Just The Tips, with James P. Friel and Dean Holland

This week on Just the Tips we have a guest who is a very good friend of mine (confirmed by both parties, after Dean questioned whether it was a one-way friendship), who is not only one of the best coaches out there for digital marketing, she also has a remarkable story of pulling herself up by her bootstraps and creating something out of almost nothing. On this episode, we talk about how she hit rock bottom, how she then rocketed to success, and how she helps people do the same.

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

When someone describes their life as The Young and the Restless meets Jerry Springer, it's not good. But that was the situation Julie found herself in when she was in her 20s. As she says, when most people were going to grad school or starting their careers, she was "popping out kids." And after some traumatic family relationships came to a head, in 2014, with three kids, she and her husband divorced. As she says, "she just snapped" when she found out during her divorce proceedings that she was pregnant. She had no job, no training, and had to figure out what she was going to do. It may sound like a daytime drama, but it was Julie's life, and in just a few short years it's amazing what she's done.

Hitting rock bottom can be a gift

Julie said something so insightful in this episode about her journey: While most people switch to being an entrepreneur because they want the freedom, she was actually looking for control. She knew it would be risky to go out on her own, but she needed to find a way to make money that she controlled, and she found Russell Brunson and ClickFunnels and it, well, clicked for her. As she says, the pressure cooker she was in made her prioritize revenue, and not get distracted by shiny objects. Having hit rock bottom already, Julie didn't have the hesitancy that some may have, she just had to go for it. It's a truly inspiring story, and one that made Dean get serious for a whole 30 seconds.

How Julie became a lightning-quick writer

I had to ask Julie how she can crank out as much as 10,000 words in an afternoon (not an exaggeration), but you may not like her answer. It turns out that she worked on her writing for seven years when she was a stay-at-home mom, blogging and writing every day. So there is no trick, there's no book or video series she took to make her a more efficient writer, she just practiced. And that's one of the tips that's hard for people to understand but that we hear again and again: If you want to get good at something, you have to practice it consistently.

How Julie became a lightning-quick writer

Want to become a coach? Become a piano teacher. Julie talks about how her experience as a piano teacher, breaking it down for young kids, showing them each individual component, how to operate their hands independent of each other, that all helped her when it came time to teach people how to use funnels. But of course the conversation doesn't stop there. Julie gives some great tips on how to develop and monetize the skills they have, turning those skills into an online business. This show is called Just the Tips, and Julie provides plenty of them, but it also goes a lot deeper with someone who has traveled an amazing journey.

Outline of This Episode

• [4:25] Julie's origin story
• [11:07] How hitting bottom helped her
• [15:04] How Julie writes so quickly
• [19:17] Julie's opinions about college
• [25:35] How Julie helps beginners

Resources & People Mentioned

• https://juliestoian.com/
• http://www.createyourlaptoplife.com/
• https://thedigitalgangsta.com/register

Music for "Just The Tips" is titled, "Happy Happy Game Show" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Connect With James and Dean

James P. Friel:

• AutoPilot Entrepreneur Program: www.jamespfriel.com/autopilot
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autopilotentrepreneur
• Site: www.jamespfriel.com

Dean Holland:

• Blog: www.DeanHolland.com
• FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ
• Digital Business Entrepreneurs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DigitalBusinessEntrepreneurs/

This week on Just the Tips we have a guest who is a very good friend of mine (confirmed by both parties, after Dean questioned whether it was a one-way friendship), who is not only one of the best coaches out there for digital marketing, she also has a remarkable story of pulling herself up by her bootstraps and creating something out of almost nothing. On this episode, we talk about how she hit rock bottom, how she then rocketed to success, and how she helps people do the same.

Our guest on this week's Just the Tips is a man who spent 14 years in investigative and tactical policing, but that's not the most interesting thing about him. He also went on to start a company that eventually sold for eight figures, but that is not the most interesting thing about him. He also started an international supply company that did $34 million in two years and, you guessed it, that's not even the most interesting thing about him. Our guest Ken Dunn has done a lot and lived a full life, but what's fascinating about him is that he's now turned his attention to reading and writing, not only helping people write books, but helping create the next generation of readers. He's the founder of GoRead.com, one of the leading online retailers for books and a man who has helped dozens of authors finish their books. This is an episode that's going to surprise you, and not just because it's the first one that ends with Dean and me in a duel.

The publishing roller coaster

My first question to Ken, because he's written so many books and been neck deep in the publishing industry for nearly two decades, is how things have changed. And he had some pretty surprising insights to share. He talked about how Amazon first started to grow market share in the early aughties, and how that really brought credence and credibility to self-publishing. And what's really fascinating is that ebooks, while the grew quickly to grab the largest market share in 2011, that was their peak, and since audiobooks have really become the preferred method of reading (with print books holding steady). Ken knows this business inside and out, and if you're an entrepreneur looking to get your book out there, you have to listen to this episode.

Helping people produce non-shitty books

When Ken started in the publishing industry, one disturbing trend stood out to him: the sheer number of shitty books. He told us that 50% of authors who write books, don't even read books, so they don't know whether they're producing good work or not. And as he says, his heart went out to entrepreneurs who wanted to write books because they're so vital to getting one's name out there, to repurposing the content for courses or whatever else you're doing to market yourself or your company. But the self-publishing game was full of companies that will take your money and happily let you publish a crappy book.

The mistakes every entrepreneur makes

Ken has a fascinating approach to writing that may sound counterintuitive if you've never written a book before. As he says, most first-time writers have stories about themselves they want to tell, their own rags to riches stories. But as Ken says, it's about the reader's journey, not the author's, and so the book has to address the reader where they are now, and show them the way to get to where the author is. They published just under 500 books using this system now, and it's really a revolutionary way of looking at business books, even if it seems so simple, and you have to hear him walk through it in detail on this week's episode of Just the Tips.

Write and read more

Ken has a program where a new author can write a book in 30 days, using up just 20 minutes a day. But he also has a great system for reading more, vital to anyone who wants to not only improve as a writer, but drive change in their business. Two quick tips include reading as soon as he wakes up for just ten minutes before getting out of bed, and always having the next book ready, so you don't lag, trying to figure out what to read next. Ken is a trove of information about writing, publishing and everything you could possibly want to know about books, and it was so generous of him to be here on this week's episode of Just the Tips.

Outline of This Episode

• [3:31] How publishing has changed
• [8:53] Writing non-shitty books
• [12:30] How to write a good book
• [21:15] Improve your reading habits
• [26:55] Ken's free book for authors
• [33:51] James throws down the gauntlet

Resources & People Mentioned

• GoRead.com
• SnagThisBook.com

Music for "Just The Tips" is titled, "Happy Happy Game Show" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Connect With James and Dean

James P. Friel:

• AutoPilot Entrepreneur Program: www.jamespfriel.com/autopilot
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autopilotentrepreneur
• Site: www.jamespfriel.com

Dean Holland:

• Blog: www.DeanHolland.com
• FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ
• Digital Business Entrepreneurs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DigitalBusinessEntrepreneurs/

Our guest Ken Dunn has done a lot and lived a full life, but what’s fascinating about him is that he’s now turned his attention to reading and writing, not only helping people write books, but helping create the next generation of readers. He’s the founder of GoRead.com, one of the leading online retailers for books and a man who has helped dozens of authors finish their books. This is an episode that’s going to surprise you, and not just because it’s the first one that ends with Dean and me in a

This week on Just the Tips we have a guest who has been a client of mine, a friend of mine, and ultimately someone I greatly admire. Krista Mashore is a realtor in Northern California who has sold more than 100 house a year for nearly her entire career, placing her in the top 1% of realtors in the nation. She's someone who has really found her own way of doing things, and obviously found enormous success in her own approach. So on this episode we talk not just about her secrets to real estate, but how her approach translates to sales in general. It's not often you get to talk to someone who's in the top 1% of their field, and you're going to want to hear what she has to say.

You're always on a job interview

Krista's story is kind of amazing: She was a teacher for years, and she left that job to sort of casually sell real estate and be home with her family more. Well, as soon as she made that transition, she learned her husband was having an affair, and went from being a dabbler in real estate to selling 69 homes in her first year. As she says, she went into "pure survival mode" and became an expert seller. As Krista says on this episode of Just the Tips: "You're always on a job interview." No matter what you do, people are always going to be aware of you and how you do things. So if you do things well and you do them differently or in your own way, you have a real chance to distinguish yourself. And how do you do that? Listen to this week's episode.

Always bring value

Aside from being an enormously successful realtor, Krista has launched a red-hot coaching business in the last year. Just in the last week, before we recorded this episode, it brought in more than $100,000. And one of the keys to that is what she calls "engagement marketing," where you're educating your consumer on the subject matter you're an expert in. That means not just providing them with valuable content, but also contributing to the community. And how does she do that? Listen to this week's Just the Tips to learn her big tip (after she spends some time questioning the title of this show).

The overnight success that took years

Krista has been incredibly forward-thinking about her use of engagement marketing and her use of video to connect with customers, and it's really put her ahead of the curve. But as Dean says on this week's episode, hers is really the "overnight success that took years," because she put in the work to understand video, facebooks ads, content marketing, etc. But then once she did all of that work, now it's up and running and the ROI is off the charts for her. And she is full of great advice for how you can translate her success to your business, though for some reason when I asked her about my business, she just used a hot dog-fart analogy. Nevertheless, she is full of energy, full of insight, and I think you guys are really going to love this episode of Just the Tips.

Outline of This Episode

• [3:45] Krista's origin story
• [5:53] The secret to staying on top of your game
• [9:18] Creating a great customer experience
• [17:25] How she built her coaching business
• [20:36] The overnight success that took forever
• [27:50] Working with entrepreneurs

Resources & People Mentioned

• Krista Mashore
• Krista's book

Music for "Just The Tips" is titled, "Happy Happy Game Show" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Connect With James and Dean

James P. Friel:

• AutoPilot Entrepreneur Program: www.jamespfriel.com/autopilot
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autopilotentrepreneur
• Site: www.jamespfriel.com

Dean Holland:

• Blog: www.DeanHolland.com
• FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ
• Digital Business Entrepreneurs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DigitalBusinessEntrepreneurs/

This week on Just the Tips we have a guest who has been a client of mine, a friend of mine, and ultimately someone I greatly admire. Krista Mashore is a realtor in Northern California who has sold more than 100 house a year for nearly her entire career, placing her in the top 1% of realtors in the nation. She’s someone who has really found her own way of doing things, and obviously found enormous success in her own approach.

This episode of Just the Tips talks with two people who have boldly gone where few dare to tread: starting a business together as a married couple. Natasha and Rich Hazlett had very successful corporate careers, Natasha as an attorney, before deciding to get into the coaching business. And their careers have just soared since then, doing amazing things for their clients and for women entrepreneurs in particular. They are experts at helping clients build communities around their products or services, and creating that elusive "tribe." This is a really great episode for anyone who's looking for a little inspiration to make that leap into entrepreneurship, or interested in adding a little good to the world as you're pursuing your passion.

Taking the leap

While Rich was always something of an entrepreneur, running a car wash business when he was 12, and always pursuing a side hustle while he was working in advertising, entrepreneurship was new to Natasha. She said she was working in her law firm, two years out of law school, and just had an "Oh God" moment where she realized that was going to be her life for the next 40 years and she had to get out of it. And around that time, she'd met Rich and Rich had become interested in network marketing, so Natasha grabbed the bulls by the horns and said they were going to do it together. They stayed at their jobs, but then came home and worked from 7pm to 1am every night to get the business up and running. Why did they do it? You'll have to listen to this week's episode of Just the Tips to find out.

The Setback

Rich and Natasha's network and email marketing business as doing well, but then they got hit with an enormous setback, essentially being told by a compliance agency that they couldn't do what they were doing anymore. Natasha got fed up and quit, but as she says, Rich "took it like a champ," and soldiered on, getting the business back online and rolling again. It's a really fascinating story and shows how many potholes there are in the road, and how deep and dangerous those potholes can be. But then they were able to turn things around, and now they're helping clients like one in particular, whose now raking in seven times more in revenue per month than she was before working with Rich and Natasha. This may not be a rags to riches story, but it is the story of how working through adversity can really transform a business and business owners.

Build a tribe

One of the things that Natasha and Rich are so good at is helping their clients build a community or a tribe around what they're doing. And Natasha says something so smart on this week's Just the Tips: A lot of people want to build a tribe or a movement, but what they don't realize is they can't just declare that's what they're doing. Other people are the ones who will make what you're doing a movement. And so what Rich and Natasha do is work with people on building relationships with large groups of people, getting your message out to those people, so you're not just working each client one by one. You're creating a community where everyone is helping each other out. And they provide some great tips on how to do just that.

The good kind of manifesto

Rich and Natasha provide some great advice on this week's Just the Tips episode, particularly in terms of building a tribe or community. The first tip is actually something Dean and I have talked a lot about on this show, which is not chasing after every customer or community member, but finding the right people who are right for what you're selling and right for contributing to the community. Another important ingredient is community guidelines so you can kick people out if they're disruptive (so long, Dean) and a manifesto that clearly lays out why the tribe is important. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for this episode, you're going to have to listen to hear the rest of this awesome advice.

Outline of This Episode

• [5:44 How they got started as entrepreneurs
• [10:04] Why they took the plunge
• [11:27] Big setback
• [16:14] How to build a tribe
• [19:11] Us vs. Them
• [23:36] Writing a manifesto
• [32:14] What it's like to be married and working together

Resources & People Mentioned

• Unstoppable Influence
• The Unstoppable Influence Challenge

Music for "Just The Tips" is titled, "Happy Happy Game Show" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Connect With James and Dean

James P. Friel:

• AutoPilot Entrepreneur Program: www.jamespfriel.com/autopilot
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autopilotentrepreneur
• Site: www.jamespfriel.com

Dean Holland:

• Blog: www.DeanHolland.com
• FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ
• Digital Business Entrepreneurs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DigitalBusinessEntrepreneurs/

This episode of Just the Tips talks with two people who have boldly gone where few dare to tread: starting a business together as a married couple. Natasha and Rich Hazlett had very successful corporate careers, Natasha as an attorney, before deciding to get into the coaching business. They are experts at helping clients build communities around their products or services, and creating that elusive “tribe.”

You know you're talking to a real entrepreneur when one of the first things they say is "I've made a lot of mistakes." The journey of the start-up business owner is one paved with mistakes and missteps, but on this week's episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I are talking to someone who has come out the other side and is now killing it. Marcos Moura runs Amada Senior Care a franchise brand that is on track to do $75 million in revenue. And to hear him talk about it, he's so humble, discussing the way running a franchise company is really not just about your own success, but about helping other entrepreneurs succeed. Which is, coincidentally, what Just the Tips is all about, too.

Mistakes were made

I had to ask Marcos to provide us some examples of mistakes he made earlier in his career. And he told us about how he was a mortgage broker in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007 and 2008, when the housing bubble burst and the market tanked. So he was basically at Ground Zero for the downtown, wearing a "Kick Me" sign on his back. And as Marcos says, it was a lack of humility that ended up getting him. He and his partners were making so much money, they thought they were smart and savvy. But if they'd really been paying attention to what was going on inside and outside of their business, they would have recognized what was coming. And Marcos talks about something that a lot of our listeners could probably relate to: Carrying around that failure as though it was a flaw in him, like it was his fault.

How Marcos turned it around

So if the 2008 crash was a defining moment in Marcos's career, I had to ask him how he didn't let it define him. And what Marcos says is really interesting: It wasn't a book or a mentor or a life event that suddenly changed things for him. In fact, it was a series of small steps, small changes in habits that got him to success again. He likens it to losing weight: It's going to be the little changes you make that add up to a big change in your life. That, and as he says, you have to work your ass off. This is a really inspiring episode of Just the Tips that you won't want to miss.

The Death Star wins

Marcos also talked about some of his crazier mistakes, from branding misses to his own "Star Wars" moment. He told us about how he started a video game retail franchise and painted Game Stop as the Empire with the Death Star, and his own company as the retail alliance. But in his story, Luke misses the drop, and the Death Star incinerates planets willy-nilly (i.e. Game Stop won). But he talks about the one key mistake he made was not making sure the franchisees were a good fit. He said they were just ready to take money from anyone who had it, without understanding their audience.

A New Hope

One of the key changes for Marcos was working with people who he knows are a good fit, who are good people, and who make you excited to go to work every day. As Marcos says, you should have a "no assholes rule." And I think listening to this week's episode, you'll hear what a good guy Marcos is. He's so open about the mistakes he made in the past, and how he changed things with his present company, every entrepreneur should listen to this week's episode of Just the Tips.

Outline of This Episode

• [7:01] Marcos's first mistakes
• [12:08] How Marcos turned it around
• [19:58] Big franchise mistake
• [25:00] Marcos's new approach
• [33:03] What Marcos has learned at his new company

Resources & People Mentioned

• Marcos Moura

Music for "Just The Tips" is titled, "Happy Happy Game Show" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Connect With James and Dean

James P. Friel:

• AutoPilot Entrepreneur Program: www.jamespfriel.com/autopilot
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autopilotentrepreneur
• Site: www.jamespfriel.com

Dean Holland:

• Blog: www.DeanHolland.com
• FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DeanHollandHQ
• Digital Business Entrepreneurs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DigitalBusinessEntrepreneurs/

You know you’re talking to a real entrepreneur when one of the first things they say is “I’ve made a lot of mistakes.” The journey of the start-up business owner is one paved with mistakes and missteps, but on this week’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I are talking to someone who has come out the other side and is now killing it. Marcos Moura runs Amada Senior Care a franchise brand that is on track to do $75 million in revenue.