Ray Edwards Show

Stories have a way of sticking with us. The world of marketing is changing around us, and those businesses that don't invite their customers into a heroic story will soon find themselves forgotten.

If you're tired of your marketing having the same affect as a monkey yelling into a bullhorn, then you're listening to this podcast at exactly the right time. In this episode my guest Don Miller is going to introduce you to a roadmap that will clarify your message and draw customers to you like a magnet.

If you're like most people, you were raised with an understanding of The Golden Rule, "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

Regardless of your belief system, you have to admit that this is a pretty solid idea. But does it apply to governments as well as individuals? In this episode Sean and I have an provocative discussion that is sure to raise the hackles of more than a few people.

We've discovered the greatest camera ever made. Pretty bold statement, right? If you're a content creator who relies on outstanding video (YouTubers I'm looking at you) then this camera is going to change your world.

With this camera you can take stunningly sharp videos and crisp photos with one device. The mirrorless frame is lightweight for easy travel, and the 20.3-megapixel technology delivers on clarity. We go into a whole geeky discussion about this inside the episode, but suffice it to say that this camera is a photographic rock star!

Donald Miller is the CEO of StoryBrand and every year helps more than 3,000 business leaders clarify their brand message. His audiences are challenged to lean into their own story, creatively develop and execute the story of their team, and understand the story of their customers so they can serve them with passion. Don's thoughts on story have deeply influenced leaders and teams for Pantene, Ford/Lincoln, Zaxby's, Chick-fil-A, Steelcase, Intel, Prime Lending and thousands more. Combined, Don's books have spent more than a year on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

Here are some snippets from our conversation:

• If you confuse you lose – Why asking your customer to focus on more than one idea is killing your business (17:49)
• Even a caveman can do it – Why the "Grunt Test" is important and how you can use it to test your marketing in five seconds or less (19:22)
• Accidentally ignoring the important – How story plays such an important role in our businesses and why it's so often ignored (22:05)
• Using resistance as a compass – Why your insecurities and fears can be used as a guide to the life you desire most (24:09)
• The Storyteller's Formula – What movies can teach us about making marketing matter (26:15)
• Clarify to amplify – How the human brain processes story and how you can use that revelation to multiply the results in your business (28:38)
• Survive and thrive – What you need to know about the human brain, and how that knowledge can cause your message to stand out in the marketplace (30:37)
• The making of a President – What the results of recent elections can teach us about the power of story when used correctly…and incorrectly (33:55)
• It's not what you say, it's how you say it – How using the proper framework can transform your marketing from sad to successful (36:07)

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
• The Greatest Camera Ever Made
• Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

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You've heard and read me talking about this topic of prosperity for some time now. If you're still reading, chances are you have at least cautiously accepted the idea that you, too, may prosper.

At this point you may even be thinking, "Ray, you've sold me on this prosperity idea. But how do I start? What's next?" The rest of this podcast attempts to answer that question. Let's get started.

4 Principles for Living a Prosperous Life

1. Find your ultimate joy and satisfaction in God.
2. View your business as a means for glorifying Christ.
3. Serve others as a demonstration of your love for them.
4. Continually ask God to bless you.

Free training on powering up your platform!

Having established a foundation for prosperity, you now want to build on it by focusing on vision, mission, plans, strategies and goals that apply specifically to your business.

Create a Prosperity Pathway

There is power in a prosperity pathway. A prosperity pathway helps you:

• Develop clarity about how to proceed
• Focus on achievable outcomes
• Stay on course

The steps in creating your prosperity pathway:

1. Vision
2. Mission
3. Plans
4. Strategy
5. Goals

Perhaps you've heard the acronym SMART Goals. SMART stands for:

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Achievable

R – Realistic

T – Time-based

SMART goals are a good place to start.

The problem with conventional goal-setting in this fashion is that it's:

• All or nothing
• Pie in the sky
• Demoralizing
• Demotivating

Without goals we have no idea how we're doing, or where we're heading.

So, here's what I suggest and what I do: I set BAM! Goals. BAM is an acronym and stands for:

B – Baseline

A – Amazing

M – Miraculous

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Client First Training

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Things can change so quickly in the online world it sometimes feels like a full-time job just trying to keep up. Which platforms are still relevant? What are the emerging trends I need to keep my eye on?

In this episode my guest Mark Mason will tackle these questions, clear out the cobwebs of confusion and shine a light on the path forward.

 Click here to download or listen to this episode now.

In the church world today, when people are presented with an opportunity it's common to hear them say, "I'm going to wait on the Lord till I get a sign from Him that this is the right thing to do."

This drives me nuts because God has given us eyes, ears, and a glorious brain to think with…we should be able to evaluate opportunities using the tools He has given us. So, I found some Scripture to back up my viewpoint, which is what you do when you're a Christian. Check this out:

Proverbs 10:5, "He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully."

Or how about Proverbs 14:23, "In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

We serve a God who doesn't have any problems making decisions. Let's follow His lead and strike when the opportunity is hot.

The tip this week is one of the coolest apps I've seen in a long time. If you ever watched the TV show Fringe you'll remember how they had those 3D titles that showed the name of the city floating on the screen. It looked really cool.

Now with Placer Cam you can create that same effect in your videos just using your phone. Getting perfectly tracked text in your videos has never been as fun, quick or easy. The best part is that there's no expensive editing software required, do it all on your mobile device!

My guest this week is Mark Mason, the host of the brilliant podcast Late Night Internet Marketing. There you can expect to hear practical internet marketing advice you can apply to your own internet business, great interviews with successful and interesting marketers, and tidbits of helpful information delivered in an easy-to-understand format.

In this episode I get to pepper Mark with questions we all want answers to, like:

Here are some snippets from our conversation:

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It's the dark secret of many small business entrepreneurs – most are a couple of bad months away from total bankruptcy. I learned this lesson the hard way after generating hundreds of millions and having nothing to show for it. While I changed that over the last few years, I am still a work in progress. And many small business owners I know are still living check-to-check.

The book Profit First changes all that once and for all. Ask yourself. "What would it be like if I could immediately start taking profit from ny business – this month, and every month from now on? What if I could be permanently profitable?"

Keeping your accounting straight and your business profitable is not just a good idea – it's biblical.

"Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,
And attend to your herds;
For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations." – Proverbs 27:23-24

Try this with me: one book, one month, deep.

Profit First, by Mike Michalowicz.

TESTIMONIALS FOR PROFIT FIRST

Darnyelle Jervey: "It feels good to be building a business that serves me. Profit First is helping me to live out my mission in my own business." Bottom Line: $296,763.20 in profit, 258 percent revenue growth, and more than a million dollars in sales.

Carrie Cunnington: "My business finances are organized and clean. I'm profitable (yeah!), disciplined, in control and motivated." Bottom Line: Debt free and posting quarterly profits.

Christian Maxin: "I now need just 60 minutes a week to manage my financial planning." Bottom line: Christian can see the financial health of his business at a glance: $250,000 in new profit and business growth of 20 percent.

Paul Finney: "Once you have cash, opportunities start to appear like never before." Bottom Line: 500 percent growth in weekly sales; costs cut by 20 percent.

Helen and Rob Faulkner: "After 18 years of being in business, we finally feel we're a success." Bottom Line: Helen and Rob turned around their business and posted a first-ever profit distribution within four weeks of starting Profit First.

Notes and Quotes from Profit First:

Money problems occur when one of two things happen:

1. Sales slow down. The problem here is obvious when you operate check-to-check and sales slow down: you won't have enough to cover expenses.
2. Sales speed up. This problem is not obvious, but it is insidious. As your income climbs, expenses quickly follow. Exchanging the newly leased car for a rust-bucket, laying off employees because we're overstaffed, saying "No" to our partners—all of this is very hard to do because of the agreements and promises we made. We don't want to admit we've been wrong in how we've been growing our business. So rather than reduce our costs in any meaningful way, we scramble to cover ridiculously high expenses. We steal from Peter to pay Paul, hoping for another big payout.

Most business owners try to grow their way out of their problems, hinging salvation on the next big sale, customer, or investor, but the result is simply a bigger monster. (And the bigger your company gets, the more anxiety you deal with. A $300,000 cash-eating monster is much easier to manage than a $3,000,000 one. I know; I have survived operating both.)

"Profit must be baked into your business. Every day, every transaction, every moment. Profit is not an event. Profit is a habit."

THE FOUR CORE PRINCIPLES OF PROFIT FIRST

Old "Profit Last" Formula: Sales – Expenses = Profit

New "Profit First" Formula: Sales – Profit = Expenses

Here's how you apply the four principles:  

1. Use Small Plates—When money comes into your main INCOME account, it simply acts as a serving tray for the other accounts. You then periodically disperse all the money from the INCOME account into different accounts in predetermined percentages. Each of these accounts has a different objective: one is for profit, one for owner compensation, another for taxes, and another for operating expenses. Collectively, these are the five foundational accounts (Income, Profit, Owner's Comp, Tax, and Operating Expenses). Those five accounts are where you should get started, but advanced users will use additional accounts (outlined in Chapter 10).
2. Serve Sequentially—Always, always allocate money based upon the percentages to the accounts first. Never, ever, ever pay bills first. The money moves from the INCOME account to your PROFIT account, OWNER'S COMP, TAX, and OPEX (OPERATING EXPENSES). Then you pay bills only with what is available in the OPEX account. No exceptions. And if there isn't enough money left for expenses? This does not mean you need to pull from the other accounts. What it does mean is that your business is telling you that you can't afford those expenses and need to get rid of them. Eliminating unnecessary expenses will bring more health to your business than you can ever imagine.
3. Remove Temptation—Move your PROFIT account and other "tempting" accounts out of arm's reach. Make it really hard and painful to get to that money, thereby removing the temptation to "borrow" (i.e., steal) from yourself. Use an accountability mechanism to prevent access, except for the right reason.
4. Enforce a Rhythm—Do your allocations and payables twice a month (specifically, on the tenth and twenty-fifth). Don't pay only when there is money piled up in the account. Get into a rhythm of allocating your income, and paying bills twice a month so that you can see how cash accumulates and where the money really goes. This is controlled, recurring and frequent cash-flow-management, not by-the-seat-of-your-pants cash-management.

• Profit First book
• Profit First podcast
• Profit First Info Graphic (Ray's Notes – Coming Soon!)

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We all have fears and beliefs that hold us back, but what we don't usually have is a proven process that can destroy, once and for all, the limits those fears and beliefs place on us.

This week I sit down with my friend Cliff Ravenscraft for an in-depth discussion on this very subject. We're going to introduce you to tools and strategies that will unleash your potential and allow you to take the big leap from your Zone of Excellence to your Zone of Genius!

We all have a thermostat in our lives that regulates how we feel with the amount of financial success, relationship success, and also business success that we have in our lives. In a very real sense, that thermostat has put a ceiling on how much greatness you allow in your life.

Imagine for a moment that there was no ceiling…what would that make possible in your life?

That's exactly what we're going to discuss in this episode. But first, as some of you may know, Sean and I recently bought a local artisan coffeehouse here in Spokane, and we thought you might enjoy a little insight as to why we did that. Enjoy!

Here are some snippets from our conversation:

Part One: The Coffeehouse Chronicles

• Sad news & an idea – How to spot opportunity in the most common areas of your life (3:22)
• Coffee and Community – Why a successful business is more than just a business (4:04)
• The strategic growth plan – How your unique skill set as an online entrepreneur can create new growth opportunities in the brick and mortar world (5:10)
• No more excuses – Why we believe coffee can open the door for all the brick and mortar businesses that are unsure online strategies will work for them (5:30)
• "I just don't want it to close" – Why it's okay, and even encouraged, to get emotional about business (7:38)
• King Solomon was right – Why it's always a good idea to have multiple streams of income (8:37)
• Keep your eye on the prize – How to make your money go to work for you (8:48)
• A gathering place for friends – How to create a business model that turns customers into friends (9:06)

Part 2: Breaking Through Your Upper Limits

• What's the big deal? – How a cryptic message from Cliff changed my life (12:32)
• Control your temperature – How your inner thermostat dictates how much success you're allowed to have in your life (14:10)
• Introverts and the post-vacation blues – How your mindset controls how much joy and excitement you are willing to allow in your life (18:51)
• The $25,000 check – Why most people refuse to accept random acts of kindness and how to fix that forever (22:55)
• The Upper Limit Injury – The never before released reason why your unconscious mind is fighting against your success, and what to do about it (25:31)
• The new high-water mark: How to identify your underlying positive message so you can blow the roof off your potential (27:01)
• Let's get real – An intimate look at Ray's experience with the Upper Limit Challenge, and the "miraculous" victory that came from that (27:33)
• The unintentional criminal – Why continuing to do something you're awful at is robbing someone of the blessing of using their gift (31:37)
• Is this the best use of your time? – Why doing things others can do better is costing you money and draining your most valuable resource (35:04)
• The Land of Milk and Honey – Why your business should be based on something you do that comes easy to you but is difficult for others (36:59)
• The Zone of Genius – Why your unique gift is the key to enjoying all the love, financial abundance and creativity that's rightfully yours (39:50)
• Watching Television Professionally – What can you do for long stretches of time without getting bored or tired? (45:01)
• Live long and prosper – What Spock can teach us about living with an abundance mindset (45:29)
• Working hard or hardly working? – Discovering the work you do that doesn't feel like work (52:23)
• The Russian Doll Experiment – The magic of uncovering your unique ability by asking the right questions in the right order (53:03)
• I'm looking at you – Everyone has a Zone of Genius and it's your personal mission to discover and share it (55:04)
• Feel the fear and do it anyway – How to defeat fear and use The Resistance as a compass (57:35)
• Now hear this! – The important information about the first Ray Edwards Live Meet-Up at Revel 77 (58:57)

• Revel 77 Coffee
• The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level

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If you ask a room full of people with jobs why they go to work, what do you think their answer would be?  Probably something like, "To pay the bills… because I have to… because I have an addiction to living indoors with plumbing…"

If you ask entrepreneurs why they work, what will THEY say? Probably something like, "Because I love my business… I'm doing what I love… I'm on a mission…"

But pose the question differently and see what happens. Ask those same entrepreneurs privately, if they won the Powerball and a got a $25M windfall, what are the first 5 things they would do… and one of the top items on that list is ALWAYS "get rid of this business."

In this episode, we're going to get to the root of this problem and help you live a more authentic life starting right now.

Recently I've been re-reading the classic book Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. Dr. Maltz popularized the idea of self-image and its effect on performance. There's a difference between self-esteem and self-image. Your self-esteem is how you appraise your value, your self-image is simply the picture you have of yourself.

Who do you think you are?

There's an ancient proverb that says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." I believe what He was saying is, what you say reveals who you think you are.

Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." I believe what He was saying is, what you say reveals who you think you are.

If you consistently find yourself behaving in a way that you don't want to behave… you must look closely at your "secret identity." You'll find that somewhere you hold conflicting views that cannot exist in the same person. You are at war with yourself, and you are at war with reality.

The masses lead lives of quiet contradictions. That is the pattern of the ordinary behavior of the world. It's why the Apostle Paul wrote "Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind…"

We renew our minds by thinking different thoughts. How do you do this?

1. Notice the feelings that alert you to internal conflicts.
2. Trace your thought backwards and find the place where you find two conflicting ideas.
3. Resolve the conflict.
4. Establish a new thought that is not in conflict.
5. Reinforce the "trigger" and the "thought pattern."

In this episode, we do a deep dive on all of this…trust me when I say that you don't want to miss this.

In keeping with the theme of today's episode, How to Reinvent Your Business, Your Income, and Your Life, Jeff Walker opens his store today for you to enroll in his Product Launch Formula (PLF).

We're big believers in PLF as an approach, and the tip of the week is about how you can get $20,000 in coaching and training from me and our company for free when you sign up for PLF through the link rayedwards.com/plf.

These bonuses are only available for a limited time…until Thursday, September 14, 2017. So, if you want the $20,000 worth of free goodies from us, go to rayedwards.com/plf.

While you're there, be sure to watch all the videos because you would be surprised at how much you can learn from that content, and by observing the PLF launch process. Now go forth and prosper!

Let's pretend you won the New Life lottery…what would be the first things you would do? Most entrepreneurs, if they told the truth, would just get rid of their business.

Why? Because they feel trapped by their business and they go to work in their business for the same reason that people go to work at a job, to pay the bills.

So, if money were no longer a concern…

1. How would you redesign your life?
2. How would you redesign your income?
3. How would you redesign your business?

Here are some ideas and some snippets from our conversation:

• You are here – Answering this question honestly is the very first place to start when redesigning your life (30:05)
• Check your B.S. at the door – How redefining your belief system is the fastest way to make a life U-Turn (32:54)
• Opportunity comes dressed as work – How to give yourself permission to want what you want (34:50)
• How to eliminate the belief that there is a moral connection between hours worked and income earned.(35:54)
• The tug at your soul – You are a creative, productive person…and if you aren't creatively productive, your soul begins to die (38:05)
• Be fruitful and multiply – Why creating value is a Divine calling and simply the smartest thing you could possibly do in business (40:10)
• Reinvention simplified – How to do a wholesale redesign of your life with a minimum amount of disruption (43:38)
• The seven-figure solution – Why a product launch is the fastest and most strategic way to reinvent your business (47:53)
• The clock is ticking – Why setting a deadline for yourself puts you on the fast-track to success (49:24)

• Psycho-Cybernetics
• Get Product Launch Formula + $20,000 in free training from Ray!

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Where did you get your beliefs about money? Chances are they were not consciously chosen, and that they aren't a well thought-out integrated "philosophy of money."

The most commonly held misconceptions about money are actually dangerous deceptions… contradictory beliefs in a reality that punishes those who try to navigate life based on contradictory tactics. In this episode we'll bust the 21 most common – and most dangerous – money myths…and we'll expose the liberating truths that will set you free of your self-imposed limitations.

Click here to download or listen to this episode now.

One of the things we love most about our listeners is that you're a smart group of people. We're honored that you listen to this show for guidance, but when presented with the truth you're able to figure things out on your own.

In that spirit, this week we're simply going to present you with a series of quotes from the Bible and let you come to your own conclusions. Let's begin…

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." – John 10:10

"The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it." – Proverbs 10:22

"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." – Matthew 6:30 -33

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich." – 2 Corinthians 8:9

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. – Ephesians 3:20-21

Before I can serve my business, I have to serve you…my audience. I have to produce valuable content that you find interesting and valuable, and that's exactly what I'm doing on my YouTube channel.

There's a ton of great content there and more to come. What would be awesome is if you subscribe to the channel. When you subscribe, you'll see a little bell icon. You want to click on that. That way you'll get a notification when I put out a new video. I welcome you to leave comments there and let me know what other stuff you'd like to hear about or see on that channel.

Psst…here's a little secret, like the secret menu at In-n-Out Burger. We actually offer several tips in this episode, but you have to listen to hear the others. Aren't we sneaky?

1. Myth: You can no longer start a business in today's economy.
2. Myth: I don't have a product to sell.
3. Myth: I don't have any experience in anything.
4. Myth: Another breed of people are the only ones who can do big things.
5. Myth: I must be shown how to do things by experts from institutions.
6. Myth: Money isn't important.
7. Myth: You can sell anything online.
8. Myth: A businessman is in the low order of talent and importance in society.
9. Myth: Selling is easy and not that important.
10. Myth: People who just put up the money for an enterprise don't deserve much of a cut of the profit.
11. Myth: Artistic or technical alent is rare and super expensive.
12. Myth: Money must be made slowly.
13. Myth: If you aren't born rich, you'll never be rich.
14. Myth: I will be successful because I'm going to school. working for a big established organization, having talent, and working hard.
15. Myth: People are basically bad, or people are basically good.
16. Myth: Making a profit is sinful.
17. Myth: Entrepreneurs are bad.
18. Myth: I am not smart enough to do anything big because I didn't get good grades in school.
19. Myth: Watch the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.
20. Myth: I must be certified by some recognized authority before I can do big things.
21. Myth: To become rich another must become poor.

Here are some snippets from our conversation:

• Same as it ever was – The truth about why it's easier than ever to start a business today (19:44)
• You need a Wesley – What Star Trek can teach you about building a business (22:08)
• It's right under your nose – The simplest way to create a product or service that people will happily pay you for (23:52)
• Get out of your own way – Somewhere someone is looking to pay money for knowledge you take for granted (24:55)
• All humans can generate wealth – Why your self-limiting beliefs are the only thing standing between you and a fortune (25:44)
• Climb your own ladder – How to kick the "Education Crutch" to the curb and go with what you know (29:59)
• Certificates of Appreciation: Why your messed up definition of money will keep you broke forever (31:42)
• The brick and mortar conundrum – Why digital marketing is the most important arrow in your quiver (34:01)
• The Matrix Principle – Why the people who designed the current system didn't have your best interests in mind…and what to do about it (35:55)
• The salesperson's vacation – The real reason sales is the highest paid profession in the world and why you should take it seriously (38:51)
• Risk and Reward – Why the first money in should be the first money out (39:57)
• You aren't charging enough – Why the craftsman is worth their weight in gold (40:44)
• The Gospel of Speed – Why finding a high leverage tactic and putting 100% behind it is the fastest way to create wealth (41:27)
• Spit out the silver spoon – How to overcome the fallacy of having to be born rich (42:03)
• They lied to me – How Old World thinking sets you up for failure in the New Economy (45:05)
• You hold the pen – Why only you get to decide what you write on the blank page of a new day (46:10)
• Value for value – Why profit is the proof of a service well-performed (49:01)
• Your vision may be blurry – How to have clarity when determining whether something is good or evil (50:19)
• You're good enough, smart enough, and people like you – The danger of allowing academic performance determine your true worth (51:07)
• You get what you focus on – Why paying attention to the wrong thing can cost you millions (52:34)
• Stop being so needy – How to stop relying on else's approval to become successful (53:25)
• Make infinite pies – The real reason why there is always enough for everyone (54:22)

• Panasonic GH5
• Smart Passive Income
• Final Cut Pro
• Seven Steps to Freedom: How to Escape the American Rat Race
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth
• Zig Ziglar On Selling
• The Millionaire Next Door
• The Two-Word Therapy Session
• The Fountainhead

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Most people have heard of a mastermind, but they don't truly understand the power masterminds produce or how to correctly participate in one.

Even fewer people know the five reasons you need a mastermind…that and more will be revealed in this week's episode.

Peter Drucker is famous for asking these two questions: "What business are you in?"  and, "How's business?"

Business is good.

I'm not talking about having more customers or how fat your bottom line is…I mean business is morally good.

Business is not morally neutral…it is inherently good.

If you read through the Gospels, you'll notice that Jesus uses business and wealth as a method for teaching the principles of the Kingdom to His followers more than He uses any other subject.

In this episode we're going to show you what it really means to be about your Father's business.

Before I can serve my business, I have to serve you…my audience. I have to produce valuable content that you find interesting and valuable, and that's exactly what I'm doing on my YouTube channel.

There's a ton of great content there and more to come. What would be awesome is if you subscribe to the channel. When you subscribe, you'll see a little bell icon. You want to click on that. That way you'll get a notification when I put out a new video. I welcome you to leave comments there and let me know what other stuff you'd like to hear about or see on that channel.

I want to give a shout out to my new friend, Nick Nimmin. I watched his stuff for quite some time and decided, "I want to engage this guy to help me grow our channel," so I did. I brought him in to do a little coaching and consulting, and he's really been helpful. If you are interested in building a YouTube channel, definitely check out Nick's channel.

A little over a week ago, we hosted our affiliate mastermind meeting in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. This was a meeting of our top affiliate partners from our launch of the Copywriting Academy earlier this year and it included:

• Mike Kim: Branding Strategist Extraordinaire
• John Nemo: LinkedIn Expert
• Mark Timm: Leader of Ziglar Family
• Ernie Svenson: Master of Paperless Productivity
• Jeff Bullas: The World's #1 Business Blogger

Why am I telling you about our affiliate mastermind? Because it really underlined for me the value of mastermind meetings.

Here are the Five Reasons You Need A Mastermind:

1. Clarity
2. Collaboration
3. Critique
4. Caution
5. Confidence

Here are some snippets from our conversation:

• The brilliance of mutual benefit – What a mastermind actually is and how it harnesses the power of the third mind (15:40)
• Speaking their language – The surprising ancient origins of the mastermind…you've never heard this before (16:35)
• You're inside the bottle – Why you need others to help you avoid pitfalls caused by your blind spots (18:51)
• I can see clearly now – How you can ignite the fuel of ambition in your life and business (20:19)
• Many hands make light work – How working together makes your yoke easy and your burden light (22:16)
• Brutal compassion – Why vulnerability and the creation of a "safe space" lead to answers you would never find on your own (22:37)
• Running east in search of a sunset – How a mastermind can save you from the peril of unrealistic optimism and keep your business from running off the tracks (24:55)
• Your most important asset as an entrepreneur – Why you must protect your confidence at all costs (25:52)
• Keep it real – Why authenticity is your biggest advantage in the marketplace (27:08)
• The Impact Factor – Why sharpening your critical thinking skills can be the difference between running a business and making an impact (27:57)
• Who are you hanging around with? – How to avoid the extreme danger of staying confined to your own universe and thinking you've got it figured out (28:51)
• The power of generosity – Poor minds compete with one another, rich minds empower each other (30:38)
• Birds of a feather – If you want to fly like an eagle don't hang out with turkeys (31:16)
• Become an action figure – Why education without endeavor won't get you very far (31:30)

• Ray Edwards YouTube Channel
• Nick Nimmin YouTube Video Tips
• Mike Kim
• John Nemo
• Mark Timm
• Ernie Svenson
• Jeff Bullas
• Jody Maberry
• Matt McWilliams
• Mark Sieverkropp
• Coeur d'Alene Resort

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This is a special "Bonus Episode" of the show, which consists exclusively of my interview with author Frank Viola, discussing his new book, There Must Be More.

Subscribe to the show through Apple Podcasts and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will mention you on this show.

Right-Click and "Save As" to Get the PDF Transcript.

Have you ever felt guilty about the amount of stuff you have? This is something Christian entrepreneurs deal with all the time. It goes something like this, "If you were a real Christian you would sell your stuff and give the money to the poor."  This mindset has led to some really messed up thinking like affluenza…the "sickness" of having too much stuff.

This week I'm going to introduce my own term…Maximalism…and show you not only why this is a good thing, but why it may be the very thing that saves us from ourselves.

I recently took a trip to Hong Kong and suffered some awful jet lag in the process. I figured that because I only sleep a few hours a night as it is and because I was there to do God's work I could just struggle through the time difference and be right as rain.

That got me thinking about this whole issue of, "What does God cause, what does He allow, and is there a difference?"

One of the verses in the Bible that gets brought up to point out that God does cause bad things to happen to people for His own glory, is the story of the blind man who was blind from birth. The disciples come to Jesus and they say, "Who sinned that this man is blind? Was it him or was it his parents?" That was their belief system in that culture. If you were born with a handicap, it was because of somebody's sin. You get punished for someone else's sin…man that is twisted!

In this episode I'll share the answer Jesus gave and reveal to you the proper context so you'll finally be able to understand what He was really saying.

This will set you free.

I just got a drone, the DJI Mavic Pro. Right away I discovered two things about owning a drone. First of all, when you set the thing on the ground and you turn the engines on, the props spin up, and you realize you're about to send a lot of money hurtling into the sky. That's a little scary. The second thing I discovered is there are a lot of places you're not allowed to fly your drone. Funny thing is they don't mention that when you buy it.

The FAA, municipalities, state and federal parks, and even private property owners all have something to say about where you can fly your magical new device. It's all very confusing…or at least it was.

Now there's an app for that. It's called airmap.io and it incorporates all the available information and it marries it together with Google Maps. You pop up a map on your iOS or Android device and it shows you all the different airspaces, and who controls them.

By using this app all drone owners, or Droners as they're called, can now safely and responsibly fly without fear.

I was recently listening to a Cliff Ravencraft podcast episode entitled, "Do I really need all this stuff?" In this podcast he was discussing an email he received from a listener chiding him for buying all the expensive podcast equipment he uses when, in their opinion, he should have given that money to the poor.

Cliff made a very impassioned argument about how that was not true, and I think he is right. It makes me want to spend a little more time on this topic this week because Cliff touched on something that I think is really important to understand.

Conventional wisdom says that either you have affluenza, the disease of accumulating too much stuff, or you are a minimalist. This week I would like to present a third option, Maximalism.

Here are a few snippets from our conversation:

• Words mean things – Sean's latest Rant of the Week (20:32)
• The living system – Why the correct definition of a concept matters so much and the high calling of trading value for value (23:19)
• The wealth of selection – Why it doesn't matter how much stuff you have, but instead it matters about making your stuff meaningful to you (23:43)
• Think for yourself – You, yes you, get to decide how much is too much and how much is not enough (24:45)
• You're asking the wrong question – Why putting an arbitrary limit on how many items you can have is completely ridiculous and shows that you don't understand why you have things (26:07)
• The intentional decision – How to determine whether you own things, or things own you (26:35)
• You wasted your money on that – The truth about items you hardly use and how they amplify your creative process (27:29)
• I just want that – How to turn any purchase into your own personal R&D experiment (29:39)
• Wanting what you want – How to leave behind a world of justification and scarcity and enter a world of abundance and creativity where you're always free to want what you want (31:09)
• You have permission to prosper – Discover the massive difference between want and need when it comes to being successful (32:51)
• The mic drop moment – The shocking truth that Jesus did not make the ultimate sacrifice, and what really happened (36:14)
• Business is good – Here's what you're really doing when you buy stuff (37:07)
• The way to great wealth – How capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man (39:55)
• Know your own mind – Why Maximalism is the key to enjoying wealth while making a difference (41:32)

• Podcast Answer Man
• Do I Really Need All This Stuff?
• Dennis McIntee
• DJI Mavic Pro Drone
• io
• Wanting What You Want by Dan Sullivan

Subscribe to the show through Apple Podcasts and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will mention you on this show.

Right-Click and "Save As" to Get the PDF Transcript.