Category Archives: Entrepreneur

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2018

Change is good

The week after Christmas, I had some down time. I loved it. It gave me time to reset and reboot. It gave me time to think. Most importantly, it gave me time to rest.

I spent most of my downtime with my family. Life is good when I am surrounded by my family.

January 1st is really just a day like all others, but it definitely affects me. I can’t help but love the potential of a new year. I can’t help but think about what could be in 2018. I love it.

Some people argue whether you should have resolutions or goals and how quickly you will fail them. I have resolutions. It is just what I call them.

I have areas of my life that need to change. I need to change them. I am resolved to make changes. Yes, I most definitely may fail some (or even many), but I am resolved to make significant and important changes in my life. I like that we can use the first day of the first month of the year as a benchmark of where we are and where we are going.

I have some specific “places” that I want to go and I have some specific targets that I want to hit.

My biggest one: I want to change my business. I want to enjoy running a business that is all me. The other day, I went shopping with my oldest son for a new guitar. We found one and it just looked like it belonged to him. It looked like that is what my son would be holding if he could have any guitar he wanted.

That is what my business should be. It should fit like a tailored suit. (FYI – that is how your business should look too.) It should be a mirror to your core and reflect you.

I am going to struggle with this. I am going to struggle to be authentic and to make sure that I follow my heart when it comes to this business.

You may ask, why?

Simple. I don’t trust my real vision. I fear that others will not embrace it. I fear that it will not grow to be what I hope that it can become.

For years, I have struggled with explaining what I do. It has been something of a lie. I have tried to come up with the right words for the right things to say so that my business will connect with the right paying clients. But the real reason I struggle with how I need to explain what I do is because I am trying to tell the wrong story. I have been avoiding the reality of what my core vision for this business really is and therefore I am not telling an authentic story. And that is why I can never come up with the right set of words to describe what I do for my clients.

But I have come to a conclusion that I can no longer live that way. I have to finally unleash the kraken and let this business go where it deserves to go.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this. It has been a confession of sorts. But mainly it is a public announcement of my intent.

No longer will I try to hide from my real vision and dream.

If you want to find out what that is, please come back and visit this blog. I am pulling back the veil and will be uncovering the business I will be running in 2018 (and hopefully many years after).

If you own a business, I am the hired gun that helps you create a battle plan for your business. I have an armory of business growth strategies and tactics to help equip you to grow your business.

I will end this post with a quote from Og Mandino:

Today I begin a new life. … Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not, for today I am a new man, with a new life.

– Catalyst John

 

cat·a·lyst: an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action

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I’m sorry, but failure does not make you more successful.

 

I hate this insanity and propaganda of how you just need to fail more.

Stop it, please.

No one failed himself or herself to the top. Our “celebrity” entrepreneurs we love and admire refused to quit. Yes, they messed up and failed, but it wasn’t their failures that made them stronger. Instead, it was their resilience. They persisted to the top. Once again, they did not fail themselves into success.

“No longer will I dwell in a pit of despair, moaning over squandered time and lost opportunity. I can do nothing about the past. My future is immediate. I will grasp both hands and carry it with running feet…

I do not fear failure, for in my life, failure is a myth. Failure only exists for the person who quits. I do not quit.

I am courageous. I am a leader. I seize this moment. I choose now.”

 – Andy Andrews

Anyone who encourages you to fail is helping you take your eyes off of the target. No one in their right mind would want to fail on purpose.

If you believe in them, then make sure you don’t fill up your gas tank the next time the low fuel light comes on. One morning you will fail to get to work on time because you ran out of gas. You will overcome it, but it will not make you stronger because you never needed to overcome that adversity.

So instead of focusing on your next fail, skip this ridiculous trend and go do something to get you closer to your dream.

When you do fail, get up quickly and brush yourself off. Then continue to focus on the realization of your dream instead of your next failure. It is about how you push through failure and not how many times you fail.

 – Catalyst John

My friends Jen McDonough, Nick Pavlidis and Susie Miller are are hosting a FREE webinar next week.

It centers around how to get your spouse on board with your entrepreneurial dreams.

They would love to have you join…just click HERE (http://www.astrongermarriage.com/signup/) to sign up (replays will be sent out to those that can’t make the 2 live events).

Date: July 21, 2015
Time: 09:00 pm
Event: A Stronger Marriage (for Entrepreneurs)
Public: Public
Registration: Click here to register.
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Never stop…whatever you do, do not stop…

Image courtesy of posterize at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of posterize at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Never stop…whatever you do, do not stop.

This was some of the best advice I have ever received. I was about to run up several flights of stairs while holding a ram and my friend reminded me how to beat this stage of the SWAT tryouts. The ram is a dynamic entry tool that helps you remove the front door from the house that you are trying to enter. I love this sales description: “35 lbs of door-shattering fury.”

I’m was standing by at the bottom of the stairs. An instructor started the time and told me to move! I hit the first step and gripped tighter on the ram. I focused on touching the chain link fence at the very top of the stairs. About halfway up, my legs were on fire and my lungs were screaming. I kept repeating “never stop” in my head and continued up the stairs. I concentrated on the next step and then the next step… I pushed through the pain and kept moving up each step. I simply refused to stop.

I hit the top of the stairs and hit the fence with the ram. I took my time walking back down the stairs since my legs were like jello. I sat down and waited for the EMT to check my vitals. At least a dozen of us waited for the EMT to declare that we would not code out from the demanding tryouts.

Even though this advice was for a very specific SWAT obstacle, I have used it a lot in business and life. When I’m out for a run or I’m about to sit down to tackle the next obstacle of growing my business I remember that advice.

“Never stop…whatever you do, do not stop.”

Success comes from perseverance, from pushing forward when the people around you are falling out, and from sweat equity.

Success is achieved when you never allow yourself to stop moving up those stairs.

What is that thing in your business that you need to tackle like a SWAT operator? What have you allowed yourself to stop pursuing? Where have you lost momentum?

– Catalyst John

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Planting Seeds For Your Business

unsplash-farm-vladimir-kudinov-kraken

I love when things outside of our industry can inspire us. Today, I want to use farming to inspire you. Like the farmer, you are a seed planter. You till the ground, plant the seeds, fertilize and water them, and wait for the harvest.

One of my clients, who was amazing to work with, took one year before he committed to a coaching package. We talked off and on throughout the year and it appeared that he wanted coaching, but he just wasn’t ready to commit. I really wasn’t sure if he was ever going to become a client. However, just under the year mark he sent me the payment and the coaching began.

One time, a friend of mine that I once thought was a prospect that never turned into business invited me out to breakfast. At the end of breakfast, he wrote me a check for his first month of coaching. I was shocked. I really thought that I was just meeting my friend for breakfast and conversation like we had many times prior.

Here is where the life of the entrepreneur is different than the farmer. Sometimes the harvest takes us by surprise.

– Catalyst John

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Does the transaction stop once you get paid?

unsplash-jeff-sheldon-when-does-the-transaction-end-krakenWhen does your business transaction end? Most entrepreneurs believe that it is over once they deliver their product and/or service and get paid. I think that this is just when it starts. I want to separate myself from all the other entrepreneurs and that is why I make sure to follow up after the transaction.

Imagine how your clients would feel if they received a hand written card in the mail from you thanking them for their business. Now imagine if you did that and then gave them a follow-up call two weeks later to make sure that they were getting value from the product (or service) you sold them.

(This is also an amazing way to respond to a prospect that does not buy from you.)

Now, let’s take this a step further. What if you sent them a card (not an advertisement) on their birthday, wedding anniversary, or the holidays?

What if you regularly reached out to your “old” customers and checked in on them. I schedule reminders to help me keep in touch with prospects and former clients. I don’t do it to sell to them; however, I bet you can imagine how well they would receive news of an exciting opportunity for them to spend more money.

An interesting side effect occurred that I did not realize. The other day, someone on Facebook was pretty rude to me. All of a sudden, I saw the post blow up with comments as my friends and clients immediately engaged the guy. I never had to respond because my audience did. You can’t buy that kind of loyalty. However, you can build amazing relationships simply on how you act after the sale.

Don’t let the relationship end just because you received payment.

– Catalyst John

How do you follow up with your clients?

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You’re just one person away from true success

Thanks to Unsplash.com & Nicolai Berntsen for this photo.

 

I want to tell you a secret. I was thinking about how you are more than enough and thought about writing about that, but then I realized what really needed to be said tonight.

You are just one person away from success.

The secret is that the one person is you. Yes, you. Yes, the person reading this.

The secret is that you have to be uniquely you. Today, I ate a sweet corn cookie. I didn’t know they even existed, but the amazing folks behind the Poor Porker introduced me to this amazing baked item. Like this crazy cookie, you are uniquely awesome. It is time to let your true self be free.

Your unique customers are very excited that they are about to meet you, the real you.

Be yourself. Be amazingly successful!

– Catalyst John

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Kevin Cleary, CEO of Clif Bar & Company on American Ninja Warrior!

american-ninja-warrior

I am a huge fan of American Ninja Warrior and was surprised to see a CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation as one of the people on the course. Kevin Cleary showed up and took on the course. He didn’t make it, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Are you living true to your life? Are you the CEO or entrepreneur that is going to be caught living that lifestyle that your audience expects from you? Right now, I’m overweight and I’m not showing up in one area of my life – my physical fitness.

I have committed to a goal of running multiple obstacle courses every year. I have signed up for a zombie run in October and even though I may not make my second one this year, I plan on being able to complete multiple courses next year (I’m thinking of 3-4 as my target number).

What is missing in your life as the entrepreneur behind the business?

 

– Catalyst John