Fail To Learn: Teaching stories from business, sales, marketing, coaching, blogging, freelance, & entrepreneurs.

In this episode I talk with Diane Gardner from TaxCoach4You.com. That's right taxes. A subject very few people are eager to discuss. But Diane loves it because she takes a slightly different approach.

Diane is a Certified Tax Coach and a large portion of her business is coaching entrepreneurs to help them pay the least amount of tax that's legally required. Sounds nice. She's saved her clients over a million dollars in taxes over the past few years. She knows her stuff.

Of course, we start the interview with her big mistake and the struggle she faced. You can listen to find out what it was.

Here’s what else Diane and I discuss:

• Diane answers the question, "What exactly is a tax coach and proactive tax planning?"
• How she's saved her clients over $1 million with tax planning, nut just filing the taxes but actively planning.
• Why she bought her business' building in 2007, at the top of the real estate market.
• How she lost half her clients, because they went out of business, from 2007 to 2010.
• How she struggled to grow her business (because she didn't understand marketing) and the catalyst that turned everything around.
• What took her down the path to become a tax coach, and add it to her 'traditional' accounting business.
• Why she loves helping entrepreneurs and businesses.
• How she financed her marketing with 'loans' from her credit cards and the anxiety that caused.
• What happened when she realized they didn't teach you how to run a business when she learned to do accounting.
• What she does to help successful business owners save thousands of dollars in taxes each year.
• Why most people don't think there is any way to plan ahead and actually lower their taxes.
• How her employees attempted to revolt because of her business changes.
• What she did to keep her business going the way she wanted and deal with the dissenting employees.
• How the employees almost tore apart her business.
• Why she feels like she turned the Titanic mourned and kept it afloat.
• The fears she faces with her employee issues.

Enjoy the show:

How A Tax Coach's Business Succeeded Despite The Odds

Jennifer Briney is host of the super fascinating Congressional Dish podcast. On it she breaks down congressional bills and gives you the dirty laundry hidden deep inside. It's not pretty.

Before she found her success, she was floating through unsuccessful sales positions and jobs with zero responsibility. And that's the story she tells us in this episode.

I couldn't help myself so Jennifer and I also discuss the presidential election, politics, and misleading news outlets. It's an educational and entertaining conversation.

Here’s what Jennifer and I discuss:

• How she took a job as a salesperson just so she could get health insurance after college.
• She became a successful leasing agent for her apartment complex. How everything went downhill when she was promoted.
• Why she knew she could sell what she believed in.
• How she transitioned into another sales position and failed.
• What she thought about the product she was trying to sell. It's an odd one.
• How she want 9 months without selling one of these products.
• What she would've done differently, if she had to do it all over again.
• How she thought she was a gifted salesperson until she went through this experience.
• The critical lessons she learned from this selling disaster.
• Why she called many of her "no responsibility" jobs "just for cashies."
• How she started her political podcast, The Congressional Dish.
• What motivates her to keep reading these congressional bills, and why she feels compelled to keep at it.
• What she distrusts about our mainstream media outlets.
• What drives media coverage today, and how it changes the way we believe what's going on (and this isn't conspiracy theory or right or left-wing arguments).
• How congress stuffs bills with horrible laws that can't be taken out, and why you never hear about it.
• Wh she wishes traditional journalists would pick up and steal her stories.
• What influences the TV news channels coverage choices and how it effects you.
• How native advertising is ruining journalism.
• Why she turns down ads on her podcast.
• How she struggles when stating her opinions on the show. But she always disclosures her opinion if she shares.
• Why this election helped shed a light on the corruption in both major parties.
• How the Republicans and Democrats control the elections and won't let outside candidates on stage for debates.
• How our power as citizens is in congress, not the president. And why you need to vote for house and senate candidates.

Enjoy the show:

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Kevin Donlin has been involved with copywriting and marketing since the early 1990s. His experience is vast. Yet that didn't keep him from his mistakes along the way.

Kevin shares some of these errors in this episode. Fortunately, each mistake was a stair step to elevating his business.

Here’s what Kevin and I discuss:

• How Kevin started as a resume writer.
• How small classified ads attracted his first clients.
• Why looking at other people in your industry will screw you up when you make decisions on what to charge and how to run your business.
• Why people who pay more are better clients.
• How Kevin's hobby helping business owners turned into his copywriting and consulting business.
• How the 'sure thing' will always trip you up.
• Kevin's story about the importance of testing small before making a large commitment.
• Why a recurring revenue model changed his business.
• Why he said he has to get smarter each month to keep his coaching clients.
• What Kevin means when he said, "Routine is a sign of success."
• The neuroscience study that keeps him sending a physical package to his clients instead of an online coaching business.
• Why it's important to get hands on in your business every now and then.
• How he still struggles with accountability as an entrepreneur.
• How he took direct response marketing principles and applied them to resume writing.
• Why giving refunds will get you more sales, and more cash to keep in the long run.

Enjoy the show:

Routine Is A Sign Of Success

Jim Palmer, author of Decide, had a couple of successful businesses already running when he decided to partner with a friend for another. This idea, while great at the time, turned out to be an expensive learning experience for them.

Fortunately, the partners had worked out the details beforehand. They planned for what would happen if everything worked well, or if it failed. And it failed.

Are they still friends today? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Here’s what Jim and I discuss:

• How Jim and his friend came up with the idea for their business.
• The smart things they did before taking the first step.
• How they spent a year building the necessary systems to give their distribution partners a turnkey system.
• How these turnkey systems can fail, when not implemented properly.
• What happens when two friends, with a lot of business experience, realize they’ve lost over $30,000 and months of their time on a losing business idea.
• The one defining key that makes every business work.
• Why Jim doesn’t regret the loss.
• How they choose their distribution partners, and how those partners still failed.
• How people in business assume that the business will take care of itself, and what really needs to be done.
• The most important piece to any partnership.
• What caused Jim and his partner to ‘mentally check out’ long before they closed the business’ doors.
• Why you need to ‘cut the rope,’ and what it means to your success.
• The key to failing fast.
• How you can use a newsletter as a ‘silent salesman’ to deliver consistent and reliable sales.
• What Jim has found to be a critical factor among those who are the most successful in any field.
• How you can improve your ability to make decisions.
• Why wrong decisions aren’t bad, or detrimental to your success.
• How he structures his week, so he can work from anywhere in the world.

Enjoy the show:

How Do You Decide To Close Your Business?

Kwame Christian discovered his passion for negotiation by accident. During law school he took a class on negotiation that sparked a fire inside of him.

He’s a practicing business attorney and recently launched the American Negotiation Institute to help you get better deals and advance your career.

I loved talking with Kwame about negotiation. This wasn’t a typical failure story because I went off track with my questions. Instead of a story you get some wonderful negotiation tips.

Here’s what Kwame and I discuss:

• How Kwame realized he could make a business out of what actually interests him.
• How he built his client base doing free negotiation seminars.
• The 3 ways you can use negotiations. And it’s more than simply getting a better deal.
• How Kwame’s happiness played into his decision to launch this business, and begin transitioning his legal practice.
• The most difficult negotiations you’ll face.
• Demystifying the planning process for any negotiation.
• Kwame’s struggle to balance two startup businesses.
• How he struggles with patience while building his audience.
• How Kwame found successful connections through LinkedIn.
• The difference between conflict and combat, and why that’s important to your sales and negotiations.
• How long should you prepare before you negotiate with someone?
• Why negotiations are won, and lost, in the preparation.
• Why you shouldn’t look at negotiation as a single event and more like a long-term process.
• The biggest challenge you face when negotiating.
• Kwame’s 70–30 rule for negotiating.
• Why he said he has a problem with selling.
• How he thinks being a lawyer has hampered his ability to market himself.
• How grit has played into his success.
• If you’re in a business partnership, why you need to understand the communication challenges facing you. And how they’re more complicated than a marriage.

Enjoy the show:

Your Most Important Negotiations Will Be With The People Closest To You

Jessica Rhodes runs Interview Connections, a company that helps match podcasts with guest experts. Her business is booming. And she’s running it with a team of virtual employees.

Everything was running smooth. And then Jessica had to take time off for the birth of her second child.

Jessica kept giving her assistant more control in the business. When Jessica came back and began reclaiming control, things turned bad. And it didn’t end well between them.

Here’s what Jessica and I discuss:

• The big challenge we face with employee/boss relationships.
• What happens when you give someone too much control while you’re away, and what happens when you try to get it back.
• Why financial incentives don’t alway work to motivate someone.
• How tension grew between Jessica and her employee, and conversations that used to flow smoothly were now strained.
• How the feeling of distrust grew and ruined their relationship.
• What Jessica could’ve done that might have changed the outcome.
• How she fell into the trap of giving up control.
• The key Jessica discovered to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
• Why Jessica isn’t ready to let go of the control of her business and be an ’absentee CEO."
• Our discussion about the “business as a baby” metaphor. Why it’s good and bad.
• What she’s doing now to make sure her business grows and supports her lifestyle.
• The one thing you need to know about virtual assistants before hiring one.

Enjoy the show:

Employee Relationships And The Challenges They Cause

Steve Rodgers is the founder of The Alchemy Advisors and author of Lead to Gold: Transition to transformation.

Not long ago, Steve was flying high as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway’s southern California real estate company. He was leading over 5000 sales people at 110 different offices. It was his dream job.

However, he took control when the real estate market was at its worst. And he had to start cutting everything back. He had to layoff friends. He had to close offices.

And then he was laid off.

Steve took this blow hard. It knocked the wind out of him. Yet he was able to bounce back and start The Alchemy Advisors and pursue his calling.

This rollercoaster ride is where Steve and I start our discussion in today’s show.

What you’ll enjoy in this episode:

• How Steve chose to focus The Alchemy Advisors on productivity, profit, and purpose.
• Why Birkshire wasn’t behind him, in the way Steve expected, when the going got tough, and told him to start closing offices.
• How he stuck to his ideals and tried to grow the business, despite being told to cut everything back.
• Why he said, “When you’re the coach of the team, and the team is not winning, a lot of times they replace the coach. Sometimes that needs to happen.”
• Why he moved out of his parents home when he was 17, and what that means to Steve today.
• Before Steve took over as CEO, he could see the “writing on the wall” that led to his termination.
• What a little voice in Steve’s head said to him when he sat in the CEO chair for the first time.
• How he thinks being fired was actually a push, forcing him to pursue his dream.
• The emotional challenge you face when firing the people you call friends.
• Why his wife took the firing worse than he did.
• How he discovered his true friends after being fired.
• How he went from being attached to his position and title to, what I called, “Happy Steve.”
• How he finds gratitude, and maintains a positive outlook, throughout all the struggles he’s faced… and will face.
• Why he feels like he’s finally found his purpose.

Enjoy the show:

You Discover Your True Friends On The Way Down

At an early age, Anthony Lee was told he wouldn’t make anything of himself. He grew up in a poor family and was taught a poor kid from lower-middle class Alabama couldn’t rise up.

Unlike most, he found a way to lift himself out. He worked hard, struggled, and built a business, selling his products through Amazon.

In this episode of FailToLearn we talk about Anthony’s struggles and how they helped him get where he is today.

What Anthony and I discuss:

• How Anthony was looking for a way to make money and get more from life.
• How he started trading commodities, and why it didn’t work for him.
• Why he wanted to use his trading skills to get a job at a big firm.
• How he practiced and made imaginary trades to test his skills.
• What he went through to open his first brokerage account.
• How quickly he lost his entire savings trading, and what happened after.
• Why he wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.
• Why he doesn’t compare trading in the market to gambling, even after losing everything.
• How Anthony view networking, and why it’s important to you.
• Why he changed his idea of success and was ready to settle for a job, until he came across copywriting.
• Why Anthony finds copywriting a critical skill.
• How he started importing products from China to sell on Amazon.
• How much credit card debt he piled up to start his import business, and his wife’s reaction when she found out.
• What he did when he realized how easy it is to sell on Amazon.
• How he got started selling on Amazon, and what he would do different today, if he was starting today.
• Why he said anyone with a physical store should be selling on Amazon.
• How Anthony is working to scale and sell his products in physical stores.
• How the fear of failure doesn’t go away.
• How he realized he could repeat his system.
• Why people who are entrepreneurial will always be entrepreneurial.

Enjoy the show:

The Challenges Don’t Go Away, They Just Get Different with Anthony Lee

George Bernard Shaw sums it up best with this quote:

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. - George Bernard Shaw

We spend a big chunk of our life talking with other people but are we really communicating?

This is a critical idea to consider. Even more so when you’re attempting to sell or influence others to do something.

In this episode I share the two biggest communication and influence mistakes I run into on a regular basis. And how you can fix them.

Here’s what I share:

• Why these two mistakes are the 80/20 of influence. But they’re the 20% that can destroy the working 80%.
• How multitasking overwhelms your ability to listen. This is not what you think about multitasking.
• Why we stop listening and how to catch yourself to listen better.
• How you can hear some of my listening mistakes in past podcast episodes.
• How talking about yourself triggers the pleasure center in your brain, and how that can reduce your income by 25%.
• Why you shouldn’t say, “I understand,” and what to say instead to build more rapport.
• The type of questions you want to ask to communicate more effectively.
• How your behavior restricts your ability to build rapport, and what you can do fix it.
• How to listen to someone with all your senses, not just your ears.
• How mirroring someone amplifies the rapport building process.
• How we display we’re different, and how to fix it so people feel as though you are like them.
• Why you want to become flexible in your behavior.
• How to notice the habitual behaviors of people so you can quickly create a bond with them.
• Why you don’t need to make drastic changes to drastically improve your ability to communicate and sell more.

Enjoy the show:

The 2 Communication Mistakes You’re Making At Work, And How To Fix Them

• Listen for linguistic presuppositions
• Asking questions to build rapport
• How to quickly create metaphors to communicate an idea
• Mirroring to gain rapport
• Asking effective questions

I speak with Max! Rouzier from That Man Max! I wanted to call this episode, “What’s your excuse?” But Max said you shouldn’t listen to this and think he has it harder so you shouldn’t complain. But listen, relate to him, and learn.

Max has gone from landing his dream job to working himself to a hospital bed, lucky to be alive. He now works his business on his terms. Something he didn’t think was possible a couple years ago.

You’re going to enjoy this episode.

Here’s what Max and I discuss:

• How Max landed his dream job at Google, and then realized it may be a dream for others but not for him.
• Why he put such an emphasis on getting the job that he didn’t appreciate the process, and what that mean for you.
• How he started producing viral content and YouTube videos.
• Why shipping a video once per week was the fastest way for him to develop his skills, and how you can do it too.
• How he discovered his secret to promoting his videos and how it made all the difference in their growth.
• How Max, and his partner, were able to write, record, edit, and produce a video each week that was worth watching.
• How he consistently put out content despite ending up in the hospital several times.
• The challenges he struggles with due to sickle cell anemia.
• How he runs at 100% but his body doesn’t always keep up.
• How he gets more work done today while working fewer hours than in the past.
• Why he didn’t accept the sickly cell anemia and kept pushing himself beyond his capabilities, and how it almost killed him.
• How he emails his list daily.
• Why it’s important to share what’s going on with your emails and how to use it to help your prospects, and yourself.
• How he is able to work his system.
• How you can make the change and work your own systems.

Enjoy the show:

From Dream Job, To A Hospital Bed, To A Business On His Own Terms with Max Rouzier