The Dad Formula

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In this section, we’re going to learn about the content that you are offering to your members. Quality content is important to get members and to retain members.

You need to have content that fulfills a strong enough need so that people are interested in subscribing to your membership in the first place. You can’t promise content that you can’t ultimately deliver, so you have to have the content polished and ready to go before you even start pitching or promoting the membership.

You also need to deliver quality content and you need to deliver it in certain ways to your members, and I’ll teach you the two types of content that you absolutely need to offer.

You might be wondering – why is it so important to have great content if they already purchased? Well, you might be doing a continuity model, where you charge monthly for new content. Your members will drop off fast if you don’t keep the content fresh, relevant and engaging. And even for one-time purchase models, like a course, you still want to keep your members happy because they’re not only your best potential customers for new products you develop later, but they’re your word of mouth ambassadors!

I’ll cover the types of content you need to have and the various content models.

Let’s dig in!

The post Creating Content for Cash appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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Here we are on the Weekly DAD4.

I’ll get right to it and here’s what you do:

Where the Daily DAD4 was about doing things that are unplanned, the Weekly DAD4 is all about cranking off things on your to do list.

Each week, write down two things that you want to accomplish in each of the four areas:

Faith

Family

Fitness

Finances

These should be things that you actually want to accomplish for the week. These do not include any of the typical To Do’s that you have for the week, like shopping, paying bills, picking up kids, fixing a clogged drain, etc.

These are ONLY things that move you towards your Quarterly Goals. Got it? Only those things. So the Quarterly Goals dictate what you’re doing Weekly, and the Weekly DAD4 tasks will change each quarter based on your Goals.

What we’re doing here is breaking down each Goal into roughly 25 steps (because there’s 4.2 weeks per month x 3 months x 2 tasks per goal). And when you break it down, you get it done.

Okay, now how do you track these tasks, these “to do’s”?

The Daily DAD4 are never written down – you just come up with them in your head. But these do need to be written down. I have a worksheet for this if you want, but I was taught differently.

Ready? It’s sticky notes. Like Post-It notes, to use a brand name. It’s the way the Warrior Group for men do it, and how other action-oriented accountability groups do it. Because it works. Because when you’re done, you crumple. It’s an action.

So for each week, you’ll have 8 sticky notes, each one with your “to do” for that week. If you want to be thrifty, you can write two per note, but I suggest going hog wild and using the full 8… only because it’s SO satisfying to crumple that note when you’re done. And that’s why it works. Instead of a long list of “to do’s” where you cross things off, and more get added and it feels like it’s never ending, you simply have a note for each task, and you crumple it up when done – vanished. Poof.

Stick them on your desk, on the wall, wherever. It doesn’t matter. I have one of those desks where the slab of wood slides out like a drawer, except it’s not a drawer. It’s like a chopping board. I guess it’s for giving you extra space or something. Anyway, when I started doing this system years ago, I stuck them there, then pushed the slab of wood in. Oops. Didn’t work so well. Yeah, I forgot about them. So now I have them where they’re staring me in the face, AND, I change the location every so often. You know when you hang a picture and notice it all the time? Then you don’t notice it. Then you take it down and you notice the bare space. We’re funny creatures that way.

When to do the “To Do’s”

It was always suggested to me that you do them first thing in the morning, or at least in the early part of the day. This way, you’re showing yourself that these are an absolute priority.

It’s a good idea, but I felt like I was putting off the critical work I need to do for my clients and my members. Plus, I LIKE doing these tasks, since reaching my goals is exciting. And my Dad always taught me to get my boring but essential work done first, then move to your fun, passionate work. So since I’ll always get to these tasks, it’s really a non-issue. I do them when it works best for me. BUT – if you find that you’re procrastinating and never hitting these tasks, then yes – move them to the morning.

Likewise, I would suggest doing them as early in the WEEK as possible. Again, if you have a lot of time on weekends to hit these things, then fine. But for me, weekends slip away quickly with family, fun and other commitments, so I always try to hit the Weekly DAD4 by end of day Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest.

So there you go. You should now know what to write based on your four Quarterly Goals. Just grab yourself some stickies and go to town!

That’s it for this DAD4 Masterclass, but I have so many dads who started here – right here with this DAD4 masterclass, then they went on and built a crazy successful online business, they kicked their work/life balance into high gear, and they started spending more valuable time with their family. Because what you just learned here is a tiny fraction of what is out there waiting for you.

And as a DAD4 Masterclass attendee, I’m going to give you the best offer I’ve ever given to any Dad anywhere:

The Dad Formula:

Learn the success formulas I used to raise 10 kids… and how you can use the same tricks to 10x your success with one kid. Stop the old way of thinking and join the dads you see that actually have time for their family.

The Dad Hustle:

How to build a successful business from home, make more than you ever could at a day job, and still be a rock star Dad. My goal is to equip you with a proven plan. A plan that makes doing business fun again. A plan that gives you more freedom. The freedom to work with who you want, where you want, while having the time to travel and do all the things you want.

The post The DAD4 Masterclass 4 appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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So we have the DAD4 Daily, DAD4 Weekly and DAD4 Quarterly. Now we’re jumping from Daily, over to Quarterly, and skipping Weekly for now. The reason is, Quarterly are your goals, and you build your Weekly “to do’s” from these goals. So we work in this order.

First. About goals. Every business or self-help book out there focuses really strongly on goals. They lock in on them and don’t let go. In fact, pretty much the entirety of what kids are taught in school as far as success or life skills goes is just GOALS. “Set your goals, then achieve them! You can hit goals if you want to! You’re the only one in the way of achieving your goals! Okay, let’s do algebra now.”

But it’s not so simple. In my Dad Formula lesson on habits, I show you how to optimize for the starting line, instead of optimizing for the goals, which are the finish line. Because while goals are, of course, critical, they’re hugely misused.

It’s because goals have to be SMART. S, M, A, R, T.

That’s:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time Based

Every goal you make needs to have these.

Here’s an example goal, using SMART:

I want to finish a Half Marathon in under 2 hours this coming June at the City Classic Marathon.

versus:

I want to become a professional athlete someday.

Specific: We listed the actual event. Versus the vagueness of “professional athlete”.

Measurable: To finish in under 2 hours.

Attainable: Anyone in decent health absolutely CAN train for a half marathon. Almost no one can really become a professional athlete.

Realistic: Say you’re married with kids. Yes, you can train for a half marathon. No, you can’t just now in your life start training to become a professional athlete. It’s not realistic.

Time Based: This coming June. We set the date, so now it can happen. Versus, “someday”.

This last one is so important, and people really hit this one wrong. Even if they do set a timeframe for the goal, they usually set it way too far out in the future, and when they do, one of two things happen:

• They lose momentum

• Their goals change

Losing momentum. People that set their goals far out end up feeling like they never make progress – because they see so few results. When you limit your goal to just 3 months, you keep the momentum, and you can do it over again with a different goal.

Secondly, their goals change. This is my big one. I used to write out goals all the time – one year, two year, retirement. But my entrepreneurial life takes sharp twists and turns and the goals become null and void. I mean, unless it’s a life goal like making it to Heaven to spend eternity with God, or the fact that I hope I leave my knowledge and gifts to my family behind me… okay, those are life goals. But as far as what I want to achieve in 5 – 10 years financially or in business for example, those things just change, big time.

One last piece of advice on goals before we get into the DAD4 Quarterly Goal instructions is this:  Identify your baseline first – where are you NOW, so you can find out where you want to go.

Remember, like everything else, once you start seeing results, you get inspired and motivated and you improve faster. So for goals, we need to hit a few easy ones fast. It’s like going and cleaning your car, or cleaning your desk. It gives you a little tiny accomplishment and immediate satisfaction. So set a few easy goals, hit them, then grow to some harder ones.

Here’s how.

Each Quarter – that’s every 3 months – You want to hit a goal in each of the DAD4 categories. This works phenomenally well, and the reason it does, is that three months flies by pretty quickly, so this timeframe forces you to keep your goals small and stay on point.

You know the whole bucket list thing? BAD! That’s how most people do goals. “Someday, I’ll…” Forget SOMEday. You want to see improvement in the short term. You probably already do this at your job – quarterly goals are common in the workplace, especially in sales and retail. But people overlook this system in their personal lives – It’ll work as well for you personally as it does for Fortune 500 companies that set their quarterly goals too.

Now remember, these are goals, not “to do’s” or tasks that you need to do.

Let’s look at a few examples, just to give you some ideas.

Faith – Examples might be:

• To read, or listen to, one spiritual or business self help book (or audiobook)

• To do a one day retreat

Family – Examples of goals here could be:

• Take an overnight trip with my wife

• Teach my daughter to play the piano and have her complete book #1

Fitness – Good examples would be:

• To be able to run a mile in under 6 minutes

• Hit 20 miles total per week

• Lose 10 pounds

Finances – Here I’ll use the example of developing your Dad Hustle, and you really should get this blueprint plan and do it! Examples using this and other things would be:

• Build the plan and outline for my membership site and be ready to write content

• Get two modules written and ready to record audio or video

• Cut down my debt by $500

• Consolidate my debt into one loan

• Do an audit of everything I’m spending per month and see if there’s any waste

So there you go. And remember, don’t set them out too far in advance – remember the “T” in SMART. The quarterly goals are where you need to focus, and you can work on those longer life goals later when you have this down and clicking along smoothly.

That leads me into the final part – how to actually find your goals.

You might have several ideas right off the bat, but sometimes you come up short. In fact, some people have absolutely no idea what their goals are. If this happens to you, the best way is to ask the five closest people to you in your life what they think they are for you. Give them the four categories. Tell them what you’re doing. Sometimes they know you better than you know yourself. You’ll be amazed at what you find.

Take some notes here on this page, fill out some comments, and let’s hit the final lesson – the Weekly DAD4.

The post The DAD4 Masterclass 3 appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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Today I’m going to teach you exactly how to use DAD4. Because it’s not just an idea, but a system, and in my Dad Formula and Dad Hustle courses, I don’t just tell you about things – or even teach you how to do things – but I give you the EXACT blueprint to follow.

It’s the only way.

Like I told you earlier, I took this system and finessed it for myself when I was struggling with too much chaos and garbage in my life. Not enough time… being frazzled.

Let’s recap:

The DAD4 are the key areas in your life where you’re going to always be working.

They are:

Faith

Family

Fitness

Finances

Now, this sounds pretty vanilla and plain at this point. I just gave you four areas to work with. But it’s HOW you do it. I’m overlaying processes on top of categories and finding the sweet spots that build habits. It’s really powerful.

Ready for the plan? Here goes.

We’re splitting this up into 3 sets of actions.

Daily Tasks

Weekly Tasks

Quarterly Goals

Each one is worked in a different process. It’s not just about overlaying the four areas onto the timeframes. I’ll get to some really interesting specifics on this in the next two lessons – over the next two days.

I’ll run through each one.

Daily Tasks – This is the Daily DAD4.

These are 4 simple things you do every day. They’re small. They can be miniscule. But they should be mostly unplanned and spur of the moment. Each of these four things will fit into one of the DAD4 categories.

For example:

Do one thing each day to build your Faith – your mind. If you’re spiritual, stop for 2 minutes to speak to God. Pull up something on the internet to learn, to better yourself, so that when you speak to your kids at dinner you can tell them something cool. Sit for 5 minutes and think of something that inspires you – an exciting plan for the future maybe. Read a page in a book before falling asleep – something that inspires you or teaches you. I love to read Walden Pond or a Sand County Almanac when the weather is bleak and I’m starting to miss the warmer weather. This task could also be just sitting in the sunshine for a few minutes and letting yourself recharge – just taking a break from work. It doesn’t have to be about learning, it can be more in the area of “me” time. Then the next day, maybe bring it back to something that’s more learning or Faith oriented.

Next, do one thing each day to build your Family – your relationships. I have 10 kids, so I try to single out one each day to say something nice to. Hopefully I’m doing it more often than that, but this helps me at least keep the bare minimum. Do a kind act for your wife – help her out with something you don’t normally do. Say something encouraging to a friend or coworker. You can even extend this to strangers, by saying something nice to someone working the checkout in a store. Like – “You really have a nice smile. I appreciate you doing that. It really made my day.” When you start to do one of these things each day, before long, you’ll be doing it easily ten times per day without even trying!

Do one thing each day to build your Fitness – your body. Now, many of you already have healthy habits that you do daily – drinking a healthy smoothie, hitting the gym, going for a run. But I’m talking about one extra small thing. This could be getting down and pounding out a measly 10 pushups. This could be getting up from your desk and taking a 2 minute walk. This could also be something fun that you enjoy – calling up the guys to shoot some hoops, or running around the yard with your kids.

Do one thing each day to build your Finances – your business. This is NOT your day job or anything related to it. This is something on the side, a venture or just a small way to earn some extra cash. This is also about working on your finances – not paying your bills, but working towards your future or retirement. Setting life goals fits into this area too.

Now, my members use this time to work on the Dad Hustle – they pick one thing to hit for that day. What’s the Dad Hustle? It’s a proven plan for stay at home dads, or work from home dads, or working dads to quickly launch a successful online business. So this is where they may do something as simple as watching one of my videos. Or map out some ideas for their online business. Research the competitors. Sit and think, plan, dream. These are small things. When I was building out the Dad Formula and the Dad Hustle courses, I wrote one lesson each day. Or… as another example, when my business was small and I didn’t have much help, I would get behind on the tedious task of sending out invoices to my clients for the work I had done. So I’d send out an invoice each day until I was caught back up. It really helped keep the money flowing, and it was just one per day.

So start thinking of things in each of these categories, and pretty soon you’ll have 20-30 solid ideas. Use the guide on this page to help you get started.

But the key here is to never write these ideas down – they should be done when the moment hits you.

And add it up – if you do 4 small tasks each day that you didn’t normally do before, that’s 4 times 365 = 1,460 new things each year! And this is only the daily part – wait until we get to the weekly and quarterly actions!

There’s also another point I want to make about the Daily DAD4. Too many people fall into the trap of, “Okay, I can skip one of these areas because I’m already doing that.” For example, if you’re already going to the gym, then you don’t need to do one thing each day for Fitness.

WRONG – this is about mindfulness. The reason we do these extra small things is to train ourselves to be aware that we are doing them, that we are doing something extra. How pleased is your wife when you’re a decent, solid husband to her all the time. She’s pleased. But how pleased is your wife when you do something extra? She’s on fire! How pleased is God when you attend church regularly. Pleased. But how pleased is God when you take some time to talk to Him? You’re really ultimately doing these things for yourself – so go the extra mile and add these 4 extra things on each day.

Okay, let’s get negative here. Sometimes – often actually – you’re not going to hit these things. Life gets in the way, you get tired, you’re sick, whatever. It’s okay.

I have a lesson in The Dad Formula called Dad Hacks, where I go into productivity days in more detail, but for now I’ll cover it in light of the DAD4. Some days you just don’t get it done. I call these “Drifting Days”. You’re a Driftin’ Dad.

That’s okay. Life happens. It’s better to focus on the things that need your immediate attention – your job, your kids, a medical emergency…. than to focus on the extras. The Daily DAD4 isn’t essential, but it WILL get you on track to building a better, more meaningful, and more productive life.

The key is to get back to the Daily DAD4 as soon as you can.

Got it? Okay, in the next lesson, we’re going to look at your Weekly DAD4.

The post The DAD4 Masterclass 2 appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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Did you notice the little “D4” in the Dad Formula logo at the top of each web page? It’s there for a reason.

It’s the DAD4, and the “4” stands for something. Four things actually.

I’ll tell you a quick story. I’ve hit some rock bottom parts in my business. Days where I couldn’t even stand to pull into the parking lot at work. I pulled in, then pulled out and drove away so many days, because I couldn’t face my employees with their problems and issues and questions. Because the truth was, my personal life was no better, and I was battling my own demons.

One day, years ago, I was talking to my older brother and really unloading on him, and he said, “Listen, let’s schedule a time where we have an hour, and I’ll give you a really good plan. It’s changed my life.” I was really desperate, so I said, “Yeah, okay.” You know, it’s sort of hard to take advice from your bro, but I needed it. Bad.

So it turns out that my brother had taken some basic principles that he had learned, and he developed these out more deeply.

Next, I tried it, and it worked incredibly well. And over a few years, I perfected it into a system that would work insanely well for busy Dads. I added things that I saw that really needed to be added, and at the same time I streamlined the process so it would be incredibly easy to learn, implement and stick with.

So when I perfected it, I named it. That’s where DAD4 came in. So you need to understand that what you’ll learn has been passed through – and massaged by – some really smart people.

So let’s review: On the page where you signed up for this course, I told you that DAD4 is the daily structure I use to get things done, eliminate chaos, and have a clear path to my goals.

That’s right.

DAD4 is the exact tool I used to go from that bottom of the barrel time of my life, to building a business with national exposure, win awards, open a restaurant and free up time to go skiing one weekday per week… all in ONE year.

DAD4 is the tool that took me from pissed off and frustrated to smiling non-stop.

Because chaos is the enemy of good health, a profitable business, deep and connected relationships, and a clear mind. Chaos produces shitty results.

Right, guys?

But DAD4 is CLARITY.

DAD4 is POWER.

DAD4 is literally the source and foundation of everything for me.

Every single day, every action you and I take, every experience you and I have, falls into one of 4 categories. Everything we do and experience involves our body, our relationships, our mind, and by extension our business. It is all directly connected to DAD4.

EVERYTHING.

There is nothing that happens in my day that does not fit into DAD4. There is nothing I could create that fits outside of DAD4.

SO, WHAT THE HECK IS DAD4? Okay. I gave you a hint just a second ago.

DAD4 is simply this:

  Faith

+ Family

+ Fitness

+ Finances

And that

= Fulfillment

Sounds basic, but it’s how you put it all together that makes it magic. I’ll show you how to do this in detail in the next lessons. But first, let’s understand what’s going on.

When we talk about DAD4, we are talking about each of these areas in their entirety. Everything that happens each day comes from – or is related to – one (or all) of these things.

• Your MIND

• Your RELATIONSHIPS

• Your BODY

• Your BUSINESS

Let’s drill down.

In the DAD4, Faith is your MIND, Family is your RELATIONSHIPS, Fitness is your BODY, and Finances is your BUSINESS.

Faith is your MIND

This means improving your mental awareness, your presence and your spirituality. Loving God stronger. Having more faith in yourself. Training yourself to constantly fill your mind with positive thoughts and valuable and useful knowledge.

Family is your RELATIONSHIPS

The Relationship with your kids, your wife, your friends, the people that you may not even like, but you need to keep a relationship with.

Fitness is your BODY

Your health, your activities, how you stay in shape and how you take care of yourself.

Finances is your BUSINESS.

This could also be your day job if you have one, but in this case, we’re going to focus “Finances” on your business – the new business you’re going to start. Okay, wait… WHAT? I’m starting a new business? Yes you are. This is critical. If you’re a stay at home Dad, a work from home Dad, or a working Dad, and you’re having trouble making ends meet, you have low self esteem, and you’re burned out, the solution is to build what we call a Side Hustle, and I’ll walk you through every single step.

Right now, I’m giving you the complete blueprint for this side hustle free – I call it The Dad Hustle. It’s included absolutely free with the Dad Formula online course, and it’s the most comprehensive, yet simple and streamlined online business building course that exists. Combine that with the Dad Formula to kick your work/life balance into play, and you just opened the most amazing chapter of your life.

Click here to get it: https://dadformula.com/dadformula

Okay, so finances and the Side Hustle.  By the way, if you’ve already got an online business up and running, then all the better – you’ll be able to jump right in on the Dad Hustle course and start applying amazing new ideas instantly.

But back to the DAD4, which is why we’re here. And we’re on Finances.

Finances is also more than just your business – It’s your income in general, how you manage your money, and finally your goals of financial security and success.

Okay?

So when you add up the DAD4, you get a result:

And that’s Fulfillment.

Fulfillment as a Dad. Because you’ll not only feel good about yourself and also make more money, but you’ll have the time to experience real freedom. Freedom to go out and have fun, share great experiences, and of course, give back some of this recaptured time to others around you by helping them.

Just a fun side note here – Some people ask me why the DAD4, or D4, has words that start with “F”. Why not “D” words, they say? Well, it’s funny, when I started re-building this system for myself all those years ago, I wasn’t even planning on having them start with the same letter. I had these four things I did that my brother had given me, and when I put them to paper, the four words that came out were Faith, Family, Fitness and Finances. It just happened. So I considered calling them the “Father4”, but that’s just awkward. I like DAD4 and the Dad Formula, because “Dad” as a word, is just more casual and laid back – and that’s what we are here.

Okay, little tangent there. Back to DAD4.

So everything that happens, every day, falls into one of these four areas.

  Faith

+ Family

+ Fitness

+ Finances

Everything you want to create or do fits within one of these four areas. Every goal you will ever set… inside DAD4.

Every dream you ever have, fits inside DAD4.

Everything from the kid’s soccer game to loving your wife applies to DAD4.

Every aspect of your life IS DAD4.

And that, my friend, equals Fulfillment.

So here’s what I want you to do. Fill in the notes section here on this page, and leave a comment below on your thoughts.

Then let’s get into the first REAL lesson! You ready?

The post The DAD4 Masterclass 1 appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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This is a lesson taken from our Dad Hustle online program and brought to you here on the Dad Formula Podcast each Thursday.

Growth really starts with a mindset.

People get excited because they start up a membership, they have members and – yeah, it’s exciting. You’re a success, you’re making money, now you can really make it grow.

But the things you did the whole way to get to this point might actually hurt you with regards to scaling. You did everything yourself, you worked hard. But doing everything yourself as you grow will block you from growth. So many membership site owners have a fear of delegating tasks to other people because they believe that the whole membership is directly tied to them. It’s their brainchild, and if they remove themselves it will fail. But that’s just pride.

And that’s a major mistake when it comes to scaling: Keeping the same processes you’ve been using. You have to change as you grow.

A second mistake is that membership site owners often think that they can just duplicate the model again. You just repeat the same process over again with a new product and new content.

But repeating the exact same process just starts you back at zero again. Sure, you learned how to do it, so the second time it’s obviously going to be faster… but – you’re still reinventing with a new product.

Instead, the way to do it is to use leverage, and a great way to do this is by developing a spinoff product. So, don’t think of what the next product you can create is, instead think of ways you can repackage your existing product.

Think of what you can leverage from what you already have:

You already have a product.

So don’t start over.

This process is exactly what scaling is all about – the process where you leverage, not where you start over.

Because you did a ton of work to get where you are now – this is assuming you are at the point where you’ve got a successful membership up and running.

So now it’s time to work smarter, not harder. You did the hard part already. You hustled your butt off. Now let’s spin, leverage, scale and work smarter. Got it?

In business and especially in the workforce, 99% of people think that if they want to make more money, they have to work more hours or work harder, and… Yeah, they do make a LITTLE more money. But the people that are making a LOT more are the ones that work smarter.

*** Growth is not proportionate to effort.

We only have so much time in the day, and so much muscle power or brain power before we collapse. We just can’t keep going and going.

So start to think: Am I ready to scale this? Do I have the beliefs to really do it, or are my beliefs limited? Am I ready to build a business that serves my life and to spend more time with my wife and kids?

You HAVE to have that mindeset if you really want to scale, otherwise you’ll be blocked every step of the way. Believe me – I’ve been there.

Also recognize that growth happens in stages. So I’ll show you how to do the right things in the right stages, because if you do them out of order? Bad things happen.

One thing is to start attracting the right people and let them put the right processes in place so that it grows beyond you. I’ll cover this in a minute.

But really, the first step is to have a vision that’s bigger than you.

Now, the vision can’t be too grand. You really need to keep it simple. The mindset and the drive needs to be huge, sure – unlimited really, but… keep the vision simple and doable.

Quick story here on vision and mindset. A friend of mine was working with a business coach, and the coach asked him what his vision was for the future. Where he wanted to be in ten years. My friend told the coach that he enjoyed a vacation once on a small Carribean island and  he’d like to be able to someday buy a vacation house on that island to spend time at with his wife. The business coach said, “Why not buy the whole island?”

Get it? Set your sights big, but also make sure it’s still simple and it’s a clear vision. But especially get into that mindset where you really BELIEVE that you can, and will, buy the whole island.

So for the vision, there are two things you should write down and these will guide your vision:

Income: How many members do you want per month at what price?

Impact: How much change do you want your membership to make?

Income is what you want to improve your life and free up more time, and impact is what you will do to help others and make yourself more fulfilled.

Get it? Okay, let’s jump back to talking about your team.

You have to hire right. When people hire their first employee, they typically get a low level, low cost person – probably a teenager. They do your busy work because they have low ability. So what happens as you grow? That person can’t scale with you, so you need to keep hiring better and better, and trying to get rid of the lesser quality team you stuck yourself with at the start.

A good rule of thumb when hiring your first employee is to think, “Could this person be my CEO someday?” If the answer is no, then this person can’t scale with you as you grow. As you hire more and more people, only THEN do you fill in the lower level jobs. But the first person you hire should almost be the equivalent of you, but with some additional complimentary skills.

After you hire, you should be moving 80% of your OWN activities to things that directly generate revenue. So for a membership site this means getting new members in and keeping existing members happy.

It does not mean creating content! You can, but your time is best served when it’s working directly with current revenue generating activities.

So a quick recap on Scaling:

Scaling and growth is not proportionate to effort.

Have a clear vision. It can be big, but keep it simple.

Hire the absolute best people you can find.

Spend 80% or more of your time on revenue generating activities.

The post Build Your Growth Mindset appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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Some guys have the inner world figured out and some don’t.

The ones who’s inner world is ready to collapse but on the outside they seem to hustle and they seem to have it all together are called “Driven”. You know the guys.

But the ones with true inner peace and calm are called “Focused”. They hustle, but they have meaning, purpose. We covered that in the last lesson.

So, Driven and Focused. There’s a big difference between the two, even though they may seem almost the same on the outside.

A driven person is always busy, and they are most often gratified only by accomplishment. They can’t find happiness in the simple, joyful things, because their happiness comes only from the accomplishment of a task, and increases when they’re looked at with esteem – when they get a pat on the back or a compliment.

A focused person is also gratified by accomplishment, but they’re happy when they succeed because they know that this accomplishment allowed them to live a better life. In other words, this accomplishment was just a tool. It wasn’t the accomplishment itself that gave them happiness, it was just that their good hustle allowed them to free up more time with family, to make more money to enjoy life with, or to help others. See the difference?

A driven person runs themselves into the ground.

A focused person knows how to use and manage energy when they’re busy or under stress. Look at the guys who win the Tour de France. Why are they usually in their 30’s and not their 20’s? They’re not the fastest or strongest, but they have learned energy management. And that just takes maturity.

A driven person with busyness is usually caught up in the uncontrolled pursuit of more. Nothing is ever enough.

A focused person with hustle knows when they have what they need, and they can sit back and appreciate it, enjoy it.

A driven person tends to have low integrity. Not that they’re necessarily a cheater and a liar, that’s not my point. But they tend to have low integrity with themselves and others. They don’t show up when they need to be counted on, they disregard others’ feelings, and basically think of themselves as more important because they’re busier. And they tell everyone how busy they are.

A focused person has high integrity. They can be counted on at all times. They hustle, but they know when to stop and help others, or spend time with family –  because they know it’s more important than being busy.

A driven person does not typically improve their people skills. They may have the gift of gab, but they easily blow it as soon as they have a one-on-one conversation or speak about something from the heart – something other than their work or accomplishments.

A focused person thinks of others. They listen when people speak to them, and they respond seriously with thought and care. They’re not thinking of what they’re going to say next when someone else is speaking.

A driven person tends to be highly competitive with others. They get uncomfortable when someone else discusses their own achievements because it may overshadow theirs.

A focused person is competitive with themselves.

A driven person is a “self development jackass”. I love that one. A driven person will soak up self help books, courses, podcasts… but never do anything with them. It’s all to justify that they’re learning. But they’re not implementing. It’s just busyness.

A focused person researches what knowledge will work best for them, they consume the knowledge, then they immediately take action and hustle. I hope you do too!

A driven person often possesses a volcanic force of anger. I grew up in a very driven family, and my father, my brothers and I all have this problem. Some of us will go so far as to agree that we’re okay with something just to avoid confrontation, then later blow our tops about that very same thing when pushed to the point of exasperation. Be very careful about this, especially for you Dads with kids. The inconsistency will crush them.

A focused person shows normal justified anger, kept under control, when the situation calls for it.

A driven person is usually abnormally busy, is averse to play, and usually avoids spiritual worship.

A focused person hustles, works hard, but knows when to quit. Then they play hard, and they always have time for their spiritual life.

—————

Okay, lets look at living as a focused Dad and explore the steps we can take to become more focused in how we live rather than driven.

If you want to know which of your friends or coworkers are driven, the signs I gave you above are a good indicator, but you can look even deeper.

A focused person knows exactly who they are, they have an unwavering sense of purpose, and they practice perfect commitment. I can only name a few Dads I know that are like that in the married life. Otherwise, they’re all monks, living in a monastery. No really, it’s true. Catholic monks are pretty amazing. They live this life to a T. Everything in moderation, sharing, with an absolute sense of purpose. If you ever get a chance to visit a monastery, do it.

So let’s go deep. What ere the causes of this busyness – this driven behavior?

We know from the last lesson that to cure it we add meaning, or purpose, to our life and our work. So would a lack of meaning then cause this busy driven behavior? Sort of, but it’s mostly due to CONTROL.

Being overly busy, driven and feeling overwhelmed and stressed out is directly related to a sense of control. As soon as you feel you are losing control over your time, relationships and life, your responsibilities feel like burdens piling up on your shoulders. You then feel anxious you can’t do everything or feel resentful about the expectations people have for you.

In order to become more focused, you need to regain your sense of control. You have to review the choices that led to the overwhelm and the busy, driven behavior.

Make a list of everything you feel you are directly responsible for. Include your work projects, your to-do list at home, and the outcomes you are expected to create in your work, family and social lives. Basically think, “Who would be completely screwed if I got hit by a bus?” To put it bluntly.

Once you create this list, complete the following five steps to regain your sense of control and go from driven to focused.

1) Be clear on why you are doing what you do.

We talked about this with meaning, and it’s going to be the same thing here. The greatest organizing factor of your life is to be able to answer the question, “For what purpose am I doing this?”

Did you say “yes” to a task because you didn’t want to disappoint someone or you were afraid to say no? These tasks will drain your energy.

Instead, look at tasks that energize and ones where the results make you smile. These tasks add up to your personal “why.”

You will probably find that your enjoyable tasks are generally focused on your family, or making something happen for the greater good. Or they may be focused on assisting others to realize their potential or to help them make a difference, in changing what is not working now for them.

Your most motivating “why” can change over time, but determine what most fuels your motivation now. Then before you take on a new responsibility, ask yourself if the task or outcome adds to your personal “why.” Don’t just look at what you want to say “no” to. Be clear about WHY you say “yes” as well.

2) Put limits on your trade-offs.

There will be chores you have to do even though they don’t inspire you or give you any type of meaning. But try making decisions about what you will and will not do before you have a conversation with your boss, friends or wife. Good negotiators prepare before their meetings. They know what they are willing to give up and what their dealbreakers are. They also know how to explain the reasons for the dealbreakers. Then stick with your plan no matter how emotional the plea to distract you. Don’t let the tyranny of the urgent overrule the priority of the important!

3) Ask for help

Busy people have a hard time asking for help – they want to always stay busy and do things themselves. But amazingly, you regain control and focus when you ASK for help. It seems counterintuitive, but if you are overwhelmed and overly busy, you lose more control by doing something yourself than by delegating a task to others – THAT gives you more control.

If you show people you believe in their capabilities, they might surprise you. Help them develop their own mastery and then let them make their own decisions. Coach and mentor them instead of criticizing them. Be patient. Breathe through your irritation. Other people learn from mistakes just as you did.

Again, this is five steps to regain your sense of control and go from driven to focused.

4) Outline your priorities.

Here we are again, but setting your Priorities of the Important is absolutely key.

*** The most successful people in the world are no better at time management than you are. What they ARE better at is managing priorities.

Schedule a five minute “priority-setting” session for yourself every day, even non-workdays. Force yourself to do this before you check your email. Look at your appointments for the day and list out the things you want to complete. Then make a priority list.

The fifth step to regain your sense of control and go from driven to focused:

5) Realize that there are “non-productive” moments that are priceless.

To stay focused, you have to have periods of time where you don’t think about work or problems, and you don’t need to account for every minute of your time.

The more complex a situation, the more you overload your brain. When you occasionally distract yourself with something mindless or a physical activity, you give your unconscious a chance to sort through possible solutions. When you return to your work, you might discover a new solution. You’ll find a whole new focus.

So become more focused instead of driven. Find your hustle instead of just being busy. And spend time with family – your real, true priority.

The post Driven Dads vs Focused Dads appeared first on The Dad Formula.

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This is a lesson taken from our Dad Hustle online program and brought to you here on the Dad Formula Podcast each Thursday.

We covered the different funnel types in an earlier lesson, and now I’ll focus on traffic coming in to your squeeze page and some examples of how to warm the prospect after they opt-in.

The best way to get traffic in to your squeeze page right now is through social media. Sure, there’s plain organic Google searches, but good luck. You have to have a really established website for that.

And when I say traffic, I mean prospects, not customers, because they’re not goign to be customers just yet. This lession and the last one is about list building, and that means we’re building a list of prospects. We’re going to do this slowly and correctly and not just shove a pitch at them to try to make them an overnight customer.

Now, people all the time decide to do social media but have absolutely no plan, and this includes most businesses out there using social media for their marketing. They just throw things at the wall, hoping a few will stick.

Now, if you want to use this shotgun approach, at the very least, you have to be driving traffic. So, say you just post something that’s teaching, learning. And sure, there’s no direct call to action to get a freebie on a squeeze page. But you need to at least LIST the URL for the current squeeze page you’re promoting right now in the post or ad. At least just include it, even if you’re posting something else. Include the squeeze page link in everything you’re doing. Even if it’s just pushing people to your waiting list.

A social media plan isn’t just posting on a schedule, it’s posting in a way that it connects to your funnel, and the front door of your funnel is your squeeze page. At the very, very, VERY least, point them to your website where you probably have an opt-in form. And remember, we’re not talking about a “Join our Email List” Opt-in form. That’s just saying: “Hey, gimme your email address and I’ll… just send you a ton of crap emails.” No! It has to be something they really want – something enticing and valuable and specific.

And speaking of specific. The FB post or ad you create should specifically relate to the page you’re sending them to. Did you know that in Google Ads, Google’s crawler will actually scan the text on the landing page that you’re pointing the ad to, then give you a Relevance Score. The higher the Relevance Score, the more your ad appears. Because they know it’s important to be specific and relevant.

Like corporate branding, where all brand imagery of a company ties tightly together, you need all of the pieces of your funnel to be relevant to each other and focusing on something specific.

People say that general, or broad style, advertising is dead, and social media replaced it because it’s much more targeted. But if you’re not posting in a targeted way on social media then you’re just doing broad style advertising. You’re just splattering junk out there for virtually anyone to see.

Okay? So social media posts or ads always need to have either:

A call to action, or

A request for engagement, like commenting, sharing or liking.

How Facebook Ads work with Funnels

Now, there’s Facebook Posts and there’s Facebook Ads. The Ads are the ones you spend money on, and FB will serve them up in other people’s feeds. Posts only appear to people who are following your page, and maybe friends of friends if the post is really popular.

So when you’re posting, you can always lead them to a squeeze page, and immediately ask them to opt-in for something. Because these people are already following you, so they’re a little warm.

FB Ads, on the other hand, go out to a cold audience. So you don’t want to send cold traffic from an ad directly to an opt-in. You do take them to the squeeze page with an opt-in on the page, but before they see that, they’re given some free content that they were promised in the FB ad – before they give their email.

Does this make sense?

Instead of doing an ad telling them to opt-in for free content, you do an ad, telling them to click and get free content. No email required. You can’t ask a cold prospect to give you something on the first step – whether it’s their money… OR their email address. So you just point the ad to free content, no email required.

*** Let’s recap:

You would NEVER pitch a product to a cold audience.

Well, you should also NEVER pitch an opt-in to a cold audience.

So they click and go to the squeeze page where they get the free download or video… BUT – THERE you have an opt-in below it for MORE advanced (but still totally free) info.

And, if you give them a free download on that first squeeze page, include the squeeze page URL throughout it and keep telling them in the PDF to come back and enter their email for more advanced training. Because a lot of people will just grab the free PDF download and close the browser window and forget where they even were.

Or, if you do a video, you say the URL of the squeeze page right in the video while you’re teaching them the free, valuable content.

You can also use FB retargeting to send a later ad to the exact list of people who already clicked the ad, leading them to an opt-in page relating closely to what the video was. This is very targeted, since you know they already clicked the ad previously. FB has this feature and it works really well.

So let’s think about this for a sec:

1.  You gave for free.

2.  Then you gave in trade for info (their email).

3.  Then you gave for free repeatedly (email sequence).

4.  Then you will FINALLY give your product in trade for money (buy).

vs:

Asking them to buy. NOW! Green. Big. Exclamation. Flashing.

Right??? If you need to make money starting tomorrow, this isn’t the strategy.

But if you want to build long term customers, create a cult following, and build a really big, warm list, then this is how you do it.

Okay, so they enter their email at some point – they opt-in. What next?

Well, after they get added to your list, you start to warm them like we talked about earlier – by giving valuable free content to them a few times in a row, then slightly pitch them. Then repeat. You give, give, give, slightly pitch. ABout every month or two, you will get agressive and Launch. This is where you really pitch them. And when you do, you send them to a sales page that has a pitch and a checkout button, also maybe a sales video.

You repeat this forever, or until the prospect buys or opts-out. It’s how 95% of people sell an online product. It works, but not as good as it coulkd work, and I’ll give you the REAL strategy in a sec. This method I just described is pretty overdone because it’s easy – there’s email or marketing software out there like Mailchimp that lets you do this so incredibly easily. And it’s cranking 24/7, round the clock.

Automated is great, but if you really want to kill it, then you need to be developing new promotions and really working it each month.

Now, if it’s a closed funnel, well then you’re doing two or four big promotions each year, and that’s it. And we have promotions that are specific for closed funnels. Because remember, after you do the launch, you close it. So we need to basically have three promotions: One promotion leading up to the cart opening, that pitches the offer to the people who opt-ed in to the waiting list, then we need a promotion for those who opt-ed in to the waiting list but didn’t buy, then finally one for those who come later, asking them to get on the waiting list.

A closed funnel gets more complicated and confusing to run, but it works better. It’s confusing because there’s so many small parts, but the fact that it has so many small parts makes it work, becasue it compartmentalizes choices and keys in on certain segments of the warm audience.

Okay, so after you launch, you’ll have that waiting list where people can opt-in to be notified of when you are opening the membership again. They just go into the regular list to get pitched the next time around.

But the REALLY important people are the ones who DID opt-in to your waiting list previously, and were pitched, but didn’t buy when the cart opened. The timing just might have been off for them and you might be able to get them again.

This is when we do a flash promotion. A flash promotion basically gives them a second (or even third) chance to buy again, and it’s open for only 24 hours. So they missed the chance, you closed the cart, but they get a chance to buy again. We do this only through email to that list, and you can do this with a special title, like “Preferred Access Group” or something like that. This way, they don’t think you’re just opening it up again for everyone. You give them a new web page url that is basically a sales page that speaks to them directly and has the cart or checkout button on it.

A flash promotion can also be done early to the people that were on the list first. Typically this is done with a discount offer. The cart is closed, but they have access early. And don’t worry, I’m going to show you how to open and close carts later!

So you have a few types of promotions: The monthly promotions that you do each month for the open funnel, the single quick promotion that always runs for the open funnel, and the big promotions for the closed funnel, and before or after that, the quick flash promotions.

In the Launch section, I have a lesson with a lot more details on promotions. I just like giving you the overview first, letting it sink in, then coming back later and hitting it hard.

So promotions are really just big “pushes” that you do. These are common with Closed Funnels, but you can do big pushes with Open Funnels too. But like I said earlier, Open Funnels typically have ads always running, pointing to them.

So now that we did a full overview and walked through the process, let’s jump back to getting traffic to your list through ongoing promotions from Facebook, and this is more suoted to the Open Funnel.

When doing ads, we want to be pointing them to something free, but there’s some different ad types you can do. You can follow this format for posts too. But remember, you’re always sending them somewhere, and that somewhere will have a List Builder opt-in form on it!

I suggest that you do 3 types of FB ads or posts:

Awareness, Content and Authority.

Awareness Ads – These are about you, and they create likeability and trust. You’re not necessarily giving free content, but you’re creating likeability.

Content Ads – These lead directly to your blog post. They teach and give content.

Authority Ads – These show yourself as the authority. They create awareness about your credibility and the page they lead to may include testimonials or stories.

Most of these will just be image ads with text, but also do video Ads in any of the three formats too. The video ad might even just be for fun or a spoof.

So you have the ad. The prospect then clicks it and goes to your page or blog with the content on it that they were promised. They then get an offer for, say “Get the 5 Minute Business Makeover” and then they have to opt-in to watch.

They then opt-in, and get taken to a video that gives them the 5 minute makeover. It delivers the value that they were promised, and you’ve got their email and you can start giving and pitching from there.

But what I like to test is to get agressive right away. At the end of that video (after they opted in), you tell them that they have just 48 hours to get the $7 trial to the Business Hacks Lab. And you have a timer at bottom of the page.

We call this a self liquidating offer.

You send them 4 targeted sales emails for 48 hours – two per day. As soon as they purchase, you stop.

If they don’t purchase, THEN you put them into your regular funnel where you give, give, give, and eventually do the launch where you pitch. The launch will happen every month or two. Or, you use FB Retargeting to send them more ads later on. Or do both retargeting and email.

And when you’re doing the giving emails, you also mix in the ad types as emails too. We’ll cover that in a lesson coming right up, but I’ll introduce it here while it’s fresh.

So you’ll do some awareness emails, then content, then authority. You’re always mixing it up, but as a general rule, as the prospect gets warmer and closer to where you can pitch them, you’ll do less teaching and proving that you’re the authority, and just keep it to more fun and awareness.

See the difference? More giving and proving to a cold list, vs. keeping in touch and news (awareness) to a warm list.

—————–

Before we end, I want to share with you one really great traffic building strategy we use all the time that doesn’t include any paid ads, and it does a lot of great things all at the same time. It will build your email list, and it will keep the people already on your list warm. It’s the basic strategy I give to absolutely every single perseon I ever work with, because it’s cheap, and so comprehensive.

We call it the vlog Method. A vlog is just a blog made up of videos instead of posts.

1.) Create an engaging video of you – teaching, whatever

2.) Post it on Youtube

Link to your website vlog post from the YouTube description

Ask them to subscribe to your YouTube channel – you can use YouTubes “cards” feature for this.

3.) Post the Youtube link on FB

Note: Other times you can do a direct FB upload, but not here, because

Youtube posts get more clickthroughs, while direct uploads get more engagement

Link to your website vlog here too in the post description, plus the clickable link automatically goes to Youtube

4.) Create the vlog post on your website vlog

Embed the Youtube video here. It will link to Youtube (because it’s embedded)

Include two opt-ins:

Subscribe to the youtube channel

AND

Subscribe your your vlog (just an email list)

5.) Create an audio version of the video

Add that to the vlog post too

Add that as an episode on your Podcast (you should have a podcast)

Link that back to your vlog or a squeeze page

6.) Send out an email to your list that says there’s a new video available and link to the vlog post

So in that whole process, we have one video that generates content across 4 platforms, has 5 links in multiple directions, 2 opt-in forms and 1 email.

And THAT, my friend is the million dollar vlog method, right there!

Take a breather after this crazy one, then on to the next lesson!

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There’s this story of Will Smith, where he goes skydiving. He gets up there and he’s just scared to death. And he tells this story abut what happened when he was up there. So the guy that’s jumping with him tells him that they’re jumping on three. “Ready? One… and the guy jumps out with him. He made him go on two, not three.

Well, it’s like that with everything – before you go on stage, before an important meeting, before you make a big life decision, before you become a Dad. There’s really never a good time, you just have to break from the comfort zone and do it!

We’re so addicted to the past – to comfort – to the way we’ve done it. Becasue we don’t like it when we don’t know what the outcome will be.

As we get older, it’s harder to break from the comfort zone, but that’s when we need to the most – in our 30’s, then more in our 40’s, then even more in our 50’s. To break from the comfort zone.

You see, that’s the whole issue with these mid life crises that you see – it’s a thunderstorm happening – cold and hot air. Your wants are getting stronger, but your energy levels are lowered – your testosterone is down.

You think, “I want it, but…  I don’t want to do it. Because I’m comfortable.” So it’s a battle we’re fighting inside us.

Being worn out physically, but wanting more emotionally or mentally.

A CEO I was talking to recently, sits in my office and says: “You know Tom, my default is just staying in bed. I’m thinking of selling everything and just moving into a one bedroom apartment.”

This is so common with guys. Less so with women. Guys hit this point where they’ve busted their butts, then when they get a chance to just BREATHE, but they’re freakin’ tired. You swam out to the middle of the lake, but now you’re too tired to enjoy it – you just gotta sorta half-swim back!

And it’s not just middle aged guys this happens to. It’s more common, sure, but it happens at any age. It’s REALLY common after an exciting life change, typically an achievement. Something where you say, “I DID IT!” Like your dream job, your new house, a baby… Right Dads? But then you go, ”what’s next?” and your energy is deflated because you worked so hard to get there.

So here’s how you fix this:

Two ways – First, mindset.

Get out of that rut where you feel that you hit a wall – that this is it. Especially when you’re older with those lower energy levels. You have to believe that there really is more to achieve, because the truth is, there will ALWAYS be more to achieve. But, do set your sights a little lower for the next go round, okay?

When we had each baby, of the ten kids, each birth was less exciting, which is to be expected. But I put myself into the mindset of enjoying each one more, and I did. Not the birth itself which is brutal all the way around, but the time after. The first few days. The first babies were an exciting but stressful, scary experience. The later ones were just wonderful. It’s a different mindset.

Don’t be afraid of feeling contented. SO many guys are scared to death of that because they think, “Hey, I’m happy. I’m really content… OH CRAP! Is my drive gone??? Is my hustle gone? Well, no, it isn’t.

*** And in fact, being more content actually puts you in a position where you CAN accomplish more if you want to.

People think that success is driven by fear. “Burn the ships! We HAVE to make this business work!”  Wrong. No, fear is only what motivates people to ACT. Big difference. What makes people succeed is being content, because then you’re operating from a place of healthy hustle, not toxic busyness fueled by fear. As long as you can motivate yourself to act while you’re content, you’ll be a success.

Here’s the second way you solve being worn out physically, but wanting more emotionally or mentally. Second, and this is the most important thing. When you’re hitting that thunderstorm – where your wants are conflicting with your energy levels…

********  If you don’t deal with life proactively, life is going to deal with it for you.

I’ll repeat that:

If you don’t deal with life proactively, life is going to deal with it for you.

Life has a way of doing that. If you’re unhappy, stressed, have anxiety, depressed… then…. you get sick. You mess up your marriage. You get fired from your job.

You need to make your own decisions before life does it for you.

So when you’re worn out physically, but wanting more emotionally or mentally, you have to find ways to deal with it, and my solution in #1 above will help you. That was: lowering your expectations, getting into the right mindset just knowing and believing that there are SO many exciting opportunities and adventures out there in life that you can do as a Dad.

This is what I want to give you for your takeaway today. Hit decisions head on. Make the decision to do it. And deal with life proactively and you’ll keep those thunder clouds away!

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