How John has generated 100M downloads on his podcast | The Nikhil Sai Show 73

How would you like to learn the secrets of two Kama Club Award winners on how they have built successful online businesses from almost nowhere to now running multiple 7 and 8-figure businesses by following the simple fundamentals of life? And let's see how they have used the powerful funnel systems, processes, automation, and social media to help their business grow at a different pace. Let's dive into their journey to grasp the strategy, mindset, action plan of how they have done it from almost nowhere to the way up to 7 figures. We are going to uncover and pick their brains of the top performing entrepreneurs on this show, how they have done it and how you can do it too. You are listening to D Nikhil Sai, the host, and welcome to The Nikhil Sai Show. What's going on? What's going on everyone? Guys, first of all, welcome to The Nikhil Sai Show, which is hosted by me, The Nikhil Sai. And guess what's going on today? We are back with another amazing guest today. If you're an entrepreneur who actually listen to this podcast online to get inspired, and if you don't know this dude That means you're not an entrepreneur who listens to podcasts actually, right? That means you are in a different planet. You don't belong to planet Earth if you don't know JLT here. This is going to be crazy story, guys. This dude has been doing podcasting from 2012 and has over 100 million downloads so far and has over 1 million listeners every single month. He has done over 3,000 podcasts with top entrepreneurs like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, everyone you can imagine in the entrepreneurial journey. Who are here to inspire and create impact. And again, guys, this is going to be a FIRE Nation today because we are bringing the JLD on the podcast today. So let's not waste any time. And actually, let's welcome John Lee Dumas, CEO at EO FIRE. Hey, John.

Excited to be here, brother. Thanks for having me. Looking forward to dropping some value.

Absolutely, John. Pretty excited, brother. So yeah, as this is a constrained time frame here, John, we would love to hear like a quick backstory. Like, how did all of this journey started?

Crazy journey started back when I was 32 years old, which was about 10 years ago. And I just said, hey, I love listening to podcasts. I love the platform of podcasting in general. But my one complaint is there's not a daily show interviewing entrepreneurs. And I did learn at a younger age that when you complain about something, when you're upset about something, that could be an opportunity that you could bring to the world. Because other people might be having the same complaints. The same things might upset them as well. And if you can provide the solution for them while you're providing it for yourself, that could be an opportunity. So back in 2012, I launched Entrepreneurs on Fire as the first daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. So guess what? The day that I launched, it was the best daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. It was also the worst daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. That was the only daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs, and that's why I won, because I was the only. And that is such a critical thought for people, is how can you step into a void in the marketplace? How can you serve something that's underserved? How can you become a solution to a problem that's not being solved?

Yep, absolutely, John. Yeah, I think that's really crucial as an entrepreneur. People need to admit that fact. And brother, one of the things you've been killing it is with consistency, like over 3,000 podcasts. Oh my goodness, like that is crazy to hear, at least, right? Like, I mean, like a lot of entrepreneurs really struggle with this thing called consistency. So like, how you actually show up? Because there are bad times when you don't want to do that, but you still do it. Like, how do you overcome that consistency?

So listen, everybody's gonna quit. At some point. Every single person's going to quit, and those people that quit don't win. So when you wake up and you feel like not doing something that you know is going to move your business forward, you need to say to yourself, somebody else that's my competitor that's doing what I do is feeling the exact same way right now, and they're not going to do it, so they're going to lose, and that's going to be one less competitor for me. So I'm going to do it even though I don't want to do it. I remember waking up in a number of days and being like, the last thing I feel like doing is interviewing somebody today. But I knew that having that feeling was actually a great feeling because again, it meant other people that were trying to do what I was doing, a daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs, were going to have the same feelings and they were going to quit. If it was always easy, and always fun and always enjoyable, everybody would be doing it every single day and nobody would win. So the fact that it did suck at times to do an interview of an entrepreneur when I didn't feel like doing it, that's why it was so opportunistic and such great potential to win if I stayed consistent. So I just committed to that consistency.

Yep, absolutely, John. I think people need to admit that real fact that It is hard and it's worth doing it. Absolutely, brother. And John, like, you've been killing it with podcast. I mean, you had over 100 million people listening to this podcast. You have a big media around your space. Like, how did that actually help you? Like, what are the advantages of actually running a podcast in terms of business as an entrepreneur?

There's so many advantages to running a podcast. I mean, they're really countless. I mean, you become a better speaker, a better host, a better communicator, a better presenter. You become better at facilitating conversations. All of those things you become better at because you're actually doing those things during the interview. You were terrible the first time you did a podcast interview. I was terrible the first time I did a podcast interview. We didn't know what we were doing. Nobody does. But we got a little bit better every single time. And then guess what? Another advantage of a podcast— you're speaking to me right now, one-to-one, you know, like right here we're having a one-on-one conversation. And, you know, for you, like, you're like, here's John, he's been crushing it for 10 years in the entrepreneurial space. But think about me 10 years ago. I was a nobody and I was thinking the exact same thing about Tim Ferriss, about Gary Vaynerchuk, about Tony Robbins. And I got to interview them. And so when you're running a podcast, you get to be in the same room as you and I are in the same virtual room right now. Just the two of us. There's nobody else in this room right now. It's just me and you. You are asking me questions. And I am responding to you. I'm answering your questions. And to me, that was really, really mind-blowing when I was asking Tim Ferriss and Tony Robbins a question and they were acknowledging it and answering back. And I was like, wow, what an advantage of running a podcast. The network that I was able to build, the connections, the relationships— out of this world.

Absolutely, John. I think that's a really lucrative nature of actually running a podcast. Love it. Hopefully people who are actually listening this, you can do this too. You can actually have John, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk. It's just about consistency on how you— how hard you go for this. Absolutely. And John, you do one of the things like which are not a lot of people try to do actually, which is showing income proofs online. And I was like, wow, this inspires a lot, right? Like it really inspires people to show the possibility of what could happen if they really stay hard in the business. So like, can you tell us like why do you actually choose to show your income reports online?

Back in 2011, before I launched my podcast, I was searching online for ways to actually make money by being a good person, by being a person of value, by not being scammy or slimy or any of these things that some people associate with, with online entrepreneurs, so to speak, especially back in the day when it just wasn't as prevalent as it is today. And I came across this guy Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, and he was publishing his income reports, and I said, man, This guy is opening the kimono. He's being transparent, open, honest. He's sharing everything that's working for him, what's not working for him. I said, if I ever get to the point where I'm actually generating revenue with my podcast, I want to do the exact same thing. I want to share with my listeners, with my audience, what's working, what's not, showing them the ways that we're able to make real money in our business. To me, that was a super exciting opportunity. And I wanted to do that. So when we started generating real revenue in our business, we started publishing a monthly income report. And for 97 months in a row, we've published that report.

Wow, wow, wow, John. Wow, that's, that's amazing. I think that really inspires a lot of people and opens the mind, like how possible, how much money they can actually make as an entrepreneur if they really stick to it. That's awesome, John. And John, let's get to the next question. Like you've been killing it interviewing entrepreneurs back to back, like having all of these top level guests, right? Like what kind of tools do you use to manage the projects and clients for productivity in your day-to-day life?

Listen, keep it simple. So many people try to like use all these productivity like hacks and these tech stacks and all these different things. Keep it simple. Like, don't overcomplicate your life by trying to be more productive by using all these outside things that are supposedly going to make you more effective and more consistent and more productive in all these different areas. One tool that I think everybody should have is a scheduler. It's like a Calendly. I personally use ScheduleOnce, and for me that keeps my calendar so organized because you can do so much with one great scheduler. And I just love all the opportunities of, like, for instance, when you booked me here on to be on the show through my scheduler, you got my images, you got my bio, you got the things that I can talk about, you— we got, you know, the timeline. So like, you and I, even though we're in different time zones we both make sure there's no confusion there.

Completely organized.

You put the link to this interview, so all I had to do is go to my calendar, click on the link, boom, here I am now hanging out with you in StreamYard. So get a scheduler and dial it in. That's key.

Absolutely, brother. Thank you so much. And John, we really love to know more about like your daily routines. Like, do you personally follow any routines?

Absolutely. Listen, if you win the morning, you will win the day. So my first 2 hours, 2 hours of every morning is about me focusing on my health, my wellness. That's it, period. So I'm going for a walk every single morning to get out in nature and to breathe the fresh air and have the sun hitting my face. Then I go downstairs and I have a workout with my, uh, phys— uh, personal trainer to work on my strength and my awareness and all these different things which are so important. I do stretching. I'm in an infrared sauna for 30 minutes. I do 10 minutes of red light therapy. I have a cold plunge that I'm getting into. I'm doing all these things every single day because I want, at 41 years old, to continue to be able to deliver value to my audience at a high level. I've got to stay health-wise at a high level. So you've got to prioritize yourself every single day, because if you don't, if you say, oh, I'll work out this afternoon or after I'm done working, No, it will never happen consistently. You might do it every now and then, but never consistently. So dedicate the first X number of minutes for you. Doesn't have to be 2 hours. It wasn't for me for— it wasn't 2 hours for me 5 years ago. I've slowly built up to where I'm at now. So start with 20 minutes, but build from there.

Yep, absolutely, John. Thank you so much. I think that's really, really informational. And John, you started your podcast when you are actually, you know, 32 years old. If there is something you can tell and talk to your 20-year-old you or someone who's just getting started in your business, like very young person, what would be your number one suggestion for them?

Listen, the suggestion I would give to the 20-year-old me or somebody that's just getting started, whether you're 20, 60, 90, however old you might be, keep it simple and understand this one truth. If you provide the number one solution to a real problem, you will win. If you provide the number one solution to a real problem, you will win, period. Keep it simple. Keep it that simple. Now, can you provide the number one solution to, you know, what Amazon does? Of course not. You're one person, you're just getting started out. That's not the problem you're trying to solve. Find a niche problem that's not being solved very well. Just like I did back with Entrepreneurs on Fire, there was no daily podcast. So day one, I solved the problem that before was not being solved by anybody. So of course I was the best. I was also the worst. I was the only. That's how you win.

Absolutely, John. I think that's transformational for people who are listening. And let's get to the next question, brother. Your life's biggest achievement so far and any next bigger goals?

My life's biggest achievement is the creation of Entrepreneurs on Fire thus far. I mean, this has been a show that now is over 100 million listens, over 3,000 episodes. And my bigger goal is just to keep my eyes open and my ears open and to see what opportunities come next, because the world is always full of opportunities if you're looking for them.

Yep, absolutely. Thank you so much for mentioning that. What was the biggest mistake in business so far?

I don't even think I've had a big— a biggest mistake yet, because every mistake that I've made, which have been plenty, has been an amazing learning experience. So don't overthink about your mistakes. Just say, okay, this didn't work, what can I learn from it, and what can I do now? And continue to move forward.

Yep, absolutely, brother. I think that's a real mindset an entrepreneur should always have. Let's get to the next question, brother. Your main inspiration for success, like what are— what actually motivates you to actually show up? And the key people involved in the journey?

My listeners. My listeners, they send me emails thanking me for the content that the podcast is providing them. And just knowing that every single episode that I record is impacting people's lives— tens, hundreds, thousands, millions. And that's the kind of inspiration that keeps me moving forward.

Absolutely, brother. Wow, that, that's really, really amazing to hear, brother. And John, like, what a fireball we had actually on the podcast. The Fire Nation. Right, absolutely. So where can our audience find you mentoring if they need more help from you?

eofire.com is where all the magic happens. eofire.com. We have free courses for entrepreneurs. You can subscribe to my podcast there, Entrepreneurs on Fire, over 3,000 episodes waiting for you, and it's been a blast.

Absolutely, John. So guys, make sure to check out eofire. This podcast is going to blow up your head and Absolutely, John, it was tremendous having you on podcast today. Any last word before we conclude the total podcast session?

Try not to become a person of success, but rather a person of value. Albert Einstein.

Wow, thank you so much. That was really transformational, brother. Thank you so much for mentioning that. And again, John Lee Dumas, thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. Was really fun having you on. It was absolutely insane, the value you provided in very short period of time. I love it. So guys, make sure to check out EO Fire podcast. You will absolutely love it. So hopefully guys, you enjoyed the podcast session so far. Stay tuned for the next interview. I'm gonna be back with another amazing guest just like the JLD on the show today. This is me, the Nikhil Sai, and John Lee Dumas signing off for today. Peace.