This week I’m joined by one of the most successful podcasters in the US: Mr John Lee Dumas! We take a deep dive into how to start a successful business, what you should NOT do and how you should go about winning over your audience. Starting a business or creating a content channel is a tough game and that’s why John Lee Dumas is here this week… to help give us a head start in our business ventures. We go into the mistakes that people make when modelling themselves on other businesses, how to connect with people who are more than average and tricks of winning over a new audience. This is an inspiring episode that is dedicated to those of you who want to start a business or a successful content channel. John Lee Dumas is an American podcaster, internet personality, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Entrepreneurs on Fire where he interviews the world's most successful entrepreneurs. John Lee Dumas is widely regarded as one of the best viral entrepreneur podcasters in the United States, who started his entrepreneurial career in 2012 and until 2019, has generated over $16 Million in revenue through his podcasts. Hit subscribe, join the community, and get involved in the conversation. Let us know in the comments: What are your entrepreneurial business goals for this year?
This week I’m joined by one of the most successful podcasters in the US: Mr John Lee Dumas! We take a deep dive into how to start a successful business, what you should NOT do and how you should go about winning over your audience.
Starting a business or creating a content channel is a tough game and that’s why John Lee Dumas is here this week… to help give us a head start in our business ventures. We go into the mistakes that people make when modelling themselves on other businesses, how to connect with people who are more than average and tricks of winning over a new audience. This is an inspiring episode that is dedicated to those of you who want to start a business or a successful content channel.
John Lee Dumas is an American podcaster, internet personality, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Entrepreneurs on Fire where he interviews the world's most successful entrepreneurs. John Lee Dumas is widely regarded as one of the best viral entrepreneur podcasters in the United States, who started his entrepreneurial career in 2012 and until 2019, has generated over $16 Million in revenue through his podcasts.
Hit subscribe, join the community, and get involved in the conversation.
Let us know in the comments: What are your entrepreneurial business goals for this year?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. One of the mistakes people make when running or starting a business is that they look at other businesses doing big launches and think that if they just copy the strategy they’ll win big... but in reality... the actual net profits aren’t as high as they thought.
2. Find someone who is currently where you want to be and use them as a mentor.
3. You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
4. You’re not stuck with just meeting from the people in your local area; find a few people that you can mastermind with and meet with them weekly. They’ll help you to stop procrastinating, get things done and grow in the most important areas.
5. John believes that to begin a remote business and lifestyle you need to be financially successful, location independent and adventurous.
6. Having a small and mighty audience is going to win over a large less engaged audience.
7. If you’re thinking about creating content, identify what your audience’s single biggest problem is and create the solution.
8. Try not to be a person of success but a person of value.
BOOKS
The Passive Investing Playbook - https://theinvestormindset.com/passive
LINKS
Entrepreneurs on Fire - https://www.eofire.com/
Twitter: @johnleedumas
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eofire
Learn more about our fund opportunities - https://www.vonfinch.com/fund
Learn more about investing with Steven at https://theinvestormindset.com/invest
Join the MultiFamilyMBA and get exclusive free training:
https://theinvestormindset.com/mfmba
Steven: [00:00:00] What are some of the biggest misconceptions, beliefs and problems that new entrepreneurs or new investors deal with on a day to day basis? Well in today's episode, we got John Lee Dumas, a prolific podcaster with millions of listeners every single month, who is going to be talking specifically about what are some of the challenges people deal with and how you can break through, you're not going to want to miss it. Let's get to it in this episode.
INTRO: This is The Investor Mindset Podcasts and I'm Steven Pesavento. For as long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with understanding how we can think better, how we can be better, and how we can do better. And each episode we explore lessons on motivation and mindset from the most successful real estate investors and entrepreneurs in the nation.
Steven: [00:00:52] Welcome back to the Investor Mindset Podcast. I'm your host, Steven Pesavento. And today we have a very special guest, John Lee Dumas, who is the host of Entrepreneur on Fire, an award-winning podcast where he interviews entrepreneurs who are at the top of their game, with over 2500 episodes over a million plus downloads a month, and over seven figures of annual revenue. He's built an incredible business and inspired millions of people. And in today's episode, we're going to be diving into some phenomenal tips. So let's just get right over to John.
Steven: [00:01:27] What I'm curious about is you've coached hundreds, if not 1000s, of entrepreneurs and investors, what is the biggest misconception, belief or mistake that they make when getting started or when they're in the middle of running and trying to grow their business?
John: [00:01:42] They look at people that are 1-10 steps ahead of them, and they see these six figure launches, the seven figure launches, and they say, oh, like, that's doable, but they don't know behind the scenes, they don't know behind the curtains. And I'm kind of going in this direction, because I know that you're an investor focus podcaster so the people that listen get the numbers, which is why I love talking about this stuff. And you know, it's just a shame when somebody is looking up to an individual that may have this multiple six figure launch, they're like, well, if I just do what they do, and I get to build out a big team, I spend six figures on ads, and I do X, Y, and Z and I launch this course, I'm going to make six figures too. But the reality is, that person may have cleared after they paid their team, after they paid their ads, after they pay their taxes, after they paid all their expenses, through clearing $5/15,000. And I know this, because I talk to these people, I coach these people, I've mentored these people, they've been in my masterminds before, I know these behind the scenes things because they struggle behind them, and they're like, John, I'm not lying, I'm showing my actual numbers, my gross revenue but where's all the money for me at the end of the day when I'm doing these six, and sometimes, by the way, even seven figure launches they are like, where's all the money and it's not there. And by the way, that's a huge reason we can talk about this more later, if you want to, why I moved four and a half years ago to Puerto Rico, to pay 4% total tax because you can make money anywhere in the world, but oh, man, you cannot become wealthy, being 50 plus percent tax on money you're making, on real estate investments, different ballgame, for sure. But I'm talking about making money. So that's one of the biggest misconceptions out there, one of the biggest mistakes people make when they're starting off is they're looking to the wrong people, they don't get the real numbers, and that's why for 86 months in a row, we've published 100%, transparent monthly income reports and we bring on our accountants to give a tax tip, a lawyer to give a legal tip, and we say we are so focused on not just the gross revenue on the net profit, that's what we want to share with the world. That's where you win.
Steven: [00:03:51] So important to remember, because when I was growing in the single-family flipping space, I hit a million dollars in revenue, but I said that same thing to myself, where's the profit? We made good money, but I didn't make a million, and so it's such a good reminder to have that in the back of your head. So when people realize that they're looking too high up the ladder from where they are, that they're looking at people who are so far into their career, how do you recommend that people change the direction of who they're looking up to, and getting realistic about what to expect when they're growing their business.
John: [00:04:26] So number one, you need to find somebody who is currently where you want to be. So for me, back in 2012, I wanted to be a successful business podcast host. Did I go after Richard Branson, or Mark Cuban or fill in the blank of somebody else -- Marcus Lemonis? First of all, they wouldn't have even acknowledged me but number two, they wouldn't have been good mentors for me period, because I want to become a successful business podcast host. So I went and found a successful business podcast host, and guest what? She was able to mentor me to become just that, because she had just been down that path within the last year. So she told me the potholes to avoid, the shortcuts I could take. She helped me build my network and connections so much faster than I would have otherwise done by myself. That was key. So where is it that you want to be in 12 months? In 18 months? In 24 months? Do you want to own you know, 24 storage units? Do you want to own seven multi-family homes? Do you want to own one single family home that you're [00:05:34 Unintelligible]? Like, what is it that you want to do? Now go find somebody who's currently doing that exact same thing, because I'm getting a little bit out of my expert zone here, but the reality is, I'm assuming that it's pretty similar in the real estate world as it is, in most other places is, just because a person's crushing it, seeing the storage in a space doesn't mean that they're also going to be amazing in the townhome space, you want to find people who are great in their lanes for the lane that you're going to be so find that person who's currently where you want to be learn from them. That's the focus.
Steven: [00:06:11] Yeah. It's so important and it's so similar between building a business like you've built and building a real estate business, you got to find people who are successful, I know you run in are a part of multiple masterminds, what impact have masterminds and getting in community been able to do for you and for the members that you've been around?
John: [00:06:30] So the reason why I end every one of my podcast episodes with the quotes, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, which is a Jim Rohn quote, is because it's so flipping true. You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And the reality is, most of us are surrounded by pretty average to below average people, and I'm just talking about average, not like on a kindness level, or a generosity level, or I'm talking about just on a financially successful level, their average to below average, and that's going to be your average. So your mastermind allows you to get out there and just say, okay, I'm not stuck to just the people in my town or my city, or my region, I can literally look globally and find 2/10 people, and again, it doesn't have to be 10 doesn't have to be 2, it can really be the number that you know is right for you as far as people in your mastermind. But I can find those people and meet them on a weekly basis, be held accountable by them, be encouraged by them, be supported by them, and do the same to them. By the way, hold them accountable, be supportive to them, because that's where the power of the mastermind lies, you are going to get stuff done, that you otherwise would be procrastinating on. Like there's one thing that I hear almost every single week, when my mastermind meets, and I'm telling you, it's almost without fail. One of the people in the mastermind goes to share the success for the week, they raise their hand, they say you know what? It was Sunday night, I was not going to do this even though I said last week I was going to get this done in one week, but Sunday came and I was tired it was a long day my football team lost, I wasn't going to do it but then I knew that I was going to meet with you guys tomorrow and there's no way I was going to stand here and say that I didn't do it. So I got it done, and boy, am I glad. And I'm telling you, that is such a consistent thing that I hear every single of those masterminds and to your point in your comment right there. It's so huge, because procrastinating on that one thing one time, it becomes a negative spiral. And it drags you down but the flip side, you just suck it up and do it. Now it's a momentum for the positive, and it's so important, so huge. If you're not part of a mastermind right now, you are absolutely not reaching your potential.
Steven: [00:08:59] I 100% agree. It's been a complete game changer for me in my life and business, the ability to launch a podcast, to be able to build the kind of business that I'm building. I'm curious, when you moved to Puerto Rico, I know that you're hanging out with people who all have that same mindset, the ability to build a business remotely. For example, my aunt and uncle, you may know them Kevin Smith and Amy Smith, I think. And you're surrounded by a bunch of people that are all in that same mindset. How has moving to Puerto Rico in particular made a big impact on you. Obviously, it's made impact on your pocketbook, which we can talk about, but on just being in community with other people just like you
John: [00:09:39] Yeah. Kevin Smith is great. I launched a mastery journal a couple years ago and he's actually somebody that came in bought 100 [00:09:47 Unintelligible] to give to everybody in his office and community and his mastermind group which was very kind of him to support me like that so much love to him and Amy for sure. And I call Paul [00:09:58 Unintelligible] the funnel. As the funnel, there's just those two words. You know, we all know the thing about the business funnels, but like, this is the funnel, because to come to a place like Puerto Rico, you need to have certain ingredients. Number one, you have to be financially successful because guess what, unless you're financially successful, you're not paying a lot of taxes because unless you're making money, you're not paying taxes. So if you're not making that much money, you don't go to a place to save on taxes, because you're not paying your taxes anyway, that's how our system is set up which I agree with the tax system for the most part. So that's one thing. Number two, you're location independent, you built a business you can operate from anywhere in the world, and that just makes you a more fun person in my experience. And then number three, you're adventurous, you are literally coming to the south east corner of an island 1200 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean, where 96% of the population does not speak English and you're just coming out here. It's beautiful. Yes. It's amazing weather? Yes. But there's plenty of negatives I could talk about too. I mean, Puerto Rico, despite being an American territory, is essentially a third world country. Man, when you find your people and you find your tribe and you find your community like you're seeing behind me, this is my house right here; this is my backyard, this is my community behind me, all these houses back here, and by the way, Kevin lives in one of those is Palmas Del Mar, it's 3300 homes, in a gated community, two golf clubs, 20, tennis courts, 17 restaurants, believe me, it's pretty high class living for the most part. But there's still challenges of living here, and you have to have those three things, financially successful, location independence, and adventure and you combine those three things into a human being, man, the person that comes out of that funnel is awesome.
Steven: [00:12:02] Yeah. Huge and to break everyone's limiting beliefs, my aunt and uncle, for example, are the top producing real estate agents in the mountain towns of Colorado. So they are the most location dependent type of business you can have, and they still were able to go and create a location independent lifestyle. So switching gears here with the few minutes we have left, a lot of our audience is real estate entrepreneurs and they're looking at building podcasts and communities just like you've built, but they don't need to scale to be able to reach as many people, they're just as happy if they can get 100 or 200 investors who are ready to invest in their business. So what I'm curious is, what advice would you have for somebody who's looking to build community on such a personalized level and how can podcasting or creating content like this be something that's valuable for them to be able to build their business?
John: [00:12:51] Number one, you're doing the right thing, like the wrong thing is trying to come up with this broad vague topic and just serve the masses and trying to resonate with everybody, which means you're actually resonating with nobody, because everybody's trying to do the same thing. It's a saturated market, but the individual you're describing, they've got the right mindset, small, mighty focus, you know your 100 tribe, your 1000 true fans, whatever that might be, small and mighty is going to win my recommendation to anybody who's going to be producing content, whether that be podcasting or anything, is identify the single biggest problem that that 100 of your core perfect audience has, what's their number one problem, and then everything you produce content wise, everything for your podcast, for your show, for whatever you're doing, is the solution to that problem. You create the best solution to their real number one pain point obstacle challenge struggle, you will win. And listen, podcasting is so much easier than most people think freepodcastcourse.com is a completely free course that I'm gifting to the world because I just want you to realize how easy it is it will teach you how to create and launch your podcast and that's all you need, freepodcastcourse.com, my gift to you. Go forth and conquer.
Steven: [00:14:17] I highly recommend you guys to check that out if you're looking to go build some content. Thank you so much, John, this was phenomenal. What last piece of advice would you give to somebody who is currently in the trenches, they're busy at work, they're looking to create a second income source, what would be the thing you'd want to leave them with from a mindset perspective?
John: [00:14:36] The mindset would be a quote by Albert Einstein, which is try not to be a person of success, but become a person of value. If you can wake up every day and say, what am I going to do that's valuable to other human beings? And by the way, specifically, what am I going to do that's valuable to those 100 people that you and I are talking about during this conversation is going to help provide them the real solution to their problem. That's the focus.
Steven: [00:15:05] Beautiful. Thank you so much. I look for the next time we get to do this again, John.
John: [00:15:09] Adios brother.
Steven: [00:15:17] Awesome to have John Lee Dumas on the podcast today. Please go check him out eofire.com is his website Entrepreneur on Fire is his podcast, lots of great resources for creating second streams of income for going out on your own as an entrepreneur and for understanding how you can change your mindset to start thinking, like the people that you want to model and be successful. So thanks so much, John, for being on here, definitely give him some support. And I super appreciate you guys listening. Thank you so much for spending all of this great time with us. I'll see you in the next episode.
OUTRO: Thank you for listening to The Investor Mindset Podcast. If you liked what you heard, make sure to rate, review, subscribe and share with a friend. Head over to theinvestormindset.com to join the insider club, where we share tools and strategies from the top investors and entrepreneurs and how to take it to the next level.