Marketing Strategies That Work Part 2 – Joe Polish & Dean Jackson Live Q&A - I Love Marketing With Joe Polish And Dean Jackson - Episode #151

I'm dean jackson, he's joe polish. And this is the I love marketing podcast.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome back. This is a continuation of our live 150th episode super extravaganza. And we're opening up the lines, creating breakthroughs on the fly. I'm thinking about Joe. This is kind of like one of the things that people really loved was when we did the Yellow Pages roulette. Remember we did those episodes where we'd kind of open up the yellow Pages and pick a number and pick a business and then start applying the eight profit activators to it?

Yep.

That's kind of what we're doing live right now. That's kind of a fun thing. You know, we'll just kind of open it up to all the people. We got hundreds of people online from all over the world right now helping us celebrate our 150th episode. And this is not. I'm not sure what episode this will end up being, but whenever you're listening to it, that's what this is, the continuation of that. And we're going to continue creating breakthroughs on the fly.

Yeah, exactly. And so Shantae, our operator, when we first started, we actually were taking in calls. So people were able to. What did they need to do again in order to get in the queue? Shantae, we might have. Do you know how many we even have on hold right now?

Right now we have six people in the queue.

Six people. Well, let's go through those people first. And then if we need. If we have more time for questions after that, we'll continue to ask more people to call in. So, Dean, are you ready to start? If Shantae just lets us know the name of the person. Let's hit it.

The next person we have is Steve Sims. Steve, please go ahead.

Uh. Oh, Steve Sims, the founder of the Bluefish, which is the highest level concierge service. That's pretty. Pretty big deal here. And he's got an accent. So, Steve, how are you?

I'm fine, thank you. And it's called English.

Yeah, it is, right? Yeah, it's. Steve actually created something called Blue Cause, which is a. It's. It's a way for foundations and charities to raise money. Actually, I'll probably let you do a plug for that stuff, Steve, but question, comment, how can we help you?

Well, the first thing. Yeah, Dean. Dean, both of you are brilliant for a start. But Dean said at the beginning that we needed to open up our question with our takeaway from what you'd Already provided us of what we're getting out of this.

Right.

The danger when you have any kind of business is that you overthink it. Now, I've never really been told that I overthink much in life, but as the business has got bigger and you tend to try and dilute your tone a little bit, so your adverts are a little bit smoother, maybe the pictures are better, and you end up losing the character. The first thing that I learned from both you guys and the 25k and I love marketing and all these things, was to get back to who you were. Because if that worked, don't mess with it. And that's what I really learned. Keep things ugly, Keep things as you were. Keep the tone.

Be true to yourself, because when you.

Try to fake it, people can see through it. When you're real, even if your grammar's atrocious, even though you've got one of these weird, stupid accents, people can still relate to the fact that you're real. That was my takeaway.

Yeah. That's awesome. That's awesome. What do you think of that, Dean?

I think it's fantastic. I mean, I love Steve. Steve, one of the most authentic people that I know. I dig that about him.

Thanks, guys.

I've got a question for you, and I was very pleased to know that you were doing this. Congratulations on your success in any case.

But here was. Here was my question.

The podcast. And here's a very simple thing. How required are they? You know, everyone has to have an email grow, everyone has to have a great website now. Are podcasts now the integral part of any kind of online business? Because with my voice and joking aside, I'm concerned that a podcast is going to need subtitles for me. So I'm just wondering, do I really need to focus in my business of concierge and luxury to get into a podcast routine?

You know, it's a good question. I mean, first off, I don't think anything per se is. Is absolutely essential and needed as long as you are using certain tools. Now, certainly I'm a believer that as many different poles that you can put in that will catch fish, you might as well do it if it's actually working or has the ability to drive sales, drive exposure, bond with prospects and clients and that sort of stuff. But in your particular business, I don't think you need a podcast. If I was to to do a podcast, I would actually probably have unique stories of people having amazing experiences, and I would literally almost create a podcast around the stuff that Your business does. Like, for instance, people listening have no idea what the Bluefish does. But if someone wants to go backstage and meet Lady Gaga or go to the Oscars or go to the Elton John Oscar party or Lifetime Achievement dinner, or fly to space and go on the International Space Station, which is many millions of dollars, you can arrange that. One of our 25K members, Dan Fitzpatrick, wanted to. He had a dream to sing with Journey. And you literally organized, and I was there. You organized an event where before one of their concerts, he got up and sang three songs with the rock band Journey as a vocalist. And. And so having people share their stories of their bucket list, like the Bluefish Bucket List podcast would be something that you could do where people are just sharing things on their bucket list that they're able to accomplish through Bluefish. I mean, that's how I would probably think about it. But the bigger question is, and I want to throw this at Dean, too, so he gets an opportunity to ramble a little bit. What are the times and places to use a podcast, Dean? And where would you. Not recommending it? I mean, in terms of industries, in terms of applications.

Yeah. Well, here's the thing is that there's. There's. I think that a podcast is a unique and maybe the perfect communication vehicle because it's really. Audio is one of. Is the only medium that you can, you know, get somebody's attention while they're doing something else. Like, if you have a newsletter, they have to sit and physically read it. If you have a video, they have to sit and physically watch it. If you've got a. If you've got an audio podcast, like I love marketing or any podcast, you get to be with people in probably some of the most intimate settings where you have their full attention. When somebody's. I can't tell you how many people, when they're driving, they're going on a long trip or they're commuting, that you're with them when they're alone and there's nothing else for them to do. So you have their. You know, their body is occupied, but their mind is free. They can take a podcast with them. And the same thing, if they're walking their dog or exercising or doing something, you are. You're there in their ears. It's just you and them. And as far as the bonding goes, I can't tell you and Joe has the same experience that we go anywhere. We go to any conference or go somewhere where people are. You can't walk 10 paces without somebody coming up and saying, oh, I listen to you guys all the time. I love your podcast. It's just such an amazing thing. All that said, the purpose, the best thing that you can think of your podcast as is in Profit Activator three, your weekly or however often you do it, communication. That is educating and motivating and bonding with the people who have not yet made a decision to do business with you. And also it's the education of it. The part that you're the entertainment value of it too. And the information that you're sharing is also valuable for your clients. The people who already know you, like you and trust you. So as far as your profit activator 3 communication vehicle and your profit activator 7, communicating, building lifetime relationships with people. You need some kind of a flagship like that, some kind of regular reason to connect with people and that is a wonderful tool. And by the way, Steve, your voice is engaging and it's exciting and unique and you got one of those voices that as soon as you hear it, you know who you are. And I don't think you're. I think you're making too much of that. You're very articulate and interesting to listen to.

All right, well, thanks lads. I think it's fantastic, you know, carry on with your show, keep doing what you're doing and on behalf of all entrepreneurs, cheers.

Thank you so much, Steve. Awesome. Really appreciate it.

See you later, guys.

Bye. Yep, see ya. Cool. Shantae, who do we got next? Wait, I'm sorry.

Yeah, I'm very excited, Joe, because been working with Steve on creating a 90 minute book that is going to be fantastic. He's got such great ideas. I can't wait for everybody to see what he's up to.

Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, that's great.

So, Shaunta, next we have Eric Havoc. Eric, please go ahead. Hello guys.

So glad to be on the show.

Joe, I sent your team the, the.

Title for your book.

It's Unpolished From Drop Dead Carpet Cleaner to Necker Island.

Say that again. What's the title? Unpolished.

Unpolished From Dead Broke Carpet Cleaner to Necker Island.

Oh, gotcha. That's pretty good. Thank you, I appreciate it.

And we could do an Indiegogo campaign around it.

Yeah, you're right. You're right. Thank you. Thank you. Real quick.

If anybody questions whether if Joe is the biggest connector or not on a, on a call with hundreds of people, he wants to open the line so people can talk to each other.

I love that. Thank you. Thank you. I do my best. You Know people. People need to connect with each other. That's what makes the world go around.

So my biggest takeaway from the show and listen to pretty close to 150. It's just been just a positive mindset. And I love, you know, all the fantastics, all the awesome and that kind of thing, the abundance and that just pours out of the show. And I just want to say thank you guys for creating such uplifting content.

Thank you. Thank you.

And I read a book recently, and it really talks about implementing just really small, easy to do and easy not to do changes in your life and want to know some of, like, maybe your daily routines and some of the stuff that you guys do.

So say that again. Say that again.

So things that are. That you guys do on possibly a daily basis. I read a book that's just kind of about, you know, what are the.

Things that you do.

And I know, Joe, one of yours is meditation.

But there are things that are easy to do but also easy not to do.

So what are those things that are going to have, like, I guess, you know, the compounding effect to success.

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it. That one of those things is.

You.

Know, something like doing a weekly podcast would be that kind of thing where it's easy to do, but it's easy not to do. And compound effect of, you know, we start out with a conversation and we create an environment where every week we're going to be on the phone and we're committed to creating an episode, and that environment pulls you forward. And so anything that you do, anything in any area of your life, the environment that you create around it is what's going to draw you forward. You know, so that's. I think that's part of the. Part of the big thing that creates that compound effect of having 150 episodes in a worldwide audience. Now, it's just doing the right things consistently.

Yeah. You know, I will say in terms of rituals, and it's an important question, and the way to think about it, I think for a lot of people is what's going to allow you to win and be effective, to be energized and produce results and create a life that's awesome. Certainly, I can't imagine not sleeping well, so sleep is very important. I really strive, especially lately, since I've been helping Arianna Huffington with her book Thrive, which I've mentioned this on previous episodes. It debuted at number one on New York Times, and we're right in the midst of doing a crowdfunding campaign. On Indiegogo. And as we're right into this call, we're already 19% of the way there to our goal. So this is a subtle way for me to plug it again. GeniusNetwork.comThriveNow Go there immediately, as soon as we're done sleeping. So sleeping is critical exercise and working out is critical meditation certainly helps me highly recommend it to other Using thinking tools. I have a tool called the Genius Network where I identify the most important people that can help me do what I need done in my life. Dean Jackson, of course, is on my Genius Network. Dan Sullivan is on my Genius Network. My Assistant Eunice of 19 years is part of my Genius Network. A few of my 25k members. So I basically really focus on people that help me get what I want by focusing on helping them get what they want. Because if I help other people get what they want, then they're just naturally going to help me get what I want. But it's a matter of selecting the right people. I do not sleep anywhere near an electronic device. So I have an iPhone, but I always leave it downstairs in my home so it is nowhere near me because it has a magnetic, addictive quality about it. All electronics do and they keep you up. And last thing I want to do when I wake up is immediately look at a phone. Most people sleep with their phones. Most won't admit it, but I think that's very dangerous. And so having Internet fasting periods is critical. Going to the library, like I mentioned previously, is a great ritual. I use Strategic Coach tools like the Impact filter in the strategy circle just to help me think more thoroughly. And I use a, I use an app called Winstreak that Strategic Coach created where every day you actually list three wins that you had. And I occasionally, not every day, but I occasionally used a gratitude journal. And I basically, you know, it's the five minute journal and I basically write, you know what's going to make today a great day? What Three awesome things happen. And it's just a, you know, it's a great way to reset my brain. And so those are some of the things that I do. And having said that, I don't want any one to think in any way, shape or form like I'm some structural organized person because I, you know, I bounce around a lot and I bumble my way through a lot of my day and a lot of my life. And I've had some days where I can literally keep myself busy doing all kinds of random bullshit, but I might have 10 minutes of incredible productivity that made all of the nonsense worthwhile.

So, you know, one of the, you talk about the rituals like that, like even in the midst of being completely sometimes overwhelmed, sometimes so much going on, sometimes very scattered, you know. And the thing that is the most calming or focusing thing for me, it's the only way I can get things done is literally doing 50 minute focus finders of sitting no matter where you are. And I sometimes no matter what, if you don't have like I don't have a set schedule where I do this at this time and this at this time. And I actually create my life around trying to avoid situations like that. You know, my number one thing when I know I'm being successful is I can wake up today and say what would I like to do today? If I look at my calendar and there's, you know, all these appointments or all these commitments on my, on my calendar, it feels like I don't feel as good as when I look and see open spaces for creative work. But the good news about that is it doesn't matter when I do these things. I just know that on a day by day basis, if I can fit in a 50, 20, 50, if I can fit in a two hour block where I can focus for 50 minutes with no distractions, no interruptions, no telephone and turn on. One of my favorite tools that helps even with that focusing is focusatwill.com where there's music that's specifically designed to help you focus faster and longer. So if I can just get those into my calendar, into my day, I know that that's how I'm going to get things done. You realize as a creative person, as an idea guy, you can come up with ideas faster than you can actually implement them. But getting anything done requires real time. You now have to buckle down and actually do whatever it is your unique ability is. If you're focused, if you got it where you've got that window of time and you know that that's what's going to happen and you know what you're going to work on before you set that block. Like Joe goes to the library, I've set up my environment at my evil scheme hatchery where my office where everything I have a two story building. My office where everything operates is on the first level and then the entire top level is just me. There's no incoming phone here. I have an outgoing phone because we record podcasts and stuff. But I'm the only one up here. I can get behind two locked doors with a big whiteboard in there and nobody knows to everybody knows not to come up. And I'm able to focus that way.

So does that help? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Thank you guys so much again for.

Like all the positiveness.

And I know the other gentleman kind.

Of talk about sometimes you kind of feel you're like you're on an island. And just having, you know, your guys's weekly podcast is awesome.

Yeah.

Thank you. And you know, we want to not only help people grow and build businesses, but we want to do our best to reduce a lot of the angst that comes with being an entrepreneur because entrepreneurs that are at least operating on an ethical manner are some of the hardest working, most driven, most contributing people. And we certainly want to make the journey as awesome as it can be because there are many days where you have to go to war. And so. Thank you.

Thank you.

Shantae, who do we got next?

Next we have Joe Giletti. Joe, please go ahead.

Hi guys.

You guys rock. Thank you so much.

Absolutely. Thank you.

So, Dean, probably the two biggest takeaways I've had from I love marketing are the Cheese and Whiskers episode, which completely really introduced me to marketing and really understanding it. And I've used the nine word email multiple times actually with text messaging and had five figure paydays as a result. So great stuff. So here's my question. I appreciate all you guys do and I believe I've listened to every single episode. I started listening in 2012 and I've listened to everything and some of them multiple times. I finished my 90 minute book. But my biggest challenge, great stuff. My biggest challenge is really the targeting.

And how to get all of the.

Benefits that I feel like my target audience wants into the title.

You don't have to get all of the benefits in the title. You have to get the most compelling one. Let's do you want to brainstorm some what choose your target audience.

My target audience is busy professionals who are looking to earn better returns from real estate. And you know, so that's the first question. Do I write a book that says, for example, doctor's guide to making money in real estate, how to protect your money and double your roi? Or do I say just busy professionals? That's like that broader category having a hard time deciding.

Here's the thing is often you don't have to maybe draw attention to who they are in the title if you're completely tuned into what they want. So, you know, if I'm writing a book that is, you know, cheese for a mouse, I don't have to go you know, calling all mice. I don't have to put mice in the titles.

Right.

I just have to say, you know, free cheese this way. And they are compelled because that's what they're seeking out. Right. So often when you look at it like that, what would be the thing that your audience wants? Like, how would they articulate what the. If they were looking at the title.

Of the book.

What would be kind of the thing that would compel them to say, yeah, I want that?

Sure.

And so making more money in real estate, how are they going to do that? Let's kind of explore a little bit. What's your methods or what do you help people with?

I help people invest into apartment buildings that they buy at a discount. So that has passive income coming in. The three things that they want. I feel like I really know what they want. First thing they want is they want their money protected. Just like, like any other business that they would invest into, they want to protect their money. They want to increase the return on investment that they're getting from other sources, and they want it to be completely.

Passive because they don't want to be.

Swinging a hammer or fixing a house.

Sure.

Okay. And do you help people, do they just locally that you're like in one particular market, or do you help people buy apartments in. In other states or in wherever.

Yeah, other states. Emerging markets.

Emerging markets. So now you get into a situation where you can offer. What's really compelling is if somebody is an apartment investor. Now you can compel people by even offering a report on the. The top 10 apartment investment markets or things that are. That make it seem like there is. This is what they're. They're just going to look at the list and know what the best thing is. You know, we had a gentleman from the UK who came to one of my breakthrough blueprint events in London, and he was a financial advisor and he helped people manage their retirement funds and invest in annuities. But he had a headline on his ads and on his website that was trying to convince them of something, trying to show how to get a better return on your retirement income or something. That was along that line. And I suggested that we take out that kind of convincing part and just put offer a free, you know, April 2014 report on UK annuity yields, which is the raw, you know, the data. So that there are. They feel like, I'm going to get this list, I'm going to look at the annuities. There's number one job done. I've got my, you know, that's easy. But by raising their hand, they've identified themselves as somebody who's interested in thinking about annuities and their book, your book that would convince somebody of something is now there to accompany the report that you offer. So we do the same thing with the real estate agents. We have a book, the equivalent of a 90 minute book for realtors called how to sell your house for top dollar fast. But the offer that we make to get people to generate leads is we offer the free April 2014 report on winter Haven lakefront house prices because we know that the conversation going on in their mind is how much is my house worth? So the conversation going on in your prospect's mind is if your best prospect is somebody who is already sort of thinking about apartments or interested in apartments, it would be interesting for them to know the best performing apartment market in, in the country. Maybe I don't, and I'm just, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but that's just kind of the, the line of thinking that I would take is what would be the most compelling thing that would get them to raise their hand, you know?

Yeah, that's great. There you go. What do you think?

I think that's fantastic.

You've tweaked me and you continue to.

Make me money for free.

I need to send you a check sometime soon.

Thank you, guys. Jackson. Yeah, the address is located at. Just put it in care of Joe Polish. Just put it to my name, send it over to my office. The mailing address to send things is@joe polish.com. it's, it's easy to find. Awesome. Yeah. Well, good luck with everything and keep us posted.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Alrighty. So, Shantae, who do we got next?

Next we have Jeff Moore. Jeff, please go ahead.

Jeff Moore, Wild Thing Seafood.

Yeah. Well, congratulations on 150 episodes. I think I've listened to every one of them as well since the beginning, all the way dating back before. But I gotta tell you that my involvement with the two of you guys together and individually has literally changed my life. And I'm just very appreciative for everything that you guys continue to do. Being on I love marketing podcast is definitely one of those bucket list things as a, as a business person, entrepreneur, marketer, and all it does is make me want to do more and perform more to honor you guys. So I really, really appreciate both of you very much.

Thank you. I'm going to find the episode where we have Jeff so I can give it out to everyone. That's listening too. If they want to actually watch me interviewing Jeff, I guess. Jeff, if you had to be honest and say, who have you gotten more benefit from between Dean or me? I mean, it's pretty obvious, right?

It would be Eunice.

Yeah. Episode 116, the one with Jeff Moore of Wild Things Food. If you guys want to listen to watch it. Actually, it's. It's just a great video. And there's also on the itunes is the audio version. But it's. It's pretty awesome. So, yeah, thank you.

Gina, Rochelle and Eunice are the ones that I've gotten the most out of so far. Seriously, the two big takeaways for me and Dean, I. I think somewhere along the line, we should look at the economy of words. Because I was thinking about this as I was listening while I was driving. I love marketing at one time or another, and I'm thinking to myself, Dean, I think, speaks about 20% of the time during these things. And it's just like pure economy. It's like he turns the thing on and Joe goes. And then Dean will say something like, yeah, that's right. And then Joe goes again. And it's just. It's just awesome.

Totally.

But I would think the two things. One, Dean, would you like a cookie? Is probably the most transformational or transformative, whatever words you use there for my business in anything, if somebody's like, well, how do I advertise? Give it away for free. Oh, my restaurant. I don't have enough people in here. Invite people to come eat for free. I mean, the best way to share your product or service is. Is to have someone experience it. The best way to experience it is to give it away for free. And that's been something that I continue to do almost to a fault. I mean, with my wild things, when I was given free secret away, I need to figure out a way, you know, I needed to figure out a way to keep the cheaters from coming back. But, you know, that was a huge thing for me and will continue to always be something where I give that product or service away for free. And for Joe, you know, I would say that Joe, it's the star factor and it's meaning something they'll always remember and being someone they'll always remember. I remember when I signed up for just genius network interviews or even I love marketing or any type of product or event. There's always been that surprise factor. It's like, oh, God, I got something in the mail and it's from the guys at Piranha. And it's just you've done so much to make me feel a part of your family over there at Piranha. And I know that I'm not exclusive or unique in that. And I think that everybody I talk to is like that and feels the same way. And so those two things have been the big takeaway for each one of you having time to spend time, like I said, together and individually.

Thank you.

I would ask though, and thank you, But I would ask you this. There's probably not a day that goes by that you guys are not presented with million dollar or you know, multimillion dollar opportunities. And I'm sure that they're quite tempting. But as mature as you guys are in the business and being able to say no to stuff and really stay focused on your highest and best use and highest revenue generating activities, was there a moment of distinction where you said this is what I really have to do? And what was that decision process that you employed that got you focusing in on, you know, Joe, it was genius network and really that being the driving factor and the ship. And Dean, you know, the question that Dan gave you, what did you do for the rest of your life? You know, and starting out the breakthrough blueprint mastermind groups mean, what was it that narrowed your focus down? What was that decision and that conversation.

That you had with yourself?

That these are the one, two or.

Three things that this is it.

And I this is the water's edge for me. So that's my question.

You know, for me, the thing, it's a great question that you ask because so often people are, as entrepreneurs, there's no limit to the opportunities, there's no limit to what we could do. And for me, at the baseline, what I've really focused on is understanding what my personal definition of success is. What is it that I'm looking for in my life, you know, being able to kind of push the accelerator pedal, look forward and say, how will I know when I'm being successful? And so, you know, maybe almost 15 years ago now, I created a top 10 list of ways that I answer that question. I know I'm being successful when. And I have used those over those 15 years as a guidepost, as a thing to look at those, look at these way of saying, is this getting me closer or am I experiencing this being successful here now they're written in a way that has flexibility, has room to grow. Like so, you know, my first one, as I said before, is I know I'm being successful when I can wake up every day and ask what would I like to do today? That's for me, that's ideal because I love to have the freedom and the opportunities, you know. Then my number, my number three, after my passive revenue exceeds my lifestyle needs is that I'm working on projects I'm excited about and doing my very best work. Now if I unpack the words there, I'm working. I never want to be at a point where I'm just, you know, just goofing around and not doing anything and not contributing or not being, not growing, not continually evolving. I'm working on projects and I like project kind of work where I'm a. You know, when Dan Sullivan talks about make it up, make it real, make it recur, my strength is making it up and making it real. But I suck at making it recur. I'm not, I'm not great at the, you know, managing a system so surrounding myself with people who can do those, those things and make sure that things recur. But I like working on projects like that that I'm excited about because I always like to pursue the things that, that bring me joy, that, that make me happy and, and I'm doing my very best work. So that statement is as true today as it was 15 years ago. And I get to experience being successful in every moment of that. So it's like. And that allows the growth because my best work today is different than my best work 15 years ago. I'm a much better marketer, much better business person. I've had a lot more experiences today and I have bigger opportunities today because I've spent 15, the last 15 years being excited and working on projects that allow me to do my very best work. So I get to continually evolve. I think that's really true for Joe too. When you look at his genius networking, turning that into, to a verb instead of just a noun. It's not his genius network. He turns it into a verb of genius networking at higher and higher levels. And here he has now, you know, network to the highest levels that you can imagine. And it's just, it's great. So it's great to watch.

Right? Right.

Yeah.

You ever run into a thing where you're over capacity, like where you've got to, you got to pull back every.

Minute of every day.

Okay.

But I don't let it overwhelm me. I realize that that's something when, if you just do a 50 minute focus finder. Here's what's very interesting. If you just. Because you get a lot of racket going on in your brain you get a lot of things, projects and opportunities. If you create a list, you do a 50 minute focus finder and just try and do an example exhaustive list of every project that's in your mind that you could potentially do or you'd like to do, or you've got an opportunity to do. First of all, you'd realize that it's a finite list. You've got some major ones that are in your mind, but if you create some repository for them where you have a list of all of the things, I use trello.com and we have a set of boards, a set of organizing things for me called the Pastures. We're really evolving to this whole embracing this self milking cow idea and really embracing my belief to just focus on the things that are cow work. So we've set up the whole organization system that I've got a section of Trello, that's just for me that's called the Pastures. And that's where every idea that I have, every project possibility, everything, I put it in there. So I'm acknowledging it, I'm putting it over here. But when you lay them all out and you look at them, I put them through a little bit of a test. I look at this and I say, is this still going to be a good idea one year from now? If I didn't do it, is it still going to be a good year? Is it still going to be a good idea one year from now? And if that's okay, then I put that aside. If it's a short term thing, then I just look at it and say, okay, is this really more valuable than, than what I'm going to look at? So I look at is it a good idea? Is it still going to be a good idea in a year? Is it going to be an idea that has legs that last more than 10 years, like kind of evaluate what's the lifetime value of this idea and.

I get.

Some kind of ranking system for them. But you'd be amazed that all these ideas that you have, how many of them will still be a good idea a year from now. And that gives you some freedom to think about it. I love, like Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite movie makers. And you know, he's, I think he's only made nine films right now, but there he can only make one film.

At a time, right?

And you don't know what the arc of his whole career is going to be until he's done. I think he's, I think he's got.

I don't.

He's got a finite number of movies that he wants to make anyway, but, you know, that kind of thing. And same thing with Warren Buffett. You know, his approach is like getting like a punch card, you know, where he's only focused on making one or two decisions a year. You know, he makes one or two good investments a year and that's all he needs, you know, just having the discernment to evaluate them and look at where your focus can be.

Yeah. And I mean, there's so much that you just said, Dean. I mean, I will just add that, you know, I mean, I'm constantly in situations where my eyes for opportunities are bigger than my stomach's capacity's ability to execute it. But at the same time, you just get better at tolerating a lot of stuff and being more selective and. And you know, at the end of the day, I mean, my time management methodology, I'm really, you know, it's always a work in progress. I spend a lot of time talking with my friend JR about it where it's like, you know, time management by attitude, where, you know, once you've reached a certain point, you have certain capabilities. You're like, you know, do I need to do any of this shit? And so part of it is really picking and choosing, you know, things that are elf, you know, easy, lucrative and fun. But I get caught in the trap like anyone else of, you know, thinking something's a lot less work than it actually is. Or I have a tendency to say yes to things without even knowing that I've obligated myself. I have a real soft spot for salespeople and just things that seem interesting and kind of cool. So I'm easily derailed. However, I do my best to build a team around me and to spend my time with high level entrepreneurs. One of my greatest schools for learning is my genius network. And the one activity that I will continually focus on is being a genius networker and not working with people that aren't eating my dog food. I mean, one of my greatest filtering mechanisms, I've multimillion dollar. They haven't happened yet. So it's potential. Potential just means you haven't done it yet. So I have people constantly pitching me on, get involved in this, take a look at this, take a look at that. And I have a lot of people that send me books saying, hey, I want to send you my book. Can you please read it and let me know your thoughts? And I'm like, you know, I've had To tell some people, if you truly want me to read your book, you're going to have to pay me my consulting fees, which is 25 grand for half a day. Unless it's a book that I just want to read, because I read plenty of things that are just interesting to me. But if someone sends me a book that I wouldn't typically want to read, just because someone sent it to me doesn't mean I need to be obligated to read their book. So the world is constantly throwing their agenda on you, you and wanting you to make it your agenda. And things that are important to other people, they think they should be important to me. I'm constantly having people hit me up to introduce them or send an email to Richard Branson, and I try to redirect them to episode number 29 on the Magic Rapport formula, saying, honestly, do you think the amount of money and time I've put into that relationship that I'm just going to make a connection to someone because they think their shit's important? Are you a client? Have you done anything to create value? I don't ever ask anyone to do anything if I can't create value for them first. I don't really like when people try to do the same thing to me. They want something, but they're not wanting to create value. One of my filtering processes when it comes to joint ventures and opportunities is unless it's really selective or there's legitimate reason, I just try not to do anything in terms of business relationships with people that are not part of my genius network, that are literally not in my 25k group, because through that network, I mean, I've, you know, I'm in the same boat. There endless opportunities just within my own network. So I tend to, you know, build relationships because if someone wants to do a quote, unquote joint venture with me, it takes time to talk with them about it, understand what it's about, strategize. I'm like, you know, if you think we're going to make hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars together, then you can probably pay 25 grand to be in my group. But don't join the group if your primary motive is you want to do a JV with me, because that's, you know, that's not what the group is for. The group is for people that like ideas. They like access. So I never pitch it as joint genius network because it's going to lead to a joint venture. But those are some of the things that I've, I've learned over the years and certainly one of the reasons that I am in strategic coach, because strategic coach helps you think through opportunities, which ones are part that you're aligned with. I don't want to have relationships with people that don't want to have relationships with me. If I'm at a point where I have to really use persuasion in order to get someone into, into my world or walk through my door, I have a limited threshold. I think I make pretty good offers, I think I have pretty good stuff and it's not for everybody. A lot of my selling and marketing does as much to repel the wrong fit clients and wrong fit relationships as it does to try to sift, sort and screen the right fit clients. One of the ways that both me and Dean use direct response marketing is direct response marketing is literally time management marketing. When you use consumer awareness guides, when you use free recorded messages, when you use the eight profit activators following the eight profit activators that is thoroughly described in our breakthrough DNA report on ilovemarketing.com if anyone listening has not read it, that system of marketing saves an enormous amount of time wasted with, you know, wasted with, with people that you don't even really need to talk with unless you've gotten them through an educational process. So I applied marketing to direct response networking, direct response, relationship building. When I hire somebody, you know, we recently hired, you know, I hired a new assistant and got a new assistant for Eunice. And out of 130 applications, it came down to, you know, picking the top 10 people that went through a video process. They watched a long video of what it is I was looking for about the company. They had several interviews with my CEO in Eunice and then one of my other team members, Gina, who's been with me for 10 years, who you know very well. And when it came down to it, I ended up having to meet with three people who made the cut. And I hired two of them. I was only supposed to hire one, but I liked them both, so I hired two. I even liked the third one too, but I can't find, I can't find a place for her. So I recommended her to a couple of my 25k members because that's just what I do. And so that's one of the ways. But it's a work in progress. I mean, I'm trying to learn stuff every day so I don't want anyone to use me as an exact model of have my shit completely together in that area. Because there's a million awesome opportunities in the world. And it's like being a kid in a candy store. And the more you make yourself well known and the more value you create, guess what? You get more opportunities thrown at you. So that's the beauty of working at it for a while. Well, thank you.

Yeah, thank you. I'm sure I speak for everybody on this call, that you guys and Genius Network and Breakthrough Blueprint and Platinum and everything. I love marketing. You guys have introduced us to some of the most extraordinary minds on the planet. And, you know, I think that we can all honor you guys by implementing some of the biggest takeaways and then be, you know, part of your catalog of success as well.

Yeah.

Thank you, man.

I appreciate it.

All right, guys.

And you're much cooler than Dean. You really are. You're much cooler than Dean.

And I have to talk to you later about the call.

Awesome. Okay. Look forward to it. Thanks, Jeff.

Yeah. Say Joe Polish saved my life.

That's. Yeah, yeah. Just. Just make a video of that, and please upload it on YouTube. And.

Yeah, there you go. Thanks, Joe.

Awesome. Shantay. Who do we got next?

Next we have Bob. Bob, please go ahead.

Hey, guys, Congrats on episode 150.

Thank you.

You bet. Thanks so much for providing the podcast. You guys share an unbelievable amount of good information. In fact, there's so much good information that I feel kind of like a deer in headlights, and I don't know which way to go or which focus on. I really am looking to take my business to the next level and crack the code, as Dean put it, but I don't know really what step to take. Do you guys have any suggestions for determining what area I should focus on right now?

Well, what business are you in and what's most important to you?

Well, the business is sort of interesting. It started kind of as a hobby, experimental project. What I do is permanently save voicemail messages for people. So if they have a message in their voicemail box, I basically kind of go in and, you know, access it over the computer and record it and send them back an MP3 or a CD. So I've been doing that for about three years now. And I started off just doing it for a couple friends, and I threw a website together and it worked. And I started getting orders, playing around with some Google advertising, and I was playing around with that and got it going up to, you know, doing 50 or 60 orders a month. And now I'm looking to kind of crack the code and get things moving to the next level.

Yeah. So, you know, when you Say the most important thing. I would kind of go back to that question I posed earlier. On the 1st, I think the first hour we were doing the live, you know, this live episode was if you were to wave a magic wand and have, you know, three things happen, what would they be?

Well, I guess the number one thing would be to get more orders coming in. Over the last year we focused kind of on our system, on how we handle, you know, maintain the orders and keep our sanity and make sure we're responsive to everyone. And now we're pretty solid in our capacity is. We're nowhere near what our capacity is. So getting more orders in the door, I guess is number one.

Yep. What's number two? Number two?

Number two.

I don't know.

I'm still thinking about number one, I guess. Number two, I guess would be. Well, of course I went through the, you know, the before, during and after things that you guys in the breakthrough DNA and I think probably kind of doing a stronger after units following up with people and kind of encouraging referrals more formally would probably be number two.

Okay. And of course we can go on and on on this. But what I would recommend most of the time it's just sitting down and clarifying and triaging if you need to. Where to spend your time. Meaning what is going to give you the greatest return when there's a lot of different options and you feel overwhelmed. And again, this. There's probably people that are way more qualified to talk about this than me. It's just some of the stuff that I've done is I'll do like Dean calls it a focus finder where you just dump kind of everything that's on your mind, everything into a piece of paper or type it out. I prefer handwriting it because it tends to get ingrained into my brain in a much deeper way. And I'll make a list of like if I have just too many things on my plate and I don't know where to start and I need a way to kind of sift through it all is I'll make a big list of stuff and then I'll put a dollar figure next to each item. And I look at it kind of like a mercenary. Like if I'm just going to look at my time, which is limited, and my capacity, which is limited, and I want to direct it and design the most financially useful, productive decision making. I'll put a dollar figure next to everything. What it's worth if I do it, then I put next to it. Is it a probability? What's the possibility that if I do this, it's a reality. Now I can put possibility next to almost anything because I'm unreasonable, I'm short sighted in some areas. I have insane lack of impossibility thinking because I think most things could be accomplished. Not idiotic things like I'm going to be a professional NBA player. I mean, I don't write stuff like that down. But for the most part, when it comes to, you know, when it comes to business propositions or meeting someone or accomplishing something, I'm a pretty big thinker. However, possibility is one thing, probability is another. And so I identify what is possible versus what is probable, meaning what is the real likelihood that this will actually happen and how much time will it take. So if I put a dollar figure probability and time like this is going to take an hour to really get this project going or to complete it, depending on what it is. For instance, if it's a campaign to write a sales letter and send it out through direct mail, or if it's to build a website and create a particular product, how much time is it going to take? And I start filtering. That's one way to just look at the list. And then the other thing is, what do you really need? Dan Sullivan says you're always missing opportunities. People are like, when you go swimming, you miss a lot of the water. If you go swimming, you're not going to touch every inch of the water. You only need a little bit of the water. And so you only need a few tools in your toolbox in order to really have an awesome business. And most people are more interested in massive amounts of quantity than quality. And so getting yourself to say no and saying yes to the right things. There's that whole thing of don't work hard, work smart. Well, part of it is working hard on smart things because a lot of people work hard on really stupid things. And they, you know, they, they don't really work very smart if you're working really smart on the wrong thing. So doing things right is much different than doing the right things. So the more you can get clear on what's the right thing for you, what's the right thing for your business. And that is not something that I think most people come to by hearing about it or reading about it or going to a seminar about it. It's kind of like the Sandler sales system. And they wrote a book called you can't teach a kid how to ride a bike at a seminar. I mean, the kid's got to get up on the bike fall down a few times and kind of get the moves down. Well, the same thing with juggling opportunities or dealing with sort of stuff. And I will finish my rant here with the Dan Kennedy line. The problem is not the problem. The problem is how you think about the problem. And the opportunity is not the opportunity. The is how you think about the opportunity. So giving yourself a different frame of reference and a different way to think about it is really important, which is why. Why are people in my 25k group that are super successful, they make a lot of money, they know what they're doing, they have plenty of ideas, and many of them have tremendous resources. Why does some very successful person go to Dean's breakthrough blueprint and spend three days with Dean going through thinking? It's because, you know, they want sounding boards. They don't want to figure it out on their own. And there is strength and intelligence in getting a different frame of reference. And, you know, having someone point out to you, oh, you could probably make a shift here. You know, little hinges swing, big doors. So a lot of times it's just simply the act of someone helping you think it through. You know, the same reason that you asked a question to us, you know, it's just to get our perspective on it. And if that, if you like what I. Anything I said or a piece of what I said, and it'll give you the ability to shift your, you know, perspective how you do things, then it's, It's. It's helpful. Awesome.

Thank you so much, Joe.

Absolutely. Is that, Is that helpful?

No, it's absolutely helpful. I think, you know, I get a lot of. A lot of thinking to do.

It just, it helps.

Obviously it makes sense. It's kind of seems like common sense after the fact where you just sit down and list everything out and kind of filter them out, use a dollar amount or a probability factor and just kind of. And do it that way. So, yeah, I think I'm gonna start with that and see where it lands.

Yeah. And by the way, I misquoted. I said the problem is not the problem by Dan Kennedy. It's actually by Dan Sullivan. I can't believe I said that. But yeah, it's, it's. It's Dan Sullivan. He's not, you know, it's completely a bunch of dance, but they're, they're all smart. So thank you and good luck. Keep us posted.

All right, thanks, Dan.

All right, I think we have one more question, unless more people have popped in. So do we have another question? Shantae?

That was actually the last question.

Well, perfect, because we are right at the 60 minute mark and I'm very happy I didn't say get more people into the queue because we would then be running over. We ran a little over on the first one. And Dean, can you believe we've been going for two and a half hours? I know.

Isn't it great?

Yeah. And we created two I love marketing episodes. In the midst of this, we launched an indiegogo campaign that we put live and I'd like everyone to go there and check it out. It's about the book that I've helped Arianna Huffington with called Thrive. It debuted on number one at New York Times and we want to keep this bad boy going and we want you to see the marketing campaign at and we want you to read the book. I don't know. When I say we, that's assuming Dean really. I don't know if Dean really cares all that much, but to me it's a big deal.

I do. I care because you care and I care about you.

That's the right answer. Geniusnetwork.com ThriveNow T H R I V E now will take you to the Indiegogo page. Check it out and if you like what it is that's being offered there, go ahead and fund this campaign. We're attempting to raise 15,000 dol and you have an opportunity to tour Huffington Post if you're one of those high contributors. A chance to win a ticket to an event I'm doing with arianna Huffington on August 16th and you can get all the details at again, the site one more time is geniusnetwork.com thrivenow now. Dean, I'd like to ask you before we wrap up, what has been the biggest takeaway about what we just did for two and a half hours and what's the future sort of prediction you want to make for? I love marketing listeners and how people can best utilize the training that we have made available for free as part of our podcast we've been doing now for almost three years.

I'm excited. Looking forward now already to our big 200th episode extravaganza. We're going to have to do something really exciting for that. But the fun thing is that we never get tired of it. We never get tired of talking about marketing and our love for marketing just keeps getting deeper and deeper. We learn new things and we meet new people and we've created this incredible environment where we get to surround ourselves with a community of people who love marketing and just the impact that that's having and the cool people that we're getting to meet. It's all very exciting.

Yeah, totally. Totally. And what else? What else? I mean, how do you think you've gotten so lucky where you are able to do a podcast with me and I have to teach you marketing all the time and that sort of stuff, so you sound smart. I mean, how do you think.

How did I get so lucky?

Right? I wondered.

Always on my mind. Well, I'm excited to see, you know, now we've got some.

Aren't you ever gonna try to insult me? I mean, I try to egg you on all the time, and people are just waiting. I mean, come on, Dean. I know. They know. That is fantastic.

Part of the magic, what you know.

And I want to. I want to let people into some backstage stuff that's happening here. So we have this really smart dude named JR who listens to the episodes. And for every episode, we have to explain to people what people are going to learn. I'm going to share with you a couple of the bullets that he wrote. And when the episodes are posted on I Love Marketing, they're there. The I Love Marketing. The first one. Dean and Joe look back at how far I Love Marketing has come and share some of their favorite moments, which we've done. The number one thing you can do to improve your marketing, which we talk about how to create your own school that pays you to attend. And Dean and Joe take questions from ILM fans and create breakthroughs live. Right. Then the second one that we have just got done. Joe and Dean take more live calls from I Love Marketing fans and create even more breakthroughs. Dean shares his favorite tool for staying focused longer and be more productive. Joe points out why direct response marketing is time management marketing and how to put more cheese into your offers so your prospects want what you have. And Dean explains how to know when you are being successful. Now, that is marketing. And what I also wanted to point out is that, see, all this happens because it's teamwork. It doesn't happen overnight. But if you literally get focused on what it is you're doing and you bring smart people into the fold that believe in what you're doing, that like what you're doing, you can actually accomplish a lot of stuff because you can leverage yourself through marketing and you can leverage yourself through other people. I just wanted to kind of let people in on what we kind of do and how we're doing it. And I also have to address one more thing. Dean. I have gotten Tim Paulson sent me a text during this that said, what are you wearing? No, no, actually he wrote, if you and Dean got into a fight, could you take him? Jeff wrote, what are you wearing? David Holloway, who's a professional football player, wrote, dude, the audience wants to know what you're wearing from the text in the beginning. Happy 150th, bro. Which is cool. Thank you very much, David.

I wonder if anybody could guess what I'm wearing.

Yeah, I don't even want to think about it, honestly. Yeah, I mean, it can undermine my entire evening. But what are you wearing? I mean, in case you all know what I'm wearing, I went and worked out. I didn't even freaking have enough time to take a shower. I came in and I'm wearing Lululemon shorts and an Under Armour shirt. Is that sort of. Does that mix?

That's perfect.

And yeah, I mean, that's pretty much what I'm wearing in my office with my well dressed team downstairs and I'm looking like a freaking slug. And what are you wearing?

What do you think I'm wearing?

A big smile on your face because we're finally done and we got hopefully a bunch of happy people. We'll open the line in just a minute and say goodbye to everyone. But you're wearing a Robin outfit. I mean, you know, Batman and Robin thing. You're wearing like a little mask over your eyes. I mean, what?

That's it. Today I'm wearing a long sleeve black.

T shirt.

And some shorts and my orange Chuck Taylors.

Really? That is exciting. That is exciting. Yep. So, you know, that's it. So everyone, we're going to have the, I guess we'll have the Russell Simmons interview up there at some point in time. Dean, make sure we put that up there relatively soon. And thank you all who have contributed to the Ariana Huffington Thrive book campaign. And let me point out, this is not a book that has anything to do with politics. And we are equal opportunity, like in terms of giving people access to interesting people. You know, we did a great episode with Richard Vigory, you know, number 142, who wrote he's got a book coming out called why Conservatives outlive Liberals, which I think is kind of funny. You just got to hear the episode. It's tongue in cheek, but it's great. We've got so many amazing strategies and methods we're going to continue to share with you on I love marketing and thank you for everyone that has started in I love marketing meetup group people that go to them, people that will continue to build them. And we are here to serve as best as we can. So just thank you all and for those of you that have been on the line with us going on 2 hours and 40 minutes now, thank you. And I'm going to unmute the line and we'll say goodnight to everyone. Any final last words? Dean?

That's it.

Good night, everybody.

Yeah, and go see the movie if you haven't seen the movie. The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Awesome.

Awesome movie. Okay. All right, I'll unmute the line. Okay. Who's still there?

Awesome.

You know what? Thank you all. Have a wonderful evening. Or if you're in another part of the world where it's the morning, thank you for hanging with us this entire time and we look forward to continuing with all of you. Please share your comments, what you thought of this call on ilove marketing.com and have a. Have a great evening. Thanks, everyone. Wow, that's. That's pretty awesome. I'm still here. I'm listening to all this. So I'm going to mute now. So everyone have fun and we will talk with you soon.