,320
I'm most creative in the
morning.

897
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:06,160
I'm too tired in the afternoon
and then, but Friday mornings

898
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:08,040
are good because there's an end
of week and I've typically been

899
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,040
working with clients and I'm
really energized to motivate.

900
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,280
I had a, I'm very fortunate to
have a lot of fun with a lot of

901
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:14,120
neat people.
That's awesome.

902
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:17,200
So Friday mornings, the kind of
way to celebrate a week.

903
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:19,560
Sometimes I have a story that
has come that's come up that I

904
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,080
can tell and that helps trigger
stuff.

905
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:24,800
Do you have your outline that
you typically start with

906
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,240
looking?
Are you just that kind of piece

907
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:28,240
in?
Oh no no, I have like for the

908
00:44:28,240 --> 00:44:29,800
next book.
The whole outline is already

909
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:31,640
written in the major element.
It's like, here's what I'm

910
00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:32,920
talking about.
So every, every page is

911
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,440
identified.
I just got to work through what

912
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:37,840
the story is.
So I kind of know what my the

913
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:39,960
Gill board is going to be.
I know what the principle will

914
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,760
be.
And then I just have a story to

915
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:42,960
accentuate the point.
Nice.

916
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,800
That's good, so let's move into
some action items for listeners.

917
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:47,040
Before we wrap.
Up all right.

918
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:51,000
But what is 1 tool, key, trait
or mindset that a business owner

919
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,360
must have for his business to
succeed?

920
00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:59,680
You've got to turn everything
into process, OK?

921
00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:02,280
It's what we were talking about
earlier is I think a lot of

922
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:05,200
people don't know W Edwards
Deming, but the he's a

923
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:09,840
management guru or leader,
leadership thinker, he said.

924
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:11,960
It comes back to you got to have
process.

925
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:16,480
So running those five Ms. is if
you don't have process, then you

926
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:19,440
can't replicate the results.
So you want to try to get your

927
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,840
business where everything is as
much on autopilot as possible.

928
00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:25,600
Not that you need robots to do
it, because you need people to

929
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:28,840
think, yeah, but you still have
core processes.

930
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:32,040
This is how we do what we do.
And the more you can standardize

931
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:33,880
on, the more successful you have
a chance to be coming.

932
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:38,160
I can relate to that with the
podcast, the 1st 567 episodes, I

933
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:39,920
was trying different things,
those piece of things together.

934
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:42,400
So time consuming.
Then I finally feel like I I

935
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:46,000
know the editing process now.
I kind of know what needs to

936
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:49,040
happen before each episode and
it's helped so much with this

937
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,400
time commitment.
And it will still change.

938
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:52,760
Mature.
I had a fellow this morning I

939
00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:54,360
was talking about.
So if you're the same person

940
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:58,040
five years from now, if you're
doing stuff, then then you've

941
00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:02,120
missed something.
So it does change, but the idea

942
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:04,600
is you're looking for better and
better processes and tools to

943
00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:07,520
get the job done.
So editing a podcast is a whole

944
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:10,760
lot easier now than it was five
years ago and, and stuff.

945
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,600
So we have tools that can can do
this.

946
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:15,120
And learning how to use the
tools like.

947
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:17,480
But you've still got to have a
process.

948
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:19,960
This is who we're for.
This is what we're doing.

949
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:22,280
This is how we delivered it.
This is how long it is and just

950
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:24,200
OK.
It's not 10 minutes one time and

951
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:26,080
45 the next.
It's consistent.

952
00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:28,240
Yeah, nice.
So if someone wants to start

953
00:46:28,240 --> 00:46:31,320
their own business, they're
going to go out on their own, do

954
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:32,960
the thing.
What is step #1?

955
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:36,400
Find a notable problem.
Find a notable problem, OK.

956
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:39,720
Yeah, simple as that.
Find a problem, then fix it.

957
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,640
Yeah, so said they found the
problem, but they found the

958
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,480
problem.
Figure out the way to fix it.

959
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,000
Find an efficiency.
Just do it.

960
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:51,360
Yeah.
It's like don't go open the LLC.

961
00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:55,800
Now, if you find a problem, go
find some customers, OK?

962
00:46:56,560 --> 00:46:58,600
Don't worry about getting your,
you know, yeah, like you said,

963
00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:00,600
don't necessarily worry about
getting your LLC and all that

964
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:02,160
stuff done.
Go get some customers who said

965
00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:05,440
they're willing to pay you then,
OK, you, I mean, you can get

966
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:09,640
your LLC in South Carolina in
about an hour or less, OK?

967
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:11,640
So you can be legal, all that
kind of stuff.

968
00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:16,800
But if you don't find anybody to
pay you, then forget about it,

969
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:18,960
OK.
If you can't, if you, or if you

970
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,400
have to work too hard to get
somebody to pay you, then you

971
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:24,800
really haven't, then you haven't
identified the problem clearly

972
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,920
enough.
That's good, That's good.

973
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,960
And we'll wrap it up.
I know we've been here for a

974
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:31,480
while.
Thank you so much for your time.

975
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:33,560
But what are some of the books
that you would recommend for

976
00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:36,200
those that are looking to start
or lead a successful business?

977
00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:39,080
OK.
And you told me you were going

978
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,360
to ask me that question in
advance, so I actually gave it a

979
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,440
little thought.
I want to give you an answer and

980
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:47,840
the listeners an answer with
some books that they may not

981
00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:50,320
normally know because there's a
lot of great books out there.

982
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:55,040
But one of my favorites is
actually called Seeing Around

983
00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,000
Corners.
It's by Rita McGrath and it

984
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:04,160
talks about washing for trends
on the on the edges of society.

985
00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:06,520
So if you look, if you think
about where change comes from,

986
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:08,960
it's always on the edge.
She said kind of it's like a

987
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:10,560
ice, it melts from the outside
in.

988
00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:13,240
So too many people sitting in
the middle of the iceberg.

989
00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:14,840
OK.
And it's all everything, all the

990
00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:16,120
interesting stuff is happening
on the edge.

991
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:17,400
So if you're going to look on
the edge.

992
00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:21,520
So that's a great book for read
just to help you think

993
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:25,720
differently and maybe finding a
hive that is just emerging but

994
00:48:25,720 --> 00:48:27,680
that other people can't see yet.
OK.

995
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:31,920
Another one is I think a lot of
people will probably know this

996
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:36,360
one is traction by Gino Wickman.
It's part of the whole day.

997
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:40,480
It kicked off the whole EOS
entrepreneurial operating system

998
00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:43,800
mindset about how to structure
run a company.

999
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:48,200
It is all about process.
It's it's, it's, it's the

1000
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:50,960
answers to the what It's not the
answer to the how.

1001
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:54,080
So if it if it says, OK, you
need to know what are your

1002
00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:55,840
marketing goals and the rocks
and stuff like that.

1003
00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:58,040
It, it helps you think through
what are the, what are the right

1004
00:48:58,040 --> 00:48:59,760
things to be doing?
It doesn't necessarily tell you

1005
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:02,320
how to do that.
So then, but at least helps you

1006
00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:05,520
know what you should be doing.
And then maybe where to go for

1007
00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:08,680
help.
It's, it's, it's a, it's, it's

1008
00:49:08,720 --> 00:49:11,040
just a good way of thinking
about a, about a business and

1009
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:14,680
going.
And the third one is, is who not

1010
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:19,040
how by Dan Sullivan.
I've recommended that to a lot

1011
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,760
of clients because we're trying
to get the monkey off their

1012
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:24,000
back.
The business is there to serve

1013
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:25,760
them, not the other way around.
Well, there to serve the

1014
00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:29,760
customer, but too many company
or entrepreneurs end up being

1015
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:32,840
slaves to their business.
So you need to change your

1016
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:34,960
mindset and say, OK, I need
people.

1017
00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:37,480
I need to find the right people
and eat dent.

1018
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,760
It's a short little book.
It's not, but it's very proud,

1019
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:45,440
profound in his thinking, and so
who, not How by Dan Sullivan.

1020
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:49,360
What about some of your books?
Well, so we've mentioned my

1021
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,600
books certainly I think those
are those are good to get.

1022
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:56,720
What would be the first one?
Yeah, what's the first one?

1023
00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:58,800
Someone should go.
It depends on if there's

1024
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:01,360
somebody just getting started.
I would, I would recommend they

1025
00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:04,160
read, read relaunch code or if
they're early in their career,

1026
00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:06,480
like maybe they have that little
first little bit of growth and

1027
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:10,480
then they're kind of stuck.
Relaunch code is good if they're

1028
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:17,360
before launch or then I would
say Startup IQ is a good one

1029
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:19,080
because it just gets to head in
the right space.

1030
00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:21,080
If you understand the
principles, then you know what

1031
00:50:21,080 --> 00:50:24,800
to look for, Yeah.
OK, so one, I've, I've learned

1032
00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:27,520
so much from this one action
item I'm personally going to

1033
00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:30,280
take with marketing this podcast
episode.

1034
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:31,960
I'm going to find the audience.
All right.

1035
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:35,040
Yeah, define and figure out
where they hang out.

1036
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:37,560
Yeah, exactly.
Thank you so much for your time.

1037
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:39,480
Thank you, Appreciate it been
time to do this.