Really enjoyed that podcast @Vigilante @Kung Fu Steve thanks gents, great message at the right time
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Free registration at the forum removes this block.Really enjoyed that podcast @Vigilante @Kung Fu Steve thanks gents, great message at the right time
I listened to the podcast a few days ago, but literally just thought about it and saw that you replied. It's hard to believe you're traveling so often and doing that many conferences and meetings per day. Seriously moving! Inspires me to go harder as well!Hope it inspires action!
I listened to the show, too. Loved it. Subscribed.
By the way, if this is your 'rough, just getting the cobwebs out' show, I can't wait to see what you're like finely tuned. Excellent stuff.
Great show @Vigilante and @Kung Fu Steve!
Biggest take away for me was that people still need everything they needed this time last year, we just have to change how we go about getting it to them - and the change isn't that much, it just takes a little shift in perspective to accomplish.
The Frank Kern phrase on turning advertising into profit was great too - got myself back onto Alibaba to get some samples to test out a new idea after hearing that!
He's a machine.I listened to the podcast a few days ago, but literally just thought about it and saw that you replied. It's hard to believe you're traveling so often and doing that many conferences and meetings per day. Seriously moving! Inspires me to go harder as well!
Yeah - I think its worth doing that again vs using the audio from last time. It sounds like the last time you did that topic was at least a few years ago? You'll have a different perspective on it now, and that will make it INCREDIBLY powerful. I'm really looking forward to it.Thanks Jon. The show this Saturday is hopefully good content, but I am really excited to talk shop with the legendary @Kak for the week after next.
I am building up to a "reprise" of the show where I will unpack my darkest day. It was the toughest show I ever did, and I tried to get the audio from IHeartMedia but they either can't find it (likely) or aren't forwarding it (possible). Either way, a few weeks down the road I will revisit my darkest day. Out of everything we did it was far and away the most listened to show we did, because it probably has the most actionable raw history in it that nearly everyone can use. If my scars keep other people from getting theirs it will be worth it. And as Steve and I talked about, it took me a long time to realize what that dark window of time did for me in the long run. So that's coming up at some point in the next few months.
How about the time he gave @JAJT an Opus X Cigar at my house and made Jason sick?
I've never been so suddenly and cripplingly sick followed by being totally okay again within a 30 minute window. What a damn roller-coaster that was for my newbie cigar smoking a$$!
Great times
Well done @Vigilante. Making moves.Tomorrow (5/23) at 11AM Eastern is the Walmart episode of the Mind Your Business radio show.
Next Saturday (5/30) is @Kak with some irreverent commentary and a special announcement that will be of interest to Fastlane Forum members.
The Saturday after that (6/6) I have a huge profile guest lined up, that will be announced later. Working out the details. It was sparked by a discussion in a thread here in the forum, so I went out and found an industry leader to talk to Mind Your Business about it. I'll tie it all together for you later.
Well done @Vigilante. Making moves.
Found you on PocketCasts!
Sure its my Fav Podcast Player!Can you put a link here? That is one I am not familiar with.
I think he wanted to see a link to his show on that platform. Can you just listen to any Apple podcast with it?Sure its my Fav Podcast Player!
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Man you're bringing so much value with this podcast... so glad you brought it back!Tomorrow (5/23) at 11AM Eastern is the Walmart episode of the Mind Your Business radio show.
Next Saturday (5/30) is @Kak with some irreverent commentary and a special announcement of his own that will be of interest to Fastlane Forum members.
The Saturday after that (6/6) I have a huge profile guest lined up, that will be announced later. Working out the details. It was sparked by a discussion in a thread here in the forum, so I went out and found an industry leader to talk to Mind Your Business about it. I'll tie it all together for you later.
I think he wanted to see a link to his show on that platform. Can you just listen to any Apple podcast with it?
Man you're bringing so much value with this podcast... so glad you brought it back!
I'm excited for the Walmart one tomorrow... I hope you talk about getting into Walmart and all that because my new brand is made for retail shelves! Have pre-launch interest from Sprouts (via KeHE), Vitamin Shoppe, Bristol Farms, UNFI and some smaller mom & pop grocery stores.
Another great episode, David! Can't wait for the next one. Here are my notes and several takeaways:
Into The Belly Of The Beast
The one takeaway: Walmart does not accept excuses from anyone (if only I can triple underline, anyone). Not their employees nor their executives.
This comes from Sam Walton’s philosophy of no excuses.
Expect more out of yourself, vendors, and employees. Don’t cheat yourself and create excuses as to why things aren’t where you want them to be.
Ruthless expense control. This means that you won’t see Walmart paying for the following:
- Large and aesthetically-pleasing offices.
- Class A office furniture.
Get used stuff, you don’t have to stock your company refrigerator with water that comes straight from the top of Mt.Fiji.
Be frugal with your business expenses; get only what you need.
------------------------------------------
I want to give my own opinion after hearing the ruthless expense control. I was actually talking to somebody about business and investing in your employees yesterday. Although it’s smart to cut expenses wherever you can, I think it’s important to continue to invest in your employees, make your team mates life more better, get them to enjoy working for your company and recommend to others working for your company. A big reason as to why places like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have so many applicants is because people genuinely want to work there. Money is definitely a large part of that deciding factor, but they also know that if they work at those companies… those companies are going to invest in their people.
We have a term for those companies, golden handcuffs. It’s harder than usual for people working at those companies to leave them.
This means, providing better working environments for their team members, good benefits, and overall making it a place where they don’t want to leave. In my case, what I’ll be doing is investing in things that make my team members life more easier and enjoyable.
I know that it’s much more common and acceptable for people to job-hop these days. But I’d like to create a business that people are fine with staying there for the long-term.
------------------------------------------
Continuing on...
The sundown rule – Do your best to answer requests from associates, customers, vendors by the end of the day on the end of the day you receive them. Show people that you respect other peoples’ time and that they’re important to you. Don’t leave people hanging.
Walton's 10ft rule – Anytime a customer or associate comes within 10ft of me I will smile, look at them in the eye, and greet them.
David’s 10ft rule – Anytime a customer or associate comes within 10ft of me I will smile, look at them in the eye, and ask if I can help them.
If you want a successful business… your people should feel like you’re working for them and not them working for you.
Core operating philosophy of Walmart: Anything that I do that doesn’t benefit the customer is a waste of time. Be customer-centric.
Keep a monthly “Correction of Errors” journal that has your sales activity, actions, wins & losses for that month. Look back at it constantly not to only see what you’ve gone through but compare and contrast. See what’s working, what’s not, and what you can do differently. This journal isn’t only meant for you to write in. Give your team mates/employees one as well.
EXPECT. MORE.
Be the best at whatever you’re doing.
Apply it to every aspect in your business and life.
Thanks for the notes @Ocean Man, and thanks for your INSIDERS tips @Vigilante.Another great episode, David! Can't wait for the next one. Here are my notes and several takeaways:
Into The Belly Of The Beast
The one takeaway: Walmart does not accept excuses from anyone (if only I can triple underline, anyone). Not their employees nor their executives.
This comes from Sam Walton’s philosophy of no excuses.
Expect more out of yourself, vendors, and employees. Don’t cheat yourself and create excuses as to why things aren’t where you want them to be.
Ruthless expense control. This means that you won’t see Walmart paying for the following:
- Large and aesthetically-pleasing offices.
- Class A office furniture.
Get used stuff, you don’t have to stock your company refrigerator with water that comes straight from the top of Mt.Fiji.
Be frugal with your business expenses; get only what you need.
------------------------------------------
I want to give my own opinion after hearing the ruthless expense control. I was actually talking to somebody about business and investing in your employees yesterday. Although it’s smart to cut expenses wherever you can, I think it’s important to continue to invest in your employees, make your team mates life more better, get them to enjoy working for your company and recommend to others working for your company. A big reason as to why places like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have so many applicants is because people genuinely want to work there. Money is definitely a large part of that deciding factor, but they also know that if they work at those companies… those companies are going to invest in their people.
We have a term for those companies, golden handcuffs. It’s harder than usual for people working at those companies to leave them.
This means, providing better working environments for their team members, good benefits, and overall making it a place where they don’t want to leave. In my case, what I’ll be doing is investing in things that make my team members life more easier and enjoyable.
I know that it’s much more common and acceptable for people to job-hop these days. But I’d like to create a business that people are fine with staying there for the long-term.
------------------------------------------
Continuing on...
The sundown rule – Do your best to answer requests from associates, customers, vendors by the end of the day on the end of the day you receive them. Show people that you respect other peoples’ time and that they’re important to you. Don’t leave people hanging.
Walton's 10ft rule – Anytime a customer or associate comes within 10ft of me I will smile, look at them in the eye, and greet them.
David’s 10ft rule – Anytime a customer or associate comes within 10ft of me I will smile, look at them in the eye, and ask if I can help them.
If you want a successful business… your people should feel like you’re working for them and not them working for you.
Core operating philosophy of Walmart: Anything that I do that doesn’t benefit the customer is a waste of time. Be customer-centric.
Keep a monthly “Correction of Errors” journal that has your sales activity, actions, wins & losses for that month. Look back at it constantly not to only see what you’ve gone through but compare and contrast. See what’s working, what’s not, and what you can do differently. This journal isn’t only meant for you to write in. Give your team mates/employees one as well.
EXPECT. MORE.
Be the best at whatever you’re doing.
Apply it to every aspect in your business and life.
Congrats on the great restart Vigilante - first time I'm hearing you on the Walmart story. I love hearing about the titans that came before us.
Do you have any distribution channels where you can play at various speeds? Ex: 1.5x 2x...?
May I also make an observation?
Personally, I've read and listened to a couple of books on sales. The 2 that stick out like a sore thumb are:
The reason I remember both is because they each gave individual scenarios of 1 person, performing a particular action, in relation to the lesson being presented.
- Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
- Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini
For example, in pre-suasion, Cialdini talks about how a little girl seeing a poster in a classroom of someone succeeding who looks like her. In effect, raising her own score because of the fact.
At the 12 min mark (sundown effect) in your podcast, I listened to it 3-4 times to understand it. I think a story afterwards would make a bigger impact. Just my 2¢
Thanks for the notes @Ocean Man, and thanks for your INSIDERS tips @Vigilante.
Things I’ll do different going forward:
1) Write a monthly journal.
I write daily and weekly notes, but have never sat down to look at them from a higher level.
2) “Expect more.”
I’ll think about how this applies to me. Personally, I’m not interested in being number one. I enjoy moving. People moving faster or slower than me doesn’t affect that. I’ll ponder this.
3) “Be ruthless with expenses.”
I’ve accumulated a few too many domains and subscriptions and am cutting them with glee. Similar for things that take up my time - I unsubscribed from pretty much everything and gave away most of my books. “If in doubt, throw it out.”
Things I think I do already but phrased / framed different:
1) “Be customer centric“.
I like the agreement on the wall that you signed. I like how it’s a filter that employees in Walmart view every activity they do. Whenever I get a bit bogged down I just ask myself “Does this help people?” or “Am I doing people a disservice by not doing this?”. It’s my hack for getting unstuck.
2) “No excuses.”
My take on that is “It’s my fault.” Whatever happened, it’s my fault. I refuse to waste time in forensic investigations to find out who’s fault it was. It’s mine. I’ll claim it. We’ll do XYZ differently going forward to prevent it happening again.
3) “Get paid to learn.”
Oh boy, I love this line and use it a lot.
Want to learn how to be a better business owner and run Google Ads?
> The scripted choice: Pay to learn. Pay for a Google Ads course. Pay for a business course.
> The entrepreneur’a choice: Get paid to learn. Get a client who pays you to run his Google Ads campaigns. Get paid to deliver. Learn what works and what doesn’t. (Learn how a business person thinks if you don’t deliver!)
4) I make eye contact, smile, and say hello to everyone (so long as they make eye contact back... haha.). It’s the easiest way to brighten someone’s day. It also means I live in a world of smiling people ... all for the price of smiling first.
I’m struck by how many micro-scripts Sam had. Little one liners that encapsulate so much.
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