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

Today's episode of Just the Tips offers something a little different—what some might call a ground-floor opportunity. All you have to do is bring along five of your friends and you'll get the deal of a lifetime. Just kidding! Actually, Dean and I talk with Ray Higdon, a pioneer in network marketing who is actually fighting against that stereotype, and the questionable practices that led to it. Ray is one of the most genuine network marketers you'll ever meet, and he's teaching people how to do it the right way. It's completely changed my view of the business, and you're going to want to hear what he has to say.

Network marketing: A gateway business

Ray told us about how he was first approached to get in on network marketing, and he was skeptical for all of the reasons you may initially be skeptical about it. But as Ray says, it's possible to do it without charisma and persuasion, it's about giving people the right tools to get the job done. Dean confessed during the episode that he tried his hand at network marketing, and it brought up an important point from Ray: Often network marketing is a gateway business for people. In fact, I told Ray about an Uber ride I took in New York, where the driver had just gotten started in network marketing, and when I mentioned Ray's name, he nearly crashed the car. So even if you're not in the network marketing world, you're going to want to hear Ray's thoughts on sales, closing and more.

Invest, Learn, Teach

Ray is a king of closing. So we had to ask him, even if someone isn't getting into network marketing, what can they learn from the business and apply it to their own. Ray talks about the importance of "posture"—believing in what you're doing and doing it, no matter what anyone else says. Don't waste time on the skeptics. He also talks about the ins and outs of blogging and free content (he's published more than 3,000 blog posts since 2009). Ray has a great concept called Invest, Learn, Teach (ILT). And that means that you dive into the world of whatever you're selling, learn what you can, and then turn around and teach it to others through blog posts, live videos, etc. He has this down to a science, and you'll want to hear how he does it.

Be so good they can't ignore you

Ray talks about his first successful info-product, The 3-Minute Expert, and how that really came from two different quotes. The first is from Steve Martin, who said "Be so good they can't ignore you," and Jason Fried, who said "Outteach your competition." Those two quotes drive everything they do in marketing, says Ray. There's nothing more essential than setting yourself up as an authority. And as Ray said, if you focus on teaching, your network will grow. He told an incredible story of selling a product to a woman at a discounted price because she was short on cash, and then she eventually turned that around for him into something like $200,000 in sales. Don't listen to anyone who says generosity doesn't pay off.

Learn from the best (about the worst)

I asked Ray to give me the worst network marketing pitch he's ever heard, and he had a hard time coming up with one. Not because he hasn't heard them, but because there have been so many. Some red flags: If you hear someone say "all you have to do," run for the hills. Ray says he tells his people to never use the word "easy," because there's nothing easy about it. But, if you're interested in passive income and willing to put in the work to get there, Ray is the man to put you on that path.

Outline of This Episode

• [3:54] How Ray got started in network marketing
• [8:18] Why network marketing is a gateway business
• [13:11] Establish your posture
• [19:48] The two quotes that drive everything for Ray
• [32:02] The worst network marketing pitch Ray has ever heard
• [21:13] What makes a message authentic?
• [24:13] Examples of companies being authentic

Resources & People Mentioned

• Ray Higdon
• Rank Makers

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/

Today’s episode of Just the Tips offers something a little different—what some might call a ground-floor opportunity. All you have to do is bring along five of your friends and you’ll get the deal of a lifetime. Just kidding! Actually, Dean and I talk with Ray Higdon, a pioneer in network marketing who is actually fighting against that stereotype, and the questionable practices that led to it. Ray is one of the most genuine network marketers you’ll ever meet.

In today's episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I talk with a serial entrepreneur who has such a fascinating and surprising background, you're going to want to hear everything she has to say. Melinda Wittstock, CEO and founder of social marketing firm Verifeed. If you're unsure what your ROI is on your social accounts, and even unsure of whether you're reaching your ideal audience to begin with, you need to listen to this episode. Melinda is so far ahead of the curve when it comes to analyzing and understanding social media, this episode could have a huge impact on your business.

A born entrepreneur with an eye on what's next

Melinda told Dean and me how her grandmother was actually the first to see in her the entrepreneurial spirit. At the age of 5 she went around to her neighbors and sold them tickets to a ballet performance she was putting on by herself, and she charged her dad with finding 100 seats for it. And her grandmother looked her in the eye and said, "Melinda, you're disruptive." Of course, it would be years later before "disruptive" was a business buzzword, but Melinda was living it from Day One. She continued in that vein as she went through college, creating an advertising department and distribution system for her student newspaper, and going on to be a business reporter for the Times of London by the age of 22. Melinda, quite simply, gets things done, and you'll want to hear her story in this episode of Just the Tips.

Stop talking to the wrong people on social media

Social media is everywhere, but it's so hard to tell who's who, who's legit, and who might actually be interested in what you're putting out into the world. Melinda's firm Verifeed is a "social intelligence" firm, which provides a real-time barometer of what's being discussed on social media, and by whom. So for instance, say you own a natural supplement company. You may want to find people who are discussing or liking natural remedies, or yoga, or some other related interest. Now go on Twitter and try to do that yourself. Verifeed actually sorts that information for you, so you can talk directly to your ideal customers. How does it do that? You'll want to listen to this episode of Just the Tips to find out.

"Turning social media from a cost center to a profit center"

Melinda says something in this episode that I think we all know, but rarely put into words. If you want to get return on your social—whether that's revenue or simply followers and audience growth—you have to speak with a human voice. Brands that speak with an authentic human voice vastly outperform those that have a corporate voice on social, says Melinda. In fact, Melinda believes in that principle so much, that Verifeed's entire business model is based around its ROA, or Return on Authenticity, Score. As she tells it, her company combines the human element—understanding clients' businesses and ideal customers—with a sophisticated machine learning, artificial intelligence program that scans social media for influencers, and helps businesses see where their efforts are paying off. It's a mind-blowing process that you have to hear her explain to believe.

Give give give give ask

Because this show is called Just the Tips, we had to ask Melinda how a company can know if it's being authentic. What are the qualities of an authentic message? As Melinda tells it, you have to really know and live your "why," why you're doing what you're doing. And then from there, you have to have a genuine interest in your customers. What are they interested in? What do they enjoy and why do they like the things that relate to your business? A big part of that, she says, it's understanding it's about your customers, about them, and not about you. So the old method of just broadcasting about yourself doesn't work. What does work? Well, you'll want to listen to find out.

Outline of This Episode

• [3:00] How Melinda got started on this path at the age of 5
• [10:20] The challenges of social media
• [13:00] How to get return on your social
• [15:15] What's behind the Return on Authenticity?
• [16:40] Living in a C2B world
• [21:13] What makes a message authentic?
• [24:13] Examples of companies being authentic

Resources & People Mentioned

• Verifeed
• For a consultation

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/

In today’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I talk with a serial entrepreneur who has such a fascinating and surprising background, you’re going to want to hear everything she has to say. Melinda Wittstock, CEO and founder of social marketing firm Verifeed. If you’re unsure what your ROI is on your social accounts, and even unsure of whether you’re reaching your ideal audience to begin with, you need to listen to this episode.

In today's episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I talk with a man with his own empire, Dustin Mathews, the founder and CEO of Speaking Empire, about how he conquered his own fear of public speaking, and how you can sharpen your speaking skills. Dustin is the co-author of the No B.S. Guide to Powerful Presentations with Dan Kennedy, and one of the most sought-after experts on public speaking. In this episode, Dustin walks his through the early days of his career, what set him on the path to discovering what makes a great presentation, and when we ask him for one or two tips for making a great presentation, he switches it up on us. Promising to "overdeliver," he gives us five things you can do right now to level up your presentation. There's no way you can miss this episode.

In the beginning, there was nothing

What's interesting about Dustin is that he didn't initially have the entrepreneurial drive. Out of college he got a job and set out to work his way up, but then he read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad, and that set him on his current path. He volunteered for a startup in his town and got to see how the business was run behind the scenes. And after working there for three years, managing marketing and sales, he decided it was time to go do it for himself. But of course, it's never that easy, and Dustin is very candid about the challenges and pitfalls that awaited him as he started out, something the Just the Tips audience could not only sympathize with, but learn from.

How he went through a public speaking "trial by fire"

Dustin told us about how his first pitch, really his first experience public speaking, at the tender age of 25 got him his first business. But that doesn't mean he was a natural. He told us how he was initially very nervous about public speaking, and that he actually dodged a public speaking requirement in college. He really only came into his own via "trial by fire," he says, when at his new company he was forced to speak. And surprise surprise, it wasn't that bad. And after that speaking engagement landed them new customers, it "completely changed his world" and how he viewed public speaking. It opened his eyes to how powerful speaking can be, and how it can trigger people into action. And hearing him talk about that on this episode of Just the Tips, you may be inspired to take that leap, too.

"The excitement that lets me know I'm alive"

One of the turning points for Dustin was when he stopped thinking of the "butterflies" before getting onstage as something bad, but rather as "the excitement that pulses through my body that lets me know that I'm alive." He picked that up from Rolling Stone interviews with famous musicians, where they talk about how they feel before they go onstage. It may surprise you that he borrows from music, but actually, he claims his new book about making powerful presentations is "about choreography." The book, No B.S. Guide to Powerful Presentations (which he co-wrote with Dan Kennedy), is about more than just making a presentation. As Dustin says in this episode of Just the Tips, it's about "the whole picture," what goes into a presentation before and after it's made. As he says, "You don't have to be a Tony Robbins to get people to act," and he provides great insight into what factors add up to a successful presentation.

The five core components of a persuasive presentation

Dustin is extremely generous with his time, and instead of giving us just one or two tips, he walked us through his five core components of a persuasive presentation, with a tip for each component. Now, you're going to want to listen to this episode again and again, because he packs so much good advice in there, and there are some really easy, but transformative tips you won't want to miss. One, which seems so easy and simple but so few people do it, make sure you're introduced, whether by another person or a video. It helps set you up as an authority, and it brings an energy to the room that wouldn't have been there if you simply walked out onstage. He dives into way more than that, including the central importance of story in a presentation, and really delivers a ton of value for Just the Tips listeners. We think this episode will be one you have on repeat for a long time.

Outline of This Episode

• [2:50] Dustin's entrepreneur origin story
• [4:24] The challenges at the start of an entrepreneurial career
• [6:31] How he became a dynamite public speaker
• [8:19] The two things that radically changed Dustin's life
• [16:40] Five core components of a persuasive presentation
• [21:34] Writing a solid call to action
• [27:25] Dustin provides an example of a persuasive presentation

Resources & People Mentioned

• Speaking Empire
• Dustin Mathews on Twitter
• No B.S. Guide to Powerful Presentations
• Rich Dad Poor Dad

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/

In today’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I talk with a man with his own empire, Dustin Mathews, the founder and CEO of Speaking Empire, about how he conquered his own fear of public speaking, and how you can sharpen your speaking skills. Dustin is the co-author of the No B.S. Guide to Powerful Presentations with Dan Kennedy, and one of the most sought-after experts on public speaking.

In today's episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I talk with someone who has helped me out tremendously with my business, Misty Mozejko, aka Misty RHN. Misty is a born writer, who grew up writing 17-page letters to her friends and studying it in college. But when Misty started her first business doing personal training, she started an email newsletter for clients providing wellness and health tips. And it was then that she saw the power of writing for a business, and in particular email marketing. So she shifted her attention to helping people, as she puts it, write in a way that sells and clearly gets out "what's in people's heads." As a professional copywriter who also helps others, she has more advice on this topic than you thought you needed. But trust us, you need it.

Even if you're British, you have to get used to asking people for things

But her natural love of writing didn't just propel Misty into the world of email marketing. About ten years ago her business coach set a 30-day email challenge for her, where she had to send an email to her clients every day. That one experiment convinced her of the power of email marketing, but it also got her over her hangups about selling, asking people to click on links, etc. As she says, that transition from writing for pleasure or writing simply to communicate with someone, to writing to provoke an action, is difficult for a lot of people to make. And if you're interested in upping your copywriting game and learning how to apply your writing skills to help your business, you'll want to listen to this episode of Just the Tips.

The two obstacles to effective email marketing

From that 30-day challenge, Misty immediately identified what one of the big obstacles to anyone effectively leveraging email marketing is simply discipline. Entrepreneurs and business owners are often juggling too much, running around putting out fires, and aren't disciplined, or in the habit, of emailing clients every day. If you don't prioritize it, you let it slip.The other obstacle is, to put it bluntly, patience. As Misty says, it takes time to build an audience and to get that audience engaged. As much as entrepreneurs don't like to hear this, it's a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race type of growth. But of course there are early indicators about how you're doing, and Misty dives into those in this week's Just the Tips.

Train your audience

We all know that email campaigns are all about getting your audience to click links, but that takes time. You need to train them to click the links you're providing, and a big part of that is looking at the feedback. One of the things that Misty says in this episode of Just the Tips that I absolutely love is that there's no such thing as bad feedback in the beginning. Even if it's complaints, then you know people are reading your emails and reacting to them, and you can use that feedback to improve your messaging. After that, you ensure you're tracking links properly. If people are clicking links, then you start seeing whether people are doing the thing you're asking them to do. And you'll want weeks to collect the right information, not days.

What makes a good, converting email?

Misty provides so much insight and inspiration in this week's episode of Just the Tips, but you're especially going to want to hear her talk about her experience crafting emails that convert. Her number one bit of advice? The ever-elusive directive to be authentic. People don't want to feel like they're being sold something, so if you're sending out emails as a salesperson, it's not going to do well. You have to be authentic, and you have to be entertaining, to make it fun for your audience to read your email. And of course, Misty dives deep into the vital call to action, and if you want to improve your email conversions, you're going to want to hear this.

Outline of This Episode

• [3:29] How Misty became a writer
• [8:04] What she learned from her 30-day email challenge
• [13:13] Obstacles to better communication
• [15:42] How to wait for the ROI
• [19:49] What makes a great email campaign
• [21:34] Writing a solid call to action
• [27:15] Should you always be selling?

Resources & People Mentioned

• Misty RHN Shop
• Misty RHN on Facebook

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/

In today’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I talk with someone who has helped me out tremendously with my business, Misty Mozejko, aka Misty RHN. Misty is a born writer, who grew up writing 17-page letters to her friends and studying it in college. But when Misty started her first business doing personal training, she started an email newsletter for clients providing wellness and health tips. And it was then that she saw the power of writing for a business, and in particular email marketing.

In today's episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I take a bit of a departure from the guests we've had on so far and get into the nitty-gritty of hiring the right people. So we called up Nancy Slessenger, founder of Vinehouse, an HR and recruitment agency. Nancy is an expert at making the workplace hum. We talk about her background as a physics grad, what brought her into the field, and she shares some amazing insights on ensuring your people are happy, productive and performing well. You won't want to miss this.

Put a hiring system in place and leave the grind behind

One thing that every entrepreneur needs to have in place, and which Nancy is so genius at, is a good system. Whether that's in your sales or your marketing or your HR, you need to put the effort into building a great system, rather than mindlessly grinding away. As Nancy says, you need to build a system that will make a person happy and productive and which supports them, rather than incentivizes them to slow down (like paying by the hour, etc.). Nancy has a lot of great ideas about how to build those systems, which she shares with listeners in this episode of Just the Tips.

Transform your HR and forget that pile of résumés

Right out of the gate, Nancy was calling me out for my past practices (I plead the fifth), and one of her biggest bombshells about what I was doing and what just about everyone is doing is relying on résumés or CVs to find a strong candidate. As Nancy says, "As if that isn't a big enough waste of time, why don't we have them write cover letters, too, so we have to read through all of those as well." As Nancy says, many qualified candidates are "rubbish" (did I mention there are two Brits on the show today?) at writing résumés, and there are many terrible candidates who are great at it or have hired someone who is great at it. So what's the solution? How do you throw away decades of HR tradition and fix your recruitment process? You'll have to listen to find out.

The power of the telephone interview

While we won't give away Nancy's secret sauce for selecting the right candidates (you'll have to listen for that), I was interested to learn the value that she puts in the phone interview. For everyone she hires or helps a company hire, she first does a phone interview because she says that within the first five or six minutes, you'll know what you have on the other end of the line. Using her system, a company would know just about everything they need to know about a candidate by the time they're through the first two phases of hiring (application and phone interview), and by the time they're in for the final interview, you should be 80-90% sure they're the right candidate. When I said she's going to transform your HR, I wasn't kidding.

The true key to transforming your HR: You're not looking for the best candidate

One of the surprising things Nancy said in this episode of Just the Tips, that everyone gets wrong, is that you're not looking for the best candidate. The best candidate doesn't exist. Instead, what you're looking for, is a candidate who fits certain criteria. So if you can outline five key criteria that you're looking for in a position, you'll have a much easier time finding the candidate that can do the job, regardless of whether they're the ethereal "best" candidate. There are so many simple tips like this one that Nancy provides in this episode, you have to tune in to hear them all.

Outline of This Episode

• [3:30] Nancy talks about how physics informed her views
• [7:22] Where Nancy sees the most inefficiencies in hiring
• [11:45] The right way to hire
• [18:26] Why the phone interview is so important
• [23:15] You're not looking for the best candidate
• [24:58] How to say no
• [27:15] What is the cost of doing things the wrong way?

Resources & People Mentioned

• Vinehouse

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/

In today’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I take a bit of a departure from the guests we’ve had on so far and get into the nitty-gritty of hiring the right people. So we called up Nancy Slessenger, founder of Vinehouse, an HR and recruitment agency. Nancy is an expert at making the workplace hum. We talk about her background as a physics grad, what brought her into the field, and she shares some amazing insights on ensuring your people are happy, productive and performing well.