See how Ari, Corben, Dillon, Jessica, & Bianca Get Some Help
See how Ari, Corben, Dillon, Jessica, & Bianca Get Some Help
Dane:
Hey guys, and welcome to season three, Start From Zero. Thumbs up, let's do this.
Dane:
You're about to watch multiple people at a time get coached on how to start a business from zero. Some people need emotional support. They're overwhelmed, and they've had past failures. Some need strategy. They're beating their head against the wall. Some need tactics. They want to know what to say or do.
Dane:
These episodes are unique. They're vulnerable. They're weird. Many times, people come to me with a question, but they need something entirely different. In these episodes, you'll see me combine my 15 or so years of business experience with a little intuition and mindset training to help shape these folks into powerful and confident entrepreneurs.
Dane:
Now, we've had 15 millionaire students and counting, so we know this stuff works. Now, make sure you're sending these folks love while you listen, because that stuff matters. We're becoming more sensitive as a society, and we can feel these things even if we don't know it. Let's get to the episode.
Dane:
So in this episode, we're talking to Ari, Corben, Dillon, Jessica, and Bianca. Bianca, let's start with you very briefly, what is your big goal for this call?
Bianca:
My big goal for this call is to figure out how to get unstuck from procrastination and indecision and basically inaction.
Dane:
Okay, wonderful. And how about Jessica?
Jessica:
Yes, similar things, but it's more about monetizing, and how to use sales funnels, and how to set up everything that's holding me back.
Dane:
So let's get real clear. Because you're going to get exactly what you want, so if you're unclear on the goal, we'll probably have an unclear outcome for you. What would you say, if you were being really selfish, you have permission to be selfish, what would your selfish goal for this call be?
Jessica:
I guess to have the clarity on how to use sale tactics to monetize my business.
Dane:
Perfect. That's so wonderfully clear. Thank you. How about Dillon? What's up, man? What's your goal?
Dillon:
I have a concept, a product I'm trying to bring to market. I don't have it fully built yet. So my goal is to figure out at what point can I start charging, and how can I start to monetize this concept?
Dane:
Okay, wonderful. And then Corben, how about you, man?
Corben:
If I was getting really selfish, like you mentioned, I'd say my biggest goal would be once I come up with a concept or idea, which I'm constantly doing, how to understand that it's going to be one that I'm motivated with, and one that's going to be worth pursuing, and then get something launched, soon.
Dane:
Great goal. And then Ari, how about you, man?
Ari:
So I have this business that I'm the owner of, since about 12 years ago. We simply have to about more or less double our sales for me to hit my big rock, in a nutshell, I mean, to make what's complicated simple. So I'm just trying to find a lot of clarity there. I'd say if I had to boil it down to one thing, I feel like one big element here is having a really killer guarantee and USP to help get us in that direction. So it's not necessarily a complete answer to get us there, but I think it's an important element to get us in the right direction.
Dane:
Yeah, let's start with you. So, can you give me the Dominos' "hot fresh pizza in 30 minutes or it's free" equivalent for your business?
Ari:
Well, it might be something like "the most outstanding result for your event guaranteed, or your money back" or it would be like "the freshest DJ experience guaranteed, or your money back."
Dane:
I gave you a hard task, by the way.
Ari:
Yeah, I appreciate it. That's what I'm here for.
Dane:
Hey, man, just give me a USP that made a billion-dollar company, okay?
Ari:
Yeah.
Dane:
So Dominos became a billion-dollar company with those words. "Hot fresh pizza in 30 minutes or it's free." So hot fresh pizza is what a customer wants, and 30 minutes is the period of time they'd want it in, and "or it's free" is addressing the objections. So, really smart realtors caught onto this, and they're like, "Your home's sold in 90 days or I'll buy it." And all these realtors just started taking off. And of course they have stipulations, "Well, it's got to be at the price that I tell you." So hot fresh pizza is what the customer wants. Who is your customer?
Ari:
Well, right now our main niche that we're serving is brides and grooms. They're doing weddings. I mean, ultimately, we'll want to be doing more corporate, more different types of events, split up the company, different offerings, different websites, but right now if we can just hit it out of the ballpark with this one specific niche, we're going to be in great position. We're not that far away from it, so it's [crosstalk 00:04:52] ...
Dane:
Good [crosstalk 00:04:52].
Ari:
Brides and grooms, they're very educated, but they're [crosstalk 00:04:54] ...
Dane:
So pause. Thank you. Let's settle down. Let's settle into your belly for a moment, let's have everybody settle into their belly. So let's all take a breath together. And Ari, let's just get clear, let's see if this works for you. Just say out loud, "I want to be successful."
Ari:
I want to be successful.
Dane:
And let's see if we can just get permission for that idea to land. Try it again.
Ari:
I want to be successful.
Dane:
There you go. How's your heart doing as you say that?
Ari:
Starting to feel a little bit more coming from the heart rather than just saying a bunch of words.
Dane:
Yeah. It's a beautiful desire, man.
Ari:
Yeah, yeah.
Dane:
I want to be successful.
Ari:
I want to be successful.
Dane:
And then relax your throat. See if you can loosen your jaw, and just settle in. You could have men or women, they're just flailing around for years and you say, "Well, can you just sit with 'I want to be successful' and let that sit for awhile?" Let's look at any sabotagers. Let's just try. "I hate being successful."
Ari:
I hate being successful.
Dane:
Do any parts of your body resonate with that as being true?
Ari:
It felt like there was some truth to it when I said it. I didn't think that it was going to feel that way when I said it, but it felt, actually, a little bit more natural thing than when I said, "I want to be successful."
Dane:
Yeah. We're just exploring your unconscious, man. And the unconscious is irrational but it's real. We want to love our unconscious by speaking our unconscious.
Ari:
Yes.
Dane:
What's the worst thing in your unconscious that you can sense or feel right now that you might just have a chance to give language to? It's all an experiment, no pressure.
Ari:
I'm not smart enough.
Dane:
Will you put your hands on your head for me?
Ari:
Yeah.
Dane:
And let your hands be gentle on your head. And let that phrase come out of your mouth again with your hands on your head.
Ari:
I'm not smart enough.
Dane:
See if you can get any tears with it.
Ari:
I might be out of tears. I was crying this morning, Dane, but I'll do my best.
Dane:
Well, we never need to force anything. Especially a customer to buy something.
Ari:
Yeah, of course.
Dane:
So, "I'm not smart enough." Is that right, that what you said?
Ari:
I'm not smart enough.
Dane:
Relax your jaw and throat. I mean, I can resonate with that one, man.
Ari:
Yeah.
Dane:
Thank god you don't have to be intelligent to go work hard. Intelligence is important, there's a big difference, but.
Ari:
Yeah.
Dane:
So Ari, just try and say this. "I've said out loud the worst possible thing."
Ari:
I've said out loud the worst possible thing.
Dane:
Does that seem true?
Ari:
Not necessarily. I don't think I necessarily hit the nail on the head with that. There might be something that-
Dane:
So let's look for the nail.
Ari:
Sure, yeah.
Dane:
Let's settle into the nail. So you've got a hammer, but it's a gentle hammer and the hammer are your words. And you're looking for the head of the nail.
Ari:
Well, I think what it might be, Dane, is that I'm in an endless cycle of failing, of falling on my ass.
Dane:
I'm with you bro. I'm right here. Not moving, I'm right by you. I've got you.
Ari:
Thank you, Dane.
Dane:
Yeah. We're in this together, man. I'm right here. Gentle breath. Take another one. Let's just settle here. So much respect for you right now.
Ari:
Thank you.
Dane:
I had a gentleman the other day, he told me, he was like, "You know, I don't really feel very confident." And I was like, "You know, I don't think I'd have the confidence to say that." I ain't got to tell no one I'm not confident. That's real confidence. It's not, so don't make a mistake. Can we settle in to that sentence one more time? Can you let it come out more one time for me?
Ari:
Yeah. I'm in a constant cycle of failing and of just falling on my ass over and over again.
Dane:
Great. You see how there's just a little less charge to it now?
Ari:
Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Dane:
So now it's just in a little bit more of an objective statement we can look at. So in the heart of that sentence, there's a self-sabotaging behavior likely. And it might be that you actually hate... Part of you hates success.
Ari:
That could be, probably, yeah.
Dane:
Might be something else though. So it could be something very different.
Dane:
If you'd like to get a free one-on-one with me and be on this show, you can find out details at Startfromzero.com/podcast.
Dane:
So "I'm in a constant cycle of failing and falling on my ass."
Ari:
I'm in a constant cycle of failing and falling on my ass.
Dane:
Now, there's something that's happening when you're in the cycle, when you're pursuing something, and it's like a gentle bird whispering to you the whole time, that if you listen to, you'd see success. But there is likely something that you're ignoring every time. And it gets louder and you keep ignoring it, and then you just end up failing again. But if this were true, and if that bird was there and it's right in front of your face, it's like, "Yo Ari, Ari. Don't forget this. Ari. Check this out over here."
Dane:
And you're like, "No, no." And then before you know it, you've quote, "failed again," and quote, "fallen on your ass again." Do you have a sense of what that bird, what that gentle thing that's right in front of you the whole time that you're ignoring, that ends up resulting in failures? Is it, "You're moving too fast to slow down or really take in the details required"?
Ari:
Well yeah, several things already came into my mind. I feel like the bird has a list of things, but I could maybe try to boil it down to one [crosstalk 00:11:20] ...
Dane:
No, no, I'd like to hear it. You don't need to make any sense. What's the bird say?
Ari:
It's, "Slow down, keep it light. Balance your personal life and business life. You don't need to neglect your personal life. You don't need to suffer. You don't need to be in pain. You can enjoy the journey even before you've proved yourself." And, "Zoom out. See it from the bird's eye. Don't always just be seeing it from the mud."
Dane:
Would you say you're unusually hard on yourself? Or do you feel more kind to yourself?
Ari:
Consciously I'm kind to myself, but I think-
Dane:
Yeah, that's [crosstalk 00:11:53] ...
Ari:
Yeah.
Dane:
So slow down. That's, in my opinion, I think is probably all you need to do is just slow down.
Ari:
That sounds great.
Dane:
What's right in front of you will appear. Because there are things that, depending on your belief systems, that you're created to do. There are things that you are innately gifted at, there are things that are put on your plate to eat, to do. And those are the things that are right in front of you that I can't see, that no one else can see, and that no one will ever see, unless you slow down.
Ari:
Yeah, agreed.
Dane:
Now slowing down is not easy sometimes. And other times it is. And the reason that it's difficult for most is because we start to feel things when we slow down. So as you slow down and just stay with brides and grooms and you just slow down there from that place. I'm going to give you an assignment, I'm going to move to the next person. I'm going to come back to you, but from a place of slowing down, what is a way that you can make doubling your company inevitable while slowing down? And thank you, wonderful job. So Bianca, let's move to you next.
Bianca:
Hi.
Dane:
Hello. So you mentioned procrastination?
Bianca:
Yeah.
Dane:
Is that really your issue?
Bianca:
I don't think so. Actually, listening to you and Ari, I think I have quite the opposite situation and it's intuitive that you came to me next. But I used to be in corporate and 21 to 28 I worked 8-to-16 hours a day, sometimes weekends. I was just into that really intense corporate environment. And three years ago I left that to teach yoga. But then I think, when I really reflected on it, I basically took a retirement, a mini mid-life retirement at 28. And I think what it is, is I just don't like to work. But of course, I teach yoga, I do a little bit of modeling here and there.
Bianca:
But I think I've never found this thing where I can devote my time into and make that revenue-generating. I have all these ideas but I think when I really... You asked, "What's your selfish thing?" And for me, it's just like, "Gosh, I would just rest all day, and garden, go to the beach," and just all these things. And I think when I really look back, now I'm 31 and I really should have all the energy of my life but I think I'm just exhausted and thinking about scaling a business or thinking about running all these different things, it seems tiring to me.
Dane:
So what if you say, "I'm ready to slow down"? Can you try and say that?
Bianca:
I'm ready to slow down.
Dane:
Do you know what had you say that solving procrastination was your goal?
Bianca:
Yeah. I think with COVID, I used to teach yoga in-person and now I've been teaching online. But I think there's all these voices that tell me, "Start a YouTube, put everything there. Create content on social media." There's all these techniques and things that will really [crosstalk 00:15:10] ...
Dane:
So pause. Pause. This voice inside that says, "I want to slow down." Does that resonate when you say it?
Bianca:
Yeah, I think it does. But then there's that voice that's like, "You're not [crosstalk 00:15:20]" ...
Dane:
So pause. Pause. We're used to that one, right?
Bianca:
Yeah.
Dane:
We're used to that one. Would it feel helpful for you to say, or would it just be a reinforcement of what you know to say? The other voice that you were going to say?
Bianca:
Yeah, it's just the programming.
Dane:
Great. So let's stay vulnerable. Because a heart like yours that is driven to the point of breaking, they're special hearts. They're special hearts. They're all special hearts. I'm right here with you. Do you feel safe right now?
Bianca:
Yeah.
Dane:
Okay. If it feels safe, will you put your hand on your throat gently? And then see if you can open your mouth and take a breath like a yawn, and then, on the way out. What happens if you say, "I'm a gentle person"?
Bianca:
I'm a gentle person. So true.
Dane:
Stay right there. "I'm a highly-suggestible, maybe gullible, gentle person, who gets conned into being driven." Does any of that land?
Bianca:
Yeah.
Dane:
Yeah, let's go, "I'm a gentle person." Let's just stay there.
Bianca:
I'm a gentle person.
Dane:
Oh, wow. Your voice is even different. So take both hands to your throat gently. And what would you like to say?
Bianca:
I feel peace. I feel peaceful. I feel seen.
Dane:
It's an honor to see. If you can let your heart just unwind just a little, there's a path in front of you that is just made for you to walk. And that voice that says, "I'm gentle, I'm ready to slow down." That same place within you. Can you feel that place?
Bianca:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dane:
Where is that place leading you to walk?
Bianca:
I don't know where, but I just have that feeling of, it's not straining or pushing or... It's just being, basically.
Dane:
Yes. You sound like a yoga teacher worth following right now. So can you articulate that one more time? "I don't know, but it feels..." X. Can you say that again?
Bianca:
I don't know where the path is leading me, but it's all about being.
Dane:
You take your hands... And everyone else, join. Take your hands and put them close enough together to where you can feel the heat coming from your hands. And if it's you can't feel heat, until you can feel the energy passing between your hands. Let me know when you can feel that between your hands. Somewhat subtle, right?
Bianca:
Yeah.
Dane:
It's very alive. And when your mind is all hacked up on dopamine, that subtle but very real experience is the only experience that you should probably follow.
Bianca:
That sounds so nourishing.
Dane:
So I've got an assignment for you that I'd like to give you and then turn it back over to you at the end to hear. Actually, you tell me. What would be a good assignment for you to work on between now and the end of this call? And let it come from that very subtle place. What would the assignment be?
Bianca:
Just being present.
Dane:
So stay there. And sounds like a very good thing for a ex-16-hour-workday girl, gal, woman, to do. So stay there and I'll check in with you at the end and we'll see how being present has gone, okay?
Bianca:
Okay.
Dane:
Great work.
Bianca:
Thank you so much.
Dane:
Yeah, my pleasure. Dillon, let's move to you.
Dillon:
Hi Dane.
Dane:
Hello. So you want to know when you can charge people?
Dillon:
Yes.
Dane:
Now. Charge them now.
Dillon:
I always had an issue with charging people. So moving into this new project I'm passionate about, I want to understand how to transition from concept to pilot to charging, all that.
Dane:
Well, what would happen if you just asked your customers, "When would you be ready to pay for something like this? At what point would you be happy to pay for this?"
Dillon:
That's a great question. I mean, I imagine they would tell me. I mean, it's such a simple answer. But-
Dane:
It's a terrifying question [inaudible 00:20:26]. Because I was like, "Hey, you know, so when do you want to pay for this?" "Well never, you dick head." Exactly.
Dillon:
I've been interviewing them and saying, "Hey, would this be a good fit?" One of them said, "If it had all of these data features in it, then I would totally pay a monthly SAS fee." But I didn't push beyond that, because I don't know how much time it's going to take to build all those features in.
Dane:
What happens if you just try out loud, "I'm worthy of being rich"?
Dillon:
I'm worthy of being rich.
Dane:
Your body tense up?
Dillon:
It's a little, I guess, voice in the back of my head that says something along the lines of, "You're not ready. You need to learn more, you need to do more, you need to be more."
Dane:
Just for the fun of it. "I'm worthy of all the money in the world."
Dillon:
I am worthy of all the money in the world.
Dane:
And nobody else gets any but me.
Dillon:
I don't feel comfortable saying that.
Dane:
Pretty fun, pretty fun. Especially when you know it's not true. Nobody gets any money, I get all the trillions.
Dillon:
Nobody gets any of the money. All the money and the bananas are mine.
Dane:
I get the trillions. If you want, I give dollars out sometimes. If you're nice.
Dillon:
Okay.
Dane:
So, "I'm not ready to be rich."
Dillon:
I'm not ready to be rich.
Dane:
I don't trust myself to be rich or I'm not ready? Or both?
Dillon:
I don't trust myself to be rich. I'm not ready to be rich.
Dane:
So you don't [crosstalk 00:22:10] ...
Dillon:
The feeling is the, "I'm not worthy in wanting to over-deliver value."
Dane:
Yeah. That one will follow you like a shadow. That'll follow you like a shadow all the way to millions and millions of dollars. Let's turn around and look at it right now. So just so you guys are aware, Dillon's in our starter community, as is Ari. So, I get to be close to their hearts often, and be a part of mentoring them. And Dillon is working on... Can I tell them your idea, Dillon?
Dillon:
Sure, yeah.
Dane:
So Dillon's working on a VR app that has parental... Parents can have full control over what the kid sees, over what kids they play with. It's incredible safety for a parent. It's like a baby monitor for a VR. If a kid asks to play with their child, they'll get a notification on their phone saying, "Hey, this kid wants to play with your child. Review them and make sure they're safe to play with." It's really cool. How'd I do, Dillon?
Dillon:
That was great. Awesome. I took notes.
Dane:
You took notes. "It's like a baby monitor for VR, your kids will never escape your eyes. It's like injecting an RFID tag into their skin without having to do that."
Dillon:
The kids are safe enough to be free, essentially.
Dane:
Yeah. So, you say to parents, "When would this cross a threshold where you would want to pay for it? What would need to happen and when?"
Dillon:
Yeah. "When would you feel comfortable to pay for this?" Is that the question?
Dane:
So word's less important than feeling. The feeling is, inside of you, it's more like, "Bitch, you're going to pay me for this." Playful. Or it's like, "You'll pay me now." That voice, it's like, "You will pay me now." It's very interesting. For some reason, I've got my own self-esteem issues. Some days I think I'm handsome. Some days I think I'm ugly. Most of the time I'm not thinking the greatest things about myself unless I'm aware, I got the whole shebang, the whole human experience.
Dane:
But for some reason when it comes down to violation of money principles, I'm a lion. It's wild. There are certain money principles you do not violate. And I'm kind and sometimes timid with folks, but if we cross a money-principle threshold, it's like, "Oh, no way. Absolutely not. These are the standards." They're not even mine. I see them as universal money standards. And if you can start to embody, how does money want to be loved, how does money want to be treated, you can see that you're doing a disservice to money if you give it a certain identity. That money is a joy to be given to things that solve problems.
Dillon:
So being kind to money and respecting the flow of value.
Dane:
Yes.
Dillon:
When you was talking about, "Bitch give me money," what was popping through my head when you said that was more like, "Look, I know you want this. And I want to give this to you, so at what point does this make sense for you to have this and for us to start this financial relationship?"
Dane:
That's epic. And it's perfectly Dillon.
Dillon:
I'm going to take that as a compliment.
Dane:
Well it's just on the verge of being complicated, but you still understand it.
Dillon:
I do tend to overcomplicate things.
Dane:
I know. That's why I said that.
Dillon:
So true.
Dane:
At what point do you want to start a financial relationship? "Well, gosh, I don't even know what you said, but here's my money." But that's good. It's like, "Look, I know you want this. At what point does it make sense to you where you'd be happy to pay for it?"
Dillon:
Yeah, yeah. No, that rings true. And that's just asking the customer directly.
Dane:
So I'm really excited about this. So I'm launching a software project about it, but I won't mention the name yet. I got a guy, he's like, "Dude, I'll pay you for this. I'll pay 200 bucks a month. I'll pay for the year right now." I was like, "What?" I was terrified to ask for money. Because I had never sold this product before. It was a new idea, new concept, insecurity high, confidence low for this product.
Dane:
And I was like, "I can't, I can't, I can't ask." And it's like, "Here's what I'll do, man. Listen, can I just charge you 20 bucks to be a part of the beta? I just need you to pay something." That's exactly what I said. And he said, "No man, no. I can't do that, but I'll give you a dollar." I was like, "Dude, even a dollar. That means there's a financial transaction, that's all I need." He's like, "No dude, get out of here. I'll pay you for a year in advance. How much were you thinking?" I was like, "About 200 bucks a month." He's like, "Great. I'll pay you for a year in advance."
Dane:
So $2,400 sale. And that's exactly how it went down. And I got off the phone and I recorded the video, because I looked like I was a crack addict. I was like, "Oh my god, I got the sale. Am I on crack? Nope, I just got a sale." Had the phone going close to my face and away from my face. And anyway, I had the enrollment conversation with him to get him on the program today. And I said, "Listen, I know you said you wanted to pay for the product. But I don't want to charge you yet. I want you to use the product for 30, 60 or 90 days, just free. Just to make sure that you get results with it. And then after 60 tr 90 days, let's meet up. Let's see what the results were from you getting this product for free. And at that time, I will then ask, based on the results, what price would be too high for this product so it'd be out of reach?"
Dane:
"What price would be too low that you'd question the value, and what price would be right in the sweet spot for you where you'd be happy to pay for it?" And he was so honored by that. He's like, "Wow, thanks man. Thanks for not charging me, I guess." And I said, "Can you tell me more behind your thought process on why you're saying 'thank you'?" He said, "Well yeah, because you want to make sure I get results with the product first. I really appreciate that." And it's like, "Oh my god, Dane's such a good person. He's so generous. Look, he wants to make sure..."
Dane:
No, I'm just as selfish or self-interested and generous and as... I'm a human. I understand that, "Let me get my money up front. Let me charge up front." But then what if he doesn't get results? Then I don't get to benefit long-term from that either. So you see in the principles of money state, you should honor the flow of the value of money. So I want to make sure value's there. For him, so he gets a result. And for me, so I get compensated. Maybe I'm being somewhat generous compared to what other people would do, but to me I think I'm just being intelligent. I want him to pay me for the next five years. I don't want to get money up front. I'm thinking long-term. So... You tell me, Dillon. What's up?
Dillon:
No. I mean, I think this is great. I think what it makes you think about is that, I think a lot of times with money I'm trying to over deliver value because I'm trying to protect myself from judgment and being seen as a selfish money-grabber person. But the honoring money in the flow of value and saying, "Look, I want to make sure you're completely happy," and then being of service, but getting really clear with them, I think, is... Instead of wondering and writing and just staying in my own world, just going out and connecting and asking directly and say, "Look, this is [crosstalk 00:29:17]" ...
Dane:
Yeah. This is good. Try saying this. This is going to be real hard to say, okay?
Dillon:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dane:
"I like money. Will you give me some?"
Dillon:
I like money. Will you give me some?
Dane:
I mean, it triggers some shame in me, for sure. I'm like, "Ugh." But I've stayed with that sentence for 30 minutes to the point where I'm like, "Yeah, perfectly. Course I like money. You want to give me some?"
Dillon:
Exactly [crosstalk 00:29:42].
Dane:
As long as I'm delivering value, will you give me some?
Dillon:
Yeah. I like money, will you give me some? As long as I'm delivering value.
Dane:
I mean, what if we're like, "No, I don't want to deliver value, just give me some money."
Dillon:
Sounds like robbery.
Dane:
Well, I mean, people do play the lottery.
Dillon:
Oh, that's true. Yeah. Yeah, I just think that... I guess it's just one of those things of, never feel ready enough. And so-
Dane:
I expect to receive financial compensation when I am delivering value, when I am delivering tangible value.
Dane:
If you'd like to get a blueprint to my brain, I have it in a 302-page book, Start From Zero. And you can get a free chapter. You actually can get my best chapter for free on that book right now, at Startfromzero.com. Go check it out.
Dillon:
I expect to receive financial compensation when I'm delivering tangible value.
Dane:
Bitch. It's just funny, don't say it. How's that one? "I expect to receive financial compensation when I'm delivering tangible value."
Dillon:
I expect to receive financial compensation when I'm delivering value.
Dane:
Tangible value.
Dillon:
When I'm delivering tangible value. I expect to receive financial compensation when I am delivering tangible value. I like it.
Dane:
So settle into you hips a little. Relax your throat. We're declaring a new boundary for Dillon. So if this boundary is violated, you exit the relationship. Try saying it with all that in mind.
Dillon:
I expect financial compensation when I'm delivering tangible value.
Dane:
And that is my boundary.
Dillon:
And that is my boundary.
Dane:
And I will not cross it again.
Dillon:
I will not cross it again.
Dane:
So as an assignment, I want you to come up with a three-line email that you can send to everybody that you've talked to that are potential customers, that you ask them just real openly and honestly, at what point would they want to pay a price? And you need to help to get to pricing, so what price would be too high, too low, and what price would be a sweet spot? And then you can read that email out when we come back to you, okay?
Dillon:
Yep, roger that.
Dane:
Very good, dude. Jessica, let's move to you.
Jessica:
Hey.
Dane:
Hi. So you want to state a new goal for this call or restate the one that you said earlier?
Jessica:
Yeah. So essentially, I want to monetize my current audience. And I-
Dane:
Who is your current audience and what is their current pain?
Jessica:
Well, it happens to be males, age 25 to 34. But I want to change niche, so I'm changing to women now. But it's still... The current theme is basically, my YouTube channel, I document my whole journey, and I've overcome a lot of things to find my passion. So their pain would be being unfulfilled, and stuck in their jobs and not happy with their own life. And my bottleneck now is not being able to test. Because I have a course I want to do, and I want to be able to test out the engagement with it, see how many people would be interested. But there's a lot of roadblocks like, say, the funnel and everything, and it's [crosstalk 00:33:08] ...
Dane:
Yeah, so okay, great, great, great. You're in a great place. Well, congratulations on your success, and congratulations on doing your own hero's journey.
Jessica:
Yeah, it's been tough.
Dane:
Yeah, and exactly why people need a hand.
Jessica:
Yeah. Honestly, I really get in my own way a lot of the time, so I do need external help. But literally what you're saying was really interesting, because I was thinking with my funnel to have a free course, and then they could do a paid course, but for the first people I could do a beat around, get it to them for free, and get them to review it and then tweak it based on their feedback, and then, yeah, ask them what they'd be happy to pay for it.
Jessica:
And then, I know at the beginning you talked about Dominos. But it'd also be cool for the paid course to have something like, "Get unstuck and find your passion in 90 or I'll fire your boss for you, personally, or I'll call your boss for you to get them to release you from your job."
Dane:
Yeah, you're sitting pretty.
Jessica:
So yeah, something like that to guarantee them to take action. Yeah.
Dane:
So do you see how that headline can set up a very powerful sales conversation?
Jessica:
Yeah, definitely.
Dane:
Because you said, your beginning goal was you wanted sales tactics that would sell something, basically was your initial goal. So with that powerful of a headline, holding to that headline, I think you'll be able to put together a very, very compelling sales presentation.
Jessica:
So do you think I should do a free course or should I just [crosstalk 00:34:29] ...
Dane:
I would stay away from offering information for free, but it could be not-financial compensation, but there could be some energetic. I mean, you can do so... With just the creativity of your mind, you can do so many cool things. So let's say, "Listen, hey guys, I'm doing a course. I'm giving it away free to the first 10 people. But you know what? You're going to have to fill out an application. You're going to have to send me a personal video. And then if I don't like you, sorry, if I do, you're in."
Dane:
By the way, when I was a little more brave... Maybe brash might be the better word. When I was 28 and I started my first mentoring session that's exactly what I said on interviews. "Hey guys, I'm going to teach some of you business, go to DaneMaxwell.com" It forwarded to a Google survey. I said, "Fill out that Google survey. If I like you, you're accepted, if I don't, sorry." So I don't think I could do it today.
Jessica:
The thing is, though, I tried this on my YouTube channel where I asked people to fill out a form but then I didn't get that great of a response [crosstalk 00:35:29].
Dane:
What was your promise, though?
Jessica:
Yeah, I didn't have a promise. Yeah, you're right.
Dane:
Yeah. So here's my favorite way to do this. So write up a one or two-page Google doc. That's going to be your program. And you're going to write it based on this headline. So you write it out, you'll just come right from the heart. And then you're going to say, "Hey guys, I'm thinking about creating a program to help with this promise. I'm curious if you have interest." And some will say, "Yes, of course." Say, "Great. Do you think we could hop on the phone and I could run it by you and see what you think?" And then they'll say, "Yes."
Dane:
And they'll going to get on the phone, and then you're going to read out loud your own document to them. Now when you read out loud of the document, you're going to see, "Oh, crap, this part's not that great. Oh, this part reads really well." Some parts will read easier, some parts won't. By you reading it out loud to the person, you'll get a real sense for how compelling a letter is. After you read the letter, you're going to do this.
Dane:
You're going to ask them, "Listen, so you just heard it. I'm curious, on a scale of 1 to 10, how badly would you like to take this course? Please be honest." You say, "Please be honest, you don't have to please me. Truly true honesty." "Oh, you know, I'd say it's a seven." "Okay, curious. What would make it a 10 if it could be anything? You can be dreamy. You can dream anything you want. What would make this a 10?"
Dane:
And they're like, "Well, I mean, if you held my hand, da da da da." Or, "If you gave me challenges I could never think up, or if you find me if I didn't action." Or all these things. And so you just literally put it right in the letter and read it out loud to them and say, "How about this?" And like, "Yep, 10 out of 10, I want to buy." So you'll co-create your sales letter with people on the phone based on a 1-to-10-scale framework. So the greatest marketers that I know, we know that our products are going to sell before we ever make the website.
Dane:
So you got a Google doc. You got a phone call. Now, you ask them price high, price low, price sweet spot. That three-question thing. And they'll give you a sense. And when it's you and personal time and personal coaching, you can charge. You can charge for stuff like this. When I'm selling somebody a software product that's unproven and... That's a big risk, so I don't want to charge for that yet. But your personal time coaching, I would.
Dane:
Here's the thing. From a confidence level, you'd like to give it away to your first 10. Nobody pays for it. Maybe they don't value it as much. But if you make them jump through these hoops because of this promise, so now they're going to fill application. But then they're going to send you a video. And in the video you're very clear about your expectations. You say, "Listen, I want you to tell me about your greatest pain, your greatest problem. I want you to tell me the story that caused you to break." And then you're going to have all this great marketing content.
Dane:
So the next time you launch your program, you're going to have all these videos put together in a montage and be like, "Does this sound like you?" And then they play that video, and now you got this marketing piece for your next go at the program.
Jessica:
So the first stage is the first 10, on the call, and the second part is application. And then I would charge after that stage.
Dane:
Sure. You could also charge first time too, if you want. You feel it out, you trust your gut there. But you got the process now.
Jessica:
Yeah. I just would be worried that I wouldn't get enough traffic. Because I don't have that much traffic on my YouTube. I've been really inactive and I've procrastinated on publishing videos because I wanted to get this funnel right and then mention it in every single video so that each video's not wasted. So then now it's like, if I was lacking numbers, what would you suggest if I couldn't get... Would I just post on Reddit or just get my name out there in other ways?
Dane:
How big was your audience when you were active?
Jessica:
Well, I have 2,000 subscribers. But they are loyal as in they've watched me from... I've literally documented everything from when I was at home, when I went to Thailand [crosstalk 00:39:11] ...
Dane:
What would you tell someone if they said they had this fear that you have?
Jessica:
I would just say, "Just test it, you can't predict anything. Just keep it up, dude."
Dane:
You're good to go. You use your own process on yourself, you're set. 2,000's fine. You only need one. You only need one person. You only need one person to be successful with your framework to go big. If you get one student, that's all you need. One student transformed is all you need. That story, that transformation becomes your million-dollar course.
Jessica:
Yeah. I can do a case study for sure. Okay.
Dane:
Yep, so you're good to go. Come up with what your pitch will be to your 2,000-person audience, including an apology for disappearing.
Jessica:
Yeah. So I'll make a new video on my YouTube to introduce this.
Dane:
So think about that, and I'm going to come back to you and ask you what that video will be about at the end here, okay? And then, Corben, what's up man? So tell me about your goal again, please.
Corben:
How's it going, Dane? So I would say my goal just in general, is to get some direction, like I was saying. I mean, I consider myself a serial entrepreneur that has just never launched his own business, so I don't really have experience handling financial transactions, working directly with customers, things like that. What I usually do is come up with an idea, run it by a few people, dig deep into it, don't really share it with a lot of people, and then peter out, I guess. So I'm just trying to figure out. You know what I mean? What direction I want to head in general. Because I'm always in the different industry, the different ideas and how to maintain motivation and at least get to that launch date.
Dane:
Do you see how off the beaten path Bianca is from what society demands?
Corben:
Without a doubt.
Dane:
How would you say that might be similar to you?
Corben:
So in a mindset, I would say. I mean, my mind has always been revolving around a big passion, become an entrepreneur, ever since I was a kid. Right now I think what's holding me back, honestly, is a cushion-y job and a good situation financially, and what I have going for me right now, I know that's something that's just keeping my focus on that rather than what I really want to do. So I can definitely relate. I don't know if my lifestyle is something that's similar to Bianca.
Dane:
Is there a path that you're refused to walk that you know would be easy if you did?
Corben:
Yes, probably. It would be, again, once I come up with an idea, to spread the word and reach out to friends and family. [inaudible 00:41:41], some of the first things you can do is post it on social media, and just let everybody know what you're getting into. But I haven't really found an idea or a concept that I've just been that excited about and that would get me confident to do that. Because I think something that's holding me back is just the fact that I'm considering that it'll end up failing or not really becoming what I want to do and something that I follow through with in the next month or so. Does that make sense?
Dane:
So tell me if you can sense your heart beating right now.
Corben:
Yes. I can.
Dane:
Why didn't you go straight into entrepreneurship if you've been thinking about it since being a kid?
Corben:
I guess just following the society's priorities that they set. After you graduate college, you get a job, you get some money and then you go from there. So I believe that's why I didn't just dive headfirst into going out on my own and going out on a limb like that.
Dane:
So it seems like going out on a limb.
Corben:
Yeah. I mean, to a point. I strongly believe that I have the work ethic to balance both until I would become a full-time entrepreneur and reach that financial freedom. But when I first got this job, which is the first job I've had out of college, yeah, I mean, it seemed like right then my main priority was going to find some income. That way I can sustain living for the time being at age 22, 23 or whatever.
Dane:
If I were to say, I think your heart might be too guarded to be honest enough to have a real transformation on this call, what does that bring up for you?
Corben:
Define too honest.
Dane:
More curious about guarded. Possibly disconnected from yourself. A sense of yourself.
Corben:
I mean, that could be it. I don't think it's necessarily something that I'm able to recognize right away, or would be able to recognize right now, but-
Dane:
That's a pretty honest answer. Are you asking for permission to be a badass in some way?
Corben:
I mean, in a way, yes. I just know that I'm able to be a badass. I have the confidence and I know, eventually, I will become an entrepreneur.
Dane:
Are you bored at your job?
Corben:
Yeah, I'm definitely bored at my job. I'm not essentially happy with what I do. It provides great financial rewards, a ton of freedom, probably the best job that I would consider that I'll ever have besides from doing what I want to do. But essentially yeah, definitely bored.
Dane:
See if this works. "I have not yet given myself permission to be a badass."
Corben:
I have not yet given myself permission to be a badass.
Dane:
Sounds so good coming from you, man. Right? So you have ideas. You talk to customers about them, even. They express interest, and then you trickle off. Because right as badassery is starting to happen, your wind's going.
Corben:
Right. Essentially, right as I start to consider what it entails. In becoming a badass and actually going through with it, maybe I start to have second thoughts and then talk myself out of it potentially.
Dane:
Do you talk yourself out of it or do you just instantly lose steam?
Corben:
I think it's losing steam. I lose motivation, maybe I start to see some things that I didn't take into consideration. Because let's say you have an idea, and you think it's going to work perfect. Everybody's going to love it, you're going to be a millionaire. And then once you really start to do your homework, sometimes things can come up, you realize how difficult it might be.
Dane:
"I'm looking for reasons to be mediocre because I haven't given myself permission to be a badass."
Corben:
Right.
Dane:
See how deeply you can root this down. "Man, you know what the problem is, is nobody's shown me a mirror. All I've seen are other people's projections of what life should be, but no one's showed me a mirror of me. And the mirror is badass. I got it. I can handle it. Anything I put my full heart into, it grows and works." So in the tenderest place of the unconscious, is there a kinder, more connected word that really sits at the center of your soul instead of badass? What really speaks to you, Corben?
Corben:
I want to say successful. I would probably say I want to be successful and that would entail to pursue my passion essentially. That aspect [crosstalk 00:46:19] ...
Dane:
I want to... Badass is good, too. Good. That's good, that's good. It seemed right to me, but it's a little edgier, but it seems to really fit. When I feel you and just feel this moment, those are the words that came. "I want to be successful to my own potential, not to what the world says my potential is."
Corben:
Right.
Dane:
So, you just need to get around a different group of people.
Corben:
Yeah. I definitely 100% agree with you there. It's tough right now. I mean, I work from home full-time, regardless of this pandemic going on. So I'm just in an office all day by myself. And then I clock in, clock out and that's pretty much it. I hang out with some buddies who probably have the same passion as me but they won't follow through with it, maybe not as motivated. But I agree, getting around a group of like-minded people, even finding some mentors, is definitely something that I think would propel me or at least help me influence me in a positive way.
Dane:
Yeah. This is the first time I'll be recommending this, but I recommend you check out our starter's program and consider it. And just Startfromzero.com and look at starter's and just skim that. Ari's in the group, Dillon's in the group, and you can see how they're really going after it. It's a really cool group. But so, aside from that, you know Maslow's hierarchy of human needs? It's safety, shelter, food, sex, et cetera?
Corben:
Right.
Dane:
Well self-actualization is in that pyramid, right?
Corben:
Right.
Dane:
It's at the very top of the pyramid, self-actualization. You don't consider this, but that's his hierarchy of needs. And he has self-actualization on there as a need. Just like air, water, food, shelter. So you're compromising your own needs. It's death. That's why it feels like death, because you've got all your basics in place, and you're like, "Screw this, I'm bored, I'm not actualizing." And imagine if you tried to hold your breath, it would kill you. If you didn't drink water, you'd die. If you don't actualize it's a different death, but it's a need. You have a need to actualize.
Dane:
I cannot impress upon this enough. Permission, dude. Permission to dream. Permission to actualize. Permission to be a badass. It's for your own livelihood. It's for your own well-being that you actualize. It is a need. So you can drop any judgment, you can drop any sense of shame or beating yourself up, or why aren't you like everybody else, or any of these things. If they're even there. And you honor... You know what? Dude, actualizing's a need and I'm going to treat it that way. I'm going to treat actualization as important as I treat drinking water, and I think your problems will be solved.
Corben:
Right. No, yeah, I totally agreed. I'm actually looking at them right now. That makes a lot of sense, to be honest with you. Otherwise I feel like that flame will just start to go out and die out and you will be never essentially be as happy as you can be in life, in general.
Dane:
Yeah, imagine how miserable you would be if you were thirsty.
Corben:
Literally.
Dane:
That's how miserable your soul is not actualizing.
Corben:
Right, right. I think the amount of time that you could go without self-actualizing is a lot longer, obviously, than water or any psychological need like clothing, shelter. But I think it'll just keep chipping away at your overall energy.
Dane:
So you just pick a problem you care about, one you found, just drive it through. Look at it as one of 20 businesses you'll do in your life. Don't sweat it. Take it through all the way to six figures, and just handle all the issues that come up along the way, and look at the grand scheme of 20 businesses you'll start in a life. Because that's where you belong to play. Because that's what you've been thinking about your whole life.
Corben:
Right.
Dane:
And I think Starters might be the missing link. If not Starters, another community that you do resonate with.
Corben:
I think so too, yeah, without a doubt. I will definitely look into it and pull it up right after this.
Dane:
Yeah, and just let me know if you have any questions on it, it's a great group.
Corben:
Yes, sir.
Dane:
So, thank you man. So your assignment, by the time I come back to you, is to write down two problems that you actually want to see solved, all right, and I'll come back to you. All right, so let's go back to our first. Ari, what do you got for me?
Ari:
Hi Dane. Yeah, a few things came up. But at the top of the list, I have two, it's connecting with others on a different level from the heart, learning to love everyone that I serve [inaudible 00:50:50] from the heart. Those are top of the list.
Dane:
Right. Can you... What was the assignment?
Ari:
I think it was, how can I do it better from a slow-down place? I might have gotten the wording wrong on the question, actually [crosstalk 00:51:02].
Dane:
So the question was, how can I make my success inevitable to double the business while slowing down? And you said you were starting to think of one right then and there and I paused you.
Ari:
Yeah, I mean, it's basically that I think my heart's been closed off and there's been a lot of... I know I need to love all these people and I do love them on some level, and I love some more than others. I need to love all the people on all the different levels that I'm serving, the DJs, the clients, et cetera et cetera. And I think I know how I can get there, but I think that there's been some barriers to that love and doing it from the heart and I mean, it's been very much in the head and less heart as far as that.
Dane:
Yeah, I want people to be happy.
Ari:
Yeah. I want people to be happy, indeed, yes [crosstalk 00:51:51].
Dane:
There you go, man. Were you happy with the DJ? Were you happy with the music they played? Were you happy? I want you to be happy. You got it man, that'll be killer. You'll be like, "Who is this DJ asking if I'm... What the heck? No, as a matter of fact I hear YMCA at every wedding I go to. I don't ever want to hear that song again." Oh, Ari. "We're the only DJ company that won't make you dance to YMCA at the wedding." Hey, I'm hiring that guy.
Ari:
Definitely.
Dane:
All right, very good man [crosstalk 00:52:20].
Ari:
Thank you so much, yeah.
Dane:
Yeah, you're welcome [crosstalk 00:52:22] ...
Ari:
Yeah, thank you Dane.
Dane:
I'm excited to [crosstalk 00:52:26] ...
Ari:
Thanks for all the support. Yeah.
Dane:
Absolutely. And I'm excited to see what happens in your community as they feel more of your love. Let's go to Bianca. Bianca, how did you do with being present?
Bianca:
I felt good. I just had a couple questions for you, actually.
Dane:
Yep, go ahead.
Bianca:
One is you hit the nail on the head about me being a gentle person. And I just want to know how you got to that, and then I'll ask the second question after.
Dane:
Lot of personal work. Meditation retreats, healers, it was an earned place to say it from. I worked very hard to acquire the skills to be able to feel that, spot it and articulate it. But it was just feeling a lot of love, without a need of skills, it was just feeling a lot of love for you and care for someone so talented to work so hard and be so driven and just maybe asking myself, "What might be forgotten in this?"
Bianca:
I appreciate that. Thank you so much, that was very transformative. And then the second question is, for someone like me who still does want to be able to provide for herself but then not betray my nature, I guess, do you have any insights for me as we part from the call?
Dane:
Yeah. I want you to pioneer a new method of gentle wealth.
Bianca:
That sounds nice.
Dane:
So that'll likely be with questions that you ask people. So what are your goals with yoga? "Oh, you know, I've got anxiety, or I can't sleep," or whatever it is. It's like, "Okay, so want to get you sleeping better with yoga. And how strong would you say your desire to change this is?" Like, "Oh, it's a 10." "That's great. If it's anything less than a 10 it just usually doesn't make sense for us to work together, because I end up trying to work harder than you do. Okay, great, but since you're a 10, let's do something."
Dane:
"And how long are you willing to work with this until it changes?" "Oh, I'll work forever on it." "All right, great. We should probably get started. So I like to work in 90-day increments, so three-months increments. I like to work with people once a week. Does that sound all right with you?" "Yeah, that sounds okay with me." "Would you ever want to do twice a week if you want to accelerate it?" "Yeah." "Okay great. So I've got these two pricing options. Again, our yoga will be tailored to help you reach your goal of sleeping better, and here it is if we meet once a week, here it is if we meet twice a week. If at 90 days we aren't where you want to be because there's just more work to do for you there, and we won't know until we're there, but if we give our all it'll make a big difference and we can talk about the next 90 days after that."
Dane:
"Does that sound like it would be a nourishing journey for you? Does the price seem like you would treat this seriously, like you would respect this process, and does the price seem like there would be respect and you would treat this seriously?" And they say, "Yeah." Say, "Great. Do you have any objections? Would you like to get started?" And now you're very gentle and very wealthy.
Bianca:
Love that. Thank you so much, Dane.
Dane:
Yeah. I'm excited to see the clients you get to touch, too, in that way. Dillon, where you at bro? How you doing?
Dillon:
Hey, Dane. So homework was three lines, email, which is going to send to some of the people that we've been doing these play tests with. And so this was... Getting it down to three lines is a challenge, but here's what I got. "Thank you so much for your feedback on the project. We'll be moving to a half-price beta shortly and continuing to improve the product, but your price will remain the same. For an initial MVP, the application that keeps your kids safe and you informed, what would be a price that would be too high that is not worth paying for and too low, it does not seem [crosstalk 00:56:06]" ...
Dane:
All right, so pause. "Can I ask you some questions about price?" And if they say, "Yes," then reply with those, make it a conversation.
Dillon:
Got it. So it's not actually asking for prices, it's, "Can I ask you some questions about the price?"
Dane:
Yeah, send.
Dillon:
Got it.
Dane:
And that'll be very nice and natural, and gentle.
Dillon:
Got it, yes. Perfect.
Dane:
Very good. And then Jessica. Did we give you an assignment?
Jessica:
Yeah, we did. Yeah, so yeah, I'll be like, "Sorry for the [inaudible 00:56:36]. So I've been on an internal journey to quality, which is actually equally as valuable and life-changing as my traveling journey. I'm here to tell you that you don't need to travel and do all the things that I did to find your passion. I can give you the blueprint based on all of the years of experience I've got. Try different things, and then I'll offer them. Okay, you can get [inaudible 00:56:53] today. So you don't feel that your time's wasted in quarantine. And in fact, now's the perfect time because you got time off work, you've got a lot of energy, you've got a lot of time to be introspective, to restart your life." And then I'll lead into book a call, offering-
Dane:
Hey, Jessica?
Jessica:
Yeah.
Dane:
Sounds great.
Jessica:
Offering this time for free. Yeah. [inaudible 00:57:14].
Dane:
I think it's great.
Jessica:
Thank you [crosstalk 00:57:16].
Dane:
I was going to stop you even 10 seconds earlier, I'm like, "You got it."
Jessica:
Oh, okay.
Dane:
No, I mean, not because I was bored. It was more just like, "Dude, she's got it. She doesn't need help." You don't need those sales manipulations or sales tactics.
Jessica:
Okay. Oh, really?
Dane:
Yeah, yeah. You're indoctrinating. I'm getting hypnotized by your words. I'm like, "Crap, I got to fill out this [inaudible 00:57:35]." You're right, you're right, I do have all this energy. Crap, you're right. I've just been turning this energy into boredom.
Jessica:
Yeah. And then on the call, I'll go into about what you said about asking them about... Well, do you think I should... You know that one-page Google doc, should I tell them that's the course, or should I ask them questions like, 'What's your pain point and should I...'"
Dane:
Yeah, of course.
Jessica:
Yeah. Should I do that, or should I do the course pitch, or should I [crosstalk 00:58:03] ...
Dane:
Well, you probably already know their pains.
Jessica:
Yeah, okay.
Dane:
You can't really go wrong if you keep your customers at the center.
Jessica:
Yeah. And basically what you're saying to Bianca, a good test the waters and see if they would be willing to pay, or what's the actual bottleneck? Is it like, are people actually ready to commit, or maybe price is not the problem? Getting to know...
Dane:
Yeah, yeah. You ask what's their desire, how serious are they. If their desire's not strong and they're not serious, then you just stop right there.
Jessica:
Yeah, I don't need to convince them.
Dane:
You're good to go. Have fun. And now we're coming to Corben, I believe.
Corben:
Yes.
Dane:
Two problems, bro.
Corben:
Two problems. So I thought of a few. I just wanted to ask you, Dane, now, [inaudible 00:58:47] problems did you have in mind when you assigned me this? Were they problems personal, at work, everyday problems that you face?
Dane:
Give me the two you got.
Corben:
The two I have right now are one that I face, having to work a full-time job [inaudible 00:59:02] in my life that I don't essentially want. And then another problem was more focused directly at work, you know what I mean? So I figured I was [inaudible 00:59:14] put both down. Every business idea starts with a problem where the foundation is rooted from, so.
Dane:
Is there one of those that makes your heart beat faster?
Corben:
Yeah, of course. I would say the first one. Just learning how to serve, for me, finding a solution for it would probably be my first go-to rather than solving it for somebody else because I haven't solved it yet. But of course, it would be figuring out a way not have to work a job that I'm bored at, that I don't really enjoy, in order to make a living and pay the bills.
Dane:
I wouldn't normally say this, but I think that'd be a good path for you to walk down.
Corben:
Okay. Would that be first solving it, and then figuring out a way [crosstalk 00:59:56] ...
Dane:
Well, just walk down it, but be prepared to abandon it in a moment's notice if you find something better.
Corben:
Okay.
Dane:
I was moving at a mad clip, and then I got the idea for Paperless Pipeline, and I pivoted to Pipeline. Be prepared to abandon whatever you got.
Corben:
Right. And I think that's where some of my motivation lacks, I guess, is that sometimes I do face the problem and I abandon it completely instead of pivot, which is things like, that's what you had to do and it worked out for the better. Does that make sense?
Dane:
Entrepreneurship is about service. So what that means is, it's not about dreaming up ideas. It's not about coming up with clever contraptions. It's not about... It begins with service. So there's very little risk in the context of entrepreneurship that I work in, because it's people first, problem second, sell it third. It's not product-first thinking, it's people-first thinking, which is revolutionary for people for some reason.
Dane:
It's people-first. So if people are your focal point, and the problem they have is real, and they have said they want to solve it, there could be 15 different product ideas. But if you marry the problem and fall in love with the problem, then the solution could take many shapes. Someone can't see, they could wear contacts, they could wear glasses, they could do LASIK. The problem is they can't see.
Dane:
So you want to look at problem that you care about. And you want to ask yourself, how badly do you want to see this problem solved? It's not about your product. It's about the problem. It's about the people first, problem second, sell it third.
Corben:
Okay. So then what you do is solution to you?
Dane:
Yes, 100%. And if that solution doesn't work, you're not out of business, because you're still trying to solve the problem that didn't get solved.
Corben:
Right.
Dane:
There's no risk there. There's maybe tremendous emotional risk. "What if they don't buy?" Well then, they didn't buy but it's not about you. It's not about if your product works and it's not about if you make a profit, it's about if you're serving someone. And if it's in service, then if they don't buy and you're "rejected," and "a failure," well then you're being a self-centered, narcicisstic, selfish person that forgot the heart of entrepreneurship is service.
Dane:
There is no sense in being a self-centered entrepreneur. "What if they don't like my price?" Well then, you're not being of service. "What if they don't like my product?" Well then, you're not being of service. When you get, it's not about you and it's about serving then you just go from that place. And this passionate place that I speak from is how fiercely committed I am to being of service to the people that I serve. And of course my ego gets in the way, I'm like, "Damn it, why don't they just want to buy this? Remember Dane. Remember. Service. Service."
Dane:
When you come from a place of service, like Bianca mentioned, the effortless, strain-free. It's all of service. And then you see how much of us cling and grasp and force and control and learn manipulative sales tactics. It's like, no, no, no, no, no. Service. I'm launching a software product right now. It solves a very painful problem that I care about. If this product doesn't solve it, I'll probably consider trying to solve it another way. I hope I'll have the courage to do that, but right now it looks like this product will solve it.
Dane:
And so since I'm solving the problem and it's not about the software, we're not ready for people to buy the software. So what, do I wait until the software's ready? Well, since I know better, no. I created a report called The Five Critical Questions You Must Answer To Have This Problem Solved. It's a Google doc. And I take people who are interested in solving this problem through the Google doc, and I'm literally enrolling customers by taking them through a five-question process, and they're waiting and chomping at the bit to use this product.
Dane:
It's all connected to service, solving a problem. If it's not then it just doesn't work, and then you're fine. So the woe is me stuff, "What if no one likes my idea, what if no one..." Well then, it wasn't of service and you just try again. So if you can, guys, as we finish this, just take a hand on your heart. Feel your hand on your heart. Let all your fear fall away as you remember, entrepreneurship is truly about being of service. Which is what you guys probably want more than anything anyway, is to really touch someone's life and to really transform them, and treat customers like real people with hearts that matter and beat with desires.
Dane:
If you'd like to know the number-one thing that kills people from being successful in entrepreneurship, it's really simple. It's them trying to do it alone, trying to do it without mentorship, trying to do it without accountability. Trying to do it without a way to focus. Trying to do it without somebody helping you along the way to get your mind straight. And right now, I'm running a yearly mentoring, accountability and focused community called Starters, and you can learn more about Starters and join a community of amazing entrepreneurs all practicing and living the principles from this podcast in this book.
Dane:
How do you get good at this stuff? Practice. How do you get even better? Being around others that practice. And how do you become unstoppable and just move no matter what? Community, community, community. And not just any community, a community of people that don't shame you for wanting freedom. A community of people that don't look at you weird for saying you want more. You can find that community at Starters. If you go to Startfromzero.com, you'll see our products up top and then you can go and find the Starters program. We would love to have you.
Dane:
And we also have a "good fit" quiz that you can take on that page, because not everybody's a good fit for Starters. So if you go look at the Starters page, take the "good fit" quiz and it'll tell you if you'll be a good fit for that program. Listen, we don't accept everyone, because we're obviously not for everyone. But we are for certain people. If you'd like to see if that person is you, go to Startfromzero.com, look at products, find Starters, and then fill out that quiz. And we look forward to supporting you and mentoring you on your journey.