Growth Think Tank

If you want to do something different or new, you have be willing to do something new. Ok, not rocket science. Well this is only partly right. You have to be willing to let go of some stuff too. You might even have to let go of what made you reach your current level of success. This is the hard part. Today's guest is Jesse Moskel with Agile Marketing Solutions. We talk about a lot of stuff to make you successful in the game of business so tune in to get your dose of wisdom from a fellow Leader in the Trenches.

Get the show notes for 146 | Let Go of What You Have Now To Get Success With Jesse Moskel

Click to Tweet: Listening to an amazing episode on Leaders in the Trenches with @GeneHammett #RockerScience #Wisdom #Success #Episode146 #Podcasts

Give Leaders in the Trenches a review on iTunes!

If you want to do something different or new, you have be willing to do something new. Ok, not rocket science. Well this is only partly right. You have to be willing to let go of some stuff too. You might even have to let go of what made you reach your current level of success. This is the hard part. Today's guest is Jesse Moskel with Agile Marketing Solutions. We talk about a lot of stuff to make you successful in the game of business so tune in to get your dose of wisdom from a fellow Leader in the Trenches.

Have you ever had a client that stressed and frustrated you? I know you have. Even the newest of business owners have taken on a client that has turned out to be less than ideal. This episode is a wake-up call and a step-by-step plan on doing work that matters. It is about understanding what work matters to you (really matters to you) and it is about who you do it with. I believe we should be seeking to work with those that are INSPIRED by a new future. Discover some secrets in this episode about doing work that matters with inspired clients.

Get the show notes for 145 | Doing Work That Matters With Inspired Clients with Gene Hammett

Click to Tweet: Listening to an amazing episode on Leaders in the Trenches with @GeneHammett #BusinessOwners #InspiredClients #StepbyStepPlan #Episode145 #Podcasts

Give Leaders in the Trenches a review on iTunes!

Have you ever had a client that stressed and frustrated you? I know you have. Even the newest of business owners have taken on a client that has turned out to be less than ideal. This episode is a wake-up call and a step-by-step plan on doing work that matters. It is about understanding what work matters to you (really matters to you) and it is about who you do it with. I believe we should be seeking to work with those that are INSPIRED by a new future. Discover some secrets in this episode about doing work that matters with inspired clients.

Share the LOVE and TWEET about this episode.

Target Audience: Gene works with entrepreneurs who want to find the perfect match between their unique value and the people who will become their best clients and biggest fans.

[spp-tweet "“When you do work that matters, others are excited too” ~Gene Hammett"]

In this episode, you’ll hear about what it takes to do work that matters. So, what does that mean? Well, it means that it’s not enough to do work. It’s about CHOOSING work that gives you inspiration and motivation. It’s about choosing work that gives you the recognition for the work that you are doing. Ultimately, this is what inspires more innovation and creativity. In summary, this is the work that YOU ENJOY doing.

Another side to this is obtaining great results - real results. Not “stuff” like a better website, more training, more coaching. We’re talking about results to back up the work you are doing.

[spp-tweet "“Inspired clients are super charged to work with you” ~Gene Hammett"]

So what about INSPIRED Clients- who are those people? Inspired clients are those that are inspired and super charged to work with you. You don’t have to sell them on anything. They are ready to move forward and bring their all. They can’t wait to get started and pour into the work. They are also ready, willing and financially able. The good news is: you don’t need that “sales” process with inspired clients.

Beware of the ENEMIES that get in the way of you doing work that matters:
-Pay attention to the words people say: Words like -“but i can’t”- this is a lack or scarcity mindset and it gets in the way of work that matters.
-YOU. Yes, you can be your own enemy. You are the one who decides who you work with. Pay attention to the limiting beliefs around your own perception of scarcity. Be conscious of your messaging (is it bland or boring?). Is your position in the market fuzzy? Remember that people decide whether that want to work with you based on how they perceive you.

“When you get these things right, you don’t need the pitch” ~Gene Hammett

• How to shift from frustrating clients to INSPIRED clients
• Identifying your PROFITABLE AVATAR
• What inspired clients are
• 5 steps to working with Inspired Clients
• Enemies keeping you from your inspired clients
• Putting your belief system in check

1. Pick one actual person by name (and even last name) that inspires you
2. Describe the work that you’ve done with them and the results you got
3. Create a case study: a “before vs. after.” Tell that story. Talk about the struggle that was there for them before they started working with you. Draw out the inspiration. Make it POP so that someone else can see themselves in this case study and say, “me too.”
   Invite others to a conversation.
4. Gene’s avatar is “Jason.” This is someone who recently sold his company and is an expert in his industry. However, Jason is not sure what his next steps are. Check out the episode for the full scoop on episode 130 While Jason is an experienced business owner, (over 10 years of experience) he frustrated by his next steps. Do your best to emulate this!
5. ASK QUESTIONS to a handful of people representative of your PROFITABLE AVATAR. Learn about what they think about and what they believe. What are the problems and the struggles? Get an understanding of where they want to take themselves in business. This is for you to be able to make recommendations without going through that sales process.

If you don’t have a long list of people, don’t worry about that. Start with who you have (those who match your Profitable Avatar) and have your conversations with them. once you start getting great results with 2-3 of them, it starts to snowball. Amazing results follow when you’ve identified your avatar.

[spp-tweet "“If you look for an excuse, you will find it” ~Gene Hammett"]

Your belief system can back up a way for this not to work. But if you look for a way you can make it work. it takes courage and leadership. Check out this quote from the CEO of McDonald’s:

“If you work just for money you’ll never make it. But if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours” Ray Crock

Be aware of the enemies to your success:

The shiny object syndrome- always chasing something new.
Thinking: “Who am i to do this?” This is having a lack mentality.
Waiting for something to come in for you to grow. Produce something- take action. Think of it as an experiment!

Profitable AVATAR

• Get the Gig: Speaker Series with Gene!
• Schedule Your Strategy Session Here
• Check out the episode with Gene's Profitable Avatar on episode 130

Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter @genehammett.

Did you know that you can apply to chat with me by phone? This is a limited time offer to help anyone that is serious about refining their business as well as developing a clear & compelling strategy that will drive them forward. Complete the questions and our team will follow up with you to schedule time for your “Business Breakthrough Session”. These are limited to 30 minutes, completely free and oh, so valuable.  Apply Now!

And lastly, please leave a rating and review for the Leaders in the Trenches on iTunes (or Stitcher) – it will help us in many ways, but it also inspires us to keep doing what we are doing here. Thank you in advance!

Most people wake up and rush around to "get it done." Well, this is mostly a reactive mode that has you chasing your tail and just doing what comes up. There is another way. There is a better way. It is establishing a repeatable routine that positions your day for maximum effectiveness. Today's guest is best selling author of "The Miracle Morning" and all around amazing guy, Hal Elrod. Hal shares his framework for waking up on purpose with a purpose. Get the six elements of Hal's morning routine to improve the first minutes of your day to make the rest of your day amazing.

Get the show notes for 144 | Successful People Have a Morning Routine with Hal Elrod

Click to Tweet: Listening to an amazing episode on Leaders in the Trenches with @GeneHammett #Effectiveness #BestsellingAuthor #Episode144 #Podcasts

Give Leaders in the Trenches a review on iTunes!

Most people wake up and rush around to “get it done.” Well, this is mostly a reactive mode that has you chasing your tail and just doing what comes up. There is another way. There is a better way. It is establishing a repeatable routine that positions your day for maximum effectiveness. Today's guest is best selling author of “The Miracle Morning” and all around amazing guy, Hal Elrod. Hal shares his framework for waking up on purpose with a purpose. Get the six elements of Hal's morning routine to improve the first minutes of your day to make the rest of your day amazing.

Share the LOVE and TWEET about this episode.
Hal’s Target Audience: Hal’s audience is quite universal. His impactful book The Miracle Morning has touched everyone from college students, (who’ve reported getting off of medications for anxiety and depression) to CEO’s (who increased their revenue) to network marketers, to stay at home moms. His speaking engagements and coaching services are for a more narrowed audience including mostly professionals, entrepreneurs, and CEO’s.

[spp-tweet "“Focus on who you are becoming not what you are doing” ~Hal Elrod"]

Hal started out in sales at the age of 19 for a Cutlery business called Cutco. Driving home from a speech he did for the company one day, he got into a massive car accident and pretty much died for a few minutes. He was told he’d never walk again. He did recover however and left Cutco even after achieving “Hall of Fame.”

Soon after in 2008 when the economy crashed, he crashed with it and fell into a deep depression. He knew he needed to drastically change from the inside out and realized he needed a morning routine. He was aware of 6 different yet powerful rituals successful people use to jump start their mornings: “SAVRSE” - meaning:

• Silence
• Affirmations
• Visioning
• Reading
• Scribing
• Exercise

These are the 6 most proven powerful personal development practices and have been around forever. Most people will swear by any one of them or all of them! Hal committed to doing ALL 6 of the rituals and began to feel good from the inside out from the start. He soon nearly tripled his income, trained for an ultra marathon, and his depression dissolved! He began to share this with his clients and saw their successes too. He began writing his first book Taking Life Head On. Hal launched his coaching business and speaking career which was always his dream.

[spp-tweet "“Take yourself to the next level” ~Hal Elrod"]

Ten years later, Hal still speaks and does a little coaching. However, the biggest impact he’s made has been with his published book: Miracle Morning. Tens of thousands of people around the world now do the Miracle Morning. Hal has received reports that the Miracle Morning has saved marriages, gotten people out of ruts and depression and a more enhanced overall quality of life! There are currently over 800 reviews for The Miracle Morning.

The essential message The Miracle Morning conveys is instead of focusing on doing more, focus on BECOMING more. When you focus on becoming more, you can achieve more while doing less because this ritual will help you to become a better version of yourself. By performing all 6 rituals in a very simple structured way every day, you become a better version of yourself than who you were the day before. You become the person you need to be to achieve anything you want for your life. Did you know that most millionaires have a morning routine?

Many people report having a difficult time rising in the early am. Here are some tips from Yo pal Hal Elrod:

1) Place your alarm clock across the room. This forces you to get out of bed once and for all.
2) Set your intention before bed. Think about how you felt the night before christmas when you were a kid. You set an intention (maybe not consciously) about how you’d feel the next morning. More importantly, you visualized the following morning. So, what are your last thoughts before bed? Check out the Miracle Morning for some bedtime affirmations to get your energized and fired up for the next day.
Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up because you are dehydrated. Try to avoid going straight for coffee (if you’re a coffee drinker, have it afterwards). Drinking coffee as your first beverage makes you more tired because it is a diuretic.
3) Visualization. Visualize the end result. This helps your subconscious believe in that result. Get clear on what you want giving yourself more belief to make it possible. Some visualize and don't take proper action. So, the first half of visualization should be on the end result to feel and want it. The second part should be on what are you going to do today to ensure you are moving in that direction.

[spp-tweet "“Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less” ~Hal Elrod"]

How does Hal make sure he doesn’t stay in the trenches all the time? Hal focuses on creating horizontal or multiple streams. That way, he’s got constant income coming in all the time (also known as “passive income”). Hal does this through book sales, group coaching, and speaking gigs ($10,000 per speech).

• What The Morning Miracle can do for you
• How to get up early!
• The universal 6 motivational rituals
• Why most successful people utilize a morning routine
• How to set yourself up the night before
• What to do immediately upon waking
• How Hal avoids the trenches

Hal quotes Evan Pagan (a solopreneur) who urges us to all create our own morning success ritual while setting up a context in your mind. Move your alarm 30 to 60 minutes ahead. Consciously do more than you are doing now to improve yourself. Add something take yourself to the next level. Focus on who you are becoming - not what you are doing. Remember that when you become more you achieve more.

[spp-tweet "“Become the person you need to be to achieve anything you want” ~Hal Elrod"]

• Best Year Ever Blueprint
• Hal's website
• The Morning Miracle
• The Miracle Morning Community on Facebook
• Get the Gig: Speaker Series with Gene!
• Schedule Your Strategy Session Here

Connect with Hal on Twitter. And Connect with me too on LinkedIn or Twitter @genehammett.

Did you know that you can apply to chat with me by phone? This is a limited time offer to help anyone that is serious about refining their business as well as developing a clear & compelling strategy that will drive them forward. Complete the questions and our team will follow up with you to schedule time for your “Business Breakthrough Session”. These are limited to 30 minutes, completely free and oh, so valuable.  Apply Now!

And lastly, please leave a rating and review for the Leaders in the Trenches on iTunes (or Stitcher) – it will help us in many ways, but it also inspires us to keep doing what we are doing here. Thank you in advance!

There are businesses and there are movements. Business and movements may or may not make money. Business become your profession. Movements become your purpose. Today's guests are Andy Zitzmann and AJ Amyx. We talk about starting a movement and building it to make a difference in the world. Too many people are scared to break away from comfort and do work that really matters. Discover what you can do about starting your movement.

Get the show notes for 143 | Starting A Movement with Andy Zitzmann and AJ Amyx

Click to Tweet: Listening to an amazing episode on Leaders in the Trenches with @GeneHammett #Movement #Business #Episode143 #Podcasts

Give Leaders in the Trenches a review on iTunes!

There are businesses and there are movements. Business and movements  may or may not make money.  Business become your profession.  Movements become your purpose.  Today's guests are Andy Zitzmann and AJ Amyx.  We talk about starting a movement and building it to make a difference in the world.  Too many people are scared to break away from comfort and do work that really matters.  Discover what you can do about starting your movement.

Share the LOVE and TWEET about this episode.

Target Audience: Andy and AJ target authors, speakers and coaches looking to monetize their businesses. These are people who want to get stuff done, lead people and get paid while doing it. They’ve had some success but need a nudge - a map - to go bigger.

[spp-tweet ""Making mistakes makes champions" ~Andy Zitzmann"]

The “map” is provided in 90 day increments and can be found HERE. Their mission is to help experts figure out how monetize their message online. The program does NOT just stop at strategy and mindset. AJ and Andy have collectively spent over $200,000 in investment skill sets they can use to provide shortcuts to others and to turn a message into a true movement.

Andy and AJ firmly believe that service based entrepreneurs are each called to serve a certain group of people. Some choose to listen to that calling. These are what Andy and AJ identify as passion driven Experts who are not just in it for the money. These are people who have overcome some struggle or acquired a skill set. They have transformed their life and/or business and want to to take it bigger to create huge impact.

[spp-tweet ""It’s better to have a movement than a business" ~Gene Hammett"]

What Andy and AJ often find is that people chase the “HOW TO.” The speculation is that people chase this because they want to hide behind something (the ‘how’) and avoid taking responsibility. Taking responsibility and action requires the willingness to do the internal work and go deep. This is what moves you forward as a leader. Being in the learning phase is comfortable and it feels like progress.

Ultimately however, you won’t ever soar on a grander level. It’s imperative to start implementing and executing everything you learn about. This doesn’t mean you don’t continue to learn, of course. Simply however, you’ve got to have the guts to fail. Anyone who has seen the face of success has failed many times and isn’t afraid to continue failing. They stay in the game.

[spp-tweet ""Experts are the ones who want to make a positive difference in the world" ~AJ Amyx"]

So, why is a movement more important that building a business? According to Andy and AJ, there are some of us who are called to lead a group of people and create a positive impact on those people. It’s a message we receive from some type of divine guidance - some voice inside of us. Those who choose to listen, go all in and help those people. It could be as simple as making a shift for just one person. By starting small, a ripple effect takes place.

[spp-tweet ""Don't hide behind ‘the HOW’" ~AJ Amyx"]

A movement inspires people to take action. Every movement is created with that intention. It’s meaningful and changes people’s lives. Most importantly, it is beyond you- it is about the impact, the service, and others. In a sense this is what helped Andy and AJ out of their own trenches: when they took advantage of another’s service. Asking for help and saying “yes” to coaches, mentors and services is what ultimately lifted them out of the swamps!

• What a movement truly means
  Why you’ve got to forget about the “how-to”
  Why consuming information keeps you comfortable
  How to implement what you learn
  Why it’s ok to ask for help

[spp-tweet ""Those who have big success don't listen to naysayers ~Andy Zitzmann"]

Action taking- networking - and take a time to breathe, get present and get help. Seek a mentor, a coach, or create your own advisory board. Find a mastermind. Surround yourself with 1 or a few people who you know, like and trust. People who will hold you accountable to taking actions and get out of the trenches.

• Join us at the Summit on 4/7/15
• AJ on Twitter
• Andy on Twitter
• Get the Gig: Speaker Series with Gene!
• Schedule Your Strategy Session Here
• Get involved in The Movement

Connect with AJ and Andy on Twitter. And Connect with me too on LinkedIn or Twitter @genehammett.

Did you know that you can apply to chat with me by phone? This is a limited time offer to help anyone that is serious about refining their business as well as developing a clear & compelling strategy that will drive them forward. Complete the questions and our team will follow up with you to schedule time for your “Business Breakthrough Session”. These are limited to 30 minutes, completely free and oh, so valuable.  Apply Now!

And lastly, please leave a rating and review for the Leaders in the Trenches on iTunes (or Stitcher) – it will help us in many ways, but it also inspires us to keep doing what we are doing here. Thank you in advance!

If the title didn't catch your eye, lean in a little closer. Listen and learn to how Mike Agugliaro completely shifted his business by shifting his mindset, skills and frequency of taking action in as little as 10 months. It's incredible what is possible when intentional tweaks are made. When in a place of true service, trust is one major factor essential to the process. It just goes to show that guiding others in producing successful results brings you extraordinary success.

Get the show notes for 142 | From $1 to $23 Million in Ten Months with Mike Agugliaro

Click to Tweet: Listening to an amazing episode on Leaders in the Trenches with @GeneHammett #Mindset #TrueService #Episode142 #Podcasts

Give Leaders in the Trenches a review on iTunes!

If the title didn’t catch your eye, lean in a little closer. Listen and learn to how Mike Agugliaro completely shifted his business by shifting his mindset, skills and frequency of taking action in as little as 10 months. It’s incredible what is possible when intentional tweaks are made. When in a place of true service, trust is one major factor essential to the process. It just goes to show that guiding others in producing successful results brings you extraordinary success.

Share the LOVE and TWEET about this episode.

Mike’s Target Audience: Mike serves business owners by coaching business owners of plumbing, heating, cooling, electric and pest control companies. The aim is to guide  them on how to grow their business fast and easily.

[spp-tweet "“I switched frameworks from making money to making wealth” ~Mike Agugliaro"]

Mike’s business has grown exponentially in the last 10 months. The company produced $1 million for ten consecutive years and suddenly shifted to a whopping $23 million per year and has 130 employees and 100 service trucks on the road. After 10 years of producing the same revenue, this is kind of a big deal! Mike anticipates creeping up to $25 million in the year ahead.

[spp-tweet "“My mindset was that, ‘I am going to have people in that room’”~Mike Agugliaro"]

So what shifted? According to Mike it was 3 aspects. 1) Mindset: Mike realizes he had a rather limited belief system, felt he didn’t deserve success and engaged in self sabotage. 2) Skill Set: Before this expanded success, he didn’t have marketing and operational finance skills which he does now. It was important that he acquired those skills. 3) Action: Mike started taking massive action each and every day. Something he was not doing before.

The decision to provide coaching services was made because of the low overhead and high profit nature of it. He also switched frameworks from making money to making WEALTH. He got creative about all the other ways he could create it. Coaching and helping others were already things he prebuilt so it was a logical direction to go in.

Mike started creating 4- day events funneling into a 12 month program. The events provide a gain in trust and credibility. He got out of his own way and started doing videos (built the “know like and trust factor”). He gave himself an “expert” status. He planned for 4 day events and trusted he would have people in the room. Mike charges $5,000 for 3 day events. Sounds like a lot of money, however he still drew people in because before attendees came to the event, he already helps them make 4 to 5x their return. So to the attendee, this is a no brainer. 

[spp-tweet "“People go to wide with the net and catch nothing" ~Mike Agugliaro"]

So, what was the promise he made to attendees? First, he looked for the low hanging fruit that was missing (i.e- low average transaction, wrong funnels, bad marketing)- solved those issues which then made it easy to double business.

 Mike creates an intimate setting for the events with no more than 15 people and does not work with  startups. The events always begin with tackling mindset. Getting people to make the leap is  getting passed skepticism they may hold. Many people have gone to other events that didn’t work and so he shows them the value they would receive at his event before they get there.

[spp-tweet ""I want to change as many lives as i can before I’m done" ~Mike Agugliaro"]

How does he do this? Well, once they show interest, they are contacted via email and are provided with some pre education, actions steps and testimonials from previous clients. Then there is a phone conversation where a ‘gap analysis’ is conducted.  If he can close one of the ‘spaces’ for them- they’ll make the leap. Sometimes if they don’t make the leap- they may need to hit a deeper level of pain.

Mike is a big believer in outsourcing mundane tasks to a VA. Get someone who will manage all the stuff  you shouldn’t be managing when growing a business. For example, setting up phone calls, managing facebook, researching. These are all things that prevent you from making a difference.

[spp-tweet " "Be totally hungry and and treat your target like oxygen."~Mike Agugliaro  "]

• How Mike went from $1 to $23 million in revenue in 10 months
• The 3 things that shifted his business
• Getting people to trust you
• How to create WEALTH not money
• How Mike gets people to attend $3,000 events
• Why you should outsource to a VA

Write down all your limiting beliefs. identify the skill sets you still need and acquire those skills. Find a mentor or coach who can short track it for you. take massive action every single day. Be totally hungry and and treat your target like oxygen.

• Mike on Facebook
• Secrets of Business Mastery website
• Connect with Gene
• Ready to take the stage? 5 Steps to Getting the Gig

Connect with Mike on Facebook. And Connect with me too on LinkedIn or Twitter @genehammett.