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OFI 069: Monetize Your Expertise | Alicia Tomlinson | Ag Curriculum

SHOW NOTES

KEY IDEAS:

ADVICE FROM ALICIA TOMLINSON:

DO GOOD WORK: Alicia was very clear on this.  It does not matter how well you market or how much people like you.  If you do not make a good product, people are not going to buy it.  Alicia was careful to say that she does not strive for perfection, because that is unreachable.  But, she does strive for "excellence!"

DEVOTE THE TIME: Alicia talked about her late nights at Kinko's, printing out materials at 1 or 2am.  You have to put the time in up front, to reach the point where it all pays off in the long term.

BEST BUSINESS ADVICE THAT ALICIA TOMLINSON HAS RECEIVED:

FAIL: I thought a lot about what Alicia said here.  Originally she told me that you should not be afraid to fail.  I changed it to just "Fail."  Everyone is going to fail in some way or another along an entrepreneurial venture.  So, go fail!  You are not going to figure things out until you see what does not work.  You can can call this a failure.  But you can also call it a learning experience.  Go get it over with.

PERSONAL HABIT THAT ADS TO ALICIA TOMLINSON'S SUCCESS:

DISCIPLINE: Alicia is very disciplined.  She works when she is supposed to work.  She adheres to her deadlines.  This has been one of my learning curves as I have entered entrepreneurship.  Being disciplined with my time is one of the skills that I had to acquire.  If you are not already disciplined, you will too.

LINKS RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ALICIA TOMLINSON:

Link to apply for Federal EIN: LINK

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BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Alicia had three book recommendations.  All of them deal with concepts that will encourage you to keep moving forward as an entrepreneur.  Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion is a great book that I read early on in my journey.  I need to go back and read it again.  Alicia points out that Gary V. makes it clear that no matter what your interest is, when you become the go to resource on this niche, you can "crush it!"

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated) is another great book that Alicia recommended.  I have read this one as well.  This book is all about doing the work up front, so you can reap the rewards later. Neither Alicia nor I are anywhere close to working only 4 hours in a week.  But, if a week comes along that we only want to put in 4 hours, we can!

Three Feet from Gold: Turn Your Obstacles in Opportunities (Think and Grow Rich) is a book that I have not read yet, but I have heard the story.  Alicia liked to use this book to inspire her students, but it is definitely the right message for any entrepreneur.  Don't stop!  You might only be "three feet from gold!"

ALICIA TOMLINSON'S CONTACT INFORMATION AND SUGGESTED LINKS:

Website: www.onelessthing.net

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @OneLessThing

Facebook: LINK

Pinterest: LINK

OFI 068: Buy Your First Farm | FFA SAE Edition | Trey Riessen | OA & BCIG High School FFA

SHOW NOTES

INTRODUCING TREY RIESSEN!

This week we have another amazing FFA student to profile - Trey Riessen!  This young man came highly recommended by his FFA Advisor, Mrs. Taylor Clark.  Trey is 17 years old, and he already owns his own 40 acre farm!  Can you believe that?  How incredible of a story is that?  He absolutely shatters all of the excuses of the rest of us that think we can never achieve the dream of having our own farm.

I know at first blush you think it was given to him.  But, it wasn't.  Trey got his start farming some marginal areas with his father and grandfather's equipment.  These were areas that they wanted cleaned up but were not farming themselves.  Trey took advantage of the opportunity and started farming it when he was 15 years old.  Two years later, when a nearby piece of property came for sale Trey was in a position to invest his previous two years' earnings into the place, and he bought it!

I hope you enjoy hearing this great, agricultural story!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Farming! - He has already purchased his own farm.

HIGH SCHOOL: OA & BCIG High School, Battle Creek, Iowa

MASCOT: Falcons

FFA ADVISOR: Taylor Clark

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR TREY RIESSEN:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the OA & BCIG High School Ag. Department's website:

Trey's FFA Advisor's Email Address: [email protected]

OA & BCIG High School Telephone Number: (712) 364-3371

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.

Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.

Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

"Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack 

LISTEN TO US ON SATELLITE RADIO!

WE ARE CONTRIBUTORS TO "FFA TODAY" ON RURAL RADIO SIRIUS XM CHANNEL 147!  "FFA Today" airs on Rural Radio Sirius XM Channel 147 Saturdays at 7:30 AM Eastern and Sundays at 6:30 PM Eastern.

Please let RURAL RADIO know that you like hearing us on their channel!  Here is how to contact them and leave feedback:

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialRFDTV

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RURALRADIO147

LISTEN TO US ON SATELLITE RADIO!

WE ARE CONTRIBUTORS TO "FFA TODAY" ON RURAL RADIO SIRIUS XM CHANNEL 147!  "FFA Today" airs on Rural Radio Sirius XM Channel 147 Saturdays at 7:30 AM Eastern and Sundays at 6:30 PM Eastern.

Please let RURAL RADIO know that you like hearing us on their channel!  Here is how to contact them and leave feedback:

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialRFDTV

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RURALRADIO147

OFI 067: Bonus Episode | A Transformative 6 Days Of Opportunities and Growth

SHOW NOTES

KEY IDEAS: This is just a quick, bonus episode.  I am constantly talking about either Dan Miller or 48 Days.  Last week I flew to Nashville and joined about 30 other, like minded people, for Dan's "Coaching With Excellence" seminar.  He holds this class at his property in Franklin, Tennessee in a renovated barn that he calls "The Sanctuary."  This is a special place and it was a special time.

There have not been any negatives since I left my full-time job and struck out on my own.  But, there have been a few things that have taken some getting used to.  Being disciplined with your time is one.  The other is an occasional feeling of isolation.  I read somewhere that when you are pursuing an entrepreneurial dream it is best to not even attempt to explain it to friends and family.  They have not invested the time or energy into this project that you have, so it is going to sound risky or "out there" to them.  In their attempts to be good friends or relatives they are going to caution you against it, and this can be discouraging.  Plus, you are never going to be able to make them see your vision anyway.

Well, I did not take that advice.  I have tried to explain my vision of the future Matt Brechwald to a few friends and relatives.  I have received the blank looks and cautionary advice.  I have even seen some eye rolls as well as head shaking.  I have been questioned about health benefits, retirement benefits, job security, etc.  One well meaning uncle actually asked me "how long you gonna do this gopher thing" about my gopher business.  Actually, everything listed above were reactions to telling people about my gopher business.

The gopher business is tangible and easy to explain.  "I started a gopher extermination business" I would explain.  But nobody believed that could be a viable business.  So, I received the doubting body language and well intended, negative comments.

So, I do not even try to explain what a podcast is, why I am doing one and where it is going to take me.  I tell friends and relatives that I am creating intellectual property type products to sell, and they have no idea what I am talking about.  I don't say a word about coaching because I will be hit with the "what are you going to be, some time of life coach question?" - YEP!

All of this is an effort to create income that allows me to farm and to live a family conducive lifestyle.  It is all designed to help others replicate this as well, and to make money while I'm doing it.  This is hard to explain.  It is hard to explain to people that do not think this way that I have to create a model that allows me to make money, or I will not be able to help anyone.  If the direction that I am heading does not produce an income, I will be back pushing a patrol car around the city in no time!  Then the farm would just be an extra burden.

I say all of this to explain why this event was so special.  For the first time in over two years, since I left my "career job" I found myself in a room full of people who think just like me, thus the feeling of isolation.  Everybody I had contact with during the entire event understood my vision and could see it for themselves.  They all understood the model of making money with intellectual property and niche coaching.  Dan has made all of this work for himself, and I think he passed along every secret that he has.  It  was a very exciting time.

LISTEN TO US ON SATELLITE RADIO!

WE ARE CONTRIBUTORS TO "FFA TODAY" ON RURAL RADIO SIRIUS XM CHANNEL 147!  "FFA Today" airs on Rural Radio Sirius XM Channel 147 Saturdays at 7:30 AM Eastern and Sundays at 6:30 PM Eastern.

Please let RURAL RADIO know that you like hearing us on their channel!  Here is how to contact them and leave feedback:

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OFI 066: Matt Brechwald | Decision Making | Health Benefits of Entrepreneurship

SHOW NOTES

KEY IDEAS:

This week we continue profiling my upcoming E-Book about the "health benefits of entrepreneurship."  We are talking about decision making today.  When you enter the entrepreneurial world, you will have to become a professional decision maker.  You do not have a choice.  Waiting around and waiting around until you absolutely every last piece of possible information will kill your business.  Your competition will pass you.  Your customers will move on.  You have to be sleek and learn from your customers if your decision was a good or bad one.  My ability to make decisions has been enhanced by becoming an entrepreneur, and it has enhanced multiple different aspects of my life.

I recommend two books this week.  Both Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work and The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses.  Both of these books are excellent references for decision making.  Decisive deals with the science of decision making.  The Lean Startup deals with the necessity of making decisions and moving forward in business.  I hope you will invest in each of them of course!

I'm looking forward to getting this book completed and offering it to all of you for free!  Thanks for joining me for this episode!

Please contact me with any questions, feedback or suggestions:

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.offincome.com

OFI 065: Rabbit Production On Small Acreage | FFA SAE Edition | Mikayla Redmon |Batesville High School FFA

SHOW NOTES

If you want to get started in this business you will need a quality rabbit hutch!

INTRODUCING MIKAYLA REDMON!

Our guest this week comes to us all the way from Batesville, Indiana(again, again!).  Mikayla Redmon as a SAE in small animal production.  She is raising rabbits both for shows as well as meat production.  She is direct marketing rabbits to her customers, selling rabbits to others to show at fairs and showing her own rabbits.  Mikayla is a sophomore this year, so we have 3 years to watch her grow this business and develop her business skills!  I hope you will enjoy this interview with Mikayla Redmon.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Small Animal Production - Rabbits

HIGH SCHOOL: Batesville High School, Batesville, Indiana

MASCOT: "Billy The Bulldog"

FFA ADVISOR: Cassie Wallpe

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MIKAYLA REDMON:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Batesville High School Ag. Department's website:

Mikayla's FFA Advisor's Email Address: [email protected]

Batesville High School Telephone Number: (812) 934-4384

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.

Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.

Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

"Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack 

LISTEN TO US ON SATELLITE RADIO!

WE ARE CONTRIBUTORS TO "FFA TODAY" ON RURAL RADIO SIRIUS XM CHANNEL 147!  "FFA Today" airs on Rural Radio Sirius XM Channel 147 Saturdays at 7:30 AM Eastern and Sundays at 6:30 PM Eastern.

Please let RURAL RADIO know that you like hearing us on their channel!  Here is how to contact them and leave feedback:

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialRFDTV

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RURALRADIO147