Growing Your Business By Meeting Your Customer’s Needs: Jim Palmer

In today’s episode, Mark Podolsky, the Land Geek talks to Jim Palmer, a marketing, business builder, and in-demand coach. Jim is the founder of the the Dream Business Academy, Dream Business Coaching, and Mastermind Program. He is also the host of Dream Business TV watched by thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses. He hosts Stick Like Glue Radio, a weekly podcast based on Jim’s own unique brand of smart marketing and business building strategies. He is internationally known as the Newsletter Guru and creator of No Hassle Newsletters and No Hassle Social Media.

Jim’s 30 years of practical business experience and his kind of staying power is anchored on powerful customer relationships. As an old school thinker, he believes that getting up every day, delivering value, and focusing on service first will give you a longer lasting and profitable business.

Jim set out to be a Vice President by the time he was 40. He achieved it but when he turned 41, his position was eliminated and he was unemployed. At that time, he had four teenagers to support and mortgages and bills to pay. He suffered through 15 months of unemployment and was even diagnosed with cancer. This brought him clarity and he started his first business because he was at a low point in his life and the only place to go from there was up. His first year of business was revenue free but it eventually caught hold and took off, becoming a 6-figure business. After 5 years, he started all over again. He created No Hassle Newsletters. 7 years ago, he started his own coaching business.

Mark mentioned speaking to The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur author, Mike Michalowicz. He has written other books, including the Pumpkin Plan and Profit First. When an entrepreneur starts a business, there’s a lot of time but no money. However, when the business gets bigger, there is money but no time. Only about 5% of entrepreneurs are able to get systems and processes into place, allowing them to be free. Jim’s wife jolted him back to reality when she asked him when they were going to go on vacation – something they were unable to do during the lean years. The reality of time freedom hit him. Then, he hired his first virtual assistant.

Jim brought up an interesting concept, “When I,” which is about moving your goal past when you should be investing in the future and the future company you want to have. The fastest way to get there is by getting a coach or working with somebody with experience. Another point Jim brought up is automating his business and documenting everything to a point where if something happens to him, his wife could effectively take over. Mark has done the same thing. Putting systems and procedures in place will allow you the flexibility of either continuing your business or selling it to a new owner who can then take over two days later and continue to run it. That’s a big part of getting top dollar for your business. For Mark, it’s in a Dropbox folder named, “In Case of Death.”

Jim’s journey to becoming a prolific marketer and author of six books started with his first book. From this experience, he has learned that you don’t need to be perfect. A lot of people suffer from perfectionism, which prevent them from doing things they can be doing. Jim’s advice is to decide you want to be judged on the value of the information and content you’re providing. Being his authentic self has been liberating for him. Just be a prolific curator of the content. The content draws people to you. You just have to remember that people consume content in a number of different ways.

Adam Grant’s book, the “Originals,” talks about people like Mozart and Bach who create original work. They kept creating work and as they did this they created masterpieces! Getting stuck because of perfectionism is something you can avoid. Good is good enough and you can always go back and iterate your past work. Mark calls it, “embracing the suck!” What’s important is that you have to be your authentic self because it’s liberating. Putting yourself out there will attract the right kind of people and repel people you’re not meant to do business with.

You also need to be immune to criticism. You will not have a shortage of people who are going to tell you that you should be doing things differently. Jim mentions a hater who commented about his video where he also featured his dog. The hater said when Jim looked at his dog, he was disrespecting the audience. One way to deal with it is like water off a duck’s back. Grant Cordone’s take on this is if you’re not getting haters, you’re not working hard enough. Even if you only have 30% of your audience that’s going to love you, you can already make a nice living off them.

One of the main things you need to do to be successful in business is to cure a pain and solve a problem. Starting with his No Hassle Newsletter, several other businesses came from that. The ideas usually came from customers who wanted more help. Jim says you shouldn’t overthink. That’s what gets you stuck. He doesn’t celebrate initial transactions but rather, he celebrates lifetime customers. It’s your job to find out all the other ways you can help them enrich their lives.

In dealing with haters, Jim asks his assistant about the background of that particular hater and if no business has been generated out of that hater, he just hits the unsubscribe button. He will not put up with being disrespected.

When asked if Mark had the Best Passive Income Model, Jim says he’s got one heck of a killer model. More importantly, Jim pointed out Mark’s clarity, enthusiasm, and passion for the business. He also pointed out vital things you need to succeed in business such as the processes and systems that are in place and that Mark knows his numbers. Since buying and selling raw land is not something the big companies are interested in, Mark is essentially flying under the radar too! Jim also applauded Mark’s abundance mentality. “Sharks swim in dense packs where there’s ample food supply,” a successful person once told Jim. Mark says that there’s always room for innovation similar to Cirque de Soleil’s model. They took the zoo, combined it with theater, and created a completely new market segment.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Jim: If you want to make a boatload of money, stop answering your phone. You will earn significantly more income for who you are than what you do. It’s about your positioning in the marketplace. As a coach, it doesn’t help him to answer his phone like an operator. If people jump through hoops to be able to talk to him, he has already positioned himself because it now becomes a big deal to speak with him.

You also want to have someone in your business, who will hold your feet to the fire so you can get things done and that is how you grow.

Mark: Get Jim’s free ebook, “Decide: The Ultimate Success Trigger” for free. You only have to pay $6.95 for shipping and handling for a 200-page book that will teach you how to finely tune your mindset and start the business you’ve always imagined. You can get it from DecideForSuccess.com.

Thank you for listening to the Best Passive Income Model podcast. Your support helps me to invite guests who share their knowledge that you can use to grow your business.