In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Ryan McCotter, founder of The Top Sale, a digital marketing venture. The conversation begins with a sponsor plug for Authors Unite and quickly moves into Ryan sharing a pivotal college story where he ignored skeptical peers and persisted on a risky project, teaching him to listen only to knowledgeable sources. He then offers a core strategic principle: identify the highest‑impact, lowest‑cost system and perfect it, especially in the crowded digital‑marketing space. Ryan’s broader business advice stresses the importance of offering products or services that people truly want, warning that many startups fail by neglecting this. Reflecting on personal growth, he advises his younger self to keep moving forward, embrace mistakes, and maintain a regret‑free mindset focused on continual progress. When asked about happiness, Ryan cites visualization—creating a vivid mental picture of one’s ideal life and working toward it. He highlights "The Hero's Journey" by Joseph Campbell as his favorite book, noting its value in recognizing cultural patterns across media. His favorite quote, from Tony Robbins, emphasizes momentum for success and the need for self‑reflection when failing. The episode concludes with Ryan sharing his contact details (email, LinkedIn, Instagram) and a brief plug for the Anchor podcast platform.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Ryan McCotter with us. He's the founder of The Top Sale and has been involved in a lot of very successful projects in the past 5 years. So welcome to the show, Ryan.
Yeah, thanks for having me on, Tyler.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive into the first question. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, well, that's a great question, Tyler Wagner. Well, this definitely has to be when I was in the midst of college. I'd gotten into a project with people, people who had no business, by the way, had no idea what they were talking about. These people were telling me that the project I'd gotten involved was risky and not something that was going to work. I think many people, just people who aren't good at staying sharp or don't really know what they're doing, will hear things like that and get discouraged. Luckily, I kept pressing forward and was very successful. Very successful. That kind of experience reminds me, limit who you listen to solely to the people who know what they are talking about.
Yeah.
Because there is a whole lot of nonsense out there, and that's something you could take to the bank for sure. Know who you're listening to. Keep that audience. Sure.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Okay, um, well, here, I'll give you this. Uh, this really applies to, uh, any industry or expertise, but it would definitely apply to mine. Uh, I would say find the thing that is going to make the biggest amount of impact for the least amount of money, uh, and perfect that system. Uh, use that as your guidepost because Obviously with something like what I do, digital marketing, there are a million things to do and a million things to spend your money on. So, you know, really narrow down what you're going to do.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? You're not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah, well, this sounds really simple, but, you know, offer a product or service that people actually want. So many businesses never get off the ground because they fail in that regard. So my advice would be to, you know, not fail in that regard.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Probably keep doing what you're doing. Maybe some lottery ticket numbers. I guess that's allowed to answer that question. I don't know. I guess everything is a learning experience. So I'm glad I made any mistakes I did. I, I'm a person who does make a lot of mistakes. I do a lot of things, you know, a lot of things, but I do not really have any regrets this far within my business life. Every day is like a stepping stone to next week, next year, next 10 years, whatever. When you know where you're going, you tend to not have any regrets, I think.
Yes. And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Yeah, well, I mean, a lot of entrepreneurs will kind of tell you that the key to happiness is visualizing. Almost a physical, mental image, an idea of your life and working towards that ideal until it becomes your reality. You know, I think, you know, I think a lot of entrepreneurs will say that, and it sounds kind of mystical and spiritual, but I guess so is the question, so that's okay.
And what's the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
The best book I've ever read was The Hero's Journey. By Joseph Campbell. That's a very good book. Anyone who doesn't know what it is, who does— anyone who does any kind of movies, books, TV, anything media related, I will tell you that that's their Bible. Believe me, I used it for something different because the knowledge you can learn there can be abstracted and applied to culture as a whole. I think it really just teaches you to recognize patterns in a lot of cultural elements, which is very useful for anyone.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Oh yeah, you know, I wrote this down because I figured you'd be asking that. So, people who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on this downward spiral, that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, you know, Tony Robbins said that, and I love it because it really is actionable. I see so many people, you know, believe me, they are good people and smart people, but they just keep failing. And it's sad because it's like they're stuck because they never take the time to self-reflect and change their course when they realize they're failing. If you are succeeding, you know, keep having success. That's the good, that's the recommendation there. But if you are failing, recognize you are doing something wrong and change course.
Yes, thank you so much for coming on, Ryan. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Haha, well, thanks a lot for the plug there, Tyler. Probably by email, you can reach me at rmccotter@thetopsale.com. I'm also really easy to find on LinkedIn or Instagram. You know, I love having conversations over social media. That's how me and Tyler met.
So awesome, man. Thanks again for hopping on. We appreciate it.
Yeah, thanks a lot, Tyler. Appreciate it. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast. That's anchor.fm/podcast.
