comfort is the enemy of success
April 15th, 2015
comfort’s the enemy of growth.
our thinking and life is driven by habits. a big change in your life requires a big change in your thinking (first), and then your doing. people and businesses love to sit around basically doing the same thing year after year, hoping for more…when in reality they’re afraid of going ‘all in’ to make the changes necessary to create the breakthroughs.
change is scary for most people.
change requires uncertainty, by it’s very nature. again, very scary for most people.
you have to embrace the fear and learn how to be ok with uncertainty, not run from it, if you want to go big in life or work.
i’m jealous (“compare and despair”)
April 2nd, 2015
i’m feeling jealous. it happens in the technology world all the time, to everyone, since there’s always a new hot company, a new big fundraising round or exit, or a new big publicity stunt.
it doesn’t happen to me as often as it used to when i was younger, but it happens. i doubt 99% of humans can avoid it?
we all get jealous. whichever business icon you see out there (elon musk, richard branson, etc) probably gets jealous of someone else’s family life. a super happy parent might get jealous of a rich person, or of other parents with kids who had a music prodigy, or a million other parenting reasons.. or one entrepreneur of another who’s younger, did it faster, bigger, whatever.
whoever you’re jealous of is probably jealous themselves of a slim person. or someone who can grow a beard. or run fast, jump high, dance, make music, clothes, doesn’t have to deal with paparazzi… there’s an endless list of what you COULD be jealous about.
when it happens to me, i let it fuel my ambition, learning from others, and i also practicing ‘changing the station’ and think about all the amazingly happy parts of my life.
because if you “compare and despair” and let it rule you, it’ll suck any joy you do have out of your life. it’s a no-win game to play with yourself.
it’s all a paradox
March 31st, 2015
need to make more money? you need to work harder to get that idea done.
or maybe you need to stop working, so you can come up with a better idea.
kids frustrated or fighting? you need to give them more structure and discipline.
or maybe they’re just rebelling against the current structure and need more freedom.
in a troubled relationship? you need to take a break from it and refind your priorities.
or maybe you need to go all-in and fully commit.
there’s a reason why you will always get conflicting advice for any problem you have – life’s a paradox, and there are no fixed ‘rules’ you can rely on. well, maybe being honest with yourself and others.
the point is you need to learn to feel the best thing to do for you in each situation, not depend on others’ advice.
this is why anxiety is such a problem, because it blocks you from listening to you, and why fear-based decisions point people in the wrong direction.
late nights
March 29th, 2015
the work never ends as a dad, and especially a dad-entrepreneur. it’s 10:30pm and i finished getting kids to bed, dog walked / etc around 10pm. then spent half an hour fiddling with email and responding to a couple of webinar comments.
and i have to get up at 5:30am tomorrow to help everyone get ready for school…
starting & growing a business can be a lot of work – with great rewards.
a family is a lot of work – with great rewards.
my incredible motivation to make a lot more money (bridges were burned)
March 27th, 2015
having a family has been the #1 motivator to me to grow my business and income. there’s nothing like having bills to pay, and needing (wanting desperately) to get a bigger house, private schools, medical, food, etc bills paid to light a fire under my ass!
in other words, when i was alone, i didn’t have enough purpose or passion around making money to really go for it in a big way. but getting married and having (a lot) more kids did that for me.
in fact, i realize – as i work on the sequel to Predictable Revenue around massive revenue growth, like Zenefits growing from $1m in revenue to $100m+ in just two years?! – i’ve been following a lot of the same principles personally that the companies i’m writing about have done too.
small bites
March 27th, 2015
i haven’t written on here for what seems a LONG TIME – mostly because i’m so focused on both my “predictablerevenue.com” and “dad-of-5-and-growing” and “husband of 1” jobs.
i work my ass off all week, though only about 20-30 hours is at pr.com. so by the time i have free time, i’m rarely feeling like writing!
so i thought i’d try just posting some bites up here more regularly.
as an experiment.
starting today.
luckily i have a great team of support all around, between work and family, which has allowed us to grow income 10x over the past 3-4 years, and family size 3x, while working the same amount and actually having a lot more fun.
i know a lot of people are scared of having kids for the first time, or more than 1-2 kids. i get it, i’ve been there. but when you go ‘all-in’ (as my friend dr. phil would say) it all works out.
i’ve found in growing a business the best way for me to create financial wealth, while in growing a family’s been the best way to create emotional wealth.
advice on building a services/consulting company
November 13th, 2014
i’ve had a bunch of friends reach out recently around doing more consulting, writing books to build a business, etc. and i have a business that’s on the way to being 7 figures, while working 25 hours a week (usually but not always – since specially lately i’ve had to work harder to keep up & for client travel).
so i thought i’d jot down a few ideas i’ve been sharing…
* focus focus focus on a niche! aka unique genius
why: people don’t buy general help. they buy very specific help for specific problems. that’s why though i write books and blog about many ways of growing sales fast, 90% of my consulting is around outbound prospecting. it’s my unique genius (at work), my specialty, what i’m the best in the world at. and what i can charge real money for. consider radio stations – every station has a single specialty, because who’d listen to a station that played a jumble of “rock pop jazz classical blue grass country etc etc”? that’s confusing, and confusion = “no”.
how: one step, ask friends and clients the question, “what’s the one thing you hired me for, or would hire me for?”
the idea of focusing this way tends to scare people…you come up with fears like “it’s too narrow”, “it’s not interesting”, “i don’t want to be limited”, etc – but you will shoot yourself in the foot by being too many things to too many people.
free training videos: www.UniqueGenius.com
* do as many free talks as you can to get started (whether live or webinars)
why: it might help finding clients, but for me it mostly forced me to crystallize my ideas and messages into a few, compelling ones
* don’t expect to make money selling books
why: the royalties are nice…but you need to sell a LOT of books to make much $ (in my mind, six figures a year+). 5% of the money i make is from royalties, 80% is from consulting, 15% from speaking. or something like that.
how: i self-published my first three books, and it worked great – but now i’m partnering with a “hybrid publisher” called FGPress.com. i would recommend you avoid traditional publishers – who don’t do squat for you – and find a good hybrid partner.
* sell money to make money
why: i know you want people to feel good, to have more time, less anxiety, better teamwork… but people don’t really buy those things. the frank truth is everyone wants money. (and in some other areas, they’ll pay money for health & relationships and a few other niches). but my speciality is in business, so to business experts/coaches i say “sell money to make money” – that is, you have to show them how they will make money, save money or have less risk of losing money, to be able to charge much money.
* figure out how to charge more per hour, usually by doing projects that have concrete outcomes
why: you’ll be limited to lower per-hour amounts, and smaller projects, when doing per hour work. FYI – my effective rates (for different situations) are $1k-$3k+ an hour.
how: check out www.uniquegenius.com/money-video for ideas
* comfort is the enemy of success
why: i know how easy it is to coast along, doing just enough. but when you’re comfortable, you’re not getting outside your comfort zone to push yourself in new ways that help you break through into the next level. you should be doing things that make you nervous. constantly. this isn’t just about hours worked, though that can be part of it. it’s mostly doing things that scare you – like doubling prices, public speaking, writing a book, or even reducing/limiting your hours.
* what lit a fire under my ass
getting married and having kids…
pebblestorm.com/2015/03/27/my-most-incredible-motivator-to-make-a-lot-more-money/
so – what other questions do you have?
we have a new baby daughter! welcome baby darcy-
July 10th, 2014
on july 1st, 12:03a in the morning (just after midnight), our new baby daughter, Darcy Elizabeth Antoinette Ross, was born (9lbs, 1oz)!
thankfully it was an easy birth! (Pari – who was 10lbs 1oz, was a lot harder). darcy’s been home with us for a week, and she and mom are doing great. she’s luckily a very easy baby. she joins our other kids at home, Aurora (11), Valentin (9), Maverick (5), Pari (2). we also have two more kids still in an adoption process.
i’m making July a family month, taking a break from work, which includes a new book with Jason Lemkin, The Predictable Revenue Guide To Tripling Your Sales.
and some pix…
New ebook (free)…
i love this ‘harsh truth’ article
January 4th, 2014
6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
well done sir!
my daughter aurora’s post about going to a conference with her dad (that’s me)
October 29th, 2013
i mentioned before that i’ve begun taking my bigger kids on business trips (valentin to boston), and over on PredictableRevenue.com, i put up a new post that aurora put together (with my help laying it out) about ‘how to make a boring conference fun‘ for kids. pretty neat!
check it out here, and here’s a video of her on stage with me:
Why I Work 20-30 Hours A Week
October 2nd, 2013
Over on PredictableRevenue.com:
Why I Work 20-30 Hours A Week
what do milkshakes have to do with life skills & selling? (+ news)
September 5th, 2013
for quite awhile i feel like most of my PebbleStorm has been mostly about family & adoption, rather than prior years’ focus on ‘Unique Genius’. it’s funny how everything i do is all facets of the same gem: perhaps seemingly different on the outside, but all different reflections of the same thing, with my family influencing my work, and vice versa.
for most people, i think work and family/afterwork are like oil and water – but do they have to be?
over the past few years the ‘Unique Genius’ ideas have transformed my PredictableRevenue.com business; i learn every day, working ~25 hours a week, with great people and a best-selling book. i’m taking baby steps in developing my ‘Unique Genius Selling’ ideas, helping people learn how to make ‘selling’ (themselves, their ideas or products) a life skill that’s effective and fulfilling.
milkshakes
and my family continues to influence who i am and how i work, plus becoming a part of my content (as in the Hubspot presentation above), and coming to talks in person. and with milkshakes…
my 10 year old daughter Aurora is my ‘unique genius sales apprentice,’ to learn more about teaching young kids healthy business & life skills early, such as being impeccably honest, empathic, and helpful.
for example, i’m teaching her a couple of simple sales/marketing techniques to use on her mother (shhhh, don’t tell Jess) such as “WIIFM”: What’s In It For Mom. “Ok, so you want a milkshake – but how can you ask mom for one not in a demanding or selfish way, but rather a way that she gets something valuable too out of it?” the idea is to teach empathy, value and communication while helping her get her milkshakes 