Podcasting Secrets

One of the most important factors of monetization is creating a great product that people would want to buy. However, the process of creating and developing a new product can be very daunting. In fact, more than 30,000 new products are launched each year and 95% of them fail (Source: Harvard Business School). Moreover, only 40% of developed products make it to market and of that 40%, only 60% will have any success at all. (Source: Marketing Research Association).

That’s why I have Bob Healey with me today. Bob is the founder and CEO of GrillBlazer, which makes a line of products called GrillGuns. Bob has worked as a consultant, helping different organizations with their products, processes, and business development. 

Bob is an engineer who loves to find the root cause of any problem and come up with creative solutions. Today, Bob and I discuss how he started GrillBlazer, and Bob explains his process and secrets concerning product creation and product development.

Looking at the Big Picture

Bob believes that the reason he is who he is today, an engineer and a businessman, is his ability to see the finish line faster than anybody else, even when he doesn’t know what he wants to do. It’s like when he used to flip houses when he was younger. He would see the potential of a house well before he remodeled it to match the picture he had in his head. 

Bob doesn’t think it matters whether or not we’re working on something we’ve done before. Even if it’s something we’re doing for the first time, we should be able to see what the end looks like.

Do We Have What it Takes?

Bob says that a lot of people have crazy and great ideas, but most of them don’t understand what it takes to make those ideas come true. His advice is that whenever we want to accomplish something, we need to know if we have the necessary resources to make it happen.  

“Success is not for those who want it, nor those who need it, but for those who are utterly determined to seize it一whatever it takes.” (Source: Darren Hardy, New York Times best-selling author)

As an engineer, Bob used to design a lot of products for other companies. Part of what he did was to improve the performance of these companies’ processes or products. He had worked for American Electric Power as a contractor. For 6 years, Bob worked for AEP managing contracts and negotiations until the company, looking to cut down costs, decided to let go of all their contractors. Bob found himself stuck between two options: either work for AEP full-time or find something else to do. Since he didn’t want to work for the company anymore, he decided to leave. 

After Bob told his wife he was no longer working for AEP, they spent a few days making a list of the things he wanted to do. Bob started by prioritizing what he believed was important. He also gave himself the freedom to add to his list whenever he came up with something new. He needed to find out whether or not its priority took precedence over what he was currently working on.

Knowing When NOT to Proceed

For a whole year, Bob worked on two products prior to GrillBlazer. He had finished the development of both products when he was trying to figure out what was required to be successful in launching these products as businesses. One of the two products was in a very mature multi-billion dollar industry. Bob took time to understand how he would enter that market, what it would cost him, whether or not this business would bring him personal stratification, and what the end result would look like. 

After Bob had thought about all these factors, he realized that this wasn’t where he wanted to end up. Bob believes that it takes discipline to stop working on what doesn’t bring us closer to where we want to be. Having enough discipline, Bob decided not to proceed with launching the product.

How GrillGlazer Started

Bob and his family enjoyed having barbecues. It didn’t matter what time of the year it was, they would just have people over and charcoal grill a meal. It was during one of those barbecues, in December 2017, that Bob realized not a lot of people liked to charcoal grill when the snow was blowing. It was too much effort to try to light the grill. 

Bob realized that his way of lighting the grill was much easier and it worked all year round. While he was standing out in the cold, taking steaks off the grill, he found his next project. 

He started discussing his idea with his family. He knew what he wanted to do and what the end product should be, but he just didn’t know how to do it yet. Although his way of lighting a charcoal grill was efficient, it was complicated and unattractive. So, one of his sons-in-law suggested he make the product look like a gun because people would think it was cool. 

It turned out to be great advice. Bob recalls one of his earlier conversations with an attorney, who he was considering as his legal counsel and who was really excited about Bob’s product. Bob asked him if the product had a different design, would he have still bought it? The answer was no. Bob realized that the gun shape made his product look cool, and it was one of the primary reasons why people bought it.

Understand What the Market Wants

Bobs says that it’s essential to figure out and understand what the market wants. Had he not considered what people wanted before he developed his product, he would have ended up with a product that no one wanted to buy. He would have spent all his energy and time trying to convince people that they needed to buy his product. Instead, he just designed a product that people found cool and inclined to buy. 

“Don't find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” - Seth Godin

How to Come up with a Highly Profitable Product

When I asked Bob to share with us his top strategies to develop a profitable product, he said starting a business from scratch is a complex process. We have to take into consideration all of the aspects of how to design something people will want and then create, manufacture and finance it. Bob advises that we start by asking ourselves: “How are we going to make it happen?” It’s not enough to think that just because we have a great idea, someone else will want to do the work for us. 

When Bob was in the process of creating GrillBlazer, he knew because of his experience whenever he would face an obstacle, he would find the resources needed to overcome it. Bob believes we must fully understand the tremendous amount of work involved in this process. Because if we’re not willing to go the distance, we’re not going to make it. Bob also stresses how important it is to ask ourselves if we have what it takes to make our products happen, without having to rely on someone else to do it for us. 

Creating Credibility 

Bob mentions how important it is to create credibility so that people can trust us. He tells us how he was able to raise $560,000 by running a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. Although some people doubted if his product was going to sell, by going on to sell $2M worth of products in just the first year of launching, Bob proved how successful his product was. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Bob for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. The most successful people have the ability to look at the big picture. They see what the end looks like. 
2. It’s not enough to have a great idea. It’s equally important to understand if we have what it takes to get this idea to the finish line.
3. It takes as much discipline to know when to stop just as it takes to proceed. 
4. If we don't reach beyond our skillset and find people who will augment what we know, we’ll be stuck where we are.
5. Before we put time and effort into developing a product, we must ask ourselves if we have what it takes for our product to be successful. 

Connect with Bob Healey

If you enjoyed this interview and want to connect with Bob, you can find him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bob-healey-8bbb00b or visit GrillBlazer website https://grillblazer.com. 

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Share Your Story 

What strategies have you used to build and launch a profitable product? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/74-how-to-build-a-highly-profitable-product/ 

This is Entrepreneurs of Faith, a Sunday episode of Monetization Nation. I’m Nathan Gwilliam, your host. In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss the concept of entrepreneurship as a stewardship. 

Rapunzel’s Dream vs. Flynn Rider’s Dream

In the Disney animated movie Tangled, after Rapunzel escapes from the tower where she has been imprisoned, the character Flynn Rider takes her to a tavern full of ruffians to convince her the world is scary and she should just go back into her tower. 

While they are in the tavern, the ruffians sing a song called “I have a dream” in which they share their touchy-feely dreams such as collecting toy unicorns and making cupcakes. The ruffians then coerce Flynn to reluctantly share his dream, and Flynn says he wants to retire alone to a deserted island surrounded by enormous piles of money. 

Rapunzel shares her dream that she wants to see the floating lanterns that appear each year in the sky on her birthday. 

Shortly thereafter, the authorities arrive to try and catch Flynn. One of the ruffians opens up a secret door to help Rapunzel and Flynn escape. The ruffian tells them “Go and live your dream.” Flynn responds, “I will,” and the ruffian says “Your dream stinks. I was talking to her.”

Do Our Dreams Sometimes Resemble Flynn Rider’s?

Each of us has dreams. However, sometimes our dreams might resemble Flynn Riders a little bit, where our focus becomes to make a lot of money to spend on ourselves, and not use to help anyone. When we have this kind of dream, it can be very uninspiring and off-putting to those around us, such as the ruffian expressed when telling Flynn that his dream stinks. People around us, such as customers and team members, don’t care about a dream we have to make a lot of money. They care about how we can help them achieve something they are passionate about. 

Read the full article here: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/73-entrepreneurship-is-a-stewardship/

Welcome back to another episode of Monetization Nation. In our previous episode, we talked about four business lessons learned during the pandemic such as: being quick to pivot or change, the advantages of working remotely, diversifying revenue streams, and showing more compassion and patience for others. 

In this second episode, we will discuss five more business lessons we can learn from the pandemic, including: 

1. Investing in technology
2. How marketing budgets are essential 
3. Changes that are here to stay
4. Family connection and its importance
5. How things will get better

The life of an entrepreneur is filled with a rollercoaster of emotions, adventures, and stories. The lows on that rollercoaster can be so low, leading us to question why we stepped into entrepreneurship in the first place and to possibly quit. The highs can be so high that we believe they can transform our lives, our family, and our social contributions. 

The road to becoming a revolutionary entrepreneur is daunting and grueling. Many have fallen off the steep, slippery ladder leading to success. But those who persevere, and reach their entrepreneurial success can find life-changing rewards. 

One of the secrets of highly successful entrepreneurs is that they are constantly learning from other successful entrepreneurs. This is one of my favorite reasons for doing this show: to learn from the amazing entrepreneurs and monetization experts I am able to interview.  

In this episode, I was privileged to interview and learn from Redge Allen, who is an experienced and highly successful entrepreneur, realtor, podcaster, business owner, event planner, professor, and good friend. 

He is currently the Vice President of Marketing for a company with billions of dollars of annual revenue, and he has been fortunate to have founded, sold, or been a part of a number of highly successful companies. Redge created his first small business as a Phoenix real estate agent at the age of 22. He then grew the company to achieve a personal profit of more than $1 million before the age of 25 and ranked in the top 20 realtors out of more than 60,000 realtors. 

Redge Co-founded Color in Motion 5K, which is an event where people throw colored chalk at each other while running a race. Redge turned that into a national event company with races all over the country. He organized the events and received more than 100,000 participants nationwide. 

He regularly consults organizations on leadership, marketing, business strategies, and professional negotiations. 

Redge is a dear friend of mine. Jim Rohn said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Redge is one of those people I want to be more like. This is part 1 of 2 episodes with Redge. In this first episode, he shared four actions of a revolutionary entrepreneur. 

Redge’s Story: A Road that Paved the Way for Success

Redge was raised in a family with a meager financial situation. “We lost our home growing up, I had times of being displaced, and I didn’t know what clothes were outside of Goodwill,” Redge said. Due to his background, he gravitated towards the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki, which focuses on obtaining financial security. He was so inspired by this book that he jumped into learning about real estate without previously understanding what it really was. After completing a class at the local community college, Redge took the real estate exam and became a realtor. 

Here are 4 actions that Redge took in becoming the revolutionary entrepreneur he is today: 

4 Actions In Becoming a Revolutionary Entrepreneur

1. Build on Land We Own

Big, national brands would advertise to realtors saying, “Come work for us!” But as Redge thought about it, he said, “I’ve got a chance to go with these companies that take a substantial amount of profits from my sales. Instead, I saw a company on a bulletin board who hardly took anything. They would only charge me $200 per transaction. They wouldn’t offer support, help, or anything. They would just meet the legal requirements, which sounded like a great opportunity to me.” 

In Redge’s mind, he thought if he was going to start from the bottom and have to spend time building his business anyways, why wouldn’t he build on land he owned versus upon a national company, who supposedly knew the secrets and gained his success? Redge wasn’t looking to build someone else’s brand; he was looking to build himself and his own brand.

His first success in real estate was helping a friend’s cousin purchase an $80,000 condo. “I had no idea what I was doing, but I gave my best to my client,” Redge said. 

Three days later, a friend of Redge’s client contacted him and said how much their friend couldn’t stop talking about him. They sought his help in finding their own home, and sales became a snowball effect from there. Eventually, he went from selling two to three homes to selling 11 or 12 in one day! 

“It was the perfect storm where I was giving my heart, but I was building my business versus building someone else’s business. I’m stubborn enough that I would rather learn on my own through my own experience, rather than hoping someone else is going to own my success. I was selling well over 100 homes a year with my own personal business. To go through that process and learn and grow from it was invaluable. I wouldn’t change it at all.” - Redge Allen

1. Create Relationships with Clients

“I wasn’t a genius in real estate. For me, people knew whether I genuinely cared or not. It’s not so much what you say. When I’m sitting down looking for homes with people and they sense that I care genuinely about them, it gets reciprocated ten-fold,” Redge said. 

Moving forward, Redge decided to maintain relationships with his clients. “I kept track of everyone’s birthday, their anniversaries, their kid’s names and birthdays, and sent them hand-written cards for these special events.” For children, he even included a $5 gift card to Cold Stone Creamery or another ice cream place. He would receive calls from children saying, “Hey Mr. Redge! I just wanted to say thank you.” He expected nothing in return and showed genuine care that became a huge ROI. 

Redge got to a point where he’d send potential clients a card. They would call him up and say, “but I don’t know if I’m going to use you.”  Redge was investing in them. He would respond, “If it turns out that I’m not the right fit for you, you’ll never question whether or not I care. Because that’s my primary focus.” 

Redge said, “It always paid greater dividends. Realtors would hire me to buy or sell their homes because they had high trust in my ability to perceive and meet client’s needs. They knew I cared more than anyone else would. That was worth the financial investment from them. It was about their trust within me, and when they gave me that trust, it paid dividends for them.” His venture grew by building relationships, reaching out in love and compassion toward clients, and showing he valued people more than money. 

1. Recognize the Lifetime Value of a Customer 

Individuals would ask Redge, “What happens if you invest all that money and someone doesn’t buy a home from you?” 

Redge would respond, “What if I don’t invest and they don’t buy? I can’t afford not to invest my best.” Redge understands the value of a customer. 

Let’s use an example of a small business owner with a hot dog stand. If Redge were to consult them, he’d say, “You have the best hot dogs, and everyone will love them. Let’s offer free hot dogs to every person who comes today.” The owner of the hot dog stand might respond with: “I can’t afford to pay for those free hot dogs!”

Redge would then say: “let’s say people love this hot dog so much; it has value, and they could get the first one for free. They return, and after buying a hot dog every week for one year, with a $1 profit each time, the business would make $52 of profit in one year.” 

Redge wants business owners to begin seeing that if they invest “Y,” they will get “Z” back. “They can make decisions based on long-term applications by recognizing what the lifetime value of a customer actually is, rather than being focused on a single instance that they lose out on the big perspective,” Redge said.

I would add that it’s not just about providing value first. It’s about consistently providing value. Every time a customer buys something from us, they make sure it has enough value and feel good about the purchase. That’s the only way they will trust us enough to buy something in the future. 

1. Maintain Credibility & Transparency

In 2012, Redge founded and directed the start-up Color in Motion 5K, which achieved millions of dollars in revenue by attracting hundreds of thousands of participants in major markets. The mission with these races was to bring people together in communities “to have fun and support a common goal.” (Source: Color in Motion 5K)

Large events were held all over the US including venues at Lincoln Park in Chicago, Reliant Stadium in Houston, and Seattle. They were able to partner up with many national organizations and then sell the start-up after accepting an offer only 13 months from beginning operation. 

“When I started Color in Motion 5K, the first event we had brought in 10,000 members to the park,” Redge said. He was sitting in the park in Dallas, Texas, and went online to check their social media feed. As he scrolled through, Redge found some negative things that were happening at the event. He remembered having the dilemma in his mind: “as someone who owns this social media channel, what do I do now?” 

Because he had the power to do so, Redge could have deleted the negative or less than “picture perfect” content. “I found that rather than deleting it or blocking someone, I chose to let those negative comments stay. Not because they were negative, but because they were honest. It allowed me an opportunity to give an honest response. When I responded thoughtfully to those less than ideal comments, people saw how I responded to that type of information. That says far more about building credibility as a company than to look at a company that is purely sanitized and untrustworthy,” Redge said. 

At the end of the day, Redge believes that negative comments or situations aren’t really negative. They are simply opportunities to show genuine care, listen, and be receptive to real, meaningful feedback from customers. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Redge, for sharing your story and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Whether you are a genius or not, it is more important to show that you genuinely care about people. People know if you care or not. It pays great dividends. 
2. Recognize the lifetime value of a customer. Maintain relationships with clients and find ways to build long-term connections with them. 
3. Consistently provide value.
4. Own the land where you build your skyscraper. Don’t spend your time building someone else’s brand. Build your own brand.
5. Create direct relationships with customers. Rely upon the value of this.
6. Credibility isn't built in a moment. Invest in the long game of credibility.
7. No company can control whether or not bad things happen, but they can choose how to make things right. Responding well to things going wrong is an opportunity to provide amazing customer service and build trust.
8. Negative comments or situations aren't negative. They are simply opportunities to show genuine care, listen, and be receptive to real, meaningful customer feedback. 

Connect With Redge

If you enjoyed this interview and you want to learn more about Redge or connect with him. You can find him on https://www.linkedin.com/redgeallen/. Follow his "Brother Redge'' podcast, or email him at [email protected]

Want to be a better Digital Monetizer?

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1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business. 
2. Subscribe to the Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation Youtube channel. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation Podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, and Stitcher. 
4. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter. 

Share your story

What are you doing to become a revolutionary entrepreneur? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/71-how-to-become-a-revolutionary-entrepreneur/ 

John D. Rockefeller is considered the richest man to ever live. His net worth, when adjusted for inflation, would be more than $340 Billion in today’s currency, beating the richest person alive today, Jeff Bezos, by more than $150 Billion (Source: celebritynetworth.com).

In today’s episode, we’ll learn how Rockefeller became so successful through his entrepreneurial journey. We’ll discuss what tectonic shifts (including the lightbulb, automobile, Civil War, railroad, and more) he leveraged to boost his success. We’ll also detail the other secrets like perseverance and stress management that he used to accomplish so much.

Rockefeller’s Entrepreneurial Journey

His Start in Entrepreneurship

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839. By the age of 16, Rockefeller had his first real office job as an assistant bookkeeper. After success in that job, he partnered with Maurice B. Clark to start their own business in produce. The company, Clark & Rockefeller, earned $4,400 in the first year and $17,000 in the second, which is about $530,000 in today’s currency (Sources: biography.com and the successbug.com).

Standard Oil Co.

In 1863, Rockefeller went into the oil business, opening up a refinery near Cleveland, Ohio. Many others sought success in the oil business but ultimately failed. Rockefeller’s success in this venture may have been because, unlike other refineries that would keep the 60% of oil product that became kerosene and dump the other 40% in rivers and massive sludge piles, Rockefeller sold the 40% others were wasting as lubricating oil, petroleum jelly, paraffin wax, tar, and other by-products. In other words, he monetized an asset he already had.

Rockefeller grew Standard Oil Co., and by 1872, he had purchased 22 of the 26 competitors in Cleveland. The company also acquired their entire supply chain, adding their own pipelines, tank cars, and home delivery network (Sources: biography.com and the successbug.com).

Corporation Challenges

Standard Oil controlled more than 90% of the oil industry, causing legislators to take notice. Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created. Rockefeller had to dissolve Standard Oil and allow each property to be run by others, though the corporation’s board maintained control over the individual properties (Sources: biography.com and the successbug.com).

In 1909, “New Jersey . . . changed its incorporation laws to effectively allow a re-creation of the trust in the form of a single holding company. Rockefeller retained his nominal title as president until 1911 and he kept his stock.” However, in 1911, “the Supreme Court . . . found Standard Oil Company . . .  in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.” At this time, Standard “still had a 70% market share of the refined oil market but only 14% of the U.S. crude oil supply. The court ruled that the trust originated in illegal monopoly practices and ordered it to be broken up into 34 new companies.” 

These companies included Continental Oil, which is now part of ConocoPhillips; Standard of Indiana, which is now part of BP; Standard of California, which became Chevron; Standard of New Jersey, which later became, Exxon, and is now part of ExxonMobil; Standard of New York, which became Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio, now part of BP.

“Rockefeller, who had rarely sold shares, held over 25% of Standard's stock at the time of the breakup. He and all of the other stockholders received proportionate shares in each of the 34 companies.” Rockefeller had reduced control over the oil industry. However, over the next 10 years, the breakup would prove to be immensely profitable. “The companies' combined net worth rose fivefold and Rockefeller's personal wealth jumped to $900 million.” (Source: wikipedia.org)

Philanthropy

Rockefeller believed in the Methodist preacher John Wesley’s dictum "gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can." (Source: wikipedia.org) It isn’t possible for me to include all of Rockefeller’s philanthropic endeavors because there are just too many, but here are a few.

“In 1884, Rockefeller provided major funding for Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary in Atlanta for African-American women, which became Spelman College. His wife Laura Spelman Rockefeller, was dedicated to civil rights and equality for women.” When speaking about Laura, Rockefeller said, "Her judgment was always better than mine. Without her keen advice, I would be a poor man." 

“The Spelman Family . . . along with John Rockefeller, were ardent abolitionists before the Civil War and were dedicated to supporting the Underground Railroad. John Rockefeller was impressed by the vision of the school and removed the debt from the school. The oldest existing building on Spelman's campus, Rockefeller Hall, is named after him.” (Source: wikipedia.org)

After his retirement, Rockefeller also helped pay for the University of Chicago, donating more than $80 Million to it. He helped found the Rockefeller Foundation and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, which was later named Rockefeller University (Sources: biography.com and the successbug.com). 

Rockefeller “founded the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission in 1909, an organization that eventually eradicated the hookworm disease.” (Source: wikipedia.org) By the end of his life, he had donated more than $530 million to various causes (Sources: biography.com and the successbug.com).

This is one of the best parts of capitalism and entrepreneurship. They give entrepreneurs the resources and ability to make far greater social contributions.

Tectonic Shifts Rockefeller Leveraged

The Light Bulb and the Automobile

Before the introduction of electricity, oil was the main source of lighting. Whale oil was expensive, but kerosene helped that become available to the working and middle classes, and Rockefeller took advantage of that. However, the invention of the lightbulb changed all of that. It “gradually began to erode the dominance of kerosene for illumination.” 

Standard Oil had to adapt to this tectonic shift by “developing a European presence, expanding into natural gas production in the U.S., and producing gasoline for automobiles, which until then had been considered a waste product.” (Source: wikipedia.org) Rockefeller was able to find success with the tectonic shift of the automobile.

Food Supplies During the Civil War

As mentioned earlier, Rockefeller and his partner went into the produce business early in his career. Their business did well in its first two years, but when the Union Army called for large amounts of food and supplies in the Civil War, their profits soared.

During the Civil War, “Rockefeller tended his business and hired substitute soldiers. He gave money to the Union cause.” He said, “I wanted to go in the army and do my part. But it was simply out of the question. There was no one to take my place. We were in a new business, and if I had not stayed it must have stopped—and with so many dependent on it.”

“When the Civil War was nearing a close and with the prospect of those war-time profits ending, Clark & Rockefeller looked toward the refining of crude oil.” (Source: wikipedia.org)

The Railroad

Rockefeller “was well-positioned to take advantage of postwar prosperity and the great expansion westward fostered by the growth of railroads and an oil-fueled economy. He borrowed heavily, reinvested profits, adapted rapidly to changing markets, and fielded observers to track the quickly expanding industry.”

Standard Oil “became one of the largest shippers of oil and kerosene in the country. The railroads competed fiercely for traffic and, in an attempt to create a cartel to control freight rates, formed the South Improvement Company offering special deals to bulk customers like Standard Oil, outside the main oil centers. The cartel offered preferential treatment as a high-volume shipper, which included not just steep discounts/rebates of up to 50% for their product but rebates for the shipment of competing products.” (Source: wikipedia.org)

Our Business Should be About Our Passions—Not Money

“If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.” - John D. Rockefeller

Rockefeller truly loved what he did. He knew business would be better if there was something bigger behind it than money (Source: 2x.co).

“I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of the waking day to the making of money for money’s sake.” - John D. Rockefeller

Credibility

Though Rockefeller wasn’t perfect, he cared a lot about his credibility. He often struggled to get the amount of money he needed to achieve his goals, but he won the trust of banks and investors, enabling him to take his business farther than he would have been able to otherwise.

It is said that Rockefeller remembered 3,000 of his employees’ names (Source: 2x.co). An impressive accomplishment that showed his employees that he cared about them, pushing his credibility through the roof because of the respect they likely had for him.

By showing people we care about them by doing something as simple as remembering their names, we can boost our credibility. In addition, it will help us build stronger relationships with those we work with.

Building “Skyscrapers” on Land We Own

As Standard Oil grew and purchased its competitors, it got into the business of buying pipelines and terminals and setting up a system of transport for its own products. Standard came to control or own almost every aspect of the business, and its grip on the industry tightened. It even bought thousands of acres of forest for lumber, drilling, and blocking competitors from running their own pipelines (Source: biography.com).

While the monopoly was later deemed unlawful by Congress, we can still learn the value of controlling the aspects of our businesses from this example. If we build our business on a platform that we don’t own, we have limited control over that platform, and the platform can change the rules and have a huge impact on our business. 

Other Secrets to Success

Perseverance

“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” - John D. Rockefeller

As entrepreneurs, our businesses might not take off right away despite our hard work. Rockefeller had to start out his career as an assistant bookkeeper before he could start the business he wanted to. He persevered in that job until he and his partner could start their own business.

Sometimes our goals take longer than we expect, or we have to do things we don’t want to in order to reach them. It is important to keep our goals in mind and let them drive us when things aren’t how we want them to be. If we work hard and persevere, things often get better.

Keeping a Cool Head

When circumstances went wrong and others began panicking, Rockefeller was known for keeping his cool. Even though he started his career during a great market depression, he remained calm, being careful and watching others learn from their mistakes (Source: forgefinancialfreedom.com and 2x.co).

“I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.” - John D. Rockefeller

We, too, can keep our heads during stressful situations, and it will help us make better decisions. It will also encourage our employees and associates to remain calm as well. 

Stress Management

There were several periods of Rockefeller’s life where he experienced great stress. In the 1870s and 80s, Rockefeller was carrying out his plan of consolidation and integration and was being attacked by the press while doing so. He complained that he couldn’t stay asleep most nights. He later said, “All the fortune that I have made has not served to compensate me for the anxiety of that period.”

When he was in “his 50s Rockefeller suffered from moderate depression and digestive troubles; during a stressful period in the 1890s he developed alopecia, the loss of some or all body hair.” Rockefeller started wearing toupées by 1901. Unfortunately, his hair never grew back. However other health complaints subsided when he lightened his workload.

To help manage his stress, here are a couple of tactics Rockefeller used.

The Importance of a Consistent Schedule

Rockefeller had to keep a meticulous schedule, planning every minute, otherwise, his day would fall into chaos. He never diverged from it. However, he didn’t let it control him either. He was the master of his schedule, and the schedule was not the master of him. 

By keeping such a strict schedule, he was able to be in the present moment. He could focus more easily because he devoted time to each of the important things in his life, and therefore, he wouldn’t get distracted by other things (Sources: forgefinancialfreedom.com and 2x.co).

“Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one's aim.” - John D. Rockefeller

The Importance of Rest

One aspect of Rockefeller’s schedule was his time dedicated to rest. He loved to nap after lunch and dinner. When he was in his 30s, he installed a telegraph wire between his work and home so he could spend 3-4 afternoons during the week at home, gardening and enjoying the outdoors (Source: cnbc.com).

Entrepreneurs often forget how important balance is in life. We often get excited about the ventures we are working on and forget that it is crucial to take time to relax or be with loved ones so we don’t exhaust ourselves and burn out. 

“It is remarkable how much we all could do if we avoid hustling, and go along at an even pace and keep from attempting too much.” - John D. Rockefeller

Faith

During his childhood, Rockefeller attended a local Baptist church with his mother and siblings. Rockefeller’s mother was very religious. She was a major influence for him in religious matters. While they were at church, she would encourage him “to contribute his few pennies to the congregation. He came to associate the church with charity.” Religion became a guiding force throughout his life, and he believed it was the source of his success (Source: wikipedia.org).

As a devout Northern Baptist, Rockefeller read the Bible daily, attended prayer meetings twice a week, and even led his own Bible study with his wife. He supported Baptist missionary activity, funded universities, and heavily engaged in religious activities at his church. While traveling the South, he donated large sums of money to churches belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention, various Black churches, and other Christian denominations. One time, Rockefeller paid for a slave's freedom, and another time he donated to a Roman Catholic orphanage. As he grew rich, his donations to churches became more generous (Source: wikipedia.org).

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We can boost our credibility by remembering our associate’s names.
2. Having good credibility can lead to help from people like bankers and investors. This help can allow us to take our business further.
3. We should build skyscrapers on land we own.
4. Perseverance is one of the most important attributes an entrepreneur can have. 
5. Keeping a consistent schedule can help us focus more easily and be more efficient in our work.
6. In addition, taking time in our schedule to relax can help us keep a balanced life.
7. We can make better decisions and help our associates remain calm if we keep a cool head in stressful situations.
8. Philanthropy is one of the best parts of capitalism and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs have the resources and ability to make far greater social contributions.
9. Rockefeller leveraged many of the tectonic shifts like the light bulb and the railroad. We can leverage the tectonic shifts in our time to gain success.

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