Entrepreneur Mastermind Podcast

EntreProgrammers Episode 90

Josh ‘Cha-Ching’ Earl

1:35

John is returning from his civil duty. Derick comes to us from the DFW Airport. EntreProgrammers discuss jury selection questions. John gives pointers for getting out of Jury Duty.

6:45

Chuck shares the attendee numbers for Rails Remote Conf. Chuck drops us more information about the upcoming remote conferences, and his plans to execute the logistics.

18:00

Chuck mentions he is getting his “Competent Communicator” in Toast Masters. Chuck has mastered how to stop using, the annoying Ahhs, Umms, You Knows, and So,in his speech delivering. Chuck talks about his plans to streamline organization and workflow.

24:30

John gives us the numbers for the sale of “How to Market Yourself.” A whooping 484 purchases yielding $39,817. Josh gets 10 percent too. John talks about the conversion rates and traffic coming to the products page. John shares the awesomeness of Josh’s copywriting skills and packaging. John shares plans for the shipping and fulfillment of the books sold.

30:30

Chuck mentions Crowdcast to John. John is on a boring carb day. John is looking out to see if he has a gluten intolerance.

42:00

Josh talks about his email marketing strategy, and the stories he incorporated into the open-loop emails.

46:30

Derick is down 6 subscribers at 420. Derick may give his Nodember talk to his Watch Me Code subscribers.

51:00

John talks about Kajabi. John finds the Kajabi features interesting and might be one of the better ones. Josh thinks that the biggest problems with these kind of services is the Analytics and Payments. Josh mentions having to use PayPal for the sales numbers to be as high as they are now.

59:20

Josh and John are thinking about teaming up. Josh would be about a partner in Simple Programmer. Josh talks about the salary he needs verses the industry he is working in now with his clients.

1:06:50

Chuck thinks this is a bad idea, because he needs Josh to help make 40 grand too. Josh shares that this may be a great partnership.

1:13:30

Chuck talks about the list building actions that Josh had written about and how important the email list really is.

1:16:00

Chuck says he is thinking about doing a giveaway. The EntreProgrammers talks about Web Storm.They discuss some giveaway ideas such as a Drone or a Raspberry Pi.

1:24:00

Chuck gets advice from Josh and John about the marketing strategies for giveaways.

1:31:30

Josh ask Johns about using the launch to leverage and get him on Entrepreneur On Fire with John Lee Dumas.

1:34:45

John shares more information about the Nasty Amazon reviewer of Soft Skills.

Thoughts for the Week

Josh - Get back on the horse and do it again.

John - Recognize where you have weakness.

Chuck - Building systems.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Crowdcast

https://www.crowdcast.io

Kajabi

https://www.kajabi.co

Web Storm

https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/

0:15

Chuck joke about his glare and Mani is in a detention room. Josh talks about his wireless 8lb headset. The EntreProgrammers talk about the wireless headphones and the troubles with the AirPods. John jokes that Josh electronic trouble because he is like Powder.

5:00

Mani talks about his recent price increase with his product and research on keywords for branding proposes. Mani talks about change or rebranding based on Confidence and Mental Toughness keywords. John gives feedback on a book What Doesn’t Kill Us.

9:00

John talks about doing an AB test on the titles to see what does better. Josh suggest base on YouTube content. Chuck talks about long tail searches base on titles and words. Mani talks about the issues with titling Mental Toughness and Self Confidence. Mani asks John what he would like to use as a title, Mental Toughness. Josh, John, and Mani plan their attack with the upcoming product.

15:00

John talks about doing an interview with the founder of Quest Nutrition, Tom Bilyeu. John talks about Tom’s Youtube channel, Impact Theory. John and Mani talk about the net worth of the company and other details. John talks about trying to get Tye Lopez on the show...

20:00

John talks about the myth of Facebook advertising. John says show him a profitable Facebook ad. The EntreProgarmmer talk about finding someone who has profitable Facebook Ads. Josh talks about selling low price products verse high price product on platforms like Facebook.

25:00

The EntreProgrammer talk about webinars and facebook marketing. Also some talk about paid traffic. John talks about what profitable Facebook ads should look like.

30:00

Josh talks about the blog update in Simple Programmer. Looks like the numbers have increased and ranking boost. Josh talks about the traffic on their blog posts and the guest posting numbers. Mani ask a question about posts from 2016. John talks about guests post and numbers reached last year.

35:00

John talks about pruning some posts to increase the numbers. Chuck talks about his visit at NG Atlanta. Chuck talks about doing an interview on Youtube and podcasts. Chuck talks about how is camera does not have an audio input. Mani suggests recording the video with a phone and having audio hookups.

40:00

Chuck says his Social Media person quit. Also, some work with Dropbox cleanup and moving files around to get organized. Josh chimes back in with numbers from last years traffic. Josh talks about the editorial team for the blog posts.

45:00

Josh talk about testing out the articles. Josh talks about doing keyword optimization and backlinking. John talks about the strategy with backlinks and getting some coaching on the topic.

53:00

Chuck talks about getting some big name for the first episode of the Vue Podcast

Thoughts of the Week!

John - Make sure you remind yourself of things that nullify your goals

Josh - Believe there is a solution!

Chuck - Building Systems!

Mani - Understanding the customer journey!

Episode 61 "I Want Cupcakes!"

We're Live!

Derick gives and introduction to our new sponsor, Raygun.io, an error tracking service, release tracking. https://raygun.io

Derick reveals his newfound vision, with his new spectacles. Here’s good detail info on some eye care, especially with working in-front of computer screens all day.

The group chats about age, and what they were doing when... 30 plus is old? Age verses experience...

8:08 – Chuck shares his, New Media Expo and MicroComp experience. Most exciting events were the quad-copters. John agrees that Micro Comp was worth it! Just by the networking and the people you get to meet.

12:48 – Chuck talks about email marketing. Also some advise from Brennan Dunn, to create A Guide of How to Deploy Apps. Yes, so Chuck has some great ideas to begin work on.

The EntreProgrammers discuss how each of them deploys apps, and different strategies to funnel to products they’ve created.

24:48 – John talks about work with a new full-time VA, and being able to gain back time (20 hours), and able to do more projects. John details the type of projects he has his VA working on, and how outsourcing theses tasks have better results as far as presentation, SEO, etc.

30:41 - Chuck asks what John's production schedule looks like, as far as timing of blog post. John weekly work schedule for blogging:

New blog post Monday (2000-3000 word blog post)

Another blog post on Thursday of the YouTube video with the highest views

Once a month shooting 26 videos for SP

32:56 - Derick is impressed with John's production of videos. Derick says he recently created several screencast and is drained with all tasks involved. EntreProgrammers talk about the tiny mistakes in the content the produce, and how in certain circumstances the small missteps end up benefiting followers.

John talks about the magic of editing video and audio, "Its like you got this god power!" over editing.

43:24 – While John was at MicroComp, he was surprise with how many people listen to EntreProgrammers podcast.

47:55 – Chuck talk about his talk with Rob Walling.

51:17 - John talks about his biggest takeaway of MicroComp talks. John realizes a fresh approach to reinvesting into Simple Programmer.

55:36 – Josh join the group for some undisclosed location. Josh gets a new computer and new baby boy. Josh gives the run down of hospital stays, baby births, and being unplugged from the world.

1:04:45 – Derick is taken some action items from John’s book, and make contact with some individuals. The third degree of separation and the kind of connections you can achieve is amazing.

1:10:55 - Josh shares a tip he found about how to follow-up with someone by email without being pushy. Johns shares his god power of the censor beep.

Derick talks about creating hype about new material he is working on.

1:18:43 – Chuck asks questions on how to Derick has thought out his marketing strategy of rabbitmq. Derick is trying something new. He has been influenced by Keith Perhac and his mastermind group to try this new venture. Derick has continue his search for new ideas and materials, and has realize that every production does not to be an epic home run.

1:26: 33 – John mention how popular Josh's email has been among those who attended MicroComp. Josh is in the workings with others in the copyright business, and making contacts. Josh is striving to work with people at Microsoft, Adobe, etc. Josh continues to praise the access to professions using LinkedIn.

1:35:00 - Josh and John talk about the features of Tweet Adder, and Followliker. Also, some info on how to avoid getting blacklisted from a few of these social media tools. http://www.followliker.com. The entreprogrammers discuss the practice of marketing using spamming? Spamming gracefully.

1:45:12 - Josh talks about using Contactually, a CRM tool, to syncing all his contact and calendaring events. https://www.contactually.com

1:52:08 - John mentions the features of SendOwl

https://www.sendowl.com

1:57:55 – EntreProgrammers Retreat: Confirmation for October 16-19th 2015

Tentative price 1200 bucks. http://entreprogrammers.com/retreat2015

Tuesday, April 21

Meet Chuck in Altanta, GA at conference center for Railcomp. Tweet to find Chuck for a meetup!

Thoughts of the week

Josh – Go for the bigger Wins

Derick – Remember why you are doing all this.

John - Don't be a miser

Chuck – Sometime you have to make big steps.

Episode 60 A Lesson in Marketing

Today's Group – John, Josh, Derick, Chuck, and Keith Perhac

0:17 – All right, We're Live!

Exciting news! Derick introduces Digital Ocean as a new sponsor for the next (Episode 61). Learn more here at: https://www.digitalocean.com/

2:22 – John gives an introduction to Keith Perhac, co-host of the Kalzumeus Podcast. Keith is a digital marketing guru of DelfiNet. http://delfi-net.com, and check out this podcast at http://www.kalzumeus.com

Professional Counsel

5:54 – Derick asked Keith a few questions about how to package his screencast products for marketing, should he sell his product by category levels or tiers to get the best returns.

13:09 – Keith shares his insight on package bundles that have Work Sheets attached. Reason being is that some people have tons of time or money, and worksheets are a quick checklist to success. It creates value by way of getting your customer on the fast track to their goals. It is a time saver, because every developer/entrepreneurs needs to beat the learning curve.

14:29 – Chuck asked Keith of about how he could monetize a weekly or monthly video series subscription. What could Chuck do, Tiers, Videos, Webinars, E-Books, and various kinds of Tier subscriptions.

These EntreProgrammers discuss the various ways to package and monetize their products. These are subscriptions tiers and access to the communities that they have created for networking, and general access to viewing instructional material.

17:06 – Chuck explains his trials with his products subscriptions, podcast, and videos.

Coaching

20:02 – Keith talks about how valuable coaching is to customers, and should not be discounted. However, discount coaching might be possible if this was a continuous service, to keep it appealing for the client.

24:41 – John suggest presenting a formal landing page for coaching services and advertising. This concept provides a final and transparent documentation of coaching service cost, and a final set price.

28:00 – John has a question about the pricing of his material, How to Market Yourself package. John’s idea is to make more revenue over time, rather than converting customers with discounted versions of his product.

31:19 – Here is a discussion about the extreme price of the Apple Watch special edition. Keith makes an interesting point about the price gimmick of theses watches. Keith explains that they are set high, and perhaps, not expected to sell huge. However, this creates the illusion that consumer tier Apple watches appear cheaper and affordable at 550 dollars. Nice marketing trick!

Keith shares information on funneling your customers to your products. He also talks about the trials and errors on how to make your marketing efforts worth your time.

41:41 – Keith asks what the team uses for their CRM (customer relationship management) or email system. John responds that Drip is their main system. The group discusses the hundreds of features Drip offers and which ones they enjoy the most.

This section is great for understanding how CRMs could give you feedback stats, and data that could help you manage your sales. Understanding analytical feedback can provide information on the demographic your sales, and whom you need to target in the forthcoming sales.

53:28 – John shares his impromptu sale of How To Market Yourself. John tries a generic type of sales approach, with no particular link to holidays or special events. Josh suggests that even a random reason like a “snow day” could be a great sales motive. Keith talks about the emotional connection that people often make with such random topics or events, which then ultimately generates a frenzy of customers.

1:06:42 – Keith adds that marketing is applied psychology.

1:19:53 – Chuck is staying Las Vegas for an extra day at the New Media Expo. http://nmxlive.com/2015-lv/

1:21:33 – Johns test the Thrive Leads plugin at: http://thrivethemes.com/leads/

1:25:54 – Derick subscribers are climbing by 10 a month, 370 to 326 from 6 months ago. Go Derick!

1:27:37 – John shares more about his new HD YouTube video. The first video of this revamp series is out!

1:28:48 – Josh brings up new info on the Tweet Adder update. The new feature rate limits...? http://tweetadder.com. Josh talks about the backend work of a client’s websites.

1:40:33 – John is often asked why he gives a lot of product away for free, like the blog post, etc. John explains that if they are consuming free material, they are probably willing to pay for well-organized and packaged products.

1:40:09 – Kei...

0:15 We are live. John and Mani are at Thrive Conference. Not related to Thrive Cart or Themes. Chuck mentions recording some 14 plus EntreProgrammers podcast this week. Chuck also mention some new signups the the My Story podcasts on the Dev Chat TV network. Chuck explain how the My Story shows fit into the Dev Chat TV network.

4:00 Chuck continues to explain the type of guests on the My Story Podcasts. Josh talks about interview he did with student of Jason Humphrey. Josh and Chuck talks about their guests and topics that are most interesting to them. Sharing all kinds of perspectives.

7:00 Josh ask about the unique guest on the Dev Chat TV network. Chuck explains some of the dynamics between the panelists and guest. Chuck talks about the different perspective and diverse outlook of the panelist on the podcasts. Chuck share that this diversity helps him learn new things.

11:00 Chuck talks about the freedom and goals he is working on with his business coach. Chuck says he is going to work hard in the next few months so he can step back form the business. However, he does plan to have a passion podcasts that he want to continue with. Chuck says this shows are on Podcasting and getting a job or working in the business.

14:00 Chuck says his only issues is time and having a lot of things to do. Chuck talks about getting in to automation and building out systems. Chuck says he is traveling and still working on his book.

20:00 Chuck ask for a suggestion if the needs to hire someone else to handle the sponsorship scheduling. Or should he continue to have Michele do the podcast production and sponsorships tasks. Chuck mention he needs more help with sales calls and selling sponsorship spots.

23:00 Josh thinks a non-skilled person can handle this. Chuck says the outreach for sponsorship might get automated to some degree. Chuck explain his plans for outreach. Chuck says he just trying to figure out how to automate the task in the business.

28:00 Chuck mentions how he needs people that work for him to help, if needed, to create process. Josh says the good salesperson is a good relationship person. As far as Chuck looking to fill the spot for sales calls. Chuck says he does not want to bring someone in, thinking they have a long-term job. Josh thinks he needs to hire himself a figure out the process.

35:00 Josh says getting clarity and honing in on the actual work is difficult. Chuck ask about things on the Simple Programmer end of things. Josh talks about another launch he is about to do. Josh says he is excited about how the contents is coming together. Josh says he is really looking into the prelaunch material.

38:00 Josh and Chuck talk about content creation and marketing content like Jeff Walker. Josh talks more about video material and content for people to engage with.

45:00 Josh talks more about creating content with John. Chuck talks about the tactics with writing a book and Getting a Job and creating or locking in the theme of a hero’s journey. Chuck talks about how his process is working with writing his book.

55:00 Josh talks about rerunning the Plural Sight campaign. Josh talks about the reduced commission from Plural Sight. Josh says this course feeds into the membership. Josh says he is hoping for a 250 sales to boost the membership.

1:00:00 Chuck ask about using WooCommerce but there was an issue with completing the sale with PayPal. Josh says there are always issues with people paying with PayPal. Chuck and Josh continue to uncover issues with the lost sale on Chucks WooCommerces store.

1:05:00 Chuck explains the content of his early copy of this book. Chuck says he is interested in doing some webinars soon. Josh says with launch will be different without John. Josh says this is a good test to see where they are.

Thoughts for the Week

Chuck - Be willing to challenge what you think the way things are. Josh - We tend to procrastinate on the things that are most important