IIP050: Live From Manila – Outsourcing The Right Way, Buying Time, And Building Your Team

Inspiring Innovation Podcast
Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode 50  Get it on iTunes

In today’s episode, recorded live from our hotel room in Manila, Julie (my girlfriend and personal time strategist) and I are joined by our VA – Rose Fernandez. We discuss how to get started with outsourcing, how to buy time (but not waste money), and how to build an effective, long-lasting virtual team!

What happens in Manila gets broadcasted to the world!

As the final leg of our visit to the Philippines draws to a close, Rose shares some of her experiences of being a virtual employee for several years now, and we discuss common pitfalls and shortcomings that virtual employers (i.e. Entrepreneurs like you and me!) face.

Rose, Julie, Meron in Manila
Julie and I with Rose (our VA) in Manila

We get into the nitty gritty details on the merits of having a VA, why virtual employment is getting more and more popular, what makes Filipinos great for the job and the right reasons and time to get started with building your virtual team.

Virtual Connection

What does it really take to establish a good relationship with one and create a symbiotic relationship that is essential for a business to work? How does one trust someone who is practically thousands of miles away with confidential details regarding one’s business? How can one get a great virtual staff and maintain a long-lasting relationship with?

Like most online entrepreneurs, outsourcing has become a necessity especially when one doesn’t want to get stressed working more than 40 hours a week in keeping the business going. Outsourcing is easy and for the most part — convenient. However, there are things one should consider before getting your first VA — and to be honest, those things are more about YOU than they are about the VA!

Understanding what VAs are capable of doing and what they can contribute to the business is one great factor to consider. Before acquiring a VA, one must realize that these are people too, and they need training in order to best assist you and eliminate the chance of wasting time and resources. Taking time to get to know your VA is important to establish a strong and loyal foundation that creates a lasting relationship even if you’re living at the opposite side of the world.

Tune in to today’s podcast episode and learn the other side of the virtual outsourcing and discover ways to get your own and make a lasting relationship with your VA.

*The Google Hangout will be on Wednesday, March 26 at 2PM EST. For those who want to join, just email me at [email protected].

Items mentioned:

Virtual Freedom by Chris Ducker

Outsourcing Platforms:

Tools and Software:

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Meron

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Transcript

Continue reading IIP050: Live From Manila – Outsourcing The Right Way, Buying Time, And Building Your Team

IIP049: From A Flat-Broke Grocery Store Bagger Making $7/hr To Owning A 7-Figures Real Estate Empire

Inspiring Innovation Podcast
Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode 49  Get it on iTunes

The Do Over

If one would think of a good example of someone who’ve triumphed over the travails of life, a prime candidate would be Matt.  As an author, podcaster, blogger, entrepreneur and success coach, he has shown people how to start life all over again, taking a leaf from a devastating time in his life and sharing them.

Right after finishing his tour of duty as a US Marine Corps  Desert Storm veteran, he continued his career as a producer and marketer in the music industry. His music business has thrived; he was bringing in 6 figure income every month, working from noon till night, partying all night, and waking up again the next afternoon. For a guy in his twenties, there is no doubt he was living the dream.

Matt Theriault of Epic Real Estate
Matt Theriault , The Do Over Guy

The dawn of digital downloads took him, like many others in the music industry, by surprise. Within a few short months, his income diminished. Not reading the map, he kept trying harder and harder, repeating the formula that worked so perfectly just 6 months earlier… to no prevail. Shortly after, he hit rock bottom, went bankrupt, faced a divorce, and at 34 years old, he was flat-broke, working as a grocery store bagger for $7 an hour.

Real Estate

Running a 6-month pity party didn’t help reinstate his former glory. One day, his grocery manager told him, “Listen, Matt, if you really want the money back, if you want the life you had before, the last and the final frontier for an average person to create real wealth is real estate.” 48 hours later, Matt enrolled in real estate school, and 4 months later got his license and started selling houses.

Income has been predictable and steady, less than he was making before as a music producer, but more than enough to live on. He was doing pretty well, but what truly hit him was the fact that he was working so much, and so hard, closing deals and shuffling papers – while his customers, arrived late to meetings in denim and T-shirt, signed the papers, and were off to enjoy their lives.

“If the final frontier really is in real estate,” he thought, “then I’m sitting on the wrong side of the table. I should be the seller, not the agent.”

Becoming Real Estate Investor With No Money Down

He took the first step by jumping into an educational program which cost a hefty $20,000. “It was a leap of faith,” he explains, but it sounded right, and ended up being well worth it for Matt. The product showed him several ways to invest in real estate with no money and without using his credit score.

We discuss some of these methods in the episode, so tune in if you want to get the full picture. The bottom line is, he used the same formula, again, and again, and again, slowly but surely building enough funds to buy his first property – and lease it out. From there, once he cracked the code – it was a simple matter of rinse & repeat.

Sharing The Secrets

Instead of focusing on working hard all your life, to earn enough money to be able to make residual income off of it at the end, a system that’s failing 95% of Americans, Matt asks – why not go at it the other way around? Instead of putting 40 years into saving enough money, he asks, why not put 4 years, focused on creating streams of residual income, that bring in enough money?

This is why today, Matt’s income comes from his properties, from his online academy, and from a third “done for you” or “turn-key” company. It provides a way for busy people who want to get started with real estate, but doesn’t have the time, to have Matt’s team do it for them, and guide them hand-in-hand in their first year as property owners.

By starting a podcast to build and grow an engaged audience base, he was able to grow and improve his online academy. Then, from listening to his audience’s needs, frustrations and cravings – he came up with the idea of the turn-key business – succeeding since he was offering his audience exactly what they want.

The Difference Between You And The World’s Millionaires

Matt’s final, and powerful note, is about the biggest secrets of the successful people. Matt says that many people ask if they could pay to follow him during his day and learn his business Jedi moves. He always answers that that would be very boring to his mentorees. He insists that there’s nothing special about him, no secret ingredient that he possesses and others don’t: It’s just a matter of showing up every day and focusing on the business building tasks.

He explains that choosing a new printer, designing business cards and furnishing your office doesn’t count as business building. Getting sales, talking to your customers and prospects, following up and making sure your customers are happy – these are business building activities. “And if you repeat them, day after day, long enough – you will succeed,” he says.

I hope that you find this episode as inspiring and motivating as I did. Hey, if Matt could go from bagger in a local grocery shop to becoming an owner of a 7-figure real estate business, by simply focusing on the right steps and showing up day after day, week after week, until he reached success — why can’t you? 🙂

Items mentioned:

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

1 FREE Audiobook Credit RISK-FREE from Audible.com

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Stay awesome,
Meron

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you, and I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Transcript

Continue reading IIP049: From A Flat-Broke Grocery Store Bagger Making $7/hr To Owning A 7-Figures Real Estate Empire

IIP048: How To Become The Ultimate Influencer, And Turn Adversaries Into Allies

Inspiring Innovation Podcast
Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode 48  Get it on iTunes

He’s back! And he has something new to share. . .

Bob Burg, the co-author of the bestselling book “The Go-Giver”, is back in this latest episode of Inspiring Innovation Podcast where he talks about his latest book, Adversaries Into Allies: Win People Over Without Manipulation or Coercion and the different ways people can be an influencer.

The Distinguishing Factor

What’s different in his book that hasn’t been discussed before? Is there really something more that hasn’t been traversed by so many books by prominent writers before?

Bob Burg, Author of Adversaries Into Allies
Bob Burg, Author of Adversaries Into Allies

Drawing inspiration and finding great information from many books, citing examples like Dale Carnegie’s How To Make Friends and Influence People, Bob is aware that many known authors have tackled this frequently traveled topic of influencing people. Burg is quick to say that whenever he reads any of these books, he always gets something from them.

So what makes ‘Adversaries Into Allies’ unique?

In my opinion, Bob’s straightforward and simple take on the subject, combined with a strong focus on people skills, makes this book a “must read” for anyone who’s struggling with becoming a more effective influencer.

Most success principles have been around for thousands of years. And just like there are many teachers teaching math or history, different authors bring different things on the table because there are different ways of teaching — a different style.

What he’d done with his book is to communicate these principles differently and in a way that would hopefully be of help. His goal is to find a way to equip people with information that will allow them to know exactly what to do and how to do it to be more effective in their lives. He teaches these principles through very short stories that people can relate to because they’ve experienced the same situation and might experience it again.

This book is for people like him — people who have and still been struggling with controlling their anger and other strong emotions — and be able to be more effective in things that are more productive.

Five Principles of Ultimate Influence

In this interview, Bob explains the Five Principles of Ultimate Influence

  1. Control your own emotions
  2. Understand the clash of belief systems
  3. Acknowledge their ego
  4. Set the proper frame
  5. Communicate with tact and empathy

We go through each and Bob provides immediately actionable advice on developing your skills in each of the 5 parts that create ultimate influence. Bob believes that at least one of them, and usually more than one, will come into play in every interpersonal situation you will face when trying to move a person to a desired action and towards a specific and a mutual goal.

More. . . More. . . More. . .

For an entrepreneur, influence is a big deal and mastering people skills is essential in influencing people. It has a direct correlation without a bottom line. With Bob Burg’s book out, we have more tools in order to really understand and work the law of influence (that was covered in his previous book co-authored with David Mann, The Go-Giver, and discussed in Episode 27: The 5 Laws of Success).

Tune in to this week’s episode to learn more tips, lessons and Bob’s infinite wisdom!

Items mentioned:

Bob Burg’s Books:

Adversaries Into Allies by Bob Burg

TheGo-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann

Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg and John David Mann

It’s Not About You: A Little Story About What Matters Most In Business by Bob Burg and John David Mann

Endless Referrals Third Edition by Bob Burg

The Art of Persuasion Winning Without Intimidation by Bob Burg

The Last Prospecting Guide You’ll Ever Need by Bob Burg

The Memory System by Bob Burg
Other Books Mentioned:

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

How To Have Confidence and Power When Dealing With People by Les Giblin

1 FREE Audiobook Credit RISK-FREE from Audible.com

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Stay awesome,
Meron

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you, and I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Transcript

Continue reading IIP048: How To Become The Ultimate Influencer, And Turn Adversaries Into Allies

IIP046: Creating Your First eCommerce Business And Funding It With Kickstarter

Inspiring Innovation Podcast
Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode 46  Get it on iTunes

“If I’m gonna have a hobby, why not do something that I have potential to do it professionally.”

In today’s show, we have a living . . . breathing image of Inspiring Innovation. He’s a full-time software engineer who followed his instincts and created simple a solution to an everyday problem. Now, backed by Kickstarter, Frank Cho has created his eCommerce business — going within weeks from idea to over $22,000 already pledged to his Kickstarter campaign!

The Inspiration

The idea came to him while listening to a podcast on his way to work. When it was time to get out of the car and pause the episode, he was left with the dilemma of where to put his earbuds.

Refusing to put them in his pocket where they would get all tangled up, unwilling to let it hang and risking it snagging onto something — Frank realized there’s just no good place to put your earbuds on-the-go. Why can’t you just have them hang without disturbing, tangling, or snatching onto things??

That’s when the concept of Zipi came to his mind.

Zipi Magnetic Earbud Strap Image 1
Zipi Magnetic Earbud Strap (Image 1)

Taking Action

Frank didn’t indulge too much on how great his idea seemed to him. He asked his friends to validate some interest, and then set to create a prototype. He researched online and found the pieces he wanted, then super-glued it himself on the kitchen table.

Zipi Magnetic Earbud Strap Image 2
Zipi Magnetic Earbud Strap Image 2

He showed it to more people, and the feedback was very positive. Frank knew that starting an eCommerce business takes a big initial investment, so he decided to put his idea on Kickstarter. “If it works, then great,” he thought.

Kickstarting and Taking Off

If there was one true overnight success, it’s Frank’s Kickstarter campaign. The media monster TechCrunch picked up on his campaign and featured it while he was sleeping. By the time he woke up — his phone was going off the hook. He also already surpassed his fundraising goal of $6,000 — the cost of creating the initial injection mold, and has already raised over $22,000 to-date.

Zipi Magnetic Earbud Strap Image 3
Zipi Magnetic Earbud Strap Image 3

Tune in to this week’s episode for the full story of Frank, the full-time engineer that created his first eCommerce business with no money down and no manufacturing experience.

Could you be next? 🙂

Items mentioned:

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Stay awesome,
Meron

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you, and I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Transcript

Continue reading IIP046: Creating Your First eCommerce Business And Funding It With Kickstarter

IIP045: HIJACKED! Alex Barker Takes Over The Show And Interviews Meron Bareket

Inspiring Innovation Podcast
Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode 45  Get it on iTunes

I’ve been hijacked!

This week, my show has been hijacked by Alex Barker of Leadership Dojo, and boy, has he certainly turned the tables on me!

Being on the receiving end of this interview certainly brought out the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of my journey, including the reasons and inspirations that led to the creation of Inspiring Innovation Magazine and — of course — Inspiring Innovation Podcast!

A Journey To The Past

With a bit of retrospect and a touch of nostalgia, discover how a kid from a kibbutz in Israel went out of the norm and set to create a life free of restrictions and filled endless opportunities. I myself never realized until Alex asked me, what made my younger self search so obsessively for other ways to live life. What was the trigger? What could I not stand imagining myself doing? You’ll have to tune in to find out 🙂

My entrepreneurial journey started early on in my life. At a young age, I developed an affinity for computers and technology. Gifted with anything to do with mathematics and considered to be a genius by some, I moved on to acquire more knowledge to equip myself with what (I thought) I needed for my better future. That included leaving high-school at 10th grade and moving straight on to my undergrad degree, with a master plan to become the youngest person to get a Ph.D ever! (Yeah.. that didn’t happen..).

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

However, in life, you have to expect the unexpected.

With numerous opportunities already on my way, the universe gave me a trial — in shape of a pretty bad car accident. As Alex points out in the interview – while it might have defeated someone else, I never let that blow put me down.

As I lay recovering, I’ve never kept an idle mind. Even incapacitated and with my injuries keeping me awake for long hours, I listened to audiobooks that inevitably inspired me to look for alternate ways to generate income. I started a business from bed – and it did fine for a while – until I took one bad, bad, piece of advice that ended up crumbling my business (we discuss everything in detail in today’s episode!).

So I moved on.

Going Corporate

Needing to make ends meet, I took a corporate job. While managing hundreds of thousands to sometimes multi-million dollars projects, being a technical lead, and managing employees with the freedom to hire and fire them at will — all at the age of 22 — was a dream of many of my fellow undergrads. Yet, I was unfulfilled.

Searching for a better way, I stumbled upon podcasts. People like Pat Flynn and Leslie Samuel were making it big in the world of online business, and right then I knew that’s how I want to design my own life.

I left my job a few months later and was back to entrepreneurship. But I had no clue what my next move would be. I just knew it was the only way for me.

Entrepreneur, Again!

For the second half of today’s interview, I’ll take you from that moment of realization that I am, and always have been, an entrepreneur, to the HOW and the WHY of Inspiring Innovation as you know it today.

Tune in to this week’s episode and you’ll discover the nitty gritty details of my entrepreneurial journey and more – and please, leave me a review so I know what you think of this episode. 🙂

Items mentioned:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant

1 FREE Audiobook Credit RISK-FREE from Audible.com

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I Need Your Help!

If you haven’t already, I would love if you could be awesome and take a minute to leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link below! It’s the most amazing way to help the show grow and reach more people! Leave a review for Meron’s podcast! Thank you again for your ongoing support.

Stay awesome,
Meron

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you, and I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Transcript

Continue reading IIP045: HIJACKED! Alex Barker Takes Over The Show And Interviews Meron Bareket