Latest / The Christian Reeve Podcast / Steve Kidd | The Christian Reeve Podcast #197
Transcript
- 0:00Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Christian Reef
- 0:03podcast. Today's guest is an entrepreneur
- 0:05business, coach, third-generation Minister,
- 0:08radio, host, and best-selling author.
- 0:10All the way from Wyoming in the United States.
- 0:12His name is Steve kid. Welcome to the show.
- 0:15How you doing? Thanks for having me Christian.
- 0:17I'm doing really good. Thanks.
- 0:19Ask pleasure to have you on the show, man.
- 0:21This this I'm used to having guests on the show that have
- 0:26like a lot of. Did they wear a lot of different
- 0:27hats? I myself wear a lot of different
- 0:29hats. But the are gosh, this, there's
- 0:32so many things we can cover here.
- 0:34Why don't we just kind of started the beginning and so
- 0:36walk us through your business Journey so far to this point?
- 0:42Well, it starts really away back.
- 0:45I mean, actually started selling when I was 5 years old, you
- 0:48know, I was selling cards and napkins door-to-door.
- 0:51My parents had originally actually bought them for my
- 0:53brother's to do to have a little bit of income.
- 0:56They quickly, discovered that they weren't real thrilled about
- 0:58doing that and you Being the five-year-old that I was I was
- 1:02like can I do it? And you know they loaded me up
- 1:05with the bag and figured I'd come back you know board in 5
- 1:08minutes and instead I came back with an empty bag and a pocket
- 1:11full of money and I've been in sales and marketing ever since
- 1:15jumping forward at 19. I was a sales manager for
- 1:20actually, a Kirby Company, and worked in and out of that.
- 1:25And as consultants, for several different companies throughout
- 1:28those years in, E8 actually officially started a firm that
- 1:33was a marketing and sales company and then in well
- 1:38actually the middle of 1993 94 is when we began to play an
- 1:44Internet space. You know, back before we
- 1:46actually even had the word internet, I was, you know, an
- 1:49internet marketer and and then in 2007, we began the process of
- 1:54the first book that we put out and by 2015 had a full program
- 2:00for, not just the exclusive clients but anybody that wanted
- 2:04to join it and we've been going to working with authors almost
- 2:07exclusively since I come from a marketing background and I've
- 2:14always kind of recognized that marketing and sales kind of run
- 2:17hand-in-hand. Sometimes they're together,
- 2:19sometimes they're apart. One thing I've always noticed
- 2:21about sales, people particularly like successful salespeople, is
- 2:26that there's like a particular knack for a lucky.
- 2:29I don't know. Like, some people might say it's
- 2:31the right attitude, some people might say, it's the really is
- 2:33just about your mindset or like using certain techniques to kind
- 2:38of get Success. Some people say it's just pure
- 2:40consistency. What would you say are the kind
- 2:45of key attributes of a successful salesperson and like
- 2:48this, do it back to you personally.
- 2:50So, like, when you were five years old, that point there was
- 2:53something there that clicked, what do you think it was that
- 2:55clicked for you? Well, you know, it 55 being a
- 2:58salesperson at five is actually really easy.
- 3:00All you got to do is be cute and aesthetic with it, you know, I'm
- 3:05fortunate I have a very happy-go-lucky personality so
- 3:08when Both very rarely but when you know I mean five it's really
- 3:12easy to sell things but you know when they would tell me, no, I
- 3:15just didn't take it personal. I figured there had to be
- 3:17something wrong with them if they would tell me now, you
- 3:20know. So it's easy to sell when you're
- 3:22five to be able to be consistently A salesperson as an
- 3:27adult, when you have to rely on skill versus just cuteness, it
- 3:33really boils down to understanding number one that
- 3:37you're there to serve the person you're not.
- 3:39Tending to try to take them. And number two, it's really.
- 3:43My dad used to always say, you know, God gave us two ears and
- 3:46one mouth. So we'd listen twice as much as
- 3:48we talk. And if you listen to a person
- 3:51long enough, they will tell you absolutely everything.
- 3:55You need to know in order to be able to help them be able to get
- 3:59the thing that they need. And when you're taking that
- 4:01mindset of I'm here to help you out.
- 4:04And then you listen, it becomes actually pretty easy to be able
- 4:07to then just solve the Problem. That's keeping them from doing.
- 4:11The thing that you to is a salesperson are going to make
- 4:14money off of while helping them. What you're talking about.
- 4:18There's I think it's really important issue of sales people
- 4:21because I've had, like a kind of a mixed bag of reactions when it
- 4:25comes to sales people over the years, some good, some bad.
- 4:28I've worked as a Salesman myself and I got to say, like, as you
- 4:33just sort of outlined it there, the customer tells you what they
- 4:36want. And one thing that's changed in
- 4:38particular over the years now is the access to information.
- 4:41So that back in the seventies in the eighties and whatever, like
- 4:44you you didn't have the internet, you didn't have
- 4:46necessarily Ali, all of the resources readily available to
- 4:50sort of find out what it is. You don't know.
- 4:53Where is now a couple of clicks. You can at least get like a
- 4:56baseline understanding of what your options are and what the
- 4:59market is saying and even customer reviews business
- 5:02reviews, Etc. So given that kind of new
- 5:07landscape like how is it possible to kind of stick out
- 5:11and be successful in modern sales?
- 5:13Given that, you know, the power is in the car?
- 5:17Miss Hannah. Well, you know it's really
- 5:20interesting because the older I get the longer.
- 5:24I do it, the more that I see that the things that have always
- 5:26been still always are and it really boils down to people buy
- 5:32from people that they know like and Trust until you've
- 5:35established the rapport with the person.
- 5:38You know, they're not going to buy from you.
- 5:40I mean, think about when you've gone into some place, really
- 5:44basic, you know, a basic grocery.
- 5:47Door or something like that. And the person is treated you
- 5:50badly enough that even though you need a necessity, you've
- 5:55walked out of that store. Now, you may go to another store
- 5:58and still buy that thing. But, you know, I mean, if a
- 6:00person crosses that line and it's different for all of us,
- 6:04you know, we have no problem walking out of a store.
- 6:07We don't have to be treated that way.
- 6:10You know, the same thing is true in sales is that we have to
- 6:13build that Rapport. We have to tell people, we have
- 6:15to help them see. That we care because people
- 6:19don't care how much you know until they know how much you
- 6:22care. And that ultimately is what our,
- 6:26you know what, our responsibility as good
- 6:29salespeople and is good. Marketers is really to show
- 6:33people. I'm here for you.
- 6:34I care, I'm looking for what's best for you and I really do
- 6:38truly believe that this product good or service that I have is
- 6:42going to make your life better and if we don't start from that
- 6:46place. You know, I remember back in the
- 6:49day, there were salesman who took the approach of well that
- 6:52person is going to be my car payment, you know?
- 6:55And they went in there totally selfishly and you know, I've
- 6:59known some people that have made a lot of money that way, but
- 7:01ultimately, you know, long-term they crash and burn.
- 7:05They end up in a really, really bad place.
- 7:08And, you know, even the multi-billionaires that I've
- 7:11worked with, they will be the first ones to tell, you know,
- 7:15actually, until you Give the customer what they want and help
- 7:20them. See if they don't understand
- 7:22that they want it, you're not going to get anything you want.
- 7:27What about when you're dealing with a particularly stubborn?
- 7:29Customer maybe that thinks they know everything or you know
- 7:33maybe they just have a very office kind of attitude towards
- 7:37sales people because I would say like just speaking from personal
- 7:41experience it does kind of infuriate me sometimes when you
- 7:44get particularly bullish sales people you know like they're not
- 7:48listening. I mean what you've kind of
- 7:49dispelled right there is that it's all about listening and
- 7:52that is how you indeed get successful and make those sales
- 7:55and it's It seems like common sense, but a lot of salespeople,
- 7:58don't necessarily go for that. And there is obviously reason
- 8:01behind that, normally I'd be, like, managers pushing them for
- 8:04the sales, and there's such a thing as that soft Cells versus
- 8:08hard sailing and stuff. So like how do you, how do you
- 8:12deal with that? And with the customers are a
- 8:14little bit more stubborn, a little bit more, maybe off, kind
- 8:18of pushing you away. Let's say well, I mean I think
- 8:21it goes back to what I said before if the person is pushing
- 8:25you away, Leaving you questioning, you calling you on
- 8:29your stuff, going to the internet and looking up.
- 8:32If what you're saying is true, that means that you haven't done
- 8:36step one and that's that you haven't built, then know, like
- 8:41and trust and you need to be humble enough to be able to say
- 8:45to the person. Hey, look, you know, I missed a
- 8:48step in here and I want to step back because I want you to know
- 8:52that I'm more invested in doing what's right for you than I am
- 8:57whatever decision you make here. I want to make sure that, you
- 9:01know, me and that I'm the kind of person that you would want to
- 9:04work with or purchase this thing from and that I've gained your
- 9:08trust. And you know, let's talk about
- 9:11what I need to do to do that first.
- 9:14And if it even means that what I need to do is leave this
- 9:18appointment now and schedule, another time give you more
- 9:21information to research on me or whatever that might be That
- 9:26particular person needs. You need to do it.
- 9:29I'll give you a perfect example cars.
- 9:30You know, everybody's purchased a car at some point or another
- 9:33statistically speaking. The average person spends about
- 9:37four hours to purchase a car between looking at what they're
- 9:41doing and what have you and the whole process and buying a car
- 9:45can be, you know, really mind-numbing.
- 9:47But, you know, that's how an average, what it takes to get a
- 9:51car is about four hours. Now, when you talk about people
- 9:55who buy Volvo, Those who often are analytical and engineer
- 9:59mindset. People doesn't mean that they
- 10:01necessarily work in engineering, but they have that kind of
- 10:03mindset. The average Volvo buyer takes 20
- 10:07days to make a decision. And so if you are selling
- 10:12Volvos, then know like and Trust says, the very first thing I
- 10:17need to do with a Volvo buyer is give them all the information.
- 10:21Give them, you know, in these days it would be the links and
- 10:25all the different websites. And say Here's the good stuff
- 10:28but also give them the bad stuff.
- 10:30Tell them here's what people say.
- 10:31Bad about this car. Don't try to hide it from them.
- 10:35Tell them it's like this is you know I'd love to have a
- 10:37conversation with you. About why they said that why
- 10:41that may or may not be true. And let's really become a team
- 10:45in this and spend the next 20 days researching.
- 10:49This together, let me Empower you to get to a place where you
- 10:53put feel powerful to make that decision.
- 10:56That's again, about knowing your customer and then being invested
- 10:59in know, like and trusting them and serving them versus just
- 11:04trying to Railroad them, steamroll them, whatever into
- 11:07buying, something, because you need to pay your rent.
- 11:11I'm going to say like your approach is very refreshing to
- 11:14hear and I share this philosophy as well.
- 11:17Always have, I think just in general, not just in business,
- 11:21but just in life, it's always good to kind of approach things.
- 11:24Honestly, don't leave anything. Unsaid, don't hide things.
- 11:28You know, I always build that Foundation of trust, however, in
- 11:32the sphere of sales, and I'm not talking for everyone, but this
- 11:36is pretty common in the industry, it's common to
- 11:40withhold information or maybe not.
- 11:44Stretch the truth, not outright lie.
- 11:46But you know, you maybe accentuate the positive side,
- 11:48the weaknesses as Paul Heyman would say and you know, I can
- 11:54see why people do that but there's been times in my life
- 11:56when you work for a company and they asked me to lie and I was
- 12:01like nope not doing it find another way or they would make a
- 12:06recommendation of how to approach something and I'll be
- 12:09like, I don't, and this is exactly what I would say.
- 12:11To the Sea, Joe and I have done in the past, I'm like, well, if
- 12:14we do it this way, we are, we're lying.
- 12:18We're starting off on the wrong foot and surely if we want to
- 12:20build a reputation as a trustworthy company, it's not
- 12:25going to go. Well, if we're lying or fibbing
- 12:27just to get to that end stage so that we can, you know, have that
- 12:30meeting with that client. I'm talking more about like,
- 12:32just client acquisition at this point as opposed to actual, the
- 12:35sales aspect, but the yeah. But, you know, So, I guess like
- 12:41the question I want to eventually get to with my
- 12:43rambling is, where does this kind of your specific sales
- 12:48approach, come from? Because I feel like maybe it's
- 12:51connected with, you know, with your religion maybe it's part of
- 12:53that like that particular part of your life, would you say
- 12:57there's a connection there or does this kind of originated
- 12:59somewhere else? Maybe a mentor that you had or
- 13:02certain experiences that shaped your approach?
- 13:04Like where does your approach to sales?
- 13:07Come from? Well, it's the Perfect Storm, if
- 13:11you will of all of that, you know, it is growing up.
- 13:14You know, my dad was a minister, my grandfather was a minister,
- 13:17you know. So I do have that background and
- 13:21that Integrity that you know I've been raised with my whole
- 13:24life but the truth of the matter is when you listen to and I've
- 13:29been so blessed to both study directly with some of them.
- 13:32And then listen to others that are, you know, from before I was
- 13:36born, when you listen to the teachings of Really truly
- 13:41successful, powerful sales, people.
- 13:44This is the message that goes back across time and and whether
- 13:48you talk about one of my personal mentors, Ernie
- 13:50Villanueva, who was really taking the things of A J,
- 13:56Douglas Edwards and others like that.
- 13:58And talking it, you know, his speeches in his teachings were
- 14:04very uniquely his own and he brought himself to it but the
- 14:08germ the concept of it. Based in things that, you know,
- 14:12going back into the 20s, the 30s, the 40s and 50s, and 60s,
- 14:15and I'm sure before that was the heart and soul and core of the
- 14:19people. You know, you go back to a, you
- 14:23know, A Book Like Think and Grow Rich, you know, which was the
- 14:26early 1900s. There's nothing that I'm saying
- 14:29right now that isn't, you know, really, you know, at the core of
- 14:35that in what is being taught in that book and do the same thing
- 14:39is, In How to Win Friends and Influence People.
- 14:42You know it is all about that whole concept of caring for
- 14:47people above yourself and then you know a great book.
- 14:50If you've never read it, you got to read this book OG mandino.
- 14:52It's called the greatest salesman in the world and OG
- 14:56mandino goes deeply into it. And and if you really do take
- 15:01the time to really read through what he calls, the quote
- 15:03unquote, still 12, Scrolls and really learn the concept behind
- 15:08them. You know.
- 15:08Scroll one is, I Will face this day with love in my heart and I
- 15:14will approach the morning with love, and I will say to
- 15:17everyone. I meet, I love you when we're
- 15:21taking that approach when we're already in the place of loving
- 15:25the person, before we ever even go into their house, or they
- 15:28come into our office or we talk to them on the phone, it puts a
- 15:32whole different spin into it. And, you know, and like I said,
- 15:35it's really not something new Under the Sun.
- 15:37It's just a matter of really Early learning from people who
- 15:41have truly been successful versus people who, you know, had
- 15:47a infomercial that made millions of dollars for a while and then,
- 15:52you know, you haven't heard from them for the last 20 or
- 15:54something. Yeah, they made that money.
- 15:59Yeah, hey my what, you know, what on that topic real quick.
- 16:03Like he's always interesting to me, when there is like a new fad
- 16:06or a new That's a scam or something like that, you can
- 16:10always spot it a mile away because they'll be like a bunch
- 16:12of similar ads that will pop up. And then as you said, like, they
- 16:16all disappeared. And it still happens to this
- 16:18day. I see it all the time on
- 16:19Instagram. I see it all the time on.
- 16:24Like so many of these kind of like YouTube adverts where
- 16:26they're trying to promote a particular way of selling
- 16:29online. Maybe like selling through
- 16:31something like Amazon or something and that in of itself
- 16:34isn't necessarily a scam. But like often these Particular
- 16:38techniques that they're trying to push on people are or, you
- 16:42know, you'll always be like, hey, if you sign up for this
- 16:44thing that, you know, and pay me money to get access to these
- 16:48techniques, you can do X, Y, and Z, and it's like, you can just
- 16:51learn this now, like, on, like they're trying to find people
- 16:55that maybe aren't as Proactive or don't know to look or
- 17:00whatever. And that that I feel like, I
- 17:05mean, because you can, you can argue that part of business.
- 17:08Is you know, seeking opportunities and exploiting
- 17:12them and I would agree but I feel like there's something off
- 17:15when it's targeting the vulnerable, you know what I
- 17:18mean? Like it to me, it just feels a
- 17:20bit off and technically there's nothing illegal about it but it
- 17:24is morally unjust but I don't know I guess that's a
- 17:27conversation for another time. Well I mean I think the thing
- 17:31that really needs to be said in there is everything is time
- 17:33versus money. I actually use this as part of
- 17:36my sales pitch. There is nothing In modern
- 17:39society that you couldn't learn. Now, there are a few things that
- 17:42you can't do it, like you can't operate on somebody without
- 17:45certain certificates and degrees and things like that.
- 17:48I mean, not that we haven't read some articles of people who did
- 17:50it, but, you know, you're not supposed to write but, you know,
- 17:54not. But what I'm saying is that, you
- 17:58know, you could spend enough time online and enough time
- 18:01practicing and those kind of things that you could develop
- 18:04any skill, you wanted to it's readily available at the click
- 18:08of The keyboard these days. But that's your time.
- 18:12What is your time worth the other option is to spend your
- 18:17money to pay somebody that's already learned that skill,
- 18:22right? And when we as sales people,
- 18:24look at it and say, look what I'm offering to do to you is to
- 18:27trade your time, back to you for the money that you're paying me
- 18:32to do the thing that I already do.
- 18:33I mean, you know, that's what we do attack season usually is we
- 18:37pay a tax Professional to do our taxes because we hate doing the
- 18:42taxes and there are people that believe it or not.
- 18:46I know I would always shocked when I interview these people
- 18:48that they love doing taxes. It's fun for them.
- 18:52They get excited for tax season. They're like oh man.
- 18:55Well I highlighted the are right you know?
- 18:58Do you know this isn't just about the finest like it.
- 19:00Like you getting excited about the government taking money from
- 19:03you, right? Well, you know, It's not my
- 19:09thing but you know I'm doing people's taxes as what is
- 19:17exciting for them. So you know it really does boil
- 19:19down to time versus money. Are you going to spend your time
- 19:22or are you going to invest your money in the time that somebody
- 19:25else already spent? They meant that but you spoke
- 19:29earlier about the fact that you've worked with billion as
- 19:32I'll go to ask, is there anything maybe surprising or
- 19:36interesting that you learned from working through them that
- 19:38you wouldn't have known beforehand?
- 19:40The very first thing I learned about the difference between
- 19:44billionaire mindset and millionaire mindset is
- 19:47billionaires, don't spend money on anything a billionaire so a
- 19:51millionaire will go out and buy a plane because and you know,
- 19:56whether you're talking about, TV shows we've seen or whatever,
- 19:58you know, there is some effectiveness of having the
- 20:02capability to just go to the airport and fly what you're
- 20:04doing and you know do conference calls and all those kind of
- 20:06things. Yeah.
- 20:07I'm not saying it's a bad investment but the millionaire
- 20:09will buy the plane. The billionaire will buy.
- 20:13Like my my friend Darryl Abramson will buy three, planes,
- 20:19will rent those Pines out and then when they need to fly
- 20:24someplace will take one of their Planes and fly to where they're
- 20:28going, but the rest of the time those planes are money,
- 20:32generators for them, my planes don't cost them anything.
- 20:35Their planes actually make their money, A billionaire will rather
- 20:38than buying a house. A billionaire will build a motel
- 20:42and live in the penthouse or build a resort and put their
- 20:46property on the on the edge of the resort or those kind of
- 20:49things that's, you know. So that was really fun to learn
- 20:52is to really see the difference in mindset.
- 20:55You know, Ariel is a perfect example.
- 20:57One of the companies he had 47 companies.
- 21:00He started every single one of them was a success.
- 21:03He sold them for a profit had no failures out of 47 companies,
- 21:08over the cross of his whole entire life, multi multi
- 21:11billionaire. And you know, one of the
- 21:15companies that he had is a Canadian company that was a you
- 21:22know like Health you know like how supplements like you know
- 21:25vitamin C but you know, Vitamins and minerals and things like.
- 21:28That was a manufacturer of those.
- 21:32And so what he did was he also opened up a, what became chain
- 21:39of stores, that sold vitamins, and minerals, and all of those
- 21:44kind of things. If you're from the United
- 21:45States, we have a company here called G and C, it was the
- 21:48Canadian equivalent of G and C. So he was selling his products
- 21:54in his store and training his people.
- 21:57To be talented and effective sales people to sell his
- 22:00products in his store. See that's how the billionaire
- 22:03thinks the billionaire thinks supply and demand, you know you
- 22:07know the every end of this build supply chain, you know, a
- 22:10billionaire will not just have a product and pay a shipping
- 22:15company to ship it. The billionaire will create the
- 22:18product ownership and Company and own a retail store that
- 22:22sells it. You know, I mean, it's a really
- 22:24different but really fun way to learn when you start talking to
- 22:26people, Like that. And I can tell you talking to
- 22:29Errol, you know, when he would Mentor me, it felt like going
- 22:34back to preschool, you know, you just his thinking was so much
- 22:42huger than that, that everything that I've done in life, I felt
- 22:44like a preschooler, you know, in life and business, compared to
- 22:49all that, he's done. No, but you know, she could poem
- 22:52and be years ago. Someone said to me that I had to
- 22:55stop thinking poor. What do you like?
- 22:59I took it originally as an insult.
- 23:00I want you mean? And they were like, well, you've
- 23:02grown up all your life as a poor person, there's nothing wrong
- 23:05with that, but the way that you approach life is in with a poor
- 23:10mentality. And as always, you mean, give me
- 23:12an example and this is the classic example, but it's like,
- 23:15let's say I go and buy a really expensive or not necessarily
- 23:19really expensive, pair of trousers, but a pair of trousers
- 23:22that's going to last me, like, 5 or 10 years, like a decent good
- 23:24quality. Pair of, I don't let say Levi's
- 23:27on. Something right, if that's still
- 23:28good quality over there, things change so quickly.
- 23:31But for hypotheticals over the course of the next five years,
- 23:37that's going to last me 5 years, you know, more than that, even
- 23:40with wear and tear or probably still stand the test of time.
- 23:43Alternatively, I can go to a cheap store.
- 23:47Get myself a pair of jeans for like 10 or 15 pounds
- 23:51lesser-quality dollars. Yeah.
- 23:54And that will last me, maybe three, four months, and I got to
- 23:58buy it again, then I'm going to buy it again.
- 24:00And again, and again. And then throughout those five
- 24:03years, chances are probably end up spending more money over that
- 24:08time that a would had. If I just bought the expensive
- 24:10stuff in the first place. Now, of course, this doesn't
- 24:12work with everything, but the whole point of what's being
- 24:16taught there, Is to sort of think in the long-term and not
- 24:19in the short term, sometimes your hand is forced and you have
- 24:22to buy the cheaper things to get by.
- 24:24Believe me, I'm in that situation myself now.
- 24:26But when I see an opportunity to get something that will last
- 24:30over time or see something, that's an investment that will
- 24:33make me more money. Like, for example, a microphone
- 24:36is a good example of that. You got to look at it, like,
- 24:39well, there's a lot of things I can do with this, so it makes
- 24:42sense in the short term to invest a bit more money into
- 24:45this because of the The monetary value I'm going to get from this
- 24:49and another stuff like, you know, the enjoyment and so on
- 24:51and so forth. And I feel like that's a good
- 24:54way of weighing things and approaching things and also
- 24:58going back to what you said before about, you know, learning
- 25:01from those billionaires, it's D learning work.
- 25:04Whenever we learn something new, we're dealer in like when I made
- 25:08the ship the jump from. So we have here in the in the
- 25:12UK, we called the years between 16 to 18 College, whereas I've
- 25:16seen the state It's you call College University.
- 25:20Anyway, those years when you make the Hop to University, you
- 25:26have to deal earn what you've looked at, how to learn you have
- 25:29to be learn that and learn a new way of thinking.
- 25:31And it's I find like whenever you do that, it's beneficial
- 25:36because you're going to learn so much more.
- 25:37But the same time you basically just almost have to forget
- 25:40everything you learned before, right?
- 25:44That's mad, but it's, I don't know.
- 25:45I mean it's I think it's an important thing.
- 25:48Especially when you're trying to make money, it's good to kind of
- 25:53approach it from that perspective of like a blank
- 25:55canvas and go. Okay, what the new what's the
- 25:59new mindset I can take on here and how can I move this forward
- 26:03and you know potentially change my life as a result but let's
- 26:08move it forward. So your tagline is bestseller.
- 26:12Guaranteed How are you able to offer such certainty?
- 26:18Well, you know, I mean having done, it always helps a lot, you
- 26:23know? I mean, I've done thousands upon
- 26:24thousands of people worked with them and help them book.
- 26:27I have 100% success rate in making a person about seller,
- 26:32you know, technically my guarantee I always hate this
- 26:35guarantee honestly, because it seems so shallow.
- 26:37Technically, my guarantee is that if I don't make you a
- 26:40best-seller, I'll give you your money back and I absolutely
- 26:42would. But again, I have 100 Success
- 26:44rate, over thousands upon thousands of them.
- 26:47I understand the system that is Amazon, and it always works and
- 26:53I'm going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
- 26:55So, you know, yeah, it's it's a combination of experience and,
- 27:03you know, and a lot of hard work really across one of those
- 27:07books. Would you reckon would be some
- 27:09of the key characteristics that they all share that sort of make
- 27:13a successful book. Book that will do and be
- 27:15successful on a platform like Amazon.
- 27:19So keeping in mind that, you know, best seller, in fact, my
- 27:2220th book of my own is called bestsellers only the beginning.
- 27:27Bestseller is really the start place.
- 27:29It's like graduating from medical school.
- 27:32It's not a place you should achieve to.
- 27:35It's the place you should start from.
- 27:37It's the foundation that you build the house.
- 27:39That is your book on and any other marketing approach these
- 27:44days that doesn't start you at that place is somebody who Is
- 27:49still in the process of learning, you know, they need to
- 27:51understand more clearly how Amazon's algorithm truly works.
- 27:56So, we start at bestseller. So that's, you know, that's part
- 27:59of it is, is understanding, you know, best sellers are
- 28:04credentialed. Bestseller is like, graduating
- 28:07from medical school and being a doctor doesn't mean somebody's
- 28:10going to hand you a scalpel and say here, go do brain surgery.
- 28:14It means that you have shown and been Evaluated as an expert at
- 28:21anatomy and physiology and have passed the test and that's when
- 28:25you rank on Amazon's bestseller list that's really what you're
- 28:28doing. It's a third party that has a
- 28:30very solid system built that is saying.
- 28:33Yeah this person you know, passed the test of putting
- 28:37something out. Now with that said, you ask what
- 28:39makes a quality and what doesn't the number one piece of that is
- 28:43vulnerability? If you aren't willing to be
- 28:46vulnerable, your book isn't going to With people, you have
- 28:50to be willing again. It goes back to you.
- 28:52People don't care how much, you know, until they know how much
- 28:55you care if you're not willing to put yourself out there, if
- 29:00you have to be one of these gurus who I've done everything,
- 29:04and I'm perfect, and I'm wonderful and stuff like that.
- 29:07You know, that just doesn't fly. I mean, it's never really flown,
- 29:09but especially these days people are just like, yeah, whatever,
- 29:12you know, they don't want to hear it but if you're willing to
- 29:16be vulnerable and say, Hey, you know, I know what you're you're
- 29:18going through right now. Because I've been through that
- 29:21myself and I don't have all the answers, but here's what I
- 29:24learned when I went through it. Let me share that with you.
- 29:27If I can just show you one rock to step on going across this
- 29:32swamp, maybe you won't fall in the place that I fell in and
- 29:36maybe you can miss one of the things that I went through, you
- 29:41know, that's really what the best sort of book is about.
- 29:46You know, I am I do regular live streams on platforms, like, Tic
- 29:50Toc and a built-up somewhat Community there and like I'm by
- 29:54no means successful in my career, I'm still trying.
- 29:58But one thing that I've had as a common which connects with what
- 30:03we're talking about here is that when people say like I like the
- 30:05fact that you took about the good and the bad and like you
- 30:09keep it real and keep it authentic and it's like yeah I
- 30:11think there's something to that it's is kind of off-putting when
- 30:14you see And sort of just going on and on about how everything's
- 30:18perfect and everything's great and it's like it people want to
- 30:21hear about the struggle. They want to know the human
- 30:23being because as you said, before that makes it relatable.
- 30:26But it's also I think being able to picture oneself in the same
- 30:34Journey, you know, I can't count how many times someone has
- 30:36reached out to me and said, like hey you know what?
- 30:38Like because your live stream because that podcast you did
- 30:41because of this thing that you did.
- 30:43I am now pursuing this. So thank you.
- 30:46You and it's like, okay, there there that right there is, is
- 30:50your motivation that right there should be especially with
- 30:53writing a book like what you should focus on.
- 30:54It's like, how do they get from this period?
- 30:57Where I had nothing to this period where I assuming they
- 31:00have everything. It's yeah, it's all about the
- 31:02journey. Yes.
- 31:05And and there's no such thing as arriving.
- 31:07The only time that you win the race of your life, when you
- 31:11cross the tape, you are the Victor.
- 31:14That's called Death. Everything else should be a
- 31:19continual Journey on the race of your life and not saying that
- 31:25there aren't times that we fall down and we aren't in the lead
- 31:29but at the end of the day our life should always be about
- 31:33growing and developing and even more.
- 31:34So about the person that we can serve and we don't have to take
- 31:38the whole world on. It's just who's somebody that
- 31:40could help today. Ray and I love that sentiment.
- 31:45Let's move it forward. Obviously, you're going to work
- 31:48quite a lot with ghostwriters. So, I wanted to ask you about
- 31:51this, like, took us how you match ghostwriters with the
- 31:57authors, and then how you can kind of put together this this
- 32:02book with the writer and the goes, right?
- 32:04Like took us through the process of ghostwriting and matching an
- 32:09author with a Ghostwriter and that relationship A shape that
- 32:12forms actually and this is going to totally blow you away but I
- 32:16don't work with ghostwriters at all.
- 32:17In fact. Okay.
- 32:19I don't you know, and I know some amazing ghostwriters and I
- 32:23don't want to disparage them at all but the problem with a ghost
- 32:25writer is a ghost writer is going to get information from
- 32:29you in whatever way a lot of them do it via interview these
- 32:32days but then they're going to take your words and they're
- 32:36going to write it in their style, every ghost writer that I
- 32:38know. And I know some really talented
- 32:41ones that you have. Really be an Avid Reader to know
- 32:43it, but if you read enough of their stuff, you begin to see
- 32:46The Germ of oh no, that's that writer.
- 32:50You know, the same things true. When you start talking about
- 32:53screenwriters, you know if you watch enough screenplays, you
- 32:56know movies plays whatever from a particular writer, you will
- 33:01begin to see The Germ of oh yeah.
- 33:04You know it might be as simple as.
- 33:07Oh yeah, they're Heroes always use two guns instead of You
- 33:12know, they like this move, those kind of things, you know, and
- 33:14those little nuances, they come through because all of us are
- 33:18that way. So when I do the writing,
- 33:19actually, you know, this is the funnest part for me because it's
- 33:23a part. I get to do, I actually do it
- 33:24via interview. I just get on Zoom with the
- 33:27person and I just get them talking from there from, and
- 33:32there is a process to it, and, and I'm walking them through it.
- 33:35But if it feels like a casual conversation, just like you and
- 33:39I are having, and if in the middle of it, they say, does
- 33:41this make Any sense? I know that we're on track.
- 33:44We're doing good because then we're just getting them to just
- 33:47share because really your book is about taking that thing that
- 33:50you're so passionate about that every time it comes up.
- 33:53You know, you go off on it and your friends, roll your eyes at
- 33:55you because here you go. Again you know, that's going to
- 33:59make for just the best sort of book and and, you know, my job
- 34:03is just to get on and capture all that.
- 34:05Then we have story development editors who have the capability
- 34:09to go through your words. And say, hey, Just didn't make
- 34:12sense. Hey, you were telling us the
- 34:13story about Aunt Jan and you never finished Thomas.
- 34:16What happened at Jan. Now, we're dying to know what
- 34:18happened and Jan, you know, and they can both take what you said
- 34:24and create flow out of it. But also then ask you the right
- 34:27kind of questions, so that you then can either write them or we
- 34:31do a second interview and and fill in the blanks from there
- 34:34and make the book. So that ultimately, the best win
- 34:39in a book, is exactly what you are.
- 34:42And you know, it's when the reader says, I felt like he was
- 34:46talking just directly to me, I could hear his voice, you know,
- 34:51as though he was reading it in my ear.
- 34:55Mmm. Yeah, I think there is something
- 34:58to be said for that but I maybe it's because the focus is more
- 35:02on just actually telling a good story rather than trying to
- 35:05impress the read and be like, oh, this would be exciting or
- 35:08what if I do this? What if I do that?
- 35:09Like, it should always be about the narrative and the story that
- 35:13whenever I like pride myself on being a Storyteller.
- 35:16And, you know, I tried to kind of keep things as well, I don't
- 35:22fuck anything up, I tell it how it was, but but when I'm
- 35:26describing it, I try not to make it like Anything less than what
- 35:32it was. So if I just think like maybe
- 35:34the story isn't that interesting?
- 35:36Maybe I just won't tell it, you know, I think that's better than
- 35:39been trying to kind of make something, you know what it
- 35:44isn't or to exaggerate as the word.
- 35:46I'm looking for Thor like that. Especially in the context of a
- 35:48book is wrong. A wrong move?
- 35:52Yeah, absolutely. So You are the host of a radio
- 35:58show called we help you thrive talk us through what you do on
- 36:01this show and how you help people.
- 36:03So, we help you thrive is the website for the show.
- 36:05The show is called thriving, entrepreneur that we had our
- 36:09eighth year, anniversary the first week in December of labs
- 36:12are very good. So and, you know, thriving
- 36:15entrepreneur is a place to bring, you know, professionals
- 36:19at whatever level and bring who they are and what they do in the
- 36:23world to you. You and help you be able to see
- 36:27the ways that from what they do, you too.
- 36:30Can live your life as a thriving entrepreneur.
- 36:33All of us in one way or another are entrepreneurs, you know,
- 36:36even if you have a regular full-time day to day job, you
- 36:40know, you run the business of your own life.
- 36:43And ultimately you want to more than any other job that you do,
- 36:50you want to be able to thrive in the business of being you.
- 36:55Um, and so that's what we do. You know, and we've had
- 36:58everywhere from, you know, ministers spiritualists, you
- 37:02know, just about everything you can think of to again,
- 37:05accountants and real estate professionals and things like
- 37:09that. And it's just really about that.
- 37:11And then the fun part about it is because I pre-record, you
- 37:14know, every one of the segments with the people.
- 37:16And there's typically three every, every once in a while
- 37:19it's different but there's typically three guests in each
- 37:22one of the shows because it's a syndicated radio show, you know,
- 37:25so we have to To fill a whole hour time slot for the radio
- 37:29stations that are playing it and it's fun to be able to take
- 37:32these totally de separate. You know, things.
- 37:37You know, one guys talking about how to invest in real estate.
- 37:40And another guy's talking about, you know, how he did a running
- 37:46with the bulls, you know, and the deeply spiritual
- 37:49significance that he learned in the running of the bulls and
- 37:52it's like what is the thread that ties?
- 37:55These two together, you know, because I don't I'm about three
- 37:58months from when I did the interview to when, you know, I
- 38:02actually it actually goes live. And so then I have to take these
- 38:05people who over the course of anywhere, from a couple of days,
- 38:08to a couple of weeks, talked about that thing, that makes
- 38:12them unique and find the thread that weaves them together and
- 38:15then so it's a lot of fun and you know, people tell me that
- 38:19they love listening to how I how I bring that together and I hope
- 38:23that's true. And I'm sure there's times when
- 38:25it's like Okay. Steve, that was a little bit of
- 38:27a stretch and other times, I was like, wow, I had never thought
- 38:29about it that way. So it's a lot of fun, not dick
- 38:32them and I think that I try to do the same thing with my shows
- 38:35been a slightly different ways. It's like like this show.
- 38:39I thought would be a lot about you know kind of deconstructing
- 38:43sales in a sense like not just from a just a pure business
- 38:47standpoint but also looking at it from I don't know, just
- 38:52different perspectives, you know, like as a kind of
- 38:55philosophy approach to life, Pritchard doing things, you
- 38:57know. I think.
- 39:00And I, you know, I like all my episodes to kind of explore
- 39:02different themes and stuff, but like, if it feels like it's
- 39:05going a certain way. It's like, you just roll with
- 39:07it. And, you know, sometimes there's
- 39:09more obvious connections. Sometimes there isn't, I feel
- 39:13like a lot of time like the show makes itself and, you know, you
- 39:16can just kind of draw the dots off the way it's fine.
- 39:22Oversimplifying? I know what you're doing is a
- 39:23bit more compliant over. That's why I totally get it.
- 39:28Awesome. What would you say?
- 39:30Well, some of the most memorable interactions you had on your
- 39:34show or maybe one of the ones that stick out in your mind is
- 39:38particularly inspiring. Oh gosh, so many of them, you
- 39:44know, I was privileged, I got to do an interview with Matthew
- 39:47Knowles Beyonce's dad, and we both on and Off the show, got to
- 39:53talk about a lot of really cool things both just as dad's, you
- 39:56know, as well as you know, the thing he had his book that was
- 40:01coming out then was called the DNA of achievers.
- 40:04That's a couple of books back on him now but you know, the so
- 40:08that was super cool, you know? I'm just an amazing individual
- 40:10and we just sat down and had a conversation.
- 40:12No different than what you and I are just like, you know, two
- 40:15guys hanging out, you know, and the same was true, the couple of
- 40:19times that are has been on my show, you know?
- 40:21I mean, Here's this guy. That's a multi-billionaire.
- 40:24Here's this guy that makes one of the two companies that was
- 40:27running. At the end of his life.
- 40:29He we lost him unfortunately about a year ago, but here's a
- 40:32guy, who's one of those two companies was making ten billion
- 40:35dollars a year, you know, and he's just sitting down and just
- 40:39sharing his life story and talking about being a street
- 40:42kid, eating out of the dumpster because he had no food, you
- 40:45know, and and and the whole life's journey of that.
- 40:48And so that's really cool on the flip side to it, you know, I I
- 40:52mean I've had conversations with, you know, single moms who
- 40:58you know the only thing that they really know how to do is
- 41:01just really let their kids know that they're loved and you know
- 41:07and that's no less powerful than you know are all making ten
- 41:12billion dollars a year. You know I mean just changing
- 41:14the world in that way. So yeah.
- 41:16I mean I've just been so blessed you know, I mean, mentors of
- 41:19mine I when I first started the show that too, Started off with
- 41:22was all my mentors. I was just like, hey, will you
- 41:24be on my show? You know?
- 41:25No, yeah. Okay, you know, and and then
- 41:28it's grown over the years and I've gotten to have just so many
- 41:32amazing people, I could go on more than the rest of this show.
- 41:35Just talking about all the cool guests that I've gotten to be
- 41:38able to talk. To was there ever a moment that
- 41:42was particularly challenging, maybe, maybe a difficult guest
- 41:46or maybe just challenging topic and if so, how did you overcome
- 41:49that? Okay, I told you to be really
- 41:51vulnerable. Well, that's what connects you
- 41:53with people. So, I'm going to do that.
- 41:54All right, sometimes it's very rare.
- 41:57I want all of my guests to know that I'm probably not talking
- 42:00about you, but sometimes you do interviews with people who do
- 42:06not know how to express themselves or are not very good
- 42:11at what they're doing or worse than that.
- 42:14And this is where it usually comes in.
- 42:15Its somebody who saw something that's trendy or cool, or that
- 42:18somebody else is doing in there, trying to emulate somebody else.
- 42:22Rather than genuinely and uniquely being themselves and
- 42:26those can be pretty difficult conversations to get through.
- 42:29Because typically speaking a person like that, you'll ask
- 42:35them the most basic of questions, you know, tell us who
- 42:39you are and how you show up in the world.
- 42:41And you know, they go off for like 15 or 20 minutes just
- 42:45talking about how great and how wonderful and you know and just
- 42:48on and on and on and and there's no There's no point of it.
- 42:53You know, just talking and talking and talking and you know
- 42:55you're like oh my gosh, I should have slept longer last night
- 42:58because I think about a fall asleep on this person, you know,
- 43:00I mean, but it does happen. You know, I'm it's very very
- 43:02rare but those are the most challenging ones are.
- 43:06When you can tell what the person is talking about is
- 43:10something that they're trying to be versus just being who they
- 43:14are. Yeah, I think as well.
- 43:16Like it's fine to maybe not have confidence with the doubt
- 43:20yourself, or to be unsure of who you are and stuff but like you
- 43:24got to speak with conviction, you know like I've had all sorts
- 43:27of people in my show people that you know we're really confident
- 43:30and very extroverted to people that were a bit more introverted
- 43:33and I had to you know, often what that will mean for me is
- 43:36that I have to change my Approach a little bit and you'll
- 43:39notice the my show is very different.
- 43:42Sometimes it's more conversational.
- 43:44Sometimes it is a bit more formal, it's bit more like an
- 43:47interview but so long as my guest is, Invested in the
- 43:52conversation and wants to have a good conversation and there they
- 43:56want to contribute in some way, then it's going to be good
- 44:00gentleman that I think the like it is.
- 44:02It's a simple as that but I think maybe just connecting to
- 44:05what you were saying. Like sometimes there's this it's
- 44:08like oh I need to say something really inspiring.
- 44:11I need to say something that's going to, you know, be something
- 44:14that could potentially be clipped up later.
- 44:16And, you know, it's like, actually probably the best thing
- 44:18to say is just like the first thing that comes from you.
- 44:21Mind or your heart. That means something to you
- 44:23that's going to be the thing that really moves people.
- 44:27If nothing else gives the best representation of who you are.
- 44:31Yeah. Some of the best conversations
- 44:33I've had with people are people who you know there they may not
- 44:39be the most articulate. They may use filler words every
- 44:43other word. They may stumble over what
- 44:45they're saying. They their lack of confidence is
- 44:48very obvious in what they're doing and yet Yet in the time
- 44:52we're doing it. Those have been some of the most
- 44:54amazing conversations I've had I don't have any problem with
- 44:57that. You know.
- 44:58It's it's when the person, you know, is it being real?
- 45:04I guess it's really the bottom line of it, that it becomes very
- 45:07difficult. Absolutely, a couple of quick
- 45:11fire questions for you that I always love to ask my guests.
- 45:14What's the best advice you've ever received?
- 45:19Oh gosh, the best. I mean I think I shared pretty
- 45:24much all of them with you already.
- 45:28I really love Lily Anderson is the one who taught me.
- 45:32This one of the people that I worked with and and it goes back
- 45:36to the phrase that I used before.
- 45:38People don't care how much you know until they know how much
- 45:41you care people are only going to be as invested as you as
- 45:44you're invested in them. So Truman is so true that one of
- 45:49the biggest things I've discovered space, especially
- 45:51from doing a podcast, which obviously is kind of a
- 45:54no-brainer. But like listing, man, you want
- 45:57to be a good conversationalist, you want people to care.
- 46:00Listen, just sit down and be like, hey, yeah, I'm interested.
- 46:05Tell me. And then, you know, when they
- 46:07start to walk in ask questions and actually listen, don't just
- 46:11hear the words but like hear, what?
- 46:13They're trying to actually tell you, because that's another
- 46:16thing as well. I learned And this about we're
- 46:18showing empathy, right? It's like you've got to hear
- 46:21like what they're saying in their heart because the words
- 46:24sometimes the words don't really mean much.
- 46:25It's just like, you know, it can either be someone just throwing
- 46:30whatever out there trying to express themselves or sometimes
- 46:32someone is having difficulty expressing themselves or
- 46:36whatever? Or but like the deeper message,
- 46:37if you're really listening, you'll get it.
- 46:39You'll know you'll feel it. And that only comes from truly
- 46:43listening sir. What's the biggest life lesson
- 46:47you've learned so far? Well, of course, the biggest
- 46:52life lesson is, you know, that is the Jesus loves me, you know,
- 47:00I mean, I was interviewing my dad about a year before he
- 47:03passed away. You know.
- 47:04And I asked him, you know, he was 81 years old then and I
- 47:07said, what's the biggest thing? You know, and he just broke into
- 47:10song and sang, Jesus loves me and, you know, more than
- 47:14anything else in the world. The fact that the creator of
- 47:18everything, you know, I mean I like to put it this way.
- 47:21God, however, you wanted to find him and it, you know, and I
- 47:25don't want to even get into that, but God to be God is the
- 47:28person who everything that we know is existence was one
- 47:33thought that he had one day. And when you then understand
- 47:40that, the being who has that kind of capability wants to have
- 47:46a personal relationship, wants to know, you created Free Will
- 47:51so that you could choose not to love him because he wanted to
- 47:56love you and give you the choice to truly choose to love him.
- 48:00You know, that's the most mind-blowing thing I could think
- 48:03of, I mean, we could go into, you know, less uh, sort of More
- 48:07business related things if you want to do.
- 48:08But I mean as far as just the biggest thing, I know in the
- 48:11world that's about as cool as I can think of Most of them.
- 48:16As we draw things to a close for today, do you have any upcoming
- 48:19projects or some final thoughts that you'd like to share with
- 48:21our listeners? Well, of course you know number
- 48:25one is somebody's waiting on you, you absolutely do need to
- 48:29share your message with the world.
- 48:32I can tell you from a marketing standpoint, you know I've been
- 48:34in this world for a lot of years.
- 48:36You will never maximize the possibility of what you're
- 48:41doing. If you don't tag it with
- 48:43bestseller, If you don't have a best-selling book, if you're not
- 48:47a best-selling author, you will never get to the level that you
- 48:51could have with that included in it and so, absolutely, somebody
- 48:56is waiting on you. There's somebody who's making a
- 48:59bad decision, doing things, the wrong way, whatever because you
- 49:03haven't shared what, you know, and for the right people even
- 49:08though you may be saying something that they've heard a
- 49:10million times before they will hear you say it.
- 49:14And Will be like water to a person dying of thirst in the
- 49:19desert. And it will be in some cases,
- 49:22literally the difference between life and death.
- 49:25So that really becomes you know, the number one p sub at and as
- 49:30far as what I'm doing and I'm going to course obviously I'm
- 49:32always helping authors put out their books, we're in the
- 49:36process of building my own Community, my own app, that will
- 49:39be a community for people who are anywhere on their author
- 49:42Journey from, you know, I think, maybe, B, I want to do it to,
- 49:46I've written a hundred books and, you know, and everywhere in
- 49:48between to really come in and grow together and and share with
- 49:52each other, and that will be upcoming, but to be in the
- 49:56circle of it, the best thing I can do is, give you a free gift.
- 50:00And so I created a God that I called the ongoing wealth guide.
- 50:04If you go to ongoing wealth guide.com, you can get that for
- 50:08free. It's just a really basic five
- 50:10steps to be able to really truly generate Ongoing wealth, and by
- 50:16wealth. I want to make sure I Define
- 50:18that, that's abundance. That's the ability that no
- 50:20matter what. The bank account says today, you
- 50:23know, you have provision in your life and you have the ability to
- 50:27do the things that can then, again bring money into your
- 50:30life. And if you will follow that,
- 50:33that path, it will actually help you create ongoing wealth in
- 50:37your life. Ongoing wealth guide.com and
- 50:39just, you know, just so, you know, in that is my free, write
- 50:42your best seller in one hour, Workshop.
- 50:44There's A link to that right in that and once you get it, if you
- 50:49get to the last page, I'm even actually giving people 15 free
- 50:52minutes to talk to me about anything in their sales and
- 50:54marketing realm that I can do to help them.
- 50:58Liam and thank you so much for food.
- 51:01And those you've shed today and the wisdom and such and yeah
- 51:04just for being a great guest been a real pleasure.
- 51:07Thanks Christian. I appreciate it.
- 51:08Thanks for having me. Thank you.
- 51:10And to the listeners of the Christian re podcast.
- 51:12As always, I hope you enjoyed the episode.
- 51:15And yeah, I'll see you very very soon.
- 51:17Be safe, be well, and I'll see you in the next one.