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Content is king: what it means and why it’s important

C“Content is King.” I keep hearing this phrase on other podcasts that I listen to and on YouTube videos that I watch.

“Content is king, content is king.” So what exactly does this mean?

It means that you should focus on putting out good content frequently and consistently. You can brainstorm ideas and article topics all day long, but ultimately, you need to just create and publish insane amounts of quality content.

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If you look at any social media influencers accounts, you’ll notice they have content posting ALL THE TIME. It’s good stuff, it adds value, it teaches you helpful things, it gives you calls to action.

A few accounts to check out on Instagram or YouTube that I follow are:

  • Business / Personal Development Space
    • Kevin David
    • Dan Lok
    • Grant Cardone
    • Gary Vaynerchuck
    • Lori Grenier
    • Sara Blakely,
    • Etc.
  • Fitness models
    • Steve Cook
    • Christian Guzman
    • Heidi Somers (aka BuffBunny)
    • Michelle Lewin
    • Etc.

Those are some accounts that I personally follow. They share quality content, photos, videos, etc.

Look at the insane amounts of constant they post… it’s overwhelming almost, right? How does one post that much freaking content so often?

One thing that has been helping me lately is to batch these types of activities. Have a content creation day or photoshoot day. Take a bunch of outfits and take pictures in different spots around town or you or your products. Write up interesting, compelling captions and schedule out posts for every few days.

Ideally, you want to get to a point where you can outsource those tasks. You’ll notice that big YouTubers started off by doing everything by themselves. But after a certain point, they eventually hire out videographers to film them and edit the footage.

When you do this, you don’t have to always be thinking about your next post or photo to take.

I’m starting to do this more, but obviously I’m not a pro yet, or I would have way more followers on my social media accounts.

How many of you listening to my podcast or reading my blog post are huge consumers? If you’re not sure, does any of the following describe you?:

  • You listen to all the podcasts
  • You watch all the YouTube videos
  • You read all the books,

BUT you never:

  • Engage with or comment on anything
  • Post much on your own social media
  • Create any content such as podcasts or videos

If this sounds like you, you are a consumer. Hopefully you take action on all that quality content instead of just consuming without applying.

If you are just a consumer, you should really consider shifting over to being more of a producer. Start creating content and sharing with the world.

At first, it’s weird to get in front of camera to record a video. It’s strange hearing your voice when you’re editing your first podcast episode. You might ask “who am I to be sharing this with others?”

Personally for me, posting all this positive vibes and motivational stuff was transformational. But it felt so strange at first. Back in college, the only thing I used to post about was going out to parties and videos of me jamming with friends who played guitar. That is “who I was” and how people saw me.

I chose to reinvent myself as I am a new person now and have grown so much. Now, people who remember partying and drummer Chris are seeing more of my self-development and growth mindset content. And they are starting to associate those things with me, the new me.

A blog article I saw on scrunch.com mentions several good reasons why content is king. Here’s a few:

  1. It’s great for SEO, or search engine optimization.
    1. The more you talk about articles and posts and you use keywords and everything, you’re going to rank really well online.
    2. It’s going to be easier for people to find your content whenever they’re Googling stuff.
  2. It encourages engagement.
    1. If you have good content, it encourages your users to engage with your brand and with your posts.
    2. Maybe they’re going to share it with their audiences as well, and that helps it get more of that virality factor or high traffic.

I always post things in my instagram story that I love from accounts I follow. Just the other day, I shared the new “Summer Shredding” video that fitness influencer, Christian Guzman, released.

For those who may not know him, he’s a fitness model social media influencer from Houston. My brother knew him and followed him early on in the days before he blew up. This latest video was very inspiring and showed flashbacks from him 7 years ago making motivational videos.


He shows footage from when he’s clicking the button to order his first gym’s equipment. He had footage from another great video I saw where he buys his dad a car. He also has footage in this latest video from when his mom rang the bell at a hospital showing she was cancer free.

I’m usually not a super emotional person, but I freaking teared up. I’m so happy for him, but also incredibly inspired.

Now, Christian has over 1M Instagram followers and 916K YouTube subscribers. It’s incredible. But this serves at proof that by consistently producing high quality, engaging content, you will grow a loyal following and make a name for yourself.

I posted that video on my personal Facebook to share with others, which is a testament to the power of amazing content It shows that quality content WILL get shared and more views. Ultimately, this gets you more followers and you will continue to grow a loyal fan base. Maybe someone in my network will see the video that I shared and end up buying some clothes from Christian’s brand, Alphalete.

When you have that kind of content, you’re able to generate new sales and new leads. The more people that can find you and the more they value your opinion, you’re going to be more of an authority figure.

You’ll be able to add value to that product or service or you can probably charge more if people value your content. If it’s in demand, if everyone’s sharing it, if you’re the authority figure, you can demand and command a higher price. And the beautiful thing is, as long as the value that others receive is more than you charge, they will be more than happy to be a repeat customer.

Traffic gets you sales and followers. But you don’t magically get traffic. You need content to get traffic. Nobody will follow you if you don’t post anything.

Take my podcast as an example. You started listening to me. I started growing a following. If I posted every now and then when I just felt like it, I wouldn’t have half the audience I have now.

Now that I have a growing audience, I’m trying to figure out what to do next to add the most value for you all.

I’m trying to get focused and specific. A strategy a lot of people use is to be very niched down and focused (example: chat bot agency or affiliate marketing for ClickFunnels).

So I’m honestly brainstorming ideas of what the community focus would be, what my free ebook or lead magnet would be, and then what I could ultimately sell as a product or course.

I’m thinking it would be something with motivation or mindset to get someone who is driven but overwhelmed started off on the right foot. Then again, maybe you are further along and don’t need any of that fluffy stuff, so that might not be of value to you. That’s one of the challenges that I’ll have to work through since my podcast is pretty generic and covers a wide variety of topics in Entrepreneurship.  

There’s another site called Textbroker which has more good information on why Content is King.

This site says that content is central to the success of a website. The more content you have, the more people are going to come and find your information.

You position yourself as an expert. You improve your brand awareness.

Remember though, that you need to target and speak to a specific audience so that your message makes sense to them. If you’re trying to sell beef to a vegetarian, you’re mixing up your audience.

Be entertaining and informative with your content. Make sure that it is reader friendly if it is in written format, well-structured and error-free. And you want to optimize for search engines.

You basically live or die by your content. If you have a YouTube channel or a podcast, and your content sucks, you’re not engaging, you’re monotone…  it’s like watching a presentation from a really smart engineer who is boring as hell to listen to.

Picture a monotone, robotic speaker saying “This is how the product works, you can click this button…” blah blah blah. Boring.

Now picture a salesperson or a professional presenter who is passionate about what he or she is talking about and tells you in a way that is engaging and inspiring. They will get you excited about it as well and asking “how to I sign up?”

So if you’re on the consumer side, and you watch a lot of videos you read a lot books but haven’t quite made anything yet, this is my invitation to you to get started.

Pick a niche or area of focus and start creating content. It’s not going to be amazing right off the bat. But like I said on another episode, done is better than perfect.

Whatever it is that your field of interest is in, start researching it, blogging about it, posting about it. And perhaps most importantly , stay consistent.

Key Takeaways

Content is KING! Focus on producing quality content and doing it frequently. Make sure it is something relevant to your business or passion.

If you have a drone company, publish content about drones. Make cool videos with amazing drone footage. If you have a chat bot agency, make a Facebook group answering questions about chat bots, and establish yourself as the expert. People will go to you and support you when you add enough free value to them.

Remember to automate and outsource when you can to help free up time. If you can afford a virtual assistant or videographer, really consider getting somebody to handle the editing, filming, photography, etc.

You don’t need to be a pro at everything. Focus on content creation and let others do the editing, scheduling, etc. This will make your life much easier! I need to take this advice too… because I’m still spending quite a bit of time editing the podcast myself as well as footage for YouTube videos (and the videos are super basic)…

Daily Motivation

“It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”  I love this quote… just because you’ve always been a certain way or people see you as a certain type of person, it’s not too late to change. You can reinvent yourself, start over, decide who you want to be and then work on becoming that person until you eventually do.

Actionable Steps

Create a content plan if you don’t have one already. When I first started with my podcast, I promised to release a new episode every Monday, and I have honored that. I have since started to release a blog post AND a YouTube video along with a new episode every single Monday.

So now I’m technically publishing 3 pieces of content although they all tie together on a certain topic.

Figure out what your strengths are and focus on them. Work to outsource weaknesses such as video editing or podcast editing to a virtual assistant or company that can handle that for you if budget allows.

Shift from a consumer to a producer. It’s okay to consume and learn from others. But when you teach, you learn it twice. I learn so much from producing content because before I can teach it, I must understand it.

Start producing content today!

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

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Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast

Content is king: what it means and why it’s important – EMP076

Content is king! We hear this phrase all the time, but what exactly does it mean? It means that you should focus on putting out quality content frequently. 

If you have a product or service, you will not make any sales without being discovered. Adding value and getting known is your ticket to building a loyal fan base and eventually customers. 

 

Less dreaming, more doing. 

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

READ THE BLOG POST
https://chrisbello.com/content-is-king

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

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Improving communication skills

There’s a lot of tips and content on improving communication skills out there. I’m going to go through five of the ones that I think are most important.

#1 – Develop Confidence

First, develop confidence. This takes time and practice. As you get exposed to situations where you’re talking to more people, networking with more people, getting in front of more people, and communicating a message, you’re going to start to develop more confidence.

If you are shy or nervous, it’s going to come across with a shaky voice. If you want people to believe in you and whatever it is you are selling or talking about, you need to be confident about the message.

Research out there shows that improving your posture is a big part on building confidence, which leads me to point number 2:

#2 – Work on your body language

Don’t be slumped over in a chair at a meeting and hide in a corner. If you’re acting small, you’re going to sound small and your message might not come across.

You want to sit up straight when seated. Stand up tall when standing. Shake someone’s hand firmly when you meet. Don’t give a spaghetti noodle handshake that is flimsy and weak.

Show that you are able to meet others where they’re at and that you’re in a position of power as well. That will help you share a confident message.

You can feel a huge difference when you walk with your head up high and chest out versus dragging your feet with a slouched back.

#3 – Practice active listening

My third tip is to practice active listening. Make sure that you are listening to what people are saying. After all, people like talking about themselves and hearing themselves speak. So you can let them go right ahead.

When they are talking to you, be sure to say things like, “Right”, “Yes”, “Totally”, “I understand”, “I agree”.

I’m sure others have said this as well, but I’ve heard Grant Cardone saying to always agree with the person even if you don’t agree with them. If you are delivering a sales pitch and handling objections, you agree and then inform.

For example, let’s say someone says something you are offering is too expensive. You can respond “I understand that this is pricier, but our clients absolutely love this product because of the service they get from our team.”

#4 – Ask for feedback

Number four is to ask for feedback. After you do a presentation or whenever you speak to someone, ask them what they think, what their thoughts are, and for feedback.

They may have taken a message the wrong way or perhaps they were unclear on something you said. When you ask for feedback and get a feel from the people you are speaking with, you can understand what parts of your message or delivery might need to be worked on and improved.  

Tell them they won’t hurt your feelings if they didn’t like your pitch or your presentation or if they don’t like your product.

In sales, it’s better to get a yes or a no, not a maybe.

In a video I watched recently, entrepreneur Dan Lock talks about high ticket sales. If you haven’t heard of Dan, he’s hilarious but also has a lot of valuable content on YouTube, a podcast, and more.

In that video, Dan said that before you do a sales pitch or talk to someone about a product or service, say, “hey in my experience, most people who say ‘maybe’ mean no. So I would appreciate it if you just tell me yes or no if you’re not interested, just tell me no and it’s okay. If you’re interested, tell me yes and we’ll continue the conversation.”

Asking for feedback and making sure you’re clear about avoiding “maybe” can be very helpful in having a productive conversation.

#5 – Get comfortable with winging it

Last but not least, number five is to get comfortable with winging it and going with the flow.

It’s important to have a couple key bullet points sometimes on a note card or on a slide deck, but you don’t want to look like you’re reading word for word off of anything.

You should know your content and pitch well enough to cover basic points off the cuff where it sounds completely natural. You don’t want to sound like you’ve memorized a script.

How does one improve?

So how do you get better at all of this stuff? Well, it takes practice.

There is a great club called Toastmasters that helps you get better at your speaking. There are various chapter across the world.

When I worked in oil and gas, we had one at the office and it met for an hour at lunch every Wednesday.

One practice activity we did was to draw a paper out of a hat. The paper would start with a sentence or phrase that you would have to read.

You would then have to speak spontaneously off the cuff for 2 minutes without saying “uhms” or “ahs.”

The paper might start off by saying something like, “if I lived on the moon…” and basically they start a timer, and you’re supposed to talk for two minutes and make it sound interesting and grammatically correct.

So here’s an example, if I lived on the moon, I would not know what to do or how to sleep. I feel like I would wake up and I would be floating out into space. What would I eat can you use the restroom on the moon? How would that work?

See how practicing something like that can help you improve?  

Key Takeaways

Communication is so important! Make sure that you work on your skills and constantly improve.

The better and more clearly you can communicate a message, the better it will be received by others.

This is important whether you are making a Facebook video ad, doing a presentation, or even speaking to a group such as a Mastermind that you are a part of.

So real quickly, just to recap, here are the five communication tips again:

  1. Develop confidence.
  2. Work on your body positioning.
  3. Practice active listening.
  4. Ask for feedback.
  5. Get comfortable with winging it and going with the flow.

Daily Motivation

“Speech is power; speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Actionable Steps

Practice speaking and improving your communication in a mirror. Or perhaps record yourself speaking spontaneously on any subject for a few minutes.

Watch the video and feel free to cringe. The first time you do this, it’s not going to be pretty.

But like with anything, you get better with time.

Consider joining a group such as Toastmasters or working with a paid or professional speaker to get feedback and improve.

I’m fortunate right now to be getting feedback and coaching from a guy who was a paid speaker for 2 years across the nation. He would get on Zoom calls with a coach very often and get direct feedback.

The crazy thing is, he’s actually an introvert, but when he’s up in front of a room, you would never know it. He has great tonality, pitch, and his voice carries. He’s able to crack jokes, act natural, and go with the flow. It’s insane.

He said he does love it now, but he still gets drained after a lot of it and then goes home and just relaxes in the silence at times.

I feel like I’m pretty good at communicating and presenting, but feedback I’ve received before is that I tend to be monotone. Don’t believe me? Listen to the first few episodes of my podcast.

Now, I’m getting better of course. Instead of saying (INSERT MONOTONE VOICE) “welcome to my podcast…” I’m like (INSERT TONALITY AND EXCITEMENT) “WELCOME TO THE ENTREPRENEUR MOTIVATION PODCAST!!”

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

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Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast

Improving communication skills – EMP075

Communication is extremely important to making sure you message is conveyed clearly and effectively. Whether you want to make a Facebook video ad or deliver a presentation and sales pitch to an audience, how you say something is more important than what you say. Today I will dive into my top 5 tips for improving your communication:
  1. Develop confidence
  2. Work on your body positioning
  3. Practice active listening
  4. Ask for feedback
  5. Get comfortable with going with the flow
Less dreaming, more doing.  CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE https://chrisbello.com/ READ THE BLOG POST https://chrisbello.com/improving-communication SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/chrisbello09/
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Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast

How to face and conquer your fears – EMP074

Fear is something that we instinctively have. Back in the day, it helped us avoid life threatening situations. 

Today, we fear things that are usually not life threatening or altering. We let things like fear of public speaking or failure stop us from taking action. 

This episode serves to motivate you to take action as well as provide practical steps in order to overcome your fears. 

Less dreaming, more doing. 

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

READ THE BLOG POST
https://chrisbello.com/overcome-your-fears

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

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How to face and conquer your fears (take action today)

Today, I want to talk about facing your fears and facing the unknown.

Think of something right now that you are afraid of. Are you afraid of heights? Do you have fear of failure? Fear of messing up a presentation in front of an audience that you have to do?

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It’s natural for us to have that instinct of being afraid, of being fearful of the unknown, of trying something new that we’ve never done before. Back in the day, we needed fear for survival. That fear helped us avoid or escape situations that could literally be life threatening.

We’ve come a long way as a species. Many of us are fortunate to have shelter, food, and all the basic necessities in life. I’m assuming that if you’re listening to my podcast or reading this pot, you’re doing okay and have these basic necessities covered.

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We have vehicles that can transport us relatively safely and quickly from point A to point B. We don’t usually have to worry about a lion attacking us on the way to work.

This has resulted in us becoming fearful of other things. We aren’t afraid of hunting to put food on the table. We’re worried about things like getting a raise. Or starting a successful business. We are afraid of looking stupid if we try something new and fail.

Isn’t that crazy? Our worries and fears are so much more ridiculous today. I’m not making light of your fears.. I’m just saying that we often get inside our heads more than we should.

Don’t worry about what others think

Let me tell you something. You shouldn’t care what others think… I’m learning this more and more with time.

Have you ever seen older folks in the gym locker room? A lot of them walk around completely naked, without a care in the world.

They really do not care what others think, AT ALL. While I’m not suggesting you walk around in the nude in your local gym, I want to basically say that there are few things we really need to fear.

One thing that has really opened my eyes is traveling abroad. When you’re in a new country and you literally do not know a single soul, it is so incredibly liberating. Accidentally farted on the train? Whatever! You’ll never see those people again. Tripped over the curb and dropped your food everywhere? Big deal! Laugh it off.



Getting that perspective and coming home is so eye opening. Who really cares what Judy in the office thinks if you like to take your shoes off to air off your feet, or if you microwave fish for lunch and stink up the office? Be considerate of others, but don’t cater to everyone else’s every wish.

In any case, we have to understand that if it’s the first time we’re trying something new, we’re probably not going to be good at it. If you’ve never spoken in front of 50 people before, it’s not going to be a cake walk. But as you do it more and more, it becomes more natural. You get better, you are more prepared, and you level up.

I’m not going to lie, I still have my fears. I’m still going to shriek and jump if a spider crawls on me. But I am trying my best to conquer all of my fears within reason.

Obviously, practice makes perfect. If you practice something more and more you’re going to get better at it.

Try this out. Any time you are afraid, think of something that you did despite the fear you felt. Think about how it felt to step up and face that fear; to conquer it.

You probably realized that the thing wasn’t as scary as you expected it to be, right?

What are you afraid of?

If you have listened to my past podcast episodes and posts on my website, one fear I wanted to conquer was the fear of heights. This is something a lot of people truly fear.

I love hiking, but the thought of slipping and dying is a bit frightening. But I still hike. I don’t let that fear stop me from living my fullest life and experiencing everything the world has to offer.

Another example I talk about is skydiving. Jumping out of a plane? Sane people actually do that?

I actually haven’t been skydiving in awhile. But I would really love to get a high resolution photo of me skydiving soon. I can probably ask an instructor or another skydiver to get a few photos of me in free fall.  

I want to blow that picture up and put it on my wall with the words “fear nothing” beneath it.

And why does it have to be a photo of me? Why not just a cool one off of Google? I want a photo of me because I want to stare at it any time I am afraid to take action on something.

When I’m afraid to make a cold call or ask for a sale or step out of my comfort zone, that picture will remind me of the time I won a stare down competition with my fear of heights.

I can tell myself, “Dude, Chris. Why the hell are you scared to cold call this person? You have JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE MULTIPLE TIMES. You’ve done something that a tiny percentage of people in the world will ever muster up the courage to do. This cold call? It ain’t nothing! YOU ARE A BADASS. YOU GOT THIS!”

When’s a time that you had to metaphorically throw yourself out into a hard situation or a situation that you didn’t want to be in? You have likely been in uncomfortable situations before and pushed through. You survived! You’re still here!

Think about that time and consider writing down a list of a few of the things that you’ve done that you’re proud of. Some things that that were difficult for you that you overcame.

Anytime that you’re struggling to make a decision or you’re afraid to try something new, look at that list and remind yourself that you are a badass.

You’ve done this before. You’ve conquered the unknown. You’ve gone out into the dark night and what happens the next day?

The sun still rose.

You were okay.

Things didn’t turn out to be as bad as you might have thought. It’s kind of funny to think about. I remember a previous girl that I had dated… gosh, she was always so negative and it really put a drain on me.

I would be stressed and upset so often due to her negativity rubbing off on me.  

I truly believe in the law of attraction. You attract what you think about and what you focus on expands.

She would always be negative and complain. This only attracted more problems into her life!

I remember that she used to pull too close into a parking spot. I had graduated before her and moved back to Houston for work. She was planning on visiting me one weekend.

All in one week:

  • She scratched the side of her car on the grill of a big truck.
  • She bombed a finance test.
  • She got a speeding ticket on the way to visit me

She called me bawling after the ticket. I had to tell her “Calm down. It’s gonna be okay. It’s not a big deal. You’re going to live.”

Sure, that’s a bad week and the losses kept piling up, but I firmly believe that she attracted that into her own life by being negative.You ever notice how if you’re just in a bad mood, everything seems to suck? You stub your toe, you burn yourself with hot shower water, ugh!

I hope that things are better with her and that she’s more positive. But I’ve met so many people that are always anxious and freaking out about pretty insignificant stuff…

If you’re sweating the small stuff, life is going to be a bumpy ride.

Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Things don’t always go our way.

Change your perspective

One of my friends, Brett, recently went on a 10-day silent meditation retreat in India.

He put his phone away and everything, he had no technology. I would go nuts because I’m always on my phone listening to podcasts, Instagramming stuff, and all that, so major props to him for doing that. I’d like to try it out eventually myself.

He told me afterwards that he was so appreciative and just in total peace. He told me that after the retreat, a bird pooped on him. Previously, he might have been a little upset or annoyed, but now, he just ended up laughing and wiping it off because it’s not a big deal. It’s just bird poop.

How you frame things really makes a huge difference on your life. When you’re able to ignore these small inconveniences and not see them as problems, you have so much more mental capacity to focus on the major things in life that seem difficult or scary.

So, that’s my message for today. Really try to conquer your fears.

Getting in front of 20 people to speak, approaching a random person at a networking event, or asking a girl you like out is not as scary as it seems.  

We’re all human. I feel incredibly confident these days. I feel like I can go up to the President of the United States or a billionaire and shake their hand like it’s not big deal.

Yes, if I were to go meet someone I really look up to like Jeff Bezos or Mark Cuban or whoever, I would be all giddy and excited like, oh my gosh, I’m a big fan and love your work.

But at the end of the day, they are human just like you and me. They get sick. They have bad days. You can absolutely be in their place in the future with the right goals, mindset, and hustle.

Key Takeaways

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Many things that we fear are trivial in today’s world. Very few things we fear are truly life threatening or altering.

Focus on the big things, the challenging things, the things that scare you. Make a list of things you’ve conquered in the past to remind yourself of your capabilities and past successes when you are fearful of something or having self-doubt.

Daily Motivation

“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.” —Napoleon Hill

Actionable Steps

Consider making a list of past difficulties you overcame to motivate you when you face new ones.

Or you can also try to have a reminder for yourself, like a rubberband on your wrist to snap yourself when you’re thinking small. Or even put a post it note on your computer monitor reminding you that you are a badass and have endless potential.

So what’s there to fear? If it isn’t going to kill you, is it really something worth fearing?

Less dreaming, more doing. 

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

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The power of masterminds

Napoleon Hill writes about the  mastermind group principle as the “coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

He goes on to say “no two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

Basically, that means that two heads are better than one.

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For awhile now, I have wanted to be part of a mastermind of some sort.

I have been searching for a group of people to hold me accountable and to push me further.

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I’ve gone to several networking events, met some cool people, and all that good stuff, but it still is not the same as meeting a set group with some sort of frequency to discuss challenges and learnings.

I know that there are several online gurus and coaches who have masterminds of their own.

Typically, they seem to be in super niche areas such as Facebook ad or sales funnel agencies. They do zoom video calls weekly or monthly and then meet in person less frequently, perhaps once a quarter.

With technology these days, it’s very easy to jump on a video call with several people and get a lot out of the meeting. However, I think that being face-to-face is still so valuable. After all, if it wasn’t such a big deal, there wouldn’t be thousands of people going to various conferences and events every year.

I’ve heard of people paying $5000 to be part of groups and even more in a year. This is totally worth it if your mentor and the one leading the mastermind has visible success in the areas you want to succeed in.

However, for some of you starting off, $5000 is a lot of money to drop. While I would urge you to think of it as an investment where it can absolutely be worth it, for others that aren’t at the level to drop that kind of money, why not start your own or join one locally?

There’s a cool working/start up space in Houston called Station Houston. At one of the demo days where start up companies pitch to an audience, I met a guy name Safir who actually went to my university.

We probably have a ton of mutual friends, but I did not meet him until that event here in town.

We kept in touch and I noticed that he loves a lot of the same stuff that I do. He listens to Grant Cardone, Andy Frisella, Ed Mylett, and more. He successfully started and sold a food delivery business while in college and now has grown a laundry delivery service in the Houston area.

He reached out to me asking if I would be interested in starting a mastermind group, to which I replied, absolutely!

He invited a friend he recently made named Dom, who then invited two of his friends, Lilo and Mario, and the five of us met up for the first time last week.

We are not charging $5000 to be part of this group quite yet, but we are a group of like-minded individuals in the same geographical area that want to push each other to become the best version of ourselves. The first meeting was a get to know each other meeting and lasted three uninterrupted hours.

It was so amazing to hear everybody’s stories, when they learned they were entrepreneurial as kids, and where they are right now.

Dom shared that he had a CD selling side hustle at the age of 14. He made $4000 in a month or two! Incredible. His mom had no idea how he was coming up with all this cash.

Lilo and Mario own an AV company in town and have actually grown into two other cities over the past few years. I seriously had goosebumps listening to their stories of how they struggled at first, tried several business ideas out, and how far they’ve come.

They have been friends and business partners for years, and even their wives are best friends. What an amazing story.

Now we’ve only met once, but I got so much out of that meeting. Our plan is to meet every two weeks on the same day of the week, for two hours.

We also want this to be a tight knit group with 8-10 members, max.

We will have an agenda that we set in the previous meeting with a little bit of homework assigned to bring to the next meeting.

So for our next meeting, we all need to bring a couple slides or notes about tools and software that we use to make our lives easier.

This will be a way for us to share how we use tools it in our various businesses, because we are all in different markets, and see if we can take any of those things and apply them to our own businesses or lives.

I plan on sharing various tools such as Trello, Zapier, Clickfunnels, ManyChat, and more. Sure, it’s cool to watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, and all that good stuff to learn.

But this will be a way to get instant feedback from other people who might have faced the same challenges or similar ones that I’m facing.

We can all have goals that we hold each other accountable to (and this could be as simple as sharing the goals that I have already set for myself that my accountability partner holds me to on our weekly calls).

For those who are new to the podcast, I’ve mentioned before  that I have an accountability partner that I met at a networking event.

However, he lives in Dallas, about four hours from me, so we just do a weekly, one hour phone call. This mastermind group will give me the opportunity to meet with people in my city in person.

One thing that Dom mentioned in the first meeting was that we all need to be committed to this and really try our best to show up to every meeting. He didn’t want for this to be a “show up when you feel like it thing,” or else we are not serious.  

I love that. You’re telling me that this guy I just met for the first time is already holding me accountable? Did we just become best friends? Lol

The energy in the room seriously sent shivers down my spine. We were all so excited to be surrounded by like-minded individuals, that listen to the same content, that are on the same journey to create the life of our dreams.

We agreed that it’s so hard to have these types of conversations with other people in our lives such as old friends or even family.

Many people don’t care about the things that we are interested in, and interests and friends change over time.

For example, I’m in a group text with friends that I used to jam with all the time. I’ve played the drums for years but I have not played as much lately at all.

They were excited about a new album or tour that’s coming up, and I was busy doing other things and never even replied in the group text. They’re still my friends and I still love them, but I’m just not as into the going to concerts and jumping into mosh pits anymore.

So if you are not part of a mastermind or group that hold each other accountable, I highly recommend that you look for one in your area or online. I still feel like a local is better because you could meet up for drinks or food and get to know each other better as opposed to just doing a zoom call.

However, I did tell people in the room that I expect us to outgrow the room. If someone grows faster than the rest, they should absolutely find another group where they can continue to be pushed and grow.

Eventually, they may join other masterminds where the entry fee is $5000 or $10,000 or even more. I am definitely in pursuit of getting in rooms where I am the smallest person in the room.

For example, Safir and I are going to the Arete Syndicate Live event that Andy Frisella and Ed Mylett are putting on in St. Louis on April 6th.

I got an email from Andy and Ed and I bought tickets on day one (it actually sold out in 2 or 3 days).

I have a previous blog post that talks about investments versus expenses mindset. I wonder how many friends of mine would think I’m crazy to spend $600 for a ONE day event. And yes, that’s just the entry fee. That does not include flights and hotel. I’m sure my parents would not understand. But I look at it as an investment.

The event sold out. Clearly people find tons of value, or maybe we are all equally insane. Andy and Ed are both millionaires, and I will get to be in the same room as them, ask them questions, and maybe even eat dinner at their table or near them.

$600 for that opportunity is actually pretty affordable when you look at it that way. People don’t bat an eye when they pay $40 bucks for a movie ticket and popcorn, yet they think $600 is insane to get mentorship and feedback from millionaires. Funny, right?

So, I challenge you to examine the room you are in and decide if it’s the right room. Are your friends and peers pushing you to grow, continue to set and achieve larger goals? Or are they excited for 5 o’clock to hit so they can run home and turn the TV on?

Seriously folks, surround yourself with people who are proud of their accomplishments but are never satisfied. Get around people who continue to raise the bar.

Key takeaways

Look at where you are in life now, you were hanging out with, and who is holding you accountable.

If you are surrounded by average people that don’t push you to be better, entrepreneurship  can be a lonely and difficult road. You can only motivate yourself so much.

However, when you find other high-performing individuals that are equally driven and hungry to succeed, the energy in the room is insane and helps hold your feet to the fire.

When the person to your right or left is making 10X what you are making, your perspective on what’s possible changes.

Check this out. Let’s say you are in the corporate environment. Everyone around you makes $50K a year. You make $60K a year, which makes you think you’re doing pretty good.

When you go out to these conferences or you join groups of people who are making six figures IN A MONTH, $60K in a year ain’t so great, is it?

So evaluate your room. If you are the biggest person in the room, it’s time to level up and change rooms.

Daily motivation

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room!” – I heard Grant Cardone say this in an audiobook so I’ll give him credit, but I’m sure it’s been said by many others as well.

Actionable steps

Go to meetup.com or Google masterminds in your city. Try to find some like-minded people and maybe even just go to a few networking events to meet a few potential candidates.

If there is not one in your area, consider joining one online where are you do you zoom calls and then meet in a physical location with some frequency. Note that the higher level players in the group, the higher the entry fee will likely be. But of course, think of it as an investment instead of just an expense.

You could also consider starting your own.  I can definitely see the value of joining others that are established instead of trying to figure out how to optimally hold each other accountable and all that stuff.

I think it is fun and I’m looking forward to growing together with the group, but as I continue to level up it increase my income, I may seek out bigger players to learn from to continue the growth.

One guy in our mastermind said that as soon as anyone is not getting value out of the group, it may be time to end the group. I totally agree with that.

The mentors that I have right now in real estate wholesaling pay to be part of a local mastermind type of group.

Their group has all sorts of business owners, from those who are building out year long projects and have no profit yet, to others who are currently doing millions of dollars of annual revenue.  

How cool is that for the people who are just starting off? Hopefully, those at the top still have something to learn from the others, but they should be changing rooms too if they find it they are not being pushed enough.

If you are already in a mastermind, I’d love to hear your feedback and comments on it. Drop me a comment or DM on Instagram and let me know what you think! My IG handle is chrisbello09.

Go out there and crush this week! I’ll talk to you on the next episode.

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

READ THE BLOG POST
https://chrisbello.com/mastermind

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

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Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast

The power of masterminds – EMP073

Napoleon Hill writes about the mastermind group principle as the “coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

Today’s episode talks about surrounding yourself with like-minded people so that you can hold each other accountable and push each other to new heights. 

Less dreaming, more doing. 

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

READ THE BLOG POST
https://chrisbello.com/mastermind

SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

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https://www.instagram.com/chrisbello09/

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Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast

Become an Early Riser with Schuyler Diehm – EMP072

Today’s episodes features an interview with Schuyler Diehm of the Early Risers Movement. 

Schuyler’s story and background sounds eerily similar to mine… in fact, I’m sure many first time entrepreneurs have a similar background.

In this episode, Schuyler peels back the onion on where he started, what he’s up to now, and how he’s been growing a loyal following by focusing on VALUE first.

Big shout out to our mutual friend, Brett, who introduced us.

In this episode, Schuyler will talk about:

  • How he started lifting weights to combat insecurity
  • Overcoming struggle with social anxiety
  • Realizing that he does not have to fit in with the crowd
  • Seeing coworkers just “showing up to work” and knowing that he was destined for more than the corporate life.
  • Quitting his job to start his own business
  • Feeling terrible about laying on his couch and sleeping in, and what he did to become productive
  • The power of structuring your day
  • Schuyler’s definition of an “Early Riser”
  • Some of the challenges Schuyler faced when starting his business
  • Schuyler’s first workbook, The Snooze Stopper, geared towards waking up early and starting your day on a positive note
  • Implementing and feeling gratitude daily life

Links to follow Schuyler and the Early Risers Movement:

Website: www.earlyrisersmovement.com
Instagram: @earlyrisersmovement
Facebook: Early Risers Facebook Group
Podcast: Early Risers Podcast

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

READ THE BLOG POST
https://chrisbello.com/Become-an-early-riser

SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/chrisbello09/



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Blog Posts

Become an Early Riser with Schuyler Diehm

Today’s episode is an interview with a new friend, Schuyler Diehm. A mutual friend of ours, Brett, introduced us (big shout out to Brett for connecting us!).

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In this interview, Schuyler and I talk about a lot of things. We talk about how he started lifting weights to combat insecurity. We also talk about how he overcame struggling with social anxiety.

These are all issues that many of us undergo. After college, Schuyler realize that he did not have to fit in with the crowd. He could create and follow his own path.

He did the thing that most of us do and got a corporate job as an accountant. He would see his coworkers just show up to work in that they were not happy. (hey, this kind of sounds eerily similar to my story!)

Schuyler knew that he was destined for more than this corporate life and quit his job to start his own business.

Schuyler talks about a period of time before starting the corporate job or even quitting that job where he had some time to enjoy his last days as a “free man.” 

During these “free days,” he found that he would lay around on the couch most of the day and sleep in, hitting “snooze” several times. He would work out in the afternoon still, but he still felt lethargic and unproductive.

Around this time, he discovered the power of structuring your day. Schuyler now has a podcast and a following called the Early Risers Movement. He shares these discoveries with others and works to turn followers into what he calls “early risers.”

According to Schuyler, an early riser is anyone who gets up earlier than they have to in order to get some time in for self-development. So for example, if you usually wake up at 9:00am to get ready for work, and you decide to get up at 8:30am to focus on yourself for 30 minutes, you are an early riser.

I probe into some of the challenges he faced when starting his business. Schuyler shared that the hardest part was building something he thought was a good product, only to realize that people didn’t just magically come and purchase.

Again, the story is very similar to mine… Schuyler has shifted his approach to focusing on adding value first, instead of trying to make an immediate sale.

Schuyler created his first workbook which is called The Snooze Stopper. This workbook is geared towards waking up early and starting your day on a positive note.

One tip that he really recommends trying out is to implement and feel gratitude daily in your life. As you do this, you’ll notice that your days will seem to get better and you will be happier. Your life might not even change drastically, but when you start focusing on things you are grateful for, everything gets better overall (what you focus on expands).

Be sure to check out Schuyler’s content and grab yourself a copy of the Snooze Stopper, available on his website and on Amazon. I will post all of the links to get in touch with him and follow him below.

I hope you enjoyed this interview. If you’re a “serial snoozer,” this message will help you stop hitting snooze and start living an amazing and productive life!

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Links to follow Schuyler and the Early Risers Movement:

Website: www.earlyrisersmovement.com
Instagram: @earlyrisersmovement
Facebook: Early Risers Facebook Group
Podcast: Early Risers Podcast

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com/ 

READ THE BLOG POST
https://chrisbello.com/Become-an-early-riser

SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/chrisbello09/

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