Welcome to the Join Up Dots Podcast with Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard

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Introducing Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard joins us on the Join Up Dots podcast is the Managing Director/CEO of the Napier Group, a $7M PR and marketing agency for B2B technology companies. He is a self-confessed geek who loves talking about technology. He believes that combining the measurement, accountability, and innovation that he learned as an engineer with a passion for communicating internationally means Napier can help clients achieve their marketing goals sooner. Napier is an agency that brings knowledge, experience, and insight to increase the speed prospects travel through our clients’ funnels, generating opportunities more quickly. Napier’s unique approach to campaign strategy designs-in speed to campaigns from the outset, building integrated campaigns that focus on the important tactics, whether clients need to increase awareness, generate leads or engage contacts to create opportunities. So why is there such difficulty in today's world, to market their products and services correctly through a sales funnel? And why do people simply forget to build their marketing strategy into everything that they do throughout their business? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Mike Maynard. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard such as: Why a shop is such a perfect example of how a sales funnel works. Duplicate it and make your profits soar. Why you have to be aware that people rarely buy directly from a website. They need to be nurtured through to a sale. Why solving peoples problems is the key to everything in business. People buy to move themselves from pain. And lastly……… Mike shares the steps we need to take to make a sales funnel work effectively. Gold! How To Connect With Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard Website Instagram Linkedin Twitter Return To The Top Of Mike Maynard If you enjoyed this episode with Mike Maynard, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy Interview Transcription For Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream, a dream to quit his job support himself online and have a kick ass life. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout and debt, until he found the magic ingredient and no struggles became a thing of the past. I of course, was that person. And now My dream is to make things happen for you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Intro 0:27 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be but somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling in Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:52 Yes, hello man. Good morning, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for being here is an absolute delight because If he wasn't, then I'd be a very lonely individual. But fortunately I've got another guy on the other end of the line. He's from the United Kingdom should have asked him where he's actually based, but he's got quite a posh voice. He's got quite a posh boys. So I imagine he's probably based in somewhere like heart the chair or Hampshire or something I'm guessing but we will find out. He is a guest who is the Managing Director and CEO of the Napier group as $7 million PR and marketing agency both b2b technology companies. He's also a self confessed geek who loves talking about technology. Now he believes that combining the measurement accountability and innovation, but he learned as an engineer with a passion for communicating internationally means his company Napier can help clients achieve their marketing goals sooner. Now Napier is an agency that brings knowledge, experience and insight to increase the speed prospects travel through our clients panels, generating opportunities more quickly now Napier's unique approach to capture Paint strategy today designs in speed to campaigns from the outset, building integrated campaigns that focus on the important tactics where the clients need to increase awareness, generate leads or engage contacts to create opportunities. So why is there such a difficulty in today's world to market their products and services correctly when there's all this out there for them? And why do people simply forget to build their marketing strategy into everything that they do throughout their business? Well, let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Mike Maynard. Morning Mike. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard  2:40 morning David, thank you very much for that intro. That was great. I really enjoyed it and you were you were very nice particular about my accent, David Ralph 2:48 where you are quite posh on yo yo. So I said well, I went with heart for cheer or hemisphere whereabouts are you? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 2:54 So I'm actually based in Kitchener, Chichester which is on the south coast, but my early years I actually grew up in Essex not a million miles away from where you are so David Ralph 3:05 you're an Essex boy where whereabouts were you from? Sir? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 3:09 I'm so originally from Buckers Hill. Okay, so that's more Essex into London, isn't it? More Essex into London but I spent some time in my early years you mentioned I was an engineer. I actually worked in Chelmsford, for Marconi, who was an employer. So I know the area very well. David Ralph 3:29 I used to live in Chelmsford, when I was a young scallywag, gallivanting but then my wife came along and she rained me back in my gallivanting days are no more. Now we're with you, Mike. What I want to get straight to is this kind of Mystique. And what I want to do is obviously tap into your expertise on business to business but also bring it more relevant to my audience. Because we hear all the time about sales funnels, you got to have sales funnels, and they're not that hard, are they? I think people are creating them. Have a mystique about it. Well, actually, it's all about understanding your client, understanding your clients need, and building a relationship with them so that they trust you. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 4:12 I think you're absolutely right there, David. I mean, the interesting thing is, is people talk about sales funnels or, more recently, they start calling them customer journeys. The reality is, is they are actually really simple and really straightforward sort of models of how customers decide to either work with you if you're a consultant or buy your product. And I think you know, that the main thing is just to think about how people approach buying what you're selling, which funnily enough, actually a lot of companies don't do even large companies don't really sit down and think about that they think, you know, one morning someone wakes up, sees an email and that's it, they gonna go buy, you know, a million dollar product, it just doesn't work like that. David Ralph 4:54 Now, I base everything on offline. I always think about everything and older I've kind of developed a coaching side to the business, which wasn't there in the early days, but it is there now. And I always think about a shop because I think a shop is perfect for a sales funnel strategy. You're walking down the high street, you're walking down the mall, you look at a very attractive window and you think, Oh, that's interesting are popping there. And you mosey around for a while. It's it's that kind of logic that has to be brought into the online world as well, isn't it? We've got to look appealing, but we've got to be appealing in a way that makes total sense to our ideal customer. We've got to have that shop window relevant for the right person, and not necessarily every single person that walks past. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 5:43 It. You're absolutely right. And I think you know, a shop is a is a great model. I mean, people talk about you know, a simple funnel is, you know, sort of a four step process is a really common way people model it so they talk about generating awareness, interest, desire, action and if you think about a sharp, you know, you're not even going to look in the window if you don't really know anything about the shop, you don't think it's relevant you just walk past because there's so many other things on the high street to look at. But, you know, either someone might tell you about the shop or you know, if there's a large chain, you might see adverts or promotions, you know, you don't become aware. So as you walk past you look in the window, you see something in the window that's relevant to you then interested you take a you know, a bit more of a look and maybe wander into the shop, find out a bit more and then you decide you want to buy it and then of course, you know, the shop needs to make sure you actually buy from them. And don't walk out and buy on Amazon. So that's the action stage. So that's a really simple model. It works really well with your example the shop, but it actually works really well with almost every situation. David Ralph 6:48 So as we've nailed this episode already in seven minutes, we're just gonna offer a beer and now it's only was late in the morning but wearing this week we grew up in Essex. That's what we do. So Why are there so many difficulties? Where my Why is so many difficulties where we we've explained it perfectly in seven minutes? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 7:10 Well, I think the answer is is is, sales funnels are really what I as an engineer will call a model, it's not real life. And so that there's, you know, two potential problems. One is people actually look at and go, I so much more complicated than that I'm gonna really complicate it make it really difficult. And actually know my head's now exploding, I can't really create this funnel that is a good model, because I think, you know, this customer did this and this customer, this and in other customer takes a different approach. And it's absolutely true that people you know, massively over complicate or on the other end, they actually find it you know, really hard even to think about those stages and they just go know, someone who passed up to the window and bought something and that's it and then they try and oversimplify it. So it's finding a model that fits because The truth is, with all these things, particularly in marketing, you're creating something that's kind of your perfect situation or perfect process. And the reality is is no customer actually follows that perfect process. Exactly. They all do something slightly different. So it's very hard to relate that to any individual customer, or potential customer. I think that's why people struggle with sales funnels. David Ralph 8:22 Should I tell you my sales funnel, Mike Sure, I tell you mine and I will blow your business out of the water and everyone will go Why would we go to Napier when? When David has got this? Basically what I do I podcast, that's the awareness. And then people come across to my website. And more often than not, people will email me and I say, Would you like a chat? And thats it really you know, it's not more complicated than that. And I just say, look, I can help you with this. I've got the answers. I've got the solutions. Some people buy, some people don't but I keep it as simple as that. Now about three years ago, I paid for a guy to create a sales funnel because I didn't under band. And I had v things going off the click funnel and things going off here and going off there. And it was triggering this triggering that, and I hated it because I didn't understand actually what was happening. It was like, operating in front of me. So I systematically dismantled it, to sort of find out why this PDF was going here and why these follow up emails were going there. And I thought to myself, ultimately, somebody just wants to have their mind put at rest, but you're fair. And so that's why I got rid of everything. And I always say to people, look, I'm happy to have a chat with you. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 9:35 And I think that's, that's a great example of of a situation where someone to come in as a consultant, they felt they they had to demonstrate that, you know, they had the knowledge and expertise to help you and they clearly massively overcomplicated the process. And I think it's a great example of where, where, you know, you have a situation where, frankly, the sales funnel was was not really thought through I mean, your sales funnel is, is pretty straightforward, and particularly The moment because, you know, even though the number of people podcasting is growing, you know, incredibly fast. It's still a relatively niche industry. There's not a huge number of consultants, certainly with any credibility offering podcast training like you do, for example. David Ralph 10:14 Now let's take it to Napier. Because Napier obviously does on a much older scale than this. Now, how do you actually create the panel into your business? Because I was looking at your website this morning. And I was actually thinking, Okay, this is an awareness strategy that you've got, but where was the actual funnel built into your website itself? I couldn't really see it. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 10:39 So the answer is is and I think this this relates very much to what you said, People don't buy PR agencies have a website. It's completely the wrong thing to imagine that you can automate the selling of our services, which you know, can be a significant amount of money just through website, but the sales funnel doesn't exist purely online for us. And I think it's very much the same for you, you talk about having a chat with people. You know, the reality is, is when we're working with a, you know, a large business trying to convince them to, you know, come and work with us. It's not just one chat, it can be several meetings over a period of time. I mean, quite often, you know, we start talking to someone we'd like to work with, and we think we can really help. And it could be a year or two before they actually start doing any business with us. So I think the answer is, again, it comes down to understanding how people buy and what they want. And the reality is is is where we work in marketing. They're buying advice and expertise. And again, very much like you I mean, I think, you know, you say we're different. I think we were very similar. And people are buying expertise. If they're buying expertise, they want to talk to the people who are going to give them that expertise. It's as simple as that. David Ralph 11:52 Right. So so what we I think most people out there, understand the awareness and you've got to get people to know about you now I'm actually at the moment having a 100% social media detox. I've never really been onto social media a lot. But I've been very aware due to sort of personal issues I've gone through, but my happiness levels wasn't at the right level. And I realised a lot of that was comparing my business remember people's businesses and seeing people show highlights and all that kind of stuff. So, so with my awareness, it's very much I podcast, and it comes through to me with your awareness. How do you do that? How is your marketing strategy getting people through other than appearing on people's podcasts? Of course. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 12:38 Well, this is this is a new thing, the podcast, so I'm really hoping it's going to work. I mean, like everybody in marketing, you know, the real truth is, is that you need to experiment to find out what works. And so we try lots of different things. And the primary way we actually get to work with people is we go meet them, talk to them. Sometimes the Welcome if we can't reach them, because obviously we're working with clients around the world, and then try and keep that conversation going, quite often until they feel there's a need to come and work with us. So quite often, they might be working with a competitor. And to be honest, you know, if that competitor keeps doing a good job, they're not going to switch. So we kind of needs to be the first choice if the competitor makes a mistake, but it is about going out and meeting people. And we do do some other things. We've got quite a lot of content, you know, being a marketing company, I can talk about content marketing. And actually, that drives a lot of our, our new opportunity. So, you know, to take another example, a lot of people in America who are quite hard for us to reach because they're geographically a long way away. They'll go and Google things like, you know, how do I do PR in Europe? And so we've created the answers for that and it's literally answering their questions. If we can answer the question, you know, really early on at that stage. It's quite likely there. Going to come to us and ask us all the questions. And if we keep giving them good answers, then they're going to keep talking to us and eventually become clients. So I think the answer is the answer is that there's lots of different things we do. And you know, the world is changing all the time. So actually, what we're doing is continually experimenting. You know, one interesting thing I can tell you is that Google AdWords absolutely don't work for us. It doesn't matter how much we spend on Google AdWords, we get zero inquiries and get a lot of clicks to the website. I get no business from it. And I don't know why. And we run AdWords campaigns for other clients and they work fabulously well. But for some reason, our business it doesn't work. And I think it's because of this real need to establish a personal connection fairly early on. And AdWords is a little too impersonal. I don't know. I mean, I'd be interested to hear your views. David Ralph 14:50 Well, I am very much against the majority of marketing really, because it doesn't as I say, it doesn't solve the question. People have got a question. Now, one of the things that I use a lot I don't know if you've heard of this Mike is a web site, a site called answer the public.com. and answer the public comm is a free resource to a point you can do about pipe searches. But you put in, say PR marketing, and it will bring all the questions that people are asking online, okay. And so you can really tap in to longtail keywords very accurate, which can then lead people through. Now, I always say to people that I'm working with, let's focus in on the problems. Let's focus in on the solutions. And let's do it when somebody is looking for us. Now I find with Google AdWords, you know, I'm a podcast, trainer. That's part of my being. I'm a business coach as well. Now, I used to say about page two or podcast cost, sorry, and two on page one for podcast. Cool. So if you google podcast course, I'd be pretty much at the top of Google Now there's so many ads appearing, I've dropped to the second page. But because of that, the page seems less relevant somehow. It's almost because we don't click on the ads. Any ads that come along, you've literally jumped down to about three or four down below, even if you google something. And your answer is number one, you rarely ever click on number one on Google is always like three or four. So I think with Google AdWords, I think we're just becoming blinkered, we're just seeing it as you know, perhaps not the right answer. And based on questions, questions, questions, is the way to actually solve that problem. People are searching you. Does that make sense? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 16:40 I think it's absolutely true. And I actually go back to your comment about arms to the public. were slightly different because we tend to work with large companies and they, they actually probably wouldn't appear on that particular website, but they all have questions. I mean, everyone has questions about how to do the job better. And I think solving people's problems is the Way to win business. And if I look at how we do that, that might be by some of the information we put on the website for someone. And we talked about the sales funnels at the awareness stage and the interest stage, really early on what we call top of the funnel. You know, it's solving people's problems through information, but when we talk about the bottom of the funnel, so when people are actually deciding to buy, you know, I can tell you that pretty much I can predict whether we win a pitch or not. And these pitches though, you know, big presentation, several of us going we spent, you know, days and days trying to work through it. If we can tell the potential clients something they don't know, that helps them with their business. That is the biggest indicator of whether or not we're going to win the business. Yeah. And it's all about, you know, establishing credibility. Now. I get that's different when you're selling, you know, a pure product rather than selling a service. But, you know, I suspect a lot of your listeners are actually selling a service. They're working to help people and it's really all about showing you can help people before their customers is the way to get these, you know, the people you meet to become customers. David Ralph 18:08 Now, this is only like marketplaces. You know, I talked to so many people, one of my strap lines is Jesus didn't have a Facebook account. And everyone's so online, they forget that ultimately, it's about talking to people. And if we take it back to the shop analogy, you go into a shop and if somebody comes over to you straight away and goes, can I help you? When you go no more, I'm away. That's annoying. You don't want but but if a part of that conversation, it's right. It's perfect. And I think that is where a lot of the sales funnels fail as well by jump on you. As soon as you're on the website. They don't allow you breathing space to actually make a decision. You've got to be strategic where your actual doorway to your panel occurs. And I know you know, I haven't got mine, right. I still play around with it. I'm moving on. different pages I take things off. But there's a key to when you actually enter into somebody's thought process, isn't it? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 19:08 Definitely. And I think it's really interesting. I mean, what you do to try and help people as you do the podcast, and a lot of people who are looking to build a business, whether they using podcasting or not going to listen to Join Up Dots, they're going to get a lot of information that's going to help them from both you and your guests. We have something that that's, you know, much, much simpler, much smaller in scale, but we do I mean, literally, a monthly email newsletter that talks about what's happening to journalists and publications in particular industries, is very focused, it's very niche. If you're not working the industry, it's the most boring thing in the world. But if you're doing marketing in that industry, it's absolutely vital. And you know, I've even had some of our competitors come to me say thank you for the newsletter is great. It really helps us like, we shouldn't really be sending it but it's great. You find it helpful, it's probably a good indication. So I think, I think it's providing that information so people can get a flavour of what it's like working with you is so important to, you know, encouraging people to then start thinking about actually becoming a customer or client. David Ralph 20:15 Now, isn't that interesting that you said that because you know, the fact that you shouldn't be getting that newsletter because you're a competitor. Because ultimately, I think, when we are too insular, and we hold back our business, and we don't prove our worth, even to our competition, ultimately, we hold ourselves back. I've got a guy at the moment in America, but I'm helping him and he's a business where he brings in about a million a year and he wants to take it to 5 million. And I said to him, the only way you're going to do that is actually become the king of your industry. And that is stepping out of side and becoming more and arranging conferences, but you have actually the founder and becoming the centre pointed to it. But he can't see that he still thinks that he's got to hold close to his chest or his secrets. And I say to him, you know, a chef only sells books because he shows you he can cook. So why are we holding back those secrets? And why are we not actually sharing them with our competitors? Because it shows the world but actually, we're bigger than them. We haven't got any issues we can grow because we are willing to give our secrets away. Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 21:29 I think you're absolutely right. And, you know, having having been a both a very geeky and also a bit of a hippie when it came to, you know, online back in the 80s and 90s. And, you know, I really believe in the comment that was made about, you know, in the early days, the Internet Information wants to be free. And I think what people have misunderstood is that comment was not about the price, but it was about information wants to be shared, and today with, you know, what's happening in the world. There. Very few real secrets in business. You know, I can give an example I was working in technical support for a semiconductor company. And we sold into pretty much every single Formula One team. And I put one of our chips, because it was really good for developing engine management systems if you didn't care how much they cost, and you just wanted the best performance you could possibly get. And so anyway, Ford entered, or Cosworth into the the, the Formula One market and they started building engines for Formula One. And a guy from Cosworth phoned me up and he said, Do I have to tell you what I'm calling about? And I said, No, I know exactly which product I'll send you all the information. It's all okay. It's a bit strange. And I've worked for the one supposed to be super secret, and we got this new company who's on the block who actually knows what everyone else is using. And then two years later, BMW came into Formula One, and I got almost exactly the same So, you know, it's really interesting that people imagine what they've got is some secret sauce. It's actually not really about secrets. It's about people who are prepared to put the work in and actually do. But the secret says, whether it's something you do or a product or you know anything else, it's about really, you know, executing what you're supposed to do, rather than just having this magical knowledge that no one else knows. Because, trust me a lot more people know what you think is secret than, than you'd ever imagined. David Ralph 23:28 Yeah, I agree with that. 100%. And if you take the sales funnel, we're going to get back into the sales funnel. One of the things I say to people is, generally, people are lazy. That's the first thing you've got to realise that people want to transformation. They want to go from A to B as easily as possible. Now, but in many ways is your secret sauce. Actual ingredient. That is actually what people want. They don't want all the technical stuff and they're bored Barber, all they want to do is go How can I go from here? So here in three weeks instead of trying to do it off of YouTube videos in three years, right, that's the key to it, isn't it? So on my business I at the throne, I always say, I can't even remember what it is. Now I've gone totally blank, but some of the longer we get you success without the stress, because I totally believe a lot of what we do is easy if we know what we're aiming for. We know where those people are, and we give them what they want. Simple as that. Would you agree? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 24:30 I think you should be interviewing you about sales funnels, you clearly have an awful lot. And I'm going to be honest, I think one of the reasons people have stopped talking so much about sales funnels, and they start referring to it as a customer journey is, to me the funnel is a it's really the wrong way to think of things because it kind of envisages that you've got this, this person, this potential customer who kind of fall through all these levels and they're doing the falling and all you've got to do is provide the right things at the right time. will magically happen. And I think again, that's one of the mistakes people make with sales funnels, the reality is, is that actually the customers have steps they need to take before they're going to spend money with you. And you need to help them along the way. And I love the idea of a journey rather than a folder, but basically the same thing. But to me, it's all about helping and guiding the customer on the journey, rather than being a bit more passive sitting back and just waiting for them to fall through the funnel. David Ralph 25:26 Now, can you have too few steps? Okay. And can you I know you can have too many steps, but can you have too few? Sales Funnel Expert Mike Maynard 25:34 Absolutely. You know, so, the one thing to say is, although the structure of the funnel is very similar, and most pe

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David Tao from Bar Bend is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is a man who is an entrepreneur and editor and voice actor based in New York City. He's also the co founder and editor of Bar Bend.com, a media brand that provides multi platform coverage of news analysis, training and opinion in strength training and sports. Now that doesn't really make sense to you, then consider this if you want to know anything about weightlifting, training routines, big sweaty meeting gyms, and the best products to buy and just all that really interesting stuff around the sport, then Bar Bend has it all. The company has become one of the largest and fastest growing fitness size on the web. And not only that, but Bar Bend is the official media partner of USA weightlifting and he's also a broadcaster for the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games. I assume that's already occurred. Now in 2019, our guest was honoured as a Forbes 30 under 30 list make up a media approved Bar Bend's numerous media partnerships, numerous media partnerships. He was asked to serve as a colour commentator for both national and international weightlifting competitions along with the Reebok CrossFit Games. Now originally from Kentucky, he's now a New York City and seems to be loving life. So what has made this platform so successful when the web is full of I would have said similar ideas that really never got off the ground. And is this his lifetime legacy? Or is he just stepping stone to what's in his heart and his mind? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only David Tao from Bar Bend. 

Introducing Sean Castrina Sean Castrina is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is a serial entrepreneur, having started more than 20 companies over the last 20 years, and still seeks to launch a new venture annually. He is an investor, teacher and highly-sought-after speaker who communicates with humour and a bluntness that engages and captures his audience. He is the author of 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success, The Greatest Entrepreneur in the World, and World’s Greatest Business Plan.  He was born in the Bronx, New York and raised in Maryland. He was born legally blind having been a research study for John Hopkins Hospitals Wilmer Eye Institute where he has had countless eye surgeries. In middle school he was introduced to the sport of wrestling where he would go on to becoming a state champion and earning a Division 1 athletic scholarship. How The Dots Joined Up For Sean In his mid 20’s the startup adventure would begin with a simple auto detailing business “WaxMaster” that would serve as a test tube for what would distil a blueprint for what would later become a home service empire. However it would be an annual family vacation that would spark a passion for writing and teaching the secrets and formulas that he had used over the years. While sitting on the beach he would scribble 80 lessons he wished he would have known prior to becoming a startup junky. These simple lessons would be distilled in his first book 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success. So what makes him want to go through an annual startup drive, when he could sit back and chill? And where do most people go wrong nowadays when ploughing headfirst into the world of online and startups? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Sean Castrina

Ben Ivey is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is a man who from the outside view has it made. He is known as the Lifestyle Entrepreneur and spends his time bouncing across the globe to present in the USA, China for companies such as Maersk, HSBC, Coca Cola. But the truth is sometimes quite different from the obvious route to success. The view that the world sees can often be a collection of highlights that truly mask the journey that the guest has been on. How The Dots Joined Up For Ben When Ben Ivey started on this journey, he was perhaps in a similar position that many business owners face. Despite owning his own business and working with his international team, he was feeling overwhelmed, lost and unfulfilled. Feeling like his life was lacking meaning, Ben began on a destructive path of self-sabotage, burn out and damaging relationships. After this downward spiral, Ben became obsessed with the question: Is it possible to build a successful business whilst living a great lifestyle simultaneously? And it certainly appears that even after suffering personal heartache with the suicide of his father, he is out there, presenting, building connections and creating wealth and support for others. All the while showing one of the happiest grins that you could ever hope to see on someone day in day out. So has he got the lifestyle entrepreneur dream that so many people think is what its all about? Is he on a laptop in his underpants doing three minutes work a day, or hustling, driving forward and working hard to achieve? So why do so many people create success for themselves and then spiral downwards on a self sabotage route. And where does he want to go from here? What is his dream for the development of his company?  Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Ben Ivey

How To Start Overcoming Obstacles The subject of overcoming obstacles is something that has bothered people since time began. And still today people struggle with this subject, in their own personal life, business life or simply anywhere that they need to achieve something. You start creating your new business idea, everything goes as you plan and then bang, you hit trouble. No matter what you do the issue wont move out of the way and you give up. Their is no way I am overcoming obstacles life this" you think and so turn your direction onto something new. However, you should never think that way as the obstacle is the improvement that you business is looking for. I kid you not.... By having to work at overcoming obstacles in your business and life you make the successes stronger, and build foundations that you would never have made possible

In today's episode we share a few learnings from some conversations we have had with listeners across the world this week. Over the last week or so we have had conversations with 35 people talking about their dreams and inspirations.

So many of them seemed to fail to grasp that it takes a bit of work to get the dream life.

In fact you have to do the dirty stuff that makes the dream come true.

But are you willing to do the dirty stuff?

I bet you arent, no matter how much you want your life to change.

Randy Rayess is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is the  co-founder of Outgrow, a new way to add interactive content on your business and website. He also has a very interesting backstory to where he is today Alongside his business partner Pratham, he started a mobile app development marketplace in 2012 called VenturePact. This was a site for entrepreneurs to connect with mobile development teams.  The challenge at that time was that mobile app development was relatively new, expensive and it was hard to assess the quality and hard to ensure you are getting a fair price. So this led them to create a marketplace to make it easy to find relevant teams but it was not easy to scale and acquire customers because of the pricing issues. Instead of them giving up and saying “This online game doesn't work” they put their heads together and came up with an idea to create a mobile app cost calculator.  How The Dots Joined Up For Randy As he says “This turned out to be a game-changer for us as we were able to quickly give people a rough estimate and show them how the price varies by feature and by geography. Not only did the calculator help us build trust with the client but it also helped us win over our mobile app teams as they knew that the person they were connecting with had a reasonable understanding of the price associated with the app. People were very impressed with the calculator and the information they received on the results page that they started sharing it on listservs and forums, so we quickly received referrals to the calculator and it turned out to perform better than any landing page or ad we had ever tested. So proof of concept time was good, and traffic was coming in, therefore so impressed with the results of the calculator were they that we built a SaaS tool called Outgrow so any marketer can build calculators and graders to improve their customer acquisition similar to what we had done.  The challenge we realized was that building a powerful calculator required dev and design work so we wanted to make this more accessible to all marketers and entrepreneurs. And that is the perfect place to start today's show. So why do so many people give up when quite often the obstacle they face could well be the business that people are wanting help with too? And where does he want to go from here, more and more apps, or simply scale outgrow? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Randy Rayess Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Randy Rayess such as: Why so many companies need to focus more on their employees body clocks and prime time to work than simply getting them to the desk. We discuss the basis of a creating a trust funnel, that helps to put the customers mind at rest long before they ever buy. Randy shares openly the story of how they overcame the issues that had stopped their first business and wasn't he glad they had those issues. And lastly….. We go behind the scenes of Outgrow and highlight the issues that all businesses have that they solve with their brilliant system.

What Makes A Great Business Idea? On today's show we discuss something that bothers so many people across the world. What makes a great business idea, that is something that people will love to work and build. You see its ok to get a list of things that seem great from the outside, but what happens after five years when you are sick of it? Not good! So we answer than one, and also we touch on a couple of others from people who also want some amazing business advice from Join Up Dots. Lets start with question one and of course you will have to listen to the show to hear the answers Question One Hi David, i have just finished your Freedom Starter Course and have to say it has really created an amazing list of potential businesses. How do i narrow down to what the best ones are?  Ramesh Gillies, USA Question Two Dear David, do you think you could have done what you have done with Join Up Dots on your own? I am looking to start my own show and I cant afford to hire people like you did. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Donna Kilbride, Ontario, Canada Question Three David, if listen to your show the other day about all the things you do to earn income (which was very impressive and inspiring) and wondered. When do you decide not to do these things anymore. I imagine that you have an exit strategy for each and everyone Clive Williams, Dorset England.

Trish Marks is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast. She is a business coach who specializes in Stopping Self Sabotage, she helps leaders identify the skills around improving performances by changing the way they approach challenges and problems. Trish founded Marks Consultancy in 2012 after leaving her job as a successful sales consultant with the vision to spread the knowledge on how mastering your emotions can positively impact your decisions, behaviour and performance, and how it play’s such an integral role in effective leadership, as well as in life. We all have emotions all the time, but how many of us actually go behind the scenes of what are actually triggering them? And of course ever think about the way that these emotions stop us making the right decisions to get past these emotions.   How The Dots Joined Up For Trish As she says "I’ve helped 100's of clients move past “stages of being stuck” in their lives. This experience has led me to discover the patterns that create resistance to positive changes in life and business. And I show people like you how to: Experience less rejection Stop making more mistakes Stop getting left behind Get out of your own way Have less conflict in your relationships Working together we will go through a step by step process that will take you on the journey to reach your true potential resulting in you leading a more impactful level of success in your life. So what made her choose this line of work, and was it as surprise when she realised that was going to start paying off? And was this the idea straight from beginning or did she needs others to give her the clarity to see the path? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Trish Marks

In todays episode of Join Up Dots we go behind the scenes and discuss the different ways that we monetize the show. This was due to a question that we recieved from a guy in India Dear David, I am an avid listener from Mumbai India. I would very much prefer to know how you create wealth for yourself through the Join Up Dots podcast. I listen to many such podcasts and many stop without notice. This is leading me to observe that podcasts are a difficult way to make money.... kripaya, Adarsh.

Kelley Thornton is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is the founder of Tiege Hanley The Tiege Hanley story is simple and uncomplicated, just like our products. Founded by four “regular guys,” we created a product system and brand that makes skin care meaningful, accessible, affordable and clinically relevant—for regular guys. The brain child of Kelley Thornton, Tiege Hanley, named after one of Kelley’s prominent ancestors, was inspired by a department store skin care aisle stroll. As Kelley perused, he was struck by three simple truths: 1. Guys really don’t know much about skin care 2. Men’s skin care products are complicated and confusing 3. Man, are those products expensive! How The Dots Joined Up For Kelley Drawing on his marketing and brand management experience, Kelley got to work, enlisting his college roommate turned software industry guru, Rob Hoxie, to help mastermind a skin care solution for men that hits all three points—it has to be sensible, simple and affordable. Kelley and Rob wanted to help regular guys look and feel amazing by creating a skin care system that was easy to understand and to use. But what good is an idea without an audience? Enter Aaron Marino—men's lifestyle expert, grooming guru, YouTube sensation and serial entrepreneur. Aaron’s male-centric passion for health and lifestyle, personal brand and cult-like following made him Tiege Hanley’s ideal partner number three. So so many people have these ideas and fail to run with them, so what made him know that this was a winner? And where is he heading in the future with this runaway success? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Kelley Thornton Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Kelley Thornton such as: Why more men than women get skin cancer nowadays which is why skin care has become his passion. Kelley shared how he mastered the methods of buying, in particular what men didnt know about when it came to the shops. We discuss the steps that it takes to get a product off the ground - this is startup at its best. And lastly.......... Why doing what you love is great, but to be an entrepreneur is about taking risks first and foremost

Joe DiSanto spent his childhood riding BMX bikes, break-dancing, and memorizing 80’s movies, but the carefree days of youth wouldn’t last long. By 13 he was working as a busboy, helping his recently-divorced mom, and picking up some of his own tab. A valuable lesson was learned: If you don’t deal with your money, your money will deal with you. From that point on, he made it his mission to learn everything he could about making smart money moves. It paid off. By age 30, Joe had wiped out $70k in student loans, bought his first house, and started a post-production company in Los Angeles. How The Dots Joined Up For Joe Over the next decade, the company grew to 30+ employees with over 5 million in annual revenue, while producing two critically-acclaimed documentaries and an Emmy-winning HBO series. During this time, he and his wife also transacted on 15 residential and commercial real estate properties. But nothing had more life-changing impact than the birth of their son. After a successful 19-year run in L.A., the couple decided to slow down and invest in their new family. They cashed out of the business and bought into small-town life on the Florida coast. Having semi-retired at age 43, Joe’s efforts are now focused on his educational blog Play Louder, where he shares a lifetime of fiscal know-how to help individuals and business owners navigate their finances, increase their net worth, and plan better for their future. So why does he think the money lessons came to him at such an early age in life? And where does he want to go, now he has achieved what most people want in life, and has a foot off the gas? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Joe DiSanto Show Highlights During the show we discussed with Joe DiSanto such weighty subjects such as: Joe shares the secret message that he lives on everyday which is contra to the idea of success. Why you have to forget the ego that can take you over when building a business online. How refreshing it is step away from your life defining job and have conversations that dont involve what you do. and lastly........ Why it is so powerful to look at what you shouldn't be doing instead of what you are doing.

Cody Butler is the #1 Best Selling Author of “Got Attitude” and “The 90 Day marketing Plan”. Cody is widely accepted as one of the world's leading experts on Small Business marketing and Business Growth He’s been featured on Fox, ABC and NBC and has consulted for multinational corporations, sporting stars and marketing celebrities. Cody’s worked with over 5000 businesses to date, and his latest project, “The 90 Day Marketing Plan” is designed to help Small Business Owners create an effective marketing plan...even in these difficult times. But the reason I wanted to have him on the show was these simple statements that appeared on his website regarding his mentality to online and offline business. We’re building a business, not a fantasy, so if you currently make nothing and your question is “Can I get to $100K per month in 6 months?”. The answer is “NO”! How The Dots Joined Up For Cody If those are your type of questions, this is not for you. If your question is “If I implement like a MoFo can you get me to the next level?”. The answer is “YES” We’re going to get along just fine ???? There are no shortcuts to success, only wise paths, and there’s no such thing as “Get Rich Quick”only “Get Poor Quick”. Seriously hard work, dedication and expert guidance is the formula for success. If you can bring the first two qualities, I don’t care if you’re a complete beginner or a guru, I can work with you and it’s going to be a beautiful thing! So did he ever get seduced by shiny gadgets and GRQ schemes before realising that a plan, focus and commitment were the key. Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Cody Butler. Show Highlights Cody tells the story of when things clicked for him as a young man wanted a bicycle. Why you get paid based on the results that you provide to the market place not what you think you are worth. Why Cody writes down two hugely powerful statements every morning that he wants to achieve and sets out to do them both. Why the only way to being any good at making money is to get in-front of clients and prospects. Unless you turn up to the chat you wont close the deals. and lastly........ Why it's important to stop saying yes to everyone and just become an expert on one thing.

Introducing The Finding Your Passion Podcast Finding your passion and purpose in life is something that for many people haunts us daily. Certainly through the podcast Join Up Dots we have more people either struggling with coming up with their dream business idea or the step before which is of course of finding their passion in life. So is there a quick fix to discovery what lights us up inside or do we simply just have to go through life struggling to find our personal truth? Well we think there is as you will hear on today's show. So let's start with an email that we received from  Finding Your Purpose In Life Question Hello David! Huge new fan of the show so first of all a thank you for creating such informative and entertaining content. I listen every day on my way to and from work. My own issue is that I am struggling to find my purpose in life. I am 34, have 2 degrees and a host of short (unrelated) courses under my belt. How do you find your purpose? If you have any tips/books or can point me to any specific podcasts I would be delighted. (I am trying to make my way through the back catalogue!) Many thanks and have a great weekend. Step One: Action Helps You To Start Finding Your Passion First of all, and this might seem strange coming from a podcaster but you really need to stop reading books and listening to podcasts. Sounds strange? Well to truly start finding your passion you need to stop researching and hoping that someone will give you the answers and start doing stuff. It doesn't have to be huge, or expensive, it just has to be real life. You see reading books and listening to podcasts all the time will keep you trapped in a world of analysis paralysis. You will go round and round in circles thinking that the next podcast or book will be the one that you are looking for in life.  Big mistake! Start trying things out, saying yes to things you might have otherwise refused and keep an eye on how they make you feel. Finding your passion has to be something that makes you feel good after all. Step Two:  Go Back In Time And Look For Answers It's a truth but when we are young we are full of passions and enthusiasms. You never have to think or Google "How do I start finding your passions" We just know what they are as we spend our time doing the things we love whenever we can. As soon as we get home from school and we've finished our homework we are on them. So what were they? Do you remember like it was yesterday, or has your passion been lost in the midst of time? Well, most people cant think so go back to your parents, siblings, uncles and aunties and ask them what you were like as a child. If you can go back to your childhood home, start snooping around in the attic or your old bedroom. The close to finding your passion are all around you if you only know where to look. Step Three: Start Listing Your Love, Likes And Hates In Life Get yourself a blank piece of paper and draw two lines down the centre so that you have three columns on it. Each of these columns should have a simple title of Love, Like or Hate on it. Then simply create a list of how things mate you feel, do you see themes in the things that you love? Are the majority of the list creative? Do they show that you would like to be outside more or free from bosses and hassles? This is probably the most powerful method of finding your passion that you can ever undertake. It takes time, but the path you are seeking will start to appear in front of you. Step Four - What Are The Things That You Do That Others Give You Praise For? Have you ever noticed the times that people say nice things about you, makes you want to do more of the same stuff? Its not rocket science but we love to be liked and praised in life by other as it feeds our ego. So what can you do that make people rave about you the most? Are you great at cooking amazing deserts and puddings that friends and family beg you to make time and time again? Do you have a creative eye that works well in gardens across the world? Dont ignore peoples kind words, as even though you might think "Oh i can just do that easily" you might just have found your passion. Step Five - Create A Life Purpose Statement What would life and the world be if you could make it perfect? If you could have every person living the life that they wanted, whilst doing the things that they loved? Would you have cars, or no commute? Would you have short working hours, or longer days? Start writing down how you would create your dream world, and then try to summarise that into a clear statement of intent. "Finding Your Passion Would Be Easy As I Would Help Others Live Their Greatest Lives With No Regrets" Can you find your purpose by thinking Big Picture imagery instead of looking within? It might just be the key to start things moving in the direction that you want in life.

This week we speak to British property entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Jack Petchey. "Standing at the wrong end of a machine gun I imagined that I might be imprisoned, or worse," Sir Jack Petchey says. In a career that has spanned more than seven decades and taken him from ownership of a single taxi to the helm of a property business now worth a reported £550m, the entrepreneur says his arrest in Portugal was his lowest moment. It was 1974 and he was in the middle of building a holiday complex in the Algarve when there was a military coup. There was a lot of suspicion of foreign investors, he says, and this was evident when he found himself in court at 1am, accused of breaching rules on foreign currency. "Luckily I held my nerve, was released on bail and after two years the case was dismissed," he says. 'I knew we weren't rich' By that point he was well on his way to amassing his fortune, although he started life in much humbler circumstances. Born in 1925, Sir Jack's early years were spent in Manor Park in East London in a one-roomed flat with an outside toilet. The family's tin bath hung on the fence outside and was brought in every Friday evening for bathtime. Sir Jack's clearest memories of his childhood are of having fun. "We played out on the street, knocking on neighbours' doors and running away, or sticking coins to the pavement and watching as people tried to pick them up. "We didn't think of ourselves as poor, but I knew we weren't rich!" Despite being an advocate for education today, Sir Jack had no interest in school and left at 13, getting a job as an office boy soon after. After war broke out in 1939 he was keen to join the action and he volunteered for the Royal Navy when he turned 17. Sir Jack as a young naval cadet He was chosen for officer training, but failed to get through the selection process. What rankled was that an Eton-educated man passed, even though in Sir Jack's opinion he lacked leadership skills and had to be protected from being bullied. This experience only made Sir Jack all the more determined to succeed, a quality he says has been key to his success in life. He was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm and ended up as an aircraft engineer, servicing the planes that provided air cover during the Normandy landings of June 1944. Once he was discharged from military service, he went back to his pre-war office job, but found himself bored after the "excitement of the services". And it was another knockback that spurred him to move on. "I was ambitious, so I asked to be trained as a manager. But the personnel officer informed me I was not 'management material'." Outraged, he handed in his notice, but he knew he still had to pay his way - not least the rent and housekeeping money he owed his mother. So he put his discharge pay of £48 and his life savings together, bought a second-hand car and started a taxi service, picking up returning servicemen from the London docks. Sir Jack's first car hire office in East London Eventually he acquired another car and then an office, from which he started a car hire company in 1948. "Then I realised that selling cars was more profitable," he says. "So I bought a car showroom, and it wasn't too long before I realised that selling the car showroom was actually more profitable." Sir Jack (centre) opening the first Petchey car showroom in East Ham That was the start of a career in property, which was characterised by Sir Jack's willingness to seize opportunities even if it meant taking risks. After a close shave with bankruptcy in 1974, when property values crashed, he became a pioneer of the European timeshare movement, in which people buy stakes in holiday properties that they can only use at certain times of year. He introduced the concept to his own holiday complex in the Algarve in the 1980s and pursued timeshare projects in the UK too, where he had to defend them from some criticism. Not all of his ventures went smoothly though. He bought Watford football club from Elton John in 1990 but sold it back to the singer in 1996 amid criticism over the club's performance. Knighthood for philanthropist Petchey Petchey Holdings now manages a large portfolio of industrial and residential properties and a share of its profits - £9m a year - is ploughed back into what Sir Jack regards as his greatest achievement: the Jack Petchey Foundation. The foundation's overriding purpose is to give young people a chance to do well, and its motto - Sir Jack's own - is "if you think you can, you can". Among other things, it holds its own achievement awards, runs volunteering programmes, gives grants to schools and funds the Scouting movement, another key influence on Sir Jack's young life. Fifteen-year-old Aiden Kemp, who has mild cerebral palsy, is one of the 200,000 young people to be recognised by the foundation. He overcame his nerves to take the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge, for which he had to give a speech in front of an audience of students, teachers and parents. "I told myself, 'I'm going to do it, end of,' and I did," he says. "Afterwards I felt really confident that I can do anything and I just want to prove that everyone, no matter their backgrounds or disability, can achieve anything." In its 21 years of existence the foundation has made grants of £133m, usually with the requirement that the recipient matches or adds to the funding. A recent boys night in: Sir Jack with his son-in-law and grandsons Sir Jack has just turned 95, and even if his legs "won't do the walking" any more, he hasn't lost his appetite for work. It's taken the Covid-19 outbreak to stop him coming into the foundation's Canary Wharf office every day. His grandson Matt Rantell, a trustee of the foundation, reveals that his grandfather always carries a card around in his pocket with "Think a Smile" on one side and "Don't CCC" (criticise, condemn or complain) on the other. "Many people have said I've been lucky in business," says Sir Jack. "Well, I spell lucky with a 'p'- plucky! Because a lot of success is about having courage to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities." Even for such a determinedly "glass half-full" person, is there anything in his business life he wishes he'd done differently? "It's no good looking back, you always have to look forward," is the answer. "I can honestly say I have no regrets."

Copywriting expert Francis Nayan is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is a copywriter, and travelling entrepreneur, who has built his business without even first having an online presence. As he says "I create evergreen, automated, behaviour-driven emails, funnels, and campaigns for coaches, mentors, and e-commerce businesses who want to make more money with email. My goal is to create an email strategy that provides you a steady stream of cash flow and at least 30%+ of your total revenue by email alone. I use a blend of gold-standard copy-writing tactics, expert marketing insight, wolf-like sales psychology, and tailor-made copy written to the desires of your customers." That is of course what he does, so let's hear some more about who he is.   How The Email Writing Dots Joined Up For Francis As he says "I'm a copywriter from Memphis, Tennessee currently living in Budapest, Hungary. I started my freelance writing career as a kindergarten teacher in Budapest. I landed my first big client with a professional sports league and transitioned into full-time writer, specialising in email copy and sales pages. I've steadily risen from a struggling freelancer scrapping for 'egg and bread money' in a dirty Budapest apartment to earning well over 6-figures - all while travelling the world and writing just a few emails a day for my clients. Granted, travelling to 20+ countries may not be on people’s agendas right now during the pandemic — however he believes that all our listeners can use their own businesses to quickly adapt to the environment around you, whilst of course continually thriving in your business. So what made him choose this line of work, and was it as surprise for him that it started to pay off? And has the pandemic of 2020 made any difference to his profitability or is it just business as usual? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Francis Nayan Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Francis Nayan such as: Why so many people start an online business that are based around "new skills" instead of working within their true life experience. Why most people are unhappy due to the situation they find themselves in, NOT because of what they are actually doing in life. Francis shares how he built his business by working hard on relationships not by selling hard. And lastly….. Why the world has such an issue in putting their faces and voices out there and the reasons why it is so important to do so to build connection.

Building A Dream Job Building A Dream Job Isn't Really Possible is the discussion on today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. This has been inspired by a message that we recieved into the Join Up Dots email inbox from a great guy from Denver Colorado. Lukas has been in contact with us over the last few years, as he looks to keep building a dream job around photography - his huge passion. His question is based around the concept of do you keep building a dream job and struggle in the beginning, or do something else to make it easier to get there later? The Building A Dream Job Question Hi David, I hope life is treating you well. I’ve started an electrical business and I’ve been focusing more on that lately then my passion of being a photographer. I still do photography, but the electrical business is way more lucrative. I don’t hate electrical work, but I also don’t love it. My question is, should I build the electrical company so I can do amazing things in the future or should I struggle in the beginning and do what I love? Our Building A Dream Job Answer  I can answer this one hundred percent.......bring in the money mate. Be pragmatic about it. You see nobody ends up having a business that they truly love. I used to think that was the case, but now I see it otherwise otherwise it would be called a hobby. With Join Up Dots i would say there is seventy percent that I love and thirty percent that is a hassle. But it is as it is. What it does give me is 1: no boss, 2: no fixed timescales 3: the ability to travel when and where i want. I actually found a vision board that I created six years ago, and i forgot about it, and I had achieved everything i wanted and they were all based around being free, not being told what to do etc So i would say think this...... can YOU build the electrical company until you become the OWNER and not working in the business? If you can ( and i know you can) then you have income coming in passively which means then you can do what you want to do. For example, I now own a car parts shop and Im having to work in it three days per week UNTIL i get the issues sorted and we start making good money and then I am out of here....but the money will be coming with me Does that make sense pal??? Summary So what do you think? Is this the right way to go? Should we spend our time doing anything that we dont like in life, if it makes the majority of our time amazing? Let us know by connecting with us below and you can help others move forward to building a dream job, and of course a life. How To Connect With Join Up Dots Website LinkedIn Facebook Return To The Top Of Building A Dream Job If you enjoyed this episode with Building A Dream Job, why not check out other inspirational chat with Caroline Casey, Festival Pass, Shane Foss and the amazing Jack Canfield You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy

I have been looking forward to todays show for awhile now, as I am fascinated by what makes people push out of their comfort zones and literally go to the extreme of that point.

Why do people feel driven to drag themselves across climates that not only are very uncomfortable, but can actually kill you.

And thrive whilst doing it.

And todays guest is someone who is driven to do that kind of thing time and time again.

She is a writer, speaker and adventurer and inspiration to everyone that she meets in the world, who love to live her life through the stories she tells.

But what is also amazing to me time and time again, is to see how some of the smallest things in life can have the biggest influences on us.

Her first 'expedition' involved being bribed up an English Mountain at the age of nine by her parents with a packet of Opal Fruits.

The key words were to that statement was it all started with a bribe of sweets, but the sense of achievement on reaching the top, and standing there in the pouring rain was the first step towards where she is today.

And where she is today is being recognised as the first woman in the world to ski across Antarctica alone, awarded the MBE by British Royalty, and someone who seeks out irresistible challenges and captivating stories in the planet's wildest and most extraordinary places.

And now from her base in Iceland she is scheming for more and more experiences that she can tackle head on, much to the delight of the rest of us.

So how did she go from thinking "That was exciting" to "I can make a living out of this"?

And does she see that deep inside all of us is a desire for adventure and challenge, but for whatever reasons we hold back on it as we can quite believe that she should do it?

Well lets find out, as we bring onto the show to start joining up the dots with Felicity Aston MBE.

Georgia Bamber is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. She is a certified Life Coach and has a Masters in Psychology, and in the past, she worked as a therapist counselings refugees and asylum seekers and running women’s support groups. Her main focus now is in the area of positive psychology and helping people to find their spark. As she says "I decided long ago that the only way to make the most of this crazy, wonderful world we live in was to put myself out there and really live it. To experience, to love and to learn - every single day. I have put this mantra into practice. How The Dots Joined Up For Georgia I have lived in seven different countries on four different continents.   I have had a wide range of jobs from a financial analyst to running my own farm and now coaching others to embrace the good life. It’s all been fun. Of course, life hasn’t always been a bed of roses and I have made mistakes, plenty of them, but I have never let that stop me from showing up, putting myself out there and chasing my dreams. I have come to understand that happiness is a CHOICE. You just need to know this to be true. She is a graduate of Cornell University and, as well as the Psychology Masters, she also have an MBA from the City University Business School, London. She is certified in Plant Based Nutrition and competes in endurance running and triathlon events. She is a yogi and insight meditation practitioner So why do people think that they can find happiness by working on external things, when it all starts within? And even though she has created her dream job, does she still have days when she thinks...."blah......i am not feeling it today"? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Georgia Bamber

This week we speak to Kimberlee Perry, founder of trampoline fitness company Bounce. "You need to connect with other people, it makes you feel good," says Kimberlee Perry. Before coronavirus hit, her business had never contemplated running virtual sessions. The whole purpose of its dance classes on trampolines was to physically bring people together, especially new mothers who felt alienated in small towns. This is what inspired Kimberlee, 35, who is originally from Australia, to start up Bounce six years ago. In 2014, she was on maternity leave, and moved with her husband 30 miles out of London to the Essex town of Harlow. Suffering from postnatal depression she felt lonely. "All my life I'd really invested in sport, and used it to connect with people," she says. "It's a very sporty culture in Australia, so when I originally came to London when I was 18, I joined a netball club to make friends. "When I moved to Harlow I felt very alienated, I barely knew anyone, and the only sort of clubs I could join were mother and baby ones," she says. The company's customers are predominantly women Kimberlee found there were no fitness classes where she could take her baby, despite the positive impact exercise has on the mental and physical wellbeing of new mothers. So she decided to set up her own, investing £200 to launch Bounce later that year. "I wanted to feel good about myself - as a new mum you spend hours, most of the day and night on your own. So Bounce became a fusion of everything I needed in my life at the time - fitness, connections and fun." Fast forward to before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and the company had grown to have 47,000 monthly customers - mostly women - across the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Another factor behind her setting up the business was that she had missed out on a promotion - which she felt was rightly hers - in her previous job working as a sales manager in the events industry. Kimberlee wanted mums to be able to go to exercise classes, and be able to take their babies with them "Climbing the ladder in my job was a massive priority for me," she says looking back. "Being in the events industry is tough - you have to be working 24/7 - and I think that my pregnancy contributed to the decision not to take me on for that promotion. "I was devastated, I spent a few days in bed crying over it, trying to work out what my identity was without this job." Kimberlee already had a dance background, and started working hard at quickly getting some fitness instruction qualifications. Soon she was teaching classes at a local gym, where she came up with the specific idea for Bounce. "I came across these rebounders, which are mini trampolines, and I said to my husband, 'I'm going to take £200 out of the joint account and buy eight of them,'" she says. "I think he thought I was mad. "But they're well known for their low-impact nature, they're easy on the joints, and absorb over 80% [of impacts] - so I knew they would be perfect for new mums who wanted to work out." Kimberlee's firm has now trained more than 700 instructors To launch her first classes, Kimberlee choreographed a number of dance-based routines, and hired a local community hall in Harlow. "Mums would bring their babies and leave them in their prams while they did the class," she says. "After a few months I started to put on more classes because of demand - people loved the fun nature of the class, and the fact that they could burn around 600 calories in 45 minutes. "I put all the money back into the business - paying my hire fees for the hall, then buying more trampolines. But it got to the point where I couldn't teach all the classes myself - I was doing 12 a week and the weight was falling off me." Hiring other instructors, Kimberlee's classes started to get more and more attention - and competitors began to set up similar ones. She knew she wanted to expand the business and protect her idea, so decided to look into franchising. But Kimberlee is the first to admit that she wasn't sure how the process even worked. "I didn't have any understanding of it, but I knew I needed legal protection to support my business idea," she says. "So when a lawyer helped explain the franchise model and the possibilities of how big I could take the company, it was so enlightening." Bounce expanded to Australia, Kimberlee's homeland, in 2017 To date, Kimberlee and her team have trained more than 700 instructors, and now have 320 franchise studios in the UK and 20 abroad. Their franchisees pay an upfront fee to be part of Bounce, which gives them access to the equipment, and a protected geographic area to operate in. Franchisees then pay a percentage of their revenues as an ongoing management fee. For this fee they get their business admin managed, all the class routines and choreography, plus branding and marketing. Marc Mullen, a London-based personal trainer, believes Bounce is popular because it is fun and friendly, and offers its predominantly female customers a sense of community. "Joining a regular gym can be very intimidating for some women, as unfortunately they can be male-dominated environments," he says. "And there are high rates of gym dropouts due to the fact that people don't really have a structure to follow, lack of ideas, or motivation. "[By contrast] Bounce keeps people engaged. With the business enjoying an annual turnover of £3m last year, Kimberlee now oversees a management team of 25 at its Harlow headquarters. However, the chief executive hasn't forgotten her roots. "I still teach - five classes a week, and make up every routine," she says. "I love how it makes me feel, and knowing that I'm inspiring other women every day... that's a feeling you can't really beat." In April, in response to Covid-19, the company moved its classes online, offering eight per day, seven days a week. "Franchisees had to shut down their studios, but everyone benefited from us going virtual. We split the profit from the online classes between the franchisees, which was hugely helpful to them," Kimberlee says. But with gyms now reopening, she adds that everyone at Bounce is excited to once again meet their customers in person.

Shane Foss is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast.

With over 20 years of tenure as an executive in the medical industry, Shane Foss became frustrated with how under-served Americans
were with the current healthcare options.

He set out to make a change and in 2018 achieved this goal through launching Hooray Health, an unconventional health insurance company dedicated to providing affordable basic and urgent health care alternatives to high-deductible health plans.

Through Hooray Health, Foss and his team focus on offering peace of mind to lower-income individuals and families who face medical challenges, while also providing business owners with an affordable way to reward and retain employees.

How The Dots Joined Up For Shane

Partnering with companies like Sedera, Ameritas, and Aflac, they have be able to add critical services and supplemental plans giving immense value to employers and individuals.

Throughout his professional experience, Foss has negotiated complex, multi-million-dollar contracts, worked in device sales management, created business strategies, and optimized P&L.

He holds an MBA from Rice University’s, Jone’s School of Business, a BS from the University of the Incarnate Word, and a Surgical Technologist Certificate from the United States Air Force.

So why did Obama Care never get off the ground, when it seemed certainly from this side of the pond such a good idea.

And what should people do if they cant afford the payments each month, especially when times like Covid-19

Show Highlights

During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Shane Foss such as:

Shane shares the complexities of starting a business in the medical field and the steps he took to ensure success.

We discuss the haunting period which takes a business from idea to the real world.

Shane talks about the moment that he sat with friends and family, and the surprising support he received.

And lastly…..

Why its such an amazing idea to think about solving a problem for yourself and then see if you can scale it.

Getting Serious About Business Today show is a Free coaching session, where your host David Ralph talks about what has been going on in the world of Join Up Dots this week, and also gets to answer some of the questions that have come in from listeners across the globe Question One: Hi David, loving the show, your passion and the madness. How the hell did you come up with the Gargle Game, but I belly laugh when you are doing it. Which is what my question is all about. Although I have just found your show, it isn't like any other business type show I have heard. Could you advise why you are doing these things that go against the norm. All the best Simon Mantle, Perth, Western Australia. Question Two: Hi David, I was listening to one of your archive shows recently and you spoke about suffering with stress and the fact that your hair fell out. I am having a similar experience and would love to know what you have done to resolve these issues, as they are really bringing me down and making me unhappy - Claire Copod, Belgium Question Three: Mr Ralph, thank you for everything you are doing with Join Up Dots. Its the best podcast by far and I tell all my buddies that they have to listen to you. Can I ask this question. What is your day like? You talk about working hour after hour and then you also talk about walking around looking at things, like you are free. Whats the real story? - Hanna Maskel, Seattle Question Four: I have started a business recently selling fish tank equipment and although I have done better than expected, I'm not increasing my sales. Can you advise what I should be doing to get more sales as the more money I can earn the more I can support my family - Matheus Henrique Lopez, Paraty, Brazil

When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David, Ralph. David Ralph 0:26 Good morning, Good morning to you and welcome to Join Up Dots. Yes, thank you so much for being here. Now. Now my young padawans. How are we doing? How we doing out there? Are we getting the juices flowing? Are we getting the inspiration to go out and create our own dream life? Well, I've been talking about this for about seven years now. And I spend I spend a lot of time Yes, I do. Because that what I do, talking to people who connect with me through the show with an interest in starting their own businesses, and creating their own incomes, and having a jolly lovely life. And I've started well, I've been thinking this all the time, but I'm not really mentioned it that much on the show, but it's an important thing. So I'm going to mention it in today's episode. But most people come through to me and they say, oh, David, I really want to start my own business. Yeah, I've been really thinking about it for years. And I'm really focused on it. And I go, Okay, that's no problem. I said, you know, it's very easy to start your own business, it's very easy to get traffic. It's a lot harder to sell things if you're selling something that people don't want. So let's focus in on the want and let's not focus in on the need, and we can get something going. And they go oh, yeah, no, that sounds brilliant. That sounds brilliant. Yeah, that's really what I want. And but I never hear from them again. And then I send a message through and I say to them, you know, how are you getting on? Are you are you you know, You're moving forward, whatever you're doing. And more often than not, you get some kind of response back going, Oh, it's not a good time at the moment. It's not. It's not that which I totally understand, I totally understand. But what I've been realising and this is what this show is about is that a lot of people are looking at creating their own income and their own businesses as an escape from what they're doing. But actually, what they should be doing before that step is creating their own happiness plan inside them, creating that that motivation and inspiration to be able to go on and tackle things which are big, sometimes stretching, certainly fulfilling and can be life changing. And I think people are thinking that creating their own income is going to be the answer to all their problems, but it's not because the problems are somewhere within you that is making you want to transition from where you are. Now, I always say I was in corporate land and for about, I would say, first 25 years, or was it 25 years, maybe 20 years. I really didn't know what to do. But I was in that kind of place before the internet. Yes, there was a time there was a time before internet. So you didn't really see what other people were doing. Other than sort of pop stars and famous people on Top of the Pops in the BBC where you go, that sounds brilliant. That looks brilliant. But how the hell am I going to do that? Now, as I moved through the internet crept into our life and Google took control and then you could start seeing kind of normal people, normal people doing stuff. And I think a lot the unhappiness that people have got nowadays is about seeing what other people are doing and thinking, well, I could do that. It's not that bad. Hard is not a stretch. It's you know, it's only creating a few YouTube videos and putting it out. Now I was listening to a podcast and this emphasises this point. And there's a guy in the United Kingdom called Joe wicks. Now, I didn't really know much about Joe wicks, and I listened to a podcast episode The other day, and he was talking about his story. And he was a guy who was basically in a corporate gig company, what he was doing, he was in some kind of retail shop, and he wasn't happy with himself and he's physical look, and he's mental aspect. So he started signing up for the gym. So he'd go to the gym, and it wasn't earning that much in his salary. And so half the salary each month was going to his gym membership. And when he was at the gym, he started thinking to himself, what I'm going to do, I'm going to create my own business. Yes, that's what I'm going to do. And so he started doing boot camps, which are, you get a park, you get a field Nearby, and you get people there early morning before they go to work. And then you walk them around a bit and you get them to do but downward dog and all these other sort of episodes, episodes, what am I talking about these these positions, and then you build a business and it's easy, isn't it, you get a field and you just get a load of people turn up and you make some money. So this is what he wanted to do. And he was saying on his podcast episode, literally every time that he would get up at six o'clock in the morning or five o'clock in the morning and get to this build, nobody turned up, not one person and he used to think to himself, what should I do just go home. But if I don't know what I'm going to do while I'm up, I'm going to take some leaflets around to the railway station and hand them out. And hopefully I can sort of pull this business up by his bootstraps, and get it going. Well, now he's got his own podcast. He's had something like 100 million billion views over On his exercise lessons on YouTube, but it all started with him wanting to better himself and wanting to actually personally transition his inner spirit, his inner self. He wanted to get fit, he wanted to build better. And he wasn't actually running away from anything. He was running towards himself. And that's what I thought was so important when I was listening to him talk. And I think so many people that I speak to, they're kind of running away from a situation and running away from a job. They're running away from a business, just like I did, as I was saying, I was in corporate land and for the first 25 years, he was fine. I used to go to work, have a few beers in the evening, come home, have a holiday, there wasn't anything to sort of really reflect on where I should be doing something else. And then the internet came along and I started seeing others another way of operating, and then I got very, very unhappy and so I thought to myself, what I want to do Want to get happy, and I transitioned to into Join Up Dots Join Up Dots wasn't the business at the beginning, it was just a way of me finding the happiness and challenging myself and finding something that could spark me up. And so when people come through to me, it's all about creating something that will take them from this crappy job or this situation that they don't like, into a world of wonder and infinity pools and glory and and everything else. And then they struggled, I struggled to take that first step because they're focusing in on the task, but actually what they should be thinking about is themselves, how can they change themselves to start having that, I suppose that motivation inside them and it doesn't start with building a business. It starts with building you and transitioning, you know, at the moment I am cycling Yes, I've been talking about this improved locked down, I decided to get my old bike out and start riding and I do about eight miles a day, three times a week, so I don't do it every single day. And the first week, it absolutely killed me. It really did. And I can't do this. I can't do this and walking upstairs was absolutely a nightmare sitting down on the toilet, anything that meant that my legs had to push me up or push me down. It was just horrendous. But I knew that it was going to be a good thing. For me. It wasn't something that I was doing to just transition from something else it was it was an inward look. So I carried on and carried on. And now these hills that were like insurmountable mountains and falling up them well not flying up. I'm I'm kind of going up quicker than I used to. But certainly it's it's changing me and I'm feeling more motivation inside because I'm changing myself and not my outside. situation? Yeah, can you can you see this? Can you understand this? So it's not about finding another situation that will make you happy is about finding the happy in you is about finding the motivation of starting something. And it's not about building businesses, it's about changing your mindset. First of all, changing your physical outlook. If you're a bit of a couch potato, then it's very difficult to be that slumpy person sitting there with a bag of potato chips every single night and loads of beers to Ben being, ah, I'm going to create a online income stream. I'm going to do this during that time. So it's dawned on me time and time again, that it's not about anything other than winning it in a game, finding that happiness inside you. And it doesn't necessarily mean the big goal is just something it could just be you know, a little thing like challenging yourself, start doing something that you haven't done before, aim to read a couple of books a month but you've never read before. Go for a walk twice a week, get your bike out. Anything that will take you from your situation to actually thinking Yes, I'm improving myself. Okay. So named VA happy isn't about your outward situation is you're in good situation. And this is a big part of what Join Up Dots is all about making you more rounded. So that the success naturally comes to you. And it does, it naturally comes to you. Once you sort of rule you pull yourself out of the mud and start getting going. So what challenges are you going to aim for this week drop us a line not many people do but I'm going to say to you, this is your first challenge. Just drop me a line at the Join Up dots@gmail.com I will respond back to you and just Tell me, David, I'm going to be doing whatever, okay? And it could be I'm gonna stop taking the lift or the elevator, and I'm going to walk up the three flights of stairs every day. Or I'm going to not have that bag of crisps with my lunch. But instead I'm going to have a healthy Apple, tiny little things, but they build up drop me a line and I will share them on the show. And of course, if you have I don't share any on the show, Ben, what's the point? What am I doing people? What am I doing? You Look after yourselves be challenge, find the happy. Don't think of it as the outside situation that you've got to change is the inner situation. And believe me, magic can occur. Once you start focusing in on yourself, then the outer situation will improve as well. It's a given. It's a given. Look after yourselves. And until next time, I will see you again. See ya bye.

Creating An Avatar Creating an avatar is the subject that we are going to discuss in today's Join Up Dots episode. This is something that is vitally important when we start a business as it saves us so much time trying to discover where our marketing budget has gone wrong. Now, the how to create an avatar information has been requested by a lovely lady who  dropped us a line after starting to get an idea for a business forming in her mind.   Please Tell Me How To Create An Avatar Customer Dear David, as a long term listener who has listened to most of your shows, this is the first time i have ever dared drop you a line. I think i am starting to get an idea for a business that I could start, but I can't create the customer avatar. You and other business coaches advise that we need to create this to start knowing their problems and begin marketing. Could you advise as to how you do this, as Im not sure you have ever gone into detail on this before. Thanks for your help and your passion and enthusiasm Meeta Picante. Costa Rica

David Wood is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. Now this isn't his first appearance on the show as he recently appeared on the show back in June 2019 We discussed many things on that show as his entrepreneurial journey has led him through many different dots, and its the joining of his dots that are so remarkable. As he said on the show: “When you’re 10,000 feet ABOVE the Himalayas hanging from a piece of cloth, you see life differently”. He holds the viewpoint that life is the best game there is and asks: Are you playing for REAL? He coaches high performing entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders to play the best game they possibly can, deepening connection and living a regret-free life. How? By setting life-changing goals, laser-focused action, and increasing their levels of Truth, Daring, and Caring – in both life and work. He loves sharing his message of Playing for Real on live stages, podcast interviews, and radio shows, and has been best described as “playful and deep”. How The Dots Joined For David A former Consulting Actuary to Fortune 100 companies – including Sony Music, Proctor & Gamble, and Exxon – David left his cushy Park Avenue job 20 years ago to explore both the outer world and his own inner world. Along the way, he’s coached thousands of hours in a dozen countries around the globe and is the author of “Get Paid For Who You Are,” with foreword by Jack Canfield. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council, alongside such thought leaders as Don Miguel Ruiz, John Gray, Marci Shimoff, and Vishen Lakhiani. So is it simple enough to say that the children of the world who spend their time playing actually are the keys to our adult life? And after listening to his new podcast, why does he struggle with failure as much as the rest of us? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. David Wood.

In today's episode of Join Up Dots we look at a problem that faces so many people in life and in business.

This ability, or i guess the lack of ability, to control our future like we hope for.

All our successes and future dream lives that we hope with our hearts that we will get, can often bring us to our knees.

You see, and as you will hear on the show we cant really do anything about the future, as it doesn't exist.

Our future lives may be what we hope they will be, or perhaps they wont, but really we cant do anything about making them happen.

You will say of course "David, that's rubbish. We can work on making things happen in our lives by taking big sexy action"

And I will say "Yes of course you can, and you should. That is exactly what life is about. Being in the present and taking action in the present"

That, however doesn't mean that the future you want will ever actually become real.

All these desires and action that we take will ultimately lead us somewhere, but perhaps it wont be where we thought it would be.

So relax into the day, enjoy what life is giving you in the moment, and see where it all heads.

That is where our future lives can really be controlled.

Jason Cutter is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He is the founder and CEO of CCG, grew up in Fremont, California, and has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology (with a lot of time spent with sharks). From UC Santa Cruz, an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University, and a wide variety of experiences in business, from technical support at Microsoft to deploying overseas as a civilian contractor, his analytical mind is always looking for ways to solve problems or make situations better. He is all about taking action, not just talking about theoretical plans. Those who have worked with him describe him as passionate, intense, and driven. His philosophy can best be summed up in this quote from Zig Ziglar, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Which is where his consulting business came into play and founds its legs As he says"You know how most salespeople struggle to crush their sales goals consistently? Well, that’s where I come in! How The Dots Joined Up For Jason I’ve helped my clients create sales success in just about any type of environment you can think of, and I’ve heard every excuse known to man. Here’s how I do it… I teach people how to sell without it feeling like selling. I help them sell on value so that price never comes up. I build systems and processes to produce expected results. I create a sales machine that can scale" So is selling simply having what people want, and then finding the people that want it? And where do people go wrong, spending their time marketing in the wrong places, or just having no strategy at all? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Jason Cutter Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty sale subjects with Jason Cutter such as: Why children are amazing salesmen and negotiators and know the skills that make things happen right from the start. Jason shares the steps he took to build his business from the strengths, by realising his strengths and asking for help for his weaknesses Why it is such a great idea to find a business partner to get you going as its hard to build a business. and lastly........ The reasons why people have a desire to get into cages with great white sharks.

In today's episode of Join Up Dots we look at a problem that faces so many people in life and in business.

We look at why we are so tough on ourselves when living our day to day lives.

Why we run ourselves ragged to try to make a difference to the wrong people who don't deserve or times and energy.

We get into bed at the end of the day with a feeling of disappointment that we have let so many people down.

However the truth is actually very very different in so many ways.

The truth is every person on earth has this feeling of inadequacies and also has the feeling of letting people down.

Dont feel that please!!

In today's show, we look at what has been going on behind the scenes in the world of Join Up Dots

And you might be surprised to know that its not about what you think it might be.

Yes, we know that we are a top podcast with thousands of listeners everyday, but also we have many strings to our bow.

Not least we also have offline businesses scattered around the country that are flourishing due to what we go through in today's show.

Yes, todays show is all about Getting A Ton Of Traffic To A Brick And Mortar Business the easy way, and believe me it really is easy.

It all comes down to being extremely granular with the content that you are producing, and the focus you have on the laziness of customers.

Once you understand this then you are ahead of the game and can really  focus of bringing profits into your lives,

Lets get on with the show as its a good one

In todays show, we hand over the hosting duties to Ginni Saraswati from The Ginni Show, who interviewed me live in New York City back in August.

Most of the times when you record a podcast you will do it in isolation, with the guest connecting through skype or telephone connections.

This one was done on both camera and audio, which was a bit of a different experience for me to say the least. I hope you all check out the Ginni Show on iTunes and give her some ranking and review love.

It only takes you a few minutes but makes such a big difference to the growth of shows everywhere.

Faith and action is demonstrated big time in today's episode of Join Up Dots. We share a story that is the catalyst for everything that we do in Join Up Dots. One man shares how he has found the happiness in his life not by going after the money, but instead the meaning. He realised that there was no point trying to earn a great living for himself and his family if he was dead in side. David Ralph also shares his new business ventures which are spurning forth due to the understanding that online ventures work by sticking to simplicity. Also on the cards is sharing why a re-branding of a listeners business has been such an important part of the business puzzle Lets get on with the show Full Transcription Of The Faith And Action Podcast Episode Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:25 Yes, hello there. Good morning to you. Good morning, one and all. And welcome to Join Up Dots. I hope you are well. I hope everybody is reaching out for the dream reaching out for those obstacles and smashing then to pieces. Because honestly, you move through the obstacles and I know obstacles are hard. That's what they are called obstacles. Well, I don't know why they called obstacles. But they they're bloody great big things that are hard to move. Sometimes they are physical. Sometimes they're mental. Sometimes they're a combination of both. But you How do you get mounted and Ben, it's sort of easier and the more obstacles you get past the the easier life becomes. And honestly, I mean, if you've listened to Join Up Dots over the last seven years or so, you know, I've been very transparent about hard times the difficult times that I've been proven. I actually went in to speak to my wife, my wife had a terrible hangover this morning. It's her own fault drinking on a school night, and I was in the shower. And I actually thought to myself, David you are looking healthy, you're looking pretty damn fine at the moment because it was a phase I went through but I spoken about where I had acute burnout. And I had big bags under my eyes, brass rings under my eyes, and I just looked kind of just drawn and grey. And it just dawned on me this morning that that the bags have kind of disappeared and that the hair is back and I'm just feeling damn good. And that is because because I have moved through the obstacles that difficulties and now I've got a life that for many people is a dream. And I suppose it's a dream for me. But you know what it's like when you when you live your life, you kind of don't think it's a dream because it's just your life. But I know, I know, looking at it from other people's points of view, but it's a dream. Now I just wanted to start off with saying a couple of words. I want to say hello again to Jackie Baker. Now, if you remember last week, I did a show about the south coast dinner society, a lovely lady who has launched her own business and I kind of dissected a few things and told her that she needed to focus in on site speed because everything's on mobile now. And she also has to focus in on making it look good and look a bit sexy, but people are landing on mobile and I spent about an hour an hour and 10 minutes or so with last night. We connected On the zoom, and I gave her some pointers. And we're going to change the name, we're going to change the name of our business, we're going to get it more focused on the branding, because once you get branding, right, once people understand instantly what you do, then all your content and all your videos and your podcasts or wherever you do kind of makes sense. You hang it on that thing. And as I always say to people, my business is online business made easy, because I totally believe that people out there doing things the wrong way, they're making it far too difficult for themselves, spending too much time twisting around on Facebook and Instagram, where you should be thinking about the audience that's already looking for, you know, their little mobile phones, they're sitting on their little tablets and keyboards, and they're typing and they're looking for your business. So instead of trying to go for people that don't really care, look for the people that are already typing away and when you will win. So Jackie Baker, thank you So much for spending time with me last night. And God she likes to talk I had to cut off numerous times, because I thought I'd be here for about four days, but she was a delight. And hopefully we will connect again. So yeah, go over to the south coast in a society and have a look at the work she's doing. Because she is a lady where the passion is following through to make things great for her. Now, actually, when I did that podcast, what was it a week ago, I realised that I'm actually a full time owner of a car spares business, so her car spares and auto parts business, and I've been a part member for about 20 years. And over the last sort of six months or so I took over it full time, because my family are too old. My mom's had a stroke and so I sort of I played around with it. And to be honest, my heart wasn't in it. I like doing Join Up Dots. I like doing this this. This is fun. You know I don't want to work in a shop. Anyway. I'm doing the I'm locked down. I had to close the shop down for eight weeks. And I started thinking about it in different way. And I thought to myself, there's an opportunity here, we've got parts, we've got service, we've got history, I need to put a bit of effort in, but I kind of didn't and, and when you're doing well, in certain regards, you'd kind of think to yourself, well, do I need to do more? Do it. But anyhow, I decided but I would challenge myself. After speaking to Jackie doing that podcast episode and saying that you've got to focus in on mobile, you got to focus in on local search and making things fast. So I started working on it and I have trebled the profits in about a month and a half. When all the other businesses around our area are struggling we are for a while. And it's all about once again, thinking about who's actually looking for me already, and how can I positioned myself in front of him. So we have now got a thriving business again, which is brilliant and it It's given me income to start a caravan rental Park. Well, you know, you've got caravans and Arby's, but you you don't know where to store over the winter or throughout the year? Well, I'm going to open one of those. So I've got a bit of land and I'm going to get that tarmacked over or at least, levelled out in a regard. And then we have maybe 100 caravans stored up on a yearly basis. And once you start to get the flow going, it's quite easy to do these things. Because once again, it's the same thing. You find a value point you look for where people are looking for you, and then you put your product in front of them. And things just become really, really easy. Once you understand online business. Now I speak to loads of people, and I say to them, that it's not about the business you want to do. Just learn about how to do online business, then you've got opportunities, and some people go Yeah, okay, that's fine that I will do it. Other people got no, I really want To do the dream business, I really want to do the thing. And I understand their point of view. But I also think to myself, just learn how it works. And then the opportunities that everywhere, okay? Don't just learn one thing, just learn how to get traffic onto a website to connect via e commerce products or your online or driving it to an offline business. And then you will be rocking and rolling. I promise you, right just before I do a story today Yes, it's gonna be a little story. I just want to say thank you to a couple of people who have dropped lines in I've got Valley Scentsy, from India, and this is from iTunes. And as I say, over the last few weeks, I'm trying to say thank you to people for doing this, because it's really beneficial to a podcast, it really makes a difference. And, and if you're spending a bit of effort, I should say thank you. So many cities from India amazing podcast hosts who brings out the essence what I love about David is his ability to bring out the essence from each person who on the podcast, joining up the dots is an art. It requires a sense of awareness and depth to be able to make this happen. So thank you very much for that. And it's from India and Kate five to 74390 this is I almost feel like I should know this person, but if I do, I can't can't place it. But the reviews is truly inspirational and motivational. David has incredible energy and a great sense of humour. He sees guests very full for questions and ask us all the sticky sort of awkward cheeky questions. But the listener is also thinking but does so in such a light hearted manner, but he never sounds offensive. I look forward to listening to David's podcast every day is a quality guy and offers real honest advice. I wish him all the happiness in the world. Thank you, Kate. And he's inspired so many people to have confidence and follow their dreams highly recommended. So thank you so much for that. Really, you know that. That's what it's all about. That's what Join Up Dots is all about. And it leads me on to a story now. Now, about six years ago, when Join Up Dots was a fledgling podcast, a guy from Alabama, United States connected with me. And I was sitting at my desk, I remember it, you know, really clearly, and a message came in. And it was from this guy who said, David, I've been listening to your podcast, I'd really like to do something I thought totally lost. And I sent a message back and I said, like, if you want to speak, you know, I connect with you. And we did. And it was on Skype, I think it was we connected. And he had a terrible sort of internet connection. So I couldn't see him. So we just did it like old school telephone. And he was sitting in his van, and he was going off to a job that he didn't want to do. And he said, I'm so lost. I'm so unhappy. I don't know. You know, where life's taking me. I seem to be following the money, but the money is not making me happy. And we had a chat and we we chatted a couple of times, maybe two or three times actually. And it turns out that he was sad. insurance for a company and he wasn't a salesman. He loved being out in the sunshine, working with his hands before that he'd worked for a medical company where he was sort of mending the beds and the equipment I seem to remember. So he was very hands driven. And then he decided he would get this job, just because it was paying the big bucks, commission wise, but he wasn't happy. So I spoke to him and I said, Look, Josh Park was his name, I said, Look, you've really got to do something with your hands. It's obvious to me just speaking to you here. You've got to get out. You've got to get out and about, you've got to build a freedom. You're not an office person. you're somebody who needs to get out you need to build out you're constructing something. And so he came up with this idea of, well, we kind of come up with it together. But he was the big push of actually creating a automobile, a car washing service, where he created a kind of filtering in the back of a band so the water would go around and then back And it would clean all the time. And he'd go to people's offices and say to the directors, I will wash all the cars out there every Tuesday if I can have a contract and he started doing best bit work, and it started going quite well, and it was called his name was just park and it was something like parking clean services. You see, it's quite good. you park your car, and he cleans it, you know. And he broke free. But he was finding that he was doing too many hours. It was all down to him all the time. And so he decided that he was going to move to Florida, leave Alabama and go to Florida. And get went down there and carried on his cleaning business. But then he franchised out the one that he left in Alabama to somebody else. So he was making a bit of profit, but he wasn't doing the work. And that was his idea he was going to do this. And anyhow, long story short, I received a message on messenger the other day, and I just want to read it out verbatim because it shows you how You can Join Up Dots and you can find the things that you like, even if it wasn't obvious at the beginning. So you got to remember, Joshua's totally lost. He was obviously wanting to work with his hands. He worked for a medical company, when he started chasing the money for insurance. He was very, very unhappy. Now, this is a message that came through and this isn't, you know, to big me up at all. This is just a nice story that I thought would be good on the show. Just say done, and this was totally out of the blue. I hadn't heard from him for about three or four years. Baby, do you want my heart tonight? I hope life is treating you well. I just wanted to thank you. I'm not a millionaire, and I don't own my own business anymore. But you helped me find what brings me joy. And because of you, I grew the CO owners and started my own business. I appreciate you for having confidence in me when I didn't have confidence in myself. You literally changed my trajectory on life. Life is good. Now. I appreciate you, David. How are you for some reason, I miss you. Even though we haven't met in person. You're still at the A friend. And so I went back to him. I said, Oh, buddy, it's really great to hear from your pal. Funnily enough, I was thinking about you just last night. And I was, I was sort of going through all the people that have come through Join Up Dots. And some of them still connect with me. And some of them were a big part of it, but moved on. And then I don't hear from him anymore. And I said to him, I was musing all the people that have come through the shows, since starting j u DS, as I call it, and how many of them didn't do anything with the help? They had that passion for a little bit, but then they just stopped. And then I thought of you and I actually meant to drop you a line and I thought maybe it's too far back in years now and he won't remember me. So how are you doing? How is Florida? We're hearing stories in the press about the virus surging again. I really hope you and your family are safe and happy. And he came back to me and this this is the real joining up the dots moment. And he came back and he said, David, life is good. Every day. I wake up is a good day. Right? Florida was fun, but after Hurricane Michael Michel, most of us were laid off. So we moved back home to Alabama. And I started working with a friend, repairing and installing hot tubs. Now you gotta remember he was somebody but, you know, had the motivation. He could do things with his hands, he'd already created a kind of water based business washing cars. So this is kind of the next step. He says, the business started booming, and we are in the season of plenty. And I can imagine my wife's always banging on about bloody hot tubs and I say to her, yeah, if you're in Florida, you'd probably use it. You wouldn't use it here, where you get three minutes of good weather a year and the thought of walking up the garden in a swim so it's never going to happen. Anyhow, she moans about it all the time. Now, our family is on the back end of the adoption process, he says and we hope to add another one to the family life is good David and I can't thank you enough for your heart. I've learned that people come and go and the seasons and reasons you held my hand through a difficult time of searching. I appreciate you when we connected I didn't know what I wanted to apply but why had Wasn't it you guided me into a different thinking about how I'm to provide for my families no money. If I'm dead inside my family has money but I work for that money is worthless. money or being rich was never my goal. It was the something more that I was after. I found that with your help and the help from others, the only way to benefit from others is learning action. And by again, I appreciate you, David, you're a friend of mine, but I'm grateful for Well, I'm grateful for him. Because he has found he's been and he's learned that he liked being in business, but he didn't like running a business himself. So he's found a friend. They're supporting each other. He's doing something that is outside, he's doing something that is manual that he enjoys. He's very, very good at it. business started booming and I can imagine hot tubs are really popular at the moment. And he joined up his dots he joined up his dots from working with his hands for a medical company to actually controlling his own Time and he's own business. And every one of you can do that, you know, I've had this car repair shop for years and years and years, never we sort of did much with it. I kind of par for our that somebody else's problem. But when I totally looked at it and thought, right, okay, let's really turn this room. I already had the skills, it was easy. I just looked at him for one, okay, we get these people to come, we get these people to come, we get it all to appear on their mobile phones, our target, mobile six and seven and Apple five, iPod five or whatever they're called, I don't know, iPhone five, iPhone six and seven. Make sure that it's all mobile responsive on their screens, give it a good online store to come through. And it was easy for me, but I couldn't have done it without the six or seven years of other stuff that didn't seem connected. And so if you're out there and you're doing stuff and you know this isn't a business. It is you're in the learning stage at the moment. Gold large Karma, whatever is giving you the skills. So when you make that decision that you really want to go for it, you'll be able to look around and go, I can do this, I can do this really well, then how do I give it to somebody who can't. Now, that's a bit of a journey you got to go on. But it's still very, very powerful to know about the journey that you're on at the moment when you're going to your crappy job or you're on the commute with a mask on, you're thinking, Oh, I don't really like this. It's actually teaching you what you need to get your dream life. You couldn't get it. Otherwise, it's really, really important to do that. So for everybody out there, hopefully you're taking inspiration from Joshua story, and also Jackie Baker from the south coast dinner society that's going to be rebranded soon. And from Kate on iTunes, and the gentleman from India, thank you so much for leaving ratings and reviews. But believe me, every single one of you, it's waiting for you. Just go Do it you just got to do it if you're willing to sit back and wait for somebody else to land it in your, in your lap, never going to happen. If you're waiting to actually make a plan, strategize and go for it, then it's waiting. You're looking after yourself. Have a great weekend. Whatever you're doing, take faith and action and I will be here waiting for you next week. If you've got any positive stories of life changing situations, drop us a line and we'll share them with the world to give them inspiration but I'm gonna be waiting for you because that's what I do. Until next time, see again, Cheers. Bye. Outro 18:34 See ya. Heard the conversation. Now it's time for you to start taking massive action. Create your life. Busy only live. We'll be back again real soon. Join Up Dots Join Up Dots. Join Up Dots. JOHN. The guy Joy, joy Unknown Speaker 19:04 odds

Introducing Greg Shepard Greg Shepard is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is the CEO and founder of BOSS Capital Partners. He is a Serial Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker and Angel Venture Capital Investor with a legacy of building and running sustainable growth businesses. Driven by a transformational leadership style, Greg has spearheaded multiple company exits in the BioTech, TransitTech, AdTech and MarTech space. Two of his former companies were acquired by eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions in January 2016 as a part of a cross-brand deal totalling largely over $900M. The transaction comprised the purchase and sale of numerous companies, two of which were Greg’s. He has won: Tech Deal of the Year Over $250 million, Private Equity Deal of the Year Over $500 million to $1 billion and Cross Border Deal of the Year Over $500 million to $1 billion to name a few. Most recently, he has been authoring a book titled: ‘Meet the BOSS - The Agile Playbook for Startups’ slated to publish soon. Alongside the book will be a TEDx talk. How The Dots Joined Up For Greg But this isn't a story of a man who started with everything and just added a few awards and successes on the way. Today's guest had to overcome many obstacles as he clawed his way to the top Greg’s success story of overcoming obstacles is what drives him to support entrepreneurs around the world. From growing up with very little along with foster and adopted siblings, to a visional processing disorder and dyslexia, Greg continues to be one of the most recognizable examples of how fearless optimism and steadfast determination can guide any intelligent and determined young professional toward success. So what does he have that so many people dont have who are struggling towards paying the bills and supporting their families. And where is he heading in the future as he creates more and more dots? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Greg Shepard Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Greg such as: How his family first decided to travel across to America to start a new life  Greg shared the realisation that life was about overcoming obstacles and he could be more than what people Why setting a north pole direction when you start setting out to achieve a goal is such an amazing way to build success. And lastly.......... Why Greg lives and reaches the following beliefs that make all the difference "focus, drive, enthusiasm, discipline, optimism" How To Connect With Greg Shepard Website Linkedin Facebook Twitter Return To The Top Of  Greg Shepard If you enjoyed this episode of Greg Shepard why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Spike Ball Founder, Nick Ruiz,  Dane Maxwell or the amazing Mybodytutor Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from.

Introducing Mike Young Mike Young is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He is the founder of the Makeovermaster and the author of Made Over: How To Create A Powerful Brand That Will Transform Your Business & Save Your Life", And also a man with a similar story to your beloved host of Join Up Dots, and most people who appear on the show. As he says "My life looked amazing from the outside. I had all the things... Recently married to a beautiful, funny and cool girl. A successful mortgage business, 250 employees and 10 offices. I lived in a $750,000 house. I owned another $150,000 in sports cars. Hell, on the outside I was living the dream life. But behind the curtains, my financial world was crumbling. How It All Went Wrong For Mike The market crash in 2007-2008 was destroying my business and I didn’t know how to fix it. I felt out of alignment, like a fraud, a fake. I didn't feel in alignment with who I truly was as a person. I didn't want to be doing what I was doing. I didn’t even want to get out of bed in the morning. But I did what I’ve always done. I worked harder I must have read more than 500 books. I went to all sorts of seminars and conferences. I did anything and everything to turn the ship around. But it was too late, the damage was done. I remember hiding in my basement crying, trying to make sure my family didn’t see or hear me. I had a kid to feed. a wife to make proud of me, bills to pay, and a reputation to uphold. And I was about to lose it all. Then The Dots Joined Up For Mike Young It was March 2008, and I was in my business partners’ office when it happened… I left the office early and went home… Our mortgage business was failing, I went from liquid millionaire to over $200,000 in debt in less than 6 months. And that is the perfect place to start today's episode of Join Up Dots. So why do we all think that working harder is the solution, when we look at the likes of Branson, Buffett and Musk and they barely look like they are doing anything? And what is the first thing someone in the weeds and drowning can do to free themselves and start living the dream life? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Mike Young. Show Highlight During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Mike Young such as: Mike Young openlys talk about his path to business minimalism, which is always the best way to build a business....simplicity wins everyday. We discuss the process of self development, which lead to a self addiction for improvement that could have held them back from moving forward. We share the brilliance of getting a personal brand, but also find out the failings that sometimes can destroy your chance of success.  and lastly...... Why it so important to feel big emotions, and to truly allow yourself to reveal yourself warts and all to the world and your business. Return To The Top Of Mike Young If you enjoyed this episode of Mike Young, why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Victoria Lioznyansky, Ryan Avery, Brad Yates or the amazing Jack Canfield Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from.

A New Business Idea Is Born In today's episode we take a look at a new business idea created by a listener of Join Up Dots. She sent an email through to the show asking for help around her new business idea South Coast Dinner Society. The idea of this business is quite simply to take away the uncomfortable side of meeting someone new nowadays. Especially as we get older, and perhaps have seen other relationships fall to the wayside. Our listener thinks that she can fulfil this gap in the market in a way that hasn't been seen before. We agree with her 100%, This is a new business idea that will work, as long as she does the right thing. The Original Email We Received Hi, I came across your podcast when out walking my dogs the other day and I have been listening to quite a few of them and really impressed...... About me! I am a single 55 year old single lady and I work full time as a Business Development Manager for Solent University. I am originally from Northern Ireland and have mainly been in a hospitality, venue, arena hospitality management for many years. After being single for 2 years and missing the event side of hospitality I decided that there are so many people like me who do not want to internet date and meeting in bars like we used to when we were in our 20s is not an option any more and I found out also that so many, like me have become quite set in our ways and not so easy to start the whole relationship. There are many 'anorak's who have groups for walking, book clubs etc but I wanted to create something that was comfortable and liked minded, which is hard to get across over email. Please take a look at my self created web site and this is the point where I need to tell you that I have literally nothing for marketing etc, due to owning my last house literally outright, selling it when I met my partner and then him going bankrupt with my money......so I need to grow organically. I know I have a good NEW business idea...but I did hear the Australian SEO guy say if you dont have any money to start your business then start knocking doors, which is not possible in what I want to do but made me think that I haven't got a hope, so maybe cut my losses!! The Quick Fixes For All New Business Idea Quick Fix One Lets start with a quick overview of the episode. First of all, marketing is not hard with a little bit of planning. We need to know what we are offering, what is our USP, and then start finding out where the people are that want that stuff. Quick Fix Two We need to make sure that our business website is running as fast as possible to ensure that traffic gets through to us. There is no point in building a business that doesn't load on a phone or handheld device. We need to make sure that we know our site speed and assess any improvements that we can make by using the following link. https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ Quick Fix Three Once we get our new business idea operating really fast, we then need to make sure that it looks good for all devices. Most of us build our new business idea on desktop, or laptop as its easier to see. We can overcome this by using the link below that shows how our site looks on a myriad of devices. https://www.responsivedesignchecker.com/ Quick Fix Four Before we start marketing our business, we need to build up our keywords list and find the low hanging fruit. We can start this process quite simply by getting a range of words that people might use to find us. In this case we will take the word DATING and start writing other words that people might use. https://www.thesaurus.com/

When Remi Clermont was a teenager, he was embarrassed that his father liked going road cycling. By road cycling, he means riding around on the type of bike you see in the Tour de France - "drop handlebars" that sweep downwards, and thin tyres. Despite Remi being born and raised in the Alsace region of eastern France, and road biking being one of the country's most popular sports, his young self just didn't like it. "My friends and I, all the kids, were into mountain biking at the time (the early 1990s)," says the 44-year-old. "Road biking was seen as very boring. I was almost ashamed when I told friends that my dad was into it." Remi loved cycling as a child, just not on road bikes Little did teenage Remi know, he would go on to catch the Lycra and tarmac cycling bug himself in his 20s. And then, at the age of 33, launch what is today one of the fastest-growing road cycling clothing companies - Cafe du Cycliste. Founded in 2009, in Nice on the French Riviera, the firm says it now sells €4m (£3.6m; $4.5m) worth of jerseys, shorts and other clothing items per year, with 50% year-on-year growth. "You can certainly say I changed my mind," jokes Remi. Bike firms struggle to meet surge in demand during lockdown However, before we return to cycling, we need to go to the world of competitive kayaking. Remi took up kayaking when he was nine, and went on to be a member of the French national team for six years in his 20s. "My speciality was white water kayaking," he says. "Sadly the discipline is not an Olympic sport, so I never got to go to one of them, but it was great to represent France in international competitions. "And it was the reason I got into road biking. Because you couldn't kayak in the winter when it was too cold, I'd cycle to keep my fitness up." Then when he retired from the water sport at the age of 28, he kept up the cycling. Remil, left, was a member of the French team for six years As he was not paid for his kayaking, Remi had also needed to hold down a full-time job in his 20s. After getting a business degree from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, he worked in the sporting corporate hospitality sector. This included working at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. A year later he got a job in the marketing department of the European arm of a US IT firm. "I wasn't a great fit for the role as I knew nothing about IT," says Remi. "But it had one massive thing going for it - it was based in Nice, which really is cycling paradise. The hills behind Nice [which lead up to the Alps] are just wonderful." Remi was soon spending weekends cycling with a workmate called Andre Stewart. Then Andre quit to buy and run a cafe in a small village to the north west of Nice, naming it Cafe du Cycliste. Two year later, in 2009, Remi also left the IT firm to join his friend at the cafe business. His plan was to design and launch a range of upmarket road cycling clothes that they could sell to all the riders who stopped for a drink and a bite to eat. Specifically, Remi wanted to produce the cycling jerseys that he says you couldn't buy in France at the time - plain and understated ones that wouldn't look out of place in a posh menswear store. Remi describes Nice and the surrounding area as "cycling paradise" "The only cycling jerseys you could buy at the time in France were racing ones with big logos and sponsors, that made you look as if you were competing in the Tour de France," he says. "I wanted to produce something completely different." There was a catch, however, in that Remi had no knowledge of or experience in the clothing sector. But undeterred, he says he set to work. "I started to learn everything I could," he says. "I had some friends in Paris who were working in clothing and fashion, so I got some tips and helpful mentoring from them. "And I started going to all the trade shows, and asking millions of questions, and contacting plenty of factories in Italy." A few months later, a manufacturer in Italy agreed to make Remi's first design for a cycling jersey, and the fashion side of Cafe du Cycliste was up and running. Remi still designs all the products himself Sales from the shop were stubbornly slow, however, so Remi launched a website to target online customers, especially from overseas. With little to no money for advertising, he would send free samples to cycling journalists in various countries. They would then write enthusiastic reviews, and sales quickly took off, particular in the UK and Japan. "Cyclists in the UK and Japan were really open to what we are doing," says Remi. "And that remains the case, still only 10 to 15% of our sales are in France. Many cyclists here still want to look as if they are taking part in a race all the time." British cycling journalist and commentator Rebecca Charlton says that brands like Cafe du Cycliste and the UK's Rapha, Le Col and Assos have led the way over the past decade in offering upmarket, stylish cycling clothing. This has coincided with a big increase in the number of people taking up the sport, leading to booming sales at the firms. "The trends, cuts and designs of modern cycling kit are a far cry from the extremely limited options I had as a young girl," she says. "And the psychology isn't to be underestimated either - when you've got a new cycling outfit you feel that bit more motivated to get out of the door, and you feel good. When it flatters, and fits perfectly, the ride feels more comfortable, and it definitely adds morale." Remi, says his dad is now a fan of the clothing Back at Cafe du Cycliste's head office in Nice, Remi says that recent sales have mirrored the industry-wide increase as a result of coronavirus, with more people taking up cycling either to get some exercise or avoid public transport. His dad is also a fan of the clothing, which Remi continues to design himself, and is manufactured in a number of European factories. However, his father initially wasn't impressed back in 2009. "When I first started out, he wouldn't wear it, because it was too different to the race jerseys he was used to," says Remi.

Victoria Lioznyansky is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. She is a lady with a fascinating story of pushing herself out of her comfort zone and creating success becuase of it. Her expertise is training introverted (sometimes terrified) entrepreneurs and business professionals to be confident and dynamic public speakers. As he says "As someone who is shy, introverted, and a non-native English speaker, I know first-hand how it feels to be terrified of public speaking. Over the years I’ve transformed myself from a nervous wreck to a confident, engaging speaker, and your audience will find my story inspiring. I’ve built several successful businesses, spoken in front of large audiences, appeared on television, and founded the Brilliant Speakers Academy®. How The Dots Joined Up For Victoria The innovative program that I’ve developed makes it possible for ANYONE to easily overcome their public speaking anxiety and learn to love the spotlight. Your audience might also find it interesting that my other business is a brick-and-mortar franchise, Nutty Scientists of Houston, where we inspire kids to fall in love with science. I opened it 5 years ago, and I’m so proud that it’s become the #1 Nutty Scientists franchise in the U.S. So how does someone go from being terrified and introverted to really making a difference to other peoples lives? And what are the first steps that we can all take to really shake our roots, and start marching to success? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Victoria Lioznyansky Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Victoria Lioznyansky such as: Victoria shared a terrible story of her first public speaking appearance and how it almost stopped her every speaking again. Victoria talks through the process of how she started her business by looking at the market and learning what the world needed. and lastly........ We discuss how you can create a course and a business without even completing the course before selling it

Scaling A Coaching Business

Scaling a a coaching business or any business come to that can be hard. So in today's episode of Join Up Dots we talk about the issues that a lady has with starting her business and making it a money machine. You will hear on the show, several key points that we have summarised at the bottom of the page. Some of them might be obvious, whilst some of them might be a complete surprise. Dear David, I have been following your teachings for a year or so, and awhile back took your Freedom Starter Course which really allowed me to ask the questions that I was unable to ask about myself. It was a long process of going through the videos, and then working like a mad woman for a week or so, and then allowing it to slip away and let life take over. I am now proud to say I have started my own coaching business based around the ancient energy Chi, after becoming interested in the subject and then passionate and I guess now you can say obsessed. I dont think it would have got to that point without your course and of course your amazing podcast, so thank you from the bottom of my heart/ If you dont know what this means here is an example Depending on the method, energy healing focuses on the life force that flows through all of us; that force that dictates our mood, health, energy, and ability to connect with other beings. In Chinese and Japanese culture that force is referred to as ki or qi (pronounced: chi). In India, it is known as prana the energy that spins and flows through the chakras, an intangible force that cannot be comprehended in the materialist sense. I came to this conclusion after working in a legal sweat factory for several years and hitting issues with both mental health and physical issues. I was doing poorly in every stage of my life and subsequently my relationship off fifteen years unfortunately came off the rails too. I looked for a solution, and after using every medicine and pill known to man (and a few less than legal substances I have to say) I discovered this process and a door opened in my mind. It made sense to me. And then one day i was listening to your show (im ashamed to say I can't remember what episode) and you were talking about how energy is so important, and we should remember to recharge ourselves like we do our phones and then BOOM. The idea of really deep diving into this subject and then helping others was so clear to me. To confirm this I went through your Freedom Course once more, with this idea leading the way and it was like a tick sheet,where the ticks just kept on coming. The more i realised that this was what I was waiting for, the happier i felt, and the lighter i felt too. I realised that i had found what you mention on the show. The door that was already open and not to try to make a new door. So many things that you speak about now makes total sense to me, and perhaps I should go back over the episodes and listen again. with new knowledge and understanding. Although I am doing ok financially i am finding that most of my business comes my way through referrals and word or mouth and I am looking to scale. I dont have a website yet, but do hammer away on Facebook which seems to be working. Do you have any suggestions as to what I need to do to make this happen as your advice is so important to me. Thank you for all you do, and if we ever meet the beers are on me. Jessica H New Zealand Summary Of The Show Referrals are great. In fact they are the life blood of any business You must have a website to own the traffic. Owning traffic is key to scaling a coaching business. You must realise that you need to take customers on a journey before they ever consider buying. You must have a funnel or multiple funnels You must test and tweak your website to maximise the traffic you are getting to your business. 

Michael Arterberry is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is the founder of Youth Voices Center, established in 2008, which is dedicated to promoting positive youth development among adolescents through its “Power of Peace” program offered in schools, community centers, and youth groups across Westchester, Schenectady, and Columbia counties, and soon to be Connecticut and New York City.  As a teenager, Michael was fortunate to receive guidance from positive adult role models who helped him overcome adversities and set high expectations for his future. Grateful for the role these mentors played in his own development, Michael decided to dedicate his professional life to helping people navigate the difficulties of life and launch their future into motion. How The Dots Joined Up For Michael Arterberry As he says "In founding Youth Voices Center (YVC) in 2008, I drew heavily on my understanding and empathy for the pressures and difficulties of the teenage years. In addition to my own experiences growing up in poverty, I have worked with thousands of teens in a range of settings over the past 22 years as a social worker and counsellor. As a teenager, I was fortunate to receive guidance from positive adult role models who helped me overcome adversities and set high expectations for my future. Grateful for the role these mentors played in my own development, I decided to dedicate my professional life to helping teenagers navigate the difficult adolescent years. So what are the things that make such a difference to the youth of America in his opinion? And what are his dreams for the future of the Youth Voices Center spreading across America, or global domination. Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Michael Arterberry Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Michael Arterberry such as: Michael shares the story of his difficult father, and the upbringing that he had which formed the person he is today We discuss the moments in our life that shape us, the failures that become the stepping stones to success. Michael talks about how difficult it is to find funding for a non profit, although that wont stop him persisting.

Delores Hirschmann is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. She is certainly a lady when many many dots to join up throughout her life. As she says "I’m an entrepreneur, hispanic immigrant, mother of four, and business owner. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, I endured a difficult childhood. When I was 20, I was diagnosed with a pancreatic tumour and was told I might not make it. Well guess what? I made it! I went on to graduate from business school and meet my husband who was travelling in Buenos Aires. Within a year, we got married and moved to the US. How The Dots Joined For Delores Here, I became a mother of 4 and while they were young, I started 3 businesses: a women’s clothing company that supported a coop of low income women in Argentina, a language school where we taught Spanish, French, and Chinese as an after school program, and a consulting business. I later became a TEDx organizer as I am very passionate about IDEAS that can impact the world. And then in 2014, I launched my current adventure, Masters in Clarity, a coaching practice that helps clients clarify their idea worth sharing and implement business growth systems. I stand behind entrepreneurs who are committed to changing the world with their work. And how do you know that you have a great product on your hands before you ever invest your own money into the business? And looking back did she need the bad times, to truly make her focus on the life she wanted? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Delores Hirschmann  Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Delores Hirschmann such as: Delores shares her love of a world that is imperfect and really enjoys when things arent as polished as they should be. Why there is a time span between having an idea and really making a go of it - as Delores calls it "The Haunting Period" How there are times when we dont have all the answers in our life, and these are the times we should just sit back and trust. And lastly........... Why she shares the business book "What Do You Do With An Idea?" even though its actually a children's book with all her clients.

In todays episode of Join Up Dots we answer some questions from across the world.

All of them received in the Join Up Dots office, due to our listeners desire to take control of their lives, earn their own income and create a dream business.

So if you are looking for a quick burst of motivation and inspiration, and of course to gain some online business insights then this is the show for you.

In todays episode of Join Up Dots we answer some questions from across the world.

All of them received in the Join Up Dots office, due to our listeners desire to take control of their lives, earn their own income and create a dream business.

So if you are looking for a quick burst of motivation and inspiration, and of course to gain some online business insights then this is the show for you.

Introducing Erik Salzenstein

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast has a similar story to one or two of the guests who have appeared on the show over the years. One of a series of bad life choices that led to a determined approach to change his life forever, by changing the lives of others. He had a difficult childhood and an even more difficult start to adulthood. Moving around the country, he was borne in Maine grew up in Orlando and was naturally gifted at sports. That of course all sounds great, sporty and living near the home of the mouse. What could go wrong? Well through displaying natural athleticism, the young Erik Salzenstein was the kind of player that people wanted on their teams, and played for a number of different ones across a range of different sports. How The Dots Joined Up For Erik  Many of the other members of the travelling team were from public schools, and were almost all older. His newfound teammates introduced him to alcohol and marijuana when he was in sixth grade and the slope was very much getting slippery. Move on a few years and when Erik Salzenstein was just 23 years old, he was facing life in prison for armed robbery charges following a drug deal gone bad. Today, he’s sharing his powerful story of overcoming life in prison and how spending time behind bars was the key to changing his mindset for the better. While each of us is not necessarily living behind bars, we might still be living inside the prison of our own mind. Erik is a now a sought-after transformational coach and speaker who’s passionate about helping others break free of their own walls, and his story will inspire you to turn adversity into impact and lasting success. So where does he see the majority of his efforts truly making lasting change nowadays? And is he now a 100% different person or someone simply working day on day to stay on the path? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Erik Salzenstein Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Erik Salzenstein such as: Why we often don't get the chance to realise that we are going to deep into a situation to change that process. Erik talks about the moment when he took a phone call from his Dad in jail, and how he started his transformation to the person he wanted to be. Erik shares his belief that you have to have a blueprint and path to follow if you ever want a share of success.

Paul Maskill is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He loves nothing more than building, scaling and then selling local businesses. He is now on a mission to help other local businesses thrive in their own industries, without losing control of their hours, health and minds. As he says "In 2011, after less than 4 years in Corporate America, I knew there was more to life than just do a job that's "okay" for 40 years and then retire & enjoy life. I ventured out and started my first business in 2011. I was soon working 60-80 hours a week with a business that couldn’t survive without me. So I started systematising everything while empowering a team to run the business better than I could. How The Dots Joined Up For Paul Before I knew it my revenue doubled to almost $500k while the number of hours I worked dropped below 40. I then sold my business for 3x net profit. I have since done this same process again with another local business while also helping other business owners automate & scale their business so they can leverage their business to build a life that they love. Having been the one connected to my business 24/7 and working 80 hour weeks, I realized there were 4 issues we all face: 1. We struggle to get everything done and instead our #1 goal is to just survive the day. 2. We need systems & processes to scale but we don’t have time to implement them. 3. We can’t find good help to scale (and we don’t have time to train them)! 4. And we have no time to work ON our business So is a system purely automated or does it blend with personnel too? And where do most people go wrong in the beginning, as its hard to see what you should be doing when you dont know what you should be doing? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Paul Maskill. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Paul such as: Paul shared why he quite simply had to get clear on his personal vision to then build the business that he wanted. Why the local business market is such a big win, and should be our first port of call when we are starting out. How so many people should be looking to build a business that supports your life, instead of working in the business. And lastly.......... Why the ability to re-engineering the hell out of of the process should be our starting point. Go from what you want to earn to who will give it to you.

Introducing Dane Maxwell

Dane Maxwell is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is the Co-Founder of The Foundation along with Andy Drish, owner of a multi-million dollar SaaS business, and has started 16 businesses in his career. As he says "I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 10 years. I’m the Founder of The Foundation, a six month program designed to teach entrepreneurs how to build a profitable SaaS business, and currently own a multi-million dollar SaaS business as well as two smaller SaaS products where I do what I teach. If you dont know what that type of business is it means "Software as a service (SaaS)" Its a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet. ... For example, a business can write its own software tools and use the SaaS provider's APIs to integrate those tools with the SaaS offering. Our guest goes onto say "I found building a business around a painful problem to be extremely lucrative and encouraged anyone who wants financial freedom to learn the process. I taught not to follow your passion, but to follow the pain, and become passionate about the process of problem solving.  His new book Start from Zero encourages the reader to embark on the 7 learning adventures to create a business from scratch. How The Dots Joined Up For Dane This book includes research on “who” is most likely to be successful in entrepreneurship across 26 different personality factors. Would you like to join the special few who don’t exchange time for money? The special few who have products and businesses paying for their dream life? No hype. No BS. No fluff. This is a comprehensive book full of examples to draw from.  Start From Zero gives you the repeatable path to create a meaningful and profitable business without being dependent on any person, any platform, or anything. So is the idea more important than the actual implementation of that idea? And why are so many people focused on finding the passion, when pain works time and time again. Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Dane Maxwell Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Dane Maxwell such as: Dane shares the importance of setting his values and then living his life based around these values. Dane shares how building up the expertise and authority first is not necessarily the right way of doing things.  Why its so important to not sell your product but to sell the solution to their problem time and time again. And lastly........... Mr Maxwell shares his goals based book reading, whereby he looks for the answers on something that he needs to know, even if he doesn't read the whole book. 

Mybodytutor founder Adam Gilbert is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. Back in 2014 when Join Up Dots was quite simply a baby, he was one of the first guests to appear on the show. At that time we spoke openly about his transition from corporate land to starting his own fitness business. As we see time and time again, the quickest way to starting a business is defining a problem for a specific customer and then solving it in scale. Our guest did that amazingly well, and as we also see time and time again was a text book version of his ideal customer himself. Working for Ernst and Young, back in 2007, he realised that he wasn't happy with his body, but lacked the time and energy to do something about it. And he was not alone. It seemed that Adam's work colleagues all wanted to have a fitness timetable, that fitted around their lifestyles and would ask our guest for tips. How The Dots Joined Up For Adam and MyBodyTutor And after hearing the same request for the millionth time, he realized something.  Something had to be done. He had to set out to create a program that would solve this problem in a big way. He had to follow his passions. As he says" Everyone wants to be healthy and fit, but it’s just too easy to make promises to ourselves and break them. It’s even easier to rationalize indulgent eating, especially after a long day. I realized the missing link was accountability. But weekly accountability wasn’t enough. It had to be daily. After all, a week is a long time! The same people who were motivated on Monday had given up by Wednesday, only to promise themselves they’d “start fresh on Monday!” yet again. I set out to create a program that would solve this problem. Daily and personal accountability would be the cornerstone. This way, I could help people implement the game plan we had come up with." Bang. He slammed them all together and created the online company mybodytutor So how is his life different from the first time that we spoke on the show, easier and easier or just dealing with bigger problems? And looking back to the fledgling business, was it a sprint with total clarity or a constant start and stop with a few worries in between? Well let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs with the one and only Adam Gilbert! Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Adam Gilbert such as: Adam shares how he managed to get the accountability aspect of the business, and the break down of building customer value. We discuss the steps that he took to find the right people to support him and how they have pushed his business to greater levels. How we all have to think "All fires start small" when building a business. It ain't gonna be a blaze overnight! How he used to walk to work with a stomach ache for over two years, knowing that the job wasn't right for him, but still doing it! How he quit his job with no income coming in but just one goal: I will pay my next months rent....and he achieved it! And lastly….. How his big dot that showed him his path was way back in college, but he still went into corporate America first!

Kris Reid, is an expert on SEO tips, lessons and marketing for everyone from beginners  to multinational businesses. He joins as our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast interview.  He is a man who calls himself the coolest guy in SEO. Which isn't a surprise that he is cool as this is also the second time that he has appeared on Join Up Dots..so how cool must he be? As his team says "It isn’t a gimmick, but our own Kris Reid has become the coolest guy in SEO which is by no means a joke. SEO’s coolest guy is on a mission to get ranked to the first page of Google, to be on front page news, to get trending and to get his name boosted to the world. Being the coolest guy and being on the first page of Google is what every website wants but with obscure terms it’s easier now than ever to rank for them. The way this is done is through a series of steps that allow you naturally to be at the top of Google‘s searches which can vary from ensuring your meta data is perfect to getting someone to do it all for you. How The SEO Tips Formed The Big Business For Kris As he says " because of my love for software development, back in the day I built an online game.  As the completion day came near for the game I made, I thought that I should learn how to market if anyone else is ever going to play with it. So, I started studying how Google works and learned about Search Engine Optimisation. I quickly discovered how important back-links are – not just any back-links, but only quality back-links with relevant and compelling content on powerful industry-specific websites." And the rest is history. Not easy history, in any shape or form, but one that has seen steady growth, a move from his home country of Australia to set up in Davao city in Philippines in January 2013, and now clients flocking to his company from across the globe. Life seems good and should be good, as he has taken control of his own destiny, and worked his socks off to make things happen. So does this kind of success simply come from putting one foot in-front of the other until you start too see things happening? Or is there a blueprint for all of us to follow, as we look to leave the corporate grind, and crank out Google loving content time and time again. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only, Mr. Cool SEO Guy Mr Kris Reid.

Todays show is a coaching based episode whereby David Ralph, the host of Join Up Dots, and founder of Dream Starters Academy Coaching answers listeners questions directly. This is a no holds bared version of the show, that will cover the following subjects sent in by listeners of Join Up Dots 1: David, I listen to a lot of shows and I find that they are always telling me their favourite business books. You don't. So my question is what books would you recommend everyone reading if they get the chance ? - Jo Barnes, London   2: What has been the biggest difficulty to you as you have grown your business. I am thinking of starting my own business and any advice you can give will be greatly accepted. - Daniel Barkinside, South Africa   3. Hi David, thanks for a simply brilliant podcast. Its amazing how you can make me laugh, cry and scribble notes all at the same time. I was listening to a few of your shows, whilst on a long journey through Europe, and I wondered. What do you do when you are not involved in your business - Katarina Eastas - Poland   4: Good afternoon David and the Join Up Dots team, thank you for an inspiring and educational show. I am thinking of starting my own show and would like to know, how you decide on which questions you are going to ask your guests. I find this very hard indeed, and struggle to write more than five. Do you have any suggestions...thank you for your time. - John Milnard, Texas   5: I think I have a problem, which might need your help. I keep on repeating the same mistakes every-time when I start what I hope will be a life changing business. I put all my efforts into website design, content production, email list building for about six months and then let it fade away. I cant keep the motivation up to build anything worthwhile. Do you have any tips on how to remain focused. I know things do not occur overnight, but I also know that I am not ever going to get anywhere if I follow the same trend. Thank you for your time, I hope this question gets answered - Connor Sparrow Cardiff Wales If you want to get your question answered on the show then simply drop us a line to: Email: joinupdots.com@gmail.com

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is Miha Matlievski, an entrepreneur who has had their fair share of knocks and set backs. In 2009, Miha had four companies go bankrupt overnight: landing him $5 million in debt. Contemplating suicide to escape the pain as he looked over the balcony, he had a life-saving AH-HA moment. He realized that failure was a normal part of life: admitting to himself that he failed and to recognize he needed to stop blaming others and circumstances. It wasn't just thinking "Why am i such a failure ?" it was one of his big dots This was the turning point when he made a choice to learn from his failures so he could do things differently in the future and to help others. Since then, he has climbed back to create a business and scaling it to 8 figures in less than a year. His life mission is to help people develop a healthy relationship with failure. Especially entrepreneurs. How The Dots Joined For Miha   But to really get a flavour of the man you have to go back to when he was just 18 years old. At just 18 years old, Miha Matlievski, a Slovenian high school dropout, dreaming of becoming a successful entrepreneur. And he pursued it with a passion, putting in 12 years of hard work the result - those four successful businesses and a personal net worth of $15M. Are you willing to put in the hard work to make things happen for you in the same way? Are you willing to persevere when things don't go the way you want them to go? Well let's start joining up dots with the only and only Miha Matlievski Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Miha Matlievski such as: Miha shared how he was always the positive true entrepreneur and lost the light in his life during . Miha shares his belief that we can all create an amazing life for themselves by truly finding the most powerful "Why" they can have. Why there will never be a position when you have all pluses you want in life no matter how hard you try. and lastly........ Miha shares how the online opportunities are abundant compared to the issues of having a brick and mortar business.

Elephant Learning founder Dr Aditya Nagrath is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast.

Dr. Aditya Nagrath is a visionary leader on a mission to change the way that the world teaches mathematics. Dr. Nagrath is the co-founder of Elephant Learning Math Academy which is a gamification of a proven curriculum.

On average, children in Elephant Learning, learn 1.5 years of mathematics in 10 weeks using the system just 30 minutes per week. Dr. Nagrath, at age 14, taught himself C++ and continued on to read books on game development and neural networks which are the basis for modern day artificial intelligence. He graduated from the University of Denver with a dual major of Mathematics and Computer Science, continuing on to graduate school while working full time as a software developer to graduate with a PhD in Mathematics & Computer Science 7 years later. How The Dots Joined Up For Elephant Learning After at decade in University, Dr. Nagrath graduated to found Elephant Head Software where he lead a team of no more than 10 engineers to bring over 35 different product lines with over 50 different applications to market between 2009 and 2016. In 2016, Dr. Nagrath co-founded Elephant Learning with Professor Alvaro Arias from the University of Denver in order to bring transformational change to America's education system. As he says "3 out of 4 students are not proficient at High School Mathematics, leading to 69% of STEM majors switching majors to a major with less mathematics. Math deficiencies happen completely amongst income lines leading to a preservation of the cycle of poverty as mathematic scores often predict high school drop out and over all scores." So how do you get a business like this up and running to such great success? And where do people go wrong when tackling an issue like this? Focusing in on the kids, more than the pain of the parents? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Dr. Aditya Nagrath Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Elephant learning founder Aditya Nagrath such as: Dr Aditya shares the reasons why the first thing you must do is to simplify the product to take away any of the confusion that could keep it from succeeding. Why its so important to get your branding right at the very beginning...you have to get one word in the customers mind. We discuss the personal loan that he made to the business, proving that he truly believed in his vision. And lastly........... Why he has built a product that appeals to the global market, instead of going tight and niche like most common advice would have encouraged. Connect With Aditya Nagrath From Elephant Learning Website Linkedin Facebook

Introducing Layne Booth

Layne Booth is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. She is the CEO and Business Growth Strategist of The Project Booth, a business consulting company that uses proven metrics and data to bring business owners to the next level in their business. By strategically planning operations and creating a visual roadmap map, business owners can reclaim their time to focus on their business, make data-driven decisions, and capitalize on sales & profits. Data is key to everything, and unfortunately where most owners spend their time in the "lets hope this makes a difference" stage of business With her passion—and over a decade of “in the trenches” experience—as a guiding light, Layne ensures successful growth-minded business owners eliminate overwhelm by bringing clarity to help with teams, capacity and profits… and get back to running a business they love. How The Dots Joined Up For Layne As she says "I've witnessed business owners have incredible energy and focus for what they do, but seem like they don't have time to stop, and may feel like they are drowning in doing "all the things." We follow a simple ABC approach to drive amazing results: A is for Analyze: Analyze the numbers to tell the story. B is for Bottom Line: What do the numbers say about your actual profits, brand reputation, and customer service? C is for CEO Decisions: The secret weapon is creating a tool that CEOs actually use to make important decisions, not just creating another report. So do you need a ton of traffic to grow a successful business, or is that actually missing the point of business altogether? And what made her take the leap from her position of Forecasting manager for the VF Corporation and go it alone? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Layne Booth Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Layne Booth such as: We delve into the distinct difference between a CEO and an entrepreneur, and why so many people get very confused.  Layne shares how she built up her referrals based business by really nurturing her already built relationships. And lastly........... Why you simply have to understand the pain point of you customer, to then make that solution as simple as possible.

Introducing Steve Kahan

Steven Mark Kahan is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. Steve is a serial entrepreneur that has had great success moving from the corporate world early in his career to the startup world. He has successfully helped to grow six start-up companies from early-stage development to going public or being sold, resulting in more than $3 billion in shareholder value. He is currently CMO at Thycotic, which will become the seventh. Steve inspires teams and their organisations to take on the impossible and succeed. How The Dots Joined Up For Steve He has just written a book published by Wiley and Audible and available on Amazon.com called “Be a Startup Superstar." The book teaches those graduating college and young professionals how to earn a great living doing what they love by igniting their career at a tech startup. He will share lessons learned in over 30 years for how young professionals or those that feel stuck in the corporate world can earn a great living doing what they love by igniting their career in a technology startup. So is it harder than ever before to launch a successful startup due to the current conditions that we find ourselves in? And looking back at his ups and downs, were there things that he could have avoided or was this all part of the success? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Steve Kahan Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Steve Kahan such as: We discuss why people have to realise that even through the dark times in life, we see opportunities burst forth at the same rate as before Steve opens up about being a startup superstar, compared to what it takes to be merely successful. Why a startup operates like its the last outpost for outlaws, inspiring the mavericks and creatives of the world. And lastly........... Steve talks about why energy and protecting your time is so vitally important - basically be your own top priority in everything you do. Steve Kahan Books How To Connect With Steve Kahan Website Linkedin Facebook Instagram Return To The Top Of Steve Kahan If you enjoyed this episode of Steve Kahan why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Spike Ball Founder, Nick Ruiz,  Sarah Caltieri or the amazing Mandy Barbee Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from. Full Transcription Of Steve Kahan Interview Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK, David Ralph. David Ralph 0:25 Yes, good morning, welcome to Join Up. Dots. Thank you so much for being here. Wherever you are across the world. Some of you have been with us for over seven years now. Thank you so much for being here. Others have just joined in, but you've come at a good time you've come a good time because the things that are coming through Join Up Dots, a life changing for you. Well, today's guests on the show is a serial entrepreneur, but has had great success moving from the corporate world early in his career to the startup world. He has successfully helped to grow six startup companies from early stage development. going public or being sold, resulting in more than 3 billion in shareholder value. He is currently cmo at five Kotick which will become the seventh. Now he inspires teams and their organisations to take on the impossible and succeed. And he has just written a book published by wily and audible and available on Amazon called be a startup superstar. This book teaches those graduating college and young professionals how to earn a great living doing what they love by igniting their career at a tech startup, he will share lessons learned in over 30 years for how young professionals are those that feel stuck in the corporate world can earn a great living doing what they love by igniting their career in a technology startup. So is it harder than ever before to launch a successful startup due to the current conditions that we find ourselves in? And looking back at his ups and downs? Were there things that could have been avoided? Or was this all part of the success? Well, let's find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dance with the one and only Mr. Steve Kahan. Steve Kahan 2:08 Hi. I'm doing great. David, how are you? David Ralph 2:11 I'm very well, thank you very much for being here on the show. I understand that you've got up at half past four in the morning, you're in Texas. What's happening outside your window? Is the weld getting going? Or is it still in lockdown? Steve Kahan 2:23 It is in partial lockdown, unfortunately. David Ralph 2:27 And what is the unfortunate part? Lots of people in the entrepreneurial world almost say it hasn't really made a difference to us. Steve Kahan 2:35 Well, it hasn't made a difference to a number of companies like ours or for me who's used to working remotely but there are a lot of people and businesses, particularly small businesses that are struggling. And you know, for that reason, when that occurs, and certainly there's impacts on people and on businesses as well. Well, that's, that is an impact that is negative and something that I wish that we all could could avoid. David Ralph 3:08 Now, of course, most people now are at least thinking to themselves, maybe maybe I should take some kind of control of my future with unemployment and redundancies soaring. Do you think that's a naive point of view? Or do you think that people really have got the opportunities nowadays to take control and start earning their own income? Steve Kahan 3:30 I think that you absolutely can take control and start earning your own income. And, and really, to me, I think there's never been a better time and in many respects, I mean, certainly I think I really think Winston Churchill said it perfectly. He said, a pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity and an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty and so, you know, are you going to focus On the upside or the downside, do you see the cup is half full or half empty? And I really think that that positive optimistic people are certainly the ones that I choose to surround myself with. And my and I certainly believe that there are still many, many great opportunities, particularly to start a business or to join an existing startup and and take on some bigger, perhaps better funded companies and work with a small team of crazies that are hell bent on changing the world. I David Ralph 4:37 always remember I had a guest on the show and unfortunately, I can't remember the guest but I remember what he said. And he said, no matter how bad the world seems financially, somebody is getting the money. He said, it's just like an ocean where the tide has left your side and it's going to the other side, and it's your job as an entrepreneur to roll that boat across the Ocean to where that money is flooding in. And it is true, isn't it? Even at the worst times we're seeing zoom go through the roof, we're seeing bicycle sales go up massively. We're seeing so many people finding it boom time. Steve Kahan 5:15 I think that's true. And I think the key is is to find the sector sectors, as you mentioned that that are really going and going well for you mentioned some of them, I happen to work within the cybersecurity world and, and the hackers are out there almost like never before and so many businesses are looking to to do a better job of reducing risk. And so, you know, without question, there is many opportunities. There are people that are changing the way that they're working, working remotely, and that creates significant opportunity. So I absolutely agree with that. And, and and I am beginning to see people begin to capitalise on on some of those and, and think about ways to, to change the world. To me a great example of that is there is a new startup company that actually I'm considering investing and that is trying to change the way college students interact with businesses, where typically was face to face via career fairs, and then changing that interaction building more engagement and then facilitating the hiring process. I think, to me, that's a great example of a couple of young entrepreneurs that see an amazing opportunity and, and very well may change the way the world operates in terms of the college career experience. David Ralph 6:55 So let's turn the conversation to be our top superstar. Hold tight title, what actually is a difference that makes you a superstar and not just successful or getting by Steve Kahan 7:10 I think it starts first and foremost with choosing the right organisation or building the right startup organisation. And many people sort of don't understand the criteria of how to put yourself within a startup organisation that has a great chance to be successful. And there are, for example, certain criteria that I look at when I have joined startup companies and now I'm, I've been with six all of whom successfully sold or have gone public, generating over $3 billion. And now I'm with my seven that's like a rocket ship. And so to me, it's making the right choices and it starts with that. I look for Things like quality people who share the same values that I do. So if you don't trust, respect and admire the people that you're working with move on. I look for a concept that fills a big market need. I do the research and the homework to make sure that the market is big enough. I certainly understand that. People particularly now more than ever don't spend money on nice to solve problems they spend money on must solve. And I don't get dissuaded if there's too much competition, I I get dissuaded if there's not enough, I look for things like that. There's a great product that you can believe in where you can go to work every day with a passion for what the company creates and your role in creating it. And if you can't get behind it with enthusiasm, move on. And then finally, that the startup is well funded, and so that you are making sure that you're properly capitalised, so you have the best chance for growth and stability. And I think if you use those criteria to select a startup company, you have positioned yourself to have that opportunity to have a great outcome and be the superstar that you were meant to be. David Ralph 9:17 Now one of the things you say you look for a startup and you can't go on Craigslist and find these. So how do you find a startup for somebody out there who's interested? How do they actually find something before it's even started? Steve Kahan 9:31 So typically, what I will do is, is I I have started one company. And then the other companies that I have been with I have joined very small companies. And there are two ways that people oftentimes overlooked to find great companies. So one of which in most cities throughout the globe, there's what's known as startup accelerators or seed access. Raiders. And again, they exist in every city. You could do a Google and the city that you live in, and you'll find them and they are funding companies. They're providing educational assistance, networking opportunities and the like. And those organisations, posts, the companies that are members are ones that they're funding. And oftentimes there are great jobs right from those sites, right, and they're not the type of jobs that you're going to find posted. Secondly, is I will oftentimes, Reese research and be looking for startup leaders online or what I might read, I might start to follow them and I will make connections with them oftentimes through LinkedIn messenger in a heartfelt sincere way, not a salesy way. And what I've learned is that that type of direct connection First of all, All get you right to the executive. If there's HR at all it bypasses that. And then you can start to talk about how that person is achieving what they are within their career, you can learn from them, and bridge the conversation over to you. And oftentimes, again, if it's approached in the right way, you start to make connections with that person, and there may be opportunities within their company or within their wider network. And so approaching people directly online is something that sounds fairly basic, but you'd be surprised how rare it is actually done. David Ralph 11:45 Now, I know a lot of our listeners would say, it's alright for us, Steve, you've got a track record. You've got something to offer, but I'm starting out what value can I provide these people if I do connect with them directly? Steve Kahan 11:59 Yeah, I think that, you know, that's that's always the question. But the I think the the real thing to focus in on is there are over 80,000 startups around the globe. And, and there was a recent survey of startup CEOs that asked them the number one issue keeping them up at night. And it was actually finding good people. Now think of that for a second. So finding good, talented people was rated ahead of growing revenue, acquiring customers or gaining access to more capital. And so startup executives are desperate for hiring a plus talent. And so, you know, no one has all the experience perhaps that they think that they ought to have when joining an organisation and so oftentimes You know, sort of starts out with that connection. But then also, once you're bridging that conversation to you, if you're able to show some core traits, like for example, a willingness to work hard, someone who's super accountable, an individual who is team oriented, not an eye person, but a weak person, and you start to build, for example, that connection of the type of person that you are some of the background that you have, you'd be surprised how that connection could help bridge you into an organisation and then it really, it comes down to being a sponge, and taking on your own education and learning and building deep expertise. Because that's what the world pays the most for is deep expertise in one particular area. And then from there, building out your your your knowledge base. Since so oftentimes I find within startup companies rather than being in a smaller pigeonhole role, you get the opportunity to actually build that deep expertise. Because if you don't do the work, there aren't a bunch of other resources or people who can. And so it's oftentimes the perfect environment to achieve just that. David Ralph 14:22 Now, in your book, in chapter five, there's a whole chapter is at like a leader, even if you don't have the title yet. And you list great things to fall through and follow through on and one of them is keep your goals in sight. And the baby steps Tell us about that. Steve Kahan 14:43 Well, for me, I think it's super important to first of all, have your goals written down, right and so a lot of people when they talk about their goals, they they they don't have Have them in front of them. And I like to think of goals in terms of quarterly, in in terms of monthly, weekly and even daily, right. So it's that level of sort of detail that I will get into. And a lot of times, when you're thinking about those particular objectives, you also have to realise that not everything can be a high priority. And so, oftentimes, when you are documenting those goals, you'll find that high performers certainly as I saw myself to be, often take on massive workloads, right and to some extent, hard working people, it's they have traits that I respect, but it could create significant stress and burnout lead to burnout over the long haul. So you can't be a high performer without being overwhelmed. And so oftentimes, if you break down those objectives and two, kind of baby steps to get started. If you do a good job of prioritising your goals, what you'll find is is that success isn't about how much you do. It's about performing the right actions towards the right goals that will create the biggest impact. And for me, breaking things down into baby steps, oftentimes enable me to get started to not feel that the mountain is too big to climb. And then once I get started, then it's sort of like a snowball going downhill picking up steam. David Ralph 16:42 Let's listen to Jim Carrey. And then we'll be back with Steve. Jim Carrey 16:45 My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn't believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had Do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don't want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. David Ralph 17:11 So when you were back in corporate land, and you decided to go your own way, did you know what you loved? Or was it just a feeling inside? Steve Kahan 17:20 It absolutely was a feeling inside I had a view of of what I love. But I remember that going from college into the corporate world. I remember staring at my bank statement and the pile of claims that I was supposed to process that day. And wondering, how on earth will I ever get ahead and I was working long days, and for me, the student loans would eat my paycheck before they ever even got a chance to hit my bank account. And so I sort of felt pigeon holed I felt like I In a big bureaucracy where there was great acceptance of the status quo, it was burdened by incumbent mindsets. The barriers to advancement seemed high. And it was like working at a on a giant ship that was hard to manoeuvre slow to change course. And, and for me, I just asked myself an important question. And that was, how could I earn a great living and love the work? I do? And it was really with that question that I realised that moving into more of a startup type of organisation would be the right career move for me. David Ralph 18:43 Now, what are people around you that said, Steve, what you're doing Steve, you've only got a beer for another four years and you've got the corner office. Steve Kahan 18:51 Absolutely. And, and so and then and then they went a step farther. The step farther was look, you know, this is risky if you make a move, it's certainly got great risk and, and there's not going to be the training and career paths that you typically would would see. And so what I learned was really what a startup was right. And so when people think of startups, you know, they they, they have sort of pictures in their mind's eye. But the way that I think of a startup there is a mentor of mine is serial entrepreneur. He's chairman of venture capital company by the name of Doug Irwin. And he says a startup is a company that operates like it's the last frontier for outlaws, a place where non conformists can live, create and sell their ideas. And to me how cool I mean, who doesn't want to be involved in that? It's sort of a place where you get to be the rough riding rebel, running circles around those slower moving bureaucratic, larger organisations. So what I came to learn was really that a startup is a culture. It's a mindset. It's not necessarily defined by the number of people. It's again, that small team of crazies just believing it could change the course of the world. That to me was exciting. David Ralph 20:20 Now, I was always told that I was a maverick in corporate world, like it was a bad thing. And I look back on it now, and I think it was a bloody great thing, and it's allowed me to go off and do what I need to do. Now the Mavericks, the creative thinkers, the strategy Guys, can you get the wrong blend in a startup when you walk into a startup? Can you see quiet, obviously, but they haven't got the right outlaws in place. Steve Kahan 20:49 Absolutely. Right. And so there are many attributes where you could see that they don't have the right outlaws in place. So Typically at startups, if you walk into a startup and you are seeing, like, for example, I'll focus of the values of the company in the cafeteria on a poster on the wall. That's not who startups are, they are living the values associated with with being a startup. You know, what you are often if you walk into a startup and you see that there that it looks like it's a pretty political bureaucratic type of environment where there isn't necessarily and the focus on the the end goal or the focus on on the customer and on beating what will most assuredly be tough competitors, then it's not the right place. If you see that the focus is more on competing internally with with one another and not on the whoever that particular enemy is externally, then it's not the right place. Right. And so typically at startups, it's, it's the opposite of that. And that and that's part of the work environment that I like, where there's great work, even versatility in the role that people are willing to stand up, you know, be accountable, you'll, you'll find that, that people have great persistence and tenacity, they're not going to be sort of overwhelmed by the obstacles that get in their way because they're most assuredly will be there. And then you know, finally that you see a culture where that people are embracing accountability, they want to be accountable to get the job done. And so those are like some of the things not to look for, as well as blending with a few of the things that I actually Look for within a startup that might be indicative that it could have a chance to win. David Ralph 23:06 And when does it become boring to you and you back out Steve Kahan 23:09 for me it I wouldn't say that it's so much boring but I like I do like some aspect of, of change and growth, I think that if if there is in time that it becomes boring, it's a time where you feel that the organisation or or me personally is not growing the way that it used to. Right And so, you know, if it's, if you if you are in a particular role and you're not able to, you know, grow within that role or expand and maybe take on some other roles within the organisation, if that's something that you that you aspire to do, or to move up, move into the C suite, hopefully someday, that to me, that's when it becomes a little bit less exciting. But, you know, again, if you believe the definition, at least that I mentioned that Doug Irwin had were a startup is really a culture, it's a mentality. I don't think that is necessarily, for example, the company I'm with now we've gone from 5 million to 100 million a cybersecurity company called Kotick. We've done that in four and a half years. And so it is not boring at all, even in the great growth that we have had and continue to have. Because there's such an opportunity for all of us and an opportunity for all of us to expand our skill sets. David Ralph 24:37 Now, as she was talking, I was googling on the entrepreneur handbook. And I can see that in the United Kingdom, there's 181, business accelerators, and that's just listed on that one website. So you really have shown but you literally step out your door and you trip over them if you're willing to look Steve Kahan 24:58 absolutely right. And so like, you know, if you go back at that criteria that I mentioned of how to select a startup, let me share with some of your listeners some of the questions that they ought to ask that will help them to figure out whether they're choosing the right one if they called one of those companies, and actually tried to break in. So if I were interviewing, these are some of the questions I would ask. I would ask questions like, why is now the time for your company to exist? Or a question like, what do you love about your team? And why are you the ones to solve this problem? Or tell me about a paying customer? What was their journey to you? And what are the revenue expectations over the next year? Or how much as the company raised and what's its runway? Who are your investors? Why did you choose them? And most importantly, this one is is one that kind of helps me get there. values. If you weren't building your startup, what would you be doing? which not only gets at their values, but you often find if you have other things in common with that person that you typically wouldn't find during an interview. If you ask those questions, you will go very far down your path to figuring out whether this is the right place for you. And you will differentiate yourself significantly because I can assure you other candidates for those same roles will not be asking those questions. Unknown Speaker 26:35 We're talking to Steve Kahan, the author of being a startup superstar, and we'll be back with him after these words. Are you ready to make a full time living online? Check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching. Unknown Speaker 26:47 Hello, my name is Alan. And I've just completed the excellent eight week course with David Unknown Speaker 26:51 before I started working with David Unknown Speaker 26:54 Actually, I had no idea at all where to start. Unknown Speaker 26:57 I had a lot of ideas about While I probably thought was going to be good business, David was able to help me through that though, to find that Unknown Speaker 27:06 passion. Within literally minutes. Unknown Speaker 27:09 We had, we had a business idea. And for the last seven weeks, Unknown Speaker 27:12 we've been building on it and building on it and the position I'm in now, Unknown Speaker 27:16 but if you've got an ever got here Unknown Speaker 27:17 on my own, because of the amount of information that David gives the structure, he's got the full package here, and he explains it in a way that I can understand. His support is phenomenal. I feel like this is the way business is supposed to work. Unknown Speaker 27:32 David helped me understand, okay, what were the next logical steps that I should do? How can I get this up and running? So I would really recommend this as an excellent course helping you if you have an idea if you have no idea, really teasing that out and some of the practicalities and steps to take to really launch your business, whether as a full time job or a side hustle. So it was really excellent. I recommend it for anybody thinking about setting up their own business. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say To save you years Unknown Speaker 28:02 Thank you, David for all your amazing help and support which keeps on going. And we certainly couldn't be where we are today without you. So you're awesome. David Ralph 28:12 So if you would love to become my next success story and have your own life changing online business following my step by step system, being tuned over many years to take away the effort and expense that others struggle with, then come across to Join Up dots.com and book a free call with myself. Let's get you living the easy life as it's there waiting for you to get it that is Join Up dots.com business coaching. Now we're talking to a Steve, the author of be a startup superstar. And interestingly, Steve within the book, the first few chapters, I thought, yeah, okay, I can totally understand where you're going with this. Very interesting at the end, you've got things like embrace the power of kindness and take care of what matters Put your family first work out, eat right sleep more. Why did you feel that it was important to add back into the contents? Steve Kahan 29:08 I think those things are hugely important. And you typically don't hear those types of things from in particular technology startup executives. But let me give you a very specific example why it's so important. And so, for example, when you take a look at sort of, you know, having a healthy work life balance and actually heard a phrase of, I almost don't even like work life balance any more, because it suggests that there's a right answer. I heard a term called work life harmony, which I liked a lot better because it suggests that things have been flowed. And so, you know, time for example, is a it's a finite resource. As we all know, once you lose it, you can't get a back and that means you must really exercise a lot of care in managing Your time and, and highly driven people, particularly those in the startup world often struggle with this. And what I've learned in my career and I didn't start out this way is to be my top priority. And to and if you live very much through your calendar, as I do is the most important item on your calendar. You are you priority number one. And so I'd like to challenge your listeners right now. And I'd like to ask them to open up their calendar and see if their calendar reflects that they are their own top priority. And I'll bet if you're like most people, if you check and see how many appointments you've scheduled with yourself that you have too few. And so, you know, think about some of the time that that you're losing for personal priorities, you know whether that's going to happen game being home for dinner or for breakfast. Or taking time where you're going to build your own skills, learn something new or to think strategically. What I learned was that if you're able to make yourself your own top priority, block out time in your calendar for you, that actually you're able to build far better work life harmony, and it's never perfect. And sometimes things need to change. But if you actually go start blocking off time on your calendar, even if it's for working out at launch, whatever it might be, so that you can proactively manage and orchestrate to the type of work like power money that you want to have for your life, that it just makes things better on all fronts

IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov

Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below: Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed) If you like the show, we would be so grateful if would consider leaving the show a review in iTunes as well as Stitcher Radio.  A couple minutes of your time can help the show immensely!  Thank YOU! Introducing IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov Kirill Noskov is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. IAMRUNBOX was established in 2015 in Lund, Sweden, out of a love for travel and a passion for running. When our guest today Kirill Noskov started running to work in order to fit daily training into his busy schedule, he found it nearly impossible to pack his office attire without it getting wrinkled and creased on the way. Kirill set out to develop products that would promote being active every day in any weather, hold a laptop securely in place, and at the same time keep clothes wrinkle free. IAMRUNBOX was born. How The Dots Joined Up For Kirill  As he says "There are few things I am really passionate about - optimisation (we CAN always DO better), endurance sports and travelling. I like thinking positive, always looking for improvement opportunities and have been spending the last 8 years working with business development and optimisation in various shapes and forms. That is what drives me and can keeps me awake during the night. I am an endurance athlete and sport enthusiast, passionate about running and travelling. Running is my lifestyle: I run-commute to the office, take my running shoes whenever I travel, participate in occasional marathon competition or just enjoy a long run during the weekend. Travelling is my hobby what helps me to re-energise and gives a source of inspiration. My passion in running and travelling resulted in iamrunbox.com product to make travelling, training and work commuting experience just that little bit better. So it's ok ending up work without wrinkled clothes, but what about dripping with sweat and general stuff not suited for an office? And looking back was this a business that was always waiting for him to create, or was it just as hard to get it off the ground as most people find? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Kirill Noskov Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Kirill Noskov such as: Kirill shares how he came to the realisation that by creating Kirill actually became a better person. How social distancing is a natural part of the lifestyle in Sweden, unlike many parts of the world who are finding this a difficult change. We talk about the change that Kirill made in his life to both shift mentally and time-wise to create IAMRUNBOX And lastly........... Why it's not enough to build a good product, you have to get people to know about it on scale to truly grow the success you want. How To Connect With Kirill Noskov Website Linkedin Facebook Twitter Return To The Top Of IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov If you enjoyed this episode with Kirill why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Spike Ball Founder, Nick Ruiz,  Sarah Caltieri or the amazing Mandy Barbee Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from. Full Transcription Of IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream, a dream to quit his job support himself online and have a kick house live. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout and debt until he found the magic ingredient and no struggles became a thing of the past. All right, of course I was that person. And now My dream is to make things happen for you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Intro 0:27 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be but somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling and Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:52 Yes, hello there. Good morning, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for being here with us. Now if you're listening to this show sort of live lockdown has made me look out my window and see nothing more than people running, running everywhere or jumping onto bikes and getting their fitness in some way they can, but what happens when you go back to work and suddenly you haven't got as much time to get fit? Well, today's guest joining us on the show is the founder of I am run box which was established in 2015. In Lund, Sweden, out of a love for travel and a passion for running you say there's a connection to it. When our guest today started running to work in order to fit daily training into his busy schedule, he found it nearly impossible to pack his office attire without getting wrinkled and crease on the way. So we set out to develop products that would promote being active every day in any weather, hold a laptop securely in place, and at the same time, keep clothes a wrinkle free and I am one box was born. As he says there are a few things I'm really passionate about optimism as optimal ization we can always do better. It's probably optimistic as well enjoyment, sports and travelling. I like thinking positive always looking for improvement opportunities, and have been spending the last eight years working with business development and optimization in various shapes and forms. That is what drives me and can keep me awake during the night. I'm also an endurance athlete and sports enthusiast passionate about running and travelling. Running is my lifestyle. I run the commute to the office, take my running shoes where ever I travel, participate in occasional marathon competition, or just enjoy a long run during the weak hand Travelling is my hobby, what helps me to re energise and gives a source of inspiration. Now my passion in running and travelling resulted in I am run box and to make travelling and training and work commuting experience just that little bit better. So these are the questions it's okay ending up to work without wrinkled clothes but what about dripping with sweat and Jen will start not suited for an office and looking back. Was this a business that was always waiting for him to create or was it just as hard to get it off the ground as most people find? Well, let's find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only IAMRUNBOX founder Kirril Noskov IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 3:20 Morning David, thank you so much for having me here. weather is beautiful in Sweden today. I have my morning jog and swim so nothing really to complain. David Ralph 3:30 Now I always think of this right because I live in a nice town. But I have people that come on the show and they say yes, I've just been running down the beach and I've been now my run would be quite rubbish. I just be running with buses going past me and cars going past me. Are you out in the country? Have you got trees or I used to live on quite city fied as well. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 3:53 I think it's a mixture of everything. You get both city you got a lot of nature and you Got a lot of See, then I wouldn't probably call it beach as we normally think of beach because the weather, I would say average during the year is 15 degrees. And that goes both to air and the water. But yeah, it's a lot of water. It's a lot of nature. And it's a lot of good opportunities to have a good job. David Ralph 4:22 Well, of course we're going to talk about your product, but I've got that big question. Okay. I would think to myself, it's okay running to work. I don't want to sit there all sweaty and overboard for the rest of the day. Is that something that isn't an issue? Do you have shadows and everything in your office? IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 4:39 And well I first started when they worked in Netherlands, and we didn't have a shower in the office. But then I just took a membership in a gym close by so I could the dark and unlit later half of stretching. Take a shower and kick off my day. Now when you look at I am run box okay? David Ralph 5:00 Let's start with a question I normally finish with but um, what is your proudest thought about the whole process? Is it what you've created? Or was it getting it off the ground? Or is it where you can see it going? IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 5:15 I think it's all started with a passion and a change because I first design product for myself to start running to work and carry my clauses. And and then I thought, yeah, it's it's it's a nice transformation what I got through consistent running and I became a better person I became more energised or happier. So I thought why not to do this product so other people can use it. And I just did it just for fun sake, as a hobby. So I created the product. I launched it. But then we sold over 1000 products within the first year with their marketing budget. And what's interesting happened I got a lot of people like me who didn't know how to start running to work, they bought a product. And they actually did started running to work. And they had the same personal transformation. And then they just dropped me back in line saying, Wow, thanks. It's really helped me and as that's, I think something would trigger and inspired me to start the company. David Ralph 6:23 Now I'm interested in that, that you knew that you became a better person. So were you were you somebody that would go up to old ladies and punch him in the face and you don't do that anymore? So how are you a better person? IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 6:36 Now I mean, maybe when I say better person, I'm more like healthy, more energised. I have a little bit more time for myself to think to reflect. I'm more efficient. So it's a more like that type of characteristics. But then of course, you also start Yeah, doing more sports and meeting with more people. I think all together, it just changes you in acid person then, of course some people say, Well, you don't know whether it's better or worse but in my eyes I think if you become more healthier, more happier, it is what I say about a person. David Ralph 7:24 And have you ever punched no person in the face when they're in the way you're running? And they don't they're not getting out of the way of you know, I haven't if you wanted to carry on, have you have you ever wanted to IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 7:39 you know, in Sweden, social social distancing is part of the culture. And before Khurana or, you know, people would normally cross on other side of the street. If you see someone coming your way so people avoid conflict. Pay interesting jumps. You don't need to punch anyone. No, but just David Ralph 8:04 jumping in there. So you've always social distance because we're in that phase at the moment because of the Coronavirus. That's something that is sort of natural in Sweden and isn't it? IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 8:14 Exactly, because I think the difference and that what, maybe a lot of people misunderstand when when when I read the global press what people say about Sweden, I didn't see them you get very high social responsibility. sense or feeling and yeah, and people just do it. So I think in the past if someone was sick, many people probably just stay at home and done, go to work anyway. Just so they don't, in fact, other colleagues and that's just a way of life. David Ralph 8:56 Now, I am run box net. Let's give an overview. For the listeners out there, so they're thinking, right, okay, I like to get to work. I'd like to get some fitness in, what kind of products could they get from you? First of all, that would instantly make them realise I'm coming back to this company, I'm going to buy some more stuff, what would be the first thing that I should go for? IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 9:18 I think what we are known for in our DNA is ROM commuting, and we probably have the best backpack in the world for running to work. And if you're running to work or running to gym or running as a means of transportation is something anyone interested to try? I would definitely recommend one of our products, which you don't even have to buy because they have a concept of renting the back but we have such a money back guarantee. So you can just try and see whether it worked for you or not. But then having Kadena in run commuting. Yeah, we realised that a lot of our costume where they're just active people and what we wanted was to go one step further and connect sport and fashion because it's a and when you run to work, you still use the same backpack later in your during the business, going out for a meeting at the office, and you don't want to look like a backpacker. So what we did, then we started building an hour around commuting story and created other backpacks for what our active people might need. So we have active commuting range, we have active every day with waterproof backpacks, and then we develop an active travel. At the same time now with all the COVID-19 situation. We wanted to support our customers around the world and we just launched a week ago active financial skeet where We redesigned the armband for runners, we created a shopping back where we took just a classic squarey recyclable shopping bag, but did it with fashion way and added straps. So the shopping experience is more convenient. And we launched a run mask, which is basically protection mask, which can be used both for running cycling in the city flying and again did it with style. So, there is quite a big range of products these days, which we and we have a vision to create products for for active people to inspire an active life and also try to embrace that change. Because David Ralph 11:53 what I love about these is you know, I've just turned 50 Yeah, I'm a half a century old and my lifestyle doesn't really fit in exercise because I have to go off and do exercise. But I love the fact that you're actually making exercise part of your day's routine. So it's not like if you come home and think, Oh, I gotta go off to the gym or I've got to do this. You're just naturally doing this. What's that? Um, the moment when you thought to yourself, hey, I've got a business idea what because that seems to me fundamentally, what your business is about making exercise convenient. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 12:30 Yeah, exactly. Because that's, that's what's basically the same or not the same happening with me. But when I work within the corporate environment, I barely could find enough time to do trainings and then you always say yourself, alright, tomorrow, I come back home and then they go to the gym, or go for the jog. But then again, after a long working day, you get tired and you get your family, you get your friends and then you start thinking Alright, should I go out and Have a beer with a friend or should they go to the gym and say exactly, exactly. But then what happens if you stop integrating sport in your daily life? Which again, it doesn't have to be running to work like now it's an example this morning. Yeah. Before coming to my office just to get ready for for for a podcast, I just took my running backpack I went for four kilometres jog, I had to swim in the sea. And, and then I kept to the car and came to the office. So I'm sitting stealing my running clauses, but then again, I take a guard back, come home, and I'm basically done with my exercises. And the only extra time I spent was those 20 to 25 minutes for Iran, and I would anyway need to go outside to pick a car. Try not to make it a little bit more efficient. David Ralph 14:03 Yeah, brilliant. Yeah, I've just bought a bike actually, because I thought to myself, Okay, I'm gonna get a bit of energy now I can't be bothered to run. I don't think it's me walking. I could long good walk, but for bicycle riding, that's gonna be good. And of course, when you were a kid, I don't know like in Sweden when I was a kid, we all had bikes nowadays, it's not so sort of like, common place kids don't really use it. But I thought to myself, I just got a bike I could do that. Even the slightest slope has been killing my legs. Now, with your experience, how long do I have to go through this pain so that I can just whip up a hill like I used to, and not think I'm gonna have to get off and push this. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 14:42 I think it's really a matter of consistency and maybe taking it slow, but it's not what you would neither with cycling or running. Start away doing daily. With a with a high mileage is because and don't you just gonna hurt yourself. So if you never run I would suggest starting with two three kilometres run couple of times a week David Ralph 15:08 starting starting with two or three that would kill me IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 15:12 that would kill me Then do one run one walk and cycling I think that again, it's just even if I don't run for months and then I would go for the first one two kilometres I would probably feel it in my lungs. So, again, it's probably it's all depends on the pace right because you can just start running a little bit faster than then you walk and it will be much better because the difference between again like experienced athlete and maybe less experienced on a distance is pace beat us. Boss can be extremely wasted. But if you experienced, you can probably do it much faster and for you to get tired, you really need to have a high pace. But then again, boss will get similarly tired. If, if you if you do the right patient treats here, David Ralph 16:18 I'm gonna, I'm gonna try my best I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna build up, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get rid of my car, which I've already decided and I'm gonna start cycling everywhere I can, because it's just, you know, as we say, it's about bringing fitness into your lifestyle and not making it something extra to do. You're having to do it to actually get somewhere. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 16:39 Exactly. This is good stuff. David Ralph 16:41 Let's listen to Oprah. Oprah Winfrey 16:42 The way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself what is the next right move? not think about, Oh, I got all of this too. But what is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move and the next Right move and not to be overwhelmed by it because you know your life is bigger than that one moment. No, you're not defined by what somebody says is a failure for you because failure is just there to point you in a different direction. Now Oprah's David Ralph 17:14 talking about the next right move, but I'm interested with your first rights move. So you get this idea and this idea is probably going around in your head for quite a while thinking I've got to do something about this. Maybe I can go to the shops and buy some clothes that don't wrinkle. You go to the shops can't find any and so it comes down to you. What was your first right move? Looking back on Im run box. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 17:41 I would say it's a first right move was actually to start and quit the day job because it's all about making a change. And the rest is doesn't really matter big Yes, we Started with wrinkle clauses and books. And right now we are full scale active lifestyle brand, and a backpack company. And so what I thought it would be at the beginning is much different from it is now. But I did David Ralph 18:18 a job instantly Did you sort of had this decision, I'm going to go for this and quit your job. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 18:24 I would say first, again, I started as a hobby project. But then when I came into realisation that I don't want to have eight to five job and continue cooperate live and want to do something different. Then I took this decision and then actually when the company started being bored, boring and not when I just launched the first product because there is a big kind of mental shift you do. Kind of When when you do switch from corporate into actually becoming 100% on your own, you don't have a way back. David Ralph 19:12 Now I went through that as well. And I just got to that point when I thought I'm not happy, I just need to do this and get away from what I was doing. But were you happy with what you were doing? Because that's quite a quite a difficult one to sort of leave something that you're quite happy with, even if you've got a passion for something else. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 19:34 Yeah, I was actually extremely happy. And I was lucky enough to work in a global company where you could basically work in any country in the world and you have so many different things you can do and I always did something, what I really loved, I think, but then what I didn't was ability to work when I work wherever Where I want and when I want, right so I don't mind working. But I also like spending commands in ops skiing during the winter and I like maybe taking a month somewhere in Southeast Asia. And that's what corporate life cannot do. Again now maybe with the COVID-19 situation, the way people work will change, but you're still talking to the company and someone telling you what to do. And that's what's what what is different. The intrapreneurship David Ralph 20:39 because I'm, I do something similar. I actually take off a month at a time and just sort of close down the business. I'm very fortunate. I've created a business that I can turn off. And then when I come back clients are waiting for me, so it's quite easy. But the amount of entrepreneurs I speak to bat, say, ah, can I speak to you and I said, I won't be back for another month. Well, can I not connect with you within that time can and they just can't understand that you can do that. But they seems to still be one leg in the corporate world that they work to the weekend, had the weekend off and then come back again. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 21:17 Yeah, I would say for me, the way we structured the work that most of the things happens online, and a lot of work done through the video conferences and stuff like that. So you're not like really connected to any location. And then I seldomly turn off completely if I feel I need to, then of course I can, and I have a team who can back me up, but then when they take like more like longer months off, again, up to now, I think I didn't have really as this luxury to completely shut down. But I don't mind to take two three hours a day to make sure our business is growing and I support my stuff. David Ralph 22:03 So So why haven't you got that ability at the moment to just switch off because I speak to so many people, but I've actually said their business multiply 10 times when they stopped coming into the office when they went totally remote and big ideas just popped into their head because they were all relaxed and they were just focusing on on the sort of strategy without being within the business. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 22:28 I think it's two things here. One is my personal ambition ambition I'm, I really want to create a global company and global business quite quick. So we are a lot into exponential growth with more or less like purple ink revenue every year and that, of course, requires everyone in the team to work hard. Yeah, but second, I would say if I would ask I know how complicated is to build a backpack company, probably do something else. There's actually a lot of work that needs to be done. And we are not there yet. David Ralph 23:12 But but that's the same with all businesses, isn't it? You know, you start off with overnight EBT in the world. And then as you proceed through, I still say to my wife, I know more about what I don't know now, after seven years of doing this, then then what I do know that there's always another level that you can go down but you just can't comprehend at the beginning. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 23:38 Yeah, I guess it's, but but it's probably exactly as sad. But then, yeah, when you already have such an experience in the business within the corporate, then you exactly think that thing's gonna be easy. And then you have a plan that again to do something like within a year or two Then of course, you know it's gonna take longer. But yeah, I think it's, it's it's a mantle again, shift which you just need to go through that because everyone tells you by you still don't believe until you really do it. So that's why maybe when it comes to like money raising in fundraising, a lot of people within the equity market they look for a second or third time founders because then they know exactly what to expect. David Ralph 24:36 Because I speak to a lot of people career that come through to me and they want to start a business and I can show them how to start an online business that will operate and I've done it so many times now. But the hardest bit I find is that the people don't know what they're good at, or they don't know what they want to do. And they they kind of come with half baked ideas. with yours. It sounds like Like wrapped its arms around you it was part of your lifestyle and you knew that you were going to love this. That makes it so much easier doesn't it? IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 25:09 Well, I I thought I knew the direction which is basically I think the purpose from the beginning of the company wants to inspire an active life and actually try to change people through the active lifestyle so but and then I thought I would do it just making a box where you carry closes wrinkle free. Reality is again, it's not that sample and then we from the box, we went into the running backpack, then we went to other backpacks and then we realised we need to start has been the saturation range that that that that and that and that led us to where we are now. So I think doesn't really matter what your original idea is, as long as you Committed to do this. And then when you start spending 200% of your time thinking about it day and night, then your idea develops and then it might develops in to something completely different. But that's, I think, the most important. It's basically the full dedication and that you actually think about it, you build a team, and then you start building something together. David Ralph 26:31 And when you started off, it was just you it was just you sort of sitting there with the idea. Did you do the classic? Sit down with your mates in a pub and say to him, I've got this idea of about a business or did you keep it secret to yourself and start developing it behind closed doors. IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 26:49 And somehow I'm an open source guy, and I believe into transparency also When it comes to fashion and lifestyle, business, I think the most difficult is execution because it's not enough just to build a good product, you somehow need to make sure other people know about it and it's a lot about marketing, it's about the sales, then you have production supply chain customer service, a lot of elements and and that's that difficult and that requires spending time so that's not something what is easier to copy. And I was quite lucky that my wife supported me from the beginning and helped with a lot of like it, kind of the core of the company was a financial, operational parts and then we had an alignment on what and how we want to do so. At least I have the backing on the on the family side, then I also decided they took my NDA money and invest it into into the business, which gave me some startup capital. I took a bank, low loan to W DARPA. And then I started, basically, from day one when I worked full time. I already hired like, couple of students to help me out. So I got a team. But But then, of course, it was like, a year before that when I still worked within the corporate. And I basically had to do two jobs in one day, which was of course, grid complicated, David Ralph 28:39 is so important, isn't it to have your partner your spouse supporting you, more often than not, they don't understand why you want to do it. They don't understand because you know, life's all right. You've got a good job. You know, we're okay. What was it about the idea that she bought into was it just the way you looked at her with the pressure When you smoke, IAMRUNBOX Founder Kirill Noskov 29:04 I would say it was basically sharing the vision and one of the values we have in the company, which is freedom. Because if you want to achieve freedom, then corporate work is not something What? What you want to do and the only way is really to start something here on the one and that was more like a bigger idea what we thought you want to do because we bought like travelling, we don't mind working hard, but it might be we work at the evening or early in the morning or during the day and do something else in between. And again, having the flexibility to travel around the world and being in different places and do what you like. I think that something was inspired was a faff, and also what's up Because David Ralph 30:01 I was reading about Sir James Dyson, who's created the Dyson products global success, and he's the, the Britain's richest man at the moment. 13.2 billion he's been recorded. And he was talking about how he tried to create an electric car, but 500 million of his own money in and decided it was a failure. He couldn't do it. And they said to him, you know, were you scared? Were you scared of putting that kind of money? And he said, No, he said, When I started, and I ended up owning the bank, a million pound and I still hadn't really sold

Virtual Edge Founder Matt Clark Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below: Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed) If you like the show, we would be so grateful if would consider leaving the show a review in iTunes as well as Stitcher Radio. A couple minutes of your time can help the show immensely! Thank YOU! Introducing Matt Clark From The Virtual Edge Virtual Edge Matt ClarkVirtual Edge founder Matt Clark is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is the founder of The Virtual Edge and co creator of The Rainmaker System – an online marketing system that helps coaches, advisers and consultants get 2-5 high value leads per day from Linkedin without paying for ads. Matthew and his business partner Wesley Longueira have helped over 1000 businesses in 17 countries grow exponentially. Their 3 step approach places human connection at its core, paving the way for a new wave of lead generation marketing. They are a multi million dollar company and have helped their clients grow to six and seven figures without paid advertising. Now this isn’t something that occurred overnight. As with all stories on Join Up Dots there are a lot of dots to join up and that is certainly the case of How The Dots Joined Up For Matt I began in door to door sales and quickly became highly successful earning between 80-200k per month at just aged 19. I co-founded a telecom sales company at age 23 and grew that to more than 6M in sales by year 3. Instead of enjoying this success however I ended up completely burnt out realising that the business could not function without me. I knew that I wanted a different lifestyle- to travel the world, earn multiple currencies and to have more time to enjoy my life. That’s when I switched gears and began focusing on automation and developing systems that support business growth. I started consulting with businesses working on-to-one with big names on the global stage including Samsung, Loral Langemeier and Peter Sage. I soon came to realise that I wanted to have more impact. I know the only forward was further systematisation and automation. The success of the Rainmaker System has led to Matthew becoming a sought after international speaker and has shared the stage with big names like Dr. Phill, JT Foxx, Michael Douglas and many more. Matthew is also the author of The Proven Path, The Automation Playbook and The Automated Income systems and has been featured in Wake up- How to live a Healthy Vibrant Lifestyle. So is a thriving business as much as coming up with the idea, or overcoming the obstacles that always come our way? And why do so many people love to do the clunky spammy approach on Linkedin time and time again? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Matt Clark Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Matt Clark such as: Shares how every door that he knocked on over months and months and months gave him many of the skills that he uses today. Why we should dig deep into the online world to truly see what is available to us before we ever make a quick decision as to where we want to head. Matt shares the process of getting amazing leads from Linkedin by becoming truly focused on providing value, value, value. And lastly….. Why Jim Carreys amazing character Ace Ventura might just provide the greatest business advice the world has ever seen. How To Connect With Matt Clark Website LinkedIn Return To The Top Of Virtual Edge Matt Clark If you enjoyed this episode with Matt Clark, why not check out other inspirational chat with Caroline Casey, Festival Pass, Clint Arthur and the amazing Jessica Cox You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy

Introducing Ben Krueger Ben Krueger is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He  is a man who joins a very select band of entrepreneurs and businessmen who have made more than one appearance on the show. First appearing on the show on the 17th July 2014, he spoke passionately about his love for podcasting and his deep dive into the medium. Joining up the dots, it all started when he was penned up in an office working the dreaded dead-end job, and had to find something that would help him alleviate that daily feeling of boredom and dread.  So he resorted to listening to marketing and business podcasts, and as he listened, he started researching, and learning more about podcasting as a personal interest. How The Dots Joined Up For Ben This quickly grew into voracious research trying to uncover what made certain podcasts wild successes, and others a flop. So obsessed was he that he first created Authority Engine, which helped people become legends through the power of their voice. This has now pivoted into helping people start a podcast, or get theirs edited through Cash Flow Podcasting. When we last spoke he was living in Thailand as was an entrepreneur with a passion for the outdoors, travel, adventure, business strategy and podcasting. So is he still wearing the baggy shorts, and the sunglasses or has he settled down and watched his efforts grow his business? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Ben Krueger Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Ben Krueger such as: Why a product that is too different even if its brilliant, more often than not wont get legs and gain traction. Ben shares a great story about a photography business in the UK, who niche down on every website they have online. We discuss how the clarity of a business is an evolution, and more often than not will become visible straight away. And lastly........... Why all business owners must focus on the value proposition of the perfect customer time and time again to truly find success. Ben Krueger Books How To Connect With Ben Krueger Website Linkedin Facebook Twitter Return To The Top Of Cash Flow Podcasting If you enjoyed this episode of Ben why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Spike Ball Founder, Nick Ruiz,  Sarah Caltieri or the amazing Sam Bearfoot Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from. Full Transcription Of Ben Krueger Interview Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK, David Ralph. David Ralph 0:26 Now, good morning to you. Good morning, everybody. everywhere across the world. Do you ever sit there laying in bed or maybe in the bath and think to yourself, that guy who was on episode 88 of Join Up Dots back in 2014? I wonder what happened to him. Do you ever do that? Well, I know I do. And I'm glad I'm going to actually find out because today's guest is a man who joins a very select band of entrepreneurs and businessmen who have made more than one appearance on the show now first appearing on the show on the 17th of July 2014. As I said he spoke passionately about Lots of podcasting and he's deep dive into the medium. joining up the dots. It all started when he was penned up in an office working the dreaded dead end job and had to find something that would help him alleviate that daily feeling of boredom and dread. So he resorted to listening to marketing and business podcasts. And as he listened he started researching and learning more about podcasting just as a personal interest. Now, this quickly grew into a voracious research trying to uncover what made certain podcasts wild successes, and others a flop. And so obsessed was he that he first created authority engine, which helped people become legends through the power of their voice. This is now pivoted into helping people start a podcast or get theirs edited easily through cash flow podcasting. Now when we last spoke, he was living in Thailand and was an entrepreneur with a passion for the outdoors, travel, adventure business strategy and podcasting. So the question is, Is he still wearing the baggy shorts and the sunglasses He's always he settled down and watch these efforts grow into a fully fledged business. And why do so many people fail at podcasting when it's such an amazing medium to connect with people, and people are listening more and more every day? Well, let's find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Ben Krueger. Ben Krueger 2:25 I'm doing great. David, thank you so much for having me back. It's, it's bringing it all back bringing it all back a couple years now. David Ralph 2:32 I know I haven't changed back and I'm still doing the same old routine that I've been doing for six years. And that actually leads into a good question. I wasn't going to ask you that question. But do you think we've podcast the ones that do really well is because there's a kind of familiarity kind of people know what they're going to get. I remember hearing the producer of police academy films. Do you remember the police academy films back in the day? And oh, yeah, they got up to like police academy nine He said, the real thing to make something successful is give people what they liked about the one before, but make it different. So they come back. So that familiarity. Do you think that's what makes a podcast successful? Ben Krueger 3:14 I mean, I think that's one of one of many routes because yeah, you you as a podcaster. No. And anybody out there like all the podcast is, is recorded audio. So at the end of the day, there's so many different things you can do with the medium. But I like that, you know, if you tapped into a vein, where people are really engaged, people are really connected. And you give them more of that. Just with different stories, different people's experiences, like your show is a perfect format that doesn't need to be changed every episode because it's about people's stories. It's about the dots in their in their experience that have linked up to create who they are and who they're becoming. So it's this It's this interesting format that, you know, if somebody tried to apply the same format to something that was a little bit more different, you know, it's like an evolving news or something like that you could use the same kind of rough format so that people again, like you said, know what to expect. But there's got to be, you know, there's got to be something new going on there to bring them back and keep them interested. So I think there's definitely two sides to that coin, but I like because with these types of format of shows, there is newness, but it's in the same format. So you get, you get the same value delivered over and over and over again. You get the same type of entertainment, but it's new and it's fresh, because it's new people, new stories and new and interesting things going on. So yes and no is my gloriously refined answer there. Well, I'm David Ralph 4:55 gonna throw it to another level now because I was listening while I was watching So Scott, and I've been talking about it for over lockdown that we're in at the moment. There's some good content that's being produced. And there's some bloody awful content. And the one that I do like is some good news sGn network by john Wright and I just like that he's 1625 minutes. And I was watching it today. And he had Oprah Winfrey on any air to Steven Spielberg. And obviously, he's got a good network, but he can sprinkle the Stardust across. But it's format. It's the news. And I thought to myself, it's interesting, actually, we like the way it's happening. Because it's how we know. We know that the news, as I used to do training courses many, many years ago, and I always said, Tell them what you're going to tell him, Ben, tell him and Ben, tell them what you told him. And that was basically how you summarise the training goals. But news is exactly the same. They tell you what's in the news. And then they give you a bit more about it and then a summary at the end. And once again, that's gone off like a rocket because it reads Is that Amelie ality You know, I'm really interested in this pain. I wasn't going to speak to you about this because I hadn't thought about it. But I wonder if products and services are more likely to find legs because they're similar to something out there more than somebody trying to create something brand new. Ben Krueger 6:19 Yeah, well, it's that classic, you know, the the innovators kind of dilemma where, what what has been shown time and time again with different products with different services with different things. If something's too different from what currently is, even if it's significantly better. It's too big of a leap of faith for people to take, because there is there wasn't that like stair step in between. Whereas if it's a little bit better or a little bit different or a little bit improved, and a little bit refined, that tends to be my much more More resonant product or service or show. And so I see that all the time with shows that are trying to be too creative. Like they kind of they're, they're too out there. So they don't even, they don't really connect with people because they people can't draw a connection between what they think of as a podcast and what this thing is that they're trying to listen to. And it doesn't really doesn't really Join Up Dots as it were. So it's an interesting dilemma, where it seems to be and I think it's a little bit of a human nature thing. We want to know what we're expecting, or we want to have some idea of what we're looking at and what it is. So if it's a little bit too far out there, it's too different. It's going to be hard for us to track and hard for us to really engage fully without having that judgement piece. I think that's a big part of it. David Ralph 7:57 So if we go back in time law He was with us you were talking about your business authority engine. And what I loved about that at the time, and I remember I was very new in the game. But I remember having some kind of deep connection to the fact of biscuit. I didn't just throw it out. But he became an expert. He did the work. He did the research and a poverty engine, I thought was going to be your legacy work. It just seemed to be fulfilling a need at that time, is now pivoted to cash flow podcasting. Why Why did you change it? Ben Krueger 8:33 Yeah, good question. We we found over time working with folks that our specialty really came in as working with established businesses that were trying to use podcasting as a way to engage their audience to build you know, their authority and their network in their industries, to uplift their industry and at the end of the day, as well to generate clients and And revenue for their business. So, you know, there's a tonne of ways people can use podcasting, there's a tonne of different types of podcasts and categories of podcasts. But we really found that was our sweet spot is helping businesses, you know whether coaching online services SAS, you know, financial advising all those kinds of businesses use podcasting as a way to transform their audience over time, through trusting relationships, through results in advance in educating through their content into folks who are really great prospects and really great clients for their brand. So that's kind of where that transition came in. And a lot of the core elements are still there. It really just came down to a refinement of who we can add the most value for in terms of clients because we could work with all types of different podcasts. We have really found that's our sweet spot. We talk about that time and time again on Join Up Dots about online business is simple. And I Keep on drumming this in because I want people to understand that is simple, you've got to have something that other people value, it's got to either solve a big problem or move them into an increased level of status or pleasure point. And then focus in on that one person and just do that. And it's almost better if you've got a great idea to have like nine different customer bases, but just speak to that one customer in each of the portals. So create a website just for that customer and then another one just for that customer. And I speak to people and I say oh, no, no, no, I just want one business like oh, yeah, one business is brilliant. Let's try to get one business but let's try to get one customer that really buys big. Learn what works from that and then sort of rinse and repeat because it is easy isn't a pain once you've done it's it's the it's the classic Like be a big fish in a small pond or the air of a small town versus, you know, trying to trying to swim with the sharks. You know, I one great example of this that I really like and I've heard a couple other people bring up over time is a it's a it's a photography company out of the UK that does product photography. So they have two websites that I'm aware of and they may have other ones but one is we shoot bottles so you know it's it's product photography of anything in a bottle and we shoot cans to totally different domains they don't refer to each other at all. But it's the same company they pretty much use the exact same setup because cans and bottles are pretty similar from a photography standpoint, but I love that it's so special. Each one is so specific. So if you've got you know a product that comes in a bottle and you find out about we shoe bottles, calm boy does that sound like the right fit or not. David Ralph 12:00 And so many people out there think that they're gonna miss out open don't they think if I go for everyone they're gonna miss out and you can go as niche as you want. And I remember people used to say the riches are in the niches and they you know it doesn't work over the UK because we say niche but I like that niche and rich and I used to think really really bad is true is so true you can go too wide but you can't go too deep. Ben Krueger 12:27 Yeah, it's that classic when you've heard the same advice too many times you almost don't trust it cuz it seems a little cliche, but it's absolutely true. And we've found for for podcasts, and particularly for ones that are are trying to you know, they're they're creating a podcast community around a brand around a product or a service. We have found this this idea of niching down as if you can with your content you saw One main problem for one core group of people. So a perfect example of this is like a gal. We work with Katrina Ebell, she's got a podcast called weight loss for busy physicians. I mean, it couldn't be more specific and more directed, she solves one problem for one group of people. And so with that, her podcast really, really resonates for those folks that that fit in that space. And there's more people in that space then she can actually work with, she's been sold out for a while. So it's that classic. You know, if you try to be everything to everybody, you're gonna have a hard time getting traction, whereas if you can be the mayor of that small town, everybody in that small town knows you they share. You know, they talk about you with their neighbours like that that whole town knows who you are and what you're about and how you can help them out. Now with your David Ralph 13:54 tagline, I suppose on their podcast services, the busy thought leaders, I was looking And earlier, and I'm very much into trying to explain a business in four to five words that really say what your service is podcast services for busy thought leaders. Ben Krueger 14:14 Well, the fun part is we're in the process of a complete upgrade and how we communicate our our services. So the the new thing that we're moving towards or the new way we're describing how we do what we do, is we make podcasting easy. Yeah, that's really it, isn't it? Yeah. And that's with the caveat that you know, someone is in in kind of the verticals that we can help the most, but at the core foundation of it. That's what it's all about. Because when when we first started this whole process of helping people, create, plan, create and launch podcasts for their business We're actually working with a gentleman, who at the time, I had only been doing podcast production, I had helped out on some launches. But I had a gentleman come to me and say, you know, I want to start a podcast for my brand. I've got an online paid community. I don't have the time. I don't know what I don't know. And I want to do it right. Help me out. So what does that look like? So we work together to figure out what is this process where he can just show up as the host. And we can have a process and a team that supports him in just doing that. So really, what it comes down to over time is we make podcasting easy. And, you know, I always like to add on the little, you know, because I can't just leave it as simple as possible. We make podcasting easy and effective because at the end of the day, if it's not working for a brand or if it's not working in contributing to the goals that the host wants it to do, then what are we? What are we even doing? So I'm a big fan of start with the end in mind and make it easy and as simple as possible. effectiveness does not have to be complicated. David Ralph 16:16 Yeah, I agree with you totally. And I love the word easy. If you go over to Join Up Dots, my tagline is we make getting your own successful online business easy. And I saw one the other day, which is lawn care made easy. You know, in four words, it says everything that it does, and but that ability to have that kind of clarity in your own business. Is that something that people should get right at the beginning, or should they grow into it because I come to it from two different sides. I can do it for other people, but I wonder whether the actual evolution is part of getting that simplicity and clarity Ben Krueger 17:00 Well, I can definitely say I would have loved to be able to start with that clarity. But I can definitely say from a personal standpoint, like our message has shifted and changed and evolved and refined and gotten more and more simple over time. But I know my personal tendency is to say 10 words when three words will do yeah, so that David Ralph 17:23 I know that problem. Ben Krueger 17:25 Exactly, exactly. I think I think all of us talkers tend to have that challenge. But I think you know, it depends on where you're at. And I think what it really comes down to is the simplicity of the messaging comes from a deeper understanding of, of the space and of either the problem you're solving or you know, the the benefit that you are sharing with folks because the more you understand that space, their needs, their psychographics why it's important to them, the More you can simply communicate it. So if you are, you know, let's say you work in, in a industry for 20 years as an employee, or you know, in part of a different company, and then you strike out on your own, you've had 20 years to figure out what that industry is all about what's important to people, you know, and so you can, I think it'd be much easier to start with some super clarity. Because you know, the space you understand what's going on. Whereas if you are just getting into an arena, into a vertical into an industry, there's gonna be some time as you kind of get grips on what's going on, and what's important to people. And, you know, just because it's important to one doesn't mean it's important to others. So you got to kind of find where those sweet spots are. So I think it's a natural evolution. But it comes with an understanding of what the pain points are, what the challenges are, what the outcomes are, what the hopes and dreams are of the folks in that space, David Ralph 19:01 let's hear from Oprah. And then we'll be back with Ben, Oprah Winfrey 19:03 the way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, what is the next right move? not think about, Oh, I got all of this stuff. What is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move, and the next right move, and not to be overwhelmed by it. Because you know, your life is bigger than that one moment, you know, you're not defined by what somebody says, is a failure for you. Because failure is just there to point you in a different direction. David Ralph 19:35 Now, have you had failuress? Because from my side of the fence, and I've connected with you a couple of times, and we've known each other for years, but we hardly know each other at all. But it's always seemed like you had persistence. You were somebody that was going to follow it through. And so have you actually had babies or have they just been sort of learning learning opportunities for you? Ben Krueger 19:59 Oh, I think Yeah, any anybody that says they haven't had failures, I think I think might be sweeping some things under the rug. And not that you can't take them and see them as learning experiences and step into the other side. But I've absolutely had some some failures. So one, one particularly tasty one is for a while, you know, I got into entrepreneurship with only having worked a few jobs and marketing all for a couple of months at a time. So I think I was I was an employee through I think I bounced around to four or five different companies over the course of about three years total. And then when I and then I went into starting my own business, but no, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I had no idea how to manage a team or build a team or do it all myself or manage, you know, the finances of a company. So I think one of the one of the biggest learning opportunities for me, which at the time I definitely saw as a failure and really frustrated me was I did not know how to manage cash flow within a company, which is kind of funny seeing as we're now called cashflow podcasting, but this was also before the branding change. So essentially, we were we had a year where we just lost money because I was doing a lot of investing in growth in big ideas in shiny objects. And I was not paying attention to the bottom line I wasn't paying attention to like having stair step growth of just, you know, looking at the next piece and then the next piece as Oprah just, you know, so eloquently put it I was trying to skip steps and in doing so, Got the company into debt and not in a healthy way and I ended up having to let go of a key team member who and absolutely done an incredible job up until that point you know arguably better than me and it was it felt like a massive failing because I had I had not made decisions in the company that were intelligent around money in that I could could essentially keep employing him and so I had to essentially really tighten tighten about pulling the drawstrings relearn and understand like okay, how do I go from I'm losing money every single month to I need this to be profitable and not from some maniacal you know, laughing on top of my you know, pile of gold coins mixed, you know, Mix Scrooge type of thing. But for any venture to actually contribute and survive, it needs to be profitable. So that was a serious what felt like a huge failing at the time. And sometimes depending on how I'm feeling in the day, it can still feel like a giant failure. But it it was absolutely a learning curve and led me in a direction that now I feel like I've you know, got a really solid understanding for what needs to be in place financially for the company to do well. And I've put in systems in place so that when I'm when I start to you know, if things start to shift in a way that it's not supporting us and along in the long term financially, then I've got some early red flags and warning so I don't find myself in that position again. David Ralph 23:53 It's personally my biggest failing was obsession. I was obsessed and overwhelmed. And just I just grow, drove myself into knees and there's many different references of my journey on Join Up Dots that you can go back to. But my number one learning that I learned was it's better not to work on a business plan to work on a business. All my great ideas come up when I'm on vacation, or sitting in the garden, more than just being in front of a computer slogging away for hours on hours thinking that it's going to be genius. And a lot of stuff that I've done in the past. I look at it and I think it failed because there was a desperation in it. I there was a lack of clarity in it. I don't think I was totally believing in it. So it was just kind of a shadow of what it is now. Anybody that comes to me now, they get value. And I absolutely go to bed with you know, a clear conscience and I will sleep better than anybody. But in the early days, when I was trying to get it going. I think it was kind of half baked because I didn't have the journey, I think you've got to have the journey, which is why it's so important if somebody is starting a business to start with your current knowledge base, because then you've only got half the learning the entrepreneurial side is quite difficult to learn. But at least you start with something that you already know about. Ben Krueger 25:23 Yeah, and I think this is this reflects actually pretty accurately on on one of what I would consider my biggest failings as well as, for the longest time in business. Like I, when it comes down to it, I made it about me. I made it about what I wanted, like how I wanted the business to support my lifestyle, what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to do, it was it was very, you know, kind of, if a if a, you know, five year old was having a tantrum, and you know, it's about me, they don't get to have their nap time or you know, whatever. Yeah, it's It's a little bit of that, that going on. And it's not something I'm super proud to admit, but it's absolutely true and what I've, what the primary shift has been in, it's kind of the scarcity versus abundance mindset. Like if you're in a mindset where you you are doing okay, then you have the ability to give back. Whereas, if you feel like you are just scraping along and you're, you're in that hustle and grind, and you've got to get it's very, you know, get focused. So I think the big shift for me has been trying to and transition and stay in the place of contributing as much value as I can through our products and services through you know, all the content and things that we we create and at the same time, I think that that reflects our into how I interact with our team, how I interact with clients and customers, how I interact with referral partners and that kind of thing, because, you know, I'm not showing up to get in, in kind of on the flip side of that same coin when I'm showing up to figure out how can I highlight other people's genius and and partner with people in a way that's collaboratively expansive, as opposed to how can I do it myself to save a few bucks. And obviously, there's some realities here to where you need to, you need to be have the chequebook balance at the end of the month, but there's a lot of ways to partner with people and to contribute value without it necessarily being $1 and cents expense. So I think that's a big shift that you know, and to be honest, it's something that I have to work on. So just like any of these kind of things, it's Oftentimes not a snap your fingers and you were this yesterday and now you're this today. But I see it as like that's my area of continuous development and growth is how can I come from a place of giving of love of care and abundance? And the more I do that, the more the more things just seem to get easier and easier. David Ralph 28:26 We're talking to Ben Krueger from cash flow podcasting, and we'll be back with him after these words. Unknown Speaker 28:34 You ready to make a full time living online? Check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching. Hello, my name is Alan. And I've just completed the excellent eight week course with David before I started working with David Actually, I had no idea at all where to start. I had a lot of ideas about while I probably thought was going to be good business, David was able to help me through that though, to find that passion. Within literally minutes, we had, we had a business idea. And for the last seven weeks, we've been building on it and building on it. And the position I'm in now, I don't think I've ever got here Unknown Speaker 29:10 on my own because of the amount of information that David gives the structure. He's got the full package here and he explains it in a way that I can understand. His support is phenomenal. I feel like this is the way business is supposed to work. David helped me understand, okay, what David Ralph 29:26 were the next logical steps that I should do? How can I get this up and running? So I would really recommend this as an excellent course helping you if you have an idea if you have no idea, really teasing that out and some of the practicalities and steps to take to really launch your business whether as a full time job or as a side hustle. So it was really excellent. I recommend it for anybody thinking about setting up their own business, or both. It's an exaggeration to say David will totally save you years. Thank you, David for all your amazing help and support which keeps on going And we certainly couldn't be where we are today without you. So you're awesome. So if you would love to become my next success s

Mandy Barbee is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. MA Economics & CCHT, founder of Palladium Mind, a transformation and healing expert who has helped hundreds of clients across the globe to overcome anxiousness and thrive in business, health, and life. By combining the power of imagery with their innate capabilities, she empowers men and women to regain a positive sense of control, transcend struggle, and enjoy everything more. Now that's what she does everyday, but at Join Up Dots we are more interested in how she got to where she has, not what she is doing. And her journey is one that can inspires so many people that struggle with the mental side of moving to where they want to be. How The Dots Joined Up For Mandy  As she says "I’m the oldest of five girls, all born inside 7 years to very young parents. Raised in north Georgia, I knew a couple things very early on: I wanted to see the world, and I wanted to support myself. Neither of my parents had completed college, so when my father told me, “Mandy, any school you can figure out how to get into, I’ll find a way to pay for,” a quiet voice inside of me said, “That isn’t what’s going to happen.” Determined, smart, polite and ambitious, at the age of 17 I was accepted into the Air Force Academy and headed to Colorado Springs for boot camp. I had poor self esteem, weak boundaries, and an insatiable need for external validation. And so while I excelled at everything I did, and was graduating at the top of my class, in the winter of my final year, all coping mechanisms were breaking down; I found myself in tears seemingly without reason and missing classes for the first time in my life. Coincidentally over Christmas my mother had bought my dad a session with a hypnotherapist to stop smoking, and for lack of us knowing what else to do, I went for a visit as well. THAT HOUR I SPENT WITH A GENTLEMAN HYPNOTHERAPIST IN NORTH GA, 2005 PUT MY LIFE ON A NEW TRAJECTORY - ALBEIT AT THE TIME I DID NOT APPRECIATE EXACTLY HOW. Fast forward ten years, 26 countries, and leadership roles in three commercial industries later, I had objectively achieved a great deal of success and every reason in the world to be happy. So why did those high marks in classes, and educational achievements force her to review where she was heading in her life? And is anxiety something that we can nip in the bid before it ever starts, or simply something we have to manage? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mandy Barbee Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Mandy Barbee such as: We discussed why we should all be very aware of the energies that we give out everyday, especially to the wrong people. Why Dunbar's law is so powerful which states that we can only maintain 150 relationships at everyone time. Social media cleanse anyone? Why when we rest our minds and our bodies we really give ourselves a chance to grow our business faster than ever And lastly........... How the world is full of traffic streams, which makes it so easy to find customers for our business. We simply have to decide where to put our rods.

Todays episode of Join Up Dots is a question and answers session which touches on motivation once again.

As you will hear on the show, one of the hardest things to conquer in your life is finding the motivation to keep moving forward. I know for sure that I struggle with this, especially when I have had a break from working on something,

Then its like a real drag to get going again, But you have to get going and do the work or it will never get done.

So what are you going to do to make it all come true for you?

Stephen King is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He is a top executive at a Fortune 500 company. Bootstrapped CEO. Venture- backed tech startup founder. Non-profit fundraiser. It’s safe to say Stephen King is not your traditional CPA. Stephen is President and CEO of GrowthForce, one of the nation’s largest providers of outsourced bookkeeping and controller services. Regarded as an industry thought leader by AICPA and CPA.com, his ability to visualise the future of accounting has lead GrowthForce to become one of the fastest-growing companies in America. How The Dots Joined Up For Stephen His experience at the forefront of technology development and accounting system design spans nearly three decades. In 1995 he founded Virtual Growth, the nation’s first cloud-based accounting service, and quickly grew it into a market leader. After being acquired by Insperity, Stephen was brought on as president of Insperity’s Financial Management Services division, serving two years before leaving to build GrowthForce. He also spent seven years working at Amnesty International USA—first overseeing 300% growth as CFO, then raising over $20M a year as Director of Development. Stephen’s time at Amnesty reinforced his life-long commitment to giving back to the community. As a result, non-profits represent 35% of GrowthForce clients. So where does his true passion lie, in the quick moving startup world, or working for major corporations often with less than movable parts? And are we now at the start of the next industrial revolution, whereby we will see more and more people start their own businesses? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Stephen King Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Stephen King such as: Stephen shares how people are changing their systems everywhere to simplify their businesses due to the pandemic. Stephen talks openly how he started the first cloud account and the steps he took to make things happen from scratch. Why our next generation of children are under such a strain to achieve the same level of success as their parents. And lastly........... We hear the story of Stevens family origins and how his Father  changed his life with just $47 and a boat ticket.

Introducing Shift Financial Founder Spencer Sheinin

Shift Financial founder Spencer Sheinin is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He  is a man who is taking the stress, pain and quite frankly annoyance out of one of the worst things about being in biz. Yeah we all know that part of the year when we start getting letters through asking for the paperwork that you can't find. And then it asks "how much did you earn last year, and you realise you have to work out the expenses to then take it away from the income"...nightmare. As he says "If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you probably hate accounting. The information your bookkeepers and accountants bring isn’t at all understandable or helpful, and you know you’re not getting the information you need to run your business. You’re stressed, fed up, and even embarrassed about the state of your books. But you don’t know how to make things better. One thing is certain: you can’t afford to spend time learning accounting—nor would you want to. How The Dots Joined Up For Spencer Sheinin As founder and CEO of Shift Financial Insights, his company provides ridiculously simple accounting and insights for businesses on the rise. Spencer loves sharing his knowledge as an instructor at the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) and has spoken all over North America about why entrepreneurs shouldn’t fear their books. To be honest this is a man that looks like he doesn't fear anything as when he isn't knee deep in ledgers and spreadsheets, he is also an endurance sports enthusiast and has completed several ultra-marathons, IRON-MAN triathlons, and marathon swims. So when did he start to realise that instead of working for a major corporation it was time to go out on his own? And why do people struggle so much to keep things organised when running their online ventures? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Spencer Sheinin Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Spencer Sheinin such as: Why Spencer always gives the advice of outsourcing your accountancy issues as soon as possible when starting out in business. Why we should view having an accountant as going to the right Doctor for the right specialist advice. Choose the expert you need for the right task. Spencer reveals his "Why" for his business, and man has he knocked this out of the park on this one. Spine tingling stuff. And lastly........... Spence gives us a list of the big questions that we must all ask our accountants to make sure we get the gem.

Michael Cavallaro is today's guest on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast. Michael's 40 years of experience have culminated into the creating Human Cosmology™ a belief, behavioural & communication personal growth process. Human Cosmology™ is a unique and comprehensive life changing modality. This modality allows for deeper and permanent healing and life changes than traditional modalities. Human Cosmology™ allows an individual or group to access their own wisdom to move beyond their psychological and belief patterning, physical/emotional/mental limitations. This modality is life changing for anyone who has experienced stress, loss, anxiety, depression, insecurity, PTSD, ADHD abuse of any kind, struggles with communication or relationship issues. This process is superior for creating "real" teamwork environments in the work place, and creating healthy intimate relationships. How The Dots Joined Up For Michael Now of course with Join Up Dots we create content that no only speaks to the entrepreneur, but also the wannabe's. Those people who sit in a cubicle and are yearning to start their own business. So how do you start building a business that isn't just built on flippant throwaway concepts, but stuff that is rooted in scientific fact. And how has he managed to build a flourishing business when he has a large family, no doubt pulling him in so many different directions too. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Michael Cavallaro Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Michael Cavallaro such as: We share how the world has programmed us to operate in a different way from how we might just be operating if we were allowed to think for ourselves. Why being allowed to go for the easy route might just be the perfect thing for all of us to do in our lives, if we just trust. Michael shares the early days of hustling to create his business from scratch, which wasn't easy for sure.  And lastly…….. Why it is so important to squirrel away some nuts in the winter when you are building your business. Make it easier for yourself in the lean times.

Introducing Josh Kemp

Josh Kemp is our guest today joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast.

He  is a man who quite simply has powered his way through many obstacles that would stop most in their tracks.

As he says "I love creating online courses that teach a specific side hustle and how to make money with it in the shortest amount of time possible!

I am the author of No Degree, No Problem.

Originally I was a Blacksmith / Farrier for 8 years but then had to switch careers after getting kicked by a horse.

I self taught myself how to code and landed a Junior Software Development position 9 months later making $ 70K.

I currently live in Raleigh, North Carolina with my wife, three kids, two goats and a gecko.

Now most interestingly for a show called Join Up Dots, which follows loosely the words or the late Steve Jobs, our guest did a similar thing when it came to getting a college qualification.

How The Dots Joined Up For Josh

He goes on to say "I remember when I was 16 my Mom had me take Business Law classes at the local community college.

My Mom was big on making sure ALL her kids went to college and got a degree.

After barely failing the first class, I decided college wasn't for me, it wasn't until I was 18 that I broke my parents’ hearts and told them I wouldn't be going to college.

Over the years I have had to switch careers and have had over a dozen different side hustles in my life.

My Mom no longer worries about me becoming destitute, l have used the power of side hustles all my life ( except for a 1 year period ) to provide better for myself and family, as well as learn more about what things are a good fit for me."

So does he feel he is still working towards the big thing that will define his life, or is that not important anymore?

And why do people struggle so much to make a living online, when all the clues are already there to follow the success of others?

Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Josh Kemp

Show Highlights

During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Josh Kemp such as:

How culturally we have lost the ability to get down and dirty and work for a living, even if its an online venture. A dream life doesn't come easily.

Josh shares why you should always go where the money is.  Look for who has it and then decide what you can do for them.

Always look for the problem that can be solved for as many people as possible you can then scale scale scale.

And lastly...........

Josh tells us a great story of a snow blower, inspiration and hustle that almost ended his marriage but became amazing motivation.

Introducing Spikeball Creator Chris Ruder Chris Ruder is the CEO and Founder of Spikeball Inc a new and fun sport that looks like its going to be big everywhere. The Jonas Brothers, Drake, Julianne Hough, Ryan Seacrest, 21 Pilots, Casey Neistat, and numerous pro sport teams and players have expressed their love for Spikeball. Spikeball’s appearance on Shark Tank was voted as one of the best episodes of all time. ESPN went as far as to say Spikeball is mainstream. Now our guest today started the business 2008 and ran it as a night job for 5 years while keeping his day job as an Advertising Executive. 5 years after its founding, Spike ball hit $1 million in annual sales with zero full-time employees. How The Dots Joined Up For Spike Ball At that time, Chris quit his day job and went full-time. That was one of the best days of his life and Spikeball’s mission is to the create the next great global sport, with tournaments appearing on ESPN whilst taking place all over the world. Chris lives in Chicago with his 3 great kids and fantastic wife. He is on the board of I Grow Chicago and the company has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help address gun violence, the environment and education.  So did he need to spend those five years as a side hustle business, or was it simply a leap into the unknown that scared him. And how do you know that you have a great product on your hands before you ever invest your own money into the business? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Chris Ruder Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Chris Ruder such as: Chris shares how Spikeball wasn't his idea at first, but he took an original product that in many ways had failed and made it much better. Why it is such an amazing idea to provide free parts for life to customers as they become your marketing department for free. Chris allows us a glimpse into the starting process of getting his customers to fall in love with SpikeBall. And lastly........... The Spikeball founder talks openly about his appearance on Dragons Den, and what the show truly brings a new business.

Todays guest on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is Andrew Phelps. He is the Creative Director of User10, a boutique studio focused on SaaS product strategy and design. He leads design teams at small startups as well as enterprise brands. An expert in product strategy and design, he was named one of the Arizona Republic's 35 under 35. He shares his knowledge of strategy, design, and entrepreneurship at ASU, SEEDSPOT, and The CleanTech Open. But the main reason that i wanted him to be on the show today was this piece of wisdom, taken from his website. "We believe that design and technology should serve humanity and that anything worth doing is worth doing beautifully. Challenges can be big and complex, but the best solutions are elegantly simple. How The Dots Joined Up For Andrew The best part is the process is no secret. Building high quality applications and websites is as much about great communication as it is about good design and code. Isn't that what I say on Join Up Dots all the time? The first stage of business is to find something that people want, then let them see it, and open up communication to chat. So did he fall into the traps of making things more complex than they should be - but extremely pleasing on the eye? And of course when people dont know who there customers are, how do they know how to speak to them directly? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Andrew Phelps Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Andrew Phelps such as: How Apple might have just fallen from the wayside of the magic years driven through the  Andrew shares the steps that he took to where he is today....and it certainly wasn't where he thought he would end up. Andrew remembers meeting his first mentor and being amazed that a fifty year old was so happy with what he was doing. And lastly…….. Why it's so important to start saying NO in a business, so that you can service a smaller and more

Introducing Prady Tewarie

Prady Tewarie is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. Its amazing that we have got him on the show as he has never been somebody to slow down. At 28, he has founded and sold more than two dozen businesses, is the current CEO of AZOTH and the Tewarie Group, withover $100 million in real estate holdings. He founded AZOTH because while getting his JD and competing as a professional bodybuilder, he found it difficult to achieve the kind of productivity that he was looking for, and so turned to the science of nootropics, nutritional supplements that target specific areas of concern for the user. After learning first hand about their efficiency, Prady Tewarie partnered with a manufacturer in order to bring nootropics to people all over the world. To date, AZOTH has sold over 50,000+units world wide and is set to be the fastest growing nootropic company on the market. How The Dots Joined Up For Prady Currently, Prady is on a mission to teach entrepreneurs about the opportunities that exist all around them, and that it’s ok to be a small business person. Specifically, that not every business needs to collect a billion in capital before they can get started, or that they need to change the world. Instead, entrepreneurs can start small and begin by turning their own neighbourhoods around and, most importantly, that they can still be considered an inspiration and a success for doing so. So why do people not consider the opportunities that are all around them when starting their own business And if he could give one big piece of advice to himself that would make tomorrow easier what would it be? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Prady Tewarie Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Prady Tewarie such as: Prady shares his belief why so many people are looking for cues of what to do everyday, without considering why they should be doing it. Are you spending your days giving things away for free because you don't truly believe in themselves. Why its so important to truly look at what you should be doing in your business and get a detailed audit of what needs to be done. And lastly................. The riches are in the niches, so spend sometime looking for a market place that isn't been looked at by your competitors.

Introducing Greenpal Founder Bryan Clayton Greenpal founder Bryan Clayton joins us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business podcast has created huge success in a market that I simply love. As you will hear time and time again, when you can create Double Value business then more often than not you can scale massively and quickly. But of course you may be saying "David, what does that actually mean?" Well in this case, someone wants their lawn mowed, and someone wants to get a job mowing a lawn and connect the two of them together. How The Dots Joined up For Greenpal Today's guest is the founder of Your Green Pal, a lawn-care service launched back in 2014 YourGreenPal helps customers get multiple competitive free quotes from lawn care services near them for free. They can get started today and get their lawn mowed with out making a phone call. The company which now has 10 employees has attracted 1,000 contractors in seven states and now serve 20,000 customers. Your Green Pal aims to launch in a new city every two months. So where did they see the greatest growth in the business once they got the ball rolling? And why do more people not see the power of local search when starting their new business ideas? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Bryan Clayton Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Bryan Clayton such as Bryan shares why he sold his previous business to a huge company in America, even though he hadn't quite scratched the itch of business. Why it such a great idea to recruit the supplier first to get the resource for marketing to your customers. Get ready for the influx. When you are building a market place your customers must want to come for the community first, but then stay for the tools. And lastly….. If your not gaining ground you are losing ground, is a statement that Bryan loves.

Today's podcast has been inspired after receiving a lovely email from a listener of the show.As most of you are aware unless you have been trapped in a cave somewhere, but the world is in lock-down.. Which for many people is a complete nightmare and a never ending day after day of boredom. However, for many other people it's a world of positivity where things are occurring on a daily basis which are a complete 360 for where we were before. It might be a simple case of enjoying a longer meal with your family, or a more relaxed morning routine, instead of rush, rush. So where are you finding your positivity in a world of disruption?

Introducing Rob And Kennedy

Email marketing experts Rob and Kennedy join us on today's Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. These guys arent just experts at email marketing, but they are the most unlikely entrepreneurs you'll ever meet. Sporting hairstyles that look like comic-book characters and backgrounds in psychology, hypnosis, and show-business – it's hard to believe they're serial entrepreneurs with an uncanny knack for building businesses with riotous email marketing. But that is just a bit of what they are..... They are the founders of ResponseSuite, where they show businesses across the world how to truly make email marketing a thing of beauty. They are also a mind-reader and a hypnotist too...which I i guess will come up in the show. But one thing for sure is they are the kings at making their customer emails get the results they want by doing things differently. With their business, they have created a drag and drop system which can explode your marketing by making your emails irresistible. Bringing feedback into your world, by using surveys and other "Tell me what you think of us" strategies. And now with their podcast "3 Marketers walk into a Podcast" where they chat to a marketing expert each week and take a deep dive into one specific strategy that's working for them right now they are bringing more and more to the world. As they say "There are so many ways of driving traffic, increasing conversions and running ads - so rather than guess at it and get overwhelmed, wey are asking the experts so you can duplicate them in your online marketing." If you work in digital marketing or have your own online business, you're going to love this podcast.  So why did they start a digital marketing business when they could simply hypnotise the world to crave their products. And is email marketing still a winner, or has it fallen down the ranks of everything else that is needed nowadays? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Rob and Kennedy. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Rob and Kennedy such as: Why it is so important to embrace your own authenticity in everything you do..... Rob and Kennedy share the massive tip of gaining emailsaddresses and that is down to setting the expectation of the customer right at the very start. The guys share their email marketing advice of sending out stuff every single day. Break down your life into short content driven stories to inspire. and lastly...... The reasons why "All they do is want to be less crap than they were the day before." Great and simple advice.

Introducing Make Time Founder John Zeratsky

Make Time founder John Zeratsky is today's guest on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast. He is the author and founder of Make Time: How to Focus on what Matters Every Day a productivity company showing the way to more profit and productivity. For nearly 15 years, John was a designer for technology companies. At Google Ventures, he helped develop the Design Sprint and worked with startups like Uber, 23andMe, Flatiron Health, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Nest. Previously, John was a designer​ at YouTube, Google, and FeedBurner, which Google acquired in 2007. John studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin and graduated from the UW School of Human Ecology, where he’s now an advisor to the Dean and faculty. However this just shows that this guy was once mega-busy. Probably running from meeting to meeting, desperate crisis chats and everything else we get sucked into whilst in the corporate world. How The Dots Joined Up For John Now things are very different...he might be just as busy, but now its busy doing the things he wants to do. For example he spent 18 months travelling in Central America aboard their sailboat Pineapple before moving to Milwaukee in 2019.  Now he is a keynote speaker, and the bestselling author of Sprint and Make Time. He helps leaders, entrepreneurs, and professional teams make better use of their time (opens in a new tab)">better use of their time at work and become happier, more engaged humans. So why do people need his help, when we all know how to do it by and large? And what is the quickest way that we can increase our happiness in our lives? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only John Zeratsky Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with John Zeratsky such as: John shares why time is our most valuable commodity and the steps that we should take everyday to use it wisely. Why so many struggle with controlling their time due to companies restrictions placed on them everyday. John shares his fledgling steps into entrepreneurship and the reasons why he took these steps into the unknown. And lastly…….. Why we should all focus in on the present moment, as this is the time that truly makes the difference in our day. John Zeratsky Books How To Connect With John Zeratsky Website Twitter LinkedIn Return To The Top Of Make Time With John Zeratsky If you enjoyed this episode with John Zeratsky, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy Full Transcription Of Make Time Founder Interview Outro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. John Zeratsky 0:25 Yes, hello. Good morning, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Join Up Dots. Yes, it's that podcast again. And today is not gonna be a solo show. It's got we've got we've got a guest we got a guest on the other end of the line, who for nearly 15 years was a designer for technological companies at Google Ventures. He helped develop the design sprint and work with startups like Uber 23andme, flatiron health, Blue Bottle coffee and a nest. Now previously, he was a designer at YouTube, Google and Feedburner, which Google Of course acquired in 2007. Now before that he studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin and graduated from UW School of Human Ecology, where he's now an advisor to the dean and the faculty. However, this just shows that this guy was once mega busy, probably running from meeting to meeting desperate crisis chats and everything else we get sucked into. Whilst in the corporate world now things are very different. Now he might be just as busy, but now he's busy doing the things that he wants to do in a way he wants to do it. For example, He spent 18 months travelling in Central America aboard a sailboat pineapple with his wife. But before moving to Milwaukee in 2019. He's a keynote speaker and a best selling author of sprint and make time and he helps leaders, entrepreneurs and professional teams make better use of their time at work and become happier and more engaged humans. So So why do people actually need his help? And we all know how to do it by and large Get away from the computers, connect with real life people and try to limit what we do every day. But what is the quickest way that we can increase our happiness in our lives? If we're doing all that? Well, let's find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. John Zeratsky. Morning John, how are you? Good morning, David. How are you doing? David Ralph 2:25 I'm always doing well, john. Don't do it. All right. Yeah. As we were talking. Yeah, I've got no Corona virus. I've got nothing I've got. I've got a slight pain in my shoulder. But I think that sitting at a computer all the time, other than that job, pretty damn good. Now let's get into it and cut to the chase because we've you it's all about time and making time. Now, can you really make time or can you just make the most of your time John Zeratsky 2:52 you're on to me, it's impossible to make time and that's what makes it such an important thing to focus on. To think about because time is our only finite resource, you know, if we, we lose our money, we can make it back. Again, if we gain weight, we can we can shut it off. If we're weak, we can become strong. If we're sick, we can become well, but we can never make more time, we only get so much. And we don't know how much we get until it's gone. So it's a really important really precious resource. But like you mentioned, so many of us just kind of let it slip by we live in a crazy world with all sorts of default settings, settings in our technology products and in our cultures and workplaces and the norms and the beliefs that we accept. And we just sort of react to those defaults. Most of our time is spent by default. And so while it's not in a in a in a medic metaphysical sense, it's not possible to create more time, we can effectively Make time by resetting those defaults and choosing to spend our time on the things that really matter. Instead of just reacting to what's in front of us. David Ralph 4:10 I agree with this. I agree with this totally. And I also agree, and I'm going to point this in into the conversation, because sometimes just wasting time is perfect. It's right. I'll give you an example. I just come back from Iceland. And we had one day we had beautiful weather. It was freezing cold, but beautiful weather and one day you went out and it literally was scraping the skin off your face. It was so cold. And so me and my wife, we just sat in a bar drinking Icelandic beer, buying drinks for Americans, it was always the Americans I always rolled up and and we said what a wonderful day it was and it was such a waste of time, but it just felt good to do that. John Zeratsky 4:51 Absolutely. Well you experienced in that, in that wasted time you experienced a number of benefits that we You know, sometimes if we're lucky, or if we're intentional about it, we find ourselves enjoying, you got to spend time face to face with other humans. So that's something that we we evolved to to need and to thrive on. You experienced the relative quiet or calm of not having a million new bits of information popping into your feed or onto your phone. You experienced the feeling of generosity of giving something to those thirsty Americans David Ralph 5:36 a one time back, those Americans weren't very good at buying rounds back I promise you. And happily I mean, cleared off. John Zeratsky 5:44 Perhaps they have a few things to learn from you. But But yeah, that that it's absolutely true that that sometimes wasting time or things that that don't look very productive are actually the best uses of our time and in particular, Things like what you just mentioned, are great because they pack so many benefits together. Another one of my favourites is, is cooking dinner at home. So, you know sure if you're mister you know, ultra productive optimised, you know, outsource your life use every last second to maximise your your income or whatever. Sure, you're not going to cook your own dinner, that's nuts, you're gonna have somebody cook it for you, you're gonna have it delivered, you're gonna have pre made meals, whatever. But I love cooking dinner because it tends to be more affordable and healthier than going to a restaurant or ordering in. It forces me to get up from the computer and do something with my hands. And it creates a little bit of space very much like you just sitting in that bar disconnected from all the feeds and and sources of information in our world cooking requires you to be a bit different. connected. And I also like how it marks the end of the day. It's a natural transition between the daytime which for me is usually focused on some project that I'm excited about and the nighttime which is a time to tell our body it's, you know, it's, it's time to wind down, it's time to relax so that we can sleep well and be prepared for another great day tomorrow. David Ralph 7:22 Now let's spin it into sort of entrepreneurial venture because I'm this is gonna, you may not notice, john, but my listeners will go Oh my God, he's mentioning again, but I think it's important. I think it's important. And I don't have a mobile phone. I don't have a mobile phone or a tablet or anything. So when once I leave my office, Fassett is gone. I don't have any sort of connectivity. But in the early days of starting my business, I found myself sucked into my office a lot. Because there's always something to do and yet no matter how big businesses or how successful it is, there's still something that is sitting half and done. Now what I had to do was I actually had to say, no, that office is closed. I'm not just sneaking up there for 10 minutes. I'm not because my family kept on laughing. Yeah, we know it's gonna be 10 minutes. We'll see you in three hours. I now do that. And I say, right. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, I don't go up to my office at all. And then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I jam everything in to give myself that breathing space again. Is that something that I am lucky to be able to do? Or can most people do that being kind of legit mentally flexible with that time? John Zeratsky 8:39 I think probably a bit of both. I think that I think that I would be I wouldn't be completely honest. If I were to say that any bit. Anybody out there could choose to, you know to jam all their work into three days a week because Most people are not as lucky or as privileged as we are. And so they, they have normal jobs. And they don't necessarily have the same kind of control. But on the other hand, there's a lot of, there's a lot of space to work with. There's a lot of room for flexibility. And when I work with people who feel like they don't have enough time for the things that matter to them, one of the first things we do is we talk about where their time goes now. And more often than not a good chunk of that time goes into what my co author Jake and I call infinity pools. So these are apps like Facebook and Twitter and even the breaking news and games and Netflix streaming things where there's always more content there. There's always more water in the pool, you can dive back in at any time. And the data on this stuff shows that at least in the United States. The average American spends about four hours a day on their phone and four hours a day watching TV. So In a very real sense of distraction is a full time job. And so we usually start there and we say, well, let's, let's figure out which of those things really are important to you, which matter because they connect you to other people, or they allow you to do something that's helping you learn or grow or helping you build something. And which parts are just really waste of time, which parts feel, you know, don't make you feel good. They feel like you're sort of being mindlessly pulled through instead of intentionally choosing to dive in. And so we start by cutting those off and then the next thing we do is exactly what you suggested, which is we compartmentalise that time. So instead of doing, you know, basically checking email throughout the day, or having a bunch of little meetings with these little scraps of time in between them. I help people kind of structure their calendars so that when they're doing something, they're doing that one thing. They're completely focused on it. They're doing it Great job at it. And then when they're done, they move on to the next thing. And this works amazingly well, even for something as seemingly innocuous as email, it turns out, there's actually research on this, it turns out that if email, David Ralph 11:14 there's always research, there's always reasons why people doing research on these kind of things. John Zeratsky 11:19 Well, because it matters because, like we we talked about it at the intro time is our only finite resource. And so this stuff matters. These are important questions, you know, these are not just sort of trivial matters. these are these are really at the heart of what it means to be human, what it means to be alive. And so I think these are important research questions and and research on email shows that people who are in an experiment forced to check email fewer times during the course of the day, actually become measurably better at doing email so they become faster, they become more efficient at it, and they feel less stressed so they feel better about themself. And so it's the exact opposite of what you'd expect. You know, if you want to be Mr. productivity and you want to be ultra efficient, you think, Oh, well, I need to be on top of my email at all times. But it's actually, the opposite is true. And so that's I think that speaks to the power of compartmentalization, which is really just kind of a long and complicated word for doing one thing at a time. David Ralph 12:20 Well, I'm gonna throw it back at ya. I agree with you everything you're saying. But I'm going to throw I'm going to tell you how I operate. Now that there's three laws, there's two laws that are like very, very much one. One is Parkinson's Law, which I'm sure you know all about Parkinson's Law, john. Yeah. John Zeratsky 12:37 That's about work expanding. You're very good. David Ralph 12:41 Yeah, you're very good. And so if you give yourself 20 minutes to deal with all your emails you're doing in 20 minutes. If you give yourself three hours, you'll get three hours. And so I do everything based on time. So with my emails, I log on first thing in the morning, and I give myself 15 minutes to deal with them all. Anything that comes in I get a load of emails is ridiculous, but I make sure I only read them once. So I read them make a decision and deal with it, delete it, respond or whatever. Because once you leave it half done, it then builds up into some big monstrous inbox that you can't deal with. And so yeah, literally every day my inbox is totally clean. I batch everything. So like today is my podcasting day. So the only thing I do is podcasting. And I do about three Thursdays in the month and nothing else gets involved in there. And biggest thing but I think so many people miss out on and I'm going to, you know, ask your point of view and this is the 8020 looking at everything that you do and things actually what part is bringing value back into your business. If it's Facebook when brilliant if it's not get rid of it. If it's Pinterest, get rid of it. Just look at all the stuff and I realised for myself business, but nothing was making a difference in my business other than podcasting, and then personally connecting with people, listeners. So when they come through to me, and then we chat, and then sometimes they become clients, sometimes they don't. And I realised I was wasting so much time doing everything else I thought I had to do. Well, the bottom line was connection, you make the right connections. John Zeratsky 14:27 That's fantastic. Yeah. And I think that that's, that that is a really important way of looking at everything we do, not just the work that we're doing. So certainly, you know, the 8020 rule is very important in the context of your work, you want to be focused on the things that actually produce the desired results. But I think just in general, when we think about our time we we would be wise to apply that rule. It's funny people are used to being very analytical and critical about their work. You know, they're used to doing it. Post mortems and retrospectives and you know, big reports on things but, but most people don't have a habit of looking analytically at their own time. And so that's very much the approach that we take when it comes to the use of technology in particular. So like you like you mentioned, if something like Facebook works for your business, and that's an important part of your work, then by all means, use that as a tool use that for its desired purpose. But give it a time give it a space. We've actually heard from some folks who, if they need to use something like like Facebook or Twitter or a really kind of addictive infinity pool app if they need to use that for their business, they will even set up a separate device so they'll have a separate phone and this is actually really important for for Instagram because Instagram is one of the few if not the only of these, these apps were talking about that really is mobile only, like you can't really meaningfully use Instagram on a computer. And so if you know if if that's a big part of your business, then then we've actually heard from people who will set up a dedicated device so that for their 30 minutes a day, or their their one hour a day, or their two hours a week, or whatever the right allocation of time is, they can get out that device, they can power it up, they can do what they need to do, and then they can put it away. And I think it's when we, when we allow everything to just be on and be there and be in front of us by default. And we allow the notifications to be on we allow apps to check in the background. That's when we develop the sense that we're we're not in control of how we're spending our time. And that's when we develop the feeling that we're not spending our time on things that matter because we're not because we're just reacting to what what shows up in front of us instead of what we have. So So wisely and intelligently as you decided is important to us. David Ralph 17:01 One of the things that I did as well john, and I've got it in my hand at the moment was I bought a book called The disciplined pursuit of less essentialism by Greg McKeown. Yeah. Great book, brilliant book. It's a brilliant book. There's only two books, but I will always recommend and one was the four hour workweek by Tim Ferriss that really launched me into entrepreneurship, and this book, and I read it, and I read it three times back to back, because it made me realise, you know, leading on from what we're talking about, but so much of the stuff that I was spending my time wasn't really important and wasn't things that I really wanted to do anyway. You know, I, I used to sit with my wife watching TV in the evenings because she used to like to sit there watching TV with me. And then we came to a discussion I said, I don't really like your programmes anyway. You know, I don't care. It's all CSI, this CSI VAT and murders and God knows Well, you know, I'd rather not do that. I hope we like watching TV. No, you like watching TV and I sit next to you. So what we've done now we've got a point where on a Sunday evening, we watch a film together, and we sit and watch a film together. And the other time, she can just dip into that box set, she can do what she wants, and I can do what I want. And we made that conscious decision. It was essential to her but not essential to me. Now, when you look at that, that book, there's one title and I'm going to ask you about it. Not that you're going to remember this from the book, but it's very, very important. And it's the the unimportance of practically everything. John Zeratsky 18:40 Now, remember that David Ralph 18:41 that's a powerful statement, I kept on coming back to thinking to myself, you know, I always say to the kids, you can always find time to do what you want. You know, when when I say to him, oh, you ain't clean your bedroom? I haven't had time. Yeah, but you've told him to do everything else you want to do. It's always that kind of stuff. Everything else is unimportant. Really. Sure, John Zeratsky 19:01 yeah, there's there's a similar sentiment that comes from the world of personal finance, which is that you can afford anything but not everything. And there's actually a great podcast that sort of takes its title from that, that line which is called afford anything that hosted by Paula pant. And, yeah, I completely, I completely subscribe to that philosophy. But I will admit that it's something that I am not always great at applying and I, I somewhat recently have become an entrepreneur myself I, after many years of helping other people build their businesses, as a partner at a venture capital firm and as sort of an advisor and an author and things like that. I have. I have recently started my own business and I find myself overwhelmed by all the possibilities and all the opportunities. And, and well I know all the things that you're saying and I agree with them. It's a, I'm constantly reminded that, that these things are simple, but they're not easy. And that we are all struggling. We're all going through this process. We're all on this journey of trying to figure things out of trying to focus our time on what matters. And we're we're pushing up against some pretty powerful forces. And so I'm glad that you brought it up because it's yet another reminder to me that I need to perhaps use some of the some of the blank spaces in my calendar coming up in the future to re revisit those things. And the reason I mentioned blank spaces is that at the time we're recording this, a lot of events are being cancelled or postponed because of the The outbreak of the corona virus and so I'm finding myself with some unexpected free time and rather than rather than let that time just sort of be eaten up by by unimportant things or reactive things I ought to use it to, to kind of reassess and reevaluate some of the bigger decisions about how I'm spending my time. David Ralph 21:21 We're talking to john as a rat ski about time and we will be back after these words. Unknown Speaker 21:29 Are you ready to make a full time living online? Unknown Speaker 21:31 Check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching. Unknown Speaker 21:34 Hello, my name is Alan. And I've just completed the excellent eight week course with David before I started working with David Actually, I had no idea at all Unknown Speaker 21:42 where to start. Unknown Speaker 21:44 I had a lot of ideas about what I probably bought was going to be good business. David was able to help me through that though, to find that passion. Within literally minutes. We had we had a business idea and for the last seven weeks, we'll be Building on and building on and the position I'm in now, but I've got an Unknown Speaker 22:03 ever got here Unknown Speaker 22:04 on my own because of the amount of information that David gives the structure. He's got the full package here, and he explains it in a way that I can understand. His support is is phenomenal. I feel like this is the way business is supposed to work. David Unknown Speaker 22:19 helped me understand, okay, what were the next logical steps that I should do? How can I get this up and running? So I would really recommend this as an excellent course helping you if you have an idea if you have no idea, really teasing that out and at some of the practicalities and steps to take to really launch your business, whether as a full time job or as a side hustle. So it was really excellent. I recommend it for anybody thinking about setting up their own business. But both it's Unknown Speaker 22:45 an exaggeration to say David will totally save you years. Unknown Speaker 22:49 Thank you, David for all your amazing help and support which keeps on going and we certainly couldn't be where we are today without you. So you're awesome. David Ralph 23:00 If you would love to become my next success story and have your own life changing online business following my step by step system, fine tuned over many years to take away the effort and expense that others struggle with, and come across to Join Up dots.com and book a free call with myself. Let's get you living the easy life, as it says waiting for you to get it that is Join Up dots.com business coaching. Now, he leading on from that kind of advert, but tying into time as well. What I have found through doing Join Up Dots is the amount of people that waste time doing stuff that doesn't bring any rewards where they aren't doing Facebook, were doing some kind of marketing. And when I say to them, you know, how's it going for you by can't really justify that. Now with yourself as a fledgling entrepreneur. How did you begin to get clients to come to you, john, how did you save it as good The worst thing is, you know, I'll give you an example. We had a time management person come into our company many, many years ago. And we were there at nine o'clock. And he didn't turn up because he didn't realise it was that time and he was late. And we thought, What a stupid time management person you are. So how do you manage to look Zen like, but appeals to people without, you know, burning yourself out in the process? John Zeratsky 24:25 Sure. Well, I don't try to look Zen like I have. It's actually an important part of my philosophy and the philosophy that I write about and teach about that. That perfection and ultra regimented structure and optimised use of time is not a realistic or sustainable goal for any of us. So I try to be I try to be honest about it. I try to be very authentic about the fact that that this is a real challenge for me. One and that that includes me and that I'm struggling with it as well. But the the thing that I think is, is unique about my perspective is that I worked for nearly 15 years as a designer in the tech industry. And so, as a part of that experience, I, I gained two unique perspectives. One is sort of inside perspective on understanding how and why technology products are designed and configured in the ways that they are. And, and that allows me to help people sort of understand the role of defaults in shaping how they use their time and then help them reconfigure those technology products, or perhaps choose not to use certain technology products because of how it will affect their their time. But the other perspective is that technology companies are very eager adopters of new technology products in and I worked At Google, and Google is sort of famous or infamous, one or the other for having tonnes of internal products. So special tools for communicating or collaborating or organising projects that were developed internally, by engineers for internal use. And so Google in particular, and I'm sure you know, other companies are similar but but my experience at Google was that while there were amazingly brilliant people working on incredibly interesting opportunities, doing doing great work, we also we we were just inundated by email and meetings and, and information and tasks and administrative work that we needed to stay on top of, and the people around me, they, they all struggled to spend their time on the work that really mattered to them, not to mention the stuff that they wanted to do outside of work and so, as a as a person in that environment, I sort of You know, I wondered, what about me, you know, how can I create space and time for myself in this world and so that's the thing that has allowed me to sort of develop a unique, unique perspective on this and and to get a bit more tactical. My approach for reaching customers has really always been through telling stories, specifically writing and sharing very concrete, very practical tips and suggestions on how to do things. And hopefully, you know, wrapping those concrete suggestions in a, in a forgiving, flexible approach or framework that makes people feel like you know, it's that it's okay to, to not be perfect because there is no such thing as perfection but that if people can be empowered with sort of a process for experimenting with themselves and and and have a daily frame Work for are continuing to, to make tweaks and make things a little bit better for themselves that eventually they will get to a point where they feel like their time is their own and that they're free to focus on the things that matter to them. David Ralph 28:13 Now I've pondered many, many times recently that Join Up Dots has become so successful for me because I haven't deviated I've just kept him doing it, but seven years. But through that process, I've had burnout. I've had loads and loads of issues due to overwork. And I've often pondered whether your business is the right business for me. I have learned so much about reclaiming my personal energy and freeing myself from distractions and reconnecting with nature, and travelling and all the kinds of things th

Instagram Growth Service Founder Zach Benson

Zach Benson is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. A TEDx speaker, social-media trainer for international brands like The Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, and ViceRoy, and past participant on “So You Think You Can Dance,” He doesn't just manage his own Instagram network of millions; he's also the founder of Assistagram, where he's guiding other influencers and Fortune 500 companies into social-media success. You might be wondering why Instagram is so powerful to personal branding, well here are some stats: Instagram is the platform with the fastest growing audience. Instagram has over 1 billion users with 500 million being active users. Statics show that 75% of people will click buy on your landing page after seeing an Instagram ad on a real influencer’s page, which is why influencers across the internet are fighting for his services. But now his success is gaining momentum, we have to stop and reflect on where he has come from to start this remarkable journey. How The Dots Joined Up For Zach At only 4 months old, Benson, who was born in South Korea, was adopted by his parents in the States, where he was taken home to Des Moines, Iowa. Benson was one of the very few Asian kids in his school, and so was bullied and abused by his peers in school due to his ethnicity. As he says “I remember at soccer games, kids were using racial slurs, or at elementary school kids called me China boy,” Benson said. On top of looking different, he sounded different too. Benson was diagnosed with a speech impediment and was placed in speech therapy classes for an inability to say his "R"'s With this type of background and behaviour, many people would assume that these were the characteristics of somebody who was headed down a dark road. Many of us have never had to face daily battles against racism, learning impairments, or even the inability to talk properly, but a combination of all three seems unthinkable. Like anything, though, change is a series of small steps, starting with one foot in front of the other. So why are people scared of dipping their foot into the waters of Instagram, or make such a terrible mess of things. And does he look at the things he has endured in his life, as the obstacles he had to go through or the things that he needed to get to where he is today? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Zach Benson Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Zach Benson such as: Zach share the benefits of IGTV and why it is so powerful Influences shout outs are such an amazing way of growing your followers on Instagram, by getting  We discuss the darkness that overcame Zach when he found out that he was never going to be a dancer again. And lastly……… Life is full of ups and downs, and sometimes its a rollercoaster, but should never be  

Introducing Chris Meade

Chris Meade is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He is a man who along with two of his closest friends took something we see all the time and created something new altogether He is the owner of CROSSNET, a new version of beach volleyball which is now taking the world by storm. As we say time and time again on Join Up Dots, it's all about the pivot. If you can create something new from something that is already selling more often than not you are on your way. As he says " It’s not every day that a new sport is created - but that’s exactly what happened when three friends from a small town in Connecticut combined an old game called four square and volleyball. Growing up together in the “Quiet Corner” of Connecticut, brothers Greg and Chris Meade constantly sought new sports and activities to keep them busy with their childhood friend Mike Delpapa.  How The Dots Joined Up For CROSSNET And Chris One night in May 2017, Chris, now 26, got together with his brother, Greg, 25, and Mike, 25, got to reunite. Reminiscing on recess days playing four square, the three friends struck an idea for a four-way volleyball game that merged traditional volleyball with the four square. By dividing the court into four quadrants, rather than in half, they envisioned a new game that incorporated the nostalgic feel of recess. After creating a prototype, inviting their friends to come play and not being able to turn them away they knew we were onto something! Since that moment over 2 years ago, the trio has made it their mission to spread the game of CROSSNET throughout the world.   Since then they have surpassed 2 million dollars in revenue, have a seven figure business, got their product in 25 plus mainstream offline and online retail chains, and have presence in 2500 plus schools already. So when the idea came to them, how did they speed past the "Why would anyone buy that" comments that derail many a brilliant idea? And what has been the hardest part of the journey, getting it going, or scaling to where they are today? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Chris Meade. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects about CROSSNET with Chris Meade such as: Chris shares the steps that they took to get the whole CROSSNET concept to market. And it started by loving the idea themselves. The risk that they took to get their idea off the ground by taking all the money that they had to build their first protptypes. Chris shares how they have three strong pillars that they work within every single day as they develop their business. And lastly........... Why they had to prove to the teachers the safety aspect of all products to start tapping into a new avenue of sales.

Introducing JT Mccormick Today's guest is JT Mccormick, who serves as the President and CEO of Scribe Media, a publishing company that helps you write, publish and market your book. The company has worked with more than 1,500 authors and Entrepreneur Magazine recently ranked Scribe as having the #1 Top Company Culture in America. Previously, JT served as the President of Headspring Software, which he helped grow to a multi-million dollar, 100-plus person company that was repeatedly ranked as one of the best places to work in all of Texas.  JT is also the author of I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Achieve the American Dream. His book tells the story of how he worked his way out of poverty, starting with his career cleaning toilets and eventually becoming the President of multiple companies. In addition to his role at Scribe Media, JT has mentored at-risk youth in the juvenile justice system, as well as youth in low economic communities. JT’s work has been featured on CNBC, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc, and many others. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Megan, and their four children Ava, Jaxon, Elle and Jace. So was it purely down to mindset and commitment that got him to where he is today? And where can we start today, if we have just one chance to move to the next level and change our mindset forever? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only JT Mccormick Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with JT Mccormick such as: Why you have to define happiness and success for yourself, and when you dont have much you can then define your own success. JT shares how he doesn't believe in work life balance but he does believe in five key pillars that he bases his life around. JT openly discusses how he has created a company culture that is life changing and that is by recognising the true workers before anyone else. And lastly........... We talk about how his father, although in an unusal job became the best at what he did, and was proud to see his son go the same way.

Introducing Some Good News

Welcome to the latest episode of Join Up Dots, which today brings some good news from across the world. Yes, it hast been a surprise but due to the constant bombardment with a never ending supply of rubbish stuff hitting our eyes, the world is on the look out for a difference. That is coming in the form of a wave of positivity, helpfulness and kindness from every corner of the globe. People want some good news in these dark times, and at Join Up Dots we are exactly the same. So in this episode we set about bringing you messages and encouragement from a series of listeners of the show. All of them are in the process of either growing their business or starting their online business, and are hustling their way forward. So Where Is Some Good News Coming From Well as evidenced the other day, Hollywood actor John Krazinski has started a YouTube channel focusing in on just that "Some Good News". I dont have to tell you what its called, but it certainly leaves nothing to the imagination as to what its all about.# Every week he shares short news-stories and praises the actions of others, all in a lighthearted and less than polished manner. Which is exactly the appeal of the show, and why so many other people have thought "Great idea, lets shares some good news of our own" Which of course is.....great news!!! You can head down the page for a link directly to the Some Good News channel We also share news from our own listeners across the globe, such as John from Side Hustle Junkies who is spending his time in lock-down providing value for others. Isn't that the best way to build a business? John is creating landing pages that can be downloaded for free directly from his website. That is certainly some good news for so many people who struggle with getting their websites looking tip top so well done John. Even More Good News From Across The World Several years ago an amazing guy from the USA called Steve Reza, hired me to be his podcasting coach, and now he has two on the go. Yes, he has the Knife Making Mastery podcast, and now the Prevail Beyond podcast and was looking for a guest to kick it off. Some good news for you all, he didn't look very hard and invited me to join him and his co-host Dave on the show. Well he was amazing, and is delivering content of such high quality that i'm sure that the show will become a hit across the globe. The same can be said for another guy from Jersey in the United Kingdom called Ross who is doing the same. He has started his own audio production company complimented by a brand new podcast too. So well done to him and here's to a huge success for him as he deserves it Things Mentioned On The Show Some Good News YouTube Channel Go For The Green Website SideHustleJunkie Prevail Beyond Podcast Return To The Top Of Some Good News If you enjoyed this episode Some Good News, why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Dr Joe Vitale,  Dan Lok or the amazing Geoff Thompson Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from.

Introducing Ryan Kulp

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is an expert on StartUps and a founder of many of them too. He's the founder of fomo.com, along with over a dozen other startups (he's a serial entrepreneur and developer/ hacker). He is now publishing his latest book "Fitness for Hackers" which shows his story from a bit flabby to a lean mean fighting machine As he says "After years of struggling with my weight, I finally cracked the code to achieving a high level of personal fitness - and it had nothing to do with science, working out every day, or cardio. In this book, told through the lens of a software developer’s approach to health, you’ll learn simple strategies that build the habits required to look great, without giving up. How The Dots Joined Up For Ryan He's a prolific (and successful by all measurable accounts) marketer and entrepreneur, and  can say a thing or two about business, marketing, entrepreneurship, side-hustling, startups, bootstrapping a biz, and of course health. But even more interesting for me, is that he if a full time traveller, and has since 2019  launched courses, started teaching himself to speak Korean, wrote a book, and travelled to ~15 countries, in 2020 he is travelling full-time, surfing, and investing in real estate. So what with the current corona virus pandemic tearing through the world, how does this make a full time traveller achieve his aim? And looking back at everything he now does, was it a given? A series of well formed dots, or a totally different story altogether? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the only and only Ryan Kulp Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Ryan Kulp such as: Ryan shares how he never plays up the flexibility of being an online nomad, due to the mass of restrictions that come everyday. We discuss how the concept of lifework balance does not truly exist in life, and why Ryan has a contra view to most Why racking up skills that other people dont have is so important to build a future, but you don't necessarily. and lastly........ Ryan shares his steps to a fit life,  that works with your own environment and lifestyle and shouldn't be a major hardship.

Introducing Joshua Dick

Over fifteen years, Josh Dick transformed a small family business into a global market leader in the coffee industry with customers in over 70 countries and distribution facilities on three continents. In the process, sales grew more than 25 times while earnings multiplied over 275 times. After the sale of the business, Josh moved to Florence, Italy where he now lives with his wife and three daughters. Now that's not a bad starting to a show, but of course we need more about today's guest. And of course you are going to get it. Joshua’s approach to business has always been about creating an organization that is strong, secure, and able to avoid distraction. How The Dots Joined Up For Joshua Throughout his career in the coffee industry, he relied on the unusual metaphor of the lobster to unite the team and prepare the organization. Awareness that lobsters never stop growing and of the trauma they experience during molt can remind any business to enjoy the ups while preparing for the downs that always come. Growing Like a Lobster was motivated by Joshua’s sincere desire to help others who seek to build extraordinary businesses. Through sharing his personal experiences and insights, Joshua offers a new way to confront challenges and simple approaches to building special and lasting organizations. Joshua has a B.A. in Political Science from Yale College and an M.B.A in Marketing and Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  Along the way to building brands within the world of coffee machine cleaning products, Josh worked in investment banking for Salomon Brothers and in marketing for Unilever Home and Personal Care. And now with his book Grow Like A Lobster: How to Plan and Prepare for Extraordinary Business Results he is quite simply it seems where he wants to be in life and in business. So do businesses need the ups and downs that come, to truly strengthen their foundations, and grow like a lobster? And now with the issues across the world, due to Covid-19 has the years given him a business that can fight it's corner and survive? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Joshua Dick. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Joshua such as: Joshua shares why he feels so many businesses have to have the dips to become what they want to be. Why so many people fail to grasp the ability to have control in their lives by handing it all over to an employer. Joshua talks about the process that he went through to grow his coffee business, starting with submerging himself into coffee culture And lastly.... With limited resources, based around time and energy Joshua decided on what would make his business special. And it wasn't what he first thought it would be.

Introducing Corona Virus and Self Isolation

Welcome to today's episode of the Join Up Dots podcast. As you will be aware unless you live on Mars or you haven't climbed out of your bed yet, the world is dealing with a horrific situation. The corona virus is raging across the world, ripping apart families, leaving many many deaths in its wake, and changing the way we live altogether. There is no getting away with the fact that for most of us, we have never seen anything like this before. But what can we do to help ourselves, and make the self isolation and enjoyable period of our lives? The time when we focus or energies on breaking free from the rat race, and simply "start smelling the roses" Well in todays epsisode of Join Up Dots, your host David Ralph shares his rules for getting through the corona virus pandemic. He also invites the world to connect with him and share how life is in your home, and the good news that you have found to inspire us all. Thanks for listening as always Return To The Top Of Corona virus If you enjoyed this episode with Coronavirus, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here– enjoy Full Transcription Of Corona Virus Episode Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:25 Yes, hello there. Good morning world. Good morning and welcome to Join Up Dots. This is David Ralph. This is David Ralph. The host. Some people say the sexy host. To be honest, most of the time it's me but says but but i i believe i believe it. I'm going to be 50 I'm gonna be 50 this month, sometime this month. I'm gonna be 50 years old, and Casa coronavirus. We're in lockdown. And so me and my wife. We're doing that kind of thing where we're starting to get out and walk together and I keep on meeting people. From the other side of the road, because you can't get too close at the moment, you got to do your social distancing. And so you see people and you're walking along and you think, Oh my god, there's somebody on the same side of the road as me, what should I do? And then you think I go to the other side of the road, but of course, I had that same thought as well. And so you get this moment of thinking, do it. Do I just sprint past? Do I, what do I do? What do I do? Well, I've spent most of my time saying to my wife, I think I went to school with that person. Because, you know, walking around the streets of my town, most people grew up in the same place. And he was he was in my class, my God. Oh, my God, look at him. Look at him compared to me, you know, you're lucky lady. You're lucky and she says, Yeah, Oh, I know. You're so much younger looking men here. Margot. Look Merck. I've got ABS I've got I haven't really, I haven't got it. But anyway, so coronavirus. It has been it's been a rough time, isn't it? And it's really it's been the strangest time that I've ever known. Certainly, we hear stories about June war when although we weren't always in the war and stuff, and most of us can't even comprehend it. But I think this is the closest. And hopefully all of you out there are safe and healthy, and just sort of getting home with life. And once again, I'd like to say to people, so many thank yous for dropping me a line still, because it's about my mom, my mom mom has had a stroke back at February and we're still in the situation now she's um, I bring you up to speed and I do apologise if my voice cracks because it's very, very well. But um, she got discharged out of hospital she shouldn't have done but they're freeing up Bates, because of the corona situation. And so she's at home now and we can't really get round bear to be with him. I am going round bear because my dad is struggling, because it's just him and his her. And as anyone knows when some loved one has been a or when not themselves, and certain bodily functions and stuff is not under control and just her her mindset. She's She's become really, really Moody, really miserable and so emotional and I spent the day with her the other day to give my dad a break. And I've never seen anyone cry in such a primitive way. Well, you know, most people will cry and get over it. This This was like, ripping her apart. And I held her hand and she she was just saying, I want to die. I want to die. I'm letting everybody down and stuff. It was it was dreadful. It was dreadful. And so, yeah, so thank you to everybody. We're getting through it. Little by little, I try to say to her, look, you're not going to get better. You are not going to get better. If you've got that mindset. You know. You got to get your head into the game, ma'am. And she'll say to me, yeah, but it's easy for you to say and I say yeah, is easy for me to say. But I can give you a list of 1000 people but at least Really, you know, no arms, no legs, they they're just an air and they're dragging themselves up the top of Kingdom and Java. It's all mindset. It's all mindset and its focus. And so hopefully, the penny will drop and share realise about you when you're in a game and you're when you're out again. So that's where we are at the moment. But I'm rough all times in the Ralph household. By way from that way from that one of the things that people are talking about all the time is zoom, and zoom is video meeting. I mean, it's brilliant. I use it for my business all the time. Anyone who's connected with me will know that we connect on zoom, I can see you You can see us and video calling is great, but I want it to just talk about something but add on to zoom, which is really important. And my mom and dad by are in our 80s and I thought right what I do, I get them set up on zoom, so that they can just look at it and click on it and then connect with people around the world that they love. And it was 200 For them to use. So I decided that I would do Facebook Messenger really, really simple. And people can type a message they can see it. But even that was too difficult. And I'd say, well, I've set it up on the link at the top in the toolbar, all you got to do dad is turn on your computer, and click on that link, and then find the person that you want to speak to. Okay, so all I do is I click on that link, and then how do I find somebody right? You go into that little box there, and you just type the name and all the lists are coming up. Now you would think that that was really easy, but because of the situation they're going through, and, and their sort of mindset as well, it was, it's too much for them. So I'm really riemeck recommend people googling Chrome Remote Desktop, which is a Chrome app, which means that you can gain authority to log on to your parents, or your loved ones PCs. So now I can say to them Don't worry, I'll log on to your machine, just turn it on. And I can do that I can plug it in and turn it on. And then I will link it up and I will connect with you, I will make a call from your system to mine, or vice versa. And we found that's a great win. So if you are struggling to keeping connection with people, there is a thing step by step, Chrome Remote Desktop. You can go over there you can look at it. There are a simple steps that you can go through with your loved ones. My dad managed it so most people can as he always says, How would a normal person do this? How would a normal person that sees big thing, but it means now that we've got that ability even if they turn the computer off of I haven't got the right browser up whatever. We can then connect with them and it's been a game changer. So I thought to myself I thought to myself on this episode, I would just not talk about the bad times of Corona because I think a lot of blue Just coming out of service, I think people are becoming more grateful for their freedom. I think they're becoming more grateful for the personal connections that I had. And we were probably taking for granted, where we would send a text message and think that's good enough. I think people are realising that there's a new way of operating and I think it's the welds reset button. I think what we're going through at the moment, is the ability for us to come out at the other end and say, there's a different way of operating, the pollution is going down and down and down, which is brilliant. work life balance. It's got to be better after this, where companies have realised but even vo employee asked for this for years and years and years, can I work from home on a Friday can No, you're gonna be at your desk, but there is a different way of operating. So I think there's gonna be so many positives that come out of this. It's going to be brilliant. But these are my little rules, these little rules. And these are the things that I've been doing to keep motivated because I must admit, podcasting is the least of my interest at the moment where this is a rarity, but I'm doing a solo show. I've been doing guest shows because people are booked in and I've got to kind of force myself to do it. But your motivation does go. And especially when you've got things going on in your life, which seemed more important than your business, then it's very easy to can't be bothered, I can't be bothered. So this is what I'm doing. And I thought it might be useful for some people out there. I set my clock every morning. I'm getting up at half past six. My wife thinks I'm mad because she's getting up about one o'clock in the afternoon by kids are sleeping through tonight for God knows what time they go to bed. I don't know, I just leave them. I say we're not kids and they're on their tablets, or they're watching YouTube or whatever. But their body clocks are shifting around. Now. I don't think that's the right way of doing it. I think you've got to keep some kind of normality, even though you don't have Get up out of bed, get up out of bed. That's one of the things that I do. So, Harper six every morning I get up, I've had a shower by seven o'clock, and then I'm out in my garden. And even though it's cold, I wrap up warm because I can get some fresh air and I hate gardening. I really do hate coffee, I will do the bare minimum. But I've used it as motivation to get a bit of exercise and pressure. So I've been out there, planting flowers, moving things around sorting out my rocker and all the kind of things that you think to yourself I should do can't be asked. I've been doing that. And so that's been my morning, fresh air burst. And so I have my shower, I go out there and i i do over work and stuff and it's kind of quiet work. And I count the times I've taken my Alexa out and I plugged it in, and I played things like Johann Sebastian Bach, classical music that just kind of fits into the mood as I'm getting going. And now I'm looking out there I'm thinking it's never looked Good, it really does look brilliant. One of the things that I think somebody should invent is fence panels with flowers painted on it. So about you look up your garden and it looks like it's lovely. He probably is out there already. But I've suddenly thought to myself instead of just having fences, why don't we have painted flowery fences? vago that's a business for you? The next bit of balls is try not to read the news all the time. I like reading the BBC website because I think it's factually accurate. And it keeps me up with the news. I've realised that I became a bit obsessed by everything's going on. And it's the same time and time again, it's just more depth. It's more hospitals, it's more testing and stuff. So I'm trying to limit myself on that. Because it's not good for you. It makes you think that the world is crap. Now talking about that on YouTube, my son showed me there's the actor guy who's married to Emily Blunt, who was in the American office. Did jack Ryan on Amazon John's some video up I can't remember what his name is. And he's created this very loose podcast video show called. So good news. I think he's sGn. And all he's doing is bringing the good stuff to the world. So it's just positive. And he had Steve Carell the other day, and they were both on the zoo. And they were both making the show. And it's, it's good. It's nice little things that people are doing that keep you entertained. And a lot of the pop stars are doing concerts and, and Chris Martin and john legend did one which was very, very good. And there's an English comedian called Jimmy Carr. And he's doing the tiny little lockdown quiz, where six o'clock every day a video comes on YouTube. And then eight o'clock, the answers are there, and you can go on and you can test yourself. It's quite a hard quiz, but there's a lot of good stuff going on, people are making an effort. And once again, I think that the corporations will realise but they don't need this mass production. It's the, it's the vibe is the emotion that gets you and makes you want to see these things. So yeah, try not to read the news all the time, because that just brings you down and look for good stuff. And there was a guy on the BBC the other day, and he was somewhere in America. And him and his girlfriend, they look very fit and I think he was like a YouTube vlog or something because he said I all I'm doing is sitting indoors making YouTube videos. And because the bandwidth of the internet is so low at the moment, it's very difficult to get it online, so it's taken twice as long. Anyhow, he's girlfriend said, I'm going to go off and do some work and what she did, they moved into this block of flats, this apartment block and I hadn't met anyone, and the coronavirus has hit so they're sort of locked in. And so she went around writing these notes Putting them under the door of people to say, at seven o'clock, my boyfriend will be leaning out of this window, will you sing happy birthday to me? And so she took him out. And he said, you know, why are you filming this? What are we doing? Where are we going? You know, like men men like to be in control. And he lent out this window and 76 strangers, but he's never met before lent out the window, and they sang Happy Birthday to him, didn't know who he was. But it's just kindness. And we did a similar thing in the United Kingdom, where at eight o'clock last birthday, we all stood on our doorsteps and cheered our national health service, because of all the people that are helping us and supporting us and putting our own lives at risk to make lives better and get us through this situation. And there's loads of good stuff out there. If you look for it, you can get hung up on the bad stuff, but the good stuff, it really does make your heart swell and I I think the world is a great place anyway I do. I think 98% of people, or 97% of people are really good, and they just get on with their lives. And I try to not cause any issues to people. And then I think 2% of backers, and then 1% of serial killers, I think that's about it. And so if you can keep away from the 3%, you're gonna have a really good life. And so, look for good news. Good news is out there. And if anybody finds anything really sort of good, just send it to me at Join Up dots@gmail.com I love to receive good news. It helps me breeze through the life that we're in at the moment, and I really appreciate it. Now, the last thing or the last two things is get your exercise. Now, it's very easy to just slump on the sofa. And in the first couple of days, I was busy in the morning, then I'd go in for lunch. And then I go to fancy watching a film and once you put your bomb on the sofa, you're there all afternoon. And so now we're Leaving the films to the evening, and I'm getting out with my wife and we're doing a brisk walk. And we're walking to places that we don't even need to walk to. In the old days. If we had to go to the bank, we just jumped in the car. But now we're saying how would we leave the car and we would walk down there, it's, it's the exercise. So we're building exercise into our normal lives. And whether it's gardening, whether it's running up the stairs, or jumping on the spot, or using your wave bit, everything that sticks to the self isolating roles. That means, of course, you are getting some air into your lungs and your blood pumping. It's really, really useful. And the last thing the last thing guys is keep your mind in the game. I've struggled with this. I really have this has been without doubt, the worst period of my life for many different reasons. Although I've got grandchild on the way at the moment, it's probably popping out today. A kid called the Genoa yes Don't mention the name. I'm not sure about the name. But anyhow, she won't listen to this podcast. But it's going to be called Genoa because the husband is called Josie. And they like the name Noah. So stick together. Yeah. Okay, that's what I've decided to do. And he's gonna be popping into the world property today. My daughter has probably got her legs fall apart at the moment, and she's screaming, screaming at whoever's in there. So that's happening. So that's good. That's good. And I will tell you, if that pops into the well, I will do what about it and thing is we can't go and see it. So it's Another drawback. It'd be about 15 by the time we get there, it'd be smoking weed free tattoos and its own car. But I that is what life's about. But you've got to keep your mind in the game. You got to look for positives. You got to keep yourself in a routine because once the routine goes, a lot of your life is just a bit. So if anyone is out there listening to this podcast episode, I'd really love I'd really Any love for you to tell me how you're keeping the routine going what you're doing, because we can share it with the world that I'm sure people have got great ideas of what they're doing. And I'm totally up to sharing it. So just drop us an email, Join Up dots@gmail.com and just tell us or you can send us a video or whatever format you want to do. Just tell us how you keeping the routine going, what are you doing on a daily basis? How are you paying the bills, all the kinds of stuff and I will record podcast episodes and share it will be a good news podcast for this period of time. So you can be part of the game you can be part of helping me you can be part of helping the world through Join Up Dots. So Join Up dots@gmail.com just send me your your life at the moment. Any format you want, and I will share it with the world. Bye guys. This is one of those times when we will look back on it and we're Say, yeah, it was tough. But this was a reset this is when the world decided that it should operate in a different way. And if we suddenly go back to, you know, just jumping in our car and creating mass pollution, and not talking to people and just being isolated on the internet. Oh, that's not the case. I really don't. But until next time, thank you so much for listening to us. Thank you, for everybody that's listening to Join Up Dots. I don't know if it's because of the situation. But the audience figures are rapidly shooting up. So I imagine that people out there thinking what can I do to pass the time, and they're finding my level to show and giving it a go. So I appreciate you being here as well. And until next time, I look forward to all the emails that come through. Let's get going. Let's share the positivity and the good stuff that's going on in all our lives. And even if it's an idea to pass a couple of hours, please let me know Join Up Dots at gmail. Don't come. And I will share that with the world. Until next time, thank you so much. And I'll see you again. Bye bye. Outro 19:07 David doesn't want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you or wants to become. So he's put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we'll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.

Introducing Amit Raj

Todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is Amit Raj, an expert in Link building. Those pesky little things that Google loves our websites to have as it build trust and authority in their eyes.  Based in Scotland he is focused on helping clients across the world to gain more traffic, more referrals and of course cash into their businesses. As he says "I have an agency that specialises in SEO & more specifically link building. So I'm sure I could provide some unique insight on SEO, and some super useful advice/concepts for your audience for this slightly misunderstood topic. As some background: I was originally a pharmacist, did a Masters degree in the UK in Pharmacy, did this for years and got disillusioned with it. I found I was good at building my own sites, driving traffic to them and found a great mentor to delve into link building - the rest is history! Now if that sounds interesting lets add more oomph to the mix. He  is also helping Ja Rule's team at ICONN with their online PR behind the scenes (if you're familiar with Fyre Festival you'll know the significance of this!) So why is link building so important when developing an online business? And why do people still think that its a numbers game, when nowadays quality outranks everything? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the only and only Amit Raj Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Amit Raj such as: Why in the 90's and 20's, it was all about manipulating Google into giving great traffic....which it wont We share why so many people target the hardest keywords online and struggle to get the traffic - big mistake. Amit shares the top five tips to a quality link building programme that we can all follow. and lastly........ We talk about the power of Google and why it is so important to focus in on them and what they are asking.

Introducing Neil Pasricha

Todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is Neil Pasricha. He is a Canadian author, entrepreneur, podcaster, and public speaker characterized by his advocacy of positivity and simple pleasures.

He is best known for his The Book of Awesome series, and "The Happiness Equation" which are international bestsellers As he says "I think, write, and speak about living intentionally. All of my current work focuses under the themes of gratitude, happiness, failure, resilience, and trust.

I’m the the author of six books including: The Book of Awesome, a spinning rolodex of simple pleasures based on my 100-million-hit, award-winning blog 1000 Awesome Things, The Happiness Equation, originally written as a 300-page love letter to my unborn son on how to live a happy life, Awesome Is Everywhere, an interactive introduction to guided meditation for children, and You Are Awesome, a nine-step guide to building resilience told through stories and research. My books are New York Times and #1 international bestsellers and have sold millions of copies across dozens of languages. I also give over 50 speeches a year at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. My first TED talk “The 3 A’s of Awesome” is ranked one of the 10 Most Inspiring of all time and my second is called “How do you maximize your tiny, short life?”, an artistic side-project called the world’s first TED Listen, composed entirely of questions. I also host an Apple “Best of 2018” podcast called 3 Books where I am on a 15-year-long mission to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world.  So when he is as busy as he is, how does he take the time to live intentionally? And most importantly how do you find gratitude when most of us get trapped into "well this just normal...what's there to be grateful about?" Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the only and only Neil Pasricha Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Neil Pasricha such as: Neil shares the breakdown of happiness and you might be surprised how little we can do to make this happen in our lives. Why it is so difficult for someone to express happiness and enjoyment in a corporate environment and the steps to make it happen. and lastly........ The steps Neil took to create a life-changing blog which allowed him take more and more risks to get greater success in his life.

Introducing Erin Corn

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business podcast is an  expert in navigating the micro nuances that make social media so effective, whilst dodging the pitfalls that trap so many people. As she says "Social media advertising has become increasingly complex. Using my knowledge gained from her 14 years of experience at companies including, Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon, I specialize in performance marketing to deliver a higher return for businesses.​ ​While at Facebook, I partnered with startups to Fortune 500 companies to implement marketing solutions and serve as an expert consultant. ​ At Instagram, I led Product Marketing Communications for the Instagram Ads global rollout and developed their first-ever digital marketing campaign.  ​Most recently, I managed the Client Services team at Amazon overseeing Entertainment advertisers.   Over the course of her career, Erin has worked with brands such as Zillow, Disney, Liberty Mutual, PepsiCo, bareMinerals,  USAA, Warner Bros., and ABC. So why do so many people make a complete mess of building an effective social media strategy no matter how large their budget? And where should people start today when launching their own online success, twitter, Tik Tok, Snapchat? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Erin Corn. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Erin Corn such as: Erin shares why social media is so powerful, simply as your customers are on there so go and talk to them....they're are waiting for you. The reasons why Twitter has not hit the ground running, and is in Erin's opinion a pale version of what it could have become. Erin openly discusses the addiction that social media has on us all, and the steps that we can take to control it.. And lastly….. Erin remembers the humbling days of beginning her fledgling business, and why her backstory just gave her a foot in the door and nothing else. How To Connect With Erin Corn Website LinkedIn Return To The Top Of Erin Corn If you enjoyed this episode with Erin Corn, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy Full Transcription Of Erin Corn Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream, a dream to quit his job to support himself online and have a kickoff live. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout and debt, until he found the magic ingredient and no struggles became a thing of the past. I of course, was that person. And now My dream is to make things happen for you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Intro 0:27 When we're young that we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be, but somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:52 Yes, good morning. Well, good morning and thank you for being here with Join Up Dots really appreciate you is as always And I appreciate today's guest who we've had a few technical issues but she overcame like a monster. And now she's sitting there ready to be grilled, thrown left thrown right and try to convince me that social media is the way forward because she is an expert in navigating the micro nuances that make social media so effective, was dodging the pitfalls that trap so many people that actually says social media advertising has become increasingly complex. Using my knowledge gained from 14 years of experience at companies including Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon. I specialise in performance marketing to deliver a higher return for businesses. Now while at Facebook, I partnered with startups to fortune 500 companies to implement marketing solutions and serve as an expert consultant. And now it's Instagram I lead Product Marketing Communications, but the Instagram ads global rollout and develop their first ever digital marketing campaign. Now, most Recently I managed the Client Services team at Amazon overseeing entertainment advertisers. Over the course of her career. She's worked with brands such as Zillow, Disney Liberty Mutual, PepsiCo, Bare Minerals, Warner boss and many others. So why do so many people make a complete mess of building an effective social media strategy, no matter how large their budget and where should people start today when launching their own online success, Twitter, tick tock Snapchat. Well, let's find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Erin Corn. Good morning, everyone. How are you? Erin Corn 2:39 Good morning. Good. How are you? David Ralph 2:40 I'm very well I'm very well indeed. Yes. I feel like I've come through a dark time in my life every now and now the light is shining on me. And it feels like summers around the corner. Probably not as summary as it does being in Orange County, California at the moment area. Erin Corn 2:59 That's true. I was in shorts yesterday at the pool. So I'm sorry to rub that in. But it's a very beautiful day here in Orange County. How do David Ralph 3:06 you get any work done? I always ask this because it makes me wonder how people shouldn't move to Alaska if they want to create an online based business because what do not go outside all the time why, you know, last thing you want to do is sit here recording a podcast episode. Erin Corn 3:25 You know, it does take time. I'm originally from the Boston area. And if you know anything about Boston, it's extremely cold. And so it did take time for me to realise this weather stays here in California. So it's a little bit of trading yourself that you do have to keep your head down. And it is tempting to be outside. Oh, I will. I won't deny that. David Ralph 3:43 So when you first moved down there every day, he was, Oh, it's an amazing day that's go out. Unknown Speaker 3:47 Yes, I have to do something. It's not going to last forever and winter is around the corner. And so that's just kind of what happens when you live in the weather that I'm sure you're accustomed to. You just don't think it will last and so even being out in California 70 years later, I still kind of have that East Coast mentality. They think you need to appreciate the weather more, you know, not like some of the people have grown up here. They don't know how rough it can be for you with polar vortexes and, and all types of weather coming out. You David Ralph 4:12 know, today I've had since I've been looking out my window, I've had rain, I've had snow, and now it's beautiful, clear blue sky, but a bit windy. So we were we're very much four seasons in one day, but you're not here to talk about whether or not you're here to talk about social media. So it's a complete waste of time. Aaron, do you agree? Erin Corn 4:32 And that's something that I've battled against on since joining Facebook in 2012. When it was not the behemoth of the advertising platform it is now and to this day with smaller business owners. It's something that comes up quite a bit. And my answer to that the short answer is the platform is where your audience is. And I'll use Facebook as an example. There are 1 billion people on the platform today Tick Tock there as of 2018 800 millionaires users. So social media is where your customer base is, regardless of the type of industry you're in, or the type of customer that you're trying to attract. And so it's not so much about social media, but it's about reaching people where they are. And that's where they're spending their time. So that's really, you know, the way I look at it, and whether it's Facebook, tick tock snap or the next social media platform that we haven't even heard about yet. I really do think that you need to go where your customers are David Ralph 5:24 doing the same cutting edge and trendy area. Erin Corn 5:27 Yes, yes, absolutely. I'm being in a podcast, I think is very trendy, and you have been at it for about seven years. As you've mentioned, I think podcasts are in many ways underrated, but they're becoming more and more a way that people are getting their names out. And I think of podcasts in many ways as a form of social media. People are connecting on their digital devices. They're sharing about it on LinkedIn, and in an extension of people's brand. And so I do think in that way, you're actually on social media, whether you like to admit it or not. David Ralph 5:56 I was expecting just a yes, but that was a very formal answer, which is great. On a podcast, but I don't I feel like I'm trendy. I feel like I'm counting age. But I don't understand so many platforms. I don't understand Tick Tock. My daughter's always on Tick Tock. And it just seems to be that she dances and records herself. And she showed me somebody on there and this woman had like 2 million followers. And all she does is dance and records herself. I don't get it. Erin Corn 6:27 I you know, I think it's these different apps. They definitely attract a certain demographic and i think it's it's very true to say that Tick Tock users are definitely ageing on the younger end, but it kind of follows that the trend that we're seeing on snap before tik tok, and even on Facebook that people are engaging with video short form video, and tick tock does a really great job of that they're in an age that your daughter, for example, are in an age where they have kind of a short attention span. They're looking for the next best thing fast moving So it's a social network but it also allows you to engage in a quick and engaging way and also with a lot of influencers that are on the platform it makes it easier to kind of follow along with a lot of the influencers that this age demographic really interested in. So I think Tick Tock has done a wonderful job at realising the trends and getting ahead of them and many way creating a trend with musically which then became tik tok. David Ralph 7:23 Now, you sound lovely, you sound knowledgeable, you've got 14 years of social media experience. Are there platforms that you look at and go, I don't get it. I just don't understand it. Erin Corn 7:33 Well, this is gonna not come across in the best way to send me your users. But Twitter to me is something that I understand that it's a necessary evil, but to me, it's never grown into the platform that I feel like it could have. And it's still around. It's still a very viable platform. But I feel that Twitter has been kind of a mess in terms of the social network platforms. And the engagement isn't there people login sporadically. And for me as an individual, it's just not Somewhere where I spend much of my time and so, you know, that may be something that people on your podcast may not agree with, but it just hasn't really reached. Its full. It hasn't reached to the point of some of the other platforms that we see out there. But, you know, unfortunately, Donald Trump has made it still a household name always David Ralph 8:16 good on that isn't a I must admit. Yeah, I read hardly any tweets at all. But I was talking to my daughter the other day, I was amazed that Jim Carrey has 18.5 million followers, and Tom Cruise has about 6.7 and I thought, how does that go? Why is somebody as good as Tom Cruise and I love Jim Carrey. I think Jim Carrey is brilliant. But what what is it that makes people sort of go migrate towards certain profiles and not others? Erin Corn 8:48 Yeah, I think it's really about the form that you're using on Jim Carrey. In this example, Jim Carrey versus Tom Cruise. Jim Carrey is a comedian. He is just always producing great content, whether it's on Twitter or other platforms and so I think it's really about your engagement on the platforms not just putting content out but engaging with other people, other comedians and having a reciprocal relationship. And so I think for someone like Jim Carrey, it's really just a way that he can practice some of his jokes, practice some of his act and, and put that out to his audience in a really easy way. And you know, the same with some of these other platforms like Tick Tock or Instagram, they're really short form. Now having the ability to post stories that disappear within 24 hours, it gives people the ability to test a little bit more and not have as much risk because they know that that won't necessarily live on like it previously had with just having the option to post on your Facebook feed and you're a little bit more precious about what you put out there. So you know, the Jim Carrey example I think, just the fact that that is his medium, his comedy and putting out content in one liners, it makes sense that you would have a big following. David Ralph 9:55 He's not Tom Cruise is a Tom Cruise can do no, Tom Cruise is about too and looks exactly the same as he did four years ago. I don't know what he's doing. He really does a must be the American way of life. That's what we should do. We should all move to America. So with yourself, Aaron, when did you decide? Obviously, this is an entrepreneurial programme? And when did you decide actually, to leave working for people and actually create your own company? And why is it called shore bird? Erin Corn 10:25 Yeah, so it's always been, which I'm sure is the case. For many entrepreneurs. It's always been this nagging voice in my head that you should go out on your own. You like to have more ownership of your schedule for your kind of destiny as I would put it on. And really the impetus for me just finally ripping off the band aid and doing it was a year and a half ago, when I was at Amazon. I had an incredible experience there. But I had been at these larger tech companies, one tech company after another and I felt like nothing was changing in terms of the impact that was making whether I was on a small team or a large team, and I felt a bit of frustration that I wanted To feel more ownership over my future and and what kind of clients I worked with. And so it really pushed me to have some hard conversations with myself about what's the next five to 10 years look like? And also in terms of work life balance, what do I want for my future as a grow my family. And so finally I started schwarber media. And about a year and a half ago, as I mentioned, as I was on my way out of Amazon, I kind of made that decision that it was time for me to move on, with incredible support from Amazon. And I picked shorebirds because I've always lived on the coast. I've always lived, whether it was the East Coast or the west coast and I feel like it was a name that really rang true to me because I kind of am a shortbread. I'm always living by the water. I don't like to be landlocked, and I think it kind of has a lightness to the name and so that's why I picked it and I've gotten a lot of compliments and it kind of makes people think twice rather than it just be another digital, you know name or something about technology. It's a little bit more open ended, which I also appreciate it now. David Ralph 11:57 So like to say start up business but you're you you're a family lady, you're a mom. You're a mother. That that's it. That's a juggle isn't it, you know, even as a dad, and I think that's a different from moms, dads can just go, I've got work to do and go off to do the work. But moms have to juggle all the other stuff. And I don't know why it works like that. But it always did with me. I always took work as priority and it was kind of accepted where my mom and my wife has to sort of deal with everything else. How do you deal with that? What's a normal day in your life? Erin Corn 12:31 Yeah, I'm very lucky. I have extremely supportive husband. But you know, I think that dynamic is true even if your husband is trying to carry as much of the load as he can. My morning start with my you know, my son wakes up and we spend some time together but he does go to a little school right down the road. And so I have the ability to have time that I can really focus on on work and have him half time where he can spend time with friends. And then when we are together I feel like I don't have the distraction of always trying My email and wondering what's coming in, because I've put that time in, when he's at school where I can really try to cut out that time just focus on my career. And it is a juggling act. I'm going to Social Media Marketing World next week based here in San Diego. And just the preparation to go away for a few days you kind of realise, or my husband might be realising how he takes for granted when he has a workshop, he'll just tell me he's going away for work. And that's that but you know, with me going away, there's a little bit more preparation in the background about you know, that writing out the schedule, putting together the lunches, and so it is kind of a good, good balance, though for me to get away as well just so he can kind of understand what's involved. David Ralph 13:41 Now I see a lot of women walking along and I had to go to a post office about Christmas and a parcel tried to be delivered to us and it wouldn't go through our letterbox I had to go and collect it. And the room was full of women with their babies and their kids jumping up and saying Mom, Mom, mom, and they were just scrolling up and down their phones, they were just oblivious. Now with yourself, bear in mind, I imagine that you are dealing with other people's campaigns and the effectiveness of their campaigns. How do you detach yourself from that? And being the mom, holding the kid with one hand looking at the phone or the other, and not really sort of engaging with life? Erin Corn 14:23 Yeah, I think it's really about balance. And again, I started working at Facebook in 2012. And so when I first started, it's very easy to get pulled into work and Facebook and social networking. 24 seven, it's just the nature of these platforms, unique it very addictive, but I've had to kind of as I've built out my own career and have to create some boundaries for myself, and I'm not perfect at it and there's days where I kind of feel like they've blended together but really managing my calendar making sure that when I am with my son, if you know there's a day that he's not at school, for whatever reason, I block it out. I don't take meetings, making sure that I I have a support team under me that's able to manage the campaigns or some of the tactical pieces, or the design work. So I know that it's in good hands, and I don't have to micromanage everything. So I think it's really about delegating, and also making sure you own your schedule, because it's very easy as an entrepreneur for that to kind of bleed into your everyday life. But there still are those late nights and early mornings, that I think that's just part of being an entrepreneur, but it's something that I enjoy, and I wouldn't change it all. David Ralph 15:26 Yes, listen to Oprah Winfrey. And then we'll be back with Aaron, Oprah Winfrey 15:29 the way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, what is the next right moving? not think about, Oh, I got all of this stuff. What is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move, and the next right move and not to be overwhelmed by it because you know, your life is bigger than that one moment. You know, you're not defined by what somebody says, is a failure for you because failure is just there to point you in different direction. David Ralph 16:00 So you're sitting at Facebook or you're sitting at Instagram and you're looking around and you're thinking I should be doing this myself, you know, I don't need these people I can go and create sure bird and things will be just easy. How easy was it? Was it harder than you imagined? Erin Corn 16:19 It was definitely harder than I imagined. And to be completely honest, you know, the people I worked with that Facebook, Instagram and Amazon are some of the smartest people I've ever had the opportunity to work with. And so I think that's something that I took for granted as well being on your own, especially as social people like yourself and I are, it is a shift in many ways. I think having that camaraderie around you when you are working at these larger companies and the resources available to you is something that especially having been in it for 14 plus years you become accustomed to and you take for granted. And I would also say I definitely was humbled in the early days of going out and reaching out to new people. clients or potential new clients, because previously, who wouldn't want to talk to Facebook? Who wouldn't want to talk to Amazon, I had the backing of these large tech companies. But now I really had to prove myself outside of those companies. Well, what have you done lately on your own? Where are the case studies? And so well, my resume and my background, maybe got me a foot in the door, I think it was really focusing on building out those early success stories. So I can be taken seriously as a business owner separate from these companies. So to answer your question, it was harder, I think, than I expected. And as people often say, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. And I think that's very much the case. David Ralph 17:37 I don't know if it is the case, because I think even if it was easy, there's more lazy people than anyone. It's really struck me how many just people that expect it on a plate, they expect to click a few buttons and get it I expect it to occur within two or three weeks. I think it's the persistence But the laziness, and I'll explain this because this is my new theme that really works in building a business. I think that once you become lazy and you become focused on doing the right things at the right time, like Oprah says, that's when your business really scales and that's when life becomes easier for you. But at the beginning, you can't see that What's up, Erin Corn 18:22 I absolutely agree with that. And someone had said to me, you'll look back at you know, the early days of starting this business, it will be completely different the way you operate and what you do. And that's a positive thing. I think it's a growing experience and, and being able to kind of cut out some of the clutter like you mentioned, and focus on the things that are really impactful and will help you grow. And for me, you know, it may be obvious but when you're in the middle of it for me, it was really taking a lot of the tactical pieces off my plate and focusing on business development being the face of my business and, and making that time to speak with clients rather than being in the weeds of my existing business because that's not a way that I can scalar grow. And so I agree with you kind of having those very clear goals, how many new clients will I reach out to where am I spending my time and making them very clear and actionable steps so that way I can see growth year over year. David Ralph 19:12 Now, when I started Join Up Dots many, many years ago, there was a guy and he stood around called Pat Flynn. And he had Smart Passive income. And I think he's, he's based in San Diego, so you're probably bump into your net, net network. And he used to say, be everywhere. That was his big thing be everywhere, you know, whatever platform you can be on, just be on. I'm not sure if that's right anymore, because I think people are more strategic. And I want to circle back to what you said or join up the dots of what you said that your customers are on the platforms. Is it as simple as saying to the people out there who get caught up with overwhelm in social media, don't be everywhere, but just be exactly where your customers are. Erin Corn 20:00 Yes, and and i think that that's a trap that a lot of people fall into, especially, you know, as business owners or marketers have larger businesses, they feel like they have to be on the next shiny object or they have to be everywhere. But really, if you're everywhere, you're not doing it well. And so when I especially when I talk to new clients, they asked me, well, where should I start? What platform should I be on? And it's really, what can you do very well, and what can you do consistently, I'd rather that than have you on seven different platforms where you kind of had one foot out the door. And so I think just you know, whether you're on multiple platforms right now, or you're just starting small and testing out a Facebook or a tik tok to start, it's really having a concerted effort in one area, and then seeing what works and then scaling that, you know, I do see that there is a benefit to potentially being on Twitter, and Instagram and tik tok to reach different audiences. But you have to figure out what is it that's working for you first, what type of content what type of message because at the end of the day, your content doesn't change its discipline. For me what you're delivering it, whether it's through print, or it's a video, or it's a podcast. And so I'm an agreement that it can be a bit frenetic. If you feel like you have to be on every single platform at once. It's just as an entrepreneur, it's very difficult to do until you grab a team to help you with that. David Ralph 21:16 And also is the thing I think that people struggle with. And I certainly am speaking from my own experience, have, you turn the microphone on, and I can give you content for eight hours a day, I can just keep on going. It just seems a natural fit. When I look at Facebook, and I just think, you know, what are you really posting I because every time I go out for a meal with my wife, she has to put her drinks together, and then post it and I look at it. Why does anybody want to even see that? But she does that all the time? Where am I going wrong? Erin Corn 21:52 No, I think that you have to be true and authentic to what works for you. And if podcasts and speaking works well. I think that that It makes sense. But think about how that can be transformed to Facebook or Instagram or some of these other platforms like LinkedIn, you're already doing a podcast, why not turn on your camera and have it be a live conversation between you and your guests? Or have some kind of show? Oh, you know, people watch anything, David. I mean, you see Gary Vaynerchuk in you know, he's not the most handsome model, but he is extremely, extremely engaging. And I think if you have the message there, and you're comfortable speaking, why not? And David Ralph 22:30 I love the fact that you didn't come straight back with no, I don't believe that's true. But you came back with people will watch anything. Unknown Speaker 22:39 Well, I you know, I'm just to say that I think you're very handsome. David Ralph 22:44 Thank you, me. Thank you and I'll edit that up a bit. But no, that is that is something that people struggle with, isn't it? Yeah. How they look and you know, it's a hair done well and stuff. Erin Corn 22:55 Yeah. And and I think that you have to if you at the end of the day, truly feel uncomfortable. Being in front of a camera, and you just it takes so much for you to really make that happen. It's not something you're going to stick with, it's not going to be authentic. And so like you mentioned, if that's just something that's just not for you think of other ways that you can promote what you're already doing. So promoting your podcast with, you know, great imagery or videos, and rather than just having it be you or promote the videos of your guests, but I think that since you're already doing a podcast and you have the audio and you have the reach, there's ways that you can bring that to life on platforms like Facebook and Instagram that are more visual, and there's ways to do it to capture attention that might not just be a talking head there's there's a lot of different ways that you can kind of engage people with images or video that might not just be us speaking. David Ralph 23:43 Now, as you said, you will you alluded to that you are more strategic now and so you have got people working for you that do all this kind of stuff, and that the changing of a podcast into images and images into because otherwise you'd go mental Erin Corn 24:00 Absolutely, I think where, you know, it's a simple exercise, but it took some time to let go of the reins is looking at my day, my week, my month and figuring out where I was spending my time and, and where that you know what type of value that was adding. And a lot of my time, you know, as it was at Facebook and these other companies was the tactical pieces. And so in the same exercise I would have done at these companies looking at where I can take some of these things off my plate that weren't value add. And I do have a team that oversees some of the campaign setup and management. But at the end of the day, my value that I bring to clients is that my background and my experiences in this field and so I don't have a team that does it without my oversight. I'm the person that speaks with my clients at the end of the day, because having that hands on experiences is very important to me, but there is no way that you can grow a business unless you have a team to help kind of take on some of that extra work. Or you'll drive yourself crazy. Unknown Speaker 24:54 We're speaking to Evan Cohen and we'll be back after these words. Are you ready to make a full time time living online, check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching. Unknown Speaker 25:04 Hello, my name is Alan. And I've just completed the excellent eight week course with David. Unknown Speaker 25:09 Before I started working with David Actually, I had no idea at all where to start. Unknown Speaker 25:14 I

Introducing Festival Pass Founder Ed Vincent Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is Ed Vincent founder of Festival Pass. He is an entrepreneur with over twenty years of business, technology, and management experience having founded and exited several companies in that time including helping to launch film festivals in multiple locations and creating the concept for a Maxim branded hotel in the Caribbean. Most recently, he led a data platform and consultancy in the entertainment space with clients including A&E Networks, AMC Networks, Screenvision, MovieTickets.com and was brought into MoviePass as an interim head of data. These experiences gave him the insight needed to make festivalPass a reality. As he says "Hi, I’m Ed, founder of the world’s first festival and live events subscription service providing access to music, film, food and wine, and tech and innovation — Festival Pass. Enjoy hundreds of festivals locally and globally for one monthly fee. FestivalPass is a story about community and creating experiences that changes you. We as humans need connection; it’s in our DNA — as strong as the need for food, water, and warmth. How The Dots Joined Up For Ed We are bringing our members the only place to make accessing, discovering, and attending festivals spanning industries the most user-friendly, frictionless, and affordable member experience possible. We strive every day to secure new event partners and think about what our customers want from a mobile app that complements their lived experiences. I have learned what works and what doesn’t work in this space and look forward to inspiring people to lead active and engaging lives every day by participating in live community events both locally and globally. Great stuff, but its ok to think "this is a good idea" and another to make it happen, so how did it happen? How did he create a network of festivals who believed in him, before he had actually anything to offer them? And where have been the struggles that has made Leisurepass a reality? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Ed Vincent. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Ed Vincent such as: Ed shares how there are 1,000's of festivals across the world and how his team seek out the events every week. We discuss the early stages of building his business before he even had a business - similarly to Airbnb's business model and lastly...... Why its such a value driven idea as there is no additional transaction fee for attending events....a true win win for all of us 

Introducing Matt Sweetwood Todays guest on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is Matt Sweetwood. He is the CEO of Luxnow, and also a successful serial entrepreneur, business consultant, award-winning marketer, social media influencer, personal branding expert, and photography instructor. Matt was the U.S. CEO of beBee, Inc., a professional social network that helps people build successful personal brands. He served as President of Unique Photo®, NJ’s premiere camera store for 28 years. Nationally known in the photography industry as an innovator, he has helped acquire over fifty U.S. and International Trademarks for both language and design, and he founded and ran the Ozzie Award winning publication Photo Insider®. Matt has been credited with the reinvention of the modern camera store, as well as the country’s largest in-store education program, the Unique University®. Unique Photo was named 2008 and “2013 Dealer of the Year” by Digital Imaging Reporter magazine. Matt was named the Photo Industry’s, “2016 Person of the Year” by the PMDA. Matt’s past charitable endeavours include having served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at both The Aish Center, a spiritual/educational non-profit and The Josephine Herrick Project, a nonprofit that uses photography to enhance the lives of the under-served. Matt was honored by The Aish Center with its 2014 Continuity Award. So did he fall into the traps of making things more complex than they should be in the beginning of starting his business? And how has he managed to reinvent his businesses so successfully? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Matt Sweetwood. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Matt Sweetwood such as: Matt remembers the constant frustration and effort that it took his parents to build a living. Why being an entrepreneur is so intoxicating as you see the fruits of you labours start to come real. Matt shares how gaining custody of his five kids was the scariest thing in his life.  And lastly…….. Matt reveals how he keeps extremely organised by structuring his day to be task driven.

Introducing "Does Marketing Work" Today's podcast episode is a questions ans answer sessions based loosely around the concept of marketing online. One of the listeners, as you will hear on question one feels that the only way to grow a business is by amazing marketing. Focusing your budget in many different directions to gain customers...bringing them into your funnel to maxmise sales. And we say "Yes" we totally agree with you...however we do feel that there is a better way to do it. Enjoy the show Question One Dear David and everybody at Join Up Dots, I have been listening to your show on and off for the last couple of years, and often hear you droning on about how marketing doesn't work. As someone with a marketing degree i would be keen to see what your real views are on this subject as I think marketing is the only way to build a successful business. Conner Mivelle Question Two Hi David, i heard you say that you get a lot of people send you shitty emails and I cant understand why. I think the show is the best out of there. So dont listen to them nasty people. Now for a quick question if you would be so kind to answer. I have been thinking of starting my own business teaching people how to pass the driving theory test easily. I have helped a few friends over the last year and they say my memory methods have helped. Do you think that this is something worth pursuing. Clarissa Martella, St Albans, UK Question Three Hi David.....if you could go back in time and do things differently what would it be. John Duke.,Massachusetts Question Four Hi David, thank yo so much for sending me the video response. It has gone into my celebrity folder. Where do you get all the ideas that you use to make things swing for you? Jenny Baxter, Rochester

Introducing Stephen Pacinelli

Todays guest is the founder of BombBomb video a new and engaging way to turn your boring emails into almost live interactions. Think about your inbox and the amount of time you spend reading boring text, when really you want someone to simply tell you face to face. Well that is where Stephens new business and book comes in. As he says "Do you struggle for replies and responses? Do your text messages get misread or misunderstood? It’s time to stop relying on faceless digital communication and get face to face again.

How The Dots Joined Up For Stephen Pacinelli

Rehumanize Your Business is a hands‑on guide to adding simple webcam and smartphone videos into your communication mix in order to build trust, save time, and truly connect with people. Now what I love about this, is once again it simplifies the core function of every businesses sales funnel. Its build trust and loyalty and personal connection. People buy from people they trust and like...end of story So why is there such difficulty in today's world, to market our products and services correctly? And why do people simply forget to build their personal interaction strategy into everything that they do throughout their business? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Stephen Pacinelli Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Stephen Pacinelli such as: Stephen shares his belief why relationships shouldn't be automated when in business. Its the human touch all the way. What the difference is between relationship videos and marketing videos. and why we should balance both. How he transitioned from a monotonous role into the sexy confident individual that he is today all though taking a chance. And lastly……… Stephen shares the big mistakes that BombBomb made back in 2006, and why it was such a slow growing success.

Introducing John Ferris John Ferris is todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business podcast, who is the CEO and innovation of Growth Strategist of InVision Edge. His company is focused on helping companies everywhere to innovate and grow by working with a three part strategy. His three-part Innovation and Growth Framework helps to 1. Create a radically clear strategy while obsessing on execution 2. Launch an innovation system that shows you and your teams how to turn big ideas into reality to create value 3. Engage leaders to lead in an innovative culture who are inspired to get things done As he says "Working with many of Canada's leading mid to large organizations, we know that you want results. Now. We focus on the quick hits that deliver fast ROI, while building longer-term innovation and growth capabilities that create ongoing results.  But of course throughout Join Up Dots we deliver content based on giving you guys the information to take the leap and build freedom and success. So how had today's guest done just that, and started his own business which gives him the lifestyle he wants too? And where do companies make their biggest mistakes, that we can all learn from in our own day to day adventures? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only John Ferris Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty topics with John Ferris such as: Why its so powerful to be upfront and honest when attracting your first customer when you start building your business. John shares how he always wanted to do his own thing, and simply used an in-house business strategy The reason that John calls middle management the "Concrete in the middle" and why they aren't connected to the businesses "Why" And lastly….. John discusses openly why and when he decided to scale and grow his own business to more than himself. A decision that was brave but has given him so much.

Introducing Aren Deu Aren Deu is today's guest on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast. He is a man who is on a mission, whilst still working a full-time job as a property investor for wealth & cash-flow. He says "My goal is to empower people by helping them find their voice & improve their overall health. I am on the journey of achieving this through either mentally via my Podcast: Find Your Voice, & physically through my health & fitness knowledge through tips, tricks, blogs, diet & fitness plans! Helping people has been a part of my life ever since I can recall. How The Dots Joined Up For Aren Deu From personal training, to support work, to being part of a family who foster children, to then going on to become a social worker. I have always found happiness & fulfilment via serving others. Realising the larger impact I can have on the world by giving up the corporate world and pursuing my own entrepreneurial journey and starting my own self-help Podcast I have started to finally Find My Voice. So now he is hustling to appear on podcasts, grow his fitness business and do everything else that an online entrepreneur needs to do everyday. So how does he maintain the motivation to keep on working on his dream after a busy week working the 9 to 5? And with so many elements to his business, where does he see his key offering? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Aren Deu Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Aren Deu such as: Why its so important to find the space in your business to really enjoy the majority of what needs to be done, whilst accepting the crap as part of the game. Aren remembers working in a job that although amazing money wasn't good enough for him, and reveals the steps he took to truly find his thing. Aren shares how he always starts his day with journalling which allows him to focus his thoughts and his energies on what needs to be tackled head on.  And lastly……… Why its so important to share the honest and sometimes dark moments in your business with everyone. Don't hold back from the truth...we can handle it!

Introducing John Bertino

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is the owner of TAG, a new an innovative agency based in Philadelphia USA. As he says "Let's be honest, anyone can call themselves a marketing "expert" and anyone can open a "marketing agency". The result: Unqualified marketing providers are everywhere causing many brands to get burned and precious company resources to get squandered. This is not the case with today's guest, as  John’s professional background stems from over a decade in the agency space where he consulted with clients on SEO and inbound marketing campaigns. During that time, John watched sales people and marketing agencies fight tirelessly to one-up each other and impress prospective clients with industry jargon, flashy proposals, and agency bluster. How The Dots Joined Up For John Perhaps most concerning – a remarkable amount of the strategic recommendations agencies give their clients is predicated on what’s convenient for them – not the client’s situation. Enter TAG; arguably the world’s first true marketing consultancy, 100% focused on providing brands unbiased direction, education and vetted agency recommendations. These days, John and his team at TAG consult with brands of all sizes on just about every area of marketing. He personally teaches several courses on the subject at the University of San Diego, Drexel University, SCORE and other accredited educational institutions. John also organizes large events for marketers and entrepreneurs through his group the SoCal Marketing Club, one of the west coast’s largest digital marketing clubs. So why do people still focus on a splash everywhere method of marketing, instead of knowing where the vein of gold is? And is marketing still a winner, or has it fallen down the ranks of everything else that is needed nowadays? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr John Bertino Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with John Bertino such as: Why there is such a problem in the industry involving quick start marketing experts claiming to be something that they aren't. John reveals how Tim Ferris's The Four Hour Work Week was the catalyst for going out on his own. Why the keys to entrepreneurship are playing into your strengths and delegating everything else that keeps you from doing your best work. and lastly...... Why John believes in the anti-scale method that we believe 100% about in Join Up Dots, and the steps that he took to make that happen. How To Connect With John Bertino Website Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Return To The Top Of John Bertino If you enjoyed this episode with John Bertino, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy Full Transcription Of John Bertino Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. John Bertino 0:25 Yes, hello, a good morning, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for being here. As always, Well, today's guest who's joining us on the show is the owner of take a new and innovative agency based in Philadelphia, US Ray as he says, let's be honest, he says he's he doesn't say in an English accent, but it's the best I can do. Let's be honest, anyone can call themselves a marketing expert and anyone can open a marketing agency The result? unqualified marketing providers are everywhere, causing many brands to get burned and precious company resources to get Wonder now, this is not the case with today's guest as his professional background stems from over a decade in the agency space where he consulted with clients on SEO and inbound marketing campaigns and during that time, he watched salespeople and marketing agencies fight tirelessly to one up each other and impress prospective clients with industry jargon, flashy proposals and agency bluster. Now, perhaps the most concerning and it's concerning to me, a remarkable amount of the strategic recommendations agencies give their clients is predicted on what's convenient for them, not the client situation boo boo you marketing companies. Enter take arguably the world's first true marketing consultancy 100% focused on providing brands and buyers direction education and vetted agency recommendations these days. him and his team at tag consult with brands of all sizes on just about every area of marketing and he personally teaches several courses On the subject at the University of San Diego Drexel University score and our accredited educational institutions. He also if a citizen enough organises large events for marketers and entrepreneurs through his group, the so cow marketing club, one on the West Coast largest digital marketing clubs. So why do people still focus on a kind of splash everywhere method of marketing, instead of really knowing where the vein of gold is and targeting that? And is marketing still a winner? Or is it folding down the ranks of everything else that is needed nowadays when I start finding out when we bring it to the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Mr. John Bertino. Good morning, john. How are you? I'm Fantastic. Thank you, David. Fantastic intro. Thank you. David Ralph 2:50 It's lovely to have you here. And you know, do you know how stupid I am john. All week. I knew you were coming on the show. And I've been thinking, why is it called tag Why is it called tag It's just don't do me, the agency guy as simple as that. How stupid am I? John Bertino 3:06 not stupid at all that we like going by tag, we lead out with that a lot. But that's right. It's an acronym for the agency guy. And quick clarification, and you'll find it central to our business model. We are anything but an agency, really, we're, we're a consultancy that represents a multitude of agencies. And I'm sure we'll dive into that in more detail. David Ralph 3:28 I'm sure we probably will, unless I get bored with the conversation and go in a totally different direction. That's what we do. So what is an agency then for people out there that hear the word but now they're not in that sort of environment? Actually, what would your definition of an agency be? John Bertino 3:45 Sure. Well, I think to some extent, that's part of the problem, right? agency has become this loosely defined term that we associate with anybody, at least in the marketing space that is providing marketing services. So Sometimes people will call themselves an agency when they're one one person. But I would argue that as soon as you're more than one, you're two or more than you could technically call yourself an agency. And you know, you can call yourself an agency with little to no credentials, experience, accolades, case studies. There's there's no formal agency certification team. And those are a few of the reasons why there's a bit of a problem in the marketplace. David Ralph 4:25 Yeah, but there's a problem everywhere. And if you've listened to multiple episodes of Join Up Dots, I do repeat myself because there's certain things that get out my nose, but I get pitched by a lot of people that are experts, but they've only been doing it since last Tuesday. And you know, it drives me mental and the first thing I do I go over to their LinkedIn profile, and when I see that there's hardly anything on there, or that they was working for a bank in Philadelphia and now they're an expert in marketing, whatever. How do we overcome this, john? How do we overcome this, this dive in And I'm brand brand ourselves because I accept people have to get going. And I accept that you become an expert by doing more of and learning. I accept all that. But how can we sort of overcome this and actually protect the people out there that are buying into these marketing people? John Bertino 5:18 Sure, well, I don't think the problem is going where anywhere anytime soon, right, the barriers to entry to become or call yourself an agency or marketing consultant, or next to nothing. And not only that, but the lifestyle that can potentially come with being a small nimble agency is quite appealing. And there's information all over the web that can help people get started. So the low barriers to entry the lack of necessary credentials or qualifications, and again, the lifestyle benefits are resulting in a multitude of people flooding in and saying, I'm a marketer, I'm a marketing expert and wanting to charge you for it. And that's great for them. That's great for entrepreneurship. And I support those who give a real effort into becoming a refined expert in the field, but many don't. And that's created a real problem for brands that want to go out and find reliable marketing talent marketing support, and that's why we created tag David Ralph 6:19 now talking about it around but problem one of the things is so many of these companies charge but actually don't guarantee the results and people like Facebook adverts and and Google ads and they they charge for their services, but the results don't come back in. Once again. How do you deal with battery issue so that you can say to people that if you're going to pay for us to do work, you're actually going to get it or is that not possible? John Bertino 6:51 Sure. So let me mention our model and and backdoor into your question. So what we do at tag is essentially empower brands to hire the perfect marketing partners, and also to invest in the ideal or proper marketing strategies. Right. So we're a consultancy, but we represent about 200 different agencies and consultants. And when we meet with brands, we do so in an objective, unbiased way, and say, Look, if we were in your shoes, essentially, if we were cmo for a day, if you will, or cmo for the week or the month, if we were in your shoes, how would we approach these problems? What marketing channels will we invest in? Why would we invest in them? We set expectations to your question about results, we set expectations around what proper results actually look and feel like and then when we're all aligned on what we want to do and why we want to do it. That's when we essentially matchmake them with one of our vetted marketing agency partners or service providers. So we represent about as a A 200 or so different teams, which is quite a few, but at the same time, a manageable number. And that depth of a roster allows us to essentially married the perfect marketing partner solution to the ideal brand need. And in doing so we take out all the time, headaches, and uncertainty that go with trying to find a good marketing partner. Well, I might go well, David Ralph 8:23 I'm gonna jump in with another question just so how do we know that? You know, john, how do we know about tag Mo's, we've always different industries, they've obviously got all different marketing needs. How is your experience so of all covering? Sure, John Bertino 8:41 well, the short answer would be if you give us a call, I think that experience will immediately come through each one of the consultants on my team has at least a decade or more of experience. And generally speaking, you can tell pretty quickly when you're talking with someone that's really specialised in these various channels for a while, but Beyond that, I think if if you dive into tag and look at the different different members on our team, you'll see ridiculous amounts of credentials, accolades, social proof. We're all essentially teachers, speakers contributors, teaching it, major universities are contributing to major publications. We even have a team member that speaks literally for Google. She's on Google's payroll as a as a speaker and a mentor. So all the credentials are there. But again, I think honestly, just with the conversation, usually that comes through pretty immediately. And I should mention, we actually don't charge for any of the consulting we do not typically anyway, the idea is that provide free, unbiased, objective seasoned expertise at no cost to earn that trust. And then we make a recommendation on who we think you should work with. David Ralph 9:47 Right? Okay. So I want to spin away from what you do to where you started, because you're on Join Up Dots is very much about how people actually overcome the struggles of growing a business and teething troubles all the way through. He's just different troubles you have to deal with. Now you're sitting there, Mr. JOHN bertino. And you're in your bedroom, in your lucky underpants, I always think this and you come up with this idea of you're going to go your, your own way and do your own thing. It's all white to think that and as I say, everything is built twice, once in your brain. And once actually, in real life, and in real life one is a lot harder than building in your brain. What was the first steps that you took to actually create something that was your own income producing? Empire suppose? John Bertino 10:38 Sure, I love this topic. And by the way, how did you know about my lucky underpants? We both got lucky on my parents, john, David Ralph 10:44 we've all got lucky underpants until we get married, and then those lucky underpants disappear. John Bertino 10:50 Fantastic. Well, so let's see. I love this topic. By the way, it's really what I'm passionate about you and I have that in common is I don't know if it was a linear thing for most people, it's probably not. But I know I realised fairly early in my professional career probably 5678 years in that. I guess I was a leader not necessarily a leader of of men per se, although I'd like to think I've grown into that. But just I needed to kind of do my own thing. It's really who I was. I didn't know at the time that I necessarily needed to be self employed, but I knew I kind of had to do it my own way. And then I came across Tim Ferriss, his book, I'm sure it's been mentioned on the show, if not thousands of times, but you know, I came across it more or less when it right came out. I believe the books a good 20 years older, so at this point, and he had talked about, and I'm paraphrasing here, because it's been, as I said, probably 1015 years since I read it, but if he had said something to the effect of, would you rather make money million dollars a year and work for someone else and have no time to yourself and not be able to make your own decisions? Or would you rather make a quarter a half or a quarter of that and be completely empowered to do what you want with your time. And for me the choice was clear, it was it was definitely the latter, right. And so between just recognising the way I was functioning in the corporate environment, and coming across material and content like that, that which was starting to become the norm, I just knew that I had to slowly but surely work my way into working for myself. David Ralph 12:32 I've actually got that book in my hand at the moment, the four hour workweek, and I haven't read it for years, to be honest. But I pick it up and I wonder every now and again, whether I should go back and actually read it, whether it's covenant whether the logic behind it is still relevant now, I don't know. What do you think is was it obvious time or, or should we still promote it as the go to book? John Bertino 12:59 Yeah, it's A little bit of both. I don't know if I would promote it as the go to book per se, but it's certainly kind of the one of the foundational books of entrepreneurship in its modern form. It's a great read. For anyone that's aspiring to go out on their own, just go into it, knowing that some of it will definitely be dated. I David Ralph 13:21 was the poster boy for that book. And I actually did literally everything he said in there. And it worked. It worked like a dream. The only problem that I had was, once I freed myself up from work by, as he says, asking for a Friday off and been asking for Thursday off and then building up a portfolio of work because I had this extra free time. It all worked until somebody didn't want it to work. And when a new manager came in and didn't like the fact it all failed like a pack of cards and that literally was the catalyst for me saying, sod this I'm going to go out and start my own thing. Little did I know where I was going to head but the passion was very Because you can't go back, can you once you've had control of your time and your income, and as I always say to people, the fact that you pay your own taxes so you think about it in a way because when you in corporate land I used to just get my paid. I never, it never concerned me that they were actually paying the right tax It Was this something that was taken out of my bank account. Once you actually had that control, you're never coming back on a job. John Bertino 14:26 Now, it's, it's really true, or at least you'll find out very early on in the journey, whether or not this is for you. And if you stick with it for a while, I don't know even a year or two there's I'd say there's no going back from that point. And you know, it's interesting, I had the exact same experience that you reference where there was a point where I had some flexibility I was making. I had some good clout within the company I was working for the ownership really respected me at the time and gave me a lot of leeway and flexibility with my schedule and Through that I started to put some pieces in place to, to, I guess move out on my own eventually I wasn't in a rush at the time. And then he brought in a new manager and all that came crashing down. But in some ways that was kind of the catalyst I needed to, to take it to the next step. David Ralph 15:15 Now, when you take that step, because one of the things that people struggle with, and I struggled with it myself, so a lot of the questions are very much leading. I wasn't earning enough. So people were saying delegate delegate out, but I couldn't earn enough to delegate out because I didn't have enough to pay the bills. Anyway. Do you remember that time when you literally were trying to grow and you were doing everything yourself John Bertino? John Bertino 15:42 I sure do. Yeah, I mean, I mean, absolutely. But you have to find some tasks that you can delegate and they don't even necessarily need to be core to your offering. So a good example on us would be would be something like bookkeeping or in invoicing and stuff like that. Maybe there's some simple administrative tasks that you can take off your plate to let you focus on the actual service. you're offering little changes, little micro delegations can really start to add up and give you the momentum you need. David Ralph 16:17 Yeah, but only if you've got a certain amount of income to pay for people, because otherwise you're you're taking it from where you haven't got it anyway. And if there's somebody out there, who is wanting to take the corporate leap, and they've got a mortgage to pay, and they've got all the kind of bills that I need to pay, the fault of hiring someone when they haven't got enough to cover what they need to cover anyway is difficult. John Bertino 16:41 Yes, but I would, I would counter that. You can outsource but honestly, it can be little things even around the house, right? And we're talking to that aspiring entrepreneur that's really feeling locked in their job. They're starting a side hustle, but they're kept on their time. And they're saying, well, gee, I would love to outsource things, but I don't have I don't have the money for it right and i would counter Well, you can outsource mowing the lawn, so you don't have to do it. And you can have an extra hour for your side hustle. You can outsource ideated ideas for a blog post by writing out a blueprint, finding someone on Upwork or an intern at a local college and giving them $20 to go out and help you ideate what your next 10 blog posts will be. You can outsource cleaning the house so that you don't have to do it and like the lawn you can focus on your business. Even little things like that can really add up and every hour counts. David Ralph 17:38 So when did you get to the point? Actually, I'm going to ask that question. I'm going to come back to it. Let's listen to Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey 17:44 My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn't believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don't want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. So when David Ralph 18:11 did you get jumping back to my my brilliantly posed question interrupted by Jim. But you actually loved doing what you're doing because we see it time and I remember speaking to so many guests on the show. But say, they went from a corporate gig to creating an income, some of them creating millions and absolutely hated every second of it. It just wasn't the right business for them. This seems to be the right business for us. So when did you actually tap into the love and think yeah, this this is my thing. And it's not just a stepping stone to someone new. John Bertino 18:46 Yeah, I love that question. And it was, it was never a conscious effort to Well, let me back up. I had come across multiple books or teachers or mentors, you know, just through the internet podcasts, book recommendations, things like this, that it said one of the keys to entrepreneurship was to play into your strengths. And kind of to our prior discussion or prior question, try to outsource or delegate the rest. The more you can focus on your strengths and delegate the things that aren't your strengths, the more likely you are to succeed. So from day one, before I even had the business idea, I was coming at it from that mentality. And so I was always focused on Well, what are my strengths? And this is such a great question for me because I literally built tag around what I knew I was good at. So what what does tag essentially do not to not to get on tag again, but this plays right into your question. we consult, which means I needed to know marketing, and we do business development. I mean, really, we are a marketing team that does business development for agencies, right. So I knew That I was good with people. And you know, I've never fancied myself to be honest, as much of a salesperson I really really never have. Although I was told by so many people you're great at sales or I was always in sales roles didn't really see myself as sales. I saw myself as a consultative I guess a consultative business development person, but it really was about developing relationships. It was always about business development and the relationships for me and I knew I liked doing that. So I, I leaned into that over and over and over again, and to this day, that's I try to focus on just those two things. That is being really good at my marketing Aquaman. So I can provide great advice to brands and then the selling just happens naturally, the business development becomes easy. And to your prior question again, I looked at Delhi, everything else. David Ralph 20:53 Now, that is just super talent. Obviously. We have every super talent there is the kryptonite. will bring you down. And as we see in business time and time again, most people are brilliant at seeing what's wrong with other people's businesses but actually can't see what's wrong with their own. It's like blinkered, for some reason, what would be your your kryptonite around your neck that you knew in early days that you actually had to get help with? Unknown Speaker 21:24 Well, I think to some extent, we I still work on that kryptonite every day. And that would be that our model is structured and your questions are so nicely laid out, because one really is leading leading right into the other. Our model as I just described, it is not especially scalable, but I'm of the belief that one of the best ways to kind of carve out a unique value proposition and provide unique value is to, in a sense, do something that's that's hard to scale, right? Because once you're really good at something that can't be replaced by machines, you Then kind of own that, and then you can kind of figure out the micro improvements you can make to scale it. So the kryptonite to your question is that our model is not especially scalable. Now I have surrounded myself by other people just like me. But even still, it's hard to scale human capital. And so, whereas there are store sites online that attempt to match people with the right agency, but they're algorithmic, they're not consultative, they don't really get to know you your time, your company, your brand. And so they will always struggle to provide that bespoke hand holding approach that we provide. We've come at it from the opposite side, we've got that part dialled in, and we're kind of to some extent slowly working our way into how do we make this more scalable and so and so that's the kryptonite but I'm aware of it. Right. I think that's the key being self aware, being honest with yourself about where the weak points are not getting intimidated and running from them, owning them and slowly chiselling away at them. David Ralph 23:00 Okay, so that's the business kryptonite. What about yourself personally, john, what was the things that you look at and you go, really is not mapping at all. Unknown Speaker 23:11 Outside of business? Well, that's, that's interesting. I think, if I'm honest about it right, again, in the spirit of honesty, when you are entrepreneurial, many of us, if not all of us, have a real tendency to be a bit scattered. Because once you get a taste of the good life air quotes, as we talked about it earlier, because there's plenty of struggles with the good life, right? Once you get a taste of it, you start to some extent being led into well, oh, here's an interesting idea. And maybe I'm quite smart. And I can turn this into a business too. And there's definitely a tendency for us to get scattered and overconfident. And so just constantly raining myself in staying focused and only diving into other product projects that are jacent to what I'm currently working on and succeeding with is key. And so I certainly have to challenge myself there. David Ralph 24:07 It's interesting, isn't it? Because I always people say to me, you know, what's the success? How do you create a successful podcast? And I say to him, do it for seven years, you know, and it's a kind of flippant response, but it's true. There's the persistence, there's the consistency, there's the repetition, all those things that sort of build into it. Now, when I look at what I do on Join Up Dots, I think I've got more success from this show than anything else I've done. Just because I've kept at it. Were a lot of things I look back a while I used to do, could have gone somewhere, but I kind of didn't think about the financial shoots were coming up quick enough, where I could have wanted those financial shoes because as soon as you get some money, it proves that there's money there. When you look at yourself, is that something that you're aware of, in not just your own business, but other people's businesses, but they pivot too quickly instead of just getting their head down and doing the work. Unknown Speaker 25:05 Yes, there's there's some of that, I think, right to our prior discussion about being a bit too scattered and not focusing. But, you know, another I'm going to actually look at that from the opposite end of the spectrum. I think a more common problem I see is people doubling tripling quadrupling down on on an idea that that might not be good. And that's a conversation no one's no one wants to have and, and it's, you know, people being polite often don't want to tell you, but I think I would challenge every entrepreneur to be really honest about whether or not they're solving a problem that people have or whether or not they're trying to create something. That's just what what they want to do whether or not it's actually helping people in the process. David Ralph 25:47 Is it Oh, as simple as that, because we talk about this all the time solving problems, is that really what business is all about? Or is that just a strap willing but kind of works? Unknown Speaker 26:00 No, I really think that's what business is all about. I think the data has proved that out. And if you look at some of the most successful startups over the last decade, you'll see what they're focused on is making pivots and iterations that lean into where the problems actually are and taking focus away from things they were doing, because it was convenient for them. So I absolutely think that's one of the fundamental keys to success. David Ralph 26:25 Because somebody like the iPod, for example, you can have 1000 songs, you can have your entire record collection in your back pocket. That really wasn't a pain point. I think, up to that point. Nobody was walking around going, I really need to drag my entire record collection with me. But then he comes along, and it's a global success. So is it as sort of a pivot between pain and pleasure, and although we say problems, there's also solutions. Is that what takes somebody like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs or Richard Branson into into the stratosphere? In, but they can pivot between the two between pain and pleasure. Unknown Speaker 27:06

On today's Business advice Friday podcast we focus in on several questions that have been posed to us by listeners across the world. We get many sent to us at the show, and most we respond directly, whilst others we like to answer on the show. Lets start with todays three emails. and remember you can hear all the answers on the podcast live. Business Coaching Friday Question One Hi David, i think  you are the man to give me the answer i need. I started building my online business last year selling baseball cards online. Its going well so far (not enough to make a living) but enough to start paying off my big expenses each month. The thing is I am a bit bored with doing it now. After a squilliuon years of doing Join Up Dots how do you keep the motivation and keep inspired. I need help?  Gemma Chase, Montana, USA Business Coaching Friday Question Two Hi David, from somebody who is late to the game for podcasts I would love to start my own and build a next little business from the back of my garden like you. I dont have a garden at the moment, but hey,i dont have a business either. My issue is I cant think of what to build my business on, and secondly I am a bit scared, as I am long time sufferer of depression. I have been diagnosed as bi polar and although I have in under control there are times that i cant even get out of bed. Do I sound like someone that can light up the airwaves like you do everyday. Vince Plus,  Business Coaching Friday Question Three Hi everybody at Join Up Dots...whats up?  I am a 52 year gay man from Miami. Gay and proud of it. I want to create a gay business that celebrates everything well...gay. My friends say this is a bad idea, as no matter how much improvement there has been with acceptance there will always be some people that get upset by our lifestyles...What do you think? I want to call it Gay Days Where Gays Stay and Play Marcus, Miami

Introducing Brian Weaver

Todays guest Brian serves as CEO of Torch.AI and has more than 20 years of experience leading mission driven, high growth, technology-focused companies. Torch.AI helps leading organizations leverage artificial intelligence in a unique way via a proprietary enterprise data management software solution. Today, Torch.AI supports clients like H&R Block with fraud detection and mitigation, and the U.S. Department of Defence with machine learning enabled background investigations for all federal employees, supporting the determination of an individual’s trustworthiness and security credentialing. Prior to Torch.AI, Brian launched or acquired several companies all focused on technology enabled services and data connectivity. His companies serve nearly 1,300 clients and have been recognized as Small Business of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Brian has been featured in Forbes magazine for concepts around data encapsulation using blockchain technologies. How The Dots Joined Up For Brian An avid endurance sports athlete, Brian has ranked among the top amateur Ironman athletes in the world, has achieved "All World Gold" athlete status five times, USAT All-American six times, Ironman XC's 2011 and 2012 Athlete of the Year for the 70.3 distance and in 2011 for the 140.6 distance taking class wins at both the Ironman 70.3 World Championship and Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii and has qualified for and raced the Boston Marathon.  He lives in Kansas City with his wife of 20 years and two teenage daughters. So what is it about launching and buying businesses that he loves so much, and of course where do people go wrong? And does the endurance stuff actually make him a better businessman due to the commitment to the cause? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Brian Weaver Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Brian Weaver such as: Brian shared how he struggles with doing the same thing time and time again and the steps he took to overcome it. Why it is so important to embrace your pioneer nature and complement by running a team that allow you to flourish. Why so many people need all the data before starting to move out of your comfort zone and build their own future. And lastly....... The reason that is so much easier to fascinate a customer into working with you instead of encouraging them to sign up.

Introducing Riggs Eckelberry: Today's guest is the founder and CEO of the innovative water technology company, OriginClear, which is delivering water solutions for industrial customers worldwide. OriginClear has developed and licensed an invention that treats industrial and agricultural waste water with very little energy, and no chemicals. And now, industrial users can treat their water right where they use it, using prepackaged “point of use” water treatment systems that have an amazing life cycle of up to 100 years or more.  Let's get things straight as Riggs Eckelberry doesn’t look like a bomb-thrower. And yet, he’s driving the disruption of a trillion-dollar industry that has fallen behind the times and is affecting the health of millions. That industry is Big Water. Simply, those billion-dollar centralized water systems aren’t coping with demand, and water quality is getting worse. The answer? Instant InfrastructureTM. How The Dots Joined For Riggs Businesses are doing their own water treatment, using modular, prefabricated systems that are trucked right on site. They get better water quality, lower rates through recycling, and even improved environmental grades! Ten years after launching public company OriginClear, Riggs and his team are offering those truck-in-place modular systems in the USA, while licensees are building products internationally using OriginClear’s low-energy, chemical-free innovation. Riggs Eckelberry is uniquely qualified to ride the huge wave of do-it-yourself water treatment that is transforming an industry, having learned management in the nonprofit space, captained oceangoing ships, and achieved several tech successes during the dot-com boom. So does he look back and think wow I have tackled something bigger than I could have possibly dreamt off? And would he recommend people following suit and start their own business? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Riggs Eckelberry. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Riggs Eckelberry such as: How he has managed to overcome the impostor syndrome that so many people struggling with time and time again. Riggs shares his belief that one of his talents is seeing the obvious and looking for the simplest way through any problem. We discuss the series of things that need to occur to truly get momentum in a business and life. These things take to build, so let it happen without stress. And lastly....... Why it is so important to build a team that can make the difference to your  business potential. You can't do it on your own. 

On today's Business advice Friday podcast we focus in on several questions that have been posed to us by listeners across the world. We get many sent to us at the show, and most we respond directly, whilst others we like to answer on the show. Lets start with todays three emails. and remember you can hear all the answers on the podcasat live. Question One Dear David, I am a listener from Mexico and I'm very much enjoying your conversations. In one of your recent shows i was intrigued as to what you meant when you said "People dont buy what you are selling. My English is not totally amazing, so could you reconfirm Dennis, Mexico CIty Question Two Hi David, John from Albuquerque USA. I wrote to you a few months ago regarding my idea of "Garage Clearance Assistance" Although I was unsure, you lit the fire under me with your enthusiasm and positivity to the idea. I now have a business up and running making a couple of grand a month. I yet to have a website, social media or anything going, and started simply by getting leaflets printed and dropping them through doors with my email address. I just wanted to say thank you for helping me and my family transition to a better life. Sometimes you just need a GO FOR IT from someone, somewhere, and you were the man Beers are on me John Question Three Dear David, From a long term listener of the show, and a lady ready to go for it, i have an idea but need your help. I can see a need for people in my City (Dallas, Texas) to have their dogs looked after whilst they are at work. There are a lot of very wealthy people in this area, and so I know that they would be willing to pay. However, Im not sure how I can scale this business to give me freetime too. I dont want to be spending all my time looking after peoples dogs, even though I think this would be fun. Any ideas would be great. Amanda Knox, Dallas

Introducing Matt Johnson Matt Johnson is a marketer, entrepreneur, podcast expert, and musician who joins us on the Join Up Dots podcast. Matt runs a podcast PR & production agency based in San Diego, an international team that helps business coaches and consultants break in and dominate their niche through podcasting. Matt currently hosts niche business podcasts and recently launched the Podcast Pitch Assistant program to help experts get pitched to podcasts consistently without doing any of the backend work themselves. He is a frequent podcast guest and event speaker to audiences around the US, Canada, and Australia. But that is just a bit of what he does as he says "Right now, there is a group of people running the business of their dreams. Building an audience, working with clients they love, and serving them profitably. How The Dots Joined Up For Matt They are thought leaders in their field. Are they famous? Depends on who you ask. They aren’t signing autographs at the grocery store. They aren’t taking selfies every five minutes. They aren’t trying to be everywhere on social media. Yet when they show up at industry events and conferences, they are recognized and sought after. What’s their secret? They have become famously influential to the right people. And so can you. My mission through the MicroFamous podcast, upcoming book and our podcast agency is to launch new thought leaders into the world. MicroFamous gives you a new strategy to attract an audience, build influence and create ideal clients - systematically. So you can teach, train and lead people without being locked into a business you hate. So what does it take to be micro-famous online in today's over saturated world? And where do people go wrong, focusing in on quantity or quality? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Matt Johnson Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Matt Johnson such as: Why it is so important to find a deep niche and go with a subject that isn't saturated or main stream. The riches are in the niches. Matt shares why he is reluctant to travel the world and attend conferences preferring to be famous in his own tight community. Why there is a ground swell of people now who are dropping away from using social media and focusing on the smallest crowd possible. And lastly……… We wax lyrical at the bad advice that people are receiving when it comes launch a podcast, and what we would do to make it different.

Peter Montoya is a #1 Best-Selling Author of The Brand Called you and his newest book The 10 Secrets of Leadership Power. He’s also a sought-after Keynote Speaker and Leadership Development Strategist with expertise in developing High-Performance Teams.  But for over two decades our guest was the financial industry’s go-to guru on marketing & branding, now he’s the CEO of ThriveUnion. ThriveUnion is the company of human well-being.  Through intentional community-building and research-backed education, we’re shaping a world in which people feel empowered to progress from meaningless isolation to purposeful belonging.  In our search for a life well lived – one of personal fulfilment and a desire to impact humanity’s greater good – we let reason be our guide, compassion our inspiration, and experience our teacher.  Now like most guests who appear on the Join Up Dots podcast our guest hasn't always been the go to guy. Our guest has a young man struggled through school with undiagnosed ADHD, he was admitted to and graduated from the University of California Irvine in Political Science. How The Dots Joined Up For Peter Post-college he became a travelling speaker and salesman, chalking up over 3000 presentations and living in over 22 major cities. Peter went on to found a successful advertising agency and software platform, dedicated to financial service professionals. He quickly became the industry guru, writing numerous books, including one of his best selling works “The Brand Called You”. Peter is a truly fascinating and multi-faceted guy, with decades of experience in speaking to audiences about his business knowledge, inspirational journey, and human behavioural insight. He now pursues his passion for empowerment and community building, shedding light on society’s growing loneliness epidemic through his visionary organization ThriveUnion. So how how did he take this early life lessons and transform his life to where it is today? And if he could give one big piece of advice to every listener of Join Up Dots what would it be? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Peter Montoya Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Peter Montoya such as: Peter shares how he used to feel such negative emotions in his life, which he can see now did nothing more than hold him back, We discuss why gratitude always comes before happiness (360 from what most people consider to be true)  Peter reveals the stats that up to 25% of entrepreneurs might well be suffering from ADHD which can actually be an amazing superpower. And lastly................. During the chat we found out that having wonderful relationships are the number one benefit to a long and healthy life.

When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David, Ralph. David Ralph 0:27 morning to you good morning to you. And thank you so much for being here with me on Join Up Dots wherever you listen, live as soon as I broadcast this to the world, or whether you listen at a time that's convenient to you sometime in the future, in the midst of time when I'm getting older, and my socks are getting saggy. Why is that? When I was a kid, I don't remember having baggy socks all the time. But now I'm always pulling my socks up. I say my socks are annoying me. What's up so annoying me. My wife says "Go buy new socks! I shouldn't need to buy new songs. How about that? Long enough anyway, I wasn't gonna talk about socks, but I'm glad I've got that off my chest. What I wanted to do first of all of this is entitled life is crap, part two, and it's a kind of follow on to last week's episode. Last week's episode was a very personal welcome me. Well, I highlighted incidents and situations that were going in my life at that time with my mother, having a major stroke and basically turning our life upside down. And I would like to say to so many people out there, thank you, everybody who's dropped me a line to tell me about, you know, they're sending prayers to my family and my my mom, and also telling me stories about what's occurred in their lives and how they've overcome it. And it's not something you know, as you get older vein, it's something that's naturally going to occur, not necessarily a stroke, but some kind of issue. So we're all going to deal with that and to a man A woman I'd like to thank you for getting my head straight and making me realise that I'm not alone. And other people are dealing with a lot worse than I am. And stop feeling sorry for myself because I was I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed last week. Now actually listen back to that episode. And it really I don't say, you know that much on a podcast, but it was just, you know, you know, I obviously wasn't engaged with what I was saying. I was just speaking from the heart. And I listened back and I thought, God, how many times did I say, you know, in that podcast, but it touched a nerve, as I say, and people have reached out to say very nice things. As we are at the moment, there's no sort of progress really, my mom's still in bed. She's still sitting there, her eating has become a little bit better. But everything else is pretty much the same. And I think it's going to be the same for mums. We're clinging to a little Yeah. Oh, I just saw your finger. I just saw that. I don't know whether it's just in our mind or not. Now, what I wanted to do Today's episode is just follow on from bad. Thank you to everybody. And hopefully I did respond to every single person. I've been trying to keep up with the emails coming through, either sending emails or personal responses by video, or recording my voice or whatever as I do, because I'm a podcaster. And if anybody hasn't received one, then there's a mistake is, I don't know why you haven't because I feel like I've covered all bases on that one. Now, I did receive an email from a lovely lady. She's lovely. She's gorgeous, called carlina Mendoza. And what a beautiful name carlina Mendoza. I imagine sort of a Hispanic kind of exotic dancing. I don't know why that is. But she may not be exotic and she may not be Spanish at all, but she's equally lovely. Whoever she is Catalina Mendoza and she said hi. I listened to your recent show about your mother and I just want to send my prayers to you. I had a similar thing occur in my life where my husband suddenly had a brain seizure, not quite a stroke, but enough to change our life forever. As a longtime listener of your show, I was wondering what your next steps will be as I totally spiralled out of control, and can link many of today's issues back to my husband's illness and love and light to you. carlina Mendoza, and I thought to myself, yeah, that's that's a good point. What am I going to do moving forward? Well, what I did last week, I spent the first few days I ever wanting to burst into tears, or punch people in the face. And I didn't do either of them. But that's the kind of where I was. And so I knew that I had to I had to create a new way of operating within my business. And at a time when I recorded that podcast episode, I said, you know, I'm going to keep the business going. I'm going to keep everything as it is. And when I push myself now, why am I doing this? You know, it's my business, I can make a decision. So the coaching clients that I've got, I kept to, and it was good for my mind to be focused on them and helping them build their businesses. And we moved through many good stages. Because I really got into it, I really focus because it was a departure from where I was. But other stuff, I thought to myself now I'm going to clear the decks. I'm just going to free myself and get my brain in order. And so I connected with everyone who wasn't, as I say, urgent or required or hadn't paid for my services, and said, Look, I need a bit of a breather here. I need to step away. And as I stepped away, it made me think about that speech. But Oprah says, and I play a lot of my show, but I don't often really reflect on it. I suppose. It's something that I play because I think it's important and the three big speeches I play Jim Carrey, Oprah and Steve, I think they are a conduit to everything the put the three together. That's why Keep on playing them time and time again. And so many people say to me, you know, it's I've just said, you know, Wfc, I'm focused on it now. So many people say to me, it's now hit home. On one day, there was a situation wherever, but both speeches hit home. That's why I play him all the time. But this was the one that I play. And this is the one I've been really thinking about this week from Oprah, Oprah Winfrey 6:21 the way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, what is the next right move? not think about, Oh, I got all of this. What is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move, and the next right move and not to be overwhelmed by it because you know, your life is bigger than that one moment. You know, you're not defined by what somebody says, is a failure for you because failure is just there to point you in a different direction. David Ralph 6:53 So I reflected on that and I thought what I need to do is become quiet and just do what needs to be done. So over the last year or so I'm not a big social media person, but you get sucked into it. And I mentioned this a lot, but I don't do a lot of social media, but I am on it. And I thought to myself, this is the time to make a break from it really get clear, really get focused on just what I'm doing. And so I went through to a lots of people, but I've been keeping these virtual reality, relationships going. And I sent messages to him. I think I mentioned this in the show last week, and to say, you know, I'm not going to be part of your life anymore. I'm going to move on. And I did that. And the majority of people didn't even respond back or didn't ask, you know, what's the matter or anything like that, and I thought well back, but there's a sign there. But I'm putting my energies into the wrong places where people don't really want it anyway. And so I closed off everything and from when was it last Wednesday. I haven't looked at anything on Facebook on Twitter, and I don't do a lot of scrolling up and down the feeds, but you do get sucked into it. And I've started to feel happier about myself, because it's just me. I'm not thinking about what needs to be done in comparison to where other people are. I'm just thinking about what needs to be done. In my own business, I've become quiet. And I've got a clarity. But I didn't have now I found this article online, and I'm going to read it out to you. It's not something that I'm going to make out. But I've got this information in my brain. But I think it's really, really important. And it's called how social media is killing your oxytocin levels, and keeping you from being your happiest self. So with the dark cloud last week, I needed to do something I needed to become happy again, and I would say I'm 80%. Now, I think there's about 20% sort of little cloud hanging over me, but I've accepted where I am now. So this is an article by Lady called Whitney of Virginia Morgan. It's a few years ago, she released this, but I think it's really, really interesting. And if you are not feeling happy in your life, then you can do something about it. And one of the things you can do is focus in on yourself, and just be aware of your own emotions and your own feelings and the way that you feel. So this is in response. Currently now men dosa and this is the steps I've taken to get myself back on track. Now, how social media is killing your oxytocin levels and keeping you from being your happiest self is the title of this post. People are slowly and surely replacing face to face human interactions with the cheap thrills and immediate satisfaction of social media interaction. I'm guilty as well. The lady says I have an account and I check it often. But what if you knew the dark side to this seemingly homeless social prevalence? I bet you don't think as you Sitting there browsing your Facebook feed. I'm damaging my oxytocin levels right now. Now, I'm going to keep this in layman's terms and not bore you with an overabundance of medical jargon and information, which is good because I would lose it here. So here goes. First, let's take a brief look at what we're talking about here and the brain and the feel good chemicals we need, but a lot to wait deep inside of it. Now, the first one is dopamine. Now we've all heard that but do we really know what that is? Well, this is a new low transmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centres. Open mean also helps regulate movement and emotional response. And it enables us to not only see rewards, but to take action to move towards them. Okay. Now, that was from psychology today. So if you think about all the sort of sexy times and the good things are happening in your life, more often than not, you feel really great and you move towards that. Pleasure because of the dopamine hit that it gives you, it makes you feel good. And orgasm is one of those ones that is full of dopamine and you go, you go crazy. And and, well, we'll leave it like that. But any kids listening you can ask your mom or your dad or your brother or your sister back there, added more than your mom and dad, seven tonin This is a neuro transmitter that is bound in the brain. It is responsible for maintaining mood balance and the deficit of it leads to depression. So we're kind of on an even keel when we've got an even amount of serotonin going through, it's not going to be peaks and troughs. It just kind of keeps you happy and and balanced, which is good. Now oxytocin, this is where it gets interesting, is a powerful hormone that acts as a neuro transmitter in the brain, and it regulates social interaction, and also sexual reproduction playing a role in behaviours from maternal infant bonding and milk release to mothers to empathy, generosity and the big overed again, which I said a little while ago, when we hug or kiss a loved one oxytocin levels increase. Hence, oxytocin is often called the love hormone. In fact, the hormone plays a huge role in all bonding. The hormone is greatly since stimulated during sex birth and breastfeeding. And oxytocin is the hormone that underlies trust is also an antidote to depressive feelings. Right? Okay. So then the three things okay, now is the powerful trio of the all good feelings but we need to have in our life all the time and we can create this naturally. We don't need outside stimulations although it began again, a little bit of sexy time, go for it. That's my role. The creators of happiness, some might even say, are these free, they're all good feelings. Now, this is where it gets into the interesting thing with social media. oxytocin is arguably the most powerful of the phrase So for the sake of brevity, we're going to call it well, we're going to be mostly focusing in on it here. And it's often called the cuddle hormone or the bonding hormone. And also, the trust hormone is super powerful. It's the reason you want to cry all night in bed after a super hard breakup. You just lost your oxytocin supply literally, your body is responding to stress, and it knows it needs oxytocin to feel good. So last week with my Mum, I must have lost that because I just wanted a blob all the time. And I did. I kind of kept it in. In one I look like a girl you know, but and there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it before I get emails of a sexist nature. Now, evolutionarily speaking, our ancestors relied on oxytocin to fortify and create close knit relationships with each other, procreate and build survival based communities, as well as bond strong romantic partnerships is what we need. It's the bonding it connects us with real life. oxytocin is served as well in times of old and it serves us today too, but as a twist to it now, unfortunately, the future chop shop of the 21st century digital age is causing many of our ancient evolutionary biological systems to short circuit. We're getting counterfeit oxytocin via social media. It's not the pure stop now that that's interesting. We just stop it there. Okay. So we're making ourselves feel good by going on to social media, but it's not actually but good about we need is a kind of fake version. We can create it ourselves by doing the stuff that our bodies are actually saying you deserve. But we're not. We're bypassing that and going for the cheap thrill, but actually is ultimately taking it away from us and making us feel more miserable. All too often social media and other modern day factors are reducing face to face social connectedness and Giving us feelings of perceived social isolation or being an outsider who is unworthy of love and belonging. In other words, chatting with your mate on Facebook is not going to boost your oxytocin levels the same way chatting with them face to face word. That's why it's important to not let your online relationships replace your real time ones. Okay? That now not finding that balance can be dangerous to your mental health. And that is something we often don't think about when going online. It's social acceptability. And subtleness in essence is what makes it dangerous. Like a submarines missile lurching forth underwater aiming straight for our brains, you're not going to see it coming, and the destruction happens slowly over a long period of time. To break it down more precisely, there are three ways social media inhibits the healthy flow of oxytocin. Now, hopefully you haven't switched off of this because I think this is really, really important. Number one, it displaces more authentic social experiences because the more time a person's Online, the last time they had real world interactions, I'd realised that I've realised I was thinking I was being with friends, but actually I wasn't. And the other night, I went out with a lovely guy called Dan, who's near me, he was a client through the show, I had a brilliant time really enjoyed it. And Dan, hopefully, we will do it again. And I realised now that my focus is going to be less online and more in real world interactions. And that's with you guys as well. You guys, if you need me, I will speak to you but I will only speak to you face to face. Now that can be food zoo, that can be through Skype, whatever. But it's not going to be just an email back and forth. I'm going to try to limit that and try to find a way that I can actually connect with you guys in real world interactions. Now number two, certain characteristics of social media facilitate feelings are being excluded, such as when one sees botos of friends having fun at an event to which we're not invited. It. Now I've realised this as well that I used to flick up and down every now and again and see some old friends and I'd always be in a pub, they'd always be having a good time. And so I didn't invite me then didn't invite the old Ralph Meister. But of course, I only felt that way because I'd seen the photo if I hadn't seen the photo, I wouldn't have known they've gone anyway, so it wouldn't bother me. So the fear of missing out is a FOMO is a cold it is increased because we're going online, so we feel isolated even more because we're seeing things that we we couldn't have got to Anyway, you know, we see these pictures and we go, Oh, you should have invited us. I've been doing something else that day. You just can't know but you get that feeling of, I'm not part of the crowd. And also, its exposure to highly idolise representations of peers lives on social media may elicit feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier and more successful lives. Okay, so then the three things so first of all, Being online all the time, it stops the real world interactions. And we've got to get out and be part of life as we've always done it. Also, it makes us feel that we're excluded to beings we're actually we're not. If we didn't know that it was happening, it wouldn't bother us anyway. And the last type thing is that we look at people are having a wonderful time and all I'm doing is just a sort of day to day life. Okay. So, there's a tonne that we can do, okay, there's a tonne that we can do. And you do have control over your own oxytocin levels, and there's real social factors, ie Facebook and other social media outlets like that acquit. Quite literally hurting your feel good chemicals. So what should we do okay, should we delete all our social media accounts and go back to being nomads living in a cave? Well, baby, but that would be unrealistic. Now. What we say is just get balanced. Don't spend eight hours on Facebook. It's not good for your brain or your social development. Make time for Family, make time for friends. Make time for lovers. Seriously, your happiness quite literally depends on it. You are priceless and take care of your brain take charge of your mental health and your life. You only get one grand shot before it's lights out. So that there's a lot of information there. But I've already felt this this week, but I feel happier. Because I don't know what's happening. I go on the BBC website and read the news. That's fine. But I haven't looked at anyone's beads. I don't know what's happening. I become more productive because I'm just doing what I think needs to be done on my business. I've spoken to more people. I've developed more income streams into my business just in this last week of isolating myself from social media. Now I have to emphasise time and time again. I am here for you guys. I'm here to help you develop your businesses. I'm here to help you. You know create a podcast if you want I've been doing this for years and I know what works, okay? But I'm also here for you just to support. I'm here for the guys that are struggling. I'm here for the guys and the ladies but just need a little bit of assistance, okay? It's gonna be for the right people. And it's got to be done in a way that develops that live feeling. It makes you feel that you're connected to real people. So this week, I got off all that I've been walking around the pub, not the pub down to the pubs and man the gardens and stuff in our way because it hasn't been bad weather in the United Kingdom. I spent more time with my mom and I've done for the last 25 years. She don't really want to spend four hours a day with your mom when she's in her 80s but that's what I've been doing. And it's been difficult because you kind of run out of things to talk about because she's just lying in bed. You know, what the hell do you talk about and she doesn't really talk much back anyway. I've been doing a lot of that. And I can now see that it's a good thing for me personally, it's made me assess where life is and what I need to do to really take everything I'm doing to perfect scenario where it's highly profitable base highly profitable in a personal way, but it gives me ultimate free time, ultimate travel time ultimate enjoyment, and it gives me ability to meet you guys face to face and say, you know, let's make this thing work. So for carlina Mendoza, thank you very much for dropping me their email and thank you for everybody else's dropped me emails. She's doing a lot. I'm long journey ahead. I think I'm doing a lot as well. I'm in a much better place because of it. And I can't emphasise enough I know I'm running home but I can already realise that social media is bad. I'm going to say that it's more than bad. It's It's terrible. Okay, limit your time on it, get on, get off and focus in what's happening in in the real world. And I guarantee you'll start to feel better. I feel better already after a week. And I was a very small term time user of social media. Really, really important. Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to Join Up Dots, got loads of interviews coming through, we're really got a load in the can so you're not going to be missing out on stuff. One of the things I'm doing at the moment I've decided that I'm going to create an online course totally free to show you how you can make 1000 pounds a month really easily. And believe me once you do this, you're up in money. So I'm going to be giving that out for free once I've got that sorted, and I've got a load of other stuff as well to help you guys. Create your dream life or start paying off debts and stuff and being happy and going, you know, without Join Up Dots. I wouldn't be where I am today. Until next time, we see you know, coffee sales. Love you. Bye Outro 23:00 Bessie and China you heard the conversation. Now when it's time for you to start taking massive action. Create your life easy only life. Will be back again real soon. Join Up Dots Join Up Dots Join Up Dots. Jolene, Jolene Return To The Top Of Stephen Pacinelli If you enjoyed this episode with Stephen Pacinelli, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy

Introducing Mike Volkin Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots show is Mr Mike Volkin, who is big on freelancing and making this approach work for others. As he says "I have built and sold 4 companies and wrote 5 books (one-best seller). I recently launched Freelancer Masterclass to empower all those who side-hustle who want to make real income (that will replace their full-time job..) But he wasn't always as focused on this as you might expect. Leaving the Stephen F Austin State University with a master of science, environmental science and biology in 2000, he moved through several marketing positions within the corporate world for nearly twenty years. But as we see time and time again, an idea was brewing until it couldn't be denied anymore and he gave birth to that idea and made it real. That was Freelancer Masterclass in April 2019, which is a 9 step course that is 100% online. The courses contain video content, homework and quizzes. Along with the courses are interactive student chat boards and live bi-weekly classes so you can continue your education and interact with students and instructors. The instructors at Freelancer Masterclass are the best...of the best....of the best. These are freelancers who have proven themselves to be a master in their field. So was this idea one that once launched was perfect from the beginning or did it grow over a period of time? And why did it take so long for this action taking to truly start in earnest? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Mike Volkin Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Mike Volkin such as: Mike shares how he used to try to function on less than four hours sleep per night and how it made him reassess. Mike reveals how he once spent over $40,000 on a website before ever checking to see that it was market fit. Big mistake How 30% of the worlds population are now freelancing across the world, a figure that is expanding every year. And lastly................. Mike shares how his passion has changed dramatically when the entrepreneurial bug really beat into him and the steps that he took. How To Connect With Mike Volkin Website Facebook Twitter Linkedin Return To The Top Of Mike Volkin If you enjoyed this episode with Mike Volkin, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here– enjoy Interview Transcription For Mike Volkin Interview David Ralph 0:00 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream, a dream to quit his job support himself online and have a kick ass life. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout and debt, until he found the magic ingredient and no struggles became a thing of the past. I of course, was that person. And now My dream is to make things happen for you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Intro 0:27 When we're young that we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be, but somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling in Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:52 Yes. Hello, man. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning and welcome to another power fueled inspirational moment. combinational conversational episode of Join Up Dots. As you would expect if you've been listening to Join Up Dots over the last six years. That's what we deliver and we're going to deliver it again to you. But today's guest joining us on the show is big on freelancing and making this approach work for others. As he says, I've built and sold four companies and wrote five books one bestseller, and I recently launched Freelancer masterclass to empower all those who side hustle who want to make real income that will replace their full time job. But it wasn't always as focused on this, as you might expect, leaving the Stephen F. Austin State University with a Master's of Science, environmental science and biology in 2000. He moved through several marketing positions within the corporate world for nearly 20 years. But I guess as we see time and time again, an idea was brewing until it couldn't be denied anymore, and he gave birth to that idea and made it real. Now that was Freelancer masterclass in April 2019. Which is a nine step course that is 100%. Online. The course contains video content, homework and quizzes. Along with the courses are interactive student chat boards and lively bi weekly classes. So you can continue your education and interact with students and instructors. Instructors at Freelancer master class are the best of the best of the best. These are freelancers who have proven themselves to be a master in their field. So what's this idea one that once launch was perfect from the beginning? Or did it kind of come out a bit ugly and grow over a period of time? And why did it take so long for this action truly to start taking shape? Right now as we bring on to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Mike Volkin. Good morning Mike. How are you? Mike Volkin 2:50 That was quite the introduction. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on a longtime fan. David Ralph 2:54 I've we picked you up because when we first connected you was all floaty and all relaxed and you said you've just you just been Busy meditating, I don't think you can be busy meditating. But you'd certainly sounded like you'd got the benefits of it. Mike Volkin 3:07 Yeah, I'm really into meditating now, because I'm just getting to the point where I'm good enough that it's making a positive impact and on my stress and my time management, so I try to do it before guest podcasts like this and other other live events. So it's, it really helps me out. David Ralph 3:24 Now, I'm going to jump straight into this because my listeners will have heard me mentioned this, I can't do it. I can't do it. I, I kind of expect to be floating three feet off the off the floor. And then somebody the other day said to me know, as long as you're sitting there relaxed, then that's meditation as well. It doesn't have to be rolling white eyeballs, and sort of weird things happening. What do you do? How do you get into it? Is it just sort of just relaxing and then just thinking about things? Mike Volkin 3:54 Yeah, the best part about meditation is you really can't do it wrong. You just got to stick with it. It's kind of like going to the gym the first few times. You go it kind of feels weird and uncomfortable and different. You know, first time I meditated, I'm like, What am I doing in this empty room by myself, it kind of felt weird. But then, uh, you know, you stick with it. And after three weeks and four weeks, it's kind of you feel a little bit of some of the benefits. And then you just like going to the gym after a couple months, you start to see some noticeable changes. So really, what I do is I just, I sit in a room, I actually use an app called headspace. There's lots of apps out there, there's one called clear that's very positive, that's very unpopular. But really, I just let the guided meditation, meditation and voice just do its thing for 10 to 15 minutes, I just sit there, I make sure I don't lay down a lot of people make that mistake is they just they lay down, they get to relax. But with meditation, you want to be up and alert, I sit in a chair, and I just let my thoughts and my brain go with the flow and take it where it may and at the end of 10 minutes I just feel a lot more relaxed, a lot more focus, which is the big thing. And I really think now it's getting to a point where it's it's almost an investment on my time. If I don't do it, I kind of feel unproductive. David Ralph 5:02 Yeah, now I agree with you. I went through a big phase of Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle and got into some terrible condition. Now my thing is sleep, I get as much sleep as I can humanly squeeze into me. And you know, I just don't see it as a waste of time. I used to, I used to. So were you ever that kind of entrepreneurial idiot, but so many of us are where we go, I only need three hours sleep a month, and I can still function where you've ever that kind of guy. Mike Volkin 5:33 Yeah, you know, I mentioned I was a fan of the show, and I know I'm going to be doing a sermon on the mic. So that's one of the things I was mentioning is one of the big mistakes, or actually that's one of the things I will mention. During that sermon on the mic segment is one of the big mistakes I made when I was a serial entrepreneur still am but when I was really trying to build and sell companies fast, I was just working nonstop and I would lose sleep. I at best get four hours of sleep, trying to bring a product or service to market as fast possible. I know now, the real way to do it correctly is the exact opposite of Oh, hey, I did it. David Ralph 6:05 Now, what do we buy into that then Mike, why? Why does everybody either go through that? Is it to prove that they've actually committed? Because I kind of feel that that's the answer. We all kind of think, well, we can't say that women entrepreneur, we can't say we're starting a business unless we put any effort in. So let's really put the effort in. Mike Volkin 6:25 Yeah, it's almost like inspiration, you know, you get this inspiration, like you want to quit your job or you want to build a business or whatever is inspiring you and motivating you. And it's human nature, just to go all in 100% and really go after it, especially for someone who's entrepreneurial minded. But the real thing to do is pace yourself, you know, I'm a big tennis player, I, I play competitively. And, you know, what I want to do is I want to swing as fast as I can at every ball and hit the ball as hard as heck. But the real way to get the most control and most power out of the ball is to is to control your arm. It's kind of the same way with an entrepreneur. You don't go all in and Go fast, like like a sprint. You want to pace yourself and be smart about it. David Ralph 7:05 Now, let's get you into the freelancer world because that's why I invited you on the show because I, I like the idea of freelancing as a step towards entrepreneurship. I now after going through it, I think a lot of people could really do with being in the freelancer world for a couple of years as a tester to actually going out on their own. Would you agree? Mike Volkin 7:31 Absolutely. There's a term, you know, side hustlers. As you can imagine, it's a very popular gig economy. It's just getting so popular. It's I think, I saw a stat was an infographic by upwork.com, which is the largest Freelancer platform in the world, they, they had said that over 30% of people worldwide who have full time jobs, do some kind of side hustle. So it's getting super popular and now, companies are starting to be more in tune to hiring freelancers, as opposed to two full time employees. So who knows What the next 10 or even 20 years will bring for the gig economy. Now, David Ralph 8:04 one of the reasons I like the freelancer world is it helps people develop their skills without having to try to get customers because that is the fundamental difference between having a business and really having a business people will sit there in a pub going, yes, what I'm going to do is do this and do that. And they kind of think of it as a kind of visual sense of, yes, I'm going to get a website, I'm going to get some business cards, but they don't really grasp the fact of how difficult it is in the early days to get customers. So we've freelancing sites like Upwork and all the other ones. A lot of that is taken away from them, isn't it and a lot of it naturally comes from Mike Volkin 8:45 Yeah, I mean, it's, it's easy and it's also hard to be a freelancer. I mean, the more you do it, the more you'll find it easy but getting started is the hardest part. It's you know, I referenced going to the gym, getting started is the hardest part right is actually making a commitment. You know, the way I got started With a certain skill set that makes me a good amount of money as a freelancer is I just read a couple books, you know, I mean, I was a marketer for a while. And I wanted to get into the technical side of search engine optimization. So I just started reading all the best books I could find on search engine optimization. And then I got a couple clients that way, just just from the knowledge I got from books, and that was several years ago. Now there's great sites out there like EU to me, and you know, those sites with courses even, you know, my own site. And, you know, there's ways that you can learn online from, from the best people in the world that will bring you video instruction step by step courses. I mean, there's so many research sources out there that you just really have to pick what you really are passionate about, and go with it and not just pick something because it's popular because someone else told you you should get into it. I David Ralph 9:46 mean, a simple way to actually pay for it. Now. I think, you know, I know YouTube's out there. I know YouTube's good, but I do think laser focused content developed, kept up to date, which is a key thing as well is worth paying for and there's a company out there I can't think what they're called you're gonna know who visa Mike I'm sure we've got like Gordon Ramsay doing a cookery class for you and Steve Martin Mike Volkin 10:11 doing classes David Ralph 10:12 master class of a year ago. And you look at that and you think, Well, why wouldn't you pay for that? Why wouldn't you have Mr. Ramsey teaching you something? You're not going to get that kind of knowledge elsewhere? Well, yeah. Mike Volkin 10:24 Yeah, I mean, there's there's YouTube obviously, we can go and you can see scattered information, you can type in a keyword, you'll get a video or two on the topic here and there. But the reason why I did masterclass is because it's a step by step course progression with actual resources spreadsheets that I use in my everyday business, you know, homework assignments and quizzes to track your progress. You just not going to get that on, on sites where you're watching a video or two on a particular topic, every now and then. So what's really popular is these masterclass style of courses where it's just leading the, the viewer through one specific step at a time and then by the end, you're Kind of progressive this whole course. And now you're just, you know, a rock star whatever you're doing with with my masterclass Freelancer masterclass, it's a nine step course. So you finish one you don't start on Step three, you start in step one for a reason. And then you go on to two, three and four that way. David Ralph 11:15 Now one of the things of course, we are going to be talking about that, but one of the things that interests me about you is I do my homework, and I go and I delve around, and I could see that you you left University in 2000, and being your LinkedIn profile starts about 2010. And I'm intrigued by that 10 year what what were you doing? Well, you were you flew in around California getting drunk and surfing, what were you doing? Mike Volkin 11:42 That was last week. So I was I graduated and I played the corporate game for a while, you know, my father was a scientist and I kind of liked science in high school. So I figured what the heck I'll study science, environmental science and college, got a couple degrees, got a dual bachelor's degree and then I got a master's degree. Then I went out and I spent time doing some environmental consulting, and I freaking hated it. I mean, I liked the work. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't my passion. I mean, I was just living the weeks living the months that year by year went by, and I just, I just wasn't, it wasn't doing it for me, you know? So David Ralph 12:17 it wasn't a mic looking back on it now, why wasn't it because, you know, okay, you can float through, you get paid, you get a Christmas bonus or whatever. Why wasn't it doing it for you? Mike Volkin 12:27 You know, it was more along the lines of people telling me when I could go on vacation when I needed to go to work when I could leave. But really, the big thing was my life's purpose. You know, I started thinking about when people look down on my grave at my funeral, what what am I going to be known for? Is it for the bed, I worked for 20 years for this company. I mean, what I was doing, honestly, as a scientist, especially as an environmental scientist, and I would I would travel all over the country, and I would write reports for comfort corporations and factories to tell them how much they can pollute within the law. And, you know, that wasn't my whole purpose. This one was to tell companies how much they could literally pollute within the law of their of their state or the federal government. And I would help clean up certain sites, what's called Superfund sites. But, you know, ultimately, I mean, my passion just changed. I went from wanting to, you know, help the earth and being a lab and do measurements and studies to get that entrepreneurial bug that once once that hits you that hits your heart and hasn't let go sense David Ralph 13:25 because I remember when the bug hits me. And it was just the fact that I started looking around. And I think for many years, and I've referenced this a lot when I started work, I'm an older man when you Mike, but when I started in 1986, there was no internet. There was no email, there was nothing. So you basically were quite content. Looking back on it. There was no mobile phone. You just went to work. The old way of a big pile of paper, and then at the end of it, it was like just go home. But once you start looking around and seeing what other people are doing and what other people are sharing claim to fame, why not me? And it's the big part of my life that I think, why do other people not feel like that? You know, why is that person just beeping things through beep beep at the supermarket? Why are they just content to sit there? Why Why haven't they got that spoke? Mike Volkin 14:20 Yeah, you know, some people, the vast majority of people are like that, you know, I mean, my wife is one of those people who loves her job. She likes going in at eight she loves you know, getting off at five and she likes her off time and she likes her vacation time. There's no fault to you know, people who liked that. But there are a lot of us millions and millions of us who just get that sense of, you know, what would it be like if I put this product to market I've always had this idea in my head for a book I've, I wonder if my extra knowledge I have on I don't know, football coaching could make me some money and then once you get a taste, in my experience once you get a taste of being your own boss and working your own hours and work Wherever you want in the world, I mean, there's just no comparison to corporate life. You can give me all the vacation time and salary you want. There's, there's no no going back for me to corporate life. No, I David Ralph 15:10 agree 100% just the fact that I don't have to book holiday, I just kind of go and we can use don't really mean anything to me. They just have a blend into one. And there are restrictions, you know, we're not getting to get away from the fact that it's just a walk in the park because he's not. And we're going to come back to that shortly. Here's Oprah. Oprah Winfrey 15:30 The way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, what is the next right move? not think about, Oh, I got all of this stuff. What is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move, and the next right move and not to be overwhelmed by it because you know, your life is bigger than that one moment. You know, you're not defined by what somebody says is a failure for you because failure is just there to point You in a different direction. David Ralph 16:01 Now I remember walking around in the early days thinking, oh my god, everything's going to go terrible. Nobody's going to buy this, nobody's gonna buy that. And by weren't they weren't buying anything in the early days and I think it was kind of there was a desperation to me. There wasn't that Tom aim of bedding in an understanding actually what your value is you're just trying to pay bills. But I also look back on it, Mike. And this is where I'm leading with this question that even though I walked around thinking, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god never turned up. I always found a way through. I always manage to do something to pay that month's bills or find it from some other source. Do you look back at those kind of fledgling days when you fall? It was all a pack of cards and actually think I think it was a lot more stable than I imagined. Mike Volkin 16:53 He Yeah, that's a really good example. And I love that quote from Oprah. It's um, it's all about goals. You know? It's amazing what you can accomplish even if you think something isn't going to happen. And that's, you know, one of the things I talked about meditation, but I'm also into self talk positive self talk that helps as well. You know, somebody approaching a task, or even a goal as something you can't do. It's amazing what your brain is capable of. And, you know, there's a goal a right way to do goals in a wrong way. When I tell my Freelancer students to make goals, they usually just come back with a yearly revenue number. And I'm like, no, that's not a goal. You can't evaluate a goal after a full year, you have to break them up into smaller chunks. So just like what Oprah was saying, you know, don't just look at the big picture, look at what it's going to take to chunk that out into smaller pieces of goals. So one goal should be 10 or even 20 separate goals that are very attainable, but still challenging. That's the true way to make progress. David Ralph 17:48 episode eight of Join Up Dots. Six years ago, this was before I launched was a lady called Pamela slim. Now I'd never heard of Pamela slim and once I got her on the show a lot of people said to me Oh, how did you get her on the show and in those days I was just sending emails out willy nilly to people but they always remembers that she said but what she does with all her clients who are stuck is break down everything into those tiny little dots you know those tiny little chunks so it's not like right create a website and do this and do that too big. First of all it is you know, get a comfortable chair get your pens and paper you know tiny little tiny micro steps but lead you along that garden path and then you can quite easily build up build up progress because I think with what you've done and what so many people do, it frightens other people because they see the end sexy product and they don't see the ugly beginning Mike Volkin 18:46 Yeah, I mean look at any social media influencer with 5 million followers, making making their hundred thousand dollars a year on YouTube that you look at that and it's intimidating, but it took lots of milestones to get to that point and lots of individual goals. So, you know, it's, it's about making those goals but making them attainable. I had a client, a student who wanted to write a book and said, you know, Mike, how did you write five books? And I said, What is your book going to be about? And he told me and I didn't quite understand. So I said, you know, what, can you do me a favour and just write the Table of Contents as if you know, you'd be explaining it to me just write out the main chapters. And then he came back to me, he's like, okay, here's the table of contents. You know what I did, I actually wrote out the first first chapter as well, because I started getting into it. Once I wrote the table of contents and things started getting very clear. In my mind, I'm like, see, that's, that's how you do it. You were thinking about writing a book as it being a huge task. But all I did was I asked you to write the Table of Contents out, and now it's starting to form a book on its own. So you can take that analogy and form it to any tasks that you might have in your plate. Now, anybody listening, if there's something that you've always wanted to do that you're kind of always put there's always something that seems to be a priority over it, but it's something that you've been thinking about for years. You know, it's time just to take the smallest possible chunk and just just start doing it. Our goal this week to do something towards that, that chunk to get that started and you'll be surprised that it will be like a, like a rolling snowball downhill. It takes a little bit of effort to get that snowball forms. But once it starts going downhill, it's going to pick up steam on its own. David Ralph 20:12 Because I'm always blown away, Mike, I teach people how to build rocking and rolling online businesses that sort of change their lives. And I would say 95% of them turn up and they say, Oh, I bought URL already. I bought a domain name already. And I go well, what have you done now because you haven't defined your avatar you haven't defined your your goals, you haven't defined your offer. And I guarantee that's going to change as you proceed through. And I suppose what it is it's that enthusiasm to let's get going. But most of them won't give up that URL over. You know, it's about $9 and even though I say to them, Look, there's a bad one out there we can really get some traffic we can really get a brand going. They still want cling to that. That's strange, don't you think? I don't actually understand why I've never asked them but they seem strange to me. Mike Volkin 21:07 Yeah, that's where the experience of being an entrepreneur comes in. I mean, you got a growth hack that kind of stuff, why build out a website and, and I made those mistakes before I spent $40,000 building a business once before I even took it to market and then I realised once I started getting some customers that it wasn't the, the exact product market fit that they were looking for. But you know, it's just a matter of prioritising what needs to be done website very rarely comes first and like you said avatar, Product Market Fit competitive research that kind of stuff needs to be done but you know, that's sexy is to get a website and get a domain and now you feel official. And if that's okay, if it's something cheap and quick like getting a website, at least a domain, that's fine, but I wouldn't I would avoid building out a full website before you have all that other all your other ducks in a row, David Ralph 21:52 because only become fascinated recently about IP addresses. Now it just sounds boring, but I'm fascinated by Every single person has now got the ability to get different search results from Google because Google is so focused on local search, because that's the power. And I'm, I'm obsessed with this concept that every town is a market in itself, every street, and you start with looking at the people next door to you, more than you look across the globe. You know, I just find it fascinating. When I'm driving around my town thinking there's a market, there's a market and every single person has got the ability to dominate. Now, if we save that, why is it then that a lot of people think that it's more difficult than it is because it's not they're the only ones really living in that area? But you've got the the lion's share right at the very beginning? Is it knowledge, or is it belief, Mike? Mike Volkin 22:52 I think it's a combination of both but isn't it amazing? You're talking about, you know, in the at starting businesses in the 90s and I was starting in the Early 2000s it's like, I would have never imagined that I could run a Facebook or a Google ad that would target a specific neighbourhood in, you know, anywhere in my town or anywhere across the United States. I can get super specific if I wanted to target. You know, a freelancer who is specifically in California who makes is a side hustler in she does writing like, I could target that exact person for an exact course that I have. I mean, it's, it's just amazing the opportunities that are available now and where it's going in the future is even more amazing. I mean, with all this mobile technology, what cars have Wi Fi now, I mean, who knows where advertising is going to be five or 10 years from now, but it's certainly a lot different than just opening up the Yellow Pages, what we did a few decades ago, and that was literally your marketing department is where you are listed in the yellow pages. David Ralph 23:45 So we take you back to the freelancer route. Are we now saying that the freelancers I've got even more opportunity because of what we've just discussed, or have a better to, to go across the world and a better become global and I better to join up work and all these different sites but their network reach. Mike Volkin 24:07 Yeah, I know a lot of freelancers who just work in their area locally, there's something to be said about that. I live in Sonoma County in California. And there's a big wine region here, we produce a lot of the world's wine. And I know freelancers who are specific to working, just the wineries, and they are not interested in anything else other than outside of Sonoma County and Napa County out here that produces the fantastic wine. But then there's people like me, I've worked with clients in over 20 countries, and I love it. I think that's great. I'm working with a website right now. And Saudi Arabia is a women's clothing company of all companies. And it's just fascinating the cultural differences and the mar

Introducing Mort Fertel

Today's guest is the Mort Fertel is a leading authority on the psychology of relationships with a global reputation for saving marriages. He’s the creator of Marriage Fitness, a new methodology to marital healing (a proven alternative to marriage counselling). This breakthrough relationship renewal system was born out of Mort’s own marital crisis, as he and his wife worked together to pick up the pieces of their marriage after the tragic loss of three children. Marriage Fitness, which instructs couples to set aside their problems and make positive choices going forward (instead of fixing their broken past), has saved millions of couples from marital crisis. How The Dots Joined For Mort Mort has been a featured expert on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and the FOX News Network; he’s also a frequent guest on talk radio programs. The Marriage Fitness program has appeared in numerous media publications, including The New York Times, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, USA Today, and many more. Mort is a former marathon runner who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania before serving as the CEO of an international nonprofit organization. When he’s not helping others build strong relationships, Mort loves spending time with his wife and five children at their home in Baltimore, Maryland. So does he look back and think wow I have tackled something bigger than I could have possibly dreamt off? And would he recommend people following suit and start their own business? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mort Fertel. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Mort Fertel such as: We discuss the difference between pain and torture and discover that pain always has a purpose. Use the pain to find solutions for better relationships. Why a couple does not have to be compatible to be truly connected and build an amazing relationship that lasts. Mort and his wife actually didn't want to start a business, but they had the passion to create a mission to help the world. And lastly....... Why it is so important to identify and resolve the problems in your life to change the dynamics of your marriage. How To Connect With Mort Fertel Website Facebook Linkedin Twitter Return To The Top Of  Mort Fertel If you enjoyed this episode with Mort Fertel, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy Interview Transcription Of Mort Fertel Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream, a dream to quit his job to support himself online and have a kick ass life. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout, I'm dead, until you found the magic ingredient and no struggles became a thing of the past, of course, was that person. And now My dream is to make things happen for you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Intro 0:27 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:52 Yes, hello. Good morning to you. Good morning to you one and all. Thank you so much for being here on the Join Up Dots podcast show Giving you the inspiration and the motivation to go out and create your own business, get your own dream lives and basically have a bloody good time in the process. Well, today's guest on the show, he is a leading authority on the psychology of relationships with a global reputation for saving marriages. He's the creator of marriage fitness, a new methodology to marital healing, a proven alternative to marriage counselling. Now this breakthrough relationship renewal system was born out of his own marital crisis as he and his wife worked together to pick up the pieces of their marriage after the tragic loss of three children. Now marriage fitness which instructs couples to set aside their problems and make positive choices going forward. Instead of fixing their broken past as a the millions of couples from marital crisis. He's been featured expert on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and the Fox News Network and he's also a frequent guest on talk radio programmes. Now the marriage fitness programme has appeared Numerous media publications, including the New York Times, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, and many more, and he's a former marathon runner who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania before serving as the CEO of an international nonprofit organisation. Now, that's all busy stuff, but when he's not helping others build strong relationship, he loves spending time with his wife and five children at their home in Baltimore, Maryland. So does he look back and think, Wow, I've tackled something bigger than I could have possibly dreamt up starting this. And what do you recommend people following suit and starting in their own similar business? Well, let's find out as we bring on the show to start joining up doors with the one and only Mr. Mort Fertel Mort Fertel 2:47 Good morning, David. I'm doing great. Thank you so much. David Ralph 2:50 It's lovely to have you here. I need to start right from the start big you know, I can't think how terrible it is to lose preaching. Children so you know, let's let's get away from it but bad times have led to good times would you say in Join Up Dots sort of formula? Mort Fertel 3:11 Yeah, we, you know, we we really responded in the end, we responded very well to a tragic situation and take away from the pain of the tragedy and the difficulty of the time, but at least we're able to look back and see that it did have a purpose. It did have a meaning. You know, somebody wants shared with me the difference between, you know, sort of pain and torture. torture is when your pain has no purpose, but pain itself. If you can find meaning and purpose in it, it's tolerable and in the end to the book, sometimes be a blessing. David Ralph 3:57 Well off the 2000 plus shows of Join Up Dots. Literally every man and woman will say that the darkest times in their life were actually the lightest times when they look back on it, it was the moment that they either got the strength or the clarity, or the motivation and enthusiasm to make things better not only for themselves, but for other people. And that's how a business is born. So, as I say, big credit to you to turn that into a positive and let's make it a whole show. A positive. Now, you've got something here that is the marriage fitness and you say it's a new methodology to marital healing, a proven alternative to marriage counselling now, I've never been to either. I've got a rock solid marriage, hopefully Fingers crossed. But what actually is the difference in between marital healing and marriage counselling. Mort Fertel 4:52 You mean diversity, marriage, fitness and marriage counselling? Marriage fitness is the name of the methodology that I created. It's An alternative to marriage counselling. And the differences in short, marriage fitness is not about fixing what's wrong. It's about making new things, right. And what I came to realise was that in a relationship when you make new things, right, it creates a connection between the husband and wife. And it's that lack of connection. It really is ultimately, at the core, the problem of every relationship, in marriage counselling in marriage therapy, typically, of course, it all depends on the therapist. So there are certainly exceptions. But typically, they start with the question of what's wrong. And you get launched into a whole discussion about your problems and your issues, and you try to sort of resolve conflict. But those problems that issues that are, are the answer to that question those problems and issues that you might identify as the problem in the relationship. Really just a symptom, it's not really the problem, even though it's what would come to mind and what bothers you. Really, the problem at the at the core is a lack of connection between a husband and wife. And when a husband and wife reconnect, when those problems just sort of disappear. I'll give you an example. You know, typically in marriage counselling and therapy, they'll work on communication techniques, right? And you know, he'll learn about Mars and children learn about Venus, and they'll practice all these different communication techniques. And they'll repeat after me that I understand what you said. And the irony is, this is after 510 15 years of marriage and really knowing each other upside down and inside out, and we can't seem to see two words to each other and communicate well, without using all these fancy communication techniques. And even then it doesn't work. But if you think back to early in your relationship before you really knew each other, you could communicate with the Wink of enough and you finish each other's sentences. And he didn't know the difference between Mars and Venus and you had practised any communication techniques. How could that be? Because at the beginning, you were connected, and 10 510 15 years down the line, that connection got broken. And so communication techniques don't lead to a deep connection between a husband and wife. It's the other way around. A deep connection between a husband and wife leads to easy communication. And so, in typically, in marriage, counselling and therapy will go backwards into the past the problems and the issues and try to resolve them. The marriage fitness approach is completely different. We're not about trying to fix what's wrong. We're about trying to make new things right. Because at the end of the day, it's by doing that you really do end up fixing what's wrong. It's one of my own students said I can't take credit for this line, although it's perfect. He said I get it what you said the problems don't actually get resolved, they just dissolve. And that's perfectly said. David Ralph 8:08 Now, I don't understand why marriages go wrong. As I say, you know, I think that it is a lack of communication. Me and my wife had nothing in common at all other than the love of ourselves and each other, and the love of our family and our kids. And if she wants to, you know, do something, I am the polar opposite, but we just find that common ground. And we always know that. It's even when it's at its worst, it's still the best thing around. I don't understand why people stop talking to each other. Where as you say, when you first meet, you literally sit talking for hours and you're on the phone or you're in restaurants or whatever, and you just can't get enough of each other. Why do people stop talking? Mort Fertel 8:56 So before I answer that, if you don't mind, I just want to say you just have on something. It's fascinating and brilliant. And I want to just underscore it for your audience. What you just said about your marriage was that you and your wife have almost nothing in common. And yet you have a great marriage and are deeply in love. And in a in a very personal way, you just addressed one of the biggest myths about relationships, which is that a successful relationship has to include people who are quote, compatible. I call this the compatibility. It says if liking the same music and wanting to go to the same sporting events and liking the same food and liking the same climate tastes and furniture and who knows what else people think is like makes me compatible with the other is what makes for a successful relationship. And that is a total lie. Compatibility has nothing to do with a successful relationship. There are plenty of couples like yourself, who might not consider themselves quote compatible, but in working connected, they feel close, they feel they feel in love. And that's not because they share the same interests. It's because they share the same life. And compatibility is something that's very vulnerable. It could be when you first meet and fall in love, it could be that you do that you are compatible, that you do have a shared interests, for example. But if it's those shared interests that are the the cornerstone of the relationship, then the relationship is very vulnerable. Because interests can change, tastes and music can change decisions about what kind of job you want, and where you want to live can change. But when you have a deep core connection, like you just described, that you have with your wife, that's not vulnerable to these outside compatibilities and therefore, the relationship is not horrible. So I know that didn't answer your question, but I hope you don't mind. Just taking a moment, it was fascinating what you said. And it just gave me an opportunity to bring out to your audience a really important point. That's often. Yeah. So an answer to your question, why do people stop talking? Look at the risk of being repetitive. Why? Let's talk about why people talk. People talk because they feel close. People talk because they want to share their life. People talk because they feel connected. They feel intimate. And so people stop talking. People distance themselves from their spouse, when they start to feel disconnected. When they feel don't when they feel not close, when they feel like this person is no longer integrated into my like, the inner part of my life. And so then I have nothing to talk about. And the things that I really want to say that are really all my mind that in my heart, I don't feel comfortable sharing anymore. Because I don't feel that closeness and intimacy. David Ralph 12:07 I'm going to jump in there mo because I know that my wife has 100 million conversations going on with people in 100 million different ways. All of them more than you know, a few words here, a few words there. And I say to her, you know, why don't you phone them up and just talk to him? Oh, I don't want to talk to them. And she's just having all these like bite size all of them conversations with people on messenger and, and WhatsApp and all that kind of stuff. Has that, in your view changed the way that relationships occur? Because, you know, if you go back 100 years ago, you know, before electricity when it went dark, you probably made up your own entertainment. And most of it was about being with each other. Mort Fertel 12:49 So this question, this could be an entire podcast itself. This is a big topic, which I have a lot to say on and you know, you'll you'll you The interview and you tell me our deep you want to go into the slave David Ralph 13:03 you? I will, sir. Mort Fertel 13:06 Okay. But just to start, I think I think that one of the ways in which he has a big impact on relationships is that technology digital communication allows us to experience what I call counterfeit connection. In other words, this this poor connection that I was describing, which is the essence of love, and the heart soul of a good relationship between a husband and wife, person get sort of a calc, a sort of Kwazii counterfeit experience of that collection through digital communication. But the problem is that that connection that we have through digital communication, with government with maybe sometimes dozens or hundreds or even thousands of people It's a very wide connection. The net is cast very wide. I can touch and reach and share my photos and my life with a lots of people. But the connection, it's wide, but it's very shallow. But the real richness of life, the real fulfilment in life comes not from a wide, wide connection that is shallow. It comes from narrow connections that are very deep, but I say narrow, I mean, with a small group of people and if you think about in your life, who's really important to you, what, what relationships really bring your life fulfilment, satisfaction, and enrichment. It's usually just a few relationships. And if you're not experiencing this, if you don't relate to what I just said, it's probably because you've been seduced into this wide net of shallow relationships at the cost of the expense of the real fulfilment, that comes from a few relationships that go really quite deep. So this digital communication that allows us to connect widely what's at risk our marriages, and the whole secret of a, a small number of relationships. And this is a, you know, a wide net discussion a little bit. Isn't it fascinating that we are in the most abundant times in the history of the world. We have the ability to communicate and have relationships with more people. We have more comforts or conveniences, higher standard of living, greater ability to communicate, travel, to get well with we're sick access to medicine. I mean, standard of life is, is just off the charts. If you look at World History, at the same time, that we have advanced in that way, the rate of depression, suicide, loneliness, adoption, adultery, alcoholism, drug addiction, and the list goes on has skyrocketed. Unknown Speaker 16:27 How could that be? David Ralph 16:28 Well, we all know why that is done way. We all know why that is. Mort Fertel 16:32 Right. And I think the reason is exactly what we're speaking about here. Because many of these things, and these are the shallowness of these things, and of our relationships are coming at the expense of the things that really matter most. David Ralph 16:52 know if we spin this on our own its head and take it into the more entrepreneurial view. of the business that you've built. Do you need to have lived this to be able to teach this? So if somebody is out there, and they're listening to this conversation, and they're thinking, Oh, marriage support, I'd never thought of doing that. Do you need to have a crappy marriage to be able to teach people? You know how to do this? Mort Fertel 17:21 I don't know if you need to, but it's hard for me to imagine otherwise. I can't see you need some because I don't feel comfortable saying that. But let's put it this way. I can't imagine it otherwise, I can tell you that the feedback I get from the people that I have worked with, in my programme, is that the programme works, they succeed, because they know I've been where they're at. And I can show them firsthand how to get from where they are to where they want to be. Yeah. And it's not something that I learned in a classroom. It's not an intellectual Ever. It's based on not only my own personal experience, but it's based on the professional experience I've had working with thousands and thousands and thousands of couples that have taken them through this path. So, you know, I think that one of the, just to tie it back to previous piece of our discussion, I think that one of the problems or failures with marriage counselling and marriage therapy is sometimes the marriage counsellor, and the marriage therapist. In other words, I don't think, for me to really succeed and for you to really learn how to turn your marriage on, I have to be a live wire. You have to be able to feel in the what I'm teaching and what I'm sharing. It can't just be some intellectual endeavour. And I think in many cases, I mean, look, let's be honest, you know, to get a licence to be a marriage counsellor. You don't even have to be married. No less have a good marriage. Yeah. Right. I mean, it's it is a academic endeavour, which is kind of silly if you think about it, because what in the world is academic about trying to transform a marriage? I mean, this is typical of man, I'm going to make a commentary outside of marriage camp. This is typical of the entire mental health industry, right? Entire mental health industry wants people to think that it is a science, not an art, they want to be able to assign diagnostic codes. They want to be able to relate to the science of mind. And by the way, they want to be able to get paid by insurance companies. And in order to get paid by insurance companies, you have to assign a diagnostic code and in order to have a diagnosis, so you have to make this like sort of scientific, what we're talking about the heart, we're talking about. Soul, we're talking about the mind. And it's not scientific, you know, it is a bit of an art. And it has a lot to do with character development. And so, you know, the entire mental health industry, not just marriage counsellors and therapists have really, you know, tried to try and try to sort of transform this into something sort of scientific. And it's much more of a personal. And if you haven't been there and haven't experienced it, how can you possibly give somebody something that you don't have? You know, the analogy that I sometimes like to use is, let's say you wanted to know about the moon. You could go in one of two directions. We could go to Harvard, and speak to some Professor on astronomy. And I imagine he could share with us a lot of interesting data about the moon. There's somebody else we could talk to, though that I think would be much more excited. Unknown Speaker 21:01 Neil Armstrong David Ralph 21:04 Yeah, but he wouldn't talk to you when he he never want to talk about the moon at all. I would Neil Armstrong with a get the point. I get the point I get the point. Well, let's listen to these words now. And then we're going to be back with more detail. Steve Jobs 21:24 You ready to make a full time living online? Check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching. Hello, my name is Alan. And I've just completed the excellent eight week course with David before I started working with David Actually, I had no idea where to where to start. I had a lot of ideas about what I probably thought was going to be good in business. David was out to help me through that guy to find that passion. Within literally minutes. We had we had a business idea. And for the last seven weeks, we've been building on it and building on that and the position I'm in now but if you've got an element Here on my own, because of the amount of information that David gives the structure, he's got the full package here. And he explains it in a way that I can understand. His support is is phenomenal. I feel like this is the way business is supposed to work, maybe help me understand what would the logical steps that I should do? How, how can I get this up and running? So I would really recommend this is an excellent course helping you if you have an idea, you have no idea, really teasing that out and some of the practicalities and steps to take to really launch your business whether as a full time job was a side hustle. So it was really excellent. I recommend it for anybody thinking about setting up their own business, or both. It's an exaggeration to say David will totally save you, us. Thank you, David for your amazing help and support which keeps on going. And we certainly couldn't be where we are today without you. So your author David Ralph 22:55 job you would love to become my next success story and have your own life changing. Business following my step by step system, fine tuned over many years to take away the effort and expense that others struggle with, and come across to Join Up dots.com and book a free call with myself. Let's get you living easy life, as it's there waiting for you to get it. That is Join Up dots.com business coaching. So, mort, let's take you back to the early days of your business, you've gone through difficulties in your marriage, you then decide to actually transition and build this business now. What you doing similar stuff beforehand, was this a natural transition? Or was this a total right term? Mort Fertel 23:43 It was a total return. And I think that it's important for people that are interested in starting a business to the most important thing, I think, is passion. And that's why You know what one thing I think that people can learn from my experience from a business point of view is that it came from a very personal place. I mean, my I really wasn't interested in starting a business. I was interested in starting a mission. My wife and I really felt after we discovered sort of this methodology for reconciling marriages, and at the same time realised how pathetic that the help that was available to people out there that were in similar situations, we really felt like we had a responsibility to sort of share this with the world kind of codify it and articulate it in a way that other people could utilise it. And it wasn't it wasn't like, it wasn't coming from a business place. It was coming from a place of being useful, a place of being helpful, a place of wanting to, you know, to contribute to two people into the world and asleep. Freaking away. And, and that translates into passion. And that kind of energy behind a quote, business is so crucial to its success. It's crucial to its success for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's incredibly motivating to the people behind the business. I mean, if you're just motivated to build the business, because you why because you want to make money because you want to drive a fancy car because, like, why there, it's just that that motivation is going to work very quickly and very easily unless there's something else behind it that's really driving you. David Ralph 25:41 But I'm just going to stop you there because what you're saying is absolutely right. And that's why so many businesses fail because they're basically screaming, bye, bye bye. And they're not thinking about Help, Help Help. But with your mission, did you have income coming in that allowed that mission to growing in the beginning, Mort Fertel 26:02 I didn't, but I was 30 I was in my late 30s when I first you know, created the marriage fitness methodology. So, so I already had a whole career before that I had, I had actually multiple careers before that. And so I had some we had some money to live on. I didn't, I didn't have to be working I was I was I had the luxury of being able to develop marriage fitness, without having to draw an income from it for a while, David Ralph 26:38 was have a plan to monetize it because what I want to say is well, more moving through the sort of business coaching world is people leave that final sale on the table for too long by build something based on a mission and then they feel almost guilty about saying, although I've been doing this for free Although I've been building this to help you, actually, I deserve some payment for it. Did you find that was a bridge too difficult to cross yourself? Mort Fertel 27:09 That's a great question. I had no problem with that. And the reason I had no problem with that is because I always had in mind even though it was driven, very mission driven, I always had in mind that I always knew that I wanted it to be profitable. And I wanted to profitable not only because I need to support my family, and I'm not a, you know, I'm not embarrassed to say I wanted to make money I needed I needed to make money. But I wanted it to be profitable, because in order for it to be successful, it had to be profitable. I can't do what I do, unless I'm able to support my family and do it at the same time. So in order for me to make the contribution that I wanted to make in order for me to have the impact that I wanted to have, the way I was going about this had to be profitable. So then why are you always always had that in mind and I hit No problem with, you know, the two piece right purpose and profit, or the two M's margin and mission. And I don't think they're in conflict with each other. I think they actually go hand in hand, because the profit drives the purpose, the margin drives the mission. And I also think that that we the profitability is an indication or a measurement of the contribution that you're making. I mean, if people aren't willing to pay you for what you're doing, then maybe it doesn't have any value. Now, I'm not saying that that is always the case. There are. I don't mean to disparage nonprofits. There are plenty of nonprofits who are doing very, very good work. And there is no business model that could never fund them. They need to rely on contributions and I'm not disparaging that It's fun. But, but in my mind, also, you know, the fact that people are willing to pay you for your product or your service is an indication of the value that it's bringing them. David Ralph 29:12 Well, it's not just the value, though is it is the value, and it's the transformation. And that's the thing that I think people struggle with, they sell a product, but they don't actually think how is this going to transform somebody, and it's either from pain to pleasure, from broke to financial or whatever, they just give a product that sort of sits in the middle somehow, and it doesn't take them from one side of the bridge to the other. Do you see that a lot, because it seems obvious to me when I see a product I think it's never gonna sell because you're not actually giving them the rest of the bridge. You're just getting them halfway across. Mort Fertel 29:50 So do I see a lot I mean, I'm not really, you know, I'm in a different kind of gal or I'm not a business guy. I'm not. I don't, I don't usually look at things like so much from a business perspective. So when I see products or services that I don't know, I'm more I look at them, I think more from a consumer point of view than a business point of view. David Ralph 30:17 Now, how does your wife fit in to the business as well? Is it something that you total down to a little office in your house and sort of deal with customers and clients well, or is she part of it is, is the marriage fitness actually a marriage concern? Mort Fertel 30:35 The most important way that she's a part of it and this is, you know, I think an i

Introducing Life Is Crap

Life is crap for sure. We get up everyday and try our best hopefully...making decisions that will bring us closer to happiness and our dreams. That of course is what we all want, but more often than not life has other plans for us. Life can be so hard and cruel it's untrue, and that has certainly been the case this week for myself and my family. This podcast episode breaks down what has been happening in my life this week. This life is crap episode goes behind the scenes of a major stroke that my mother has had this week. I talk about how it has of course affected her, but also how it has affected the whole family in negative ways. Not least by changing mindsets to life is crap mode, instead of focusing in on what an amazing gift even having a stroke is. Why Life Is Crap And Why It Shouldn't Be The world is full of the graves of people that would love to be moaning and groaning, but arent around anymore. Cancer victims, war heros, unfortunate souls that just were in the wrong place at the wrong time. People who would love one more day on earth. One more hug from their loved ones. Or simply one more breath. But alas, they were not given the chance as life is crap for them. For some reason their fate was sealed by forces out of their control..and why, well you know already Life is crap. But lets take another look at things and this time put a positive spin on them instead. My mum has had a major stroke and now is sitting in a hospital bed unable to move. She has a decision to make as she lays their with dark thoughts running around her mind. She can either think "well at least i am still here, surrounded by people that love and care for me" or "why the hell has this happened to me...i dont deserve it" She is still breathing, she is still eating, she is still watching Netflix. She isnt in a box six feet under the ground becoming lunch for worms. She is sitting up telling the world that life is crap, life is crap...oh my god how crap it is. Hopefully soon she will see what a gift that is. Transcription Of Life Is Crap Episode Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:26 Yeah, how do they have good morning? Well, good morning, and thank you for being here with me on Join Up Dots. Now, this is a show I haven't planned. I haven't planned at all. I'm just turning on the mic. And I'm just going to start talking. And if my voice cracks a little bit, I'm very emotional at the moment. One of one of the things I wanted to do with Join Up Dots right at the very beginning was give you guys the inspiration to follow my journey and see that it's possible and not just being Oh yeah, he's this person that Barry's got a team of 1000 people and he's making it seem really, really easy. But it's not. It's just me. It's just me and I do you know, everything through Join Up Dots. And I've started it right from the very beginning, when it was just a dream in my head, and I've grown it to, you know where it is now seven years now coming down the line. And it's been hard. It's been really, really hard. And but it's been brilliant as well. And it's been sort of exciting, and I've connected with people across the world. But this week, it's been a bit of a difficult week for me personally. Last Saturday, my mom had a major stroke, and we didn't know excuse me, we didn't know anything about it. If you know anything about strokes, there's there's a very short window of time when you can reverse a stroke the blood clot goes to the brain and bacon sort of put chemicals in or something I don't know too much. about it To be honest, because I haven't read too much about it because when I have started reading it, it's upset me. So I'm not reading that. And I've sort of put it away. But there's a short window. And last Saturday, I was working here, my mom and dad live, probably about 10 minutes, five to 10 minutes across the town. And so I can get there very, very easily. And my dad went out for the morning on Saturday. And just after he left, my mom got up and had this massive stroke. And apparently she got out of bed. And she just sort of walked across to one side of the room, the opposite room to the phone, ironically, and suddenly fall, I don't feel very well and Ben she caught herself in the mirror and she said I could feel that one side of my face was going and that was it. She's all blacked out. Now when she came to she was trapped down beside the bed and her dressing table. And as it turns out, she fractured her ankle in two places as well. So she she basically laid there My dad came home about six hours later. And he came in and thought this is strange, you know, a cup of tea is downstairs, He always makes bourbon, certain things hadn't been done. And so he sort of walked upstairs now, but that's it too. And my mom's it should be it very, very shortly. And now it's fit as a fiddle. You know, they really are. There's been no issues at all, but anything. And he goes upstairs and he finds my mom trapped. And so he phones my wife, because that's the sort of emergency contact and she phoned me and I was just happening to go into a football match with my son. So she phoned him and I don't have a phone. I've never had a phone in my life. And this is the first time that I thought, shit, I should shut up a phone. Really, you know, what, what happens if something happens, you know, people always say what about emergency and I was saying emergencies don't really happen. They don't. And, you know, I still covered it because my son was with me, but you You know, we we turned around, we didn't go into the football match and we raced across the town. And we got there and it was evident. As soon as I got there that mom had had a stroke. And she was in a bad way she'd laid on the floor for about six hours. And with the emergency situation here, you have a four hour window. And so if she had managed to phone as soon as it happened, she would have already been in hospital but because she'd gone past that they didn't class her was as serious because there wasn't as much that they could do. And so effectively, we had to wait another seven hours for the ambulance to turn up. And it was about 12 and a half hour window for her to have this stroke to where she is now in in hospital. And she's lost her speech. She's lost her right arm and she's lost her right leg and got no sensation. Now fortunately, the speech is coming back. That's that's a positive and in many ways, I've been there every single day going there. hospital, she, she almost looks like mom now she she's sitting in bed, and she's moaning about certain things. And I bought a tablet with Alexa on it, so that she can speak to it. And it can turn on Netflix and do different things because you know, you're just sitting there in bed all the time. So it's been, it's been a rough, rough, rough, old week. And I've learned so much in this week. And that's kind of what I want to share about. I've realised that you know, we all say that life is fragile. And we always say, you know, you've got to make the most of every day but to be honest, we don't do we need no matter how positive and I'm one of the most positive people. We don't we don't focus in on, you know, every morning waking up and going, you know, this is another day, you know, I've been given a gift, I can do whatever I want. And when that gets taken away from you, and now my mom is sort of sitting there in bed, so I don't know why this has happened to me, you know, I don't deserve this, you know, I've done nothing wrong. It's quite difficult to say the least I'm listening to her talk and staying positive and motivated and trying to encourage everybody just to go out and do their best life. And it's, it's affected me Because now, you know, and you don't want to be hypochondriac but you start thinking Christ, what would happen if this happens to me because I earn my living by talking basically. And so if I suddenly couldn't talk and that was taken away from me, you know, what would I do and our whole family would be turned upside down. Our whole family has been turned upside down anyway, because daddy's rushing up to the hospital. I'm trying to get up every single day as much as possible. And one of the things I've realised is because I've got an entrepreneurial business people kind of feel Oh, it's not a business, you can just do what you want. Now, there are certain controls that I have in place, certainly. But I can't just you know, up and go at any time of the day because I've got people that I've organised, I've got bookings in, you know, it's my business is my income being produced. And it's made me realise this week that people don't see an entrepreneur job as a proper job. They see it as a bit of a jolly, you know, I don't really know what you're doing. You're, you're you're just up in your office and you know, that baby can do this baby could do that. So I've been pulled from pillar to post, trying to run Join Up Dots, deal with my coaching clients, get up to see my mum over time, support my family and haven't really supported myself. One of the things I've realised big time this week is, even though as I'm talking now, I can feel, I would love to really just sub sub sub, I can feel it in me, I can't let go, I can't let go. It's that I know that people look at me to be the rock. And I think I've trained myself to be like that all the way through my life. You know, my mom doesn't show much emotion at all. And my dad doesn't matter. It's almost like it hasn't happened. He just sort of like living his life in a normal way, sort of doing some bizarre jobs just to keep himself busy and stuff. But you gotta let that emotion out. And I know that, but I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to actually unplug myself to perceive that because, you know, my daughter's 14, she's crying all the time, you know, and she's just like, I can't stop, I can't stop. And my wife said a little blob. And I think everybody has except for me, I just can't do it. But you've got to allow that emotion to come through because it's is not good. And I know that I know that. So it's it's not going to be a long episode this one. And I'm not going to try to weave it into some shoes, the motivational you know, seize the moment, get out there and do your thing because you don't know how how long you're going to be on this planet bore, I course we should do surely we should do we should wake up and not just being Oh, I'm going to sit down, watch a box set of whatever, you know, try to make a difference in your life try to make a difference that is sustainable as well as the thing I've realised I realised that a lot of Join Up Dots would be taken away from me instantly. And so I've got to look at it at the level of creating more passive income that can be maintained even if I'm not part of it. You know, I've always felt that the big power is if somebody buys one of my products or my coaching that I'm there, you I'm supporting them. But maybe that isn't the wise thing to do going forward. You know how you guys I don't know, I don't know what to say in this episode, and I don't know what to do. But I just thought it was right for me to tell you and tell you that life is real, you know, Join Up Dots is real. You know, you can listen to other podcasts. And I listened to them. And a lot of time. I think they're talking crap. I really do. I think they're, they're selling a dream. But is it best to give, you know, because they had investment at the beginning, or they have a team behind them, even some of the ones but but I know. And there you go. Yeah, you've done so well. You've done so well. Yeah, I have. But from the moment I started, I had three or four people working for them and that's that's totally different. That is totally different. That's not how most people can start. Most people are a side hustle. So, back back develops into something. Most people will have that dream and start building something in their lunchtimes and in their evenings. And they can afford to invest in people that can afford to invest in PhDs and virtual assistants and all that kind of stuff. So it's a dream built on lies, I think, because it's not what most people can get. And so I just didn't want you to be out there. thinking, you know, and listening to Join Up Dots and hopefully listening to Join Up Dots and thinking but, you know, this is, this isn't real, because it is and it's a real person behind the scenes, talking through a microphone, building a business as I go, trying to inspire you guys and trying to help you guys and support you guys. But it's a real person that has real issues, and has a life going on. That sometimes is out of control and sometimes isn't what you want to be. So yeah, so we're one week week into it really, it happened on Saturday. This is now Thursday as I'm recording today. I've got four podcast episodes to be done later on. To be honest, I don't feel like doing them, I could have cancelled them quite easily have just cancelled them. But that's not right. You know, these people have set up their schedules to appear on the show and stuff. Just because I've got issues doesn't mean that my issue should be passed on to other people. You do what you do. You try to find a way through the solution or the situation and you you are bad for the people that matter most, which which leads me actually on to a realisation that I have been nurturing relationships on line with people that quite frankly, don't deserve it. And it's always me but messages BAM and sort of make sure they're all right and it's always me. I rarely get a message back from anyone at all. And I've realised this week, but that's not gonna happen anymore. I'm gonna, I'm stopping that. I'm not spending any time on people that, quite frankly, don't deserve it. No matter how many sob stories I get, no matter how many leads that I get, and I do get a lot of people that, you know, they come to me every three months, and I've spent time with them every three months, you know, trying to support them, and then the next time they're exactly the same position. I'm cutting it off, because that's not good for me, that's not good for you guys and the ones out there that are willing to really make a difference. And now effectively the people that have come through my coaching, so, Tom that I'm teaching at the moment, Glenn, Ben, David, everyone, I apologise if you know I haven't got your name at the moment, but you guys will get emails from me, you guys will get follow ups to say, Are you okay? Do you need any more help, because you are the guys that are actually making a difference you've invested into yourself. And so you will not get bombarded but I'm going to try to keep up with you guys all the the coaching clients because you're the guys that deserve it and the other people across the world that are just time energy suckers. I'm not giving that up anymore. It's just not worth it. You're only on this planet once and you've got to make the most of each day and you've got to channel your energies into the right people. So Join Up Dots that was a cheery little episode was it really was but um, it's real. Life is crap. It's honest. I want you to know about what's happening. And I'm sure loads of you have had the same situation with parents and loved ones and stuff and so my heart goes out to you because I know how it all feels. From beside, but until next time, I will see you again and I promise you it will be a lot more perky. David next time I'll try and get my head back into the game. Okay, see you later. Unknown Speaker 15:16 Bye bye. That's the end of China. Outro 15:20 You heard the conversation. Now when it's time for you to start taking massive action. Create Your life is he only live he will be back again real soon. Join Up Dots Join Up Dots Join Up Dots. Unknown Speaker 15:43 Jolene, Jolene

Introducing Udo Erasmus Today's guest on the Join Up Dots show is a legendary health and wellness pioneer, acclaimed author and extensive educator. He developed the machinery to create FLAX OIL and started the Healthy Fats Movement. He is the Co-Founder of Udo’s Choice, a global leader in cutting edge health products having sold tens of millions of bottles of healthy oils, probiotics and digestive enzymes. He has incredible knowledge on a range of subjects such as Digestion, Nutrition, Mental Health, Presence, Consciousness, Emotional Awareness and Natural Living. He has extensive education in Biochemistry and Biology, a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology. Udo has impacted over 5,000,000+ lives by passionately conducting 5,000+ live presentations, 3,000+ media interviews, 1,500 staff training's and is a teacher at Tony Robbin’s and Deepak Chopra's events. How The Dots Joined Up For Udo As a war immigrant Udo had an extremely challenging childhood. After being poisoned by pesticides and being unable to find any help Udo began what would become a life long study of health. Udo considers all of the elements of whole health. So how do we get to peak fitness if we are short of money and time in today's ever busy world? And is the mental aspect of health more important than the body or does it not matter? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Udo Erasmus Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Udo Erasmus such as: How a failed marriage caused him to want to get a job that allowed him to go and kill stuff...which almost ended up killing him. We discuss how 95% of people live in a world of scarcity and are terrified of missing out on stuff they actually dont even want. Udo shares the steps for us to take to find the riches inside of us. This is the true wealth. And lastly................. Udo Erasmus shares a story of naked mud wrestling on a beach  with a bunch of men....this wasn't expected!!

Introducing Jeremy Slate Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is Jeremy Slate, the founder of the Create Your Own Life Podcast, which studies the highest performers in the world.  He studied literature at Oxford University, specializes in using podcasting and new media to create celebrity and was ranked #1 in iTunes New and #78 in the iTunes top 100. He was named the #1 Podcast to Listen to by INC Magazine in 2019, as well as being named a Top Influencer by Forbes. After his success in podcasting, Jeremy Slate and his wife founded Command Your Brand to help entrepreneurs get their message out by appearing as guests on podcasts. But as we see with Join Up Dots time and time again these are the highlights. These are the things that get shown to the world as they are hard earned success that deserve to be shown in the brightest light possible. How The Dots Joined Up For Jeremy As there is no doubt that success does not show itself to anyone who is unwilling to do the hard work. Self development is key, and one of Jeremy’s biggest successes was when he failed at his first podcast. This made him realize he wasn’t an expert and needed to be willing to learn. He needed to understand what is needed to bring all the pieces together and make the engine of success work? So how did he find the thing that made him focus his energies in one direction? And where does he see so many people go wrong nowadays - not choosing wisely or just going the route of most congestion? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Jeremy Slate. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Jeremy Slate such as: Why the majority of people want to get into the podcasting space to become famous although they haven't truly defined what they are going to offer. Jeremy shares the transition that he went through to the find his success in life after the shock illness of his mother rocked his world. Why so many people are wanting to be passionate out of the gate instead of getting their head down and simply digging deep to find the passion. and lastly........ We discuss why it's so important to get your spider senses up and really focus on who you are building relationships with.

What Does Fall Forward Mean?

Fall forward they say.

Fall forward and you cant ever fail.

But of course what does this really mean?

What does Fall Forward actually mean in real life when you are busy living life and simply trying to get by each day?

Through Join Up Dots journey to where it is today, there has been many many times when we could have stopped running the show. We weren't getting the listeners, or the income, or simply the effort was too much. At those times we had a choice to make....do we keep on moving forward or just fall back into how life was before? That my friends is a big decision to make and one that we can answer without doubt - We were never going to go backwards, it was fall forwards all the way. How To Fall Forward With Ease I think the easiest way to fall forward is to be flexible as to what you want to achieve in life. You see if you only give yourself one or two options, and these dont go the way that you would like them to go then its going to be hard. You will look at your situation and think "I need to go backwards or at least change direction" However, if you are only look at the wider picture, and for example you want to be an actor instead of being James Bond then choose again - fall forward. I think that is sensible advice and one that can make the road to success so much enjoyable to take. Transcription Of Fall Forward With Denzel Washington David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream a dream with his jobs for himself online and have a kick ass life working when he wanted him where he wanted across the world. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout and debt, until he found the magic ingredient. And those struggles became a thing of the past. Oh man, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen to you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Intro 0:31 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be but somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:57 Yes, hello. Good morning here. Good morning, and welcome. Come to a Join Up Dots. Yes, rolling into it feels like some have done it. It feels like summer. I'm looking at my window at the moment. I'm in a pair of shorts, a T shirt. And it looks like I could go running around the world, waving my manly body at people and I would be fine. But yeah, probably still cold outside, but it certainly feels like summer is on its way and it makes you feel good, doesn't it? It makes you feel good to feel that way. Well, today's episode is gonna be a very, very short one. But it's from a guy. It's from a guy called Scott who dropped me and he's he's dropped me a couple of emails recently giving me some advice about you know, content for the show. And I love that. I love that Scott. So thank you so much for dropping me alive. Because he does he knows I'm sitting here sometimes thinking bleeding Oh am I gonna do today because there's a lot of content to fill up. So if any of you guys are out there and you see something that's inspiring that you think you could share with the world. Drop it through At Join Up dots@gmail.com I'm just like Scott did. So Scott had sent me a video and he says, Mr. Ralph, you sexy man. As a longest term listener, I'm inspired by the value you give to people. Despite not being an entrepreneur, I'm a teacher, with a love of motivation and feel but below clip and these attached this clip could add relevance to your listeners. The clip offers two important pieces, which I believe are linked to your wider message number one, full forward of Yes, fall forward. I thought I said fail forward, my eyes are going fall forward, pull forward. When you fail, don't go back into the safety of previous living like you file but push on and work hard. Right? Okay. So that's the first great bit that we're going to hear. So there's all these things I see a lot of times when people will connect with me and say, Hey, I'm thinking of doing is doing XYZ and I actually had a message from lovely lady called Amy and Amy is hugely talented. As a sort of lounge singer, she's got this wonderful voice where she can, you know, sing, and it sounds like an old person's voice, but she's young and she's beautiful. So it's like the sort of 1950s or 1920s and I saw a video she gave me a video the other day of her doing gangster's Paradise by Coolio. And I like this. I didn't realise it was gangster's paradise until I got to the chorus, because it was such a different vibe, but she can do anything she wants. And now she has quit her job in a bank. And now she's transitioning to becoming a full time musician. And she connected with me and she said, I'm not sure if I've done the right thing. It feels so wrong at the moment. And I said, No, it's right. It's right because you were in comfort zone. You were in that that anchor but was rooting you to the spot. So do something if it doesn't feel right then do something else but just keep on moving forward. until you get to the dream because so many people, as Scott is referencing in this email will do something and go, Oh, don't like this and then go back. And I used to see that I used to work in insurance and banking. And people would sort of quit. And they would Well first of all, they would quit like, Oh, I I'm not happy here anymore. I want to go off and do my own thing. So they would leave an insurance company and go and work for an insurance company. It's the same thing, or other people will quit. And then you see him come back, and I go, No, don't as I say to people, you can't reheat a souffle, and I don't know where that phrase comes from. But basically, once you made a souffle, that's it. You can't ever make it. Do what he needs to do again. So don't go back. Don't go back. And the second point to this is give your ideas and potential a chance to flourish. Don't keep them locked away. Now the clip he sent me is a condensed version of a Denzel Washington speech. She will hear then We say Denzel over here but he says Denzel base that sounds a bit pompous. He didn't point to his originally by Les Brown. However, Denzel gets the point across concise and accurate. If you feel any of the clip has relevance and you'd like to add it to your sound clip repertoire, feel free to not only am I gonna do that, I'm gonna play the whole speech. So this is Denzel, a commencement speech speaking, like Steve Jobs does to a load of students. And he gives some great advice here is Denzel for forward. Fall Forward With Denzel Washington 5:34 This is what I mean. Reggie Jackson struck out 2600 times in his career the most in the history of baseball, but you don't hear about the strikeouts people remember the home runs Unknown Speaker 5:48 for forward. Fall Forward With Denzel Washington 5:50 Thomas Edison conducted 1000 failed experiments. Did you know that I didn't know that because the 1000 and first was the light bulb. Unknown Speaker 6:01 fall forward. Fall Forward With Denzel Washington 6:04 Every failed experiment is one step closer to success. You've got to take risks. And I'm sure you've probably heard that before. But I want to talk to you about why that's so important. I got three reasons and you can pick up your accident. Unknown Speaker 6:20 First, Fall Forward With Denzel Washington 6:23 you will fail at some point in your life accepted, you will lose, you will embarrass yourself, you will suck at something. There's no doubt about it. And I know that's probably not a traditional message for a graduation ceremony. But hey, I'm telling you embrace it, because it's inevitable. And I should know, in the acting business, you fail all the time early on in my career. I audition for a part in a Broadway musical. Perfect role for me I thought, except for the fact that I can't sing. So I'm in I'm about to go on stage. But the guy in front of me he's singing like, like, like Pavarotti just wrong. Just going on and on and on. And I'm just shrinking I'm getting smaller and smaller. So they say oh, thank you very much. Thank you very much and and you will you'll be hearing from us. So I come out with my little sheet music and it was it was a just my imagination by the temptations. That's what I came up with handed to the the accompanist and she looks at it and looks at me and looks at it the director and he's like, Alright, so I started, you know, I'm saying I'm coming away with me, and I'm not saying anything, so I'm thinking I'm getting better as I started to start getting into it. running this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Washington. Thank you. So I assumed I didn't get the job. But the next part of the audition, he called me back. The next part of the audition is the acting part of the audition. No, I'm like, hey, okay, maybe I can't sing, but I know I can act. So they pair me with this guy. And again, I didn't know about musical theatre. And musical theatre is big, so they can reach everyone all the way in the back of the stadium. And I'm more from a realistic naturalistic kind of acting where you, you know, you actually talked to the person next to me. So I don't know what my line was. My line was will hand me the cut. And his line was, well, I will hand you the cup, my dad, the cup will be there to be handed to you. Unknown Speaker 8:55 Okay. Fall Forward With Denzel Washington 8:58 Well Should I give you Come back. Oh, yes, give it back to me because you know, that is my cup, and it should be given back to me. I didn't get the job. But here's the thing. I didn't quit. I didn't fall back. I walked out of there to prepare for the next audition and the next audition and the next one is I prayed. I prayed. And I prayed. But I continue to fail and fail and fail, but it didn't matter because you know what? There's an old saying, You hang around the barbershop long enough, sooner or later you're going to get a haircut. So you will catch a break and I did catch a break. Last year I did a play called fences on Broadway. Someone talked about it won the Tony Award. I didn't have to sing by the way. But here's the kicker. It was at the Court Theatre. It was at the same theatre, that I failed that first audition 30 years prior. The point is, and I'll pick up the pace. The point is, every graduate here today has the training and the talent to succeed. But do you have the guts to fail? Is my second point about failure? If you don't fail? You're not even trying. I'll say it again. If you don't fail, you're not even trying. My wife told me this great expression. To get something you never had. You have to do something you never did. Les Brown's a motivational speaker. You made another analogy about this says, imagine you're on your deathbed. And standing around your deathbed are the ghosts representing your unfulfilled potential. The ghosts of the ideas you never acted on, the ghosts of the talents you didn't use, and they're standing around your bed, angry, disappointed and upset. They say we came to you, because you could have brought us to life they say. And now we have to go to the grave together. So I asked you today how many ghosts are going to be around your bed when your time comes? David Ralph 11:34 Isn't that powerful in that powerful that he just kept on going forward and bored. And as I was watching that I was referencing Join Up Dots because I've been doing it nearly seven years now six years of shows but seven years of preparation before I went live, and I have done so many things wrong. So many things. It's untrue. But just this week, I decided that I wasn't going to be on Facebook anymore. Personally, I found myself getting sucked into Facebook land. And so you can go over and you can hump for me. And I've deleted everything that I've ever done on Facebook in a personal manner. And as I was going through it, I kept on seeing all these names. And I think they were all over it. They were all over in the early stages, they were doing their own thing. They were hustling, and I don't see any of them. They've all given up, they've all moved on to other things. They just, they've changed direction or whatever, but that their face isn't visible in my world anymore. But I'm still going and I'm still moving. And I'm still standing as elton john said, and it's just getting better and better. And there's not a plan. Yes, I know so much. Now, there's so much I know about business. I'm teaching Tom and Glenn, one to one at the moment. they've signed up for my one to one business course and they are going to Life's changed because of what I've learned in the last seven years. But there was no blueprint for it. I just kept on trying things and moving forward and keep on going. And little by little things, find its shape and you find the success that you want. And it may not necessarily be the success you wanted in first place. Certainly, I had totally different dreams and, and ideals. When I started I wanted global domination I wanted to be famous, really, I suppose. And with podcasting, I don't think that's the right angle to go some people get that but it takes its toll on you. And now my goal is trying to get people to create their dream lives and move forward and learn online business and, and really give them the experience that I've I've gained, but there was no blueprint. I just kept on falling forward constantly every single day. Seven years even longer than that 15 years plus, some of my stuff has been online. And through that process, you get to where you want to be. So Scott, thank you so much for dropping us that line really, really appreciated it. What's that a couple of times I saw it about I don't know, a few years ago. And for some reason, I never brought it into the show. So powerful, powerful stuff. And really appreciate you taking the time, sir. And also for the other emails you've been sending through as well. So as I say, if anybody out there is watching YouTube or, or TV or wherever, and you see something, that's good, that's good. Send it through to us. And we will add it onto the show. And we'll give you a name check. And you can be famous in your own world, or just feel good, but you're actually helping other people. you're sharing the inspiration to get people to get their dream lives. And their little economists say I'm so inspired. Until next time, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for listening to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for Denzel. And Scott, we'll see you again soon. Bye bye. You ready to make a full time living online? Check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching. Outro 15:10 Hello, my name is Alan. And I've just completed the excellent eight week course with David. Before I started working with David Actually, I had no idea at all, where to start. I had a lot of ideas about what I probably thought was going to be good in business. David was out to help me through that though, to find that passion. Within literally minutes. We had we had a business idea. And for the last seven weeks, we've been building on it and building on it and the position I'm in now, I don't think I've ever got here on my own Unknown Speaker 15:42 because of the amount of information that David gives the structure. He's got the full package here and he explains it in a way that I can understand. His support is is phenomenal. I feel like this is the way business is supposed to Unknown Speaker 15:56 work. David helped me understand Okay, what were the next logical steps that I shouldn't Do How can I get this up and running? So I would really recommend this as an excellent course helping you. If you have an idea if you have no idea, really teasing that out and at some of the practicalities and steps to take to really launch your business, whether as a full time job was a side hustle. So it was really excellent. I recommend it for anybody thinking about setting up their own business. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say David will totally save you, us. Thank you, David for all your amazing help and support which keeps on going. And we certainly couldn't be where we are today without you so your author, David Ralph 16:36 so if you would love to become my next success story and have your own life changing online business following my step by step system, buying tuned over many years to take away the effort and expense that others struggle with. Then come across to Join Up dots.com and book a free call with myself. Let's get you living the easy life as it's there waiting for you to get it. That is Join Up dots.com Nice coaching

Introducing Denny From The Flat River Band Today's guest joining us on the Denny from the American up and coming Flat River Band. One thing is apparent when you listen to The Flat River Band. The trio, comprised of siblings Andy, Dennijo, and Chad Sitze, love to have fun when they are playing music – and it shows. This bond has carried the success of the band throughout the years as the trio has opened for the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines, Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, TG Sheppard, among others.  The brothers have also charted #1 hits on the bluegrass gospel charts as well as have had their songs featured in the 2018 movie “The Least of These — A Christmas Story” featuring Duane Allen (Oak Ridge Boys), Deborah Allen, and Tayla Lynn (Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter).  That unabandoned joy and love of music comes to the forefront when you listen to the band’s new album, Every Dog Has Its Day. The trio’s fifth effort is one that the band is very excited to bring to the attention of its fans. The Dots Join Up For Flat River Band Aaron McDaris who plays with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage was brought into play banjo, and much to the brothers’ surprise, he brought with him his 1934 Gibson RB-3 that was owned by Sonny Osborne who recorded the University of Tennessee’s theme song “Rocky Top” with that same banjo in 1967. One of Dennijo’s guitar superheroes, Johnny Hiland who is legally blind was brought in to play the electric guitar, while Stuart Duncan played fiddle. Those all-star names only add to the first—rate musicianship that fans have expected from The Flat River Band over the years. Again, Denny chalks that up to the undeniable bond between the three brothers that grew through a dozen years performing at Branson’s Silver Dollar City and five at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. So how do you make a noise that gets heard in today's world of American Idol and instant gratification that actually builds a career? And is their path fixed and determined or simply understanding that somewhere down the line the dots join up to show the true story? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show the one and only Denny from the Flat River Band Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Denny from Flat River Band such as: How they toured as children with their parents, an unconventional childhood but one full of life lessons Denny shared how he had to learn not to press the hot buttons of his family even when he felt a desire to do so.. Why he and his brothers have vowed never to play the Broadway in Nashville again...although it teaches you so much in the process. Why no artist is better than the team that surrounds it, even if some members of that team turn out not to be the right ones. and lastly........ The magic of Dolly Parton who has remained firmly rooted to her humble beginnings no matter how big her star.

Introducing Rick Kantor Rick Kantor is today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a huge delight for me, as he is a second time guest on the show and quite simply has flourished since last appearing. Rick Kantor does things his way, even to at the age of 61 going back to graduate school and getting a Masters in Creativity and Innovation, when to be honest the majority of us are glad that education finished in our teens. What makes this even more unusual is that this is a guy who has started and run several successful companies, ranging from a novelty manufacturing company, to Terrasanti a natural wall product made from American Clay, which has won many awards over the last few years He classes himself as a life term entrepreneur, but its the fascination for continued education that is so inspiring, as 10 years ago when he sold his novelty manufacturing company moved to a new town in California and spent the next 3 years getting a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and mixed media from Sonoma State. But now since our first recording he really seems to have stepped into the person that he wanted to be all along. The person that walked boldly into every situation and makes a difference to who he meets. How The Dots Joined Up For Rick As he says "I'm all about every person in the workplace profoundly recognizing that their next creative thought-- whoever they are and wherever they work in whatever job position--might be the 'Jenga' moment that topples the wall of ordinary to provoke an extraordinary disruptive innovation. I ignite this capacity in others through teaching the skills of creativity (yes, teachable!), individual and team coaching, dynamic highly energized and humorous presentations, speaking and keynotes. I draw on a lifetime of creative success, companies and products. As a serial entrepreneur, my businesses have been at the intersection of novelty, art, satire and consumer products that balance on the societal edge. We all need catalysts to make new creative connections that are tomorrow's disruptive ideas, services and products. That's what I bring to my audiences to provoke their capacity for finding the best unexpected ideas. Teaching the skills of creative thinking to organizations builds creative leadership and culture that is systematic and systemic. So would he say that since our last recording the person that he is, is night and day different to what he was? And where is his sweet-spot now in business and life? What is igniting him to greater and greater achievements. Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Rick Kantor. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Rick Kantor such as: Why it is so important to find the enjoyment in any task  no matter how boring. Look deep and you can find the fun believe me. Rick shares the battle that he has with getting his name out there, by tooting his own horn to create clients. A battle that most entrepreneurs have daily Rick talks openly about his belief that there is no such thing as originality anymore, all the clues to our own success are already waiting for us to pick up. and lastly...... We talk about the creation of the Join UP Dots branding and why looking at the big picture isnt always the best way to success.