Ignorance rocks… sometimes.

The older I get, the more I realize how much more I can learn.

(I’ll talk about why this is important later in this post)

While playing professional football, however, I thought I was the smartest (and toughest) person in the world.

Boy was I wrong.

It couldn’t have been farther from the truth but I guess there is something about being young, and padding it up everyday to take on some of the meanest athletes in the world that makes you think you know it all.

It wasn’t until I got injured and retired from the game when I realized I didn’t know much about anything.

The Power of Education

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of our current education system in schools.

I had a great time at my high school and while in college, but it was more about the friends I made, the sports I played, the girls I chased, and the overall personal experiences… not as much on the classroom experience.

I don’t want to get into debate about our education system but if you want to then check out what friend Michael Ellsberg has to say about it in his book The Education of Millionaires.

Check out this video see what type of eduction I’m talking about (the powerful kind).

The education that makes the most sense to me is when you continue to educate yourself on your craft (for me it’s business, speaking, marketing, building relationships, etc) and on personal development.

It doesn’t matter how good you are at something because you can always improve and take your game to another level.

The greatest athletes in the world continue to practice harder, longer, and more deliberately than their competitors.

This is what makes them great.

Enter Coaching

I’m a huge fan of having a coach.

I’ve had many great mentors.  The more intimate ones that I would call or meet in person early on were Stuart Jenkins, Chris Hawker, Frank Agin, among others.

I spent countless hours bugging these wise individuals, asking them questions, challenging their thoughts, and offering value in any way I possible could.

I can’t thank them enough for putting up with me

I also had many mentors that I followed online.

Some I’ve become great friends with as I’d email or  call from time to time for advice, while others I would simple learn by following their example.  (shout out to Gary, Chris, Carrie, Seth, Tim and others who have been so helpful in many ways)

Just as the best athletes practice harder than everyone else, they also seek top coaches to take their game to the next level.

I was pretty ignorant about business a few years back, and it’s mostly due to having zero experience in the business world.

Finding a coach and mentor allowed me to learn quicker than I could alone.

Watch this video to learn more about the power of coaching for your business.

What do you think?

Do you continue to attend workshops, conferences, and training sessions to improve your skills?

Do you have a mentor or a coach that guides you in the direction to achieve your goals?

Or are you just going about your days wondering why you aren’t seeing the results you desire?

Would love to hear your thoughts below.

I was recently interviewed by my good friend Bryan Elliott from Behind the Brand.

One of the frequent questions I receive is, “what is it you do, and how did you grow your business to the size it is in such a short time?”

Since I’m an entrepreneur, I’ve got the curse of not knowing how to answer the question easily.

However, in this interview I broke down what my businesses are, and how Sean and I took it from nothing two years ago, to a multi-million dollar business today.

Watch the interview above as I also share:

• How to grow an Internet business from $0 to millions
• How to use LinkedIn.com to find new customers
• How to build and manage a list of passionate fans (that buy your products)
• How digital goods and products are changing the game
• My personal tips for success
• How to identify your personal strengths to be your very best
• How you can overcome adversity when you face obstacles

Make sure to say hi to Bryan on Twitter for putting this together and check out the full show here.

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Is there anything I said that makes sense or confuses you?   Can you apply the things I’ve said in your own business or do you feel my ideas wouldn’t work for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Facebook.

It’s a beautiful thing.

I still remember hearing about it my Junior year in college.

A transfer student from Arizona showed me her profile page and I was like “What is that, Myspace?”.

She replied, “NO.  It’s ‘The Facebook‘ and it’s the hottest site around for college students right now”.

I was instantly hooked.

My school wasn’t yet “cool enough” to have access so I rallied a bunch of classmates to submit to the site and allow for our college .edu email address to be accepted.

Three months later and we got approved.

Everyone created a profile.  Everyone talked about it.  Everyone loved it.

Facebook Marketing

Nothing has changed today in terms the popularity of the site.

People still love it as it’s by far the most powerful site in the world.  However, a lot has changed for business owners and entrepreneurs.

I won’t go into the entire history of Facebook and how it has evolved (that would take many blog posts) but Facebook has done some amazing things to help businesses attract more customers and increase sales.

It’s one of the primary focuses for most marketers now with Fan Pages, Facebook Ads, and Facebook Apps.

However, there is a lot to think about as a business owner and how do you know what to spend your time on while using Facebook?

Introducing FBInfluence

My company has created a number of educational training courses for small business owners, entrepreneurs, medium sized companies, and the Fortune 500 guys.  We create programs to help these businesses attract more leads, gain more buzz and press, optimize traffic with email marketing, and leverage free social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

We educate often on the topic of Facebook, but never created a specific course dedicated to the topic… until now.

What is FBInfliuence?

It’s your one stop course for all things Facebook Marketing.

It’s purpose?

To get you more exposure, more traffic to your website, more leads for your business, and more sales.

It’s simple.

Facebook took over a long time ago and it isn’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon.  Especially as it gains momentum on hitting the one BILLION member mark!

Are you using Facebook to the best of your ability and do you really know how to market your products and services on it?

Who Created FBInfluence?

My company (along with business partner Sean Malarkey) produced FBInfluence.

We both have created Facebook marketing materials in previous webinars and trainings we do, but we never had the ultimate course on Facebook in one place.

Enter Amy Porterfield.

Amy Porterfield is one of the top experts in the world when it comes to understanding how to successfully create and optimize Facebook for professionals and businesses… no matter what their industry is.

Learn more about who Amy is in this video and here are the main things she covers in the course:

• How to get automated leads and SALES 24/7
• The little-known trick to attract highly-targeted prospects who WANT to do business with you
• A simple but powerful way to get your testimonials on autopilot day in and day out
• How to be instantly recognized as the most sought out leader in your industry
• The simple paragraph that creates a vibrant community of raving fans who happily spread the word about you, your products and services
• You already know it’s time to stop wasting your energy and make Facebook work for you.
 This program will turn your Facebook fans into SUPER FANS, action-taking raving fans who are eager to buy what you are selling.
• And of course… much, much more

Integrating Facebook in Your Marketing

Here’s the deal.

Facebook is an important part of my marketing mix in my sports company and my online marketing company.

It helps with branding, connecting with my potential customers on a personal level, differentiating myself from competitors who aren’t using Facebook, driving more traffic, increasing sales, and a number of other benefits.

If you aren’t getting the most out of Facebook, it’s time to start now with FBInfluence.

Get FBInfluence Today

I love having a roadmap that gives me a step-by-step process for getting results.

It’s kind of like having a coach guide you to your end goal, but without the pain of hearing them yell at you all day

We’ve created FBInfluence specifically for you in mind.  And we guarantee more leads, traffic and sales once you apply the system.

It’s that simple.

Sign up today for FBInfluence (which is already becoming the most popular Facebook marketing course in the world in a short amount of time) and if you aren’t happy with your results then you can have a full refund.

I put a LOT of pride in everything I create or produce.  If you aren’t satisfied, then I’ve failed (and I hate failure!)

If you decide to refund, then you get a full refund within 60 days and you can keep the product (again, because my failure is your gain

Take Action Either Way With Facebook

A lot of companies and entrepreneurs are seeing massive results with Facebook.

It’s time you do as well.

I want you to take action and sign up for FBInfluence.

However, I realize that some may want to spend the time to learn all of this on their own, or they may have an excuse for getting started with Facebook.

Stop with the excuses, and just take action either way.

Those that take massive action get massive results.

I hope to see you as one of our newest members of FBInfluence as I know you are going to love what you see, and the business your receive from applying the Facebook marketing strategies.

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What are your current challenges with marketing your business or products on Facebook?  Have you struggled trying to figure it out or you already seeing the potential for massive results with your Facebook marketing?  Make sure to post your thoughts and successes in the comments below.  Also, I’m hanging out a lot more on Facebook so feel free to chat with me on my page here.

I’ve learned a lot over the last few years in my business.

The most important thing I’ve learned is how ignorant I really am.

Understanding this however, has set my business up for great opportunities.

That’s right.  My ignorance may be my greatest asset.

Why?

Because I recognize that there will always be individuals much smarter than myself in the business world.  Surrounding myself with these individuals (and then taking action on the information I learn from them) helps me take my game to the next level.

I recently held a private mastermind event in NYC.

It included some of my top affiliates from one of my products (Video Traffic Academy).

My business partner and I hosted a private dinner the night before, then rented out a room in an exclusive members club (SoHo House) where we brought everyone together for the entire day.

We had people share some of their greatest ideas for growing their business, creating products, hosting live events, managing membership sites, writing #1 NY Times best sellers, getting main stream media attention, and many other topics.

Some of the attendees included (pictured above) Phil Town / Melissa Town,  Marie Forleo, Ramit Sethi, James Wedmore, Bradley Will, Forbes Riley, Carl White / Tammy Grossman, Josh Schoenly / Ryan Hartman, Kevin Nations, John Romaniello, Derek Halpern, Maria Andros, Chris Daigle, Jonathan Cronstedt, Monika Rydzewski, Mike LeMoine, Sean Malarkey and “The” Mark Anthony.

Here’s a quick video on why I think it’s important to spend time with people who are much smarter than you.

(If you are interested in being a future affiliate for any of my courses then feel free to sign up here)

I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and put yourself in the situation where you feel extremely ignorant.

If you are the smartest person in the room… you are in trouble.

I enjoy knowing that I’m usually the most ignorant person in the room as it keeps me hungry, allows me to grow, and gives me the opportunity to connect all of the smart people I’m friends with and help them build their businesses.

I plan on keeping it that way for as long as I can

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What type of person are you?  Are you the smartest person in the room or do you surround yourself with smarter individuals?

Also, what’s your thoughts on masterminds?  Do you believe in the power of a mastermind and are you a member of any?

Ever experience a “sour patch” moment? 

You know… when you experience a bad moment only to have a sweet one right after.

(If you still don’t know check out this sour patch kids video)

A sour patch moment could be when you break up with that relationship and feel a sense of relief to be single again, only to realize you already miss the comfort from your partner.

Or that time you finally walk in your college graduation after four years of waiting to get out and be on your own – only realizing once you graduate that you miss the “responsibility of doing nothing” oh so much.

Funny how things work, eh?

My belief is we should always have fun, and be playful no matter how bitter or sweet the moments are.

At least that’s the way I like to act on things.

I actually had a bitter sweet moment recently.

I received a DVD in the mail of an interview that a T.V. station covered of me over four years ago when I was playing Arena Football.

I missed the interview when it aired on the local news and never got a copy of it… until now (view below)

It was a fun story about my usual antics during practice…. slapping five and dancing around.

Yes… salsa dancing at that. 

Don’t worry, I was the most focused and determined athlete in practice and during games, but I had to have fun in moments that didn’t need to be so serious.

Because what’s the point of trying to achieve your dream if you don’t have fun along the way… right?

It was a sweet moment watching that video.

I got to laugh at myself and remember the fun times I had playing professional football with my teammates.

It brought back a lot of bitter memories as well as I had played 14 games that season with a broken wrist and could remember the pain I felt every day as the broken wrist bone chattered with the surrounding bones.  Or memories of driving home after a loss for a 15 hour drive in the middle of the night with 30 very large men on a sleeper bus…  can you imagine the things done and said during these rides?  They were a trip!

(here’s me below in the middle bunk on the bus with my wrist protector on and usual gatorades to help with hydration after a game).

Good times.

Just shortly after I received the video above in the mail and had my bitter and sweet memories, I received a Google alert with my name.

I opened the alert on my iPhone and read this (view image on the right).

It told me that my NCAA All-Division record for most receiving yards in a single football game over 9 years ago… was broken.

Trey McVay of Northeastern Oklahoma State broke it by 7 yards.

I was waiting for this day to happen ever since I broke the previous record back in 2002.

It was inevitable, and I’m surprised no one broke it until now.

Every Saturday during football season I knew it had a chance of being broken, and it just so happened to be on that day.

I was happy earlier in the day and for a short while after receiving that update I was a little bitter.

You gotta enjoy the bitter sweet moments.

Later I found out that even though my All Division record was broken, my Division III record for the most receiving yards in a single game was still intact.

However, that to will be broken one day.

I just can’t win… can I?

You’re Only As Good As Your Last Game

My coach used to tell us that after we had a big win.

That we are only as good as our previous efforts and every game should be played at a higher level because we have that much more experience to work with.

So what does this all mean and why am I sharing this personal moment with you?

My point is we will always have bitter moments, go through challenging times, and have our records broken.

I don’t think the feeling of success is as sweet without the bitter moments we face along the journey anyways.

I’m really happy for Trey and hope he gets to enjoy holding on to that record for more than 9 years… however his record will also be broken one day.

Should I give up, or focus even more?

I’ve got big goals and even bigger dreams (my parents are the ones to blame for making me dream big .  The moment I learned my record was broken, I felt bitter – started dancing – and then began to focus even more on my game plan for achieving the goals I’m going after right now.

We all have a choice to let the bitter moments rule our thinking, or let it become the driving factor that gets our butts in gear to play our next game better than the last.

Fact is, I can’t try to hold onto my “claim to fame” of some record I broke 9 years ago anyways… if I’m not playing big now then what does it matter when I retired from football so long ago?

Every day I’m thinking about the goals I want to achieve short term and long term and I take action each day to achieve them.

I hope you are doing the same thing.

Of course, you want to enjoy your life, and live the way that makes you the happiest, but if you are going after big goals and dreams you can’t be holding on to past achievements.

Next time you have a bitter moment or someone breaks one of your records just remember one thing… you’ll always feel better right after you start dancing.

I recently asked Jonathan Fields this question:

How does someone overcome fear and turn their doubts into success?

He told me it would take more than 30 seconds to give a quick answer so I decided to host a webinar with Sean Malarkey so Jonathan could go into more detail.

You should have seen the comments flooding in from our webinar attendees.

People LOVED this important “mindset” information.

Here are the main things Jonathan covered:

• How certainty kills innovation and success
• Why action in the face of uncertainty is mandatory, but suffering is optional
• How to change your workflow to turbocharge your creative process
• What one thing you should do every day that will profoundly alter the psychology of creation and success.
• And more…

Watch the replay of this webinar above, and post in the comments section below on how you will now turn your fears into business success.

Grant Cardone is the man.

I was recently introduced to Grant and fell in love with one specific thing about him.

His Attitude.

I also love his passion, hustle, and drive for excellence.

He may be the one guy (besides my man David from The Rise To The Top) who has as much energy and passion for what he does.

Tell you what… I dig that about him.

He’s also a bro’s bro, a man’s man, and he can pull off a pink shirt (unlike me).

He is filled with confidence and does the little things every day (that others don’t do) which helps him achieve every goal in business and life he desires.

Pretty cool right?

You’ll want to watch this video interview below because you’ll be fired up to take more action and sell more right after.  Here are some of the things Grant covers:

• The real definition of “Sales” and why you need to understand it
• What type of people to hire in sales roles (it’s not who you think at all!)
• The biggest mistake all sales professionals make and how to overcome it
• The easiest way to increase sales using social media
• The art of hustling in sales (in a positive way)
• and much more…

Watch this 33 minute, high energy and completely raw interview with Grant Cardone below.

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What did you think of this interview with Grant?  Did you believe in his sales strategies and can you see the power in his ideas for your business?  Please leave a comment with your thoughts below and share this with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.  Also make sure to follow Grant on Twitter here. 

Want to read the entire interview?  Check out the transcript of this interview below: 

Lewis Howes: What’s up everyone, Lewis Howes here.  I am super pumped for my special interview today with Grant Cardone.  What’s up Grant? How are you doing?

Grant Cardone:        How are you doing, Man?  Good to be here with you.

Lewis Howes:  I’m really excited to introduce all of you to Grant because, just recently, a couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to Grant through a friend of mine through a company called Atlas Media. Grant has a TV show out there called “The Turnaround King”. He is also a New York Times best-selling author, international sales coach, trainer, creator of thousands of products, digitally and physical products, speaks all over the world at seminars, he’s got bumper stickers, everything you can think of, he has got it.  He has helped out a lot of big Fortune 500 companies, small business owners, and entrepreneurs really increase their sales effectively and really turn around their businesses; hence, The Turnaround King.  I never heard about you, Grant, until my friend mentioned you, and then I went online and researched you.  I was pretty much blown away by the stuff that you do.  So I’m really excited about this.   Before we get into questions, I have eight core questions for you.  Let’s talk really quickly about what got you into sales, what makes you excited about the selling process, can you talk to us about how you got into this, before I let people know what we are going in to.

Grant Cardone: What got me into sales? First of all, I want to thank you for your time today and your being interested in me, in what we are doing, and also for your viewers who watch this because obviously those are people who are entrepreneurs, people that aren’t satisfied, and God bless you.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone:  You’re interested in taking good care of yourself, your company, your household; I think that’s an ethical obligation.  I think that’s actually a spiritual quality, and people should be commended, that people want to go out and take care of them selves and their family, and there’s not enough of that in America today.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: The way I got into sales was out of necessity.  I mean, it wasn’t like,… I went to college. I got a degree in accounting. I didn’t think about being a sales person.

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone:  Even though my father who was fairly successful always told me, he died when I was 10. But he always told us and then told my mother to inform the boys because he knew he was going to die.

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone: Hey, make sure those boys learn how to sell because they’re pathetic and they can’t do anything.  And if you can sell, you can do anything, any economy, any product, any city, any nation, anywhere. You can move, you can literally move to another economy   and another industry and take care of yourself.

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone: So the unemployment numbers that you see in America today, they’re not even close to what I was dealing with when I got out of college.

Lewis Howes: Really?

Grant Cardone:  24 percent of the people where I worked were unemployed, could not get a job.  So I got out of college with the degree on, I owed I think $50,000 or $60,000 in government student loans, couldn’t get a job, couldn’t get a job.  My uncle said, “Why don’t you get into sales, because despite the economy, every company needs sales people?“

I went to work for a car dealer; that was the first job.  Well, that was not the first sales job I had. I actually sold furniture, jewelry, produce, clothes in the summer months to get through school.

Lewis Howes: Sure

Grant Cardone: I went and sold cars, and hated it. Absolutely, hated it, Man.  I was a disaster at it.  I did that for a couple of years, and I realized I still couldn’t find work. The problem wasn’t the car business; the problem wasn’t that customers didn’t like car salesmen; the problem was I didn’t know how to sell.  I was 25 years old and made a commitment to myself that I was going to learn how to sell.  Because regardless of the business I was going to go into, I had this entrepreneurial inclination. And regardless of the business whether you’re a chiropractor, a chemist, a doctor, a lawyer, you want to be a plastic surgeon right here in Beverly Hills, you’ve got to sell, Man.

You can fix the nose, but if you don’t have the nose to fix that means you’re working on yourself, that’s not going to last for very long.

Lewis Howes:  I love the attitude. I love it.  I feel like I can really relate to you because you’re like a man’s man.  You like saying how it is, there’s no fluff.

Grant Cardone: Who can wear pink!

Lewis Howes: I can’t pull off the pink, but it’s all good, I’m glad you can. Maybe one day I’ll get the balls to do that.  Allright, let’s go in to, What’s your definition of selling?  Then, is it more of a step-by-step process, or is there an art to the selling or the close?  I know you’ve got lots of training programs out there and you speak all the time on this, but what is your definition of selling?

Grant Cardone:  First of all, I mean, I am a master in selling.  I couldn’t say that about baseball. I played baseball when I was in college.  I never made a full commitment to it and then I got hurt, and I had to bail on the game.   I love it man, the game, I was like, I am going to be a professional catcher, you know.

Despite my size, I probably wasn’t big enough and strong enough, but my body broke down so I couldn’t do it.  Look if you look at professional sports, for example, those guys train every day.  I’m going the long way around this answer to your question about “what is selling”. The problem with most people; most people have two problems with sales:    either they don’t want to be one, and they don’t understand that their life depends on it; or number 2; they get into it and it’s like something mechanical.  It’s something you have to be fully committed to in order to be great at it.

You can’t be great at baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, whatever…

Lewis Howes: Only a few can really be great at that,  they are really gifted and dedicated but it’s very few and far between.

Grant Cardone: But give me one extremely gifted athlete that you know.  The most gifted athlete you have.

Lewis Howes: Deion Sanders, didn’t he play two sports or…

Grant Cardone: Let’s take Deion, okay? Is he still required to train and keep his game on?

Lewis Howes: Yes

Grant Cardone: Mohammad Ali said, “I hated every second I spent training in a ring, but I suffered through it so I could be a champion for a life time. “

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone: People want to be entrepreneurs. Everybody wants to be “the business man or woman”.  Everybody wants to be the CEO or the vice-president.  Look if you can’t sell your product, your ideas and your dreams, go work for somebody else because it is not going to happen.  You got to sell.  When Lehman’s collapsed 2 years ago, 28 months ago, the internal world, at least in the United States all became sales people.  CEOs, vice presidents, god-like figures, bankers.  If you can’t sell, you’re going to lose your job.  If you can’t sell, your dreams won’t come true.  So selling for me, to answer your question, it encompasses everything.  It’s not  one small thing.  For me to get the woman I want, or the mate I want, I got to sell the right person.   Most people don’t do that.   Most people say, “Oh, I can’t get that, so I’ll just drop down a level.”

Rather than say, “No, that’s the partner I want in my life, now I’m going to figure out how to convince her, follow her up, persist until she actually loves me.   Have you ever seen an ugly guy with a beautiful woman?  You’ve seen that.

Lewis Howes: Yeah!  It’s persistent.

Grant Cardone: That’s selling right there, buddy!

Lewis Howes:  Exactly, it’s like selling ice to an Eskimo.  An ugly guy that has a beautiful woman.  Good stuff, great answer. Alright, next question, Who you would rather take then, would you rather take someone who’s a hustler or someone who is book smart to be your closer.

Grant Cardone: To be my closer?  I want women to be my closer.

Lewis Howes: To be a sales guy, not for women.  I mean, for sales in general

Grant Cardone: If I’m looking for a person to hire, I don’t need any talent at all.  You give me one thing, and I can teach anybody how to sell.

Lewis Howes: Okay, awesome.   I mean what should people be looking for if they…

Grant Cardone:  Willingness.  Willingness.  Just look for willingness.   I’m not looking for a sales type.

Lewis Howes: Okay.

Grant Cardone: I’m not looking for a hustler.  I mean a hustler. I like the idea of a hustler.  But the problem with a hustler is  they run out of steam.  They hustle and then, bam! They’re like, oh, oh..I don’t want to hear that.  And then they go hustlle in another corner.  That’s the problem.  Particularly of the hustler, he doesn’t have any persistence in him.   I’m looking for willingness.  I’m looking for somebody,… you know what, I don’t have many rules.

Lewis Howes: I like that.

Grant Cardone: The people that are winning in this planet, the people that win don’t have rules.  It doesn’t mean they’re unethical, it means they’re there to take care of their family first, show me some body, show me a husband or a mother that will do anything for their family. I can make them into a sales person.

Lewis Howes:  Nice!

Grant Cardone: That’s why people that come from other countries; the Iranians, anybody from Persia, Iran or Iraq, they come to the United States.  Look, this is what they do.  They make their money, they send most back home, and they live on the rest.  They let everybody in their family know what they are doing. You know why, because they are selling as a duty not for the money.  No offense to Americans, but if you give me a guy from the Middle East, and you give me an American. And you say you can only hire only one of them.   I mean I’ll hire the guy from the Middle East every time.  Sorry, he is so hungry.   His hunger is not on money; his hunger is on duty.  I got to take care of my family.

Lewis Howes: That’s right!

Grant Cardone: That’s the sense that I operate from.  You know, what we really teach people first is, “Look, success is your duty; it’s your obligation; it’s your responsibility; if you don’t provide for your family, you’re unethical.”

Lewis Howes: It’s great!

Grant Cardone: I was doing a YouTube conference, a video conference like this the other night.  There was a million and a half people watching this; I’m sure you’re going to have more viewers than that.

Lewis Howes: Wow, that’s awesome!

Grant Cardone: Somebody wrote in, they tweeted in and said, “What about the good parent?”  Look, you’re not a good parent if you can’t provide for your family.

Lewis Howes: Right.  You mean the good parent who is always there for their children, like spending all his time with them, is that what they meant by good parent?

Grant Cardone: Exactly, “the good parent”, you know.   I have quality time; I take care of my kids.  Good!  You know what, you should be both.  Not one or the other.  I’ve been studying rich people for 28 years.  Rich people do not think either/or; they think both, happiness and money.  Poor people think either/or; they think, “Oh, if I’m going to be rich, then   I can’t be happy.”

So I’m going to be happy.   Dude, you can be both.  You can be a great parent.  I’m a great parent. I just had my first kid; I’m 53 years old.  I just had my first child. I’m an unbelievable parent.  Swim with my daughter every afternoon. I take her to the grocery store; every morning at 6 o’clock I wake her up.

Lewis Howes: Wow!

Grant Cardone: And I work the rest of the day so I can provide for her.

Lewis Howes: Sure.

Grant Cardone: So, people can do it all, Man.  There’s no shortage of creativity that you   have that you can only be one or the other.

Lewis Howes: Right, exactly. And where are you from, by the way? I’m trying to figure it out.

Grant Cardone: I’m from Louisiana.

Lewis Howes: Alright, I figured … somewhere in the South.

Grant Cardone: I lived in the south, Man, for 29 years. My first job selling was, I was working on the oil rigs in the summers.  And I spent two weeks on and two weeks off.

Lewis Howes: Okay

Grant Cardone: And we were on a supply boat, and we would fish in our down time; and there was a lot of down time. One day we launched into these red snappers, and we must have caught 200 or 300 pounds of red snapper.  I couldn’t eat it all. I put it in the freezer; I bought all the snapper from the other 3 guys, and I sold it when we got back to shore. I sold it all the way back to my house.  I would just stop into businesses and start saying, “I got some red snapper; fresh; I just caught it, you want it?”

I made more money selling red fish, okay, snapper than I made the two weeks I was out there; and I made it in about 3 hours.

Lewis Howes: Wow!

Grant Cardone: I was hooked on selling man, but I still didn’t know what I was doing.

Lewis Howes: Awesome, allright.  I want to read a quick quote.  This is going to lead us into this next question.  Tony Robbins says, “Energy is the edge”. And I was watching some of your YouTube videos, and you talk a lot about that no one does enough; no one does more than they should be doing, and that a lot of people are really lazy out there.  And you’ve been mentioning that briefly so far.  Here’s a quick quote from you in one of your Huffington Post articles saying, “Those that are most secure  in today’s economy, do not approach opportunity lazily but industriously. The super successful and those most secure do not seek to just do enough but instead go way above what others are doing.”

So, let’s talk a little bit about laziness.   You mentioned how, when you graduated from college, 24 percent was the unemployment rate; now I’m not really sure what it is, 10 or 15 percent, or it might be less or more, but I feel like my generation, I’m 28, but in my generation in the 22 year olds, people are getting out of college; a couple of years after college they are so lazy they feel entitled to just have things happen to them. They should just make money.  What’s up with people; why are they so lazy?

Grant Cardone: Let me just tell you, first of all, your parents said the same thing about you and your generation that you are now saying about this generation.

My parents said the same thing about my generation; this has been going on for two thousand years.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone:  Probably, you know, Joseph probably said, “Jesus is lazy; we’ve got to get him to work.  Come on, Man, here’s a hammer, here’s some nails. Let’s get to work, let’s build some houses.  So the truth is, look, I don’t agree with Tony about the energetic thing.  Laziness, anywhere laziness is seen, there’s a lack of understanding.  People are not active in anything they don’t understand.  So, like I don’t do calls and puts in the stock market.  My brother says, “Why don’t you, Man; you know you bought that stock and you’re going to keep it.  All you have to do is put a call on it and protect your position.” He would think that I am lazy because I’m not doing that.

The truth is I don’t understand it, that’s why I don’t do it.

Lewis Howes: Okay.

Grant Cardone: Plumbing in my house; when the plumbing goes out, you’re going to see Grant operate very lazy.  Why?  Because I don’t know anything about plumbing!

So when the plumbing is screwed up and my wife is screaming, I’m in there playing X-Box with my brother for a hundred bucks a kill.

Lewis Howes: Looking lazy

Grant Cardone: No, no, no, I’m very active.  See the difference?

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone: So even for that lazy 19 year old right now that’s out of work, watching, being online, playing online poker for 4, 5  & 6 hours at a time.  See, he is not lazy with things he understands.

So anywhere, I see lazy, two things happen to me as the owner of a company. (1) Do you not understand something? Is there something you don’t understand, and then I get him trained; or (2) The executives of the company are actually allowing people to be lazy.  Lazy, and what I was saying in the article, if you’re a viewer…

Lewis Howes: I’ll link it up.

Grant Cardone: Tweet me, just search it’s called “Lazy is an Entitlement Concept.”  And I just did a video on it because I got so much hate mail.  Did you see the video I did?

Lewis Howes: Yeah, I did.

Grant Cardone: So I’m saying look, lazy is educated into people, it’s encouraged, and it’s allowed.  Anywhere you see lazy in any company; you’re going to see encouraged, allowed and educated.  The school system in our country educates people to be lazy. Sit there; sit there for 50 minutes, Man.  I can’t even pick the courses I want anymore.   So, this is the problem and now, the pharmaceutical companies want to medicate everybody and make them  even more lazy.  So I think lazy is something particularly for the executive, he needs to look at being responsible.  We’re responsible and not blame people for being lazy, but not allow it in his organization.

Lewis Howes: Right, good answer.  Let’s go into the next question, kind of switching topics a little bit.  Now, I told you before I never heard about you and I’m extremely active on social media.

Grant Cardone: I’m sorry, Man.

Lewis Howes: I know, but I’m glad I did now. I’m glad we’re connected. I never heard about you because no one else in my circle of social media kind of like experts or people in the industry had really written about you or done stories about you that I have seen; or maybe I just missed over them, and they already have.  But I noticed you are really active on social media.  You’re talking a lot about, especially in this show, The Turnaround King show, which I am not even supposed to have.  It’s an early edition of this show.

Grant Cardone: You can buy it from Nat Geo now.  We’re going to get it picked up somewhere else, but the show was so successful with their viewers that  it’s the only show they ever sold a DVD to but didn’t pick the show up, it’s crazy.

Lewis Howes: It’s a great show.   I’m recommending people to go and check them out.  Grant is like a better looking and more guys’ guy like Danny Doish type of style show, you know.  But let’s talk about social media for sales. You are extremely active on social media; you’ve got YouTube, GooglePlus, Facebook, Tweeter, you’re everywhere.  And that’s one of the things you talked about in the show.   You say, “Get your flip cam out.”  You say, “Talk about your products.”  You say, “Post it up on Facebook, on YouTube, on Tweeter.”  And you say, “This is free marketing.”  And this is something I preach to a lot to my members, who are pretty much social media savvy.  But let’s talk about maybe one or two tips for selling via social media.  What’s kind of like your  best practice for anyone looking to sell more through social media?

Grant Cardone: First of all, I didn’t even have a Facebook account a year ago.  I know nothing about social media.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: So I’m telling everybody right now, I know nothing. But I’ll stack up my fans against any social media guru guy; I’ll stack up the number of posts I’ve done.  I think I’ve done 11,000 posts in ten months on Tweeter alone.  I have three Facebook accounts.  I was one of the first people in Google Plus, one of the first people doing Google hangouts.  The tip with social media is you have to hammer; you have to hammer it so hard and so creatively.  If you’re doing 1 or 2 posts a day, no one even knows you exist.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: It’s like throwing a pebble into the Pacific Ocean and thinking you are going to create a big Tsunami. Dude, you got to bang it. You got to bang it so hard that you actually get criticism because of the amount of attention you’re getting.

Lewis Howes: I like that.

Grant Cardone: Now this is what I do with social media, and I’ve been told, I can’t tell you how many times, ”You post too much. “

Lewis Howes:          Right, but you get attention.

Grant Cardone: I got a lot to say, Man. You have to understand that most people aren’t seeing that post.

Lewis Howes:        Right.

Grant Cardone: So, and anybody that it bothers – if you have 5 Facebook fans, and I’m one of them.  You’re whole wall is going to be covered up with me.  It’s not my problem; it’s your problem.

Grant Cardone: The word that I use in my life today, and this isn’t about social media this is about the U.S. economy:  omni-presence should be the thing that you use in every decision you make.  The word omni-present means to be everywhere all at the same time. Anything assigned to omni-presence will be assigned power, and then will be successful: Coca Cola, Starbucks, Apple computer, God.   God is everywhere.

Lewis Howes: I like this.

Grant Cardone: Right, God is everywhere. So people that haven’t even met God assign God a lot of power.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: Coca Cola, everywhere; the Kardashians, everywhere; the Kardashians,… there’s not even anything to sell, Man!

Lewis Howes: There’s the clothing now, but, that’s about it.  Yeah, it’s funny.  I live in New York City two blocks from their store, Dash; and it’s the only store in Soho that I’ve seen that has a line outside every single day. There’s a line of people waiting to get in every time I walk by it.  No other store has that in New York City.

Grant Cardone: Yes. See, there you go, Man. So the point is the people that you are working with need to think in terms of massive levels of action. Now, I’m going to tell you, when Lehman’s collapsed, do you remember where you were that day?

Lewis Howes: I don’t remember, but, specifically…

Grant Cardone: Ok. You remember that happening?

Lewis Howes: I remember it happening.  Yes.

Grant Cardone: I had never written a book in my life, ok, on that day.  And this is more about social media and not just social media because I see people doing social media and dropping out their other things.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: And that’s a mistake.  A lot of people on Google Plus right now, spending too much time on Google Plus and not putting hands in hands, not touching customers any more.   The day Lehman’s collapsed Thursday afternoon, four days later I wrote this book. Now, I’m not selling books in this interview.

Lewis Howes: No. That’s fine.

Grant Cardone: But I’m telling a story here.  I wrote this book.  It took three hours to write this book, okay? Three months later I wrote this book called “The Closer’s Survival Guide”. Nine months later this book became a New York Times best seller, it’s called “If You’re Not First, You’re Last”. The original title of this book was  “Don’t Be a Little Bitch”.

Lewis Howes: I love it.

Grant Cardone: Okay, This book came out one month ago called “The 10x Rule”.  I was writing about how to get a TV show in this book; this book came out before I actually landed the show.

Lewis Howes: You got the show, yes.

Grant Cardone: Ok. So the point I’m making is this. Four books in twenty-four months.

Lewis Howes: Wow.

Grant Cardone: Why would I do that? I ask your listener, your viewer, why would I do that? To sell books? To make money in books?  There’s no money in books.  A book sells for thirty bucks.  There’s no money in a book. The reason I did it is because the top CEO‘s in America read sixty books a year.

Lewis Howes: Sixty?  Six zero?

Grant Cardone: Six zero.  The top CEO’s in America in 2008 were surveyed and read sixty plus books a year.

Lewis Howes: Wow.

Grant Cardone: The average American can’t finish one book.

Lewis Howes: Wow, nice.

Grant Cardone: Can’t finish one, okay. In the last two years I wrote four books.  I became a blogger on Huffington Post. I don’t even know how many articles I’ve done there. I’ve written, I don’t know, maybe two hundred articles that have been dispersed in different communities, different sites, blogs; created eleven hundred videos, another four hundred on YouTube; have no clue how many posts I’ve done on Facebook and Twitter; I know its eleven thousand on Twitter, the point is…

Lewis Howes: You’re everywhere!

Grant Cardone: Exactly!  Dude, you want omni-presence. You want to push into the market place so violently, so aggressively, okay? So that the first thing that will happen is you’re going for attention. I’ll give you a formula here that you should never forget.  Go for attention, until it gets criticism, and then add more attention until it becomes hate, and keep pushing on attention until haters become admirers.

Lewis Howes: Wow.

Grant Cardone: It goes like this:  attention, criticism, hate, admiration.

Lewis Howes: I love that, Man.

Grant Cardone: And because if you’re not getting any criticizers, nobody knows you even exist.

Lewis Howes: Right, its true, it’s very true.  You know, I’m so appreciative of you’re saying this right now because a lot of people… I’ve just been in business for a few years and I’ve built my own seven figure business, you know I’m super grateful for all the success that I have had.  But people always tell me, every day I hear this, they say, “Lewis, I see you everywhere!”   I’m literally hustling around the world going to every major event.  I’m on two to three webinars a day to thousands of people. I’m posting on social media, just like you said, kind of do the same similar strategies. I’m writing articles, videos everything, and I mean I’m pretty much a testament of the structure and the strategy you talked about.  If you’re everywhere, you can achieve the success you want; you can achieve what you want financially; and so I believe in that a hundred percent. I’m supper happy that you said that cause no one really understands that.  They don’t understand to be everywhere; they think it’s too much. Here’s what I think people feel. They feel two things: they want the success, but they are afraid of what the success will bring whether it would be the attitude their friends, their peers will think of them, or they’re afraid to fail big time.  Or how they’d be viewed by their family, their friends and so they just stay on this middle level the whole time instead of really trying to go for it which…

Grant Cardone: Yes, you know there’s basically in this last book that I wrote called “The 10x Rule” which I love because this book is about goal setting and how much action you need to take.

Lewis Howes: Okay.

Grant Cardone: And it talks about there are four levels of action that every human being takes.  You do it all day long; you don’t know even know you’re doing it. You either do nothing; you retreat; you do normal levels; the most dangerous is number three: normal levels of activity is the most dangerous.  Or you do what me and you do which is massive amounts of activity.

Lewis Howes: Action. Take massive action basically.

Grant Cardone: Exactly, Normal is the most accepted because it is accepted by the middle class.

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone: And when I say middle class I’m not talking about the income level. I’m not talking about the income level; I’m talking about the think. Normal think: “Oh I went to work today, yep.  I did my 8 hours, and I did five days in a row, and I did my forty hours.”  And you wonder why inflation comes, economy crashes, and why you’re not getting ahead because you’re doing normal. Any normal level of activity is going to get crashed by some abnormal conditions.

Lewis Howes: Right

Grant Cardone: And the fact that “Oh, Man, let’s take a vacation every year.”  Why? Why do you have to take a vacation every year?  You don’t have the money to do that.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: And when you do start making big money you might not be in a position to take the vacation anymore because it costs you too much to go on vacation until you really get into power.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: When things can run with or without you.

Lewis Howes: Right. Exactly, yes, listen up. I’m  loving this! Allright; three more quick questions then, so this is more complicated.

Grant Cardone: I knew you wouldn’t do twenty minutes with me, Dude.

Lewis Howes: I had to tell you twenty so basically you’d do this with me, because I knew  forty  would be too long. So, this is going to be a little bit more personal, not too personal, but what’s your morning ritual like? Do you visualize the day, visualize your goals, think about long term, the closing the sale, or do you just wake up and say …

Grant Cardone: I wake up.  I got one of these by my bed.

Lewis Howes: Ok

Grant Cardone: Ok. I wake up in the morning, and the first thing I do is to write down every thing I want to accomplish in my lifetime. I keep this everywhere I go.  It’s an old legal pad.  Before I go to sleep at night I put this down, and before I go to sleep at night I write down my goals again, in the morning and at night. I’m driven by my goals. I’m driven by my future.  I have no attention on the rearview mirror.  Rearview mirrors are that big.  Windshields are that big. There’s a reason why.  Keep your attention that way.

Lewis Howes: I love it.

Grant Cardone: And so, most people will write their goals down once a year, maybe twice a year. You need to be writing your goals down every day, morning and night, morning and night.  If you’re not doing that you will only make somebody else’s goals and dreams come true.

Lewis Howes: Wow. I love it. I really love your attitude. I just feel so in sync to what you are saying.  So I’m just, like your preaching to the choir to me, but I think everyone needs to hear this, for sure.

Grant Cardone: You know I’m a completely obsessed human being. I mean, when somebody said, “You got a disorder called obsessive.”   I’m like, “Hey, Bro, you selling pills or what?” Cause I’m telling you something; I have studied a lot of highly successful people; I’ve never met one of them who wasn’t completely obsessed and immersed in their adventure.

Lewis Howes: In their passion, right?

Grant Cardone: Totally, Dude.  They’re immersed completely; they just covered up. It’s not work to them.  It is an obsession.  It’s not a bad word.  That’s something that’s should be admired in people, not denegrated.

Lewis Howes: Right. Exactly. Nice.  Ok, cool.  Two last questions:  name me one or two of your biggest mentors that inspired you to get to where you are today; so maybe as a kid, or even now, or whenever.

Grant Cardone: Ok. Let me see.  Let me tell you, I’m telling you a couple of something.

Lewis Howes: Maybe at least one that we would even know of, maybe.

Grant Cardone: Yes. Definitely my dad; Definitely my dad.

Lewis Howes: Sure.

Grant Cardone: Yes. Everybody does their parents, right?

Lewis Howes: Yes

Grant Cardone: Let’s see here, now I read a book that, you know some of the books that have Nightingale stuff. I love that stuff.  What’s the guy’s name; he was a big insurance guy,. Williams. Read a lot of his stuff that helped.  A very controversial guy I read that I love, he wrote a book called, “Problems at Work” and even more controversial books, “Dianetics” …  L. Ron Hubbard, love that guys writings.

Lewis Howes: Yup.

Grant Cardone: That guy gets what people’s problems really are.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: You know, and observing people, man. I watch people a lot.

Lewis Howes: Sure.

Grant Cardone: Like Howard Schultz. I love Howard Schultz at Starbucks.  I spent time with him, you know when the economy collapse, first thing he did was he started to get rid of stores that weren’t producing, second thing he did he went and literally met every store in America and the patrons in the stores and had meetings with them saying “Hey, what can we give you? What do you need? What do u want?” So I love his work ethic.

Lewis Howes: Right. Awesome, okay, cool, last question.  You kind of mentioned this already, but the last question is:  What is the best book you can recommend, besides your own, for people that want to increase sales and just achieve greater success in their business? Just one book that you would recommend that stands above the rest.

Grant Cardone: Well, I wouldn’t recommend, I mean for sales books, I think there’s a lot of sales books out there that are garbage.

Lewis Howes: Yeah.

Grant Cardone: I think they, actually some of them particularly sell, that even some well known guys can actually hurt on that field a bit because its manipulative stuff like, neurolinguistic programming. It’s not a nice thing; it’s not good for anybody.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: Because it’s built on manipulation.  So what we are teaching for people to do in sales is like, ethical, integrity, like clean communication, quick cycles. We don’t spend long periods of time with people.

Lewis Howes: Right.

Grant Cardone: So I mean, I’m a little bias on the sales thing but…

Lewis Howes: Right, we’ll just tell people to go to your site and get your book then…

Grant Cardone: I mean, this book right here, this is the first book I ever wrote. This book, people will be reading this book a hundred years from now.

Lewis Howes: Okay.

Grant Cardone: It’s called “Sell to Survive”.

Lewis Howes: Nice, awesome.

Grant Cardone: It’ll completely get rid of any misnomers, or miseducation people have about selling; and you’ve got to assume there’s some miseducation  about this because it’s not covered by any schools.

Lewis Howes: Right, right. Exactly.

Grant Cardone: I’m going to Duke right now, Duke University, next month to do a whole presentation to their graduating class and to a whole bunch of entrepreneurs about why they need to know how to sell.

Lewis Howes:   Right. Awesome, cool! Well, Grant Cardone, where should people go to find you online? Should they go to your website, or do you want them to follow you…

Grant Cardone: They can go to grantcardone.com; I got a site there.  My YouTube channel’s got, I don’t know, a couple three hundred different sales tip videos that are free, so they can go to Grant Cardone at YouTube, you can go to Twitter @grantcardone and you’ll see I do tweets everyday that are sales entrepreneurial focus,

Lewis Howes: Tips, yup.

Grant Cardone: Yes, tips.

Lewis Howes: Yes, awesome. I’ll be sure to link up everything below this video on my post and make sure everyone go to grantcardone.com.  This guy has really taken over and since I’ve been picking up on you, I’ve been checking out your stuff and I’m really loving it, and I love your passion, hopefully I’ll get to connect with you again soon, but thanks again my man, and we’ll see you…

Grant Cardone: If you ever come out to LA come on out and stay at the house, allright?

Lewis Howes: I’m down. Thanks again, my man, appreciate it.

Grant Cardone: Okay, Man. Thank you for having me. Good luck to everybody.

Webinars are huge and my business has grown tremendously because of them.  This is a guest post from a friend Chris Brisson who has showed me ways to get more attendees on each one of my webinars.

If you are running webinars and are struggling to get more people to show up, then use these strategies that Chris talks about below.

Today the web is filled with buzz about webinars. Everyone seems to have a webinar they are promoting these days. 

Software developers that are demo’ing their software. Coaches that are pitching their curriculum. Speakers that are trying to cut down their traveling.

The reason for this wave? …THEY WORK!

Webinars are generating leads, delivering content, and selling product faster and better than any other medium right now. The best ones are even out selling top sales reps!

But… There’s Massive Elephant In The Room

Hidden among all this success is a 2 ton purple elephant of a problem. The concern is not with registration numbers, engagement, or closing rates. The problem isn’t getting people to sign up, but to actually SHOW UP.

And the fact of the matter is, if no one shows up, no products are sold, no users are signing up, and no money is made. Imagine hosting a webinar and seeing 250, 500, even 1,000 people signed up for your event, only to have 50 or 100 show up.

It’s a huge let down and in this article you’ll learn how to ensure the success of your webinars and teleseminars.

Use These 3 Strategies To Double Your Attendance Rate

1. Create An Incentive To Gain Their Attention

Look, let’s face it… people sign up for webinars, teleseminars, and events all of the time and not show up. So knowing that it’s up to you to hit every angle to get them to show up. The first way is to create an incentive worthy enough for them to perk up and want to join, if not just for the incentive.

Provide a free gift, ebook, audio, or a giveaway. A very effective strategy a friend of mine uses is by giving away two of his $997 courses away on his webinars.

Friends of mine have used password protected members areas and reports. The persuasive power behind this method is the registrants can see the members area or download the PDF but can’t actually access it until they get the password! (which is delivered at the end of the webinar)

Giving something away that has a REAL value attached to it, will greatly increase the amount of people to join your event. Attach a dollar to it: $47, $97, even $1,000.

2. Get a 97% Open Rate With a SMS Text Message Reminder

Let me share with you a story…

Imagine that your webinar starts at 8pm EST at night and leading up the event you have over 350 people registered o attend. At 2pm you send out an email reminder and at 7:30pm you send out another.

Here’s the problem with your 7:30pm email reminder…

Just imagine what your prospect is doing at that time. If they’re on the east coast they’re eating dinner, watching tv, or simply relaxing. If they’re on the west coast, they may be driving home from work, grabbing a bite to eat, at the local bar.

Chances are… they are NOT checking their email!

This method for reminding your registrants is not enough.

According to a recent study, it showed that people have their mobile devices within 3 – 4ft of them 24 HOURS PER DAY! Think about it. On my desk right now, I have my cell phone sitting along side papers, documents, and books.

When I leave my home, office, WHEREVER, I have my cell phone in my pocket and when I get home I put it on my kitchen table. It’s around me all day long.

You’re probably the same and more importantly you’re registrants are doing the same thing too.

Now just imagine, it’s 7:30pm, I’m relaxing and all of the sudden my cell phone rings. It’s a text message reminder for that webinar I was very interested in attending. All I do is reach over, check the message and if I choose to, I join the event.

This method alone on average will drive anywhere from 7% and I’ve seen as high as 312% with a simple text message reminder. The great part about this is that it’s all permission based, your registrants opt in to receive this reminder and in fact, many are expecting it and leaning on it as they’re calendar.

I’d recommend a text message marketing service like Call Loop to send out your voice or sms text messages to your registrants.

3. Create The Intrigue By Adding a Mystery Element

In some of our webinar registration copy we have added an element of mystery. Either in the form of a mystery guest or a mystery feature to our software. We build up the value of this mystery element to very high value.

For example, imagine a webinar about Facebook Advertising. On the landing page you say “Plus you’ll get a Q&A session with a mystery guest that has spent over $1 million dollars on Facebook ads which generated over 9 million clicks and $21 million dollars.” This mystery guest is the curiosity and intrigue to get people to want to join your event.

If the audience wants to learn about Facebook advertising, THEY WILL BE STARVING to find out who the mystery guest is and have the ability to ask him/her questions on the webinar.

It doesn’t have to be a person, it can be a feature of your software, a topic in your coaching program, or whatever else you can add a mystery element too.

Curiosity + powerful benefits = high response!

If you’re suffering from poor webinar or teleseminar attendance rates, put these three strategies to work and instantly you’ll see a boost in people showing up.

Now that you have them signed up – GET THEM THERE.

For more kinds of advanced marketing and mobile marketing strategies, to increase your webinar or teleseminar attendance, you’re welcome to a complimentary account and 50 free text messages at www.CallLoop.com

I hope you enjoyed this article, thank you for reading.

Author Bio

It’s been said Chris Brisson “doesn’t look like much” – but clients who’ve earned millions as a direct result of his software and systems, know better than to underestimate him. After creating his first internet business out of his college apartment at 19 yet knowing nothing about “marketing”, Brisson took to studying the greats. Frustrated with the hodge-podge marketing systems and his own poor webinar and teleseminar attendance rates, he pioneered a new mobile platform to solve this problem and from this frustration – Call Loop was born.

Josh Rice is taking over the YouTube world.

Known as “J Rice” to YouTubers, I tried to call him a tripple threat, but he is even better than that (watch the interview below to see what I mean)

With more than 115,000 YouTube subscribers and over 20 million total views he is quickly rising as one of the top musical talents in the “underground” YouTube singers world.

What are the main things Josh has done to become a YouTube sensation?

It’s a simple formula in my opinion

1. He builds quality relationships with other YouTube singers - and over delivers by providing them with tracks and music for them to use
2. Has a sweet talent – you gotta be good to attract viewers, or have some sort of expertise which Josh clearly has
3. Takes action- those that take action see results
4. Stays consistent – There are a number of talented singers out there, but 99% of them aren’t consistent enough to get noticed and see success.

Josh is a serious mutant.  Before you watch the interview below, listen to his voice on this Rihanna/Eminem remix (watch out, it’s super additive to play on repeat

That’s right, Josh played the music himself (it wasn’t some recording online), he produced the video, sings (obviously), and wrote part of the lyrics during the “rap” as well.

Like I said.  He’s a Mutant! 

Make sure to watch this interview below to learn more about how Josh has built his YouTube empire and the things any business owner can take away to grow their following and business with YouTube as well. (for some reason both of our Skype video was acting up at times during this interview just in case you wondering why it’s not as sharp as usual)

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Want more tips on video marketing and driving traffic?  Click Here.

If you enjoyed this post then make sure to check out the interview I did with YouTube celebrity Nick Pitera.  Josh and Nick are friends and have done some joint videos together as well.  What do you think of Josh and his talents and what he has been able to create for himself on YouTube?  Leave your comments below and make sure to subscribe to his youtube.com/JRiceproductions channel here and also let him know your thoughts on Twitter Here. 

Always focus on creating friendships first, and develop business deals later.

I never seek out relationships with people on a business level.

That’s lame if you ask me.

And this is the mistake so many make.

They reach out to someone and instantly think about how that person can benefit them professionally or in their business.

Get over yourself already.  You make me want to puke when you do that.

Now I’m not perfect and I know there have been times where I’ve met someone and wanted to know down the line if there was ever potential for us to work together.

But, I’m never discontinuing them as a friend or useful business contact even if I don’t see any potential for us to do business in the near future.

Why?

• You never know who they know, and how powerful their network could be for you
• Helping others always trumps asking for help first.  The law of reciprocity is always on your side
• I’m a Midwestern boy and believe in the Golden Rule, plus it’s just good manners

I’ve been blessed to build a 7 figure business, launch new companies, do over 400 webinars with affiliate partners, speak at over 100 live events, launch new products, consult for major companies, and work on a number of other fun business projects… all because I’ve become friends on a personal level with these influencers and decision makers. (I’ll stop bragging now, I promise)

If I would have gone into these relationships by thinking “how can you help me grow my business” instead of thinking “wow, you are a cool person… let’s be friends” then probably more than half of these deals would never have happened.

Build Friendships First and Business Later

Alright.  So what are the keys to building friendships first and not focusing on how that person can make you money?

It’s simple.

Here are a few things I always focus on when I introduce myself to someone new (both in person and online).

1.  Ask Questions

There’s nothing more people love than to talk about themselves, and their success.  Ask about what their passions are, what they like to do for fun, and about their life outside of business. Asking questions shows you are interested in them and that you aren’t not a selfish prick.

2.  Be Genuine

Be interested in what they have to say, don’t just nod and act interested as people see right through that.  Julia Allison, someone I recently met, is amazing at this skill.  She asks interesting questions, smiles a lot, makes others laugh, and makes every person feel like her friend.  Make sure you are genuine.

3.  Make Connections on the Spot

When I get around to learning about what type of business someone is in, I instantly think about 2-3 people who would be a perfect connection for them.  I often call that person right on the spot and make a quick intro on the phone, then follow up with an email intro that day with others they should connect with.

4.  Use Eye Contact

This is a big one.  I recently met a well known marketer who has made millions online. However, when in conversation with someone I was good friends with he wouldn’t look him in the eyes.  He only looked around the room as to see “who else should I connect with that can help me out?“.   This shocked me and I felt it was extremely rude and embarrassing.

Eye contact can make or break a relationship (both friend and business related).  When listening to others, always focus on their eyes (with a calm smile of course) as this will encourage them to be more open and welcoming to you.  Read my good friend Michael Ellsberg’s book The Power of Eye Contact also, there are some great nuggets of info in there!

5.  Continue the Follow Up

You aren’t a real friend with someone unless you stay connected.   Otherwise you are just an acquaintance of someone you met one time.  Make sure to follow up with them by connecting in person, via the phone, email, and through social networks.  The more you continue to interact with that new friend, the stronger the friendship becomes and more potential opportunities will come from it.

Here’s to Friendships

Friends are everything to me.  Business relationships are great, but they are even better when you’ve created a friendship first.

If you are looking to gain more influence or build your business then these are just a few principles I’d follow when meeting new people.

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What are some best practices you have when you meet people?  Are you trying to think about ways they can help you… or do you focus on them first, and building a personal connection?  I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.