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Just taught a business planning class last week in Nashville to about 80 or so real estate agents.    One of the main things we talked about was growing our list. How do we grow our list full of people that connect with us. And how do we do it ahead of our competition.    Which, side note, is what my free course teaches at www.groundswellmethod.com  If you want an innovative way to network in your local market that is valuable AND to helpful to others… you can start the course today at www.groundswellmethod.com   Today’s interview with Joe Stumpf touches on some of key points to nurturing your list. But it’s a great interview because we cover so much more than that in just 30 minutes. You’ll want to listen to this one again.    Alright, Joe is a cool guy. I’m excited for you to meet him. So here you go...

On this episode we’re talking about how to scale a referral business plus the shift from building your business on your own to building it through others.    One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is having too small a list. Jim Rohn used to say “What we lack in skill we make up in number”  As we develop our content strategies and assemble our sales funnels we’re continually refining our message and testing what works.    During this time it’s helpful to have more people we can have access to. And not just random people, but people who we’ve been endorsed to. People someone else has introduced us to.    Today’s guest, Nick Krautter, is sharing a glimpse of how this works based on his new book The Golden Handoff. And while it was written by a real estate broker and works well for service professionals, I think this is an interesting concept for any business to entertain.    There are some great nuggets in here about leadership, vision, hiring and scaling all overlapping with authenticity.    So without further delay, here’s Nick Krautter. 

I’ve been interested in the topic of authenticity for a long time now. And I think what’s fueled that interest is  all the ways I’ve felt like I had to sell out in business to make a buck.    As I grew in experience i started finding ways that I liked to grow my business. Ways that turned me on. Left me feeling strong. Ways that resonated with others and inspired them.    As I got further down this path of focusing on my strengths, it got clearer and clearer to me how many entrepreneurs were still stuck back where I was, trying to build their business in ways that were incongruent with who they were.    Much of what I do in my consulting practice these days is helping entrepreneurs find their voice, their tribe and the right lead generation methods that fit who they are.    And this podcast is a guilty pleasure I suppose, because I get to talk to other entrepreneurs who I think have found their way or have a particular angle on authenticity in business. And I think it’s cool that I can share that back with you.    None of us have it all figured out. But we all have perspective to contribute.    So thanks for being here.    With that said, I’m excited to introduce you to Jason Van Orden. 4 years ago i discovered podcasting. I loved being able to listen to people who had advice on things I was working on in my business. I kept hearing a similar format to these well produced shows and I thought, there is someone teaching these people how to do this. I need to find the source. With a little research it led me to Internet Business Mastery podcast and Jason Van Orden.    I ended up hiring Jason as a coach. He helped me launch a real estate podcast that at the time of this recording has over 80,000 downloads.    One of the things I admire most about Jason is his down to earth approach. He’s humble, he’s smart and he’s building a really cool community of entrepreneurs on facebook that want to create Impact in the world. Actually you can request to join that group by going to joinimpact.net   I’m excited for you to have a listen to our conversation. So here’s Jason.

I’ve hired Ryan several times to do some work for me. He set up my S corporation among other things.    And shortly after our first interaction he emailed me to see if I wanted to grab coffee.    I haven’t told him this, but my first reaction was wondering if I had to pay for the time he spent with me at coffee.    Thankfully he didn’t charge me. In fact I think if I hadn’t shown up early and bought my own coffee, he would have paid for mine as well.    Anyway, Ryan is a great example of authenticity to me. I was excited to get an attorney’s perspective.    What he says about how he’s grown his business inspired a reflection I’ll share with you after the interview.

I don’t often think of the role of money or community on authenticity. Authenticity seems like such an individual thing. Many of the conversations we’ve already had on this podcast have talked about the inner journey, being true to oneself and the work attached to that self-discovery.    What I love about my conversation with Pat Hiban today… and what I didn’t expect… is a glimpse into how surrounding ourself with others we can talk to about our thoughts, struggles, ideas becomes an important structure for continuing on our path… our True North.    The other thing you’ll hear in today’s interview is the role of money in authenticity. It sounds funny to say it that way, but it’s part of what I love about the intersection of success and authenticity. Without means, we are limited in our choices. Money creates more choices. It’s not to say that we can’t be authentic without money. It’s just to say you have more choices in how you express your purpose and share your message in this world. 

LeAnne Ozaine-Smith is a licensed financial planner, professional speaker, and the founder of Prosperity, a financial management app for small businesses. Today she shares with us some of her tips for finding your purpose in life as well as how to establish an authentic exchange with clients. LeAnne, a bubbly extrovert, fell into the financial management industry through her love of teaching. She found a disconnect between entrepreneurs and their finances, which opened up the opportunity for her to coach small business owners on money management. Finding Your Focus Surrounded yourself with big thinkers and brilliant people who are willing and open to talk to you. LeAnne spent years running her own practice. She worked with most of her clients virtually, but this was not satisfying to her as an extrovert, so she moved to a larger practice. Sometimes clarity comes from doing the wrong thing for a long time. Hire coaches who can act as an outside opinion to help you find your vision. The Authentic Exchange Culturally, people are fed up with inauthentic and polished professionals. Businesses large and small and focusing on becoming more approachable in order to foster a more authentic exchange with clients and customers. As an entrepreneur or consultant, you need to make your clients feel as comfortable as possible. The first step is to help clients overcome their fears so they can truly open up to you and provide you with the information you need to help change their lives. This will require you to straddle the line between being approachable and authentic, while still being available at a professional level. In order to create a safe environment for your clients, you need to be present to your own emotions. We have a natural tendency to be protective about ourselves, and this makes it very difficult to be authentic in a professional setting. Being transparent and authentic feels risky, but it is the only way to personally engage with someone on a human level. You need to have the courage to have vulnerable moments and create a connection with someone. Learning about products, sales, and marketing techniques are important, but at some point it’s not about how to write a good headline - it’s about challenging people for their own good and getting to the place where it’s safe and it’s ok to be vulnerable with you.  Getting to the Authen

Real estate and recruitment expert, life coach, and author Jon Cheplak was worked as a janitor before building his own thriving business. Jon’s journey to success, however, was not without its struggles. Today he talks to us about some of the life lessons he’s learned, how growing a business is an inside-out process, and the importance of authenticity and responsibility. It was only until Jon began working on himself that he saw his business really succeed. Growing Your Business from the Inside Out Success in business starts from the inside out. Marketing tactics, lead generation, and other strategies are important, but not as important as working on yourself. Start tackling the challenges you face inside by journaling. “The best definition of journaling is to get outside of you what’s inside of you that can kill you. Because if you don’t get it outside of you it’s just going to stew and stew and stew.” Learn to love yourself, learn gratitude, and work on becoming an authentic person. Charisma versus Substance Achieving success with charisma over substance will feel like a grind. We live in a transparent society where people want to make connections with authentic people. Hiding who you are will only work to hurt your business. Instead of becoming attached to outcomes and profits, focus on authentic human connections. Attach yourself to the process of your providing customers - and employees - with the best possible experience they can have. Words of Wisdom for Successful Entrepreneurs “The growth of my business is inside my business not outside my business.” “The growth of my human is inside of me, not outside of me.” Be careful not to move so fast that you miss all the answers and guidance sitting right in front of you. Take absolute personal responsibility for the things you do - Things are going to wrong in business and in life. Stop apologizing for them. Instead, say “I was wrong, what can I do to make it right?” If we stay in relentless pursuit of the truth we are in alignment with the universe and we are going to attract good things.

Co-author of the New York Times bestselling book The ONE Thing, Jay Papasan is also a creative executive and corporate trainer. He talks with us about finding clarity in your life, setting goals, and working towards them to achieve what you really want. [Tweet: “It’s not what you do. It’s who you are.”] Jay’s breakthrough moment came when he met someone at a dinner party who identified himself as a writer despite never having been published. Clarity is Our Compass Clarity is an internal compass that can point us in the right direction towards accomplishing what we want out of life. Busy schedules and obligations often prevent people from achieving true clarity, so make it a priority to spend some time alone with a notebook and really think about who you are. Goal Setting to the Now Ask yourself the following questions: What is my one thing? What would I have to accomplish in five years to feel like I was absolutely on track for that goal? Based on that, what would I have to do THIS year to feel like I was on track for my five year goal? What would I have to do this month to be on track for the year? What would I have to do this week to be on track for the month? What would I have to do today to be on track for the week? Take a look back at your life and search for recurring themes or clues to get a sense of who you really are. [Tweet: “Your calendar is often your clearest indication of who you are @jaypapasan”] How you spend your time, who you hang out with, and where you invest your time are really strong clues. Once you understand where you’re going and why it’s important to you, your motivation will really start to kick in. What you achieve with clarity is knowing that the cost of not doing your one thing is higher than the cost of doing it. The Myth of Low Hanging Fruit One of the thieves of productivity is the idea of low hanging fruit. Your clarity compass points North, but other opportunities can take you on a detour in the opposite direction of where you should be heading. Keep your long-term destination in mind and don’t let low hanging fruit steer you off-track. Imposter Syndrome Feeling unqualified with regard to what you are doing is known as Imposter Syndrome. This stems from self-doubt and is a result of you pushing yourself and living at the ed

Antoinette Perez is a public speaking coach with a background in corporate training. Through one-on-one consulting and training seminars she helps busy professionals speak like professional speakers. We chat with her about what she sees as common obstacles fledgling entrepreneurs face and the importance of authenticity in sales and public speaking. Authenticity is not over sharing. Updates every hour do not equal authenticity. Common Obstacles to Creating an Authentic Business American culture places too much emphasis on urgency. Often when people engage in conversation they say what is convenient for them rather than what they truly mean. Authenticity requires you to overcome your feelings of urgency, take a step back, and spend more time thinking about your words so that you can deliver the message that you really intend. The number of options out there is overwhelming. There are so many different approaches and philosophies - particularly as they pertain to business and sales - available on the internet and through social media. While soundbites from motivational seminars and social media posts are great source of inspiration and energy, do not let them replace who you are and what you believe in. Being self-aware, curious, or having an inner compass is critical in determining if what you’re hearing truly resonates with you. Advice for entrepreneurs who want their own business to resonate with who they are Find a coach that can help Align what you do with who you are Make small changes rather than dramatic ones

Hal Elrod, keynote speaker and author of the #1 best selling book The Miracle Morning joins us for an inspiring conversation about his life and the secrets of his success. We cover everything from the near death experience and overcoming adversity, to the importance of authenticity and his advice for taking life head on. [Tweet “It’s not about what you’re doing each day as much as it about who you’re becoming”] The Secret to Sales At the tender age of 19 Hal Elrod embarked on a career as a Cutco knife salesman. Within 10 days his sales total reached $15,000. What was his secret? Work Ethic: Hal took more sales appointments in 10 days than most of his colleagues did in three months. Enthusiasm: Customers were drawn to Hal’s natural enthusiasm. He really believed in the product and in doing so, was able to authentically communicate with people. “Selling is sharing the value of an idea of a product in a way that is compelling.” Overcoming Adversity The real turning point in Hal’s life came after a head on car accident with a drunk driver. He broke 11 bones and was declared dead for 6 minutes. He later awoke from a coma to learn that he had permanent brain damage and would never walk again. Speaking about the accident, Hal explains “Once something bad happens there’s no point in dwelling on it for more than a few minutes. You accept it and you move on.” Baffled by his positive attitude, doctors were convinced Hal was in denial about spending the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair. Just three weeks later, however, Hal made an amazing recovery and took his first steps. The ABCs of Taking Life Head On Acceptance All Things You Can’t Change: Most people believe negative emotions are caused by the things that happen to them. That’s simply not true. All negative emotions are self-created. The degree that we resist our reality is the degree that we create emotional pain for ourselves. Be Grateful for Everything: Happiness is a fleeting emotion, but gratitude is not. Gratitude is a much more rooted, powerful form of happiness. Create Progress Daily Towards the Person that You Need to Become: It’s not about what you’re doing each day as much as it about who you’re becoming. Perfe

In today’s interview Chris Brogan, CEO of Owner Media group, New York Times best selling author and keynote speaker gives us a sneak peak into the difference between entrepreneurs like himself, and the entrepreneurs who are barely scraping by with their businesses. And it all comes down to how entrepreneurs approach leadership. Where most entrepreneurs seek authority, Chris’ approach is that the easiest way to earn authority is to not seek it. Where many people who are creating online are typing for the sake of it, Chris’ approach is to share stories – both his own experiments, successes and failures, and those of the people he wants to serve – to bond with the type of people he hopes to connect with. Where most entrepreneurs believe authenticity is hidden inside their ability to express themselves, Chris believes that there’s a vast difference between expressing oneself and being helpful, and the greatest expression of oneself in business is to find out what people need and help them solve that problem. In this episode, we’ll see how Chris has applied these principles in his own business to amass a huge following of dedicated and loyal customers and fans which has helped him make a global impact with his work.

After years of working with creative professionals and dealing with issues related to creating value, resolving conflicts and meeting expectations of stakeholders, Todd Henry started his Accidental Creative podcast. He has since authored three books, the most recent of which is Louder Than Words. The through line in all of Todd’s work has been the desire to free up creative professionals from their self-imposed constraints so that they can more mindfully approach their work and create something they’re proud of each day.  Todd points out that there is an emphasis today on the short-term goal of building a platform and building a brand.  The problem is that you can get a lot of attention for a body of work that’s hollow, which can lead professionals to sacrifice long-term effectiveness and essentially sell themselves out. This leads to the question “How do you get attention for work but also do work that is worthy of attention?” The answer involves following a longer, more difficult, more nuanced path, but one that will eventually create a stronger bond of success. Louder Than Words takes an abstract conversation about finding your voice and makes it concrete by offering tangible suggestions on how to achieve these high-level concepts. For example, how might a financial planner, whose work may not necessarily be inspiring or passionate, find meaning and authenticity in their work? Todd explains that the answer lies in the outcome. While the day-to-day tasks associated with certain professions may not be especially fulfilling, the focus should always be on working toward an outcome you’re passionate about. This may be helping your client’s dreams come true, or providing them with a sense of security or a measure of peace in their lives. He also emphasizes that achieving authenticity in your work involves a clear framework for making decisions. Once you’ve established that framework, as well as your boundaries, you may have to be prepared to turn down clients whose needs don’t align with your values. This leads to the question: On a pragmatic level, how do these values turn into busi

Welcome to the Authentic Entrepreneur!  We’re trying to transcend any marketing tactics or systems and develop true connections and engagement with our customers and audience. Here's how to use this podcast: Every Monday start your week with this podcast.  Feed your mind and soul with content that keeps you centered throughout the week.  Every Friday you wrap up the week after you’ve spent the week in the trenches.  Come back and reframe your mindset.