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

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

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.

Introducing Rental Income From Property with Eric Bowlin Rental Income From Property with Eric BowlinToday’s guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is Eric Bowlin, a 33 year old and have over 480 doors of rental property. I’ve travelled to over 14 countries and love to experience new cultures, food, beer, exercising, and improving myself. I’m focused on creating long-term wealth for my family. I sometimes will work for two weeks straight – waking up early and staying up late to get something done. Sometimes I take a month or two vacation for no reason other than to have a new experience. I’m free to travel or live anywhere I may want to go whenever I may want to go. That’s the great part about independence, I am free to do what I want. But how did this all start? How did he find the passion to create an income and lifestyle that other people would simply die for? How Eric Started Earning Rental Income From Property Well as he says “It was an accident that I even got into real estate. While studying for my Ph.D. in Economics at Clark University in Worcester, MA, I wanted to buy a home. I almost made the classic blunder of buying a huge liability, but fortunately, I ended up buying a small multifamily property and the rest is history. So is this something that takes a huge amount of investment to get going? And is this something that needs a team to monitor rental, clients, and perhaps the bad clients that people fear? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the only and only Eric Bowlin. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Eric Bowlin such as: Why he has moved to Puerto Rico for the tax benefits and how it has made him be able to work less but achieve more. Eric shared how he stumbled into rental simply because he didn’t hit the criteria to get a single apartment. We discuss the crisis point when life becomes too easy for someone, after they gain the financial success. What do they aim for then? and lastly…….. Why it so important to surround yourself with the same kind of people that are doing what you are doing. Find your people as quickly as possible. How To Connect With Eric Bowlin Website Facebook Twitter Linkedin Return To The Top Of Rental From Property Expert Eric Bowlin If you enjoyed this episode with rental from property expert Eric Bowlin, 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 When Your Dream Job Disappoints When your dream job disappoints is an issue that can cause great distress in your life. You go for the dream that you think is going to make your own life wonderful and after awhile it seems less than great. But what causes this to happen after you put in so much effort to get to where you are. Well when your dream job disappoints it's more often than not that it either doesn't match up to what you thought it would be about. Or it just becomes normal, and as we all know normal stuff doesn't seem sexy and glamorous. It is just normal stuff that we have to do to go and pay the bills. We lose track of the reasons why we wanted to do it in the first place, and that is when your dream job disappoints. So lets start by looking at email that we received that made us look at this subject in today's podcast episode Dear David, i saw a link you put on Linkedin talking about why do people go for the dream job anymore...would you mind expanding on this? You encouraged me to start my own nursery child minding job and i love every second. I am slightly surprised that you are now changing direction Claire Morgan So now let's look at the Linkedin post: Being honest you see a load of inspiration on Linkedin that in my view misses the point totally. Everyone talks about getting "The Dream Job" all the time, and find your passion and you never work again. But does anyone really want a dream job at all? Doesn't everyone simply want a life that they can do what they want when they want and forget the job? Why is everyone so hung up on finding the dream job? Do what you have to do to earn the cash and then LIVE the dream instead. In the todays podcast episode When Your Dream Job Disappoints - we of course break down the subject in the only way we know. Honesty all the way. So what do you think about the subject When Your Dream Job Disappoints? Should we care at all, or just be glad that we are in a job? Drop us a line at joinupdots@gmail.com and tell us Return To The When Your Dream Job Disappoints If you enjoyed this episode with when your dream job disappoints, 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 When Your Dream Job Disappoints 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 there. Good morning, everybody. Good morning and welcome to a Join Up Dots is a Join Up Dots hit Halfway through January, the sun is shining. And, and to be honest, I would do anything rather than this at the moment. It's one of those things, and this is what I'm going to talk about. Because it's when you create a job that looks sexy for a certain point of time, after a while, it stops becoming sexy. And you, you, you change, and you realise that the motivation to do something isn't quite as strong as it was previously. And I'm going to explain about that. Because I think so many of us go into jobs, and we are brilliant. They've got this new job. It's fantastic. Yeah, and I'm really inspired. And then after a while, you kind of hit or, you know, it's not as good as I thought it was, and then afterwards, and that's called normalcy that is no more see where it becomes normal. And then when you're normal is a lot sexier than other people's, it stops being sexy. So you see these people all the time, you know, living these amazing lives and when you speak to them, they seem really sort of bored. with it because it's just become their normal. And so today, today, my young friends, yeah, I could be doing anything other than this, but I'm doing it because I it's my job. And that's what we have to do. And it's gonna lead into a link that I put on to a post I put onto LinkedIn. Let's get it straight David. And a response that I had from a lovely lady that I knew a couple of years ago, Claire Morgan, Claire Morgan, and so it's all going to come together. But before we start before we start I just want to say thank you to pre guys I spent all weekend with and why we're Ben David and Pete Pete from Sutton Coldfield. Ben from I think it was was door glass door somewhere. And David was all the way down in Adelaide, Australia and they connected with me for my two day podcast course and we sat there tend to form really tend to to both days going through what makes a podcast Six Figure event. And I think I think they were blown away. To be honest, when I spent all my time saying to people, the success of a podcast is nothing to do with the recording and the microphone, and people still don't get back. But I sat with David and Pete and Ben. And hopefully guys, hopefully, we're going to see some big profits coming into your life because it's better for you. And now you know how to do it. You go ahead. So that was brilliant. Really enjoyed that. Also, I'd like to say thank you to Dan, who actually visited the Join Up Dots, HQ, yes. He's come up into the office on Monday evening. And he was a guy that I trained on online businesses, probably about six months, eight months here ago, whatever. And he's still getting ideas coming to him all the time thinking should I do this? Should I do that? So I sat with him and I said to him, let you know how to do it. Up to you, you know exactly how to do it. And I sketch this stuff out on a bit of paper for him. And you could see a penny dropped, a penny dropped. And he suddenly realised that making a living online isn't hard. It's really, really easy. And I'm going to say it again. Because I say all the time and fingers crossed, people are going to get this. You find the value that other people want. And then you give it to them. You make them see that value, and then they pay for it. And it's really, really easy and everyone who sort of come through my coaching, they get that they get that and if I haven't quite got it, there comes a moment when they can see it. And then I go oh my god, yeah, there's opportunities everywhere. So Dan visited Join Up Dots Hq and he met my my silane my daughter and he came in my house. I mean, he went down to the pub and met my wife. I gave them the Join Up Dots tour. And proven night I could just see he wasn't quite with me. He was We've made but he's brain had already switched because I think he's now got it. He can now see how easy it is to make money online. So Dan, I salute you, sir. You are not only a sexy individual, but you are now Yo Yo Mama, I will be absolutely honest. You're my mate. And I want to see you do as well as possible. Okay, so let's get on to today's podcast episode. And this, this was an email, I was thinking to myself, what should I talk about? And then I received an email this morning, and if that makes sense. So this was the email database, I saw a link you put on LinkedIn talking about why do people go for the dream job anymore? Would you mind expanding on this? You encouraged me to start my own nursery childminding job and I love every second I'm slightly surprised that you are now changing direction Claire Morgan. And so the list expand on my my thinking I speak to so many people, okay. And they are hung up on the, I want to do something amazing, I want to do something sexy, I want to go for the dream. And I understand but I really do understand that. But over the last few years of talking to literally hundreds of you, and now realising that very few actually then go for the dream. It's because it's too big. Now, I've started thinking over a period of time, but and this is comes with the motivation of doing Join Up Dots as well because because I do so well financially, there's a part of me that things I don't really want to do anything else, you know, I'm quite happy to float around, especially when it gets sunny. Find other things to do. Van do my dream job and I'm doing business with my fingers my dream job because people always say to me, oh, it must be amazing and it is. It really is amazing. But I can find out the things to do. And I've started to wonder and I'd love you to drop me a line or come over to Join Up Dots, whatever. And tell me your point of view on this, because I'm starting to think that the dream job isn't important. But it is having the dream life. You know, does anybody really want a job? A job is something that you have to do to pay the bills. But if you can pay the bills easily, then why would you worry about the dream job, you'd fill your time up with doing things that you want to do? You know, I love getting in the car driving along with the music on exploring places going for a pub lunch, just sort of just wandering around, really, you know, I just love that a little bit of adventure every now and again. And this month, we're going away for a couple of nights with some friends. And then next month, I'm going to Iceland for about a week. And then on in April, we got something else and I just spend all my time planning to do things away from the job because I now can and I'm just thinking about it all the time. So I put this post up on LinkedIn, and it said, Would love to know your comments being honest, you see a load of inspiration on LinkedIn that in my view misses the point totally. Everyone talks about getting the dream job all the time and find your passion, then you never work again, find your passion. But does anyone really want a dream job at all? Doesn't everyone simply want a life but they can do what they want, when they want, and actually get the job? Why is everyone so hung up on finding the dream job, do what you have to do to earn a cash and then live the dream instead? And so, I keep on talking to people and I say to them, Look, it doesn't matter about the big sexy being let's do a few small things. Let's be pragmatic on it, to pay your bills, get your debts down and give you the free time to then go and do other stuff. And once you start learning income streams, you can just do more and more and more, you know, I could literally do 100 A week really, and I don't because you get to a point, you know, when you do get lazy and you think to yourself, I can't really be bothered. But then people come along to me and they go, why aren't you doing more with this? I go, I'm doing. Ready. I can't be bothered, really. But there is so many opportunities out there. Why don't we just learn how to make money online? Simple as that. And so when you think to yourself, or I need to pay my mortgage off, just being like, okay, let's create the value for paying the mortgage off. And it's quite easy. I say the word easy again, because if you think to yourself, Well, I make 30 pounds a day. Now 30 pounds a day, 600 pounds a month, 900 pounds a month. Okay? So you are literally biting into quite a hefty chunk of a mortgage. Now, I think in the United Kingdom, most most mortgages around sort of 900 1200 pounds or whatever. But if you suddenly I'm making 30 pounds, which isn't life changing, but it is constant every single De Vayne you pay your mortgage up really, really quickly, you've been suddenly got 1000 pounds a month or 900 pounds a month, but you didn't have which you can then pay off our debts. So you only need to get that small pragmatically built, income stream coming through. And what I like doing is creating leads for other people's businesses. So when you drive down the high street, when you drive anywhere on Earth, you will see businesses that are reliant on other people's customers. So when you know how to do online traffic generation, all you've got to do is actually pass that traffic to them and say, if 10% of our 10 pound for every lead or whatever, and monitor it. And once you get it going, you don't even have to monitor it yourself. And I'm going to keep on banging on about this. I really am because you don't actually have to be doing the work. You build the thing. Then once he starts flowing, you then build another one and you move on, you know, I am doing, I've got five or six things at the moment, operating, and some of them are barely very small and they only pay me back maybe, you know, 80 pounds a month, whatever. But 80 pounds a month suddenly means but, you know, my phone is paid for, or my mobile phones or my kids have or whatever, you know, it's somebody else's money that comes in, which means I've been got an extra 80 quid to Ben spend on something else. And that's how it builds, you end up paying for all your debts based on other people's money. Yeah, it's not your money. You just look at it and think, okay, I want 600 pounds a month extra? How do I get this? Right? What I need to do is get 20 pounds a day. How do I do that? And I think the quickest way, as I say is to drive leads into other people's businesses, and there's hundreds of them, you know, 7.8 billion people on the planet and you can just keep on doing it. Doing it doing, it's what I teach. It's what Do and everybody out there who's been for my coaching will now know, they get that Penny drop moment, but I realised that opportunities are everywhere. So yeah, I put that post on. Why is everybody so hung up on finding the dream? Because I now think, is it the dream job that you want? Or do you want the dream life? You know, if somebody said to you, there's 3000 pounds a month, don't do anything. would you go? Oh, no, no, I still need to get the dream job. I don't think you would. And so there's so many posts on LinkedIn, so many posts on Facebook and stuff, and I just looking at them and I'm thinking, I think they're missing the point. I think people I think that ultimately, we're all lazy. You know, even the ones that are hard working and I work harder than most people. I think we still push comes to shove. We would love to do something that we want to do it in our own time and create like maybe a dream hobby. That takes out tonight. We're not forced on monetizing it, but it gives us the engine Women and we wake up each morning and do it, you know, Join Up Dots. When I'm doing it, I love it. But Join Up Dots is the lead generation Join Up Dots and I speak people across the world connect with me, I've been speak to them. Some of them I never see again, some of them. I was talking to this person during the week. I won't say any names, I won't say any genders. But I gave him an hour. So of my time they came through by email, and then I sent a nice email back and I said, you know, if you ever need to talk, you know, just drop me a line. And I had nothing to do that time. So they did. And so I connected in zoom, and they were across the world. And I gave him about an hour of my time. And it was all thank you so much, David, thank you so much for you know, your help and your assistance. I said no problem at all. You know, that's what I do. That's what I do. You know, that's I'm here. And I said, I'd really like to get onto one of your courses. Could you send me the invoice and I'll sign up for it. And then finally, if that's what you want, so anyhow, send the invoice down. And then about two days later, I get the most horrible email Back from this person, just you know, just, I won't say the words, but if you imagine the worst words that you can think of directed at me, and I just went back to him and said, well, thank you for your understanding. And we're obviously not a fit, you know, but you get that sometimes she gets some people talk about, but the majority of people that come through, I am about Penny drop moment when you see them go, yes. Okay, I can see what you're saying. This is how we do it. So for all of you out there, oh, I've had a response actually, about this LinkedIn post. And I've just seen this. This is Robert load or low day, and he's a gentleman in I think, Berlin, in Germany, but I was connected to God. He says two years ago, I'd be surprised if it was two years ago. And he says, David, in regards to your post here, I remember that you gave me the last push I needed for starting my coaching business two years ago. So I followed my dream and so far, it is still my dream job. I can help people and do what I'm good at, and all that without getting totally stressed out. So thanks again for your support. So that's great. So Robert, you know, he has found a dream job. And he's been doing it for two years. But I think there will come a time where but but it's not the dream anymore. And that's because you've grown, you've, you've moved into bigger things, and your vision is different. And you realise that what interests you, you know, when I was five years old, you know, I used to want to dress up like naughty and do jigsaw puzzles all the time. Now, I like to do jigsaw puzzles, but don't often dress up like naughty, we change we move. And if we were the same people, as when we first met, and when you see people split up and I go, Oh, you've changed and you've been a cause of bloody change. You know, I've been with you for 30 years. You've got to change. You've got to move on and you've got to reassess what you're doing in life. And I'm just in that stage at the moment of reassessing what I'm doing because I think I'm here to make a difference from you guys. And if we're aiming for the bar to be too high, but you can Can't see the dream because you don't know yourself well enough. Why don't we just get you earning some money and then, you know, walk around on a beach on a Tuesday morning? Yeah, do it that way and they maybe the dream will come later. You've taken that pressure off and you can move into into pasties new huh. I wonder, I wonder if this is the right direction I feel like it is and that's why I say these things on the podcast to get people thinking and stuff. But um, yeah, so you know, if anybody wants to connect with me or drop me an email or whatever, you're listening to these podcasts and you're thinking, Oh, you know, I'd like to do this or maybe I don't want to do bass or you want to do you know, learn how to podcast or whatever you want to do or just say hello, just drop me a line. Join Up dots@gmail.com or you can book a time and I'll speak to you one to one and we'll see each other and we'll try and reach out and touch until you become like Dan, when you can come into my office. And he said to me people say it's a shade. This isn't a shade. I said no Dan, I know is not a shade. I know it's not a shirt. And when he bought me a lovely pint and we sat there, and yeah, he's my mate, he's my mate. Until next time everybody. Think about your life think about is to dream too big. Should you just be earning some money? Would you prefer to have more time just be yourself just floating around just enjoying stuff. Whatever you want to do is up to you to make it happen. But it always comes down to the offer and providing value to someone. If you're not providing value, you are not going to make money and money unfortunately, makes the world go round. Until next time, I will see you again look after yourself. Cheers. Bye. When your dream job disappoints.Are you ready to start your own podcast and really make it work for you bringing customers and profits into your life and your business in the easiest way possible? Or perhaps you've already launched and aren't getting the results you want? If so, I'm going to teach you the information that you need that makes all the difference to your success. Now, don't be fooled into believing what others are teaching you when it comes to what matters. your podcast, get those results. podcasting success is not about the podcast. It has nothing to do with a recording or equipment. It has everything to do with understanding your market and making those customers come to you time and time again. This is raw 100% live behind the scenes podcasting mastery, not shown anywhere else. If that's of interest, head over to Join Up Dots and book a time to speak with me to make sure that you're a fit for our next course. This is podcasting mastery live at Join Up dots.com. When your dream job disappoints that's the end of China. Unknown Speaker 18:39 You heard the conversation. Now when it's time for you to start taking massive action. Create Your life is the only life you will be back again real soon. Join Up Dots Join Up Dots Unknown Speaker 19:02 Jolly Jolly

Introducing Jono Bacon Jono Bacon is today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a community and collaboration strategy consultant, author, advisor, and speaker. He was born in Northallerton, North Yorkshire in England. He lived in Bedfordshire and the West Midlands before relocating to California in 2008 to live with his wife, Erica. While he has always had an interest in technology, the seed change happened in 1998 when Jono’s older brother, Simon, introduced him to Open Source. Jono was captivated by the notion of people around the world working together to produce technology that they all shared and benefited from. This created a lifelong passion to understand every nuance of how to build productive, engaging communities where a network of minds, experience, and time can produce value together. Just imagine what is possible if we can crack the code for doing this well?  He started dipping his toes into various technology communities, writing extensively for magazines and online outlets, and then joining a new government initiative called OpenAdvantage that provided Open Source training and consulting. His career then took him to XPRIZE where he helped launch incentive competitions that solve major challenges (such as the $15million dollar Global Learning XPRIZE to build technology that teaches kids literacy without a teach) and then he went to lead community strategy at GitHub where most of the world’s technology is created. How The Dots Joined Up For Jono At this point in his career, Jono wanted to apply the power of building communities to broader range of industries and challenges and he started consulting for a variety range of organizations about community and collaboration strategy. This includes industries such as financial services, entertainment, professional services, non-profits, consumer products, security, and beyond. His clients have included Deutsche Bank, The Executive Centre, Google, Mattermost, Glorious Games, Santander, and more. Which is the perfect starting point to today's episode. So growing up in Yorkshire, his path could have been very much like the majority of his colleagues - did he always think he was going to be different? And where do people go wrong with making communities really work for them? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Jono Bacon Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Jono Bacon such as: Why we all have different definitions of what is a community for us.....but you have to understand your audience big  Jono shares his rocking chair moment and why he now has a huge pull to his Northern past. Jono breaks down the first five steps that we all have to take to build a community that truly works. and lastly...... We cover the big failing point of all new communities due to the founder focusing in on what they get and not the group.

In todays episode of Join Up Dots we all talk about the big mistake that people make when starting an online business. They fail to understand that its all about the offer. What we mean by this is, you dont create a business and then tell people what you are selling. You define your product based around what people are actually wanting from you, and pivot to make it only available from yourself. You see this was inspired by the following email received at the Join Up Dots headquarters. Its About All The Offer Email Dear David. thanks for your show great stuff. I was listening to you the other day on my boring commute to my boring job and you said "Its all about the offer...unless you get the offer right then everything else is hard" or something like that. I'm sorry i listen to a lot of your shows, but this bit jumped out at me. What does that actually mean, can you explain more? Kind regards and i have left an ITunes review for you Mike Conting Hemel Hemsptead Listen to today's episode to hear David Ralph explain more about this important aspect of online business success, and the simple steps that you can take to make your online dreams come true. As always make sure you book a time to speak to us as we help you get your dreams off the ground too.

Introducing Keri Murphy Keri Murphy is the CEO and founder of Inspired Living, where she and her team help entrepreneurs become go-to experts in their field and build influential brands through on-camera training, business strategy, media, and marketing planning. As an international speaker,media expert,and business mentor,Keri is committed to helping others to create and thrive at a business they love and teaches them how to authentically convert their ideal clients using video in particular. Keri always knew she had an affinity for the entertainment industry. As a young girl she attended modelling and acting school and was represented by a local agency. At 27, Keri purchased that same talent agency she went through in Portland,Oregon, and quickly built it to one of the most respected agencies in the Northwest—Murphy Talent Group. The agency had grown over 400%, but after the recession hit in 2008, Keri was forced to close her business and completely start over. How The Dots Joined For Keri She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of being on-air talent,landing a gig on E! and red carpet premieres. Since founding Inspired Living in 2011, Keri has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and visionaries helping them become industry influencers - choosing the types of videos to use, and how to leverage their message on-camera so they can make a big income and an even bigger difference. She has been on camera and an entrepreneur for 20+years, and is a television veteran with appearances on MTV, E!, FOX and NBC. When not inspiring others, she can be found spending time with friends and family, playing piano,or relaxing by the sea with her daughter, Lauren. So when she looks back at her life does it seem a blink or years and years of hardened knocks, success and of course crushing disappointments? And do people truly need the backstory to achieve the level of success that they want? Well lets find out as we bring her onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Keri Murphy Show Highlights We discuss how to get past yourself on screen by loving yourself and all your imperfections no matter what. How so many of us have to turn up our dimmer switch and truly become the person the world wants us to be. Why Keri shares her belief that anyone starting today is ahead of the curve when it comes to video marketing and audio production. We discuss the power of the backstory and why its so important to weave it into your business whenever possible. And lastly.........  Keri shares her story of crushing disappointment and hurt, which has turned out to be the best thing possible

Introducing Chad Peterson Chad Peterson is today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots show. He is an expert business broker and the founder of Peterson Acquisitions, an award- winning M&A firm. Chad’s firm handles transactions in $1 million to $25 million range, with some deals exceeding $25 million. He works with companies all over the United States and has completed international deals as well. Peterson Acquisitions was recently named by one publication as the #1 ranked business broker in the United States. What sets Chad apart from all other business brokers is his aggressive style, work ethic and tenacity that are rooted in his humble beginnings. Chad is a self-made entrepreneur that has been in the trenches. How The Dots Joined Up For Chad He has started, built and sold 6 of his own businesses. Chad wrote the book “From Blue to White: A Working Man’s Guide to Self-Employment”. He also wrote the book “Swinging Doors: A Guide to Selling Your Company” and is the host of the podcast: Business Brokers: Buying, Selling & Growing Businesses. As he says " Peterson Acquisitions is unlike any business broker you will ever meet. We are tough, we are full of grit and drive. We are serious about selling businesses. We are not for everyone. Our clients are those who are just as serious about selling their business as we are. We come on strong, we keep our foot on the gas, and we don’t stop working until we get the job done. If that sounds like the kind of business broker you need fighting in your corner, schedule a confidential, no obligation discovery call right now." So was this bold and brazen approach born from the very beginning or did it grow over a period of time? And where do people go wrong most, not starting a business or keeping hold of it for too long? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Chad Peterson. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Chad Peterson such as: Chad discuses the love of work, and why he is very happy working seven days per week instead of looking for the balance. Why its so important to disconnect from your business and get your juices flowing to build huge growth in to your business. Failure can strike at anytime so why put all your success and income in the hands of someone else. We discuss how the school system is dangerous and can often beat the inspiration out of the mind of our kinds. And lastly................. The reason why you have to make a clear decision as to what your brand stands for and hammer that message home every single day.

Introducing Kat McLead

Todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast, is Kat McLead who first connected with the show by email several months ago. The email said "Hi, I’m Kat. I built a business that allowed me to pay the $450,000 down payment for our house. (It involves me escaping severe abuse, starting a men’s fetish business at age 22, generating multiple 6 figures in this business, HATING it, shutting it down, getting my M.A. in Psychology, coaching sex workers out of the adult industry into entrepreneurs, becoming a millionaire Stay at Home Mom, feeling unfulfilled, and now helping fellow mom's start businesses for fulfilment and meaningful work while staying Mom first.) Well if that doesn't grab my attention from all the guest pitches that I get at Join Up Dots then I don't know what will. So now she is a busy mom and business owner who exclusively helps other mom's start businesses for fulfilment and income - while staying mom first. Which is a key part of what I preach at Join Up Dots. How The Dots Joined Up For Kat We all think that money is the goal, but things feel very flat when that money doesn't spark excitement in you day after day. As he says "The truth is, when I started my first Real Life Business years ago, I didn’t know what the 4 Key Steps to Launching an Ideal High Profit business. I didn’t even know how to complete Step 1. But, I started, I learned, and I persevered through lots of mistakes. Eventually I fine tuned my approach across 3 successful Real Life Business and over 7 figures in revenue.   Her experience leads into her "Nail Your Right Idea Framework" that anyone can use to find the RIGHT Business for them that is pleasurable and brings in high profit for the time spent (Marrying the skills/gifts/talents they currently possess and finding the most profitable subset of this for their winning idea) to.... How she uses her Hyperfocus Model to maintain and grow my business as a busy mom while working 30 minutes/day, and how I help all my clients do the same So is it the idea first and foremost that make a business fly, or actually understanding yourself and your passions? And where does she see most people go wrong as they build their own online success story? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the only Kat McLead Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Kat McLead such as: We discuss how Kat developed her ex-porn star business through hustle and cold calling, even though some people weren't overly happy. Why it is so important to do your market research before you ever start building a product. Find out what needs to be solved and go ahead and find the solution. Kat shares how she has developed her super talent of spotting opportunities for others, which she believes comes from her hard childhood.. and lastly........ Why you don't get success by sitting in your comfort zone you have to go out there and make things happen for yourself.

Todays podcast episode is built around an amazing email that we recieved from a listener in the UK.

The guy is called David Campos, and originally from Chile he now resides in the UK with his lovely wife from France. As you will hear in todays show David has found himself a little bit lost as he struggled to transition the skills that he had in his hometown to something that will provide him with a living in the UK.

This shouldnt be a problem, as he simply needs to connect with the right people who need him more than ever. And that is what we are going to show the simple starting steps that he needs to take to bring the rewards into his life.

Introducing Ryan Baker Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast has had a very interesting story to where he is today. Since late 2017, our guests business Kingly Consulting has helped over 12 Digital Marketing Agency owners find peace of mind around their PPC Services. From helping to design their teams and train their staff to overhauling processes and making sure the train stays on the tracks, he knows there is always something to improve. Kingly Consulting's clients have become Google Partners, raised their rates 500%, increased their setup rates by $2,500, taken 3 weeks off in a single month for the first time in years, and saved many client relationships that were on the brink of collapse. As he says "Kingly Consulting was founded to help SEO Focused Digital Marketing Agencies improve their PPC services. I've had the privilege of working with a lot of agencies and I love the energy and the people in that world. As a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP), I bring a unique approach to the SEM side of digital marketing. How The Dots Joined For Ryan I love helping to shift the focus of agencies and their clients from the shorter term numbers games to the long term human-centric approach. I enjoy long-standing relationships with my clients and thrive on under-promising and over-delivering. Outside of work, I have a beautiful wife and two adorable daughters. We enjoy spending time with our church family, travelling and exploring, drinking coffee, playing music, and board games. If you have an Agency that rocks at SEO, but you can't get the same level of client satisfaction from PPC, it's time to reach out and turn thing around. So like most businesses was there a time when he was struggling to get the same level of satisfaction in his own business? And why do people make it so difficult for themselves targeting the wrong people or simply not getting enough interest in their services? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Ryan Baker. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Ryan Baker such as: Why it is so important to stay true to personal beliefs in business as the more you can make people happy the more money you will earn. We discuss SEO against PPC especially when building it into the early stages of online business success. Why local search is so important to your business and should be looked at before ever attempting to go global. and lastly…… Ryan shares that moment when he saw behind the curtain of a successful company and realised their pain was his win.

Introducing Zach Thomas Today's guest first joining us on the Join Up Dots show is Zach Thomas, he is an entrepreneur, published author, coach and speaker. He was Eagle Scout of the Nation in 1995, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served his country as an Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer. He has started multiple companies and been featured in Newsweek Magazine and on Good Morning America. He married his high school sweetheart and they home school their seven children on their family farm where he grew up. His varied interests include studying leadership and entrepreneurship, farming, riding his Harley, working on old cars with his sons and dad, camping and spending time with his family. Today, he is the owner/operator of a Chick-fil-A franchise in Rockmart, Georgia. His Leader Farming strategy - Growing Leaders to Grow your Business - has resulted in top 20% performance metrics and the development of multiple Chick-fil-A franchisees from his restaurant. As a Lean 6 Ninja, he has cultivated a culture of continuous improvement in his organization. How The Dots Joined For Zach His pioneering efforts have led him to serve on the Lean Operator panel for Chick-fil-A, Inc. and co-create the Lean365 program that helps other franchisees build a culture of empowerment, engagement, and excellence. He’s been featured in Newsweek and on Good Morning America, and is here today to share what he’s learned along his journey. As he says "As a lifelong student of leadership and entrepreneurship, I consider my Chick-fil-A franchise with over 90 team members a laboratory for innovation and cultivating next generation leaders. My company, Locum Restitution LLC, Latin for “a place of restoration” is a leadership development company that just happens to sell chicken!” So is this a business model that leads to a healthy work life balance, or tips it all into the work zone? And where would he go if he was to take his learnings and implement them into a new business? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Zach Thomas Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Zach Thomas such as: Zach shares how he loves to bring an entrepreneurship schooling for his children, to create a mindset that they wouldn't get a school. We talk about the movie "The Founder" and how Ray Kroc went about redefining what his business is all about. Zach discusses how he found his leadership style by hearing his team pondering "What Zach are we going to get today?"  and not liking that discussion. And lastly................. Zach reveals the time when a good day for him was making a person cry out for his mother. Very different from today.

Today's show is based around several emails that we have received over the last few weeks at Join Up Dots. We love receiving emails from people, as it shows us that you are ready to take action. You are starting to think things through, and that is where the real fun starts to occur Question Number One This message has been percolating in the back of my head for several weeks so I decided to send it off as an early Christmas present to myself. I shall try to be brief but want to explain where we are and how we got there ... I listen to , learn from and am motivated by your podcast, usually once or twice each week. My business partner (and husband) and I did what you advised against: started by creating a product we felt would be useful to an audience. The product has evolved from an online skills quiz game (failed), through a Flash phase (technology advanced) to its current state - an online product to help anyone involved in sales to close more deals as well as coaching. We have been working on getting this to the right market for several years (yes, years). To be honest, we have worked diligently and at times less diligently ... when our resolve weakened. Starting fall 2018, we resolved to correct our product's flaws (outdated website, Flash-filled content). Getting that all corrected took until this fall 2019. We focused on LinkedIn and, secondarily, YouTube to generate interest and get viewers to our site. It hasn't worked yet and we're now trying to figure out how to get to our unique bit of the market. LinkedIn has change quite a bit from what it used to be and no longer seems as business oriented as it did. Its business focus is what made it our choice, given that we are not fans of social media. Final information: we are considerably older than you so online needs to be our methodology. Now that I've blathered on, not sure if you can help. Guess I was hoping for some outside thoughts from you ... as well as finally connecting with you personally so you know I'm a fan. Our site is mygoforthegreen.com. We transitioned from instructor led custom business skills seminars to our online product once we were no longer marketable. If you can offer any suggestions, terrific. If not, at least we've had a chat, albeit a rather one sided one, and that's fine, too. Regardless, have a wonderful Christmas and a successful, enjoyable 2020, whether you're in the back of your garden or travelling!! Best wishes, Linda Question Number Two Dear David, just wanted to drop you a line to say i'm loving that little extra story you share at the beginning of the show. It really shows the journey that you've been on, which i guess is why you have done it. Can i ask how different is your life now compared to when you worked in a corporate job? I guess the reason that I am asking is whether it is truly worth going after in the long term. Thank you for the honest answer I know that you will give me Art from Seattle Question Number Three Hi David, what social media platform would be best for my new business. I am aiming to start selling tennis equipment across the world and so many choices out there - JK from Brighton, America Question Number Four Hi David, I am a long term listener of the show and I want to say something that I have realised recently. I believe in you and what you tell me. I think in my heart of heart although i listened to your show religiously I felt that you were selling a dream that wasn't for me. Something clicked in one of your previous episodes when the guest said "it doesn't have to be right, it just has to be something moving you forward". That stopped me in my tracks, and made me realise the genius of your dots branding. I wish that i could go back in time and listen to all the shows now to see if I feel differently and grasp what you have been telling us for years. I still dont know what I am wanting to do, but I do now believe. That is my starter gun. Thank you so so much for what you do Gerald Banks, Dayton Ohio

Shaa Wasmund is todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast.

She is a lady who has built her life around taking action and making things happen.

As she says "I’m an entrepreneur, public speaker and the author of #1 bestselling books ‘Stop Talking, Start Doing’ and ‘Do Less, Get More’. In 2015 I was awarded an MBE for ‘Services to Business and Entrepreneurship’ and was recently named one of the UK’s Top 20 Influential Entrepreneurs by The Sunday Times.

Born in California to an English mother and Italian father, Ms Wasmund and her mother settled permanently in the UK when she was 10.

After winning a scholarship to the prestigious City of London School for Girls, she studied international relations at the London School of Economics. How The Dots Joined Up For Shaa It was while at the LSE that Ms Wasmund, then 21, won a competition to interview Chris Eubank, then a middleweight world champion boxer. Eubank was so impressed with her confidence or "front" that he offered her the job of becoming his assistant.

Ms Wasmund said yes, and so she started her business career in the competitive world of boxing. She  became the only female boxing promoter in the UK, representing World Champion Chris Eubank and working with the infamous Don King before starting my own PR company helping grow the Dyson brand from around Sir James Dyson’s kitchen table.

From that point more and more hustle and success came her way, which isn't a surprise as he also says "I believe that we all have the ability to live the lives we dream of. We just don’t always know how.

The greatest courage is to follow your own path even through the roughest terrain, rather than the path of least resistance. Nothing great is ever created in your comfort zone. I believe it’s OK to not know the answers, to feel stuck and frustrated; it happens to all of us.

What’s not OK is to stay stuck." So when the big punches in the mouth occurred in her business, how did she dust herself down and get back up? And why is her number one piece of business advice "Hire A Cleaner" Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the only and only Shaa Wasmund MBE. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Shaa Wasmund MBE such as We talk about the difficulties that youngsters now deal with from coming from entitlement.  Shaa shares the lucky breaks that she has had in her life, especially in regards to working with the Genius James Dyson. Why a business becomes more and more successful the more you focus on the value you offer others. Its all about giving. and lastly........ Shaa tells us all why we have to visualise what we want in life and why it so important to get those images in my mind to make them happen.

Introducing Jay Seeney

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots show is Jay Seeney. He is the founder of media company Blacklist Productions. A company started to create cinematic videos and beautiful imagery.

In just two short years since inception, Jay Seeney has filmed with the best in the Australian Country Music business, directing clips for Lee Kernaghan, the Wolfe Brothers, Andrew Swift, Troy Kemp, Drew McAlister, Benn Gunn, Matt Cornell, Mike Carr and countless other artists. Jay’s video style revolves around highlighting Australia’s best artists in some of the most desirable locations around the country. Credits include: #1 Music Video on CMC Backroad Nation – Lee Kernaghan, #1 – Storm Rollin’ In – The Wolfe Brothers, over 30 music videos on the Country Music Channel Videos have received over one millions views online.

Jay is a talented musician, passionate artist and photographer and a highly skilled film maker. So how did he take his passion music and build a business which has transformed 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 let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Jay Seeney Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Jay Seeney such as: Jay shares how he got the idea for Blacklist Productions due to the cost of making his own videos. He found his own pain point and took action. We talk about the process of trawling through YouTube to find good the stuff that can push you on. It can work, but be very very selective.  Jay talks about the method of finding the right clients for his business that can push his business forward. Scale by using their profile to build your own. And lastly................. Why gaining time in your life is so important especially at the beginning of starting your business. A day per week can be such a huge win.

Happy New Year everybody, and thanks for listening to Join Up Dots.

So 2019 has come and gone, and now the new decade is rolling into place. Is it going to be a good one, or is it simply going to be more of the same for you? Well. i can promise you that for me, the passion has never been higher to make a difference in your lives. You have been listening to Join Up Dots for six years now, and many of you have started your own businesses and are living very different lives because of us. But not enough for my liking. In fact i would say that this has been the biggest disappointment to what I have achieved through the show. Yes, my life is amazing and stress-free, but I haven't quite got you guys to see how easy it is to start building online income and create your dream-life. I think at its core, people cant see the opportunities that are all around them. They cant see that they dont actually have to create a huge business that seems daunting from the outset. But i believe now (and i didn't for many years) on creating a business that is the smallest possible, whilst providing the most the value and income back to you. I call it "Anti-scale" - having the ability to make the most of the customers you already have in your life, and all around you. How do you make them come to you in every increasing numbers in the easiest way possible? How do you make a business that doesnt drive you into the ground due to effort that it takes to make that money? Does that sound good for you? Well it should do, as there isn't any better way to get that work life balance that people want. So lets make this the best New Year you have possibly had and will ever have.... Until next year which will be even better again. Thanks for listening to the show and all the best David Ralph Join Up Dots 

Introducing Daniel Tolson Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots show is Daniel Tolson, a business expert from Australia who has learnt the power of selling. He is Australia’s No. 1 business coach and has helped thousands of clients manage their time more effectively, remove self-limiting beliefs and make a lot more money. Daniel’s goal is to show you how to make more sales and a lot more money. As he says "There is nothing worse than worrying about where your next customer is coming from and wondering if you are going to make enough money to survive and with my proven techniques I will help you to stop worrying about where your next sale is coming from. You’ll experience less rejection to your offer, customers will be wanting to buy from you immediately and then they’ll refer you to their family and friends! Now this wasn't something that of course occurred like magic right at the very start. This was something built through the life of hard knocks. As he says "A few years before my birth, my parents lost their farm. The drought hit, the crops died, the markets collapsed and they had nothing to trade. They walked off the land with nothing. After the following years of night shifts packing shelves at the local supermarket and driving buses and taxis, they knew that making a wage would never lead to financial independence. Soon they found themselves in construction. Yet the backbreaking 16-hour days quickly took their toll. How The Dots Joined Up For Daniel At age 9, I started my sales career as a paperboy. My uncle gave me the 3-step sales training; “Here are your newspapers, there’s the door, go make sales!” On the very first sales call, I got my first ‘no’ and the rejection hit me hard. I took it personally and thought there was something wrong with me. I heard ‘yes’ a few times but the pain of the ‘no’ was so bad that I began to self-sabotage and procrastinate.  In the early 1990’s when the construction industry changed, my parents reinvented themselves and as a family, we opened up a pawn shop. We became the local Pawn Stars! For the first 9 years in business, we were amateurs- a regular, uneducated family doing the best we could. With no training, we were just in there giving it a go and we didn’t know any different.  What you need to know about pawnbroking is that it’s one of the most profitable business models in all of history. It works like this: you lend your own money against an item of value for a short period of time and you get a 20% return on your money every 30 days. If the customer doesn’t come back, you keep their goods and sell them. All profit. Zero risks!" So how how did he take this early tuition in business 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 let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Daniel Tolson Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Daniel Tolson such as: Daniel shares the "When Harry Met Sally" method of business....I'll have what she's having. Daniel talks about why he "acts as if now", instead of "fake it until you make it" like so many others. We share the power of the words of Brian Tracey who advises to grow where you are planted. Daniel reveals the reasons why most businesses have to change a minimum of four times before they get the good results. And lastly................. Why it is so powerful and important to get clear on who your customer is an understand what they want right from the very start. 

Introducing Sami Wunder Sami Wunder is an internationally-recognized dating and relationship expert who specializes in working with high-achieving women leaders and entrepreneurs to attract their dream man and create a deeply intimate and deeply connected relationship! In the last 4 years, over 150 of Sami’s clients have found their happily-ever- after using Sami's method of soulmate attraction, and countless marriages and relationships have been saved and reconnected. Sami's clients include a Hollywood celebrity, UK TV stars, CEOs, leading entrepreneurs and influencers. She’s been hailed as the “Get The Ring Coach” by the BBC Radio London and the Daily Mail, and her work has been picked up by the Time Magazine, Forbes Magazine and many other publications of global renown. As just one of her clients reveals "Sami literally has changed my life. Her work goes beyond surface level 'tactics' or 'strategies' to attract men - but to deep heart centred teachings where you build on your relationship with yourself and learn how to become an attraction magnet to not only men but to everyone. She connects you to your true self - where you learn the skills of feminine energy and how to break through the blocks that are stopping you from reaching your romantic love dreams." Sami's six-step process to find love, which has seen the dating coach be responsible for 145 engagements in the past three years, allows her clients to change their beliefs, by her belief that as she says 'I don´t believe in rules in dating. I believe that coming from the energy of confidence and clarity is way more powerful for love success for my clients than following any rules.  Sami is based in Europe and runs her heart-centered 7-figure company, where she is blissfully married to the love of her life. They have one son. So why is it that so many people have such a hard time to find the love that they want nowadays? And, was this business the first one she started, or did she stumble into it like so many people when previous incarnations didn't quite work?  Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Sami Wunder Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Sami Wunder such as: Why so many people struggle with finding the right person in their lives due to energy polarity The reasons behind why women look for the safety in a party as much as looks very unlike men. Sami reasons why it is so much easier to find the love of your life when you are young as you are more open minded and lastly.......... Sami shares her story into a life that wasnt right for her, and the transition that took her to become the global love coach.

Introducing Phillip Stutts Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is the author of FIRE THEM NOW. He is one of the masterminds behind the curtain of political marketing. With more than 20 years of political and marketing experience, Stutts has worked with multiple Fortune 200 companies and has over two decades of experience working on campaigns with billions of dollars in political ad spend and contributed to over 1,000 election victories, including hundreds of U.S. House campaigns, dozens of U.S. Senate campaigns and even three Presidential victories. He founded Go BIG Media in 2015 and has won more than 30 prestigious awards for their work with US Senators, Governors, and Presidential Candidates, including a Pollie Award for Best Digital/Internet Independent Expenditure Presidential Campaign and the Goldie Award for Digital Video Excellence in a Presidential Campaign. Now if that doesn't sound like he has a lot on his plate, then lets tell you he is fighting a rare, incurable disease.  Diagnosed in 2012 with the esophageal disease, Achalasia, he spent five years ignoring it. Frankly, he put his head in the sand, taking medications that did more harm than good, and waiting for the inevitable. Then he woke up and said no more. His mission today is to find a cure and pursue a life of constant growth and giving. And he’s making progress. Stutts has been featured in Inc. and has made more than 200 national TV appearances including Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. He has been lauded as a “marketing genius” by Fox Business and “the political guru” by ESPN. So what makes a man with so much going on, seemingly crank out even more work, when most people would take a breather and focus on themselves? And where does he see people go wrong in the business world, when it comes to marketing. Speaking the wrong message, or simply directing it at the wrong people. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Phillip Stutts Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Phillip Stutts such as: We discuss why there is a point that so many businesses go for scale for the sake of it. Is this an ego metric, or pure business requirement? Whether there is a firm reason to only choose to work with people that you personally share the same beliefs with. Phillip shares his personal belief that social media will be crashing in the next five years. and the reasons behind that belief. and lastly...... The reason that marketing should be based around one key concept, and why most businesses fail to see this themselves. How To Connect With Phillip Stutts Website Twitter LinkedIn Return To The Top Of Phillip Stutts If you enjoyed this episode with Phillip Stutts, 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 Audio Transcription Of Phillip Stutts 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 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 0:25 Yes. Good morning to you. Good morning to you and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for being here. It's great to have you because I don't like to be on my own. I really don't. But unfortunately, we've got we've got a guy at the other end. And what we've been trying to do in Join Up Dots recently is to vary the kind of content that you really don't know what you're going to get. And so it might be a deep dive on one of the movers and shakers, the billionaires have come and gone in this world. Or it might be somebody doing things that quite frankly, just interest me. And today's guest certainly falls into the latter camp. He's joining us on and Join Up Dots is the author of fire them now. And he's one of the masterminds behind the curtain. Yes, the curtain or political marketing. With more than 20 years of political marketing experience. He's worked with multiple fortune 200 companies and has over two decades of experience working on campaigns with billions of dollars in political ad spend and contributed to over 1000 election and victories. Yes, he's to blame, including hundreds of US House campaigns, dozens of US Senate campaigns and even pre presidential victories. Now he founded go big media in 2015. And as one more than 30 prestigious awards for their work with US senators, governors and presidential candidates. Now it doesn't sound like he's got a lot on his plate. But let's tell you he's also fighting a rare NQ incurable disease diagnosed in 2012 with a software called FZ. Accolades Yeah, he spent five years ignoring it. Now for Petty's head in the sand, taking medications that did more harm than good, and waiting for the inevitable when he woke up and said no more. And his mission today is to find a cure and pursue a life of constant growth and giving and he's making progress. He's been featured on 200 national TV appearances you get the drill is good. Now what makes this man we have so much going on seemingly crank out even more work. But most people would take a breather and focus on themselves perhaps and where does he see people go wrong in the business world when it comes to marketing, speaking the wrong message, or simply directing that message at the wrong people? I think that's pretty good. But let's find out as we bring on to the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Phillip Stutts. Good morning. How are you sir? Phillip Stutts 2:48 I am great ever had a crushed it this morning. But studying and reading and I'm ready to go? David Ralph 2:56 Well, as soon as I connected with you, you sounded like a guy that was really ready to go I get some guests, but sort of roll up. And I imagine that they via just rolled up because they're so chilled. Or they're wearing their pyjamas or their you know, you seem like somebody that really wakes up each morning, puts these feet on the floor and goes, let's make this day a day worth living. Phillip Stutts 3:19 I'm Thank you, I appreciate that, I would tell you that I do feel that way I listen. In my business this in the last two weeks, we've had massive challenges. I get super pumped and excited. But roadblocks and challenges. And my what I get excited about is I get to deep dive and solve those problems. So this is kind of your you're catching me in one of these. I'm really excited moments because I'm getting to solve problems. So I know I'm David Ralph 3:48 writing that way. But I use somebody because what I see also on the show is when people are really, really pumped, it's because they're on that wave. And they might have been paddling in the deep for a while sort of biding their time and then suddenly that wave gets him and the momentum builds and bear they are sort of flying towards me. Are you sort of on the top at the moment surfing the cube? I think they say the kids, I think Phillip Stutts 4:13 it's a little bit more complicated. I love you know, people that are listening to this. You hear a lot of guests and they come in and they tell their their victory storeys. Right. Mine is a different storey mine is. In my business, I have pretty much eaten doo doo for the last year and a half. And in trying to build and grow a corporate marketing division, we have a political marketing company that's completely separate from my corporate marketing division. In the last six months, we've it is exploded, we've grown by about 10 times from what we did last year. The problems that I'm seeking to solve are when you scale at that number, when you know how do you scale it that number, I have a model. I've done it before with my political marketing agency where we went from one employee in 2015, we have 27. Now we burned 22,000%. And then I I left the data and running the day to day operations of the political marketing from the open a corporate marketing agency. And we're sort of in the similar path. I like solving the problems of building the team it to me, David, it's all about the team, I if I build a great team, we will serve our clients, we will grow businesses, all those types of things. And so I like I'm in this moment where we're in a transition and we went from startup to you know, we have to optimise and grow with our clients. And so that's the challenge. It took a lot of dirt in my face over the last few months of eating dirt. But it's really going well right now. And now the challenge is how do you grow it and sustain it and sure the clients have had incredible success, and that there's no drop off. David Ralph 6:05 Now I'm going to put a different opposing view towards you only because I'm it's something that I'm interested in at the moment. Vat non the scale, the scale sake, everybody's looking for bigger metrics, and more downloads and more and more fat. And I'm going through a process where I'm thinking to myself, do I need that. And that process is a book that I've been reading called a company of one by Paul Jarvis, where he says one issue, you have pressured once you need to have a lovely life, but also pay all the bills, and vain. Do you need more than that? Would that be a view that you could understand? Or is that a view that is so contrary to the way you operate? You think No, I just want more and more and more. Phillip Stutts 6:52 So I was that person for 10 years, from 2005 to 2015. I was a one man, police consultant didn't own any marketing agencies, advised political candidates, nonprofit, some corporate clients. And what I realised there was a point is great by a great question, because I've never been asked this and I think it's just outstanding. So I i've you know basic was a one man shop at one point I had seven clients, I was making close to seven figures a year, I was I was just incredibly happy and excited and loving life. And then one day for or two of my political clients decided that they didn't want to actually run anymore, or raise money to pay the bills. Two of my nonprofit clients lost their funding. And, and within like, literally one week, I'd gone from seven clients and seven figures, to basically three clients and barely making six figures. And I went that that is a scary situation when it's all on you. And I did a soul searching I mean, I went through years and years of soul searching. And ultimately I found that deep down what's in the fibre of my body is two very important things is that it actually ends up being the values of the of our company. And it is given grow, give more than you take and always be growing. I don't have long vision statements. And I need you know, something mounted on the wall that people see and forget. And three seconds Nope, it's given growth. And for me, that's not I wasn't, I would never in my life, I wasn't always that I'm striving to be that I'm trying to give more than I take, I'm striving to always be growing. But once I understood that that was what drove every fibre in my body, then I put I put all my chips in and said it growth like I've got to be growing I've got it doesn't mean like the company has to 10 x every year and all that stuff. I don't necessarily mean that. But I have to be growing, I have to get smarter, I have to be getting adapting and in taking change. You know, I know you. You love to ask like a great quote, I think Tony Robbins has this great quote, and I would tell you is the quote that sort of defines my life. And it's the quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably tolerate. And man Does that ring for me because I when when I was a one man shop, I always put myself in comfortable situations trying to maintain my certainty. And when I put myself out there when I took chances, and when I decided I needed to be living more uncertain life and not live as comfortably. That's when massive growth happened in my life. By the way, I fail all the time. Like literally every day, there's a some kind of failure some way. It is not like failure is feedback to me. So like, I'm excited right now because I I'm learning from all of my failures all the time. And when you see yourself, take yourself from a failing position, to growth, to success to overcoming that grit side of things, is like you get so much confidence out of it, you know, you can do anything. So for me personally go back to your question is just not ultimately I was I did that it wasn't a fit. For me. It's a fit for other people. And I love that. But that for me is not not how I think about things. David Ralph 10:24 I've only spoken to you for about the last five or 10 minutes, but you seem to be a man who knows his stuff, you know who you are, and you know what you bring to the table. Now one of the things that interests me with you feel it is the fact being in the political arena, and being a political marketing genius, as they say, there must be an awful lot of business that you don't agree with you can't believe go along with all their political agendas. How do you balance that in your own mind that you're bringing messages to the world that actually go against what your personal beliefs? So Phillip Stutts 11:00 So do you let me ask you this? Do you represent clients? You do consulting things like that? Right? David Ralph 11:05 Yeah, a bit bit here very I try not to. Phillip Stutts 11:08 So with that, in particular, do you? The the companies or the business owners that you've consulted in the past? Do you believe everything they believe? David Ralph 11:18 I don't buy believe it? They're a good person or not? Phillip Stutts 11:22 Man, you just nailed it. And we go from me. So for me, it's easy to have a stereotype and stereotypes are called stereotypes, because they're mostly true. But for me, I've I've been lucky enough to work with people that I truly believe in and want to fight for. Are there people that may not meet everything that I believe in? or want? Absolutely 100%? But do they represent the kind of change that I want to be seen? I don't want to seem to be made. Absolutely. And so I have no friends problem whatsoever. And I'll never apologise for it. David Ralph 12:03 Because if you see these kind of political courtroom dramas, when somebody's standing up defending someone, and I always think to myself, I couldn't do that if I if I knew he was guilty, even if it was my job. I couldn't do that there's no Phillip Stutts 12:18 one could do that formation of America's democracy is that, you know, people have the right, both sides of every argument had the right be made. Who are those people that are going to do that? Listen, I don't think I've ever gone out and defended something I truly thought was immoral or unethical. But at the same time, look, their defence attorneys are people are accused of crimes. If they didn't have defence attorneys, then a lot of innocent people would be in jail right now. So sometimes, the way a scandal in politics is portrayed in the media is is maybe half right, maybe 25%. Right? I believe that politician has every right to defend themselves and get their side of the storey out? Well, David Ralph 13:01 well, let's take away from that into your political journey and your personal political journey. Because I'm always interested in that bit. When the intro is being read. It sounds like all the dots have joined up perfectly. And from the moment that you sort of you came out of the womb, you had a little suit on and a little briefcase, and and off you went a big part of the storey where most people are making it up as they go along. I remember reading Barack Obama's biography and he spent my whole summer getting stoned and drinking beer because he just didn't know what he wanted to be. And you think it's quite obvious, you're gonna be Barack Obama. Have you had those moments in your life when you've been going through college, whatever, and you're really doubting that you're on the right path. Phillip Stutts 13:51 Now? Well, first of all, I didn't even know what my path was until I was 23. I'm sitting here right now, in a T shirt and flip flops. You know, again, still tights, David, you're putting stereotypes on I wear a hat a hat every day, I live on the beach in Florida. And, you know, the last thing I am is probably the stereotype of what you would think of somebody that works in politics is when I was 20, sorry, when I was 22 years old, I had the opportunity to go work on a presidential campaign. And literally as a gopher, and found it to be, always say, working on political campaigns. It's like smoking crack. So stick with me, Okay, I'm ready. Okay. All right, good. Because here's the deal. You go in to a political campaign, and you work 24, seven, there was a three year window in my career where I had 22, total days off, I was, you know, you there is no balance in your life, you are going 1000 miles an hour, 16 hours a day, seven days a week. And All you think about is, I've got to, I've got to get off of this, that I cannot do this, the rest of my life is going to kill me if I continue down this path of working in politics or political campaigns. And then Election Day happens. And then the day after election day, you it's like, you go off the pipe, you fall asleep, you go, Oh, my God, it's over. I'm never doing this again. Thank God Almighty. And then about a week later, you start twitching. And you go, man, I gotta get back on a political campaign because you realise that you'll never feel as passionate about anything in your entire life, as you do in a job where you're fighting to change the way the country they out, you know, outcome or out the direction of the country that you live in. And so for me, you know, it is, you know, every time I always say every time I try to try to get out, they pulled me back in. Because ultimately, I think you need to be in the fight. I think there are a lot of people out there in the world today, that all they do is bitch and moan. And all they do is say how horrible this person is, and that person does. And then you ask, Well, what are you doing to change the system? And you know, the answer is I'm tweeting. Yeah, that is total BS to me. So if you're going to complain to do something about it, well, I'm going to do something about it. I've been doing something about it for 23 plus years now. And I believe that you got to be in the fight if you're going to have if you're gonna have strong opinions. Otherwise, you're a poser. David Ralph 16:27 Yeah, but what you're battling with all the time, and I will reference I don't really use Facebook at all, but I put a post on it the other day, just because something was niggling away. And this is exactly why. Why is it on social media that someone says something offensive, political, racial, and the world sits up and takes notice and thousands of comments and likes come forth. But when someone is doing something great for someone, the community charity the world and need help by gaining shares, likes, it's barely a whisper by get, I hope that we aren't creating a world where the sensational outscores the positive every single time. But I bet we are. Now with you being so passionate, you're obviously thinking that you are doing great stuff. But we all know in the political arena, a lot of that great stuff never comes to fruition. It just kind of gets caught up in red tape. How do you balance Vatican right, your efforts are going into a black hole, but actually are going to get suppressed further down the line. Phillip Stutts 17:27 But let me answer the the Facebook post that you had. I just wrote a piece. I have a subscriber list. And I wrote a piece two weeks ago about the looming social media market crash, I believe that the exact post that you had is the reason social media is going to have a market crash sometime in the next five years. I believe that when everybody is trying to beat their chests and show how important they are, you know, people will say like, literally I know people that live early post I'm against rate, because they want people to clap and bet pat him on the back. And like, Who's for rate? David? Like, I don't understand these things like, yeah, no one's for that. The only reason people posted something like that is that they want people to like them more. And I think it's a, it's the Doom of society, one of the reasons I admire you is that you've kind of sworn off some of that stuff. I'm the same way I post on social, but by the way, I never get on it. I mean, I rarely get on it, because it's so toxic. And when it's so toxic, and I know this these companies, because they've tried to bow to all the censorship calls, that ultimately there is going to be a massive market correction for social and it's coming. The second part is how do you tap into that emotion in a positive way? You know, so one of the ways that we've done it, one of the ways I do it in marketing, and look at me, I'm transitioning. I, one of the ways we've done this is you've seen maybe it's on the American side, maybe it's over on your side of the pond, but you've seen political ads that are negative ads, correct? Yeah, absolutely. Great. Here's what we've done to sort of reverse engineer those. So I've done negative political ads, I've made them I've won awards for them. I've personally, I kind of like them. But when we're working with corporate clients, if you take that principle, and apply it to a company that runs and add a comparison ad, right, we can call it going negative, but it's a comparison at but the comparison at a thins no one and builds stronger and deeper Connexions to the company that is producing the ad by the customer, that is a win all the way around. So it's taking a negative and turning it positive. I'll give you an example. We work for a dietary country dietary food company, they are an eight figure company, this is on the corporate side. Ever, we are I fancy our corporate marketing agency is actually a marketing intelligence and data company because we use data to make all the decisions. And so we went into this, this dietary food company, and we we overlaid their customer base on with, you know, to overlaid all their decisions. And we follow those people for a month. And you can say you did and I'm like, Yeah, everybody does in the data world. But we followed everything I did. And we came back after 30 days, and we had a complete and psychological understanding of their entire customer base. their customer base was 50% vegetarian or vegan, the customer base hated and we found this in the data, they did not like they hated soda. seems obvious. But until you look at the data, and you follow them around, you'd never know. And so we ended up creating ads. And the ads said, you know, don't you know what it was like a crush soda can and it said something to the effect of, you know, don't succumb to the soda industry by these clean unhealthy foods, right? That's a comparison ad. What did that ad do? Well, we also tested it against some positive ads against the top rank positive ad that we tested against it had it at a two x click through rate, and it 20% conversion rate where the customer bought a product based on the comparative ad. Now, no one in that customer base is offended that we went after soda, because everybody in this company's customer base hates soda. So what we did was we use the negative turned it into a positive built a deeper connexion. And we see this over and over and over again, comparative ads on the corporate side, or if done effectively, are the most successful ads, you can absolutely run in this day and age. And that's because you were tapping into the very thing you wrote about in that Facebook ad, but in a different way. And you reorganise it in a different way, and you use it for a positive effect. David Ralph 22:12 Well, okay, we're gonna play some words now, then we're gonna come back to back because I think this is a nice segue into the business element of Join Up Dots is Oprah. Oprah Winfrey 22:22 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 22:53 Why? So taking those words and what you said about the data and the marketing, somebody listening service, they run a small pet shop in Nebraska, we say, and we're thinking I need to know more about my customers, I need to appeal to the right customers. I've tried Facebook ads never got anywhere, is this is something that you know, vape can jump on and take your learnings and transition into their own business, or is this something that literally, you've got to have not the one person shop, but a whole business to have? Phillip Stutts 23:30 So, listen, I think, pursuant to what Oprah was just saying, it is one step at a time, and 90% of times that business owners that comes in, and then talk to me and say we need you to do your marketing, they try to go for the get rich, quick pill. It never works. David, I've heard you say this before you hate marketers, or you hate marketing 95% of business owners hate marketers, or marketing. They look at it as a cost. They look at it as an expense, not an investment. Done, right 90% of your business should be marketing. But because there are so many nefarious characters out there. And there's so many people that see, oh, my God, this guy ran a Facebook page ad I should run a Facebook ad. And I wrote my book called fire them now because I wanted to point out the unethical behaviour of marketers in the industry. What the step by step approach that Oprah talks about in there. For me, it's very simple. Anybody that works with us, any company, they have to undertake this, this, this, we call it the undefeated marketing system, we're going to trade marketing it right now. And it will probably be my next book. But the reason it is because it works, every client that has come in and done this particular step by step process has grown their bottom line, every single one. Now I've had plenty of clients that start the process, and then go, I don't want this, I just want to get rich quick pill, I don't have that they fall off. But the way you do it is you and you must have deep understanding of customer data or your ideal target market, you must get that you must understand what the data says about the way they think they feel, what the top values in life are, how they're motivated, what platforms are on the chronological order of the platforms they visit. And from that, and so you know, whether it be politics with voters, or whether it be you know, corporate marketing with customers, or clients, I've done over 3000 campaigns. And all I've ever done is looked at data and been able to read between the lines to say this is what this means. This is what that means in your data. From that you've got to build a strategic plan, not on a bunch of guesses, but on what the data tells you. So that's step two, then you have to rebrand your company in the way that the customer wants to listen and hear from you. Not in what you just want to say. But what the customer wants to hear. Does that make sense? Not? Yeah, yes. And we know that from the data. Then step four is you go out and you test all the data, all the messages that the data gave us, like the the case study I just told you about, about going negative with the supplement and dietary company. Once we figure out the after we test all these concepts and these messages that the data tell us will work. We've always found what works, what we find in the testing processes, the 10 concepts we test, they all work, but two or three, go crush, I mean, they go through the roof, then you go to the business owner and you go, let's make a real investment in your marketing. Now. The point is, is that marketers have should absolutely should take the risk off the table for the business owner, the business owner should win before the marketer wins. And unfortunately, the way the rule the unwritten rule is now as the marketer gets paid, whether the business owner grows their business or not. And what I'm trying to tell you is the process I just laid out is to how you win back, that game of marketing. In addition, one of the lies I taught so the I talked about the seven lies Digital Marketer selling my book, I'll give you one. And it's counter counterintuitive to what you're probably thinking. But it is this if you are a business owner, and you hire a marketing agency, and that marketing agency says you have to sign a six month, three month 12 month contract. That is unethical behaviour, in my opinion. And 23 plus years of marketing, every contract I've ever signed in the history of my career has been month to month. Why? Because that mark that business, that politician can fire me anytime, if I'm not producing for them. Now, the reason that's important is every month My ass is on the line. And either I'm producing results, or I'm gone. How much faster do I move? And how quickly do I innovate every single day for my clients that that's my mindset. And unfortunately, that is not the mindset of the majority of marketers out there in the world today. David Ralph 28:22 What you're saying makes so much sense to me. But there's also a fear, there's a fear that most peo

Introducing Ellie Dailey

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a lady who is taking the boring old CV and turning it on its head. She is the founder and CEO of an innovative online recruiting platform— Intro30.com. The platform allows job seekers to record an online video introduction as part of a shareable profile including a resume. It breaks down the first stage of demonstrating enthusiasm, personal care, professionalism live, before they ever get in-front of the recruiting team.  So there's not that shock to the system when instead of a well groomed business professional entering the interview room, you get someone who looks like they have just rolled out of bed. Candidates can then submit these profiles to companies, add them to their resumes and have direct access to the jobs and companies on Intro30. On the demand side, Intro30 will enable companies to view a candidate’s 30-second elevator pitch, search the database by keyword, location or skill set and reach out to learn more about them. Companies can also list their jobs, market them and share them with QR codes, and attract candidates directly. Now this isnt an idea that has just popped into her head, but was probably bubbling around for many years, as she has been a recruiter all over the world, from the UK to the Middle East, to Asia and now Silicon Valley for nearly 20 years. As he says "This has allowed me to gain expertise in a variety of recruiting environments, including banking, sovereign wealth funds, tech, and finance." So was this an idea that many said "This wont work or it would have been done before by someone." And where do people get hung up most in starting their own business, on the doing or the wanting to do it? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Ellie Dailey Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Ellie Dailey such as: We discuss how people are so much more informal in today's much to chagrin to both Ellie and David.  Ellie reveals how the idea first came into her mind, and the early steps that it took to get it off the ground. Ellie talks about Tim Ferris and the Four Hour Work Week, which is the bible for so many people. and lastly…… We reveal how and why an entrepreneur needs to be so skilled at understanding your own talents.

Introducing Rene Lacad Today's guest first joining us on the Join Up Dots show is Rene Lacad is a 24-year-old college dropout turned entrepreneur.  Utilizing the power of social media he was able to generate over $10,000,000+ in revenue for over a dozen businesses.  He currently travels the world teaching aspiring entrepreneurs how to break free from the 9 to 5 and live life on their terms, all while running his businesses from a laptop.   You might be wondering, how does a college dropout build multiple six figure companies at age 24?  It all started in 2013 when he was attending a local community college and had just barely graduated high school with a 2.1 GPA. He knew instantly that when he got to college something was wrong. The classroom wasn’t a place where he was able to flourish, he decided to dropout and join the workforce to get real world experience.  The first big step came after bouncing around from one oddball job to another. How The Dots Joined Up For Rene He eventually found himself at a sales position at a Fortune 500 company where he was able to find his first taste of success. He stayed there for a year before something strange happened, he realized that he was beginning to outgrow this position as well, and decided to look for something more fulfilling. The life changing breakthrough he was looking for came shortly after left his last job. Rene landed a position working at a company owned by a well known entrepreneur, where he was able to gain valuable information everyday for over a year straight. He used this opportunity to make his brain a sponge and absorb information unavailable anywhere else.  He learned the secrets to sales, marketing, human psychology, business and entrepreneurship and the rest is history. So why do so many people struggle to make a go of it online when the blueprint is out there to follow? And what are the challenges of being a digital nomad and travelling the world with his laptop Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Rene Lacad Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Rene Lacad such as: Rene reveals the words of his mother, where she was convinced that he would go out and get a job like everyone else. Why if you keep on looking for the one opportunity you will ultimately find the one that brings the gold. We discuss how Rene organises his day to make sure that his business gives him the lifestyle that he wants. And lastly................. The power of re-engineering a process to work backwards to get product market fit. Easiest way to success.

Today's guest first joining us on the Join Up Dots show, helps executives navigate the waters of what to do, in the right order, to help them harness the power of vulnerability and authenticity to build a better, more relatable and more profitable brand. He knows that the key to building connections and ultimate profitability is allowing clients to see behind the curtain of perfection. Let's tell you about him.... He grew up in Huntington Beach, California. As he says "I was the freckle-faced kid at school who got made fun of, not only because of my freckles and sun-bleached hair but I think my favorite my red suspenders flagged me as a “nerd”. To make matters worse, both of my parents were principals. Thankfully not at my school, otherwise live would have even more miserable. But, I still felt like an outcast and struggled with fitting in. I was an eager student, which was great for teachers, but not so great for making friends. My neighbor hated me so much that he kicked me and bit me on many occasions. It was terribly painful! I was always the outlier, the easy-target, the kid who never got picked for sports teams. My mom felt so bad for me that she bought me a basketball of my own, but it didn’t change the fact that I had no one to play with. He knows that you have to use your failure, mistakes, and vulnerabilities to fund your success. He speaks across the globe, inspiring everyone that he meets by stories of screw-ups and reality. His book, co-authored by Leonard Kim, is called Ditch the Act: Reveal the Surprising Power of the Real You for Greater Success. It takes a strategic approach to this little-known secret to help you build an authentic, long-lasting personal brand. He explains why exposure is important and how it helps cultivate more durable connections than any polished persona can, and how to use stories of failure and weakness in ways that build trust and loyalty from large audiences. It is a proven guide to building a powerful personal brand through the fearless admission of just being human. The problem: People are getting weary of—and, frankly, seeing right through—the oversized egos dominating the business world today. The solution: By building a personal brand that is honest and authentic and that reveals personal struggles, you can build stronger, longer-lasting relationships—and achieve greater success. My Market: Business professionals who are finding it harder and harder to break through the noise, who want to gain more respect and more followers by being their natural, flawed self instead of pretending to be perfect. Love this... So why do people still keep on posting pictures of Learjet's and selfies in front of photo shopped thousands? And why does he keep on drawing stick people and posting everywhere. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Ryan Foland

Introducing Thomas Young

Thomas Young is today’s guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is the co-founder & VP Marketing at Rocket Dollar.

Rocket Dollar is a self-directed investing company, which if you are like me you might be asking “Well what is self directed investing?” Self-Directed investing allows investors to make all investment decisions from a tax-advantaged retirement account.

This includes choosing assets, vetting deals, and writing checks. A Self-Directed account holder can invest in any asset class allowed by the IRS. Om. its still not that clear, but what is clear is the co-founder who is on the show, has shown serious hustle and commitment growing this company from humble beginnings to over 13 staff and counting.

Thomas Young is a marketing professional with years of experience in the start-up community.

He started his career at AngelSpan, Inc., before founding a marketing agency catering to financial professionals. How The Dots Joined Up For Thomas His experiences with clients led him to the self-directed space, where he quickly realised that people are yearning for more control and that there was a need for a company to make it safe, secure, and fast for people to invest their retirement savings in the assets of their choice.

Young’s close contact with many self-directed investors led him to identify a strong need for a platform combining the best attributes of a self-directed account while leveraging the best technology of the day to make it easy to operate these accounts. He currently lives in Austin, after attending the University Of Texas at Austin, although he is originally from Mexico City, although a When he isn’t working on is business he enjoys running around town lake when he’s not thinking of ways to share the Rocket Dollar story. So why did he go into an area that in so many ways is restricted by regulations and financial ombudsman? And looking back, does he see where the time was used up most as he got the business of the ground? Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Thomas Young Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Thomas Young such as: Thomas shares the story of how he first started to scale his business by making an equity split to gain his founding partners. We discuss the pride that Thomas has with the future that he has built himself over the last few years, and the control he has in his life.. Why it is so important to understand what the customer really needs before ever starting to build multiple products for a market that doesn’t exist. and lastly…… Thomas reveals why it doesn’t matter what you are selling. the mechanics are pretty much the same. Learn the process and then go out and conquer.

Introducing Tristan Wright Today's guest shows that it is possible to combine a passion in sports and and create something amazing. He is the founder of evolve to grow where he now shows business owners across the world how to create a business that doesn't end up running them. And he did this himself by turning a sporting passion into a global operation turning over seven figures while providing the kind of personal and professional flexibility many people dream of? Is this possible for most of us to do? Well as he says "I’m here to tell you that yes, it’s possible for your business, too (with the right approach and plenty of passion and determination, of course!). When I started my first business – cycling clothing company Seight – I was entering an incredibly tough retail environment. Many of my competitors were major players and were already well established in the marketplace, so achieving cut-through and a profitable market share were just some of the many challenges I faced. How The Dots Joined Up For Tristan And yet just a few short years later my business was turning over more than $300,000, and all while I was yet to give up my previous day job. Fast forward another couple of years and my business had hit the magical seven-figure turnover mark and was running almost on autopilot, allowing me to work on what I wanted To combine a business and a passion and grow them into a profitable enterprise with a major following both locally and internationally is something I’m immensely proud of. Now I’m proud to say I’m helping other small business owners to do all this and more. Some have taken their business ideas from seed to fruition and are now running highly profitable operations, while others have grown their business and processes to a point that has enabled them to take extended holidays while their business runs itself. It seems to me that this man has the same logic and viewpoint as myself and Join Up Dots. Whats the point of creating a business that doesn't then give you the freedom to escape and live the life you want? So does he look back and think that it was obvious the way that he went about it, or simply a series of lucky breaks? And where do most people go wrong when they start their own business? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Tristan Wright  Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Tristan Wright such as: Why it is so important to find a market that you have the most knowledge on before you ever try to do something new. We discuss why affiliate marketing is such a hard thing to make a living from due to the amount of traffic you need to gain those important clicks. Tristan shares why the first thing that people should do is start building a community, and the nurture those pain points. And lastly....... We both share our route to business burnout and why Tristan now tells his clients to book time off each 90 days. 

In today's podcast episode we hear from several listeners of the show who are rocking and rolling and doing amazing things. Not least getting the brain juices going to create online success for themselves. We hear from several people bursting with ideas, and one listener who shares her own tip for success as she builds her own coaching business. Dear David loving the show big-time. You certainly have got me buzzing and I am going to make 2020 my big year. What would be the value bomb that you can give me as a xmas gift to make sure this occurs?   Kind regards James Whittaker ps.....left a review on iTunes as I know you love getting them. Hi David....i have started a coaching business and have found clients very easy to get, so I thought i would let you know what I am doing. Everyday I go into A Starbucks or coffee house near me, and sit with my laptop. There are literally thousands of people that come in and sit down for a drink over eight hours. All I do is catch their eye and ask if I can sit with them and then start up a conversation. I'll be honest the idea frightened me, but I heard one of your guests talking about how they simply stood in a road and handed out business cards for an event they were running. So my mind thought out the process. Where are people always coming to? Where do people often sit and kill a bit of time? Where do people do this during work time? I hope that will help someone out there and thank you so much for starting your show as I wouldn't be where I am today without you....big love and kisses Jennifer Millward, Ohio, USA Hi David, quick question for you. Do you think that a business showing people how to clear their garages is a great idea? I keep on driving past open garages full of boxes and nobody can park their cars in them? This has been a light-bulb moment for me, and seems too simple that someone else hasn't done it already. Colin Baxter, Jacksonville, Florida. Mr Ralph, can I ask a question please. How do you know what to do each day in your business. You seem to have everything sorted, but i waste so much time just doing nothing worth while when I get a chance to work on my business. I guess you will say "write a list" or prioritise but I was interested if you do something differently. You are the best  Becky, New York City USA

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.

Todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a lady who has niched down and is working with a client base with a huge problem. While healthcare professionals may be excellent at helping people heal from injuries and sickness, help patients make choices that will lead to healthier lives, and provide the comfort and security we all need when health scares arise, they're (admittedly!) often not great at the day to day business of providing that healthcare. Luckily, that's where Sylvie McCracken steps in to help and enables health care professionals to heal their own businesses from the administrative gulag that hounds them. Since most healthcare providers' income is directly tied to the number of patients they see and a near endless stream of appointments, it's the personal freedom, family, and often their own health that pays the price for financial wellness. How The Dots Joined Up For Sylvie Through identifying passive income opportunities and helping entrepreneurs to execute and sustain those initiatives, Sylvie helps doctors, dentists, pathologists, nutritionists, and more take care of the bottom line so they can better take care of themselves, their families, and their patients. She loves passive income as believes its essential for every entrepreneur (going without it is like driving a car without insurance). Creating passive income with ebooks,  outsourcing, delegating and managing your online dream team (‘cause you didn’t ditch the day job to have your business run you) and  building her clients biz while working a full time “day job” (like I did!) So how did she juggle everything to get into the position to step out on her own And was her business like it is now from the very beginning or a very different version of what we now see? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Sylvie McCracken Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Sylvie McCracken such as: We share the hardship of entrepreneurship, and the manner of somehow being out of your control but still living it. Why Sylvie's personality can often repel clients from her life, but thats ok as the great clients stick around. Sylvie reveals that although she loves working in her business she truly loves being on her own and often needs that space to function. And lastly................. We talk about the moment when "The dream job" that everyone thought she was crazy to leave, left a whole in her happiness. How To Connect With Sylvie McCracken Website Facebook Twitter Linkedin Return To The Top Of  Sylvie McCracken If you enjoyed this interview with Sylvie McCracken why not check out other inspiring interviews like Clint Arthur, Lunden DeLeon and Jack Canfield Or of course you can check out thousands of podcast interviews in our archives here Interview Transcription For Sylvie McCracken Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time there was a guy with a dream a dream. He's 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. BU 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 0:56 Yes, hello there, everybody. Hello there and welcome to Join Up Dots. I'll tell you why I love having an online business. You won't believe how many issues go on behind the scenes to make it seem like we are professionals and we know what we're doing. But I think we're there. I think we're there and we're going to bring a good show to you because today's guest joining us on the show is a lady who is niche down and he's working with a client base with a huge problem. While health care professionals may be excellent at helping people heal from injuries and sickness, help patients make choices that will lead to healthier lives and provide the comfort and security we all need. When health scares arise. They're often not that great at a day to day business of providing that health care. Luckily, that's where our guest comes in, and she enables healthcare professionals to heal their own businesses from the administrative gulag, but hands room now since most healthcare providers income is directly tied to the number of patients they see, and a near endless stream of appointments, it's the personal freedom, family and often their own health that pays the price for financial wellness through IN can't even say I'm so excited through identifying passive income opportunities and helping entrepreneurs to execute and sustain those initiatives. Our guest helps doctors, dentists, pathologist, nutritionist, and everyone else care for the bottom line so they can better take care of themselves, their families and their patients. Now she loves passive income and she believes it's essential for every entrepreneur going without it is like driving a car without insurance. She says creating passive income with ebooks outsourcing, delegating and managing your online Dream Team, because yet didn't ditch your day job to have your business run you she says and building her clients business while working a full time day job like she did can take its toll. So how did you juggle everything to get into the position to step out on their own and was her business like it is now from the very beginning? Or a very different version of what we now see. Well, that's why now as we bring on to the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Sylvie MacCracken. Good morning, Sylvie. How are you? Sylvie McCracken 3:01 Oh, my goodness. Good morning, David. Thank you for that great introduction. So happy to be here. I'm happy you're David Ralph 3:06 here as well, because we had a few issues, didn't we? But we, we just relaxed and I stress from this and did I sound like I was stressing? Sylvie McCracken 3:15 No, not at all. You kept your cool. So yeah, we figured out the technology. Sometimes the tech Gremlins are upon us that you figured it all out. Here we are. David Ralph 3:22 I think it is a metaphor for entrepreneurial life. Because I remember the very beginning if something happened, that meant that I couldn't record a show. I used to think oh my god, I'm letting the person down. Now. I just sit there and being okay with you and not the time we're so around the issue where we breeze around, is that something that becomes more and more evident that there's always a way around the obstacle? Sylvie McCracken 3:49 Oh, for sure. I mean, you know, it's it's one of those things where you just become adapt, I think at handling the fact that there's going to be hurdles and if you can't, you know, overcome those words. Then maybe entrepreneurship isn't for you. Because the reality is that that's the only guarantee. David Ralph 4:04 And how do you think entrepreneurship is because I eSports? Because I used to think it was for everyone. And then I used to think it was not nobody. And when I sort of lurch between the two, is it for somebody that is just purely bloody minded and determined, or is it somebody creative? Because you see, great entrepreneurs go under, and you see other people that are quite frankly, they seem like idiots. Rubbish, right, rather well, Sylvie McCracken 4:33 right? Yeah, you know, I mean, I think I agree with you. In the beginning, I was the event the entrepreneur evangelist, right, where everyone, you know, grab random strangers in an elevator and a Lyft, as you guys call them, and just, you know, try and convince them and the reality is, like you said, you know, it's not for everybody, and people that are completely comfortable in their nine to five and in their day job and receiving that salary. As long as they have a pulse. Then, you know, great, that's great. You know, who might have saved that's not A great life. But I think entrepreneurship is for those that are you know that that that sounds like death that working a nine to five working for someone else, you know, is something that they're absolutely not willing to do that they have this passion or this, you know, idea or this thing that they want to do they want to control their own schedule. And I think this is the big and and the big sort of requirement is and they're willing to take the risk and they're willing to deal with it's not an overnight success. And it's not get rich quick, and it's not easy sometimes. And it's definitely not easy in the beginning. So there is that sort of cost of entry, which is you've got to really go through that, you know, that that those hurdles in the beginning where you're working for zero dollars an hour, and it's hard and you're making mistakes, and you're getting told no. And that's kind of the barrier to entry to entrepreneurship, if you don't make it in that first year or three years or whatever it may be. Then, you know, and that's when a lot of people quit and say, You know what, actually my job is not as bad as I thought it was. David Ralph 5:59 Well, I'm gonna Jump back on something you said were working the zero hours because I'm a member. When I started, I was earning less than zero hours because I had costs costs that were going out. But I wasn't. Yeah. And I look back on it now. And I can't actually remember how I survived. But I did. I survived. And I scraped around and I sorted things out. And I had a couple of lucky tax breaks, which brought some money in which allowed us to do one or two things and stuff. But yeah, it was amazing at the time, where I was only seeing money go one way, and it wasn't going into my bank account at all. Sylvie McCracken 6:35 Yeah, right. It was going back. Oh, yeah. I totally agree. And I think that that really speaks to well, how bad do you want it then? David Ralph 6:42 How bad do you want it now compared to when? At the beginning because when you when you get to a certain point, and I'm going to preempt guys, and laziness comes in, where you lose track of who you was, I used to be Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle. Then once you started going well, it was like a weight off, I can relax. And the more I relaxed, the more I realise I didn't actually want to do what I was doing anyway. Right. And I kind of lost myself for a while. What about yourself? Sylvie McCracken 7:12 Yeah, yeah, no saying Absolutely. And I think it's part of it is you go into autopilot mode, which is, for me, at least what I've operated on a good part of my life. And so of course, that's kind of a hardwired pattern that I have to, you know, kind of sometimes wake myself up out of and say, Oh, wait, what are we doing? Again? What's the big picture? Because I'll get into the minutia of a certain day and what we're doing that day, and I'll forget the big picture, and then I'll find myself, you know, carrying out a project I don't even really want to finish. So I think, you know, that's a really great question. And it's actually something I talked to my clients about recently. That was, you know, really because I was asking them like, you know, especially in the early in the first year, how bad do you want it? What are you willing to sacrifice? What are you willing to give up? Are you willing to give up your evening and weekend for a while around your day job? Are you willing to shut down Netflix and you know, really give up your free time and do this Because that's kind of what's required. And but the interesting thing is I said, but just so you know, like, what I'm willing to do today is I'm not willing to sacrifice almost anything. And so that's, you know, the interesting thing and the, I guess the good part of that is I no longer have to write so right, you know, at today 2019 2020. I have, you know, a business that I'm able to fit around my lifestyle and not the other way around. But I'm very, very clear that those early years it was hustle, and it was evenings and weekends around a day job, and it definitely was sacrifice and that was what was required to sort of buy into entrepreneurship. And nowadays, I really don't care about, you know, going for the next revenue hurdle, right? We did that. We chased that for a while. Once we hit seven figures, I was like, Okay, I got the T shirt, and now I don't really care about it anymore. It's one of those things where I'm like, well, what's the profit? What's the how many hours? How little hours Can I get away with to run this business? There's other metrics that I'm focused on now. And am I able to, you know, put everything aside and go to a salsa Dancing festival if I want to for a long weekend, am I able to take my daughter to a doctor's appointment at one o'clock? Because I want to be there, you know? So those are the metrics I look at nowadays. David Ralph 9:10 Ryan. Okay. I agree with everything he was saying. And I also agree that the majority of people out there haven't got it. I've now answered my question. When we said at the beginning, who is entrepreneurship for? I think it's almost like, it's for somebody that hasn't got a choice anymore. It's for somebody who's in too much pain, you know, I had a boss from hell. And I just got to the point where I can't do this anymore. I just cannot spend one day more. Now. In fact, Boss wasn't there. And I had a nice boss, who knows I might have still been there. But it was the pain point that pushed me out. And so when people speak to me, and I said, David, David, I'd really like to start my own business. They don't seem to be in pain enough to really Want to push through? Yeah, Sylvie McCracken 10:01 yeah, it's a nice to have not a must have, it has to be a must have. It has to because a nice to have, you're not really willing to do that much for a nice to have you know and I and my health care professional clients deal with this a lot to where sometimes they're helping people where now they've gotten a diagnosis of Hey, you either turn around your health or your end up in a wheelchair, and now they're willing to listen now they're willing to change their diet, but when it was, Hey, you know, you need to lose 20 pounds. Okay, well, whatever, you know, so it's the same with with just about everything I think. David Ralph 10:31 Now the interesting thing about you, Sylvia, and this is gonna sound like an insult, but I'm going to say hello, I Unknown Speaker 10:36 can't wait. It's a David Ralph 10:38 bit of an insult, but it's gonna lead into a lovely compliment. Now, before you came through, I get pitched people and I have a name and the name gets given to me now in the United Kingdom. Sylvie is like a 70 year old nanny, basically. It's like, I never knew that there is an old lady's name and so So I wasn't expecting but glamorous and vibrant you see I've built it up into a compliment person. And when I went over to the website I thought this is interesting because first of all, it moves it there's a video alone and a lot of it is very kind of like Meghan Trainor, you know, making train this video's very bright and very cheerful. And your whole website is very different from most that I get to look at through the show. And it should be by surprise. Was that kind of bright leather jacket is driving around, was that part of the master plan? Or did that just sort of naturally occur over a period of time? Sylvie McCracken 11:44 You know, I usually I defer to my team who they're all so much smarter than I am. And in that particular case, that was the work of Sarah and como Ashman years ago now, I think that website went up either 2015 or 2016, probably 16. And it was all her creative direction. It was all her ideas. Very little input from me or every time I put some input, she'd be like, you know, we're doing it this way. And so she directed the whole thing starlet Fortunato did all of the photography. And it was, you know, at the time we weren't serving healthcare professionals, that's the hilarious part. So, you know, but we were doing I mean, my, my vision has always been the same as far as what I bring to the table, which is this efficiency piece. And so she really wanted to tie it to fuel efficiency, and you know, and that car theme, and so she did a lot of got just just the creative direction around that and the branding. That's David Ralph 12:34 what you said, Man was the key point. I think that was the question in my mind. I was expecting some old lady walking out of a doctor's surgery where, you know, being very focused on the health care professionals. And when I got over there, I thought, My God, this isn't this. There's a sort of juxtaposition of what I was expecting, but actually was more engaging because I realised that I was tapping into who you were, and not what somebody wanted me to see. And, you know, I look at so many websites that they bought me, they bought me stupid, you know? It doesn't come across with you, and how does that work with the healthcare professionals? Did they come across and go? Be speaks to me or actually, this isn't what I was expecting. Sylvie McCracken 13:23 Right. You know, I think that's a really good question. I mean, obviously, there are a lot of people that don't resonate with me. And the reason for that David, and we chatted a little bit before we started recording is I have a little bit of an irreverent style. So there are people that will watch our webinar and will literally will send emails into my team saying, Oh my god, she's so unprofessional. She calls us dude. And I'm like, Yeah, I do because that's what I feel like saying so if you don't buy but then no problem but then keep going because this is what I do. I'm a big fan of, you know, I sort of want to normalise doctors as other humans. Everybody poops and You know, there's no there's no title ism, there's no The doctor is better than the nutritionist or the nurse or anything like that in my world. So if you come into my world and you become a client, you basically acknowledge and accept to be treated just like everybody else with respect, but I'm going to say, Hey, girl, and I'm going to say, Hey, dude, because that's my style. And if you don't like it, that's totally cool. But that's how I roll So, so there's that and then there's, you know, I mean, I use I use rap lyrics as quotes. And, you know, my clients, the ones that do make it past all of those different filters that we've got, basically, they find it hilarious half the time, they don't know who I'm quoting. But you know, that's just kind of what I bring to the table. I'm a little bit a typical I grew up in Argentina and in the US back and forth, so I speak both languages fluently. You wouldn't think I'm Latina, based on the last name McCracken but there you have it. And so you know, I'll do weird things like that. I'll bring in lyrics that from all over the world or references and I'll actually make them into my materials. We've got literally You know, rap lyrics put into our workbooks. So that's just kind of what you got when you're in my world and for whoever it fits awesome. And for whoever doesn't fit, that's fine too, David Ralph 15:09 because I'm slightly pivoted because through Join Up Dots. If you go back maybe two years ago, I used to do a lot of singing on the show and just sort of city stuff, which entertains me, entertain me. And a lot of people would come through to me saying, you know, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite what I expected from a business podcast. And I thought that's that's the point. That is exactly the point. Yeah, yeah, I've pivoted slightly because I realised, once I started dropping off the overtly me things. My bank account flourished. You know, it was almost like, people couldn't accept that somebody could do that and be bad at the same time. They couldn't accept but I can show them how to create an online business that literally only takes a few hours a week to operate, you can do it anywhere you want, you know, if I was singing Bon Jovi songs on the show, but I still, I still can't break free from knowing that ultimately, I will come back to that, ultimately, there comes a tipping point where you realise that you can actually be whoever you want to be, and the world goes, and that's what we want you to be. Sylvie McCracken 16:26 Yeah, well, I just feel like you know, I mean, I, you know, I feel like in a traditional environment, you have to morph yourself into whatever is allowed, right? And, and my employees have told me this multiple times as well of like, you know, Oh, I'm so glad that you don't care that I have blue hair or that I have this piercing or whatever it is, of course, I don't care and they're on, you know, our team photos and whatever with whatever hair they have or don't have. And, you know, and I hate that there's, there's these you know, sort of weird rules you have to conform to in these traditional investors. I created a business so I could do whatever the heck I want. So I really, I don't know I stand by this idea of I am who I am and it will resonate with those it's meant to resonate with and it will repel those. It's not meant to resonate with but I don't want to have to put on the suit and act a certain way while I'm working in my business and then go back to being myself after five o'clock I'd rather be myself the whole time and even if that means it will repel a certain crowd, it's probably meant to so you know, if I showed you right now, the Facebook group of our year long clients where there's several MDS and DS nutritionist licenced marriage and family therapist, you'll see GIFs you know, we use GIFs a lot of times to communicate, you know, will will, you know, put GIFs in the Facebook group and they'll join in as well right we kind of keep it funny and light and, and that's just, you know, that's just how we do it. Whether we're having they're having a hard day and something happened or whether they're celebrating an incredible win. Why not keep it funny and light and fun. David Ralph 17:59 I agree. Yeah, I agree with you 100%. And I'm going to play some words from a man or Sheila believes that as well. He's Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey 18:06 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 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 18:32 Now, do you think those words are correct? Because I used to, and now I love between how do you know the love unless you try anything? Sylvie McCracken 18:44 Yeah, and I think you know, here's the thing to David is the older I get, the more I realised what I don't know. You know, so I agree. Like there's things I sought out to you know, at 20 or 25, or whatever, thinking this is it, this is the right thing and the reality is I agree you don't really know whether you love it, hate it or whatever else until you try it on for size. And then also, you can reserve the right to change your mind. So I'm David Ralph 19:09 going to jump down, I'm going to jump straight in now, because I'm talking about this a lot, my and I want to get your point of view from your clients, where people say to me, I don't like doing this, I want to do what I love. And I say to them, let's just try and learn in the process. Let's let's learn how that occurs, you know, don't say how to get to somewhere, but you don't know that there's a car available, there's a pass available. Let's just try stuff, and then see the process. But I get a lot of people that want to go from I hate this to sexy and I go there's a bit of a journey between it. Sylvie McCracken 19:48 Totally. And the reality is, you know, for example, choosing what business model fits you. You know, it just depends. I mean, for some people, they want to work with a lot of people, they're really extroverted. They want to be around people all day every day and there's other people People that are more introverted and would love to be by themselves in their yoga pants with their laptop and seeing one human a week. And you know, sometimes they don't even I mean, you think that'd be a basic knowing about yourself, but the reality is sometimes you build a business model and you're like, Oh, actually, is this what my week is going to look like? I hate this. And that's okay. I mean, you know, you'll figure a lot of that out, unfortunately, in by trial and error. David Ralph 20:20 I used to have horrible days when I would look at it and think to myself, I might want to stay at work. But that boss, that boss wasn't actually as bad as I think I made. Yeah, she was she. Yeah, she was terrible. But I used to convince myself I actually, I'd made a mistake in my dog, my dark mind state of mind. If somebody came along goes, how's it going? I'd go, Oh, it's brilliant. I love it. It's the best thing I ever did. And then I'd sort of like slink back into my shell again, thinking, Oh, I haven't seen anyone for six weeks and nobody speaks to me. And now I'm very aware as we're recording here, it's November and I'm very aware when November comes my wife who still works for companies, she's doing a Christmas do every night. And every night there's a Christmas party, and she gets invited to it. And basically, she's pretty pissed from now till January, literally literally every single night. Now, as an entrepreneur as myself, I don't get invited to anything. And I wonder, does that something that you find liberating but you don't have that in your life now? Do you have to create Christmas cheer? How does it fit, really great manifested? Sylvie McCracken 21:34 So you know, it's interesting because you wouldn't think so. But I am a little bit more I kind of test on the cusp of introvert extrovert but I am a little bit more introverted, so I love my alone time. So even though we have an office for the team here, downtown, which is about I don't know, six blocks away from my house. I choose to most of the time work from home on my own. I love being on my own and I get a lot of interaction. You know, by doing client calls once a week that I do, I batch all of my calls So I do all my group calls with my clients. And I have meetings with my teams and whatnot. So all that's virtual. Now as far as physical face to face interaction, I do what's called driven dinners. And so I kind of drag out entrepreneurs and we do these kind of networking dinners. So I create those myself. And then the other very social thing for me is I like to dance salsa and bachata And so that has a lot of sort of active things in the evenings and weekends and festivals and congresses and all of that jazz that's very social and very, you know, just just that's a lot that's what a lot of my energy goes these days. So I don't know if that answers and as far as holidays go you know, it's funny because yeah, there's like the the dancing group gets together for a holiday thing. And you know, then our team is very virtual. So we usually will do like a champagne party on zoom. Because we have people all over the US we have someone in the UK, we have someone in Spain, we have someone in the Philippines, you know all over the place. So we'll do that but they basically we send them all about a bottle of champagne, and we Do that we do a toast in December. And you know, that's about it. And for me, that's plenty. But I'm not the type of person that wants to be out every night. I am a person that loves being in my pyjama pants as early in the evening as possible with a cup of tea. David Ralph 23:14 It's interesting you say that because it is prevalent with the people I speak to. And it's certainly in a case of myself, that I have to be on my own a lot. And I actually don't want to see people. But then when I do see people, I really kind of burst into life, and I enjoy it. And then I come back, and I always call it my Batman and my Bruce Wayne. And my Bruce Wayne kind of just sits there not doing anything, and they send out the bat signal and I go off and I do stuff and I sort of enjoy. Now, I see that time and time again with people I speak to so do you think that could be one of the who's perfect for an entrepreneur, somebody that actually is quite good being on their own, so they can actually Work through things themselves. Sylvie McCracken 24:02 I mean, you know, I don't you know, I, I guess nowadays, I would say not necessarily, I would say any type of personality would work. It's just depending on what type of business you build. So for example, for me, I find it hard I found it really hard as my team started to grow from just a handful of people to more like a dozen people because now I found Oh my God, I've got a relationship with a dozen different people who each have families and children. And I found that really difficult because usually my circle my tight circle is very small. I like to go deep vs wide with relationships. And now I found, you know, that had this new family had created of a dozen people and and growing. And so I found that to be a little bit more challenging. I think that you know, you just need to kind of, you know, it just depends on, you know, what you like so, for example, if you're a person that likes to work with other people, you more so than I

Introducing Rylee Meek Rylee Meek is the founder and CEO of the Social Dynamic Selling System, which turns dinner seminar marketing into a science. After responding to a small ad on Craigslist in 2009, Rylee was introduced to a new concept of selling, one in which radically changed his life forever. Having just $673 in his bank account, but more importantly a burning desire for more, Rylee went on to produce over $80 million in sales over the past 8 years. Now that he has perfected his model, through continual trial and error, he is sharing this learned wisdom, and is on a mission to help other entrepreneurs and business owners achieve the revenue goals they have to live the lifestyle they desire. Everything he teaches is tried, tested, refined, and proven to create a predictable, sustainable, and scalable selling system. As he says "Our mission is to help you create predictable, sustainable and scalable business, so you can generate leads on demand, have people showing up to appointments and closing those leads into sales without spending a dime on advertising online." Sounds pretty dam fine to me. So what was it about that small ad on Craig's list that grabbed his attention so much? And when you think that people buy from people they trust, why do so few people actually attempt to meet and discuss over dinner? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Rylee Meek Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Rylee Meek such as: Rylee shares how the world has lost the ability to truly sit down and build a level of trust with the people they want to go into business with. Why it is so important to grab an opportunity when you see it (although so many people fail to move on past that first look) We discuss Rylee's journey from first selling products that he didn't care about, to truly wanting to make a difference. and lastly...... Why the world is missing a huge piece of the pie, by ignoring local search and attempting to find a g

In today's episode of Join Up Dots we discuss an issue that so many people have in today online world. They are struggling online to make sales, and get the right customers into their lives. You see most people it seems, start with a dream and after a very short time change their direction into something else. Just when they are getting a few pounds into their bank accounts they feel its not enough so class it as "Not working" However as you will hear this is total rubbish, as if you can make a few dollars come your way there is no reason you can't make a lot more. You simply have to learn more about what is working and what isn't. If you become obsessed with earning as much as you can then you will have no problem about it all. I promise you.... So lets start with the email that I received recently from a listener of Join Up Dots, who is struggling online to make a difference for themselves.  Struggling Online Email Dear Mr Ralph, I am a long term listener of Join Up Dots podcast and also a long term dream builder. If I can share a bit about myself, I was born in a small town almost smack in the middle of the United States Of America. Growing up there wasn't much to do, and I longed for the time that I could say goodbye to my past and head off into a bright new future. So when I was 19, I packed my bags and started backpacking through Thailand, Malaysia and then a three year coast to coast adventure through Australia. I loved it, and would often spend time with people earning money online and supporting themselves without it seemed a care in the world. That is what i wanted more than anything. I wanted the ability to live stress free, and simply. Not worrying about mortgages and the restraints of modern living in any shape or form. So I set off to start earning online and living my dream...I am now 30 and no nearer to that dream. I have ended back in the town of my childhood and work in a local store to earn a living. I hate it and feel that the dream is not for me anymore. Do you have any suggestions as I have tried everything and nothing works, no matter what i do. Kind regards, Rosendo Pawnee Rock Kansas

Introducing Victoria Prince Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a woman who is the classic model of the side hustle entrepreneur that has truly got the ball rolling. As she says "First and foremost, I'm a Marketing Consultant for businesses who have big ambitions; whether you're a start-up or a large FMCG brand, I have extensive experience in both arenas. My current side hustle however as an Entrepreneur is Energy Ball Recipe Kits. I design and make recipe kits for customers (on subscription) to make fresh energy balls at home. I launched the Kits on Kickstarter in July 2018 and within 12 months I had my first order from Selfridges. Of course that seems easy, and a side hustle isn't for sure and that success had a four year build up since  March 2014: Victoria Prince Energy Ball Founder, started to make energy balls. Over time, if she had run out of an ingredient, she would substitute it for something else, and before she knew it, she was making recipes up as she went along. How The Dots Led To Energy Balls January 2017: Vic decided to start publishing the recipes she made onto this website, for no other purpose than to share what she had made so others could try them out. December 2017: She wondered why there isn’t a regular subscription kit for snacks like there are for mealtimes. So she built a great team of people around her and developed an Energy Ball Recipe Kit. 23rd March 2018: At an Enterprise Nation Wellness event in London, Victoria took her prototype ‘Energy Ball Recipe Kit’ and talked to lots of industry people about her ambitions. 29th July 2018: The Recipe Kit launched on Kickstarter and smashed the target, with over £2700 in pre-sales of Energy Ball Recipe Kits, which were posted around the globe. 22nd July 2019: Selfridges placed their first order. They will be selling 3 ‘unique’ energy ball recipe kits via their website. LAUNCHING VERY SOON. In her spare time (ha!) I'm a Mentor at the Nottingham Trent University Business School, and I carry out public speaking engagements for business networking/wellness events. So how did she overcome the impostor syndrome that seems to stop most side hustles from occurring even before they get any movement? And as most people say to me, "I wish Id started earlier" would she say the same to her younger-self if she ever got the chance? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only Energy Balls herself, Victoria Prince Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Victoria Prince such as: Victoria shares the initial starting point of her desire to create her fledgling business due to her own health issues. We delve into why building a business that already has competitors is actually a very wise thing to do. The reason that you should never reveal your dreams to your close friends and colleagues right at the beginning when the are most fragile. And lastly................. Why starting a business can not only be great for your bank balance but also amazing for your own personal health. How To Connect With Victoria Prince Website Facebook Twitter Return To The Top Of Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince If you enjoyed this interview with Victoria Prince why not check out other inspiring interviews like Clint Arthur, Lunden DeLeon and Jack Canfield Or of course you can check out thousands of podcast interviews in our archives here Interview Transcription For Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time there was a guy with a dream a dream. He's 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. for 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. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 0:54 Good morning, everybody. Good morning and welcome to the 800 million episode. Join Up Dots I've got no idea what we're at now base a lot is a lot. And if you want to spend some time going back over the back catalogue, feel free because you want to hear, not only will our guests have been on the journey, I've been on the journey as well, and it's a journey that you can all do. Well, today's guest who is on the other end of the line is a woman who is the classic model of the side hustle entrepreneur but has truly got the ball rolling. See what I did that way it won't make sense at the moment, but it will do later. As she says first and foremost, I'm a marketing consultant for businesses who had big ambitions, whether you're a startup or large, FMCG brand, I have extensive experience in both arenas. Now. My current side hustle however, as an entrepreneur is energy ball recipe kits, I designed to make recipe kits for customers on subscription to make fresh energy balls at home. Now I launched the kits on Kickstarter in July 2018. And within 12 months, I had my first order from self produce. Of course, that seems easy, and a side hustle isn't for sure. And that success had a four year build up since March 2014. She started to make energy balls. And over that time, she ran out of ingredients. So she would substitute it for something else. And before she knew it, she was making recipes up as she went along. Now jump forward to 2017. So she's already been doing it for three years, she decided to start publishing the recipes she made onto a website, but no other purpose meant to share what she had made so others could try them out. And then and then she wondered why there isn't a regular subscription kit for snacks like that, for mealtimes. So she built one and she built a great team of people around her and developed energy bought recipe kit. Well, we're going to jump on a bit but it's all really doing very well. And we've sell produce now selling her stuff, and they're going to be selling three unique energy ball recipe kits via the website too. She's doing very well for herself. Now in her spare time. She says I'm a mentor at the Nottingham Trent University business school, and I carry out public speaking engagements for business networking wellness events. So she's a busy lady. How did she overcome the imposter syndrome? That seems to stop most side hustle from occurring even before they get any movement? And as most people say to me, I wish I'd started earlier would she say the same to her younger self if she ever got the chance? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show to start joining up dance with the one and only energy balls founder herself Victoria Prince. Good morning, Victoria. How are you? I'm really good. Thank you. Introduction. David Ralph 3:35 It was good. It was good. Tell you Well, I need about six energy balls to get over that one. I'm gonna be ramming them in my mouth. Left right and centre. So So I've got to come straight clean, but because this has been bothering me, Victoria, okay. Okay. Yeah, I love what you're doing First of all, okay, and I was watching your video, and you've got the most beautiful sparkly face when you were talking about energy balls and everything you said it was like I love this I love this product and your your your eyes lit up. I almost wanted to watch the video twice because you were so you were so engaging. But about three weeks leading up to this I've kept on going over to your website. I've seen the main green ones. And I've been thinking if they were in my fridge, I would have loved them out. they they they don't look very attractive. The green ones is that is that something that holds it back? Is that something that holds it back because now I'm on there and I'm flicking around? And there's all these other ones they all look gorgeous but the green ones are horrible. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 4:40 now that's that's that's a fair comment and and one of the things that I say to people so if we are at an event and we're giving away free tasters people to see what the bulls taste like, what I generally say with the main green ones is that your eyes tell you something different than than your total. So when you actually looking at it, you're saying Oh, this looks disgusting. It's green actually. This isn't something I'm supposed to eat. But actually, as you're eating it, it's like people's eyes light up and then surprise like, Oh, it's actually quite sweet and it's you can taste it with peanut butter in there and you know, you get these different flavours so it's it's very different to what to what it looks like so I think once you've eaten one you definitely went through that phase David Ralph 5:19 the rest away Do you think so? I would be converted do you think? Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 5:22 Yeah, definitely. David Ralph 5:24 Yeah, I'd be going over green ones right. So I've got that out of my system now. And and it was it was a brain based app ready to burst. I had to share it. So let's go back in time, okay. You are busy. You're a lady and being just just being a ladies busy enough because I know how much effort it takes my daughters to get out the house each morning. So that's difficult. Your business is going to take up your time. Why did you want to do this side hustle? Why did you want to add something more one to you. So take us back in time through that thought process Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 5:59 started with a diagnosis of polycystic ovaries which one of those one of the symptoms is weight gain? And when I was looking online on, you know what, when you try to Google things to work out, what am I going to do to try and combat symptoms, and one of the things was to reduce my sugar. And I was looking for non sugary snacks. And bearing in mind when I finished my degree I had my first job in marketing was for Thornton's chocolate company. And so therefore, when I when I was there, I would literally eat chocolate on the way to the printer and a chocolate on the way back, which meant that I was constantly printing things because like, this is chocolates open all the time in the offices. It's lovely. But so I was I was serious chocoholic, so in order to try and kind of change my attitude to what I was eating. I need to start eating a bit cleaner. And you really reducing my sugar I mean, I don't think anybody can reduce it fully unless someone a serious plans but and I just want to be really wary of what I was putting into my body. So it really was born out of out of a health condition that that I wanted to cater for. And that there wasn't anything out there that apart from recipes online, I already made energy balls, of course, that there wasn't anything where I could literally have all the ingredients ready to make the eligible special at home and really conveniently and unhealthy, like less food ways and lots of benefits that come off the back of that being a you know, straight to the door with all the ingredients. And so it it just really kind of evolved itself. It wasn't I set out to say, I'm going to launch this product on Kickstarter, and I'm going to sell for just website and I'm going to, you know, send all around the world to Olympians and it that was never something that I wanted to that wasn't my aim. It was just that I wanted to eat healthier. And actually this all came about as a result David Ralph 7:50 of it. And what that have scared you, you know if somebody joined up your future in the saying, right, you've got to speak to sales bridges and you've got to do business. You got to speak to Libyans, would you pay? can't be bothered. All I wanted to do is eat a few of these not not all this Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 8:10 I don't know. I don't know. I don't think I've been scared. I don't think. I don't think he can. I definitely shouldn't be scared in business. I think it's you've just got to jump in because what's the worst that can happen? People say no. So even if somebody said, I'm going to, you know, speak to Selfridges then like I guess, just think, okay, let's just do it, you know, like, like this call with you. It's just Okay, let's do it. It is, but I think people should ever be. If they're scared of doing what their business is, then they're not passionate about it. And they're not they're not in the right industry. I would, I would come on I don't know. Unknown Speaker 8:47 Well, I because David Ralph 8:47 I I wonder myself because I saw this post on Facebook the other day, I don't go to baseball very often but and it said that basically, entrepreneurs have 10 times as much mental health Problems 1020 times as much energy issues and there was a big list of terrible stuff and it said so they're already going through so much support them, support them and try to help them out. And I thought yeah, that's fair enough. Now, none of us know that's going to be the case when we start until we actually get deep into it and realised that we've created a monster for ourselves and certainly with Join Up Dots I had a terrible time because naive Lee bouncing into it I bought it was GS you turn the microphone on? You have a chat and you know, you make lots of money, but there was there's a bit more to it when the scenes. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 9:40 Yeah, no, I get that. But going back to your point, just before you said about entrepreneurs have the biggest amount like 10 times might have mentioned I had depression and like inviting everything when I was employed. So and now I don't So I think I kind of put the trend on that, I would say. So I wouldn't necessarily say that if you're an entrepreneur, you're going to have mental health problems. I think, I think mental health problems can happen for anybody at any point in the life anytime, for any reason. David Ralph 10:15 I agree. I agree totally. But Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 10:16 just to book the trend on that one, yeah. David Ralph 10:19 No, I think you're going to be somebody who's bucking a lot of trends through this conversation. Yeah, I already sent that with you, Victoria. I've got I've got to tread carefully. So you get these little things, and you start making them into balls. And why balls? Why not like triangles? Why not squares? Why not? Because I got told by somebody that the worst shape is a tin because you lose all the space around it. If I made baked beans in square cans, they'd be able to store more on shelves. And so I've always looked at round products and think there's a lot of wasted space there. Square One would just like blinking Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 11:07 genius isn't it? So I I like that I like the round 10 on the shelf because obviously that is something that is taking up space and I know where you're coming from with that. But I think then when it's something that's in your fridge, it's not costing expert pounds x, x pounds per centimetre of space in your fridge is it? It's not it's not a rental. Unless you're Unknown Speaker 11:30 working on that basis. David Ralph 11:32 One blows Do you remember? Unknown Speaker 11:36 Do you remember right? David Ralph 11:40 O Victoria. Victoria. You're too young. You've just made me feel like a decrepit old man. Everywhere used to have a run blows and you could go in you could tie your TV show. Unknown Speaker 11:53 Yeah, yeah, yeah, David Ralph 11:54 yeah, yeah. And I 2010 on a Saturday afternoon, there was always loads of men looking out. Standing outside watching a football results come in. Yeah. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 12:04 I was thinking about a product you just talking about like this the baked beans on the tongue I thinking oh okay like I was imagining like a waggon wheel off. I could treat David Ralph 12:14 my waggon Unknown Speaker 12:16 tree Unknown Speaker 12:18 sounds like a tree David Ralph 12:18 but do you think waggon wheels have got smaller or have you got bigger? I know this is a bizarre thing to ask because I argued the point the other day that when I was a kid, I used to be able to take a curly Worley remember them and I used to be able to lean it up on my house and climb up it like a ladder they were that big. And now but tiny little thing I noticed said is because I've got bigger but I swear for a waggon will has got smaller Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 12:44 they do have products like that do tend to go small over time and it's all about marginal gains the retailer isn't it they just they just make an extra bit of profit on the tiny tiny tiny little bit of extra profit on everything is settled obviously them built David Ralph 13:01 That's it. That's it, I'm gonna hit this is this is why Join Up Dots is such a great programme. And I'm going to say that myself, because if I open a bag of crisps nowadays, and for people in America, potato chips, you open it up, there's about four in there that there's like nothing in there. Now, if I'm going to open it up, it's jam packed. I'm going to go back. So the consumer is actually shooting themselves in the foot by screwing us over on the size of things. Give us bigger ones, and we're going to buy more. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 13:32 Well, I don't know. All I know is that over time when you look at anything, like any kind of product file that they do tend to get smaller and like when you buy a multi pack, they're always smaller. Now if you notice, if I bought a pack of Chris, safe, they're like 30 grammes was a normal bag. You're like 28 in a multi pack. So you think you're getting a good deal, but David Ralph 13:53 has anybody ever come up to you and said the word I want pick a bowls, and Victoria? Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 13:59 Yeah, something Say, ask me how big bowl should be or they'll say I only made four balls out the whole kit. And so when it makes 30. So when you mentioned balls that kind of size of a golf ball, generally, David Ralph 14:12 but I'm a large fan of people that say this to you, Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 14:16 not necessarily sports people. Yeah. Anybody? David Ralph 14:21 Because I would have thought, you know, if you've got one large bowl, you're used to eating large quantities. And so that that's what you would be doing. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 14:30 Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't advise it, which is why we say you need 30 and the idea is you have a wonderful snack a day is something to keep in your fridge ladies got into healthy snack. David Ralph 14:40 Okay, well, I'm going to delve into a couple more questions that are in my head and then we're going to get more into the business side. But how much energy would I get from one of these things? Because, you know, I remember drinking a can of red ball once and I couldn't sleep for six days. I would like mad. I went mad on it. So it was Would you do the same thing? Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 15:02 know, if you're having one a day, they generally range from around 60 calories 205. So, and if you haven't one day, it's just like having a normal snack anyway, I mean, a bar chocolate or practices around now. So it's not, it's not about energy as in ridiculous amount of energy. In order for someone to be high energy, it just needs to be over a certain amount of kilocalories per hundred grammes. So it's more about the factors where they're known as energy balls and they do give energy because like any any food gives energy because it's putting into your system. And but it's not necessarily going to make you bounce off the walls like people to think. David Ralph 15:49 I thought that was going to be the case I'd be sitting here slumped, and I'd rather Bry my mouth and then be like, be like a superhero. Yeah, bursting out. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 16:00 Well, you can try it. I mean, everybody's different. Everybody's bodies react differently. You know, David Ralph 16:05 I'm worried, I'm worried. I'm worried that my bouncy energy would be too much. And then suddenly it be like that the mask Jimmy Jim Carrey, when he turned into the mask, and he would be bouncing. Now, let's take you back into the actual process of it. So what I find a lot is people come up with an idea. And then they think, oh, it must be out there already. Somebody's already done this. Did you have that same kind of thing where you're, you know, what's the point? Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 16:35 Yeah, I mean, that shouldn't necessarily be a reason not to do it. Because say if there was somebody already out there doing this, which I don't believe there is I'm not seeing anybody. I'm not come across anybody that does this already. worldwide. And so I've got friends in different countries, new people are like, oh, I've not seen this in my country. And why do you think that if this is somebody already they're doing it they Kind of paved the path and created the kind of Unknown Speaker 17:07 what's the word? desire? Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 17:09 Kind of? Yeah, well, the desire and, and the, the ability to know that it's there, you know, like they've done the marketing and they've kind of already got it out there. So the customers issue, the customer is aware that this product exist. Whereas the kind of positive and negative to be in a brand new brand to to the market but a brand new product and the market is that you kind of have to spend more money for people to understand what you do, and it's harder for them to kind of just get it through to me and go, Okay, yeah, I'm signing up, or I'm going to buy a kit or whatever. Because I need to feel like they've seen it before and they've to spend it a bit more money to in order to get customers on board. And so what was that so I said there's a positive and negative so that's the negative but the positive is that you don't really have a direct competitor. So you know, Having to compete against somebody who is spending as much or more, you know, Facebook advertising or you know, PR efforts or whatever it is that they're doing, you know, having to like match and constantly look over your shoulder, like what are they doing now? How they what Christmas campaign, they got, what, what January complete, you know, what, you know, it's this kind of positives and negatives to to be in something that is new and unique. But yeah, but but David Ralph 18:26 the key thing to this is, and I really want to emphasise it to the listeners, you can do the same thing. Every episode of Join Up Dots has got somebody doing a business. And if you want to replicate that business, it will make no difference on the rewards but that person's getting it The world is too big is too abundant. And so you know, I let you into secret. There's other podcasters it's not just me, and Victoria is creating energy bowls, and you could be somewhere else and you could create energy, triangle or energy squares. We've even proved that energy squares are better because you started Yeah. And you could do a multicolor one. So it looks like a Rubik's Cube you could do you know? Good idea. Yeah. These ideas I don't, I don't follow through with these ideas. They just pop out of my mind and we go, but it blows my mind though that no one else has done this because the years My mom has been hanging out fat balls, the birds in the garden. Yeah, and that's exactly the same thing but just for the crazy. Unknown Speaker 19:35 Yeah, yeah. David Ralph 19:36 Pretty much. So does that not blow your mind but somebody didn't look out the window with their cup of tea in the morning and thing. The birds are enjoying that maybe I would enjoy it as well. Unknown Speaker 19:50 Does that blew my mind? Yeah. David Ralph 19:59 Your mind But not one person on this planet. I stood and looked out the window at some birds rubbishing a platform. I thought to themselves, there must be something in it. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 20:11 Or do you know what people have done that because they're already made energy balls out there, there's already like them in the supermarket some unhealthy chops ready to just prep and go. And there's different brands, different sizes, like tiny ones, big ones. And, you know, I mean, so I guess there are people that have looked at that not necessarily looked at the fat balls in the garden, I don't know they might have done maybe need to interview them and ask them David Ralph 20:34 don't interest me in the same way. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 20:37 Yeah, so So somebody has made them they're like ready to go. It's just a make them so it's, it's a step before where you've got a bit of work to do. David Ralph 20:45 You know, it's suddenly dawned on me. I've been watching you for about two weeks, it suddenly dawned on me that you're absolutely right. But the thing that you're selling is actually the family involvement that the parents can make them with their kids, and they can You know, be a bit creative and they can make things for their friends that there's love involved in what you're giving, which just get in a bag of Old Energy balls, it wouldn't be the same. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 21:11 Know you I and I like to say to this like families or if somebody poorly or not feeling well, it's nice to send them something so that they've got a little something to make that, you know, all the time was saying to people who are in hospital like sending them chocolates and stuff. But actually, by I'm not saying like before in hospital. I'm saying this wrong. What I'm trying to say is, when people call it, it can sometimes be easier to send them something healthy Unknown Speaker 21:38 chocolates innovations David Ralph 21:41 in hospital, don't send them the green ones that will know that will push them over the edge. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 21:47 That the idea would be that if somebody was in hospital, you'd have to probably make the kit for them and take it in because they wouldn't be different facilities. a food processor Unknown Speaker 22:00 Why I went off a tangent that David Ralph 22:03 I can imagine kids to make glittery ones do you do both? Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 22:07 Yeah, that's I had a glittery one last year so we had a Christmas Christmas baubles It was called and the photo that I took was like a spray upon spray with a double glitter that you can put on. And so the seven suggestion actually said it's great to put on the Christmas buffet table so you just pile them up like forever Russia would be and all these little balls on the plate and then you spray this silver or gold and little spray and then you put them on to the buffet table Christmas and TAD Yeah you did right. And there's things like hundreds of thousands that you can mould them into the decal my birthday presents and you know just a bit more fun. Literally, the world's your oyster really can do you can put it in and whatever you want. If you make it from scratch, not using a kit either you want and you can enrol them in what if you want to give it like a David Ralph 22:57 particular finish? And what about what about things like hen parties, but making them in different shapes so they're not just just I'm not gonna say anything in case kids are listening, but I know Victoria, you're know what I'm talking about. Would that be something that you go? No, actually I want my balls to remain pristine and sacred. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 23:23 Oh, no, I mean everybody just what they want to do with them really, I mean, like, just going off on a tangent so that I can go into ways on this. So one of them is that you asked earlier about do they need the ball so they can be put into like so you make the mixture up but then you put it into a container and you'd like squish it all down to it nice and flat. And then you could get some dark chocolate, heat that up in the microwave memory until it becomes a liquid and you can put that on and then put some notes into a pass the water and then crumble them onto the Top and pop freedom feasible that that sets and then when you take it out you can put them into squares. So that's another different way of doing the same thing but you different David Ralph 24:11 containers with that word. Yeah, Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 24:12 totally. Yeah, I mean like you wanted them square so this is just perfect for you, isn't it? I think you need to test these out. I think I need to send you a min Mean Green kit and you need to test out this ice cube Ice Cube theory. David Ralph 24:25 Yeah, I'm going to be chasing the kids round with little green balls. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 24:29 But the other thing I was going to say was so you said about important stuff up a lot of interest now from football teams, and and Olympic teams, but I'm going in and doing like team building. So it works. levels. So like you said, how David Ralph 24:49 do you do this? You know, I By this time, I should have played some motivational clip. This is more interesting to me. How do you do sort of team building with tiny little green balls. Energy Balls Founder Victoria Prince 25:02 So imagine and let me give you the example of Plymouth Argyle. So they are they playing the green kit, basic policy okay with us. And so what we're going to do is set the team up into different groups so that they all have different recipes, different ingredients available. But with spirulina being green as one of t

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.

Introducing Womens Careers Expert Bettina Arnafjall

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a huge delight for me, as once again she was a listener of the show who was inspired to take action. So inspired was she that we worked together through the Join Up Dots business programme,  to find the business that she wanted to bring forward to the world. Bettina Arnafjall is the founder of the womenscareerlift, where she helps ladies (and a few men) to really give themselves a huge lift in their career. You see it's not just a catchy name, but says exactly what she does through women’s career coaching,  Resume review and writing, Cover letter review and writing, job interview preparation and  salary negotiation preparation As she says "I don't have a typical career path. I studied translation science for French, Italian and English but never actually worked as a translator. After only two years of work experience as a team assistant and customer support agent, I was promoted to be a team manager. I managed several teams of three to as many as thirty employees with vastly different cultural and educational backgrounds. Now the time has come for me to share my many years of experience and help you with your applications. But I noticed there are a lot of women around me who feel like that they are not being given the same opportunities as men because they are women. Whether this is the reality or just their perception, I couldn't say. In any case, I have noticed things that women could do to improve their chances and I want to share my experience to help women with the next step of their careers. I did have several eye opening experiences however with regards to differences in salary expectations and negotiations between men and women. During my many interviews I observed that men usually ask for a much higher salary than women. I actually almost made this mistake myself at some point in my career. Luckily I asked some men for advice and then went into the negotiations with a higher sum than I would have asked for. Guess what: it worked! So now with this amazing insight to what works in the recruitment process, she had the skills to make things happen but how did she do it? And where has been the biggest obstacle to overcome as she brought her dream to the world? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Bettina Arnafjall Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Bettina Arnafjall such as: We share the steps that Bettina first took to get her business off the ground by understanding what she really had to offer the world. Why it's so important to potentially talk to your current employees when you first start your own business to check they are ok with you doing it. Bettina reveals why for her business, referrals are so important for continued growth. Dont forget about word of mouth. and lastly...... Why Google Classroom is such a brilliant resource to get an online course up and running for free. How To Connect With Bettina Arnafjall Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Return To The Top Of Bettina Arnafjall If you enjoyed this episode with Bettina, 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 Bettina Arnafjall Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time there was a guy with a dream a dream. He's 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. for 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 0:56 Yes, hello there. Good morning to you. Good morning to you. Good morning. Hello and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for being here. I am all excited today because but me, this is a special show. This is one of those shows where well you'll find out as we proceed through somebody Listen, somebody took action, and he's now rocking and rolling across the world now, our guest joining us on the podcast is, as I say a huge delight for me as she was a listener of the show, who was inspired to take action. So I'm inspired was she that we work together through the Join Up Dots business programme, to find the business that she wanted to bring forward to the world. She's the founder of the women's career Lyft where she helps ladies and a few men she says she's not a man hater, but I'm not sure do really give themselves a huge lift in their career. You say it's not just a catchy name, but says exactly what she does through women's career coaching resume resume early in the morning, resume review and writing cover letter review and writing, job interview preparation And salary negotiation preparation. And she says I don't have a typical career path. I studied translation science for French, Italian and English, but never actually worked as a translator after only two years of work experience. As a team assistant and customer support agent. I was promoted to be a team manager and I manage several teams of three to as many as 30 employees with vastly different cultural and educational backgrounds. Now, the time has come for me to share my many years of experience and help you yes with your job applications. But she noticed that there were a lot of women out there who felt like they weren't being given the same opportunities as men, because they're women. Now, whether this is reality or just the perception she couldn't say, and in any case, she's noticed things that women could do to improve their chances, and she now wants to share the experience to help women with the next step of their careers. She says, I did have several eye opening experiences However, with regards to different is in salary expectations and negotiations between men and women. During my many interviews, I observed that men usually ask for a much higher salary than women. I actually almost made this mistake myself at some point in my career. Luckily, I asked some men for advice and then went into the negotiations with a higher some, but I would have asked for and guess what it worked. So now with this amazing insight to what works in the recruitment process, she's got the skills to make things happen, because how did she do it? How did she build her business? And where has been the biggest obstacles to overcome as she brings her dream to the world? Well, that's why now as we bring on to the show, to stop Join Up Dots with the one and only Bettina. Morning Bettina, how are you? Womens Careers Expert 3:49 I'm good. Good morning, David. That was good with it. You managed David Ralph 3:57 it that is that is honestly Is that 99%? Right? 100% right 200% right because your surname looks nothing like I've got you my thing. I've been going ostrich feathers yet, Is that good? Womens Careers Expert 4:15 I would say 99%. My surname is from the Faroe Islands. My husband is from the Faroe Islands and you actually put a little bit more of air on the pronunciation since David Ralph 4:28 I can't do that. I can't do that. I'm just gonna call you Bettina for the rest of it. It's a delight to have you on the show because yes, we work together through the process and I want to go back right to the very early stages because Miss I have to say to the listeners, this is a moment I never thought would happen because when Bettina first connected with me, she was so secret squirrel, she was so Oh, my boss is gonna find out all the HR teams gonna find out. You were at totally different person, you would never have come onto a podcast and really put yourself out there, would you? Womens Careers Expert 5:05 Yeah, well, it's because we have a company policy. And I mean, I'm still in a full time job. And the company policy says that you need to get approval for any side business. So I needed to figure out what I wanted to do and then get the approval. And once I had the approval, I could go full, full steam. David Ralph 5:24 Now, of course, you going full steam, which is great, but for the listeners out there, is this something that they've got to be aware of up because I would have just gone? I'll just do it, do it and don't tell anyone. It's fine. You know, they don't care about you outside the office. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe more companies nowadays do care about what you're doing outside the office? Womens Careers Expert 5:45 Well, I guess it depends. I mean, in our company, it just is written in the word contract that you actually have to tell them if you want to do a side business and then they give you a little letter, it says you're allowed to do that. And then you're fine. David Ralph 5:58 Yeah, but who reads contract No one reads it. So how are you gonna know I say, anything that comes in front of me, because you don't want them to go up to the HR people and bingo, you know, oh, I'm starting this new business and red flags and warning signs flush out when they could have just done it because they weren't aware how how's the way that they can tiptoe around this? Womens Careers Expert 6:21 I guess most companies won't really care. I know that in in my company, it is like that, because people who work that could do something that is competing with the actual business, and then it would be an issue. So I mean, just if there's nothing in the contract, and nobody ever talks about things like that, I mean, just go and do it. In my case, I had read my contract contract, so I need to make sure that everything was in order before I got started. And I mean, if you really want to promote your business and promote it on like LinkedIn and Facebook and Instagram and all over the place, there are chances that people will find out So be open and honest from the start, right? David Ralph 7:03 I think so be open and honest. It's not the way I operate. But I think he's good advice. I remember when I started Join Up Dots, right, the very beginning, I was so embarrassed by it. It was literally and I've said this in a few podcast, but it would have been easier for me to say that I was a pornography addict, you know that that would that would have been understandable. But it opened up so many questions up, you know, why are you doing that? What was wrong with the last bit earlier and I just saw that secretly tiptoed around, even though I had this voice I was putting out into the world. It's strange, isn't it? Because online business is so powerful. And even now I talked to guys and ladies who have created big businesses, but they're not visible in it at all. They're absolutely hidden because they don't feel comfortable enough to put themselves in there. Womens Careers Expert 7:56 Yeah, I guess this a big step to take in. I mean, knows it took me a little bit to get there but it took you a long while David Ralph 8:03 just by Unknown Speaker 8:08 year David Ralph 8:09 365 days of tiptoeing around you know how many episodes i'd released by that time before you finally did it. So so let's get into that moment though. Because what was what's wrong with your job? Why do so many people now want to start side hustlers but don't do anything about it? You know what, what's the difference between you, myself and so many people but they actually do because I speak to so many people that go Yeah, I really love this. This is really what I want and I don't do the first thing about it. What was different about you? Womens Careers Expert 8:46 I guess it's not really that is something you know, wrong with my job and I don't like my job because my job is cool, and I like it. But I just felt this need to do more and I felt this need to help Women in some way and I figured out that in my job, I cannot really do it to the extent that I want to do it. So, I started thinking about what I can do I also move from my team manager role then into more like project manager role because it could have been a conflict of interest, you know, me being a team manager and then coaching people with job applications and so on. so on. So, yeah, when I had done that, I started focusing on you know, what can I do for other ladies, I discussed it with friends. I helped them a little bit was there Java applications turned out that it really worked well. And then I did a little test run and yeah, figured out that can also work with strangers. So then I thought, now we can get started. David Ralph 9:50 with that. I love the fact that you tested you pre test DG before you even got websites and profiles and URLs. You already stepped into helping other people to confirm your talent, your skill your superpower. Did it surprise you how rubbish people actually are at the things that you can do naturally? Well? Womens Careers Expert 10:16 Oh, it always surprises me. I mean, I have I don't want to sound arrogant, but I have many things that I'm good at. So when I look around, and this is both now, you know, with the job applications, but also sometimes I'm in the day job. I'm surprised how hard some people find it to do certain things when they come really easily to me. I guess it's just because I figured out what my strengths are. And now I'm focusing on my strengths and building on them and not really, you know, trying to push through walls where, yeah, it doesn't make any sense. David Ralph 10:51 I remember back in the day, I was very good at helping people do their resumes in SC bees, and they would come to me and say, how baby could you go through it? I'll go Yeah. And I changed things. And I've moved this bit here and move up it and increase certain things. Yeah, not lying, not lying, but just kind of, you know, emphasising certain points, and they would go off and get these amazing jobs. And when it was me, I couldn't do it myself. I couldn't do that sort of beat myself up CV writing even though I could do it for other people. And it's a kind of it's a mindset that I think most people have a have a problem in of actually boosting their own career prospects don't like Womens Careers Expert 11:35 Yeah, because we don't like talking about ourselves. Then we feel like we're, I know you do. David Ralph 11:41 Yeah, I do. I love it. I love the business out of it, you know? Womens Careers Expert 11:47 Yeah, but most people don't. So you know, they they feel kind of embarrassed to talk about their achievements and their strengths and what they do well, so then they will stick to very formal resume and cover letter and formal way of presenting themselves where they hide between and behind a lot of jargon and phrases and will not really put their personality and their skills out there. David Ralph 12:14 And so with that, because obviously we're going to talk about, you know, how you actually started the business and stuff like this is interesting to me. So, can you bring humour into a CV and resume? Can you make it sparkle? Because Yeah, most of them I actually worked in recruitment for about six weeks, I worked for a recruitment company in London. I won't say their name, but they're still there. I hated it. I hated it with a passion because people would come in looking for work, and these guys would go, yeah, I tell you what, I don't want to just get you any job. Give it to me three weeks and we will get you the right job and literally take this CBS and then put them in the bin. As I walked out, it was a real commodities based business, and I just naturally want to help people. So is this something But you know, they can help themselves by sprinkling human personality and putting pictures on it, or does it have to be formal? Womens Careers Expert 13:09 Well, I guess I mean, humour is probably a bit difficult, but especially in the cover letter, you can put a lot of your personality and I noticed this, particularly when I was managing a very international team, and I was getting applications from people from all over the world. And I noticed that German applicants used to write like, very formal, boring, standardised job application. I haven't sorry, but that's just how it is. And then I noticed that, you know, like, other nationalities, but particularly like English speaking ones, they were all over, you know, I am good at this. And I love doing that. And this is my passion. And I was like, Hey, you know, this reads much better. From a manager perspective, I will much rather invite somebody tells me about what they really like and what they enjoy, rather than somebody who's just saying, I have this experience. And I have done this before. And basically, it's just a repetition of what is already on your resume. David Ralph 14:13 When I used to interview people, and I was very, very good at interviewing people, because I never went really with their skills. It was more about how they made me feel. And one of the first questions I used to ask people, it was always one that I didn't expect, because I'd come in, ready for the professional. And I remember saying to this girl as the first one, what makes you laugh? And she said, when people hurt themselves, and I thought, brilliant, that's for me, that's for me, because I laugh at the same thing. And she was like a Terminator, but work she was absolutely brilliant. And so is this something you know, before we spin it around again, into your career path? Is this something that companies should focus in on more about the personality and how they make them feel because they're going to teach the person how to work in their office isn't it is not that they're just gonna put them on a desk and away they go they're gonna have some kind of training and development period is about all the feelings. Womens Careers Expert 15:10 Yeah, it's a lot about you know, getting to know the person really Who are you and, you know, how do you pick? Because it's I mean experience is one thing experience you can have or you can gain I mean you can learn so much I learned a lot that I had not studied for just on the job, but the important thing is really to find the person with the right mindset. So what I learned and that really made a change in my hiring as well is to ask behavioural based interview questions because there you can really see how people reacted based on a concrete example and you can get real feeling of what kind of person they are and how they will pay for One day on the job. David Ralph 16:02 Now, let's take you back in time then because you was a listener of Join Up Dots and then we connected and you signed up for my, in those days. It was a four week course we went twice a week for four weeks. Now we do it over eight weeks to get people breathing space in between. How did you find that process? Was it something bad actually, because certain people say to me, I overload on certain things. Other people say, you know, it was just right. Did you find it a pressurised or weeks? Womens Careers Expert 16:35 No, not at all. And the only issue was that I was actually sick with the flu for about a week so I could not think straight, but luckily I could rewatch the video so all good. David Ralph 16:45 So with the process that we went through, it was basically an hour half hour, so an hour and a half to two hours of me twice a week, and then videos to submit that information. Now I remember when you first came to me one day Things that I always say to people is, let's try to get traffic from every source. Let's try to flood your business with traffic and you came up with women's career Lyft. And I said, I hate it. I hate it because no one is going to type in women's career Lyft let's find a name. And you went against me. And you said, No, this is it. It's what I want is my branding. Now I look at it, and I like it, because I can understand it. But why were you so passionate to say, David, I don't agree with what you're saying. And I'm going to do my own thing. Womens Careers Expert 17:35 Well, a I had been thinking about a name for the business because as you already saw my name, my own name is a bit hard to pronounce and to remember so I wanted to something that easy, David Ralph 17:49 easy to say. Easy. Womens Careers Expert 17:57 I wanted something that people can remember you know, and also So that they can understand both in English and in German, and gives them an idea of where the business is going. And also, I had already purchased the URL when we did the course. So I didn't really want to switch. David Ralph 18:15 You didn't want to waste 10 pounds or whatever it is to take my advice and move it forward. But what you've done, which is very clever, is it's it's a branding, you know, it's a branding, but when you look at it, it makes sense. Now, a lot of people come to me and I had these really esoteric sort of names, I suppose Join Up Dots is one of those ones. Now I look at it and in many ways, it makes perfect sense for so many avenues of my business, but for Wow, it was just the Steve Jobs speech. And if you hadn't listened to that, it didn't make any sense. Now, with that, having those three words women's career live, does that make it been easier to bring your content and your branding and your your profile. does everything for lot from that easy. Is that something that people need to think about? How do those three words cascade down through everything that I'm doing? Womens Careers Expert 19:15 Yeah, I mean, I think it makes it clear, you know, who is the big target group, let's say so I don't get too many people coming to my website and then figuring out only after reading through see three or four pages that it's not they are not really right for me or I'm not really right for them. David Ralph 19:38 What Well, I'm amazed with you as well. And I'm amazed every as I'm doing that little IoT business with my fingers. Every phone that I speak to, is how brilliant you are at English. And I it just blows my mind. You know, I'm possibly English. I've been studying it for many, many years. But every other language no I can say hello, goodbye. And that's about it. Now, when you decided you decided quite strongly that you wanted to focus in on German speaking women. Was that a market that was prudent to go into now you're in but have you found it difficult to crack that code? Womens Careers Expert 20:22 Well, actually, because we did the course together in English, I started my website and all my online presence in English and I still have not launched a German website. So all my German speaking clients have just come through recommendations. David Ralph 20:40 Now this this is brilliant, man. Okay, so let's talk about this. So you because so many people think I got to grow a huge audience, I've got to grow a tonne of traffic, but I'm really fascinated. In joining up the dots. You see what I did there, finding the very small pockets of traffic, but actually kept K through, I would much rather have one customer a month that pays me thousands of dollars more than 100,000 customers that don't really pay me anything and take so much time to manage now with yourself, those referrals, bear in mind that you were and you still are full time employed. Was that something that was an open gift? Did you look at? Obviously brilliant, this is fantastic, or did you think to yourself, hang on, hang on? I'm not quite there yet. I haven't quite got the website done. I haven't quite got the the Twitter feed going and all the other stuff that we think we have to have. Did you embrace it easily? Womens Careers Expert 21:39 Oh, I was ready to go. I mean, I was really really happy and I still am really, really happy every time somebody refer someone to me. I also noticed that you know, when people come in via referral, they will never discuss with you about price or whatever, because they know already what they will get. Whereas you know, I found a couple of customers A via Facebook or online and they will always try to negotiate, which makes sense because they don't know me yet. And they don't know if they can trust me and if I really can provide the value that they are looking for. David Ralph 22:13 So So do you think that you actually don't need any online presence? Can somebody get a business up and running just by doing stuff for somebody and saying, Tell your mates about me. Womens Careers Expert 22:27 I think you need, at least in my case, an online presence because even though my friends talk about my services, they don't know somebody or they don't meet somebody everyday who wants to change their jobs. So I mean, the target group is not so big in amongst my friends and family. So, of course, I need an online presence, but I also now do some local networking and meeting people and just getting the word out there about what I'm doing. I think this is a Also very important, because only online is not enough, I think, especially here in Austria, and also in Germany, I would say, there's still a lot of mistrust about everything to do with online and this new technologies and so on. And people trust their neighbours and their friends and whoever they know. And, yeah, their word of mouth is really, really important. David Ralph 23:26 I'm going to play some words pain, and then we're going to delve back into what Bettina is saying, his Oprah, Oprah Winfrey 23:32 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 24:03 Now let's get back into the Ripper or because something that is is really prevalent in my life at the moment, is how powerful local search is. It operates in such a high level in Google, Google now will know where you're based. You can do Google My Business, you can start getting traffic, even without a website. Google will give you a free website. You just have to post on it and and connect your cell phone, your mobile phone and all those kind of bits of details. I find Oprah Tina, what you're saying makes total sense because you're networking. You're getting out there in your local community. So you become the expert in that local community. You find the people that are there's a lady just down the road who does bad. Why don't you speak to her people trust locally, but I speak to once again so many people that think that they've got to get a client in new York before they can get their next door neighbour to sign up, it's a mistake, isn't it? Womens Careers Expert 25:06 I mean, if you find the client in New York more easily than your next door neighbour, why not? But I guess you know locally because people know you it's easier to find the first clients and from Derek pendants snowball. David Ralph 25:22 snowball in Austria is quite easy to get right imagine. Womens Careers Expert 25:26 But right now it is. Yeah, it started snowing about two weeks ago. So now in the mountains, there's already a lot of snow. David Ralph 25:34 Now what point do the Austrians and the Germans been mistrust online work? I don't understand that. And it's the first time any guest has mentioned anything like that nowadays. I I push people to say online and offline aren't separate. They're the same thing. You've just got to, you know, find your traffic in both sources. Why do you think the Austrians and Germans are new Point of View mistrust it Womens Careers Expert 26:03 it's all about privacy. It's they're all afraid that their data will be leaked to I don't know which company who will do I don't know what with it and you know, they are very private people. And this was also one of the challenges I had to overcome was really to put my real name out there and because there is nobody else in the world with this name, so it's just me and also to put my real address because in Austria and Germany, you have to actually put your real address on your webpage otherwise you get a problem. So that was that was really one of the main challenges because I know the fan you know of, yeah, having all this information out there and and maybe just people showing up at my doorstep or something like that. You never know what can happen. David Ralph 26:52 It's not gonna happen, though. Is it me? It's not Womens Careers Expert 26:54 gonna happen. I know. But these are the things you think about, right? David Ralph 26:58 Yeah, I can. I'm just it because I did a similar thing when I started off at Join Up Dots, I gave a fake address. And because I thought to myself, you know, what happens is somebody comes along, and Nick's my microphone and you know, it's stupid really thinking about it because I just buy another microphone. You know, it's not a game changer, but they were the kind of fears in my head. And most of the fears with business is about what's in your head, isn't it? It's very much you when the inner game to win the outer game. Have you struggled with that? Have you struggled with the who's gonna trust me? Who's gonna hire me? Who's going to base who's gonna be back? Womens Careers Expert 27:38 Well, a bit.

Todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a man who I am truly delighted to get to speak to. When you start a show like Join Up Dots, you hope with all your heart that the words, and advice will make a difference to someone, somewhere across the world. Someone will listen and think just like I did many years ago, "I think I can do this and make a go of it" Well todays guest did that and after leaving the following review on iTunes I looked to get him on the show to start joining up the dots of his life. As he says "Listening to this podcast week in, week out has given me the confidence to take the plunge and set up my own business. My only regret.. I wish I  had done it sooner! The guidance, tips and advice offered by David has been invaluable and I can only attribute the success I've had with my business to the valuable wisdom provided in these podcasts." But how has he done it? After leaving the university of Birmingham with a bachelors of science, he began for a period of six years working for a series of financial advising companies around the Bristol area of the UK As he says "After leaving University I decided on a change of direction. I completed a financial planning graduate programme with one of the UK’s largest financial advice networks and have worked in the financial services profession ever since. Then I worked in several financial advisory firms, big and small, learning what works and what doesn’t. My areas of expertise include working with small business owners, self-employed consultants & contractors, as well as professionals such as lawyers, solicitors and accountants." And now with his own company and his expanding team of colleagues he is really starting to see what I say in every episode. So what was the moment when he thought "Ok, its time to get going and do my own thing?" And what was the hardest part...getting his mindset going himself, or convincing his colleagues to start working with him and his fledgling enterprise? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only James Mackay Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with James Mackay such as: James shares how he loves creating the goals of financial freedom for his guests, not simply advising on what to do with their money. We talk about the process of deciding on what the business is going to be for the founders. Why create a business that becomes a nightmare. James reveals how he was willing to put the effort into his business at the beginning, but knew that he had to hold himself back from burnout. And lastly................. Why James and his partner believe that you should only do what you truly love doing and outsource the rest. How To Connect With James Mackay Website Facebook Twitter Linkedin Return To The Top Of James Mackay If you enjoyed this interview with James Mackay why not check out other inspiring interviews like Clint Arthur, Lunden DeLeon and Jack Canfield Or of course you can check out thousands of podcast interviews in our archives here Interview Transcription For James Mackay Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream a dream, which is Jobs 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. BU 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 0:56 Yes, I love it. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, and welcome to Join Up Dots welcome to a very special episode because this guy is a guy who kind of connected through the world of virtual life. And I tried to hunt him down by making a play on an episode. And Ben he just sort of walked out of the woodwork and and he was there anyway. So um, he's on the show and he's a guest joining us on the podcast, as he is a man who has, as I say, I'm truly delighted to get to speak to when you start a show like Join Up Dots you hope with all your heart, but the words and advice will make a difference to someone somewhere across the world. Someone will listen and think just like I did many years ago, I think I can do this. I think I could make a go of it. Well, today's guest did that. And after leaving the following review on iTunes, I looked to get him on the show to start joining up the dots of his life. As he said, listening to this podcast week in week out has given me the confidence to take the plunge and set up my own business My only regret. I wish I had done it sooner. The guidance tips and advice offered by David has been invaluable and I can only attribute the success I've had With my business Ted a valuable wisdom provided in these podcast me, but how has he done it? After leaving the University of Birmingham with a Bachelor's of Science he began for a period of six years working for a series of financial advising companies around the Bristol area of the UK and as he says, After leaving university, I decided on a change of direction I completed a financial planning Graduate Programme with one of the UK is largest financial advice network and have worked in the financial services profession ever since. Then, I worked in several financial advisory firms big and small, learning what works and what doesn't. And my areas of expertise include working with small business owners, self employed consultants and contractors as well as professionals, such as lawyers, solicitors, and accountants, and now with his own company, and he's expanding team of colleagues. He's really starting to see and do what I say in every episode. So what was the moment when you thought okay, okay, it's time to get going and do my own thing and What was the hardest part? getting his mindset going himself or convincing his colleagues to start working with him and he's fledgling enterprise? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show to start joining up with the one and only James McCown. James Mackay 3:15 Good morning James. How are you? Unknown Speaker 3:18 Morning David and I'm really well thank you and what one introduction that was so thank you very much and as well, David Ralph 3:25 yeah, no, you are somebody is rocking and rolling because you've decided but you can do it and you can go out and you've gone into with big one aid. excitable eyes, although when I first spoke to you, you was less than excitable. He was Good morning, David. How are you? And I said, you know, let's perk it up, James that Yeah. James Mackay 3:49 I'm bouncing now. So this is a dreary, dreary, November morning in in Bristol, so maybe that was that's the excuse anyway, that I've got no very really pleased to be on the show. And yeah, thank you for doing what you do. Listen to most episodes, and I've kind of tracked you for, for quite a while. And yeah, it's been fascinating. Wow, David Ralph 4:13 thank you so much. And that's the end of me that let's move on to you. Because one of the things I want you to understand James is about those clouds. It's not dreary. And if you increase your altitude, Ben, it's always happy. Somebody said this to me once and I say a lot on the show because it's true. But jet pilots only have sunny days, because they're higher up. And so if we raise our sort of expertise and our standards, it's always going to be sunny in our life. Isn't it always a naive point of view as you are ploughing into growing your new business? James Mackay 4:48 No, absolutely. I think I think you're right. It's all in the mind, isn't it at the end of the day. I'm not really miserable, even though I think I maybe just had too much of a late night but yes, absolutely ready figure. David Ralph 5:02 Right? So let's talk about you because this this is fascinating. And as I say, I wanted you on the show and I set out my network to find you and then you just kind of bumbled into my life anyway. So it was it was brilliantly easy. So you were, are you interested? This is the key point to me, because I would be bored, stupid doing what you're doing, because I just haven't got regulation in my blood. I like to cut corners. I like to make things happen. And I know with the FSA as it used to be in whatever it is now. There's restrictions all the way around, does working in financial industries excite you and interest you or is it a job? James Mackay 5:45 Well, some people think financial advice can be boring. Yes, I understand that. But I mean, if I flip it in terms of you know your analogy a minute ago in terms of mindset, I mean, the things that we concentrate on Suppose the outcomes that we deliver for people and I don't think those are boring. So for you know, for example, you know, helping people build wealth faster to hit financial freedom or retirement sooner or giving people peace of mind that they know if anything happens to them, you know, their family will be taken care of. So, you know, if we really drill down on what we do, as much as you know, the legislation, the regulation, tax, all these kind of things, they can't they can be boring, yeah. But putting everything together and, and delivering those things. And, you know, most human beings want security, they want freedom, and and we kind of help them achieve that in in one way or another another So, so no, I don't find it that boring actually. I quite enjoy it. You know, you learn a huge amount about various different People who learn about their storeys that businesses what they want to get out of life and, and if you can be a small part of of helping them along their journey. I think it's, you know, it's a great profession personally, but I can see why I was boring. David Ralph 7:17 Yeah, no, but I agree with everything you said there. Because you know, in in that regard we're no different because I hopefully inspire people to do it. I'm actually I changed 360 recently and for the first three or four years of Join Up Dots, it was all about global domination, it was all about growth. And now I'm I'm fascinated with anti scale and I was on a podcast episode yesterday being interviewed. And I'm fascinated about how can you make the smallest business possible so that when you open your email, you've only got interested customers, you haven't got all the rubbish by blasting it out. Now we've yourself, obviously you've got to start getting customers. And as I say, constantly on Join Up Dots. Most people start a business because they think, Oh, I'm good at this thing, but then they suddenly realise there's a lot of other things that I need to be good at, or at least possible at the start getting the ball rolling, that one thing is just not enough. How did you do it? How did you go from saying, let's start this business to getting the first customer through the door? James Mackay 8:28 Good question. Actually, we, we spent a long time planning that this is I should also say, I've got a co co director, Chris. And also I better give a shout out to him. So we've kind of planned it together. But we, we we started off the business really with an idea of what we didn't want to be, I suppose. So I think a lot of people, rightly in many cases, think of advisors This kind of middle aged men in shiny suits that that talk, you know, talk a load of jargon filled language and the world of finance can be made simple, or it can be made extremely complex. And I think it's over complicated in a lot of areas and we wanted to simplify everything. So we have a bit of a saying sort of, you know, do it in crayon, where people can, you know, really understand, you know, concepts, whether it's you have to do with investments or whatever it is. So we kind of that was that was that was one that was one of the reasons we kind of the idea was was was born about I think also financial services, broadly. isn't the most highly trusted profession. I think we're probably somewhere between, I don't know, estate agents and car salesman with with respective professions. And yeah, exactly. And so we want and so we wanted we were really wanted to be a business that was the highest of honesty and integrity. And that was a, you know, a non negotiable. So, you know, we we think of that as having sort of the family test, you know, is the advice that we give to each of our clients the advice that we would give to a member of our family. And those big firms and banks can't can't say that they do that I don't think, David Ralph 10:24 well, I used to work for NatWest bank, I'm going to give him a name check, because they're not really around anymore in that West Bank. And we used to just sell stuff because we could sell it. Well, there wasn't any sort of qualms about it the customer needed or anything back in the 80s. It was just a tick box culture of Yeah, there's a few sales get down the pub in the afternoon and that was it, you know, you just did it. So it is brilliant, how it has become regulated as well. But one of the things that I was interested in, what you were saying is how you and your partner decided on what type of business you wanted. Become It can become a nightmare. So many people plough into it, they go into the scale by go for the financial rewards but then realised by never leaving their office. They're working incredibly long hours. And to be honest, they might as well have stayed at work, working for somebody else leaving at five o'clock. I mean, going back to it the next day. Did you have those kind of discussions about Yes, we want it to be like this. We want to provide the freedom for ourselves and not just our customers. James Mackay 11:29 Exactly that I mean, you hit the nail on the head, you know, we spend our time, our time helping people live, you know, live their lives by design. And it would be a bit hypocritical if we weren't to do the same. So we had an idea of what we wanted to build we we don't want our business to to scale to some dizzying heights and take on the world. We want to remain pretty small, pretty nimble. Look after people really well and and specialise in what we do as well, I think that's important. So for any business to actually find your, your target market and and and, you know, go deep on that rather than be all things to all people. David Ralph 12:17 Yeah if you go niche you get rich and I spend a lot of time now, as I say working with people because we we've got a business coaching platform going deeper and deeper. And when I started doing it, I thought I was going deep. But now every time I train somebody, we go even deeper and we find the rewards greater because quite simply, there's less competition. Now with yourself James, being the sexy individual you are. Are you the kind of person that can seduce people into your office because it's still you? You didn't answer it really James, you didn't answer it. So I'm going to come at it from a different way. Yeah, how did you get that first customer to go? Yes, this company's only been around two minutes but I'm gonna trust them How did you do that? James Mackay 13:11 Really it was first first customer was a family member in all honesty but I'll but I'll wipe that aside is getting out there oh no why David Ralph 13:21 why would you want that? Because that is that is a customer you know you are targeting people that need your help and I think so many people make the mistake of thinking, Okay, I'm in London I need clients from you know New York but actually you need the next door neighbour you need to personally in the next room. James Mackay 13:39 Oh, yeah, exactly. I was gonna open so cuz I didn't answer your question. But really, for me, it's getting out there and meet meeting people. And I think when you get out there and meet people in your local area, let your local community whether it's networking, I still I still attempt to play rugby although my body's trying to stop me, and, and and, you know, meeting people and if you know if they kind of learn a little bit about you learn a little bit about your business, understand what we do differently, then a lot of people are quite interested, and whether that's luck or judgement, I'm not sure that we've had a really David Ralph 14:22 so where's the difference in James? where's where's the difference? Well, what would you do that is different because that is what, you know, benefits and services aren't sexy. But the difference is what makes a difference in what you do, how you create the vision of what somebody is going to get how their life is going to change. How do you express that difference to them? James Mackay 14:46 Yeah, well, expressing it is one thing really, we've tried to show them so we try and put we try and put their numbers into into pictures really. Which sounds like a strange concept. We can show them using a few different tools that we have financial planning software and all these kinds of things. And really we can put in someone's you know, financial life understand what they want their future to look like. And we can show them whether they're online on track to achieve it or not, and if not what they have to do to course correct. What are the things that they can do today to achieve what they want to do, whether it's, you know, becoming financially independent and retiring at 5560 whether it's travelling the world, whether it's, can they afford to spend more now and not put so much weight for the future. So, really, we we focus much more on the big picture of our clients financial lives, because people don't really have financial goals in my experience. They have they have life goals with financial implications, and so we focus on far more about their life. Well, they're trying to achieve and answering, you know, the, the big picture questions that they have. And I think we take away a lot of people walk around with sort of a burden of, you know, uncertainty and worry about the future. And I think we help, you know, we take that off their shoulders to some extent, by doing what we do. So, we do we do to, you know, things quite different from the norm of, you know, just catching up having a cup of tea and chatting about what the investment markets has done recently, and I think that's, that's one of the biggest things that we found our clients have really sold on Well, that's different. We really want to do that. So yeah. David Ralph 16:44 Yeah, because that sexy time isn't it? The vision is sexy time I had a guest on the show. I lady can't remember the name but like me, but she was a financial person in America. And she basically said to people, it's not about having lots of money in the bank account is about having experiences, what do you what do you want most from and let's try and bring that into your life. And I think but yes, I want to support my kids, but I don't want to support my kids, if it means that I'm not having a good life, you know, basically, I want to go out travelling when I want, I want to go your way with a wife when I want. And then when I die, I say to the kids, look, there's there's a bit of money for you. But I've had a bloody good time. And it was all my effort. That's where I think it is. And that's what I think a lot of people fail miserably in your industry, but they're talking about, you know, high interest savings accounts and switching ditch and all the kinds of stuff all important. James Mackay 17:44 Yeah, but it is not boring. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And understanding what you want to do. Some people some people know that like you know yourself you want to sort of you know, you're only here once you want to live depending on the beliefs that You know, most people only only here once and want to make the most of it. And, and I think, you know, having the knowledge of what that means, you know what you really want to do what you we often we often ask a question to, to two people to stay if they're struggling to really, you know, if they're just Well, I want to retire at this sort of age. We say, Well, you know, if you were, if you were struggling, health wise, if you didn't have that long to go, what would you regret not doing? And that is it's a difficult question to ask and it's an even more difficult question to answer. But often that you know, asking yourself that can really help you understand some of the some of the things that you would really love to do. You know, I think I think you know, you know, we don't we don't often give ourselves time. to really think about the future, think about what we're trying to get out of life. And, and, and really sitting down and having a think about those sorts of things. Like you may or may not have done, but by the sounds that you've kind of, you know, you have a good idea in terms of what you want to what you want to get out of life. And that's the first that's the first part of what we do. I think. David Ralph 19:21 I know my biggest regret in life will be, but I haven't seen every part of this world. You know, when I go on road trips, and when I go travelling, and you get a bit tired people always say to me, oh, why don't you have a keep in the back? You know, and I always think to myself, no, because I'm going to miss out on seeing, you know, it's something that I will never see again and I want to absorb this planet, because I think that ability to, to, you know, wonder the world with freedom. That's the thing that excites me so much, but actually, when I die, I think I haven't seen Greenland. I haven't seen this. I haven't Same bat. I think that is where the experiences of what you're talking about, come into my life big time, how do I channel my money, and my time and we're going to come to that straight after these words, we're going to talk about money in time. He's, Jim Carrey 20:14 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 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 20:41 Now, one of the things he says in there is do anything you can basically to get it going. Now I speak to so many people, James, and I'd literally want to shake them because I know they're not willing to do the hard work and everything that is great in life takes time. takes time. It takes effort. It takes sleepless nights it takes investment. Did you know in your heart of hearts that you had that effort that you were really going to make a go for it go with it? James Mackay 21:14 short answer is yes. Yeah. I, I've always wanted to run a business. I've always been really interested in business. And I've always kind of I probably, if anything, I've kind of overworked rather than underworked, and sometimes I like patients, which is which is often a sign that you know, you're you know, you're ambitious and you came to came to do different things in life and achieve different things in life. So, yes, I'm certainly one of those people. I don't know whether it's always a good thing. As a matter of fact, that you're always focusing on, you know, the next the next thing to achieve. I think sometimes you need to appreciate just Kind of where you are what you've got. But yeah, that's me in a nutshell. David Ralph 22:04 I was laying in bed this morning and the alarm went off and me and my wife always have a little cuddle. And it annoys me actually this cuddle and I'm gonna, I'm gonna air it to the world for the podcast. She doesn't listen to me in the house, so you're not going to listen to this. But I like that the alarm goes off. I look at the alarm and I get out of bed because they know I've had my full quota of sleep. But my wife likes to keep on snoozing it so I had to look at the clock but like half hour until she's ready to get up out of bed. She says it's a cuddle but I find it is an inconvenience. Anyway, I've Ed. Why do women not just want to sleep until I can wake up and Ben just jump straight out of bed. James, what's up? James Mackay 22:47 I've got no idea that one that's not my domain. David Ralph 22:53 It's just madness. It's madness. Yeah. But anyhow, I was laying in bed and she bought me a cup of tea this morning. She said what you got on to And I said, Oh, it's best best guys at 10 o'clock in the morning. And then I got about six more later on. And I was saying to you know, it's funny why I constantly look at what needs to be done, because what I've already done is enough. And, you know, this is where my mindset at the moment is on empty scale on knowing that pushing, pushing, pushing doesn't do anything in the long term other than where you are. Now. It does do it to a certain point, you know, you've got to put push an effort in at the beginning, but there's got to be somebody that says to you, which I didn't with me, James, you're looking knackered me You need to have a break. You need to go off on vacation you need to leave this behind. It will be back when you get back. Have you got anyone in there in your life that is your sort of anchor that pulls you back when the James hustle muscle is going too far. James Mackay 24:00 Yes, I do and, and, and sometimes I think that's the best thing that you know, whether it's your other half whether it's your business partner can say to you is is, is, you know, look, you know, you stop and, and chill out whether it's you know, going on a holiday or just having a, you know, an afternoon off or an early night or whatever it is, I think these days as well I think gradually we're, we're moving away from the typical, you know, nine to five work week, you know, with with technology and and, and the gig economy growing and all that kind of thing. And I think I think humans actually work best if we if we kind of works, you know, Sprint work, if that makes sense. And then you know, and then take long periods of long periods of rest, I think, I think the, you know, the slugging it You know, a 1012 plus hours a day. I think that's a bit of a relic of the industrial age and and when you're, you know, trying to be creative or using using your mind i think i think it's probably not that good for you either and you don't you don't do your best work. just slowly trying to battle through and slogan. So the way David Ralph 25:22 I you know I mentioned this because it's so important, it really is important, but when I started Join Up Dots, I know it only sounds like a podcast, you know, and people today, just think that I can launch one and make a success of it. But I was doing literally 20 hours a day, I really was I was working till midnight, and being going to bed, but I couldn't get to sleep. And then I'll probably get to sleep about two o'clock and then I was waking up at six again and going and I look back at pictures of myself now. I look terrible. I look really really terrible and everything was just going to pieces My life, but not one person really said to me, David, there's a different way. They said to me, You should stop. And I was saying, well, I can't stop because I've got to build it, I've got to get it going. But nobody actually said to me, there's a better way. And the better way is walking away, giving yourself two or three days off, and allowing that obstacle that you're pushing against, to come up with a solution. And I play an Oprah Winfrey speech when she says, you know, be quiet, don't think about what you've got to do. Just think about the next right thing. Is your next right being obvious or do you get lost in the process as well? Have you got a plan what you're going to be doing this week or next week? Or do you literally juggle plates as soon as you walk through the door James? James Mackay 26:49 I'm somewhere in the middle. So excuse me, you know, we have a long our long term plan for business personal life and and you know, set some goals but In terms of actually trying to, you know, not be splits spinning too many places you say I do something called a well bit of a morning routine where I plan each day I don't plan a week because things change too quickly so I kind of set you know on a Sunday night I kind of set everything that I want to do this week block out the you know, whether the meetings and then each day I know how much free time I've got and I can I can plan and block out the things I want to achieve in that time. So I think a great book on on this I think is atomic habits by by James clearer than if you've read it. No. You haven't heard of it. It's no no, it's, it's, it's brilliant. And he actually is an American guy. fascinating, fascinating from what you Said I think he'd be really interested in his work. And he, he talks about you know, having it's all it's all well and good having all of these big goals in the future. But really we're a product of our kind of daily habits and sets about how you should use your time most of most efficiently and, and set up your kind of, you know, the big things each day that are going to, you know, help you achieve those goals rather than just saying, you know, I've got to get to x revenue, if you're in a business and running around, chasing your tail, trying to just reach that big goal. He talks about breaking it down, putting it into

Todays guest coming onto the show brings over two decades of branding and digital marketing experience with her everywhere she goes She is the author of the book What's Working Now? YOU-centric Marketing, and also the founder of  Think Media. She has been featured in Yahoo Finance, The Ecommerce Times, The New Food Economy, and Brand Experience Magazine, just to name a few, as a branding expert. She has personally worked with brands such as Kellogg's, Visa, Marriott, and Apple so she knows what goes into advancing a great brand. She’s overseen multimedia divisions ranging from a few million to over $300 million in revenue. Now when she isnt spending time in her Denver home, with her husband, two kids and dog, she leads a team of talented digital marketing experts. From strategy, to creation and production, to execution, they know what it takes to deliver the performance and customer experience outcomes that your brand desires. As she says "Work doesn’t feel like work when you’re passionate about helping customers grow. We want to help your business succeed. We want your customers to think about your brand first when making purchasing decisions." And this focus can help with low brand awareness, a huge problem if you are in a pool of huge competition, or reaching new customers. To stimulating those comments, re-shares and customer engagement on Social media. So why do we see time and time again, companies and individuals fall into the trap of being boring with their branding, instead of insightful and uniqiue? And what are the things that any newbie can pay attention to when trying to get their branding right? Well lets find out as we start joining up dots with the one and only Shahla Hebets Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Shahla Hebets such as: We share how every entrepreneur struggles at the beginning and fall into a miserable world of "where did i go wrong?" but this is perfectly ok.. Why great branding is sharing a vision that insights and inspires the customer to see themselves in a different way Shahla discusses the myth of the overnight success and why the world is more and more looking for the lazy way to success. And lastly...... We talk openly about the "scare" factor of putting yourself out there, but its the key to getting the success that you want. How To Connect With Shahla Hebets  Website Twitter Facebook Linkedin Return To The Top Of Shahla Hebets  If you enjoyed this episode with Shahla Hebets, 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 Audio Transcription Of Shahla Hebets Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time there was a guy with a dream a dream. He's 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. BU 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 0:56 Yes, hello there. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. And welcome. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Yes, the podcast that is rolling into its sixth year, rolling out to about 2000 episodes. And still people come along and say I just stumbled across here. So if you have just stumbled across this, thank you so much for being here. And of course, thank you so much to today's guest who has rolled out of bed at six o'clock in the morning. She's probably looking out at darkened windows and thinking what the hell am I doing? Well, we're going to find out what she's doing because she is a guest coming onto the show with over two decades of branding and digital marketing experience. And she takes that with her everywhere she goes She's the author of the book what's working now you centric marketing and also the founder of think media. She's been featured in Yahoo Finance, e commerce times, but new food economy and brand experience magazine just to name a few as a branding expert, of course. Now, if that's not good enough, that's quite sexy on it is she's personally worked with brands such as Kellogg's, Visa, Marissa and apple. So she knows what goes into advancing a great brand. So it's not just creating one is actually pushing one on to bigger and bigger results. She's overseen multimedia divisions ranging from a few million to over 300 million in revenue. And now when she isn't spending her time in a Denver home being dragged out of bed by an excitable podcaster from the United Kingdom, that's me, that's me. Spending time with her husband, two kids and adults. She leads a team of talented digital marketing experts from strategy to creation and production to execution. They know what it takes to deliver the performance and customer experience outcomes. But a great brand desires as she says, work doesn't feel like work when you're passionate about helping customers grow. We want to help your business succeed. We want your customers to think about your brand first when making purchases decisions. And this focus can help with low brand awareness a huge problem if you're in a pulled up huge competition or reaching new customers. Just stimulating those comments and those we shares and customer engagement on social media. So why do we see time and time again, companies and individuals bought into the trap of being boring with their branding, instead of insightful, unique and helpful? And what are the things that any newbie can pay attention to when trying to get a branding? Right? Well, let's find out as we start Join Up Dots with the one and only Charlotte habit. Good morning, Shahla, how are you? Shahla Hebets 3:29 Good morning. I am wonderful. How are you? David Ralph 3:32 I'm always wonderful I am. I reflected on that the other day. And as I talk a lot on Join Up Dots. I know, hey, it's my show. So I talk about myself a lot. But when you start anything, you go into it with all the enthusiasm in the world, but it's going to be easy and we've been about six weeks, you're gonna have the dream life. And for more of us, it becomes a bit of a nightmare until it becomes really good. And now I'm in a really good phase where I'm clinging to the miserable Stage, I want to remember that because I don't want to get so far away from it. But my advice to my listeners becomes inaccurate because I can't quite remember. Do you remember the dark days? Charlotte? Do you look back on it and think when THiNK Media wasn't thinking at all, it was just something that was occurring? Steve Jobs 4:20 Oh, absolutely right. We've all had that pain of growth. And the struggles that come with it. David Ralph 4:28 You can give us a bit more than that. Charlotte is a podcast. It's a podcast. That's what we do. We I asked a question, and then you answer, and then I asked extra questions because I'm interested about your answer. Steve Jobs 4:39 Okay, perfect. Yeah, you know, I mean, to elaborate. I mean, I think it's exactly what you said, right? You start out with these aspirations, these visions of how you're going to go out, you're going to change the world and you're going to, you know, really connect with companies and they're going to understand everything that you're saying and then, you know, you get in there and you're having a couple And you realise, oh my gosh, you know what I said? Just one, you know, didn't connect with them at all, and they don't get it and, and is anybody going to get it? And how will I modify this such that, you know, it makes sense and, and I've certainly experienced that, you know, many, many times, not only in the beginning of starting my business, but you know, even today I have those conversations where I get off the phone and I think what just happened? You know, but it's, it's more about, you know, I think finding the right audience and realising that your message isn't necessarily going to connect with everybody. But when it does, that's when you really can move your business forward and their business David Ralph 5:43 is interested enough. Hey, that was a great answer. And I don't I don't want that sarcasm afterwards. Show that you see. This relationships going bad already. I don't know what's happening here. Now one of the things that I realised early in the day was bad, a lot of my marketing that I was doing and my conversations that I was having with people, even though I knew the stuff inside out, was falling flat, and I couldn't understand it. And people were like listening. And over again, that's wonderful. Thank you so much for that information. And then I realised, but actually, I wasn't painting a vision of where they will be because of what I know in my head and what I can share. I was very much giving them the technical aspects, I was teaching them how to drive a car, but not saying because of this information, you're going to be whizzing over that mountain, you're gonna have sexy people all around you, you're going to have the wind in your hair, is that we're sort of branding falls down because I look at some people's websites. And to be honest, it's just boring. I look at it and I think it's just about them. And it's not about the customer and it's not about the promise of what the customer is going to get by working with you. It doesn't excite me at all. Steve Jobs 7:00 Exactly, I think that's exactly what it is, you know, it's so funny, we, I always refer to that as sort of brand speak, you know, a corporate speak, it's, you know, we have a tendency, and I understand it. But we have a tendency to sort of fall in love with our company, you know, and sort of say, Oh, it's so obvious, right? so obvious that what we do is going to change your life is going to change your world. So I'm just going to use a lot of, you know, jargon and a lot of, you know, terms that I think, you know, resonate with me my brand and all our benefits and everything that we bring to the table. And the truth is, that's just noise. And it is boring. And it isn't something that incites anything outside of let me move on. And I think sometimes we just fall in love with the brand and we we do that with the right intention, right? Of course you fall in love with your brand and your brand. But what we tend to find is that the customers thinking about themselves, know the customer is thinking about why does this matter to me How's it going to move me forward? What educational value do I have? Does it motivate me? Does it inspire me? And that's why I think so many brands fall into this trap of, you know, me, me, me, me, me and the customers and I wanted actually to be about, about what's happening in my life. Yeah, yeah. How I can grow. David Ralph 8:19 And is that something that comes across on because I tell you, once again, I'm going to talk about myself, but my business really took off really took off when I had burnout. And when I had corporate burnout, and I really struggled and about giving everything up. It sounds like you're making a coffee. Are you making this? Is that the first morning coffee? I can hear clinking away? Unknown Speaker 8:43 Yeah, it is. I'm sorry. That's good. That's good. David Ralph 8:47 We like we like to feel like we're in your life. And I imagine you sitting there in a nightie now I'm not gonna go that far. But anyway, so so you're drinking your coffee and most people out there when they are looking at bear that sort of branding right at the very start, they failed to actually get that insight into the person's life. And so when I get that corporate brand brand burnout, I realised but from that point on, I had to share more about that and I had to share but I found a better way of operating because of that. I had to go through that. Now. You sitting there with your cup of coffee and your you know, and your pyjamas, my pyjamas, that's better. And the fact that you can connect with customers all around the world. Fat is great branding material, isn't it? But there's people out there thinking that's what I want. I want to be drinking coffee. I want to be talking to that sexy guy. And I want to be in my pyjamas at six o'clock. No, maybe not six o'clock in the morning. But everything else sounds great. Why do people not throw that out? Why do we not show behind the curtain? Steve Jobs 9:53 You know, I think it's vulnerability maybe you know, it's it's I don't want to come out and show you sort of the reality of my life. And, you know, the all of the things that I have gone through and, and my storey, right. It's really my storey when it's all said and done, it's also the brand storey and, and I think sometimes people say like, Oh, you know that that part isn't important. That part isn't sexy at that part makes me look like I, you know, I didn't wake up out of bed and become instantly successful. I don't want to talk about that. And and the truth is, is that what works with branding is the emotional connection. And so if I can connect with somebody over my cup of coffee and my jams, you know, then, and I can tell them really this is, this is the reality of who I am. This is my storey, you're going to find people who are going to say that's my storey. That's my storey, too. And that actually breaks through the noise more than anything is that sort of heart centric, you know, we've all been there. Let's do this. Let's let me share the growth that I've had so that you can have the same experience or at least you can perhaps get a bit of inspiration out of it. David Ralph 11:00 is I have had an epiphany recently, but it's one of those epiphanies that I'd realised all the way through my life, but it suddenly struck home that the world is full of lazy people. And they basically want the maximum results with the minimum effort. Unknown Speaker 11:19 And David Ralph 11:20 I've been speaking to people time and time again and I've been saying to them yeah, I will work with you, they come through to me and we have this discussion and I, you know, we we talk about things and even though that I can show them exactly how to create, you know, in a microsite, a multiple six figure business, its work involved in it now Vax the stumbling block master bit when they go, there's work involved in it. Oh, I thought I could just click a few buttons and stuff. And so through there, I've been delving deeper and deeper and deeper to try to find a business that I can share with people, but they can literally do whatever they want in the world. Whenever they want to do it. I don't need a lot of investment. And I've got one, I've got one, but I'm playing around with at the moment, and it is sexy times. It's sexy time. But I know still that when I promote it and market it to people, people still want easier that they want easier. Now, that's wrong, isn't it? I'm I thinking that life is about work and is not about play, or is it more about play and not work? What do you think? Steve Jobs 12:29 I mean, everything requires work, you know, everything requires adjustment. I mean, businesses is no different than life. Right? If I find that amazing because I think you're, you know, you're spot on in terms of, there's this notion that and maybe it's social media, social media, but you know, maybe it's this notion that oh, you know, you you just arrive and everything just is easy and everybody knows your your storey and everybody knows what you're trying to do, and then they get it and you just want around this, you know, sort of perpetual bliss. And, and the truth is, is that, you know, there are everything that you do is going to require learning and adjusting and modifying. And that's work. And you know, if you sit down and you say, Hey, I'm going to build out this business, and then you, you get out into the marketplace and you think you're rolling out this wonderful idea. It's sexy, and it's exciting. And everybody goes, huh. I don't really get it. You know, then you're, you're you're starting a new you're figuring out how do you communicate it in a different way? And I think that's a, that happens a lot. You know, we see that with people who will say, Well, I just want to skip the brand awareness. I just want to get the results. David Ralph 13:42 Why Why? Why would they say that? Let's let's delve into that. Because Surely, brand awareness is the absolute foundation that everything is built on is that understanding that customers will remember you and even if they don't buy at that time you stick in their mind, you know, we all remember you know, I'm loving it McDonald's now I bloody hate McDonald's. I think it's disgusting food. But I still remember the little tune in my head. And although that is what brand awareness really is, you shouldn't skip back should you Steve Jobs 14:16 never and you know, and I think the reason is, is that they don't want to go back in and champion to their box at Hey, you know what it might be a little while before we really see these efforts pay off that it might take a little bit for us to really get exposure in the marketplace, it might be a while where we just sort of pound this, you know, these storeys into the minds of our consumer base or client base. And I think they don't want to have that discussion. They don't want to, you know, really paint the picture of what it actually what actually goes into building a strong brand and it absolutely is brand awareness and it is being able to, you know, remember the catchy tune from the channels. And that takes work and that takes time. But you know, I think that we've been sold on This notion of well, it's, you know, just get the lead and get the sale and, and make it happen immediately because we only have a short period of time before we can get this thing rolling. And it's like, you know, it doesn't tend to work that way. And if you're gonna, you know, you're either going to earn it through brand awareness that you're going to pay for, or you're going to earn it through trying to skip the process and paying through the nose. Because you don't have brand awareness. Well, David Ralph 15:27 yeah, let's just talk about that. Because I've got listeners out there won't grasp what you just said. But effectively, by skipping brand awareness and building stuff, you're effectively leaving 98% of your money on the table. Customers are going to come across No matter how much marketing you do, they're going to land on your website and they're just going to bounce off. Now we can talk about having funnels, we can talk about having retargeting, we can have all the sexy marketing stuff around behind the scenes, but still be memorable and making somebody smile and feel inspired is the key to making a success, isn't it? Steve Jobs 16:09 Exactly. That's exactly what it is. And you know that the thought behind it in terms of you know, hey, making it memorable making people will connect with you making somebody smile. Of course, that's going to be the sauce, right, the secret sauce to success, but we have this, I think we tend to fall into this thought process that, you know, I, my product is so great. My service is so amazing. And again, you know, there's something wrong with that. But the truth is, is if the customer doesn't get it, then the customer doesn't get it. And we are in a very crowded space, right? We're in a very crowded space every every market is crowded, right? And it's not like there's just as you know, perhaps every once in a while there's a really novel idea and a novel product that is so unusual that it Sort of captures your attention. But that is almost never normally it requires that you're, you're putting that messaging out there, you're connecting with the customer, you're doing it again. And again and again. Because the customers thinking, well, you are just very similar my eyes to everybody else's out there. And so I always liken it to, you know, in the health and wellness space, you know, a lot of times we work with people in the health and wellness space. And you know, they'll say, but our product is organic. You know, our product is fair trade. Well, those are wonderful, fair trade and organic is lovely, and important. But there are 50, organic and fair trade products, you know, on the market and the customers looking at us saying I don't know which one's different. The brand, the brand awareness is the thing that gets the customer to go, Oh, no, I like this brand. Yes, it's organic. It's fair trade, and I'm so happy for those attributes, but what I really have about is how this brand makes me feel how my identity is wrapped into this brand, how this brand is a reflection of me. And that takes time it takes earning it. And it takes repetition. And it takes, you know, some business for you to actually break through the noise so that when somebody is looking at 50 products that seemed awfully similar. They remember you. Yeah. And your brand. David Ralph 18:24 Yeah, I also, I'm going to play some words now. And we're going to delve back into this because it's key. But here's Oprah. Oprah Winfrey 18:30 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 19:02 Now if we take those words and we we reflect on the fact that she says Just be quiet and think most people will come to me with a snappy Logan logo or a slogan and say that's my business. And I say to them fats, not chia business bad. It's just a slogan, that's a business card. And I say, what is the promise? What is the promise that you are delivering? What is the thing that somebody can't get anywhere else? And how do you emphasise that through every part of your material? Now if we I'm going to do a quiz? I'm going to do a quiz with you. Okay, so I'm going to give you some slogans. Okay, being being Mrs. Branding expert out there and see how you do with this. Okay, so who said because you're worth it Unknown Speaker 19:57 I don't know actually. David Ralph 19:58 Move. Yeah. Hair hair product. Right? Okay. Okay, and if you could move slightly closer to the microphone you've just gone slightly, slightly dipped. Okay. Oh, sorry. What about think different? Apple? Apple? Brilliant. Okay, what about melts in your mouth? Not in your hands. Unknown Speaker 20:17 Lars? David Ralph 20:19 Mas OM m&ms. Yeah, somebody? Yeah. Okay, what about finger licking? Good. Steve Jobs 20:28 Good KFC, David Ralph 20:29 KFC. So all of those not only do they have something that's memorable, but they have something that is right for the customer. It's it's finger licking good. You're going to enjoy it so much but you you've got to get every single part of your your fingers you don't want to just leave it in the box, you know, and L'Oreal because you're worth it. Yeah, you're going to use the shampoo and you're going to feel great. Those words are worth billions aren't by because it just those four words you translate what the Bible Business is offering what your promises. I sound like I know what I'm talking about, don't I? Steve Jobs 21:07 really do. David Ralph 21:10 Just for that moment I hold real well there. Okay. So, so when somebody starts, they're businessmen and they come to you, do you how do you start it? What's a good way for a newbie? Is it better to grow the business and then start thinking about actually, their, their key proposition that they can develop into? Or is it a case of finding that first and then building the business around it? Steve Jobs 21:36 No, I think it's really it's exactly what you said it's finding it first and then building it around it. You know, I think that that that notion of exactly you know, finger looking good, I mean, great example, or Apple, I'm a huge Apple fan. But you know, that notion that, hey, if I if you want to connect with somebody in a way that is actually going to move the needle for your business, then you've got a start in the fundamental And you've got to figure out what is it from the very beginning stages that are going to make you feel very human in your approach and very connected and relevant. And so you have to really start from the ground up. And you've got to really challenge that. And I think, you know, the, the quote that you've said from Oprah is exactly it. You've got to get still, you've got to, you've got to think about what am I trying to accomplish here? What am I? What am I? What do I want to be known for? What is going to make me resonate with my audience in a way that feels like I get them? And it's also, you know, it's not only that piece, but it's also really understanding your customer. You know, so often I see brands that maybe they have already a great slogan, maybe they already have a great promise, but it's more that they they have a miss on the customer. You know, they think, Oh, this is going to resonate with this person. And this person, you know, we worked with a company at one point, that, you know, they were convinced that their product was You know, completely connected to bodybuilders, you know, and male bodybuilders and what they found out through a lot of sort of pain was that actually, it was a female that likes to have a tasty, you know, energy bar when she was going for a hike. Yeah, she was active, but she wasn't in there, you know, she wasn't in there just, you know, going crazy in the gym, that wasn't their target audience. And I think what happens is that we get this notion of, Okay, this is where it is, this is how it's going to resonate. This is the customer that I'm going to connect with. And what ends up ultimately happening is that your customer can be very, very, very different than you think they are. And that's the piece that you work at, right. That's the piece that you're constantly fine tuning because as you're doing more with your messaging, as you're doing more with your branding, you're learning a lot more about your customer and who that customer truly is and what really moves the needle and what is really going to make your brand storey Now for them David Ralph 24:01 is I realised through the process of running my business for the last six years, there was a point when I thought people wanted the money, Show me the money. And they were, they were desperate for that. And through the process, I realised that people actually don't want the money. They want the freedom, they want the stress free. And now let's see everyone that I talked to, who actually come through my coaching programmes, but they always say to me, David, if I can just pay my bills, that would be a great way, that would be a great way if I could pay my bills and have four days off each week, even better, and they're willing to do the work, you know, because they sign up and they start learning the structure, but it's not the money. And I always thought it was because I thought if you get the money, you know, that's, that's happy days. But then I look back at myself and I realised that actually, I used to be into telephone numbers. I used to think Yeah, you know, each month had to be better financially. When the before, but now, I'm just happy to live a happy life. And I think once again, when the words are coming out of your mouth and you're living those words, your branding just kind of starts to take shape somehow it it becomes congruent with your personal beliefs. And that comes out for your company. Would you agree? Steve Jobs 25:21 I absolutely agree. Yeah, you know, this need for just basic, you know, that everybody has this need for an enjoyable life and enjoyment. It's, it's, I always think of it in terms of financial freedom isn't necessarily just, it isn't how much money you have in the bank. It's, can you do what you want to do when you want to do it? Yeah. And I think that's a you know, it's a huge piece of, you know, sort of the fulfilment and the more that you feel, it's like anything else, it's like the energy that you put out, right, but the more that you that you live, and you you Read that reality and you, you come from that place, the more your customers feel it. David Ralph 26:06 And, and the amazing thing is to emphasise what you said there is, when you can do what you want to do when you want to do it. More often than not, it's so cheap, you know, you don't actually need the money. You know, I'm taking my wife to Venice for four days. And it's a return flight, which is about $22 or something like that, you know, which is nothing. And because we can do it whenever we want, I just looked at the cheapest day to go out and the chief cheapest day to go return and you know, that's it. Now, if I was working in the time where I'm restricted by kids holidays, for example, because I don't know if they're like that in America, but over here, the company screw you over as soon as you have kids, by you know when the school holidays are and everything becomes three times as pricey after bat because of fat and because of having worked with restrictions literally that would have cost me 250 pounds might be free or hundred dollars you kno

Introducing David Bain

Today's guest is a man who is at the forefront of digital marketing in the UK and has been since way back in the early 2000's Starting his career by gaining an MBA in business from Napier University, he worked for a series of digital marketing agencies specialising in SEO, PPC and Social. He then moved away from the UK to Sydney Australia when offered the chance to head up the growth of the SEO department for MEC Australia. These were all the fledgling steps into the world of entrepreneurship, helping marketers to stay up-to-date with the latest tools, tactics and technologies through his books, podcasts and digital services, helping them to cut through the noise and focus on what shifts the needle. Nowadays you can be working for someone on a Monday and change your title on Linkedin To Expert on a Tuesday, but our guest has done his time getting to where he is. A digital marketing pioneer, podcast host and producer, he started his first online business back in the year 2000 and his first podcast in 2006. Since then he’s worked with several global organisations including Google, Nespresso, PA Consulting and Farfetch, delivered dozens of digital marketing training sessions and hosted hundreds of podcasts, webinars and online summits. David, his wife and son are based in London, UK. So today the world is screaming "Buy from me, look at me, grab my course and book" but certainly not when he started, so why the interest back then? And where does he see the mistakes that people make when entering into the world of online work with such eagerness today. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. David Bain. Show Highlights During today's show we discussed such weighty subjects with David Bain Why blending the offline and online world to get your customers attention, is such a powerful way to really boost the effectiveness of your content. David shares why we have such little time to make an informed decision that getting noticed has become a big issue. We discuss the process of getting a book from the content of a podcast to the real thing, and the effort involved.  and lastly....... Why its so important to focus on servicing people who are closely linked to you and your passions. Become your own avatar.

In today's episode of Join UP Dots we tackle the questions that come to us through the listeners of Join Up Dots. Everyday our email inbox gets full of requests for information from our listeners, which we often respond to directly. However in today's episode we save them up and answer them all in one go.... Ranging from depression to waiting too long, to how to find that spark to work on. Whatever you want from your life it is there for you, you just have to go after it and make it happen Enjoy Question One Dear David, can't get enough of our show...yes I say our show as I feel you are speaking directly to me everyday. I am now ready to roll but what can I do? I know the fire is burning but I just dont have a clue where to head....lost from New south Wales, Australia Question Two Hi Join UP Dots i was listening to one of your earlier episodes when you were speaking about hanging around in your job for a few years too long. Do you think this held you back, as I would love to be free from the hell that I am enduring due to my f**wit boss but just cant see how I can do it as quick as I would like.... Penai Chitzo, Argentina Question Three Good day to you from Bolivia. Please excuse my written English as your language is not my natural form of communication. I listen to your podcast as I am improving my Engish speaking. I do not understand everything you speak about as it is very fast speed. I enjoy it very much and long to meet you one day and say "Hello"  Do you have a favourite episode out of the ones you have delivered lovingly to us...Adirana  Question Four David Ralph, you sexy man, you god of the microphone, you pumping piston of positivity (did I get your attention yet?) What would be the number one mistake that you made creating your online platform. I would like to do the same so would like to know what you would change.... Victor Benji, St Louis, America Question Five Hi Mr Ralph, do you regret anything in your life. You seem to be always happy and full of life. I suffer from very dark periods of depression which come from nowhere like a perfect storm. I can only imagine that things go wrong for you, so how do you deal with them. The reason I ask, is i would very much like to create my own income and make a go of it, but I dont know if I would be able to handle the issues that you make very clear will come along sometimes  Claire Merchance, St Ives, UK

Maria Pesin is todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a senior apparel industry executive. with an outstanding history of achievement and over 25 years of field experience. She has developed brands from the ground up and taken well-known names to new heights of excellence. Her proven leadership ability has led her to spearhead marketing operations. She has constructed and implemented business plans for New York apparel giants like Fleet Street and GIII Apparel Group, building multi-million dollar brands. Maria has established herself as an expert in everything from merchandising and sales to product development and budgeting. Maria is passionate about the apparel industry and dedicated to working with up-and-coming enterprises that are as devoted to the trade as she is. Establishing new businesses, growing existing businesses and bringing new fashion trends into the marketplace is what she enjoys most about her job. With her consulting business vibe she specializes in helping companies start new divisions, turn around existing ones, or bringing companies to the next level. As she says "Our specialties are sales and marketing, merchandising, organizational efficiencies, and managing Profit/Loss." So is it rare that a consulting company caters for so many different specialisms?  And has this just happened or was it part of the master plan? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Maria Pesin Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Maria Pesin such as: Maria shares her key focus of sales and marketing and why this is such a vital component to all businesses. If you arent getting the sales or the customers you will fail.  We talk about the need to find a differing position to your business landscape if you ever want to gain traction against your competitors. Why the story of spanx has become a driving force behind so many businesses around the world who know the key to perseverance. and lastly...... Why it's so important to focus in on all aspects of time management especially Parkinsons Law. Dont let that time spread into your life.

Introducing James Mulvany Todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a man on a mission. To not only change the world of podcasting but also commercial radio. Coming from the UK, this is one of those classic stories as you will hear when a passion matches a need and success occurs in rather quickly compared to mist. He is the founder of Radio.co and Podcast.co, where he provides the infrastructure to broadcast your words to the world. However, this is very different from what you would be getting from a show like Join Up Dots. His software allows for multiple radio hosts scheduled around the world, going live at their regular times, building their own followings, just like you would get when you tune in your own radio and hear your favourite morning show. All from the back of the garden, or your bedroom if that suits better. How The Dots Joined Up For James As he says "I was quite a geeky, introverted kid and definitely not the most outgoing kid in the world. It was good for me going to university because that gave me a bit of a social life and got me out there in the real world. That was really useful from a personal perspective but also from a business perspective as well. There is only so much you can achieve, when you’re sat behind your computer. I’ve never had a job, I started very young about 16 and was interested in radio and being a presenter. I was also into making websites and was teaching myself that. I decided not to pursue a career in radio but in the process of doing a bit of work experience in radio I learnt how to setup online radio and set up a stream to the internet. At the time there were a few companies offering this service and it seemed like a way to make a few quid. So in 2004 I set up a website called Wavestreaming. I didn’t really know what I was doing so I got the help of a guy in Australia who helped me set up the servers and stuff. I went to university and had a nice income on the side, I think that first year we turned over about £18,000. I did Interactive Multimedia at Uni and spent a lot of that time working on the business. At this time we were still selling streaming services to radio stations. I graduated Uni and hired some staff and managed to grow the business to the point where we got a very big deal with AOL, this was about 2011. And the rest is history. So it seems like a life with no worries and dark nights of the soul, but was this actually the case? And where does he see the world of home broadcasting going in the future....more of the same, or something quite different? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with the one and only James Mulvany Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with James Mulvany such as: James shared his first dream of getting £1,000 into his bank account and when he achieved it how good it felt. We talk about the drawbacks of running a team and how it can frighten so many people from actually scaling their own business. Why fundamentally being an entrepreneur is solving problems for as many people as possible. And lastly................. Why its so important to make a difference to your customers by truly listening and talking to them as much as possible. How To Connect With James Mulvany Website Facebook Linkedin Instagram Return To The Top Of James Mulvany If you enjoyed this interview with James Mulvany why not check out other inspiring interviews like Clint Arthur, Lunden DeLeon and Jack Canfield Or of course you can check out thousands of podcast interviews in our archives here Interview Transcription For James Mulvany Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream a dream, which is Jobs 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. BU 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. Unknown Speaker 0:55 Yes. David Ralph 0:56 Good morning. Good morning to you and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you for giving You're is giving me a buddies and everything in between. Now today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a man on a mission to not only change the world of podcasting but also commercial radio. Coming from the UK This is one of those classic storeys that you hear when a passion matches a need and success, I suppose occurs in rather quickly come compared to most out there. He's the founder of radio CO and podcast CO, where he provides the infrastructure to broadcast his words to the world and for everybody out there. Now it's very different from what you will be getting from a show like Join Up Dots he software allows for multiple radio hosts or podcast is scheduled around the world going live at their regular times building their own followings, just like you would get when you tune into your own radio and hear your favourite Morning Show, all from the back of the garden or your bedroom about suits better. Now, as he says I was quite a geeky introverted kid, and definitely not the most outgoing kid in the world. It was good for me going to university Because that gave me a bit of a social life and got me out there in the real world was really useful from a personal perspective, but also from a business one as well. There's only so much you can achieve when you're sat behind your computer CKUKV listeners, I've never had a job. I started very young about 16 and was interested in radio and being a presenter, I was also into making websites and was teaching myself fat. I decided not to pursue a career in radio. But in the process of doing a bit of work experience in radio, I learned how to set up online radio and set up a stream to the internet. And at a time, there were a few companies offering this service and it seemed like a way to make a few quid Now roll on 2004 I set up a website called wage streaming. I didn't really know what I was doing. So I got the help of a guy in Australia who helped me set up the service and stuff and I went to university and had a nice income on the side. I think that first year, we turned over 18 grain, great part to start the show. So it seems like a life with no one Dark Nights of the soul. But was this actually the case? And where does he see the world of home broadcasting going in the future? More of the same or something quite different? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only James Mulvany. James Mulvany 3:17 Morning, James, how are you sir? I'm, I'm brilliant. You know what an intro David, I can't believe the granularity you went to there. I feel like we actually don't need to record the podcast because you've just summarise everything I was gonna say anyway. David Ralph 3:30 Well, can I tell you why I do that? James? Should I tell you? I was on about Episode Five of Join Up Dots. And it was right in the early days and I realised that most people come with their keynote storey but I like yeah, time and time again. So I just bought like m&m. in that film. I'm going to share the storey before they get to it and then we can go in any direction we want. James Mulvany 3:54 That's a good idea, to be honest. I mean, I've got lots of I can elaborate on that storey as well. There's bits that you missed out there. So David Ralph 4:00 We can go anywhere we want. So Mr. James Mulvany, thank you so much for being here and Join Up Dots because I am a fan and I want to get straight into radio.co. First of all, because this is a platform that I have looked at numerous times, and just recently down heart FM in the United Kingdom, got rid of their breakfast show hosts and they sort of amazing sort of centralised one. And the Essex guy who has been the unplug the radio host for about 25 years, came round to the back of the garden, Join Up Dots, I sat with him for an afternoon. And to be honest, I spent most of the time trying to promote radio.co saying, Look at this, you can do this yourself. You can get all the ex hosts have been sacked by heart, create your own radio show. This is brilliant. He wasn't as excited as I was. Now. Do you find that you find that podcasters look at it and go wow, this is such an opportunity. James Mulvany 4:59 I think They are, there's obviously some crossover between podcasting and radio, a lot of radio stations will run a podcast, not every podcaster wants a radio station. And one thing I can tell you is, we have a huge chunk of customers at Radio co who are ex jocks or ex presenters or whatever you want to call them. And they've decided that they want to leave the industry and start their own business and run their own online radio station, which can sometimes be you know, super focused around a specific topic or it can be super focused on a specific genre of music. And you know, they have a great time. And the great thing about that the platform is entirely cloud based. So you don't have to have a fancy studio. And also you don't have to be located in the same place as your DJ, your other DJ. So you can have people come and broadcast on your station from anywhere in the world. And you know, do it from the comfort of their own home or some people have like a home studio like you do the back of the garden or in their bedroom or whatever. And it just, you know, it kind of encourages creativity and collaboration, I think. David Ralph 5:58 Now, I listened to Chris happens the Breakfast Show guy in the United Kingdom he stole James Mulvany 6:03 you from radio to to virgin did he did David Ralph 6:05 he did yeah I know he's and he stole me was is exactly the same show there's no difference it's just like he's old show has been moved across but he was doing it all from Portugal on a laptop and even though I the same thing I was thinking my god it people out there aren't grasping the fact that nowadays they don't have to go to an office they could set up a tree and build a business. We've never got them we've never got them Join Up Dots is a failure it me and Chris Evans haven't shown them a new way. That's excellent you James but at its core business is about creating the lifestyle with the businesses second place, James Mulvany 6:45 I think. Yeah, to begin with, you know, like back in the day when I first started out, it was me on my own. And, you know, I was the sales guy, the support guy that you know, software guy, I did everything I want many hats, a bit of jack of all trades, master of none. But what it did give me his ability to sort of understand each area. And, you know, when I started hiring staff, you know, he allowed me to, for example, talking to developers, I have a good understanding of how it all links together and, and how code works. Don't write any code anymore. But I think to begin with, and having that creativity and that freedom, and it was really like a lifestyle business back then, look, I think you mentioned in your introduction, I remember being in sixth form, start a website, I might go back then was like, Can I get my bank balance to 1000 pounds like this almost unachievable, you know, goal that was kind of and then I did it probably within the space of, I don't know, five, six months. And I remember hitting that goal and thinking this is amazing, you know, and, and as you said, I think first year 16 years old, we turned over about 18 grand, which were 16 old kids not bad. And but you know, obviously then as time progresses and things grow, you know, it becomes more of a you know, more of a commercial entity I guess, you know, the we've got about 30 of us on the team now. So, you know, things are a bit different now than then. But I kind of still always have a, you know, like kind of fond memory those early days when it was just me and I was kind of, you know, I had that sort of opportunity ahead of me thinking I can just do anything I can take over the world with this. And it really gave me a lot of excitement. Because, you know, I think as you said in the introduction, my original plan was to go into radio as a broadcaster as a DJ, and sort of did a little bit of that. And then I kind of thought, Well, you know, I'm going to go off to university and sort of I studied interactive multimedia, which is basically web design and stuff like that. And you know, that that would kind of gave me the building blocks to sort of start growing the business a bit more. David Ralph 8:45 The amount of radio hosts that I have spoken to over the last two or three years and but majority of them say it's so restrictive in radio, they spend most of these days doing maps and working out if I play a disagreement Song how long till the top of the hour and all that it's just like mass mass mass and I can't say anything. Now with Join Up Dots, I literally open my mouth and whatever comes out goes into people's ears. And I can't understand with the the growth and the explosion, why more people aren't going that way? Why do people still want to get a job when you can create your own job, James? James Mulvany 9:24 I think it's the security isn't it? And it's the fear of the unknown. If you're a DJ and you've got that talent, you've got that, you know, core communication built within you that you can kind of get people on your side, you can, you know, that can be translated to so many different areas of running a business, you know, if you're a good presenter, you can be a really good salesperson, you can be really good marketer, you know, you've got that ability to present a camera concepts and ideas, record videos, and I've really, especially in the early days, I really saw drew upon that, that talent, those skills, to launch the business and actually get kind of get one Over on the competition, because a lot of the competition were for focusing really on the technical aspects of everything, but actually, they weren't good at sales. They, they were too scared. And I still see this today, they're too scared to appear in front of a camera or too scared to actually go in front of a mic and actually start selling their products and speak to people. So I think, you know, as a creative person, if you're in broadcasting for your podcasting, you know, you can take those skills and you can easily turn it into a business because so much of being a business relies on being a good communicator, a good communicator. David Ralph 10:30 I agree with you totally. And what I really picked up on there is how so many people try to sell based around the technical aspects. Yeah, but majority of people don't give a monkey's about the technical aspect. They they just want to know the end product. It's the knowledge gap that you've got to cross it, sir. Yeah, we can show you how to live a life like this. We can show you how you sit in your underpants and create a business. We want to show you five. And these are the tools that get there. Now when I looked@radio.com. And obviously, we're going Talk about podcast co as well. I looked at that, and I thought to myself, this is so sexy, but I could create my own show. Once I finished, somebody else goes live. And we can broadcast to the world, we could get a load of podcasters, together, boarding. And then I looked at it and thought, No, actually, I just like doing my own thing. I don't want to be responsible for sort of other people. Is that a stumbling block as well? Do you see it where people look at and go, I love this, but actually, who's going to manage it? I don't. But the talent doesn't want to be the studio manager. James Mulvany 11:32 I mean, yeah, it's interesting. You mentioned this, and I think radio.co platform does make that process very straightforward. I've got to start off by saying the reality of managing people can sometimes be difficult. I ran a radio station here in Manchester called MCI live for two years. And unfortunately, we had to call it a day at the start of this year, mainly for commercial reasons. We were trying to pick up sponsorship. And we you know, we did, we did some small deals, but we ultimately we didn't get that big headline sponsor, but we had a lot of fun in running it and it was a good guinea pig for the business. And we had a studio which was really cool. It was actually based above a convenience store which is kind of like a hipster cool convenience store and with there we have this sort of mezzanine level we thought let's put a studio up there. So it was really good. But you know what managing day we had sort of lots of electronic music DJ presenters coming in and and organising that we probably had about 50 people at any one time. And obviously, the people came and went over the couple years, we ran it, but you know, coordinating 50 people was a big task we needed to have, you know, I had what, two three full time people working on that project. Just to kind of coordinate that. And also obviously handle things like the marketing Instagram, etc. But it was, you know, it was a big ask. David Ralph 12:50 And it was the time I used to run sales teams and insurance teams and at 10 to eight the phone rang. You realised it was somebody I can't get mean I've got flu, and baby, but the next day they were in and there was so much hassle about trying to cover cover this. What would be your response? If somebody says to you, James, do I create a company with loads of employees? Or do I just create something very, very small, but provides me with a lifestyle. I may not be a millionaire, but I earn 100 pounds more of and I need each month to pay all my bills, have lovely holidays, have pub lunches and all kinds of little luxuries. So I'm nice. What would you say? James Mulvany 13:36 I think it depends on the individual. You know, by nature, I'm very ambitious. I'm now you know, pretty successful. But to begin with, I was I was just sort of earning a good living and then it kind of went from making a good living to having staff and obviously then it gets to the point where, you know, you're making significant profit. I think that depends on what you want. You need to And also to begin with, when I was at university, I wasn't I didn't have any kind of ambition to have a company, which was turning over, you know, multiple million amounts. I wanted us to make a few quid on the side. But then obviously things change over time. And, you know, you kind of your business grows and then obviously you kind of get bit more hungry you think, well, let's, let's try and push ourselves further. So I think to start off with a lot of people, you know, who are perhaps working in a job, or they're just starting out, they just finished school or college, and they may be looking into going to sort of university or whatever, there's no harm and just running something as a lifestyle business. That's what I did for probably five or six years before things started really taking off. David Ralph 14:45 And when when did it take off to a point that you realise because no matter how we sort of frame it, there's a hassle running a business. They go serious? Yeah. When you get to that point when you actually think yourself, hang on, are we growing Fast Should I scale back? We all have those decisions in our heads where we think the flexibility that I did have when it was all fun and exciting, and we were coming in each day and everybody loved working with each other. It's lost a bit of that. Do you remember that? James Mulvany 15:14 Yeah, I mean, you know, you have just like any job, you have good days and bad days, you know, you'll have periods where you've got a But fundamentally, being an entrepreneur is about problem solving. Right? So, if I have, if I have, you know, stumbling things along the way, which Every business has, you know, your job as a, as a founder or entrepreneur is to find solutions to those problems. And yeah, of course, you have your ups and downs not every day you go in and you thinking, yeah, this is brilliant, but then there obviously there are highs or lows. It's just that's the kind of storey I think that's the journey going as an entrepreneur, but I think the more experience you get, you know, you you mentally more equipped to deal with the downfalls and the pitfalls and the problems along the way and they don't affect you as much you kind of take them on the chin a bit more to begin with, you know, I certainly found myself kind of quite erratic, you know, I had this big dear things really took off for us in about 2011 2012 struck a big deal with AOL who owned a product called outcast and that was the core sort of engine of our system. So things took off very quickly for us that was had a business good wave stream then I knew the deal wasn't going to be there forever and I knew that it will might last five years or so. So but but it but it went as quickly as it came it went so I think it lasted about two and a half years that contract and you know, it was very it was good for us. We made a lot of money as a business. But then when it when it went away, you know, that really hit me hard for a year I was sort of, you know, in my own head, struggling and thinking God What am I going to do? I've got all these staff and everything's going to come crashing down around me and everything I've worked for him you know, and kind of looking at all these extremes in my own head but actually reality was it did that didn't happen, you know, and but it what it did do is forced me to kind of get my head together and figure out what what's next? How can we do better? And how can we kind of go one over on this? David Ralph 17:05 And who supported you at that time when mentally but demons are in your head thinking, yeah, God, who was the one that you went to James Mulvany 17:12 need to speak to? You know, you speak to your friends, your family, and half the time, they're just like, Yeah, he's just whinging about this again. But, but then I think, you know, actually, ultimately, you've got to help yourself, you know, no one's going to give you a magic solution to a problem. And especially in business, when you're when you've got the reins, you know, it's down to you to actually figure out right, am I going to keep going on this path? Are we going to choose a new direction to go in and how we going to solve this problem? David Ralph 17:38 Let's play some words and then come back to James he is Oprah. Oprah Winfrey 17:42 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 stuff. What is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move and the next right move? 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 18:13 Now I created Join Up Dots back in 2004, based out 2014, based around the words that Steve Jobs will say later on, and it's been a mantra of mine, but I didn't really understand it until recently. And just recently, James or about couple years ago, I went through a really bad sort of health phase, big wobble, everything went skew with and tix up, as we say over here, and I really struggle. Now through that speech by Oprah and fruit, a speech from Steve Jobs and the fact that I'm still talking in the best microphone now. I've got a totally different mindset. I now think to myself, if it goes bad, I will deal with it. If it goes bad in the future, I will deal with it. If it goes I just say That everything that's thrown at me now. It just means me being quiet, looking at it and thinking, How do I get past this? And the fact that I'm now 50 years old or coming up 50 years old? And that's the time James, you say, No, I don't believe it. I don't believe it. But I'm coming up 50 years old, and I have made a billion decisions, right decisions, wrong decisions. I have led me to this point. I totally think that what's going to stop those decisions still occurring going forward, you know, until I get run over or die. Literally, I don't think that anything can go wrong. I just think that if it does go wrong, I deal with it what you think? James Mulvany 19:38 I think you're right. And I think one of the things I've learned about myself as well as you can, you can kind of go through periods where you become a bit complacent, right? If you don't make any changes, everything's going sweet. And, you know, you just sort of kind of get used to doing it and then almost go into a bit routine, which I think is fine. And you can do that for to a certain extent. Because ultimately, you know, when you're launching a business And, as I said, I've launched today, probably something like six different companies over the years, couple of them have worked out, couple of them haven't, some of them have sold on various different things. But you know, you go through each time you launch your business, you go for that intense period of hard work hard graft, not knowing if it's actually going to pay off. And, you know, sometimes it's, you know, it's really got to be, you've got to throw your life into it for a year or so. But, you know, then, you know, once you've, you've sort of started reaching a certain level of success, you can actually take a step back and enjoy it. And I don't think there's anything wrong in doing that, you know, have a couple of years, we think, actually, you know, we've got systems in place to deal with most of the stuff now, you know, my job as a founder, you know, can kind of just be to keep everything ticking over for a couple of years. Until then you decide, either start another business or, you know, in my case, sometimes it's got a right what can we do next? We got to start shaking things up now. And it's interesting because, you know, just launched podcast co so that's been, you know, radios very successful now. And, you know, we're still pushing boundaries and still innovating. But it has been in terms of development wise, what we've been doing is quite been quite quiet for the last year because it is quite a mature platform now. But now I'm starting to think, right, we've had a kind of year off radio.co, almost not not a literally a year off, but you see what I mean? In terms of mean, I'm sort of putting my mindset into it. But now I'm thinking right, I need to go back in and focus on it again, for probably like a six month period and go kind of a bit more intense on it. Because, you know, we've, we've grown the team, so we could work on two businesses, which is important, I think, you know, it's important to have, that you don't don't lose momentum in your existing business if you start a new one. But then, ultimately, is there's only so much bandwidth a thing as an entrepreneur that you've got. So, you know, sometimes you need to give it your own one projects and sort of scale that what you're thinking about on another project for a period of time, but then, you know, readjust that balance at some point. David Ralph 21:58 I now say to people Van Bashir, I've been retired. And I mean that I've been doing bad for 58. He's not bad at all. But I've been doing stuff and I've been, you know, working on things. But it hasn't been the room that I had a couple of years ago where it was all I have to get this going, I have to get this but some Oh, this is Yeah, this year has been very much about myself, looking at what I want, and I can now see what I want. And it's not what I wanted at the beginning. Have you seen that with yourself that the original dream actually was just just starting dream is not the real dream? James Mulvany 22:37 Yeah, I think things change over time. Of course they do. And, you know, and also, I think, for me, I found, you know, what was caught I'll bring this up, bring this up in a sermon, actually. But, you know, I think you, you kind of get you're aware of your abilities and you know, once you've a certain level of achievement that you kind of, you know, I don't think you should ever sort of stop you keep need to keep learning need to keep that hunger for more, I think but you can kind of think he actually, you know what, I kind of know what I'm doing a bit now. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, when I, when I was at university, I really didn't know what I was doing. I was just winging it. And I kind of was just trying all these different ideas. And, you know, some things worked and some things didn't. But you know, nowadays, I kind of got a bit of a better understanding of what my capabilities are where my sort of expertise lies, which I think is, you know, a good thing. But then I'm say, I'm not I'm not suggesting you should ever think, right, I'm done. Now, you know, because I think there's always room to move forward. There's always room to learn new skills of find out about new things. David Ralph 23:38 But isn't that key to growing a business where probably 90% of the effort is learning about what you don't know? Yeah, completely self developing and upscaling and I come back from the my wife says, you know, what you've been doing? Have you been recording podcasts? I say, No, no, I haven't been doing it. I've just been reading stuff and looking at stopping and you have to be careful and this is a question You're actually, when you realise that there are knowledge gap

So many people want to start their own podcast and have the hopes and dreams of making a huge success of their efforts. But unfortunately nowadays 85% of new podcasts fail to make the mark that they want as they dont understand the whole picture. You see when you want to start a podcast you have to understand how the podcast fits into everything else in your business. You have to understand that the podcast is nothing more than a vitally important component to the marketing funnel. What you say ?? A Marketing funnel....what's a marketing funnel? Well my young podcasting padawans, the marketing funnel is the key component that brings it all together. Without one of these then the podcast wont do anything at all. Ready to understand more?? What Is The Key To Start Your Own Podcast Ok lets look at it as a whole. A podcast is simply free content that people listen to. You cant make any money from a podcast on its own. You have to add something to the podcasts value where others will then add their own value to it and pay you. So if you get a huge audience then companies will want to sponsor your podcast and you have found that value. You have an audience of people, that someone else wants to get in front of  KERCHING. That is the Start Your Own Podcast strategy that most people aim for at the beginning, but believe me this is the wrong way to go. You are giving away massive real estate and equity in your podcast. Why would you get £20 per listener, instead of finding out what those listeners really want and get £500 from each.  Well we wouldn't, its a stupid route to go. Instead we want to provide products that we can sell on our own. We want to make sure that every person who hits Join Up Dots becomes a potential customer. And that leads us onto the next piece of the Start Your Own Podcast puzzle. Why Is My Podcast Not Delivering The Cash A podcast can fall between two rocks quite easily, and that is not a good thing as I will explain. A podcast can either be fall of brilliant information that people listen to and go "Yay that was great...thank you" Or it can be really entertaining that people listen and go "Yay that was fun...thank you" If you are doing either of these then you are doing something wrong, and will struggle to get the cash you deserve. In my view a podcast is about bringing the potential problems to people that they haven't thought about. You release your podcast episode and talk about how much you know about a subject, wanting them to be as good as you. Think about a chef on the tv, that is cooking some amazing meal right in front of your eyes. Do you simply watch and then run to the kitchen and make what you have seen? No of course you dont, as you saw and thought "Wow", but also thought "I'll never be able to do this on my own" So what do you do? You get onto Amazon and buy the book that the chef has out at that time that shows you the recipe they have just presented to you. They know that you cant just watch and copy, they know they will be selling a lot more books, so they show the best meal that they can to wow you. They are showing off in-front of you. They are saying to you "Look I am great at this, and you can be too.....with my help" They are making money as they have presented the problem to you, and made you realise your knowledge gap.

Today's guest first joined us on Join Up Dots back on episode 721, when he shared his steps to transformation. Not only in his own life, but in the lifes of people across the globe. As he heard on the show this is a man who overcame adversity, lost nearly 100 pounds, ran a marathon, dramatically changed his diet and created an approach to help others live a better life, every day. He called it the Do a Day method and through his book which is still flying off the shelves of Amazon and other good book stores, and his thriving online business he now shows us the steps to doing this. Changing our lives by small, doable steps, leading to overcoming the impossible, instead of tackling huge challenges head on which just wear us out. How The Dots Joined Up For Bryan The key thing to this episode is the last time he was on the show he was still working a full-time job. He was struggling the spinning of the plates that so many people find too hard and give up on. But he did things differently, and in today's show we will delve into the things he did to find the time, the energy and the passion to make it happen for himself. So was taking the leap a great thing to do, or simply has lead to him realising how little he knew about creating his dream-life? And what would he do today, if he could go back and change a few of the dots around in his past? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Bryan Falchuk Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Bryan Falchuk such as: Why we tiptoe around issues nowadays as we are too frightened to share our true views on life due to the fear of upsetting anyone. How the world is losing the ability to focus and truly listen to each other on a daily basis. How Bryan realised that building a winning path was not about the fight but actually the need to find common ground. And lastly................. Bryan shares how he transitioned from a full-time corporate guy, by first entering the world of startup. A great idea to smooth the way. Interview Transcription For Bryan Falchuk Interview David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream a dream. He's 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 nose struggles became a thing of the past. Of course, what's bad person? And now My dream is to make things happen. BU 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 0:56 Yes, I'm still live from the back of the garden. I'm still We're in the same old place that I have been recording for over six years now. And I'm glad to have you here. I'm glad to have you here every single time. And I'm particularly glad to have today's guest. Because as you would have heard on Join Up Dots over the last year or so we've been connecting the dots again. And as I always say the show, please come back again when you have more dots to join up. Well, today's guest has got more dots to join up. And so he's back with us. Now. He was first with us on episode seven to about 1000 episodes ago, when he shared his steps to transformation not only in his own life, but in the lives of people across the globe. As we heard on the show, this is a man who overcame adversity lost nearly 100 pounds ran a marathon dramatically changed his diet and created an approach to help others live a better life every day. He called it but do a day method and through his book, which is still flying off the shelves of Amazon and other good bookstores is thriving online business batty now has started to show the way He wasn't at that point, changing our lives by small doable steps leading to overcoming the impossible instead of tackling huge challenges head on, which just wears out was his mantra. Now the key thing to this episode is the last time he was on the show, as I say, he was still working a full time job. He was struggling, the spinning of the place that so many people find too hard and give up on but he did things differently. And in today's show, were delve into the things he did to find the time the energy and the passion to make it happen for himself. So was taking the leap a great thing to do, or simply has it led him to realise how little he actually knew about creating his dream life. And what would he do today if he could go back and change a few of the dots around in his past? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show to start Join Up Dots one more time with the one and only Mr. Bryan Falchuk. Good morning, Bryan. How are you man? Bryan Falchuk 2:56 Hey, David. I'm really well thanks for having me back on David Ralph 2:58 is great to have you on It's funny, I look back on certain shows, and there's certain shows where I don't remember much. But I, I talked about, you know, we have a lot of conversations. And the two when I was thinking about you coming back on was the fact that you was working for an insurance company that I used to work for, and that you had a mental breakdown about a donut. And I remember that storey really saw and that sort of gets people to go back to Episode 721. And what why did he add this? His breakdown about a donut? It was a strange story that one Bryan Falchuk 3:35 yeah. And so when I had you on my show, you called me out for it. And I was like, have no idea what you're talking about. And we had the same guy. It was a hot dog. Oh, was he a hot dog? David Ralph 3:44 Yeah, not. Bryan Falchuk 3:45 No, no, a donut would have made a lot more sense. It wasn't even my hot dog. I think that's what makes it even worse. It was my son's because I don't need hot dogs. But yeah, either way like it that doesn't make it a better storey or worse storey. It's still running. But yeah, I kind of had this a little bit of a public meltdown in a in a restaurant and was all worked out but yeah, not embarrassing it all works out nicely. David Ralph 4:10 But don't you look back on these things I look back at my my failings in my business the things that I've done so stupid the things that cost me so much money and I came to smile and they've become my storeys and I sit with people and I said oh, I tell you what I did this was that bloody stupid thing I did you know what at the time it was the worst thing in the world it stranger as far as you move away. Your worst times become entertainment. Bryan Falchuk 4:40 Yeah, you know, what's, what's interesting? Are we talking about I mean, the show specifically, that was one of the dots in YM back on the show. And I don't remember that storey generally you bring it back to mind. But yeah, now I see like that is a difficult human interaction, a difficult relationship. And that's ultimately what my Current focus with with my new book is about and that's, it's kind of funny, I wasn't even thinking about that example. But that's 100% on the, you know, the the idea that I'm focused on right now. So that is a David Ralph 5:12 professional and I professional and I sucked you in. So go on why you're here why you're plugging. Tell us about your new book. Bryan Falchuk 5:19 Yeah, so it's all about. So I mean, to put it in context, do a day was about your relationship with yourself. So how do you understand yourself? How do you grow from that and point that understanding towards the things you really wish you were doing in your life, the things you wish you could achieve and overcoming those barriers that we faced this next book with a slightly less catchy title, but it means something it's the 5075 100 solution, build better relationships is all about instead of our relationship with ourselves, now we're ready to work on our relationship with others. And so it's it's seeing the ownership we have in that relationship, whether it's a bad one, you know, a tough one or one that is But maybe you can still be better. I think everyone universally will agree like, we own our half even if that's hard, right? You know, it's like I can own me but I can't control you I can't influence you I don't have power over you. And that's the bit we get struck we get struck by we get stuck on and where it becomes painful and we start placing blame is said while you know, I'm fine have worked on me I, I can do better, but they're just they're terrible. They don't appreciate me they're doing all these things to me. Well, the point in this approach is to move beyond just seeing your half but understanding how you can influence the other person's half. And it starts to give you a sense of power is probably the wrong word. Because it's not about having power over them. It's about having power to influence a different mindset in them to move the whole relationship to better and that's, you know, I, I basically was forced to have a wake up call like I did with do a day and as I worked through that, I started to study started to learn and grow and I was like, you know, this is another one of these things that I have to share with other people and So that's where the book was born is interesting. David Ralph 7:03 Is it maturity where, you know, when you're younger, I was talking to a guy the other day and I said to him, I find it very difficult not to agree with people now, even if I know their room, I can, I can always find some common ground where when I was younger, it would be black and white, I'd absolutely be apt to argue that talks about anything. And it's a song called Shades of Grey by Billy Joe. And he says, you know, what the lyrics are some things were perfectly clear seen with the vision, vision of you know, doubts and nothing to fear. I claim the corner on truth. Now, these days, it's hard to say I know what I'm fighting for. My faith is falling away. I'm not sure that sure anymore. And what he means by that is, you know, everything's great nowadays, you know, that that person's got a point, even though it would have been in ETFs. Now, I was reflecting on the fact of RV idiots or If we become soft, should we be arguing more than we used to be? Is it now the case it was so frightened of upsetting people that everybody just kind of tiptoes around everything? Bryan Falchuk 8:12 That's a I think that's really interesting and astute and be I think that is not the path to making things. Okay. And that's, that's unfortunately, where I was at with tougher relationships where it was like, if I just kind of hold my tongue, then it'll be fine. I'll just, you know, I'll let them go off. I won't say anything. I won't share my opinion. That's just the way they're going to be. And if I say anything, it's just going to make it worse. So I'm just going to be quiet. That doesn't work. And even if it works in the sense of, you know, well, then we're not fighting. That's no way to live. Like eating your emotions, eating your thoughts and your feelings, invalidating your own position is not a sustainable, thriving way to go forward. It's how you burn yourself out. It's how you upset yourself. It's how you just add to this darkness that weighs you down and I think a lot of us end up doing that. So yeah, it works. It's a it's a strategy. But as you know, to the same extent that a band aid works for gunshot wound, it's a strategy. It will, you know, it'll contain some of that injury. But ultimately, you're going to have to do more for it. David Ralph 9:15 Now, there's a movement going on over here. And I'm not going to put my point of view on this because it would be wrong to express my point of view, I'm just going to say what it is. And people are deciding that they don't want to be classed as a woman or a man. And they said, there's 100 different ways, but you can actually be classed as what your agenda and a guy called Piers Morgan, who's over here, and he was in America for a while, he argued, but Okay, that's fair enough, but I want to be called a two spirited penguin. And they had a big argument and he said, Why am I supposed to accept 100 of your ideas, but you won't accept one of mine? You know, why a space and It was it was a really good argument. But it makes me wonder because Sam Smith, the singer, has said he doesn't want to be called male or female. And so the Music Awards over here have gone Oh, we can't offend anyone. We will stop having female artists and male artists and have you know, a combined it's everything's losing its identity, I struggle with understanding where this way of thinking of not being able to say to somebody you're wrong, or I don't agree with you actually is heading Bryan Falchuk 10:35 huh? Yeah. So I think that that is a really thorny subject. I agree with you. I'm not I'm not going to push my view one way or the other. And I'm not sure I've totally sorted out exactly how I feel about it or thought through what the implications are aren't for me or for someone who doesn't necessarily identify with a particular gender or number of Spirits Within a penguin I, but I think losing the debate, and the discussion is a cost we should be careful about. The problem right now is often when we have these discussions, they're really nasty. And that's the way politics is now. It's, there's nothing around what your actual views are. It's around how terrible someone else's. And if someone accuses you of you know, you did this thing, the answer is never Oh, yeah, I did. And that was a mistake. And here's how I've grown and I'm sorry for the cost of that. It's Yeah, but look at that. And they did Morse. And that's not serving us. So you know, if I killed there's a lot of like, gunshot and murder and my storeys today, but if I killed six people and you killed seven, if you call me a murderer, that doesn't mean I'm not just because you killed more. It just means we both did. You just happen to do more, but I still need to be responsible for my piece of that. And that's, I think there's a general theme and how we're going about discourse and debate. That's its kind The two extremes. It's either like, Oh, we can't offend anyone, we can't talk about it. So everyone just be quiet and accept without challenging. And on the flip side is we're going to challenge everything, but not actually challenge it just kind of rag on each other. And that's neither of those is going to move us forward. Because we're never going to come to actual understanding, we may outwardly agree in the first case. But inside people are quite divided and just not speaking about it. So we haven't actually moved anything forward. No one is any more accepting. They're just not talking about it. And in the other case, we haven't grown, we haven't corrected, we haven't gotten better. We've actually just gotten a lot worse by attacking each other as our response to any mistakes we make. David Ralph 12:38 And that's not serving us either. Is I was in a pub the other day and I was having a conversation with a guy and I actually said to him, Look, I'm never going to agree with you here. I just know we're so opposite in our viewpoints. But that's all right. You know, you tell me your viewpoint and I will listen to it. And maybe you can knock a bit off maybe at the moment. I'm 100%. And I might go down to 95%. But I still I'm not going to agree with you. And he said, Well, there's no point in discussing it. And I said, that's the point of discussing. You know, you're putting your point of view across and I'm putting my point of view across, and we listen. Now, I think one of the problems in the world today is the fact that and I imagine it ties up to your book as well, is we don't listen to the other person. We don't listen to how they're feeling. We don't listen. And it's a it's a problem in relationships. I know where so many people are sitting at home on their mobile phones picking up and down half listening, not really connecting and stuff. And we're surrounded by politicians. You know, you've got a guy in power at the moment, but if anybody says anything he doesn't agree with. It's either fake news or you're wrong, you know? Bryan Falchuk 13:50 Yeah, and you're wrong and terrible. David Ralph 13:52 Yeah, I just think why don't you just once go, Okay, I hadn't seen that point of view. Okay. Yeah, it's not my point. interview but it's a new one on me. Did you see that as well tying into your book again applying to play a plug, Brian. We need to listen better. Bryan Falchuk 14:11 Yeah, I mean completely, that the the distracted missing conversations actually just wrote a draught of a blog post last night about the Apple Watch conversations, where I'm finding this more and more and it's not meant to hit on Apple, but you're having a conversation with someone. And as if there's nothing disruptive or rude or distracting about it, they just look down and click away and notification. And, you know, you have it in actually quite intimate conversations or in business settings where, like, someone came in to sell something to us, and they were doing that and it's like, he doesn't care about being here is looking and yeah, he's just flicking it away. But still, it's like, clearly that was important enough to him. You wouldn't see someone do that, hopefully, pulling out their phone in the middle of the meeting to do that that would be far more disruptive, but for some reason me looking down and paying attention to something else mid sentence is acceptable actually saw speaker on stage do it in the middle of a talk. And and What I don't know is and this is the second piece that's really important is understanding each other. I don't know what they're going through. I don't know if they have you know, a child was just in a car accident or you know their parent is sick some major situation going on that actually. David Ralph 15:24 Yeah, but everyone does it that being being professional, even if I had a kid who is in some kind of, you know, terrible situation. I would either have cancelled that appearance, or let you can't do anything while you want to study. Yeah, you should see that. Bryan Falchuk 15:40 Fair enough. Yeah, my point just being for their situation, they may have made a priority call and and i don't know what those calls are. And it's not my priority call to make. So it's not just blindly saying oh, you know, it was a Instagram notifications. I don't I don't know what it was about. I don't know whether it was important enough. So it's not a beta It doesn't matter. David Ralph 16:01 On this situation, I think that we be perfectly in our right to cast judgement, to say that that person is in front of us on stage, no matter what their personal situation is, they have put themselves in that position. You know, I don't sit here doing a podcast episode, we're halfway through, I disappear to make myself a cup of coffee. You know, I'm here, and I could be having a really bad day, I could be having a really bad time in my life. And as we were talking about beforehand, I've had some terrible times in my life. But I still got up and I did the podcast episode, because I knew that you deserved it. My listeners deserved it. And it was my business. Bryan Falchuk 16:41 Yeah. And so I mean, that's where the article ends up going as if you're with someone, be with them. And if you can't be Don't be and be upfront about it. So my position if I was going on stage, and you know, something happened, I would just be up front with people. I would cancel or if it was too late to Kenya, maybe it happened right before going on stage. If there was no way around it, I would at least share that openly with people. And I just had that in a meeting this morning where we've got a family situation going on last night, I just said, you know, hey, I may get a call during the meeting, here's why this is what's going on, I may need to step out and never want to respect that because I told them up front. But what I didn't do is sit there staring at my phone waiting for a call. David Ralph 17:18 Yeah. Because if I'm not, if I'm not going to attend to that thing that I've asked for permission to attend to, and I'm going to attend to you and give you that respect. And helps it would have been right, you're sitting in the audience. The guy comes on and says before I start, you know, yeah, I'm having this crap, this situation going on. I'm going to focus on you, but I have to let you know into the dark times. Every single person in the audience would go wow, credits. Yeah, Bryan Falchuk 17:48 yeah. And instant connection. Yeah, so can connect. I mean, there's a there's a point to all this. And actually, it goes back to that guy in the pub. And something you said earlier about just making space To understand each other and hear each other, and that's, that's where you move from just being in your half to sort of move the whole thing to better. What it takes is understanding, you know, for him, you're never going to see his point of view. So there's no point to the conversation. Well, maybe seeing his point of view isn't actually what he wants. And maybe he's not in touch with that. And maybe what both of you need to do is think about what does happiness look like? So I talked about these three principles. And the first one is happiness seeking and trying to understand our own definition of happiness and what the other person's may be. And you may have no clue in the world, you may not be able to guess it, you may just need to ask and elicit and try to get it out of them. Oftentimes, we end up arguing, because our goals are misaligned. But we're not even in touch with what those goals are. So I shared this example in the book and I did a TED talk and the idea of a book of the book last year and I showed the same example there because it's a powerful one. At that same company that we both interacted with, worked at. I had a panel who suddenly went from being a friend to confidant support, you know, in equal that we would turn to to someone trying to get me fired. And on the surface, it was just that she wanted to get me fired. And that's what I was initially reacting to internally. But what I realised is, there's something else going on here. I just seem to be in the way or I'm a threat to her she perceives need to be I don't know why or what that's about. But that's why she wants me out. It's not because she just suddenly decided like, Yeah, I don't care for him. And it's fun. Why don't I try to get him fired? Even though it may feel that way, you know, someone's yelling at us, or hurting us. It's not like they just woke up that morning said, Yeah, just for funds ease, I'm going to start being mean to him, there's something that they want, and they may not be in touch with what that is, but there's something they want, that you seem to be in the way of or represent the opposite of. and a less mature way of going about that is to just be mean and difficult and attacking, and what's beholden to us if we want that relationship to be better less of a threat more productive, more positive, whatever the, the outcome is that you ultimately want from it is to try to recognise what they're getting to or what they wish they were getting to and see if there's a way you can both have what you're looking for. So what I ended up finding out is she had screwed up pretty significantly, and was trying to cover it up because she was afraid for herself getting fired. And so anyone I didn't know this, I had sort of stumbled upon exposing it. Just in the course of my work, I had started to unearth some irregularities and problems. And as I was bringing attention to that, she went into defence mode. And her defence mode is to try to get rid of anyone who might expose her before she gets a chance to try to fix things. And you know, I didn't realise this at the time. But instead of reacting to her when she would send these scathing emails to myself and our CEO about all the terrible things about me and how wrong I am and all these facts of how I'm screwing up that by the way, are not facts. You just making them up. I'm not one for Fake News, but it was like, you know, she says Brian did three and it's like, No, I didn't, I did too. And here's the evidence of it, or you know, whatever the numbers are actions where I could just try to refute every point and do the whole thing and email and just fight with her. But actually, it's not about the fight. And that's what I started to realise is rather than responding back, she's obviously going to have some come back, or she's going to argue with me or try to you know, she's making up information right now who's to say she won't make up worse information. So that's not a winning path. Instead, what I need to do is get a meeting with all of us, the CEO myself, her we brought the CFO into get her to try to illustrate what it is she's actually looking for. Because to have her sitting here rattling off all these terrible things about me, it's not serving anyone. I need to get to what's actually driving all this because it really just seemed to come out of the blue. And so David Ralph 21:52 it just jumping into that was very interesting is I agree with everything you're saying. But Unless you're like a therapist, it's quite difficult to dig around and find the reason isn't it? I know you did it because you found an audit route of failure. But a lot of people would. That's not how I did it though. How did you do it? No. Bryan Falchuk 22:14 Yeah, no. No, no, no. So when when she saw it Friday night, of course she she sends this email out with like 12 bullet points of all these numbers of all the evidence of how bad I am. And so the the normal response I would have it First of all, fuming mad and now it's like my weekends ruined David Ralph 22:34 worse than the hot dog. Bryan Falchuk 22:36 Oh, God, yeah. Or the donut did it like either of them this I mean this because because my employments at risk now it's like how much time and energy when we have actual emergencies going on? How much time and energy Do I need to put into this nonsense? And And the thing is, I had seen her do it to a couple of our other peers. We were all in the C suite and the leadership team and I saw her do this to one in particular And, you know, I didn't know the facts on either side. Now I know why she was doing it. But she's she's a former litigator. So she's really good at doing this. And I mean, she just went after him. And I was just like, Oh, god, I'm not. This is not what I need right now. So it just, you know, weighing on me and I had all the facts, I had all the evidence. So I'm like, I'm going to punch back and I said, hang on a second. That never goes well with her. So that's not what I'm going to do. And it's going to make me look like an ass in front of the CEO. So instead, I'm going to this is, this is weird. I thanked her. I just said I have a different view on the situation. But rather than debating it, why don't we all get together and talk about it? And you know, over email, it was nice because you can see how Maroon My face was. You can see the steam coming off of me, but I sent that out and left it and I scheduled time for all of us. We got into the meeting and it was basically it starts off with her acting just like the email you know, she's rattling off All these facts and I had my evidence laid out so I had all of my counterpoints, so I could have refuted all them. But again, I was like that's not the path to success here because she's just going to yell over me. And she's a really good argument and she's brilliant and well respected and so those women are like most women are she's I don't know that I'm going to win by trying to fight you know, point for point with her. So that's not the path. And the reality is there's going to be something under the surface that actually is fair and accurate and worth fighting for that striving her and this other stuff. She's just confused about it. So I'm not going to go head to head with her about that. So I thanked her again, which is not the response she's expecting so you could see her step back. We're on video she literally like went back in her chair kind of shocked because she was ready for a fight. She had a stack of papers with her so she had like, you know, she'd prepped slides to argue with how terrible am and I just said, You know, I said this in the email. I have a very different view of the situation, I've pulled the information from the system so that you know the numbers that I'm seeing don't align to yours. But rather than us go through each one of these and figure out whose data is right or not. What I'd like to understand is what is your concern? What is it ultimately, you're trying to achieve? And again, she wasn't ready for that. So she was a little bit dumbfounded. And she was like, Well, I'm worried about this happening to the business. And it was a pretty rational thing. So I was like, Yeah, me too. And so, you know, we're all sort of like, you can't argue with that. And that was her ultimate goal. Like, she wasn't gonna say, Well, I just want to get you fired. I knew she wouldn't say that, because that would make her look pretty stupid. And if she did, then I you know, I come out the victor, because that would be like, holy crap. You know, what is this about you? That's ridiculous. You need to go Brian, you're fine. Let's see your data. But you know, it would work out well for me, but I didn't expect her to say that. But when she voiced her concern about the impact on the business, that's really feminine. rational. And with what I was

Introducing Steve D Sims

Today's guest is a man who screams loud and proud "If there's no passion there's no point!" He is the visionary founder of Bluefish: the world’s first luxury concierge that delivers the highest level of personalized travel, transportation, and cutting-edge entertainment services to corporate executives, celebrities, professional athletes, and other discerning individuals interested in living life to it's fullest. So what does that mean in real terms? Well.... He closed a museum in Florence for a private dinner party for 6 at the feet of Michelangelo’s David and had Andrea Bocelli come in and serenade the guests He can get you to see the Titanic from a submarine. Becoming James Bond for a weekend in Monte Carlo Hanging out and jamming with celebrity recording artists, such as Guns & Roses drummer Matt Sorum and playing guitar with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons What makes this all the more remarkable is he started a world away from rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous of the world. Born in 1966 he grew up as a bricklayer from London, before in n 1980, he started a stockbroker job in London, where he worked for about 6 months. Eventually, he was transferred to Hong Kong where he was fired in 1 days. How The Dots Joined Up For Steve After losing his stockbroking job, Steve D Sims stayed in Hong Kong where he worked as a Doorman for a Night Club in the area, where he went to parties and met their attendees, forming the network that would initially support Bluefish. As he says "It's not what you know, it's who you know" This is not your typical entrepreneur wearing flash suits and standing by the side of Lear Jets saying look at me. This is a man who does things his way, wears his own style and makes things happen by being himself As Elton John Said "Steve Sims defines what it means to be your authentic self" So was there a time that he felt you had to do what others are doing to make the life for yourself? And what would he wish for, if he became a client of Bluefish himself for a day? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Steve D Sims. Show Highlights During today's show we discussed such weighty subjects with Steve D Sims Steve shares his hatred of being called authentic but instead loving being transparent. Slight difference in how we look at things, but it makes such a difference. We talk about the turmoil that most entrepreneurs that go through your life fighting to the "Ignorant to the potential of failing" has been the framework of what has made Steve who he is today. Can you say honestly that you have the same mindset? and lastly....... Steve shares how he found the truth of mentorship in his earlier life. If someone can show you the way to a better life, quicker then why wouldnt you seek out a mentor?

Introducing Dan Chan

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast has had a very interesting story to where he is today. He grew up in San Francisco, CA, and as a young child has to go through the heartbreak of seeing his parents divorce. Times were not easy for him and he was picked on a lot while growing up. As he says "Looking back on the pictures I was a bit of a goofy looking kid. It didn’t help that I was a pretty nerdy Asian kid who acted goofy as well. In Middle School I really didn’t want to be known as just the nerdy little Asian kid so I started lifting weights. I was probably the most buff kid in high school. I also started dabbling around with magic and juggling for fun because no matter how hard I tried fitting in “with the crowd”, my inquisitive nerdy side never quite went away." And so his interest in magic started taking shape, but how do then go from that interest / hobby to one that pays. How The Dots Joined For Dan Chan Well our guest did just that thanks to some very attractive ladies and am expert in the profession he was interested in. As he says again"Well one season there was a convention going on one weekend where there was a lot of entertainment including a magician and a lot of Playboy Bunnies. As awesome as it was to be a college student surrounded by all these really beautiful women, I was absolutely fascinated by the effects the magician was doing! I ended up following the magician around all weekend trying to pick his brain and figure out his effects. This guy had the ultimate dream job — fooling people, crashing parties, travelling, meeting girls…and getting paid to do it? Sign me up. After winter break was over, I ended up going to the magic shop and picking up a ton of stuff to practice on friends at school and found out I was pretty good. I did my first gig after college while I was working at PayPal. It was for a birthday party and I got really great feedback and people actually recommended me to other friends. When I started getting gigs pretty consistently to the point where I was calling in sick at my “real job”, I started thinking…” hum, maybe I got something going on here”. So that's the perfect place to start today's episode of Join Up Dots. So when something that at the beginning seems great, starts to become just a job, how do you keep the motivation going. And how do you scale, to gain the time back after performing gigs to gain your cash? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Dan Chan Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Dan Chan such as: Dan shares how the grand illusions of David Copperfield are as much about growing their name as they are about the trick or illusion themselves. We discuss the reasons why so many magicians rarely get laid even when they get good at magic. Why it so important to pre-qualify  your clients before committing to them to ensure you get the best value from them and for yourself. and lastly…… Dan reveals how he is planning his exit strategy from his magician career. If you dont plan for things to happen sometimes they simply dont occur. How To Connect With Dan Chan Website Facebook Linkedin Twitter Return To The Top Of  Dan Chan If you enjoyed this episode of Join Up Dots then why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Dan Martell,  Dan Lok or the amazing Noah Kagan Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from. Audio Transcription Of Dan Chan 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, hello, a good morning to my listeners. Good morning. Thank you very much for sticking around and being here with another episode of Join Up Dots. Yes, the show that can go in literally any direction. And it normally does. Well, today's guest that's joining us on the show. He's had a very interesting storey to where he is today. He grew up in San Francisco in California. And as a young child had to go through the heartbreak of seeing his parents divorce. Now times were not easy for him. And he was picked on a lot while growing up. Now. As he says looking back on the pictures, I was a bit of a goofy looking Katie didn't help out. I was a pretty nerdy Asian kid who acted goofy as well. Now in middle school, I really didn't want to be known as just the nerdy little Asian kid. So I started lifting weights. I was probably the most bath kid in high school. I also started dabbling around with magic and juggling for fun because no matter how hard I tried fitting in with the crowd, my inquisitive nerdy side, never quite went away. So he's interested in magic started taking shape. But how do you then go from that interest hobby to one that actually pays you were our guest digitas bad thanks to some very attractive ladies and an expert in the profession he was interested in. As he says again, well, one season there was a convention going on. And it was a lot of entertainment, including a magician and a lot of Playboy bunnies. as awesome as it was to be a college student surrounded by all these really beautiful women. I was absolutely fascinated by the effects the magician was doing. I ended up following the magician around all weekend trying to pick his brain fake him out he's effects and this guy had the ultimate dream job fooling people, crashing parties, travelling meeting girls, and getting paid to do it. Sign me up, he said. Now after winter break was over, he ended up going to the magic shop and picking up a tonne of stuff to practice on friends at school. And he found out he was pretty good. And he did his first gig after college whilst he was working at PayPal. Now finally, it was for a birthday party. But he got really great feedback. And people actually started recommending him to other friends. And so when he started getting gigs pretty consistently, he started coding in sick at his real job. And he started thinking, maybe I've got something going on here. So that's the perfect place to start today's episode of Join Up Dots. So when something that at the beginning seems great starts to become just a job. How do you keep the motivation going and keep it fun and entertaining for you? And how do you scale the to gain the time back after performing games to gain your cash right at the very beginning? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Dan Chan. Good morning, guys. How are you sir? Dan Chan 3:13 Good morning, David. Ralph is 5am over here. David Ralph 3:16 Hey, okay, Dan Chan. You don't have to call me David. Ralph. You can just call me David. We're friends now. Where we're buddies. I've dragged you out of bed at 5am. And that's why you've got a slightly Whispery voice because I imagine there's people in the house asleep at the moment. Dan Chan 3:30 Yes, they are. David Ralph 3:31 Okay, well, we will whisper together because I'm starting to lose my voice first cold of the winter, little bits naughty, but we will fight for. So I gave you the big build up down because it was quite fascinating as I was reading your backstory, because so many people in school, want to have something that connects them with people. And it could be the case, but they get picked on. So they want to make them laugh. And so they become comedians. It could be case they want to sort of fit inside become a sportsman. You went with a magic? Was it really a natural fit? Or was there a lot of persistence involved? Dan Chan 4:10 There was actually a lot of persistence. I had to do a lot of research and go to lectures and conventions because started off at the bottom with a kid shows I sucked after 4000 shows. I'm pretty good. And after 5000, I started performing for the billionaires. David Ralph 4:28 Now, if we go back to the sucking stage, when you're out there and you're you're doing your card trick or you you pull a rabbit out of a hat. I was actually talking to my son about you last night I was saying that you were going to be on the show. And he said, why is it that you don't see people pulling rabbits out of hats anymore? Is that an old thing? Because as a magician, that's that's what I've got in my head. But you never see the rabbit anymore. What's that meant to the rabbit? Dan Chan 4:53 I believe it was started off by a comics and drawings. But people have done them. It's just very difficult to do. But people are fed more visually than anything. So I think that's exactly where it came from. David Ralph 5:09 So it's more a case of you put a rabbit out of a hat and you kind of feel like you've seen it already. So now you've got to put out an elephant or something bigger and bolder to keep people's attention. Dan Chan 5:20 Yeah, doves are a lot easier. Back in the day you saw a lot of doves like just because it's Channing Pollock, Lance Burton. But there were magicians in the past who did a lot of rabbits out of hats. But because of the technical setup, once you get good. Everyone ditches the doves and rabbits and things like that. I can still do doves and rabbits. But it's a lot easier to do close up magic, wherever where I believe everything is now going towards. David Ralph 5:48 Yeah, I can't pull a rabbit out of half I can pull a hair out my ear does that does that make the site Dan Chan 5:55 you're on your way to becoming a magician. And bam, David Ralph 5:58 I'm halfway there. Now, the the fascinating thing with magicians as well. And I suppose it's with everything really is, as we said, the amount of practice that it takes before you can actually do anything, you know. And most people nowadays really want to press a few buttons watch a YouTube video and they think they're so you know, David Copperfield, whatever. When was the first trick that you actually thought, wow, this isn't just good. This is really good. This is something that I can really show people Dan Chan 6:29 on the same special that David Copperfield walk through the Great Wall of China, and perform something that most magicians now do, which is called crazy man's handcuff. And that was popularised by Michael Mr. But out VHS tape on how to do it. But it was with two rubber bands penetrating through each other. And that was pretty much for a lot of people. One of the first tricks that they made their foray into magic David Ralph 6:57 because that that walking through a wall, I remember back when he walked through the Great Wall of China, that that to me, that wasn't a magic trick. That was some kind of camera angle stuff. Do you? Did you feel the same? I don't buy into his stuff. As much as I would somebody doing a card trick right in front of me. Dan Chan 7:15 Yeah, those are grand illusions. And that's how you make your media presence in your height. For me now, it's just jumping on podcast, because it has a very global reach. I've performed on Shanghai, Germany and Las Vegas. But that's how you kind of hype what you're doing. And the trick that I'm referencing was on that same special, it was two rubber bands. And that's when I started realising, hey, if that guy who doesn't mix millions of dollars, can do a trick that involves two rubber bands on TV. I can do that same trick. Maybe I can get in this. Yeah, David Ralph 7:54 but I agree with you. I agree with you. But I don't watch that. I don't remember that. But I do remember him pushing himself through the Great Wall of China. Dan Chan 8:02 Yeah. We don't have them as magicians, we don't have a budget to do what David Copperfield does. But if we could do even one thing that he can do that starts realising, hey, I'm a magician, or that guy, that guy's famous, he does that trick. And you start connecting the dots. Have you ever David Ralph 8:20 met a magician that's actually well rounded sort of emotionally? No, I was a bit surprised when I went over to your page, you've got your family involved, your son James is very much involved in and I believe your wife is now starting to be part of it. But when I look at sort of a lot of the magicians, certainly the ones that have been on TV in the United Kingdom and stuff, they all seem to be a bit of a loner, they seem to be a little bit strange, you know, headed by David Blaine, David Blaine seems to be the weird is one out of all of them. Are you sort of unusual that you've got quite a good ground, you got very good grounding and family life. Dan Chan 8:58 Yeah, that was a very good motivated effort. And that's why a lot of times when you do, you're successful in your home life, you're probably not as successful in other things. But I feel like there's a real healthy balance. And a lot of times I go to these magic conventions, and I'll be honest, a lot of them are magic geeks, they can do the magic, they can flip the cards, or they can just shoot something on Instagram, but they have a hard time connecting. So there's so many talented magicians that show up. But they don't know how to connect or work or sell or have the soft skills necessary to integrate yourself to go in and out of conversations in a cocktail hour, you can be really talented and I see a tonne of people who are so talented, I post up things on my Facebook feed for I've got a gig for $500. And people are telling me, I'd be perfect for this gig. And I would tell myself, you might be technically the perfect magician. But socially or the way you dress you just don't fit in. David Ralph 10:02 So what you're saying without magic, these guys would never be getting laid. Is that what you're saying? Dan Chan 10:07 No. Even with magic as good as they are, they would not be getting laid. David Ralph 10:14 They keep their wand firmly away from everybody. Unknown Speaker 10:19 Yep, you just don't pop that one out. David Ralph 10:21 Especially not in children's parties. There's there's rules about all that kind of stuff. Okay, so let's talk about away from the magic because I could talk about magic all the time. It really does fascinate me. Well, Brent, blending that into a business, especially a business that from the outside looks like it's great. And it's fun. It never is. There's always a lot of hard work going into it as well. The marketing side and the branding yourself is as important as your skills and growing anything online needs vo skills as much as the sort of the magician ship that you've got. How did you start learning that? How did you start getting your name out into the marketplace? You know, that's a perfect question. Dan Chan 11:04 My name is Dan, Daniel Chan. And Dan Chan. The Magic Man kind of has a catch jacket. And I have people singing my name. After my show. I when I first started, I did a lot of kid shows. And I had the kids chanting My names. I would just say say the magic words stanchion, the measurement, everyone hate that. But I even had my friend, a very famous magician in the Bay Area, when I was starting off, said my daughter chanted your name all the way home, I can a bitch slap you house like Those were his words. And I was like, I did a great job that was perfect. And then I rebranded to dance and master magician, maybe several years ago. And now I'm Dan Chan, the billionaires magician, because I've performed for quite a few billionaires in yesterday, I just met a billionaire, David Ralph 11:53 I find that a lot actually, I speak to a lot of people and they, they have to grow in competence to be at helping to change their title. And at the beginning, they very much market themselves with the surroundings. So if I are in a certain peer group, they are that peer group. Now you're working with millionaires and billionaires, does that actually make it easier to attract business? Are you in a more rarefied environment? So you don't need as much business? Because you get paid more for the actual work? Dan Chan 12:26 It is that is absolutely a case that for the right time asking the last couple of I told myself and stop kids parties, but I've been given some offers. Where I performed the 11th, employee of Twitter, I had to say yes to it, his kids seventh birthday party. He, he's a 11th, employee of Google. And now at twitter. I've also performed for Evan Williams and Biz Stone, and some of the other founders is Twitter just most recently, so they pay a lot more than what I could get anywhere else. So I'm focusing a lot less on volume. And now I have my head toward making a documentary on my son again, which we've already done in myself, we went we thought it was very interesting dynamic of what we're doing with my son juggling five balls, three flaming torches and even picking pockets. I'm just really moving towards doing less getting paid a lot more but being very, very intentional and present in the moment with my performances. David Ralph 13:30 Now, let's really delve into this because I think this is gold, as I say on the show is entrepreneurship go. Now, when you start, I think everybody scrambles around for clients, and we take rubbish clients and we take clients that will pay us $50. And I want a billion pounds worth of, of volume and an effort back. And as we move through little by little our competence grows. So we actually believe in ourselves. At that point, the world starts to believe in us back. Can you remember when you actually thought to yourself, I've stepped forward? I've moved into the next group. I'm leaving behind Bowser, rubbish clients that wanted 1000 pounds worth of stuff for $50? Dan Chan 14:17 Yeah, sometimes it's when you get screwed over. When you I've had this client, he called me and I put the storey up on Quora. He tells me I have a party in Mountain View. When I google his name, you immediately something pops up about him and this epic house where he throws parties. I'm like, why doesn't this guy throw his party's over there? Because his name's associated with it. I'm like, Dude, this doesn't make sense. The day I show up that the day before he tells me I moved the party to Los Los Altos Hills or Los Altos. I'm like, what, oh, by the way, it's at this house at the address that I was already looked up, he didn't have that sense to use a fake name. And unlike I could have charged a lot more to be honest, I wouldn't a price gouging I'm really straightforward shooter. But he thought that magicians would look up the zip code or that area of the city and then charge him to three x. And I was just like, this is going to be an epic party. I knew that the house was one of the, you know, imagine what a $45 million house looks like. And it's historic, it's beautiful. And he thought he was going to get screwed over. And I probably should have charged him a lot more to be honest with you. But you know, when you end up at houses, and they show they're driving Porsches and Mercedes Benz is and they're sitting there on a budget. Yeah, they they've committed themselves to either paying for that or being so cheap that they don't respect you as an artist. And that's when you start getting a little bit pissed off when they when they abuse that fact. And they say, you know, hey, I am on a budget. So I have strategies now to really deal with that. David Ralph 16:01 Tell us about them. Tell us Don't leave us hanging there, Dan Chan Magic Man, tell us about your strategies. Dan Chan 16:07 Well, if they truly are on a budget, I asked a lot of questions first, asking them where it's going to be the exact location. Because if it's at the SET ON OFF Sand Hill Road, you know, they're going to have a little bit of budget. So you offer them a lower end package a medium and high. But you, you can always upgrade them a little bit. I see if you want to pick pocketing, and you want the iPhone tricks, and the very high end sleight of hand, you must hire me. But if your events on a little bit of a lower budget, you can hire any one of my teammates. That means that I have the option. You know, when you have stocks, there's options to buy? Well, at a certain price point, I have the option to pass those and off. If I do not want to do the event. That means that if my kids want to go to Disneyland, I go to Disney anyone. If there's a bigger event, and a billionaire caused me last minute, I take the billionaire and I find you someone else, even if it means paying the difference. It's not like I'm going to send you up a crummy magician, I sometimes will pay the difference to send someone else, just because when I already have one in the bag, I'm going to 2.5 exit or 3.5 exit and that helps my guys on my team that helps them. When I choose them. I say hey, can you cover me on this event? This is what the clients paying. But I'm going to pay you a little bit more. David Ralph 17:32 Now. This is interesting. So so you pre qualify your clients First of all, so you don't just say yeah, I'm available Wednesday afternoon, let's do it. And it didn't come across on your website and your business but you actually are franchising out your name. For people to actually work on your behalf. You've got a team of, of wizards. You're here like, like Harry Potter, and they're all running around California doing gigs on your behalf when you can't do it. Dan Chan 18:01 Yeah, I don't try to do it too often, because I like protecting my brand. But whenever I realised there's lots of demand, I'm going to do it. I don't want to wipe out the entire market. And I just feel like people don't like you. If you're dominating. It's like Microsoft or Facebook, they feel like you're killing the competition. And sometimes people speak because I'm posting stuff on there and I'm not choosing them. They're kind of like getting resents resentful, you know, like, hey, Pick me Pick me and there's only so much out there. David Ralph 18:35 And that's always going to happen down in there. People are people are always going to resent you. You know, no matter what you do, if you put your head above the parapet, you are going to have people slagging you off being critical of you or saying that you're dominating, but it doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong. It's just their point of view on it. And in fact, I would say, sir, it's a badge of honour that people think that way. Dan Chan 18:59 Yeah. And, you know, those guys who helped me all the way up to the top, they're getting back some gigs in there, those guys are really helping, but there's some guys who are, you know, calling me and still talking to me and are like, pick me, but they've never even sent me a gig on my way up or helped me that much some of them that, you know, like, I I've been asking for, hey, pick me. And the tables are switched. But everything just comes in waves. But yeah, I picked people that fit my style. They people are always asked me, What does it take to get on your team? Dan, I get so many messages. And I, I did this as a social experiment just to blow up on Facebook, my Facebook feed to see who would react. So I just, I have this thing on Facebook that they call me a conversation starter? Because I've been thinking what would get the most amount of engagement in terms of traction, what would make my post show up and other people's feeds? So I started asking, and one of those in those social experiments was posting, I have a gig in you know, San Francisco, I have a gig in here and just putting up there, and then you just see that, that chain of replies off, off that feed really sure. David Ralph 20:10 And then do you do magic tricks on social media. So people see the trick and it kind of, because they would share it with their mates with my boy, imagine, Dan Chan 20:20 I'm like Dan Chan magic on Instagram. I'm still figuring out the social media stuff. I've my son's on there making the Statue of Liberty disappear on a card, we have some things that I've been playing around with. But I've been cleaning up my feed. We're recording on clean feed, but I am deleting what I'm putting up there. I'm just putting it out there. And then putting it away, kind of documenting it because I don't want anyone first of all doing it. So they have to be following to see all my stream because there's also something else about my Instagram that I use an Instagram based trick. So is that Instagram, the trick is pushed down in the feed. I don't archive everything. When I'm doing that trick. It actually takes a lot of time for that trick to load up. Right. So it's kind of interesting how I'm incorporating Instagram, I had a semi viral video, I got 14,000 views in about three days. BuzzFeed mini Silicon Valley's favourite magician. I still I snuck the reporter into a party as my sound guy for a high profile party. And he ended up he ended up writing a full feature article I just said, you want to see what it's like to be at Silicon Valley's epic holiday parties. And I've been to parties with live tigers in the backyard. And penguins and lemurs and leopards and alligators. And the alligator I think was either alligator or crocodile David Ralph 21:48 I think it was in a zoo. Dan Chan 21:50 I think that's where you went. You went to a zoo? No, I did not go to a zoo. They brought the zoo to the guys health well and I David Ralph 21:55 broke that they were the penguins wearing bow ties and the monkeys wearing bow ties with it little waiters. Dan Chan 22:00 No they weren't they were just like in they brought like a mini pools for them. They did not have bow ties. But I have pictures. I only posted a little bit of the pictures on my Facebook page. David Ralph 22:13 I love the fact that you are Dan Chan the magician man and you have to snuck a man into a party. Can you just like pulled him out of a hat halfway through or or just done some kind of big illusion on that? Dan Chan 22:27 Yeah, David, I can't afford my own right you can you say expensive? David Ralph 22:31 Because I I love the word snuck. I don't use the word snuck but I'm gonna up again can be smoking for the rest of the day, I'm sure. Well, let's play some words. Now we're going to come back to Adana Chen, he's Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey 22:44 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 to serve. 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 23:11 Now, the question with you, Dan, is Do you love it? Because after a while, as I said in in two direction, a lot of Jobs become a job, even though I look sexy from the outside. Do you still love it? Dan Chan 23:23 Yes. But I'm already planning my exit strategy. Yeah, I mean, yesterday at the event that I was TechCrunch Disrupt, which was, which is something that you might not hear where you're at. But if you know the series Silicon Valley, yeah, you probably seen them at TechCrunch Disrupt. So to be a part of TechCrunch Disrupt, I think I've been there for years. And I sent a guy that years at last year, I couldn't be there because I was performing in Germany. But I'm waiting to open up a new magic club. And I'm want to hit up these billionaires that I've performed for because one of the billionaires gave a billion dollars to a hospital or school. And they've, they've committed a billion and they've already given 100 million away. So I am trying to create a social media presence by being both here on podcasts and other places by making strategic as a multiplier effect. Because when I do get bored of it, I want customers to come to me and I've come to that traction point where I can still do some of these events. But some of them I could say pass on. When I'm done with event. I'm like, I should have spent my time working on something for TV or for my venue or in venue design. So I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do when I want to get out of performing for these epic parties and celebrities. David Ralph 24:42 And when you do that, please just climb into a box and then the box opens up and you've gone Can you an exit strategy Viva. Dan Chan 24:49 I have a thing that is absolutely amazing is my friend Carrey Pollock built this thing called that the materialisation chamber and it looks like it looks like a star trek illusion, it looks like you fade out. And that's what I'm going to bring to this venue. I'm going to try to maybe run a me funder or Kickstarter, pre sell tickets, but I'm going to be one of the few venues in the US I just found out there was another venue that got one of these. But I'm going to be the second one probably or the third one with this illusion. And it's not going to be a box. It's going to be D materialisation chamber. And when we get off the podcast, I'm going to send you a link to it and you're going to see that illusion and it looks it's in store the David Ralph 25:35 LPA it's more than that you're getting me excited. I think we just stopped the show. Now we stop the show now. And then we dive straight into it. Who cares about the listeners when we've got this kind of stuff going on? So um, when when you do magic, does he ruin you when you go and see other magicians, where when you're looking at it has the magic gun and you're just looking at it as a sort of a practical sort of examination in front of your palate done it. Dan Chan 26:01 Yeah, it's really hard to enjoy the moment because I'm always thinking of how it works. I'm a lot some of

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Introducing Some Young Entrepreneurs In today's episode of Join Up Dots we highlight some young entrepreneurs who are really rocking and rolling in their fledgling bushiness's. Why are we bringing to the air such young folk, you maybe asking? Well, we find time and time again that the world is full of people who quite simply say "We haven't got enough experience to start anything!" This is of course a complete crock, and experience will only come after the action is taken. You might have heard of a global dominating podcast called Join Up Dots? Well before we launched this to the world we didn't have any experience of running a global hit podcast. We barely knew how to turn on a microphone and speak live to the world. You start, you make mistakes, you learn and you gain experience. So what about these young guys and gals, who are still in childhood and  The following information has be collected from the CNBC website, and you can find the original article here The Youngest Of The Young Entrepreneurs - Sebastian Martinez Sebastian Martinez, CEO, Are You Kidding? Source: Are You Kidding? He’s only 7, but he’s already CEO of his own company and a philanthropist. Sebastian Martinez’s passion for collecting bright and zany socks turned into a business when his mother suggested he design his own. The result was a company called Are You Kidding which Sebastian started at age 5. In 2014, Sebastian made $15,000 selling his specialty socks with the help of his director of sales and big brother Brandon Martinez. Since January revenue has continued to grow. “We have been able to already reach the $15,000 that we made last year and are on track to double and hopefully triple our sales this year,” Rachel Martinez, the president of the company and Sebastian’s mother, told CNBC. Are You Kidding teamed up with organizations like the American Cancer Society and the Live Like Bella Foundation last year to raise more than $3,000 for cancer awareness. In April, the company partnered with The Hue Studio and donated 25 percent of all proceeds from its “Eye See You” sock sales to Discovery Arts, a charitable organization that brings art programs to children with serious illnesses. EvanTube Source: YouTube What is it like to be a millionaire before you even hit puberty? Just ask 9-year-old Evan from EvanTubeHD. The face of the highly successful YouTube channel, Evan has been reviewing toys and building Lego sets online since he was 5, and it’s a staggeringly big business. This pint-sized entrepreneur has three channels on the video platform and more than 2.8 million subscribers. He has amassed more than 1.9 billion views on the platform and is estimated to make $1.3 million a year. “We’ve already maxed out certain accounts, so I think the college education is pretty much taken care of thank goodness,” Jared, Evan’s father, told NBC News in December. The father has not disclosed their family name. Alina Morse Alina Morse, CEO, Zollipops Michael Bezjian | WireImage | Getty Images Nine-year-old entrepreneur Alina Morse had a pretty sweet idea in 2014: create a sugar-free lollipop that tastes good and is good for you. With a little help from her father and a lot of research, Zollipops was born. These clean teeth pops are made with sweeteners xylitol, erythritol, stevia and other natural ingredients and help to neutralize acidity in the mouth, so the bacteria that causes tooth decay cannot grow. Last year, Alina racked up $70,000 in sales and was featured on the kids’ edition of “Shark Tank.” She’s now working to get Zollipops into dentist offices and schools across America. Moziah Bridges Moziah Bridges CNBC At 13, Moziah Bridges is well on his way to becoming a fashion mogul. This dapper CEO launched his bow-tie business, Mo’s Bows at age 9 and catapulted into the spotlight after becoming the youngest entrepreneur to appear on “Shark Tank.” His company made $350,000 in sales since 2011 and is expected to earn $250,000 in revenue for 2015, mother-manager Tramica Bridges told CNBC via email. Bridge’s collection is sold in shops and boutiques in six states and in his online store. So What Do These Young Entrepreneurs Have In Common? Amazing stuff from these young entrepreneurs. So what do they all have in common? Well for a start they weren't frightened of failure. Being so young they had nothing to lose as they started their own businesses. They weren't scared of looking stupid like so many of us who try entrepreneurship at a later age. These young entrepreneurs had a dream and made it happen. Return To The Top Of Young Entrepreneurs If you enjoyed this episode with some young entrepreneurs, 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 Audio Transcription Of Young Entrepreneurs Podcast David Ralph 0:01 Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream a dream, which is Jobs 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 knows drunk was became a thing of the past, of course, was bad person. And now My dream is to make things happen. BU 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 there. Good morning to you. Good morning to you. Good morning to you. Welcome to Join Up Dots. Join Up Dots. I want to start off with saying hello to a lovely lady called Kalia in Australia. Yes. Kalia Kalia. She comes from Australia. It's good to see you just stand naturally Australia, Australia, Kalia. And she dropped me an email the other day to ask me to help her with her homework. Basically, she signed up for leadership package. And she said, I recently found your podcast and have been bingeing them during my daily commute. I don't know if I ever get through them all. At the rate, you produce them. You are a sexy powerhouse, you say, get those in and you get to the top of their charts and I will respond to you. Actually, I respond to everyone I do. I try my best to respond to everyone. And so Kalia Kalia Kalia, she's from Australia. That there you go. You get your name check, you get your name check. Now what I wanted to do today. I realised recently, actually I've been a bit slack about saying thank you to people who have left ratings and reviews on Join Up Dots. And I listened to some other podcasts host and they they give name checks and I say thank you and stuff. Now it's it's a little bit boring for everybody else, but it's great for the person who's left the review. Okay? So I'm just going to do a few of these every now and again. And the first one I want to do because it's a special word is a guy called James McKay. Now, James McKay, if you're out there listening, I really want you to listen to this, okay? And I want everybody else to listen. It says given me the competence to start my own business listening to this podcast week in week out, has given me the competence to take the plunge and set up my own business. My only regret. I wish I had done it sooner. The guidance is tips and advice offered by David. It's been invaluable and I can only attribute the success I've had with my business to the valuable wisdom provided in these podcasts. So Mr. James McKay Big Big salute to you and a big round of applause and drop me a line at Join Up dots@gmail.com because I would love to have you as a guest on the show so that we can inspire even more people to take that leap and do things the right way. So James if you'd like to be a guest on Join Up Dots, oh, if other people know who James McKay CFP from United Kingdom is poking poking with a hot stick until he agrees to become a guest on Join Up Dots and I'd love to speak to you sir. But well done given me the competence start my own business know that competence is all in you. It really is. Okay, I just do one more. This is for mad and tired from United States. This show has amazing content from some powerful folks. Great Listen, definitely recommend it. Well, when I turned on the podcast this morning, my big powerful microphone. My throat Being a microphone in front of me. I thought to myself what you're talking about today? Because, yeah, we have a lot of content to fill, and it's not easy is not easy people. So I started looking at young entrepreneurs. And I thought I'd, I'd read them out for you, and you can go and you can google them. Because most of us go, you know, I haven't got enough experience, or I have can't do this, or I can't do that, or I'm too old. But there's guys out there and as these kids, and they're doing very, very well for them. Now, some of them I agree. Some of them have got their mums and dads behind them, okay. But they're still part of the business. They're still understanding entrepreneurial venture. And so I thought I'd bring them to you. I think I bring up to you, not hundreds, but just a few. Now, this is a great idea. Sebastian Martinez. why he's only seven years old, but he's already the CEO of his own company and a philanthropist Now you might say seven, seven. What's he doing? Well, Sebastian's passion for collecting bright and zany socks turned into a business when his mother suggested he designed his own. And the result was a company called, are you kidding? Which you can of course jump over and have a look at which Sebastian started at the age of five. Now, I do say that there's certain parts of this kids that, you know, he gets he kind of dumb, he kind of dumb but he's part of the process, okay, and he will grow into it. And the earlier you can get your kids to think about how to make their own money, the better. You know, it's not just about mowing lawns. Nowadays, it's about becoming YouTube stars and becoming Instagram famous and and whatever. But your young kids can do it. They're probably a lot better at doing things quickly on these devices, by the way are now in 2014. Sebastian made 15 grain setting his speciality songs with the help of his director. And big brother, Brandon Martinez and there's a picture of two of them. Brandon actually looks younger than him. I might be giving him doing them a disservice. But anyhow, he's the big director of sales. And since January revenue has continued to grow, we've been able to already reach the 15 grand that we made last year. And on track to double and hopefully triple our sales this year, the president of the company and Sebastian's mother told CNBC. Now are you kidding teamed up with organisations like the American Cancer Society, and liberal like Bella foundation last year to raise more than three grand for Cancer Awareness EC. He's putting things back people it's not all about, you know, bringing it into your life is putting it back, which hopefully comes across in Join Up Dots. Now in April, the company partnered with the huge studio and donated 25% of all proceeds from its ICU suck sales, to discovery arts, a charitable organisation that brings up programmes to help Children with serious illness. So funky socks. So if you're out there and you're good at drawing and you can find somebody to produce these things, then why not? What about funky underpants? Yeah, with pictures and stuff. I used to have a very special pair of white silky ones. These were classy. These were classy, white silky worms with from memory, I think they would kiss marks on them. But they might be love hearts. The old memory is fading. But they had superpowers. They had superpowers. And if I was wearing them, somebody else was going to see them. Somebody else was going to see them by the end of the night. I think you know, I think you know what I mean. And they but but I met my wife and they then magically disappeared and she says you don't need them anymore. Well bloody do if you've been married for 30 years like I have. You need I need an extra pair. That's what I need. What? Second one now this guy is quite funny. He's called Evan tube. Okay, that's not his surname, but he is actually a millionaire before you even hit puberty. Now, that's not bad. nine year old Evan from Evan to HD and he's the face of a highly successful YouTube channel. And he's been reviewing toys and building LEGO sets online since he was five, and it's a staggeringly big business. Now, this pint sized entrepreneur has three channels on the video platform and more than 2.8 million subscribers just watching him review toys. And he's amassed more than 1.9 billion views on the platform and is estimated to make 1.3 million a year. We've already maxed out certain accounts so I think the college education is pretty much taken care of. Thank goodness his father says, and the father has not disclosed their family name. Gonna be quite easy to find him if he's on YouTube, I would have bought by any anyhow. Okay, so Opening box is big business nowadays, I never understand that you go to YouTube and you see somebody make an amazing documentary and they get five views and somebody opens a box and talks about it. And you know, it's 40,000 in three minutes, don't really understand it. But once again, it's something that you can do. The minimum expense is only Time, time and effort. Get your own YouTube channel just like Evan and start. Start making it happen for yourselves. Okay, I've been with the two more, do two more. Okay. And these are all new to me. I haven't read these. So there's a gal called Elena moss, and she looks like from the picture she's got something to do with lollipops. Now nine year old entrepreneur, Alina moss had a pretty sweet idea in 2014, creating a sugar free lollipop that tastes so good. And it's also good for you. With a little help from her father and a lot of research Zoe pops was born and these colours Teeth pops a major sweeteners lately very good with stevia and other natural ingredients. There's some words that are can't pronounce and help to neutralise the acidity in the mouth so the bacteria that causes tooth decay cannot grow. Last year, Alina racked up 70,000 in sales and was featured on the kids edition of shark tank. She's now working to get Zani pops into dentist offices and schools across America. How about that 70 grand just by doing lucky top pubs. Now, the storey about all these three so far is persistence. They've got to get it going. They've got to bring something slightly unique to market and they've got to enjoy it as well and put it all together like a Lena. She's obviously creating value because kids like to eat sweets and candy and so parents will be happy to buy those for them if I think they're doing good stuff. If you can put something into somebody's head But actually makes their life better, when it's even better is even bigger when you know you can really find a home and make things happen because it does take a time to start by James McKay, you will know. Should we do one more? Should we do one more? Let's find this one. Okay, let's go with this. You know, I've skipped one. I'm going to keep it in order. Moza bridges at 13. Messiah bridges is well on his way to becoming a fashion mogul. Now this kid, to be honest, looks a bit of a freak. He's He's nine years old and he's wearing a suit and a bow tie. What nine year old kid who doesn't want to get beaten up at school is going to walk around like that, but Messiah if that's your thing? you're rocking it right now. This dapper CEO launched his bow tie business. Mo's Bows at age nine. Okay. Oh, I hadn't read that bit. That's why he's wearing a bow tie. And he kept catapulted into the spotlight after becoming the youngest entrepreneur to appear on Shark Tank. He's company made 350 grand in sales since 2011. and is expected to earn 250,000 in revenue just for 2015. And doubling each year from then on. He's collection is sold in shops and boutiques in six states, and in his own online store. Brilliant. I love this. I love always I could just keep going. But, of course, you don't want to hear more about these people. You want to get out there and you want to start doing yourself. You want to start building success. And success is reasonably easy to do. As I say, I'm going to give it to you once again. You've got to look around and you've got to find value that people want and provide that value and do it the easiest way possible. So you get a life and you can scale and you can just walk away from it. And it really isn't that hard. You know, I've created what we created with six businesses. This week, no more than that knowing businesses this week with different people yet they're not to the full stage. But they've already now got their ideas and they're starting to work on it and F planning and they're finding their ideal customers. And there are billions and billions of business ideas. And when people say, I can't think of anything, I always say to them, it's because you're not thinking the right thing. Okay? Look around you and look at, you know, I'm sitting here at my desk, there's a pen, that's the business, there's an F, Russia, business, there's a mark business, everything you look at, you would have bought, so that is business, you've got clothes on your back, that's business. Every single thing can be pivoted slightly so that you become a niche expert. And in the niche, you become rich. So don't sit out there go I can't think of anything is only because you're not getting your brain working like these kids have to Find value, look at something and look at a mug and we drink coffee out a mug something, okay? If I take that mug and do something different to that mug, how can I make it more appealing to people just start getting those ideas and jot them down. And you could be the next guest on the next episode of Join Up Dots. Until next time, thank you so much for listening to us. Thank you for everybody else. I'm going to give another name check for somebody who should we have? We're gonna have fantastic energy in as inspiration from Chester 454 or 5333 from the United States, slightly different week after week, but always inspiring energy and an upbeat Listen, until next time, Look after yourselves and I will be here waiting for you. Cheers guys. See ya. Bye bye. If you're inspired to live a life on your own terms, working when you want where you want yc it sit back and make the decision of how much you want to earn today. Man, it's all totally doable and nowadays easier than ever, head over to the startup business school at Join Up dots.com and check out the video testimonials from just a few of the students that are now building their dream businesses after going through our coaching sessions and if that excites them book a time to speak to me one to one to make sure you have what it takes to become the next success of our conveyor belt that started business school at Join Up dots.com

Introducing Greg Koberger Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a lady who for many years worked in the corporate environment. He hails from the lovely town of Schaghticoke (pronounced scat-a-coke) in upstate New York. After attending RIT he made the move to San Francisco where he’s worked for Mozilla, and freelanced for a bunch of startups. In fact when Greg interviewed at Mozilla, he was asked where he wanted to be in five years. His answer? Well most of the time you would expect a response in the line of "I want to firmly providing daily value to your customers and stakeholders" or other such waffle. Our guest today instead answered "Running my own startup." Four years and 363 days later, after several starts and stops, years of freelancing, and a failed Y Combinator application, he achieved his goal just ahead of deadline. It proves that the glamorous world of startups are just as prone to failure as they are global success. Interestingly,  early on, Greg discovered a unique team-building exercise in escape rooms. He values the game so much, in fact, that he decided to build his own: Startup Escape. and to date hundreds of companies have gone through this immersive experience in San Francisco, earning it quite the reputation among startups. So why does he feel driven to put himself under so much strain and workload, when remaining as an employee would quite often be so much easier? And what are the big lessons that he carries with him everyday. as he looks back and joins up his dots to where he is today? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only Greg Koberger. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such dreamy subjects with Greg Koberger such as: Greg shares how the inspiration for starting his own escape room and why he thinks these are amazing ventures for his creativity. We discuss "The Dip" that all businesses suffer with when starting their own business. Greg reveals how it took him five years to get any sense of success in his business, but that is totally fine as he learnt so much and lastly...... We talk about what energises us in our businesses (and more often than not its what we do away from it all that makes the biggest difference)

Today's guest is a lady who has had many careers in her life, so it will be of great interest to discover if she feels what she is doing now is THE thing. She was a Wall Street Investment banker with a desire for fashion she could wear to work,to dinner,on weekends,and on world travels. She needed the perfect dress that could do it all,but couldn’t find it. So, Sarah made it herself. Inspired to make the most comfortable,versatile,vibrant fashion on the market, Sarah launched Leota in 2011 on the principles of empowerment, size-inclusiveness, and optimism. What began with one perfect dress made on Sarah’s home sewing machine has become a complete women’s fashion collection carried in more than 500 fine retailers globally and at the company’s flagship Boutique in Manhattan. Under Sarah’s leadership,Leota scaled up to become one of the fastest-growing women-led companies in the U.S. How The Dots Joined Up For Sarah Sarah is a 2-time Inc.500 CEO,a Smart CEO Future 50 award winner,has been honoured in Women 2 Watch in Retail Disruption,and won Game Changer of the Year for 2 years straight. Drawing on her experience growing up a world class martial artist, 2-time national Kungfu champion and world tournament competitor,Sarah knows performance under pressure. You can do any thing in a Leota dress,and Sarah is here to prove it.  She cycled a 300-mile ride in Leota to raise money to fight AIDS. She even completed a triathlon in Leota. Sarah is a muse to women in the real world. Whether it’s fashion, interiors, career, or lifestyle, her taste and authenticity are celebrated. She is a sought-after speaker on entrepreneurship and the business of fashion,and hosts her monthly web show, The She Suite. Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to join up dots with the one and only Sarah Carson Show Highlights During todays show we discussed such weighty subjects with Sarah Carson: Sarah shares how she loves the idea of what men get to choose everyday due to its simplicity. We discuss the epiphany of when the business first came to the fore in her mind, and then the dip that effects all companies  We reveal how entrepreneurship is one of the loneliest adventures you can enter into, with Sarah sharing how she overcame this in her life. and lastly....... Sarah shares how nothing is going to stop her from moving forward to success. She might have a few dark nights, but the next day is game on! How To Connect With Sarah Carson Website Facebook Linkedin Twitter Return To The Top Of Sarah Carson If you enjoyed this episode with Sarah Carson 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 Audio Transcription Of Sarah Carson 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 to you. Good morning to you. And good morning. Again, welcome to another episode of at Join Up. Dots are the kind of show that just can go in any direction. And in today's show, we're whizzing across the pond like we always seem to do and we're speaking to a lady who's in New York City now. She's a lady who's had many careers in her life, so it will be a great interest to discover. If she feels what she's doing now is verifying the thing that she was born to do. She was a wall street investment banker with a desire for fashion, and the kind of fashion she could wear to work to dinner on weekends and on well travels. She needed that perfect dress. Yeah, you know what he's like fellas, we need that perfect dress that could do it all but she couldn't find it. So she made it for herself and inspired to make the most comfortable, versatile, vibrant fashion on the market. She launched liotta in 2011 or later I should have asked her on the principles of empowerment, sighs, inclusiveness and optimism. Now what began with one perfect dress made on our home sewing machine has become a complete women's fashion collection carried in more than 500 fine retailers globally and that the company's flagship boutique in Manhattan now under her leadership, she's scaled to become one of the fastest growing women led companies in BUS. She is an aide to time incorporated 500 CEO a smart CEO future 50 Award winner has been on it. She's done loads of things. But drawing on her experience growing up a world class martial artist two time national kung fu champion and World Tournament competitor she knows perform under pressure, you can do anything in one of our dresses and she's here to prove it. She cycled every hundred mile ride, to raise money to buy aids and she even completed a try Apollon in her clothes. She's a muse to women in the real world, whether it's fashion interiors, careers or lifestyle, a taste and authenticity, our celebrity celebrity celebrated, I should have said that better. She's a sought after speaker. So let's get her on the show. So is this the kind of thing that she just knew from from when she started, it was going to be her thing. And Where could she have done it better? Well, let's find out as we bring onto the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Sarah Carson. Good morning, Sarah, how are you? Sarah Carson 2:44 Good morning. Great to be here, David. David Ralph 2:47 It's great in it. Did you feel celebrated. It's a new word that I've just created or do you do you feel celebrated by the world outside? Sarah Carson 2:55 Oh, I think being celebrated by David Ralph is pinnacle of my career so far. David Ralph 3:02 You say you're winning me over. You're winning me over already. It's gonna be an Emmy Award winning podcast. I think this is now you're speaking to the right guy because I am a fashion driven. I know what works. I wear tricky bottoms and a white t shirt 99% of the time. I don't understand fashion at all. What am I missing? What am I missing? What makes something that's fashionable and also useful? Sarah Carson 3:29 Well, I think fashion is about expressing who you are. It's like we put on who we are every day. It's an expression of your identity, which is what's so awesome about being in the fashion business. It's like, you're part of every customers decision about how they want to project to the world each day. And so, the beautiful thing is there's no real recipe for that. But I think what matters about fashion is that it feels good that it feels comfortable that you can feel like you could be your true self and that and if that's sweatpants and a T shirt for you then you go girl. What I wanted. What I wanted to do with liotta is create something that could really work for women every day. I mean, the demands on our lives these days from work home, you know, place of worship, community volunteering, can you have a friends, your spouse? What if you had one thing that you could do everything in? That would be a huge win. So that's why I'm in this. David Ralph 4:30 Well, isn't that just Truckee bottoms in a white t shirt? Is that not the kind of thing that you can do everything in Sarah Carson 4:34 100%? Especially if you're a podcast? host? David Ralph 4:37 Yeah, absolutely. Because my wife my women are different. We know women to be different. And my wife will go out to buy a new outfit. And when she comes back, I look at it and I think it's the same as you've got in the cupboard. It looks exactly the same and she says no, it's not that one's got gold colour and not one does this and does. It's a bit of a math being a woman isn't it? And I used to work in the City of London and I used to just put on a tie a shirt and a suit and that was it. But I know that ladies, there was even a pressure to be at work but I couldn't repeat. And they you know, Christmas dues, they had to wear something different from last time. It was just a big pressure. Sarah Carson 5:18 Well that's why I find men's fashion actually really inspiring David because it's so easy for men to have a uniform. You know, when you are working in London, you can wear the same button down and tie every day and he's totally fine. You know, Steve Jobs as I know is one of your you know, someone that has been a mentor for you. If he wore the same turtleneck every day of his whole career. I love that. And I admire that a lot about men's fashion and so I wonder if there could be a uniform for women. Where there they knew there was one thing they could put on and be transformed into the best version of themselves. Does it because it is iconic As you say, the Steve Jobs Look, you know, I don't know how many years he wore that. But if I close my eyes and think of Steve Jobs, it's about outfit. If I think of like Mark Zuckerberg, he's wearing a grey t shirt, basically, you know, David Ralph 6:13 unless he's being pulled into government and being pillared before he's performance. Ben, he has to wear a suit. But generally, it's that thing about not having to think about what you're wearing. That's what I was going to do it, isn't it, it takes a decision away. Sarah Carson 6:28 Yeah. And I always say, you know, you can't change the world in uncomfortable clothes. Right. And David Ralph 6:35 is that is that your standard response to most things? Sarah Carson 6:39 Well, yeah, because you look at what women are expected to do. And then it's just like, Are you serious? Right now, I'm supposed to wear these heels and these tight clothes and these Spanx, it's like, forget about it. So you know, it's funny when I was an investment banker, there were very, they're still very few women working in the industry, but the women would be kind of like cooped up in these like Tight office ladies suits that were kind of like women's versions of the men's power suit. And it's conforming, constricting. And I just started to think like, What if there was a better way, and meanwhile, strolling down the street in New York or LA, I would see women wearing exercise clothes, walking down the street, and I was like, What if there were a fashion option for women that were as comfortable as wearing yoga pants or exercise clothes, or jeans and a T shirt, but was actually appropriate for our lifestyles today? David Ralph 7:39 I love the fact that you say strutting down New York because I've just been there for a few weeks. You don't stop more than about two inches without stopping because somebody is in your way. It's the it's the busiest place I've ever been to in my life. Sarah Carson 7:52 Yeah, it really is and actually was cool. for women's equality day a couple weeks ago, we took over time square with Is the probably the busiest corner in the world with a message of empowering women celebrating all of the progress we've made and the kind of struggle towards equality, and also getting motivated for the work that still needs to come. So that was pretty awesome to be in Times Square. And instead of seeing all of the ads to see this kind of feminist message for all our customers, oh, yeah, you can't move very much. Your tone is David Ralph 8:33 terrible. I didn't know how busy it was. I went many years ago, it was a YU breeding like rabbits over there. I think. I think that's the problem. I think we should bring in contraception and then give it out to everybody. You know, it doesn't matter. Instead of having movies, get on a bus tour things give out condoms on the street. That's what we want. Sarah Carson 8:54 Yeah, I would support that maybe for for different reasons, but yes, 100% Let's get some positive contraception women's health approach here in the States. You know, that's got to be a priority. David Ralph 9:09 Yeah. And I will be your your flagship, I will be the person forcing that through if anybody can bring in women health changes is going to be me, isn't it? Sarah Carson 9:19 Oh, thank you, David. I love this intersection between feminism and podcasting. So let's do this. David Ralph 9:25 Let's do this. Let's bring it all together. Now one of the things that we talked about on this show over time is the entrepreneur journey. That's basically you know, the whole thing. Now, I am amazed by what you created, because everything that I've spoken to across the world always starts with an idea of I save everything is created twice, once in your head and then once in real life. Now, you actually started with a sewing machine, which amazed me but anybody still has sewing machines. And you actually vain took that idea. How did you do it? So I don't teach you moving away. From condoms I'm not interested in that anymore. I mean, you and how did you do it? Sarah Carson 10:04 Well I started to see this trend in fashion where people wanted to be comfortable and I thought that was awesome but there I searched everywhere for this perfect dress that would be that would feel really cute though it feel beautiful in but I would also feel comfortable and like I could move and do the things I need to do. I can find this thing anywhere. So I decided to make it myself. And before I was an investment banker, I was an artist I loved to make things. So basically by day I was closing multibillion dollar deals for Fortune 50 companies and by night I was sewing and it was a I had a hobby, which is awesome. It's hard when you work on Wall Street. It's exactly like what you see in the movies. Hundred hour work weeks. Watching the sun come up over Park Avenue. I mean so many hours spent in tight office lady clothes, so it was this amazing way to unwind by making something that was going to feel amazing. And honestly, I got so many compliments and orders from friends and family after a while that I thought I might really be onto something bigger. So I decided to go for it. And it was super risky and kind of crazy. I mean, I'm a first born, traditional success driven person. So to like quit, one of the most coveted jobs in the world was, you know, really not in my DNA. David Ralph 11:37 And did you have people saying, Sarah, Sarah, what the hell are you doing? You have to be here for another 40 years and you can add that office on the corner can all that kind of stuff. Sarah Carson 11:47 Well, I had a lot of success at the bank that I was working at, and I could have done anything in that business. But I felt that I wanted to do something that I was really passionate about and I honestly didn't receive that much pushback. I mean, you would have thought I've involved parents, you would have thought my parents would have said, Sarah, you're crazy. What are you thinking? But I think that they ultimately wanted me to be happy to and they lied to me early on. They told me that I was supposed to be that I was going to love my career and that it was going to be like, so fun and amazing to have a career. And I got into my career in business and Wall Street, and I was like, Guys, this is not fun. This is not interesting. It's sexist. It's 100 hour weeks. It's like a little bit uninspiring. What's wrong with this picture? David Ralph 12:42 Come on, come on. Come on. I've been in bang, I'd have done thinking and I've done ensuring insurance as well. It's the most boring job, when you say is a little bit less than inspiring. sitting there looking at spreadsheets and making other people richer. It's terrible. It's the worst job ever. So I love the way that you had that venom of my parents lied to me. Sarah Carson 13:08 They lied to me. David Ralph 13:10 bonkers and look at me now look at me you know what I've done? And so I'm sure they're massively proud of you now. Unknown Speaker 13:16 Yeah, I think they are. Do not know Ben. David Ralph 13:19 Nice if you never asked him Sarah Carson 13:23 Well, I'm sure yeah, I'm sure the I'm proud of me. How do I know my parents are proud of me? Oh, David, I didn't know we are going to go here and so like deep childhood, Unknown Speaker 13:38 like that's Welcome sir. Sarah Carson 13:42 Well, I think I'm the firstborn of my family. I think there's always a lot of pressure on me to have traditional success. And like I don't know where you are in your birth order. But you know, like my little sister got like all the allowance like didn't have to have a job like that sent all over the world on my parents dime, you know, like, very Different experience and for me though, like, you need to have a job and you need to, you know, make sure you have like, you know, be the valedictorian and everything which was fine by me. I mean I was very successive and as well and I actually ended up naming liotta after my great grandmother. And that's because my family has been a huge inspiration to me. And so I think by naming my company after my family has tied everybody to the success and the storey, so you could have David Ralph 14:38 you could have called it you liars. have been I would have gotten a message one night. Yeah, I'm glad you went the way you did. And the reason I asked that is I'm very aware that my parents like they never say anything nice. They never say anything and never say I love you. You know, I can say to my mom on the phone, Lucky mom. She says yet another Never going to be back. By don't hug if I don't do anything. And it was something I grew up with. So I didn't realise but my wife, my wife will hug lampposts she had anything and so she sort of says you know why why do they do that? It's just the way they are. So when they started you know, when when we had our first child for example, and we stood and we said to my mama Daddy, you can be grandparents they went well hope you know what you're doing that there was there was no sort of great congratulations or anything. And so what I've created on my side of the fence here, only a small little ripple in the in the ocean of liotta course. But um, I've got no idea if they're proud or anything, so he's just, it's a leading question to make me wonder if I'm on my own. Am I on my own? Do we all need parental praise somewhere down the line? Sarah Carson 15:50 Well, ultimately, I mean, this is probably sounds a little bit depressing. But as entrepreneurs, I think it is one of the loneliest endeavours you can do and That was something that really surprised me when I first started my company. I always had like, good relationships with my team members and everything at work. But I didn't really realise how important that was until I started my brand. And I was the only person and it was a little bit lonely. And that surprised me. And I didn't realise how much having a community around what I'm doing can really feed me. So later in life I later in my entrepreneurship journey, I really worked on that like joining groups with other entrepreneurs to kind of approximate that co founder feeling. So yeah, I think it is a profoundly alone experience. Being an entrepreneur. David Ralph 16:50 I agree with you totally. I do agree with you totally. Because on the very first episode of Join Up Dots I ever recorded, I actually said to the guy, do you ever get lonely you know, because I gone from an office environment where there was everyone to sitting on my own. He said, No, never get lonely. And I thought, brilliant, that's why I'm never gonna get lonely. And suddenly I didn't see anyone. And he got particularly lonely at like Christmas when everybody was going after Christmas parties. And I think, Well, I haven't had a single invite, but you bet you don't in this environment. You know, it is It's strange. How do you find that support, but actually is worthwhile to you? Not virtually, but the real people that you can really trust as you're ploughing through the dark times that we have in entrepreneurship, and it happens to everyone, as you find a good one so Sarah Carson 17:38 well as entrepreneurs. Well, pretty much in any entrepreneur who's listening to this will know everybody wants something from you, as soon as you have your own company. And, and I mean, it's so New York, it's so LA. It's like, Hi, how, what do you do? How can I like that? something from you. I mean, it's just it's a very transactional, which is great because that can be really efficient. But it's also kind of sad. And I constantly get requests for my time, like, come to this dinner, come to this meeting, join this virtual group. I mean, there's zillions of them now, which is amazing because I think people have realised how important community is for people that are really trying to change the world and trying to create something new. But finding the right ones is super crucial. So I joined entrepreneurs organisation A few years ago, and that was like a total game changer for me because all of a sudden, I was part of this group of founders who were going through the same thing as me, like how do we scale up our businesses? In some cases? How do we scale them down? How do we deal with suddenly being responsible for every single aspect of the company and that intersection between personal and professional needs to be addressed and groups that do that I think are super important. Because how many things you listen to where you only get the highlight reel, like you open up for so you look at the cover of entrepreneur, it's like this person's perfect journey towards success straight to the top. And, you know, it took five days to make $500 million. And me those and I'm like, Well, I suck. You know, I wasn't able to do that. My that my experience was like a lot messier than that. I mean, obviously, this person didn't have an entire container of their product, stuck on a container with someone else's endangered species pelts. They got stuck in customs for like two months. I mean, these are the sorts of things that are out of our control that like can seriously derailed business. And so it's neat to find groups and like podcasts like this, are people going to tell you the real deal? It's like, it's like What Messier, then Entrepreneur Magazine would have, I think, David Ralph 20:05 Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you. I was just saying to the wife a moment ago, my business is going great. So it's wonderful. But I still feel behind the scenes away from the sexy front piece. I feel like it's a incredible jigsaw puzzle where I haven't quite got it all together. And it's, it's, you know, it's making great money, brilliant. People are listening in their files is brilliant, but it's not where I want it to be. And I'm very aware with myself as a podcaster. When I first started over six years ago, there was a phase when I'd say yeah, I'm a podcaster. And people would go and what's bad and I'd have to explain it. And then there was a bit where it seemed to open loads of doors. But now literally, every person every down and out on the street has got a microphone and they're all saying their podcast hosts and it's, it's kind of saturated, and I'm I'm looking forward to the time when all the people paga actually, a move on to something else. And I go right, I'm still here, come and come and listen to me. And I sort of ride through. But is it's messy behind the scenes, isn't it, you've always got things that you need to do. You've always got things that you're launching to the world, but isn't quite where it should be. And the vision, a vision is always harder to get than you can possibly think that's probably some words. And then we're going to delve back into this because it's very, very important is Oprah. Oprah Winfrey 21:27 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 21:59 Now Bed good words for this conversation on I Sarah Carson 22:03 love you, Oprah. Yeah, totally. Now, I mean, I love that because it's like, so daunting to think of where you want to get. You can't do that in one day, can spend a lot of people into a spiral David Ralph 22:16 where you can and which gets me to where you are because from the outside looking at you, you're a natural fit. You're a glamorous lady, you're wearing bright colours, you just look like a fashion person. But of course, there was a time when you was probably wearing grey suits and black suits and sitting there. That journey, that mental journey of actually saying I'm going to do something different from everybody else. How did you overcome that? Sarah Carson 22:52 I think at a deep level, it was about becoming who I truly am and joining up the dots, wink wink between who I was on the inside and how I projected myself on the outside. And when I was an investment banker cooped up in my tight office ladies suits, trying to be one of the guys. You know, I spent my I grew up and spent my early career being led by white men in suits. And a lot of them were really nice. But it was impossible to to not start equating leadership with a certain race and gender that most of us simply can never be. And so I sort of realised within that environment as important it is as it is to make change from within that if I was going to truly be able to become a leader and embrace my femininity, then I was probably going to have to do something else. And so I think that women like me who are stepping up and taking their shot and founding their own companies are claiming kind of a transformational opportunity. Because now I mean women can look at their leadership and see themselves reflected. And I think that representation and that self expression is so important. And I'm excited to be on the forefront of that. At Liotta, the boss has frizzy hair tattoos have penchant for red lipstick and and I'm the boss are in my voice. My face has authority. And that's really different from the way I grew up in my career. Does that make sense? David Ralph 24:55 Women are taking over the world at the moment. It does it It certainly does. It PIP Women are taking over the world. It certainly, from my view, the fact that we've now got like a on a flippin level, a female doctor who now when I was growing up that would never have happened and the fact that they're saying there should be a female James Bond and there should be a female, there is definitely a movement towards ladies now it's brilliant. And I go, you know, if you can do a job as well as a man, go for it, you know, and then you shouldn't be held back. I don't want a woman James Bond. I don't. And I don't you know, I think there's certain levels but it's too far. Sarah Carson 25:38 Well, maybe it's not going to be the same thing. Maybe it's something different that can be just as exciting and powerful. Definitely just doesn't work David Ralph 25:48 that Cody James Bond. Unknown Speaker 25:50 How about Jamie? David Ralph 25:55 It's too It's too close is too close. But I do think there is a certain movement at the moment which is Which is great. And I do you know, I'd like to see it spread to all areas because there's there's nothing that can hold anyone back. Other than being a female James Bond that's not going to happen but away from every single person out there listening should be out but to go I want to do that I want to be the next Carson. I want to have frizzy hair tattoos and bright lipstick and be respected and they want to do that they can make it happen calmly. Sarah Carson 26:28 Well, yeah, and I think it's it's still feels like a little bit radical because I think our concept of leadership still looks like a certain person that students are not a Sarah Carson look and feel. But I think with every person that steps out and gives it a shot and works for a woman, start so company helps out a woman next to them. We're making those small, important steps kind of like Oprah was saying David Ralph 27:01 Now with the designs that you do, I was predicting up and down and to be honest, I didn't spend that long because I don't know what I'm looking at. It's just nice dresses. But women come in all different shapes and sizes that does your company cope for all types of women or is it very much focused on the real skinny ones? The larger ones are what is your offering? Sarah Carson 27:24 liotta is the OG size and fits a brand we've been bucking the fashion industry is systemic sizes and since day one offering sizes extra extra small through five x. Back in the early days, I actually had to fire my agent and my photographer in order to even do a campaign featuring a plus size model next to the industry's quote unquote straight models. And and then that was really radical back then because people thought well, no one's going to buy the product if it if we show somebody that's not like 18 Caucasian and and sin but I said forget that beauty comes in all shapes sizes, colours, ethnicities sexuality genders and so it's really important for me to represent that with my brand Unknown Speaker 28:18 so I think the future of fashion and when you say extra extra small David Ralph 28:22 yeah when you say extra extra small are we talking about drove drove Are we just talking very little people Sarah Carson 28:29 we're talking about some very well people David Ralph 28:31 but not drove your you're alienating too often? Sarah Carson 28:35 I would I would say I'm not sure we're supposed to say dwarfs anymore, David. But oh one little people are included in the liotta world because I think beauty doesn't have to do with size. And that's got it that's got to

Today's episode of Join Up Dots brings you two very different stories from the world of business success.

One is from a guy in the United Kingdom who first connected with us at Join Up Dots back in 2015.

His name is Neil C Hughes, who runs the Tech Talk Daily Podcast and just recently has hit over 1,000 episodes.

The second guy is a chap who first connected with us at Join Up Dots about two years ago, and wasn't in the right position to start building his own dream.

Roll on a couple of years and he has now created a million dollar business in just three weeks.

Amazing stuff

So where do you sit in regards to building your own dream?

Ready to play the long game, or wanting to hit it out of the park as quickly as you can?

Introducing Zachary Babcock Zachary Babcock is todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a man who is an entrepreneur, business coaching and ex-prisoner who has turned his life around spectacularly. As the founder of Underdog Empowerment, he teaches underdog entrepreneurs to launch, grow, and monetize top shelf passive income businesses and personal brands. But it hasn't been easy and as he says "I had to learn the hard way as I began building my business. It was time to get to work when I got out of prison on October 2nd, 2014. It definitely wasn’t easy. I got into entrepreneurship because I didn’t have many options, plus I liked the idea of betting on myself. How The Dots Joined For Zachary However, it was a struggle, and I barely got by. I did network marketing for 2 years, made almost $2k a month within my first 6 months, but that just wasn’t my thing. My business crumbled and I left after 2 years. At the very beginning of 2017, I became a ‘life coach’. I didn’t make a single penny or help anybody as a life coach because my messaging was a hot mess. And like everyone just starting out, I sucked. Every time I tried to collaborate with anyone, nobody took me seriously. I was just some ex-convict turned entrepreneur afterthought that nobody gave the time of day to. “Who is Zachary Babcock?” But nowadays things are looking very much different as his profile and business continues to grow month on month. So what has made this platform so successful, when the web is full of similar ideas that never got off the ground? And is this is lifetime legacy or just a stepping stone to what is in his heart and mind? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Zachary Babcock Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Zachary Babcock such as: Zachary shares how he struggled so much with creating a marketing strategy due to the confusion of his personal branding. Once he got clear on who he is, the business exploded. Why it is so important to really believe in your product and the value that you are able to provide. If you don't then you will never see that value come back to you. Zach shares how he is developing multiple incomes through his business, whilst never losing track of his key focus/ and lastly...... We discuss why so many people who come out of prison aren't actually ready to change their lives. In fact they need help to actually want the change to occur in the first place.

Introducing Tim Collings Tim Collings is today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a Brit living in in Australia. Tim started out his corporate working career as many of us do. Constrained by the boundaries of a system Tim quickly realised that the way he thought about things was different to the way the boss wanted things done. Luckily Tim had some great bosses and strong leaders that recognised that his potential for greatness resided not within a system but with servicing clients and delivering on their needs and once he was let off the leash so to speak he kicked goal after goal. However like many successful employees Tim wanted more and ultimately he wanted his own business. All the years within the corporate framework set Tim up nicely to make the transition into his own business. As he says " I spent 15 years working in global corporates both finding my way as a leader, and really feeling the difference between leaders who tried to model the business on themselves rather than those who nurtured the capability of their leadership team, fostering their talents and strengths." This insight has now lead him to have a great perspective on leadership and is highly experienced in working closely with many of Australia’s top executives. Tim’s ideas and thoughts around value based leadership are not just interesting, but pragmatic and highly effective. Tim is recognised as one of the top people in the field of leadership in Australia. So what makes a person a truly great leader that not only shines in their own office, but across the globe too? And where does he find the inspiration to challenge this information into his own successful business? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Tim Collings. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Tim Collings such as: We shared the journey that Tim took as he leaped across the world to find a new home and live a life of adventure. Why the word selfish isn't actually a bad thing if you can then take that decision and start serving the world better. Why so many people struggle with knowing that the service that they can provide will get better  in the future, although previous customers have missed out. and lastly...... Tim shares how he manages his time and his energy both at the start of the day and also at the end. This is a game changer.

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.