1. Earn Trust First, Income Second

Whether you relate more to Kaleen, the cold-calling king, Ryan, veteran turned agency owner, or yours truly, the inspired idiots — all agree that trust is the most important currency.

Why?

Kaleen : “Confidence comes from knowing that what you provide really helps people. But if you’re doing this only to make money, it’ll show in your performance.

Your clients will ask you questions about how you’re gonna help them, and they pick up the energy you’re putting down.

If someone doesn’t feel like you’re truly there to help them, that’s when they’ll ask for references or “more information” from your website — both really just mean “NO.”

Ryan : “One of the most important things to remember about working with business owners is that they’ve probably been scammed in the past.

There are lots of fly-by-night operations out there that over-promise and don’t deliver. So, building up that trust with these businesses is so fucking important.

If you’re doing projects that could completely change their business, they’re gonna need to trust you.

Inspired Idiots : “Money VS. reputation — think about which takes longer to earn.

A solid reputation can translate into more money, not the other way around.

When we were just starting out, we would have worked with anyone. But as you gain more experience, you’ll learn that a “good fit” is someone you actually believe you can help AND appreciates the value of your help.”

2. Don’t Force Long-Term Relationships

Kaleen : “When I’m providing a service, it’s a marathon — not a sprint.

My contracts are month-to-month, so I’m not making anyone sign their life away. But I also don’t want to just send you 50 leads this month, you drop a bunch of them, and then we part ways — that’s not what we’re here for.

I want clients who are gonna choose to use my services for more than just a month.”

Ryan : “I don’t lock my clients into contracts. We want to make sure we’re first keeping their doors open, then they can basically pay for those longer-play services with someone else’s money.

My work is where their marketing budget is going to come from.

I always tell people, ‘Look, if I don’t do my job well, you’re not going to be able to afford to pay me next month anyway. So, it puts the onus on me to give you the results you need to continue to hire me.’

We’re in this for the win-wins.”

Inspired Idiots : “Long-term contracts can make sense once you’ve established a plan for your services, but knowing that you could lose a client at any point is what keeps you accountable.

The goal is to provide enough value for your clients that they never want to leave you. A piece of paper can’t force that feeling on someone — it has to be earned.

Plus, your first couple months of working together is when you’ll learn if you want a long-term partnership with them.
One of our first clients was a landscaper who never answered his phone. After a couple months, we dropped him!

3. “I Can’t” — You Just Haven’t Learned How Yet

Kaleen : “This is all a mental game — no matter what kind of business you’re trying to build. And 90% of the time, your brain is going to focus on what you think you ‘can’t’ do.

Selling over the phone is a skill that I learned by just doing it.

How do I sound?
How’s my tone?
Am I building rapport with the person?
Am I coming across as confident?

Anything can be learned. But are YOU willing to learn it?”

Ryan : “I completely overhauled my sales technique after I joined LMV. I learned that I needed to ask things differently and dig a little more to get to the root of my prospects’ problems.

I was scared shitless to talk to people! I worried about not having an answer, not knowing what to say, being rejected — all of it!

But I’d just show up and do it anyway. And I learned really quickly that I actually knew more about growing a business than most business owners do!”

Inspired Idiots : “You choose what kind of hard you want your life to be.

You can have the hard of a 9-5 with a salary cap and little freedom, or the hard of holding yourself accountable to building something bigger.

By choosing to build your own empire, you have to be willing to learn.

You’re going to fail. You’ll get frustrated. You’ll want to quit at times. But in every moment of failure and frustration and defeat, ask yourself

“What could I learn that would help me move past this?”

Kaleen Cooper

If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same way. I’d join a business coaching program, and I’d cold call.

I had to get started in LMV on a payment plan because I couldn’t even afford the investment. I’d been really lost in my life, but I just took a leap of faith because I knew I needed guidance on what to say, what to do, and how often to do it.

Just tell me the steps, and I’ll step.

That’s the real key here: this will only work if you do.

People are so quick today to point fingers and call things a “scam” when they’re actually just scamming themselves.

This journey will only be a waste of money if you choose to waste it.

I got two master’s degrees, tons of student loan debt, and none of that set me up for financial freedom — does that mean it was a scam?

This, right here, is priceless. Joining LMV has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Check out the full article on Kaleen here.

Ryan Labar

I know a lot of successful entrepreneurs will encourage you to grind and put in those 12 hour days — but you can’t burn the candle at both ends.

Every day, I have a hard stop at 6pm.
I end my work day, I make a nice meal, then I’ve got two hours to decompress, maybe watch a little TV or whatever, and then I’m asleep by 9pm.

It’s really tempting to just keep working, especially when you work from your home, but it’s not worth it to me to sacrifice my wellbeing just to pull long hours.

Staying up late or skipping my workouts might seem like it’s going to benefit my business, but it’s going to negatively affect my performance.

I need to take care of me in order to grow my business.

Check out the full article on Ryan here.

Inspired Idiots — Kelsey & Alex

You have to be willing to flip off your comfort zone.

Comfort zone: a mental state where one feels relaxed, avoiding challenges and sticking to familiar activities for a sense of control.

Your comfort zone is what’s keeping you where you’ve always been.

Feel awkward talking to people? Start up 10 random convos this week.
Uncomfortable making cold calls? Make 100.
Nervous about the thought of attending a BNI meeting? Sign up today and go.

All these fears you think you have are just limits that you’re putting on yourself because you’re focused on the “What if it doesn’t work?” thoughts.

So what if it doesn’t work?!

If someone rejects you or hangs up on you or doesn’t ask for your business card, you’re still growing into the version of yourself that can handle it.

Check out our full article here.