Finding Your Noble Cause

Business brain, episode 508 for Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Greetings, folks, and welcome to Business Brain, the show where we take several ideas each episode, we crunch them, we dissect them, we use them so that we can collectively tune our business brains together and keep on living those charmed lives. Sponsors for this episode include miro.com podcast. That's the link you're going to go to to get your first three Miro boards for free forever. And we'll talk about what those are and why you want to do that in a little bit. For now, here in Durham, New Hampshire, I'm Dave Hamilton and I'm still out.

Here in Lafayette, California. I'm Shannon Jean. How are you, man?

I'm, I'm good. I'm. Today has been, may I say, today has been mayhem. We record this late in the afternoon, my time. The last 24 hours have been mayhem. We brought three new shows on to Backbeat Media recently, and yesterday was the day that I sent an announcement out to, to a lot of our media partners. I'd kind of mentioned them piecemeal here and there, but it was time to, like, you know, just make sure all the media buyers at all of our media partners and agencies had all of that stuff, you know, and the details on the shows and everything. You know, it's like, let me do this all at once. I made what I now know is the decision. I was going to call it a mistake. I don't know that it was a mistake because it was very effective. But I did this at like 6:30pm my time last night. And then I left my desk for the day thinking that I was wrapping up work for the day. Sure, yeah. No, no, no. I wound up all evening and all morning and all day. I've been transacted by people who are wanting to include them on. No, it's all really good problem to have. Yeah, it's not it, but it was just surprising to me. It's been a fairly slow Q4, although I will say, the last week or so has seen a lot of things picking up for, you know, Q1 buys. They're happening later this year than they. Than they typically would. So people are actively working on these proposals and then to get these new things on their desk, they were all like, great, can I get this show on these four proposals? And so it was like, all right, let me find these podcasters and ask them if they'll approve these sponsors. And like, it was it. It was never ending. I mean, I went to sleep, but it didn't really change anything. Yeah. I mean, eventually went to sleep. So. Yeah, it's, it's been. But that's great, right? Like that is good. That's good news. Yeah.

Well, and as we. You had some things in front of you getting to the studio and getting things to start the show today and we started talking offline here about what gets in your way to succeed. And I like your comment. You're, you know, it's like it's usually not big things that stop you, but it's often stacks of, of, you know, smaller things that get in your way that you got to overcome.

Right. Yeah. And I think that's true. Like it, the, the little things are, are more important than, than the big things in that it. It also like in terms of like growth of a business too. It's the, all the little things that you do that help you grow. It's rarely, sometimes certainly it's one big thing that you do, but most of the time it's the little things. But yeah, all this stuff that gets in the way. It's like I was trying to do something before we got together here and really just reconciling some bank statements like that. That was it. That was the project.

That's a nightmare. Yeah.

But it got done. The thing is, I tell myself that it's a nightmare every time it turns out it really isn't. It's a fairly straightforward process and it's very routine and it always takes less time than I've convinced myself it's going to take and I'll procrastinate it anyway. Well, today was the one time that proves all of my prior procrastinations true. Like, because as soon as I started, it took me a half hour to re log into all the banks. For whatever reason, everybody needed to new the new stuff. And this was here and that was here. And it's like I just freaking want to log in. Like why are we doing this? But I had to in order to download everything into QuickBooks. I got to, you know, be able to log into the banks and slurp it all in. It's like, no, you got to re authenticate this and re authenticate that and re authenticate this. And it's the little things that add up and, and slow you down. Yeah.

And I think we often make, you know, that mountain out of molehill type thing you make it seem. I was reading something this morning where it's like the two most important parts of your day would be this is the, the make your Bed concept.

Right.

It's get out of bed when you say you're gonna get out of bed. And then the second one was slay your dragons first thing, which is the stuff you've thought about. Maybe it kept you up at night, but I, I agree that little things get in your way of, you know, what can you get done?

Yes.

What's your plan? And. And I'm, I'm. I mean, I count myself fortunate that I have a very fluid schedule, so I'm able to kind of maneuver and swim to what. What I want to do.

Yeah.

Which is not usually. Not often. Well, sometimes not what I should be doing. Sure, sure.

Yeah, yeah.

But it. The little stuff and getting things done. We're having some technical issues and everything, but. Yeah. What, what's in your way? I mean, let us know what you guys find out is, you know, in your way. Feedbackusbrain show so we can talk about it and slay those dragons, you know.

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We're going to do that online.

Oh yeah, yeah. We're going to live stream this. That's right. Before I do that, I'm. You had brought up this concept a couple of weeks ago to me of noble causes and having one for your business and, and for your brand, it's an interesting thing. I'm curious. It seemed like something that you had dug into a little bit. Tell us a little bit about this.

Yeah, I've, I've done this before. Like with our repair businesses. I, I would always explain to new employees and then I would remind our current staff that what you were doing was far more important than just repairing somebody's computer or their phone or whatever because you have to look beyond that and how it impacts their life. And so I always would say, hey. And it was on every computer. It was in posters, throughout the office. It was like we're changing the world one repair at a time. Whether you're working for some kid that's got, you know, got to do it for homework or you're do a college student that's got some thing due or a business owner that can't run their business without their computer. That was our, our, you know, constant mantra and to motivate yourself. And I follow a guy on, on the X platform who I recommend you follow too. Michael Gridley, fascinating guy, very successful. He's got a bunch of different businesses he's. And he's got a great sense of humor and he made a comment that reminded me of this concept that when things get tough, you think about what your noble cause is. Something that's beyond what you do every day.

Right. Yeah.

You have to remind yourself it's not just because you gotta, you know, we all want to be something greater than our day to day, you know, grunt work, grind. And this noble cause concept is great. And he describes it really well. We'll link this, his, his post at businessbrain show for you to go read it. The purpose that's bigger than yourself in your, in your business. And he has some great examples, really simple stuff. We help people get jobs that change their life, help customers get home earlier to their families. I love that. Yeah, enable business owners to retire earlier. And this is kind of this story concept too that I always am harping on where like if you're in the H Vac business, you know, you're not don't talk about fixing AC units and Heaters talk about how you protect, you know, make people more comfortable and keep them warm during crazy storms and all that kind of stuff. This is the same thing. You know, we create memories of a lifetime for people, you know. Video clip as he talks about in this, in this post.

Well, this could, this noble cause. This could be. If you're having trouble getting started with telling your story for your business, this could be another entry point to that. Right. Because it is all sort of part of the same narrative, if you will, where you're telling a story, not about. Well, we, you know, to take your repairs business that you used to have kind of as the example. Well, we, you know, we use screwdrivers and we open up things like. Yes, that's technically correct. It's accurate, but it's not interesting unless you're talking to an audience that's interested in that.

Yeah. If you're, if you're talking to a bunch of geeks that want to learn.

About repairs, totally different.

We did, we did YouTube videos for those folks, and it was super technical and all that kind of stuff. But if you're talking about your company to a bank or to whoever, clients, prospective employees, to just say, yeah, we fix computers, well, you're just really underselling your, Yourself, your business, your employees that work super hard. You know, you think about this, you know, your noble cause, and don't just say, you know, we fix computers. This is. Because you don't. You do way, way more than that.

Yeah.

And when people smile and you see the impact and, you know, I never let our employees go up and talk to people at any of our locations unless they're wearing, like, a lab coat and they look like a doctor. I said, you guys are just as important, man, because this is their digital life that you're, that you're repairing.

And so you're already like, like you speak in noble causes. You have, you have trained your brain to, to like to do this, and it makes a lot of sense.

And it's a trick. And I'm motivating myself. Yeah. As you're motivating your employees, your customers, your banker. If you're asking for money, when you have that conversation to your, with your banker, you, you, you want to talk in those grand thing. Yes. Your numbers have to show. Are you profitable? You making money? Are you a worthwhile investment?

I have, I have, I want to do a thing here with Shannon on this, some kind of real, real life business therapy. But before we do, I want to offer up our, but really, obviously, Shannon's services here. If you don't know what your business is, noble cause is email us at feedbackusbrain show and we'll give you some ideas. You don't have to take them, but we'll give you some ideas.

Absolutely.

Now, what I want to do is I want to talk about Shannon, what our noble cause is. Right.

I can tell you exactly what it is.

Bingo. That's what I'm going for. Okay.

I've been saying this for years, and it's also identifying your ideal customer. So when I think about this show, you know, I started or came to you with the idea to start this show because I have sat in front of my computer late at night by myself, very lone, you know, lonely, thinking about, I want to build something and I don't know how to do it, and do I have the strength to do it? And being afraid, you know, there's an edge of fear in there. Am I going to let my family down or this or that? And my concept or idea of the show was that we're going to lift that person up, and we have lifted thousands of people. I guarantee it.

Yes.

I guarantee it. You people listen to the show, and I want them to listen to it forever in it, you know, of course. Hopefully.

Yes, of course.

And find something that helps them take that next step. Especially if you're on the fence and have not started the business yet, but you're thinking about doing it, and you've got a nine to five, which is, you know, great. You could have a noble cause there, too.

But.

But you need that push and you need that support, and we are that.

We are your advisors, helping listeners take that next step in your entrepreneurial journey.

Yeah. Kicking you off the edge of the bridge, man.

You know? Yes.

That's what it is. Because it's hard and it's not always going to be exciting and fun and. And, you know, it's not a.

It's not a linear path.

No, it's not. It's up and down. It's a roller coaster. But our noble or our noble cause is to be here for you when you need it, when you want to learn something. And I can see it in the emails we get, comments we get. I see it.

All right, so now help me. You've obviously thought about this. That's no great surprise. We do it together.

We're thinking about it for 508 episodes.

Exactly. So now what's my noble cause with my. With one of my other podcasts with Mac Geek Gab like? And I'm Happy to tell you. I think I could come up with it, but I want to kind of workshop this here. And you're better at this thing than I am, so.

About better.

But we answer people's questions. It's one of the things. That's one of the primary things that we do. We share tips that either we or other listeners have found. Right. So we. We say at the beginning of every episode, and I might. I might be leading the witness here a little bit, but that's the whole point. We say at the beginning of the episode, the goal is that each of us learns at least five new things every time we get together. So what's our noble cause?

Yeah, I. I think if I. Because I don't know anything about the music business. I love music, but.

No, this is Mac Geek Gab. Oh, sorry. I'm talking about giggling. No, if I said Gigab, I. I apologize. I meant Mac Geek the tech show. You may not have said, yeah, we're answering people's tech questions. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I. I mean, you're an educational.

Right.

Show. It's.

It's absolutely.

Yeah. You're. You're teaching, you know, the world how to solve problems. You're doing five at a time. You're, you know, all these people that are coming to you because, you know, if you can't figure out technology now, you're in big trouble. And in the slightest things, and we. We take it for granted. People that have worked with technology for our careers.

But.

But I can. I just had it the other day where somebody had their phone, says, I can't get this thing to do this. And I. I was like, well, that's like the easiest thing in the world, but that's because I've messed with it for 25 years.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. I always say when we're doing this stuff, it's not rocket surgery. It, like, it's. It's. If you know the answer, it's easy.

Yes.

Correct.

Just like a lot of this business stuff. So I would say your noble cause is to educate the world about how to, you know, use your technology better and to achieve more with it.

Yeah, I love it. That's. You're right. And I've never thought about it that way in that broad of. Of a. Of a way. It's accurate. I like this. No, this is like, we're gonna put. We're gonna take some version of that and put it in our marketing materials.

Yeah. And. And, yeah, the thing is, it's. We're gonna talk about We've, we've got a, A, a, A great show coming up. But I mean, this Nobel ca. I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but I do. But it's not only good for you mentally, because you can. You're doing something more important than just getting up and going to work every day.

Yeah.

And then it's also important for your employees because especially them. They're getting up, going to work every day and grinding it out.

You got to give them a mission. Why are they getting out of bed? Yeah.

Yeah. It's like having a good enemy. That's important, too. We should do a show about that.

Oh, yeah, right. That's like the flip side of this coin for sure.

Yeah. And it's also really good for your vendors to talk about and to get them on your side and you're like, you're fighting for something. You're doing something good.

Part of the mission together.

Cause.

Yeah.

And then lastly, but certainly not least, it's good for your customers. You should be sharing your noble cause in your marketing material, your website, whatever it is. That's how you get above the we're the cheapest and the best. Because everybody thinks, oh, well, that. Of course they're going to say that, but you know that.

Yeah, but what? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's you. You're going to say that. But you need people to come to that conclusion on their own. Yeah, Right.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome.

That's my take on it. So we'd love to hear your. Yeah. Your. No. What is your noble causer if you don't have one and you want help. Feedback at BusinessBrain Show. If you can't tell, I get a little excited. I love talking about this stuff because it really, really works. It works for me.

And I didn't, I didn't set Shannon up with this. Like, I, I didn't even think about it until we were halfway through the episode of, like, actually doing a live workshop. So you heard it happen live. And I, I, like, we will do the same thing for your business too. So. Yeah, absolutely. Like he said, feedback at BusinessBrain Show. You can also call or text us at 567-274-6977. We'll put that link in the show notes and keep living that charmed life. We'll see you on Friday.