Dan Lok

How Publish Your Own Book For The First Time

August 11, 2020 by Dan Lok

You always wanted to publish your own book, but the thought of it terrifies you. Perhaps you played with the idea for some time now, but you don’t know where to start. If writing is your passion, thinking about writing and publishing your own book for the first time can be extremely overwhelming.

Writing a book takes an incredible amount of time, energy, and skill. You probably did your homework and explored the do’s and don’ts of publishing a book, but all the different advice and tips can be confusing. How do you decide what makes sense for you?

While learning how to get your ideas out into the world is easier than it ever was before, figuring out what ideas to get out is a little harder. The truth is, you can write a book easily, but writing a successful book is more difficult. You can publish your own book easily too, but you have to be strategic about reaching the right audience.

To help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls of first-time authors, we will share with you helpful tips for finding the right formula for a successful book.

Why Publish Your Own Book?

There might be a number of reasons why you would want to publish your own book. Regardless of what reason moves you most, one of the main purposes of your writing should be to establish yourself as an authority in your field.

Think about it, when someone says “I am an author” or “I wrote a book” what are the thoughts that come to your mind?

“Oh! She must be an expert in that field!”,

“She has a lot to say about the subject! That means she’s good at it!”,

“I know celebrities who have written books, maybe she is a celebrity too.”

“It would be great to work with her.”

“I want to know more about her.”

These thoughts label someone as an expert in your mind immediately. If you publish your own book, you will also be perceived as an expert almost instantly.

It’s a bit like when you go see a doctor. Without seeing his qualifications, you already perceive him as an expert. And you trust him instantly. This is the power a book can create for you.

Like many successful doctors, writing smaller pieces prior to writing a book helps establish that authority you want. If you start with blogs, copywriting, and videos, you create a following. Dan Lok developed his career with short pieces before launching his successful books.

Now, let’s look at the key steps for writing and publishing your own book for the first time.

1. Write With Purpose

“Successful people write a book with an end in mind.” Click To Tweet

This is one of the first principles of copywriting that Dan Lok teaches all his students – have a clear goal for your written piece, and your message will be heard. If you send a sales email to someone without a clear purpose, do you think it will prompt them to action? Probably not.

The same is true for a book. If you publish your own book, that’s an achievement in itself, but it’s not enough. If you write a book with no purpose, you are going to fail. As a matter of fact, you might even fail at finishing the writing itself if you don’t have a clear purpose.

If your purpose is to use your book as a marketing tool, then it would be a different type of book. This goal might affect not just the content but also things like the length of your writing. To start the marketing process, you might want to write a short book.

Students in Dan Lok’s High Income Copywriter® Program always learn how to research the audience before writing even a single word. If you miss this step, you risk writing something that your ideal reader won’t notice. Pay attention to the type of writing they read and think about your purpose to determine the length.

So before you even set out to begin writing, make sure you are clear on the purpose of your book. Setting a clear purpose and intention for it will allow you to define the type of book you should write.

2. Keep Your Reader in Mind

Have you ever heard of the term “Psychographics”?

This is a concept that Dan Lok teaches all his students in the High Income Copywriter® Program. It is one of the most important things that successful writers implement in their work consistently. Dan Lok team relies on it to get all our messages across.

In short, psychographics is about understanding the personality of your audience. It’s about understanding what your audience does, how they do it, and why they do it.

Most first time authors tend to write based on their own perspective. They write books based on their understanding of the subject. But successful writers write with their audience in mind. What do we mean by this?

Let’s suppose you are writing a book about getting a six-pack. You start writing your book and provide 10 very effective exercises that helped you get your six-pack. Let’s suppose that your book only included these exercises.

What do you think will happen? Well, by only writing about the exercises, your book would miss 2 very important steps to getting a six-pack: strong mindset and good diet.

You see, all copywriters know that writing from your personal perspective and about yourself doesn’t resonate with people. If you do this, you make a lot of assumptions. In the example above, the author assumes that the readers have the same mindset, making the method in the book unsuccessful for those with a weak mindset and a bad diet.

So if you want to write about getting a six-pack, it would make more sense to first research and think about the people who would want a six-pack. Think as a copywriter:

What do they struggle with?

Can you identify their needs and desires?

How can you really help them?

Thinking like this helps you focus on your audience’s needs, which will lead to more sales.

Meet Your Readers Where They Are

As you think about your audience, think about where they are on their personal journey. If your book does not meet your readers where they are, they will not benefit from it. They might try your exercises, but they will also give up quickly because they are not seeing results fast enough. Unless you educate them on the importance of having the right mindset and pushing through the pain, they will not see value in your book.

This is why it’s important that you use the right language. In his High Income Copywriter® Program, Dan Lok teaches all his students how to research their audience and find the best way to speak to them. Without this, your book could go entirely unnoticed.

Your book should match the language that your audience will understand. Using complicated words that might look good to fitness experts will do a disservice to your readers. They will not understand your points and won’t take the right actions.

3. Write About What You Love

One thing is for sure, writing your first book is going to be hard.

For that reason, we suggest that you choose something that you are passionate about. There are a few reasons for this.

A. Never Give Up

Like anything in life, everything you do for the first time is hard. If you are not passionate about the subject of your book, you will give up quickly.

Think back to the first time you drove a car. Or the first time you skied. It was hard. If you did not like these activities, you would have given up. In the same way, if you don’t love what you are writing about, you will give up quickly because it is too hard.

However, if you are passionate about your subject, you will push through the pain phase. You might even complain about it. But because you love this subject, you will push through and complete the book. And when you write about something you are passionate about, it does not feel like work.

This is why Dan Lok says that he never feels like he’s working: his life and work are perfectly integrated because he does what he loves. This is what your book should be to you too – pleasure. Publish your own book by making sure you love working on it.

B. Become an Expert

When you are passionate about your subject, you will most likely be an expert at it. This is because you most likely consume countless videos, articles, and books about your subject. In the process, you will most likely learn a lot that you can share with others.

As more and more people read your book and get value from it, your status in your field elevates. You become someone people recognize for their knowledge and expertise.

When you write a book as an expert, you will do so faster too as you already know your subject matter inside and out. The words will flow to you naturally and it will be a more enjoyable experience overall.

C. You Know Your Audience

When you write something that you are passionate about, you are your audience. So you know exactly what they’ve been through as you’ve been through the same journey. For example, if you achieved a six-pack after years and years of trying various things, you know the frustrations that your audience is going through because you are that audience.

You will know your ideal readers’ psychographics. You could simply look back a few years, remember what you used to do wrong, and what you had to change to achieve your results. This will allow you to create a book that your audience will want to read and that they will benefit from the most.

This is one of the most valuable things that Dan Lok offers through his High Income Copywriter® Program – the lessons he learned on his own journey. The lessons resonate with his students because he was once an inexperienced beginner in copywriting. He knows exactly how to motivate and move them in the right direction.

4. Use the Power of Persuasion

If you want to write a book, you must do so in a way that allows you to sell your ideas. But no matter what your book is about, your reader needs to be persuaded by you. They need to believe in your ideas and concepts for the book to really resonate with them.

Dan Lok always teaches his copywriting students – what you think and feel transports to paper. If you don’t fully believe what you write – your audience will sense that.

Going back to our exercise example, your readers need to be sold on your ideas and concepts in order to implement them. Once they are sold on these new ideas, they can take the right action and finally get the results they want. Therefore, if you are not selling your ideas in your book, you just wasted your time writing.

Dan Lok teaches all his students about the importance of selling through written words.

“No matter what the goal of your writing is, being able to persuade your readers is the key.” Click To Tweet

Here are 3 ways that can help you better sell your ideas and concepts to your audience.

A. Sell Your Main Concept – The Hook

The reason we suggest that you make sure you understand the purpose of your book first is to be able to write a good hook. You see if you already know your ideal reader and you have a clear purpose in mind, then you have to have a hook to attract your reader too

Without the hook, people will walk past your book at the bookstore without stopping. Without the hook, your book will be invisible. No one will pay attention to it, and it will be lost in the sea of books lined up on shelves.

However, with the right hook, your audience will feel attracted by your book, even if they are not looking for it. The hook is what gets the reader interested. People will feel the urge to share it with their friends and family even before reading the first page.

Benefits Hook

To achieve this effect, make sure the hook mentions the most important benefit that the reader will get from reading your whole book. It must be so compelling that it draws your audience’s attention from afar.

The hook is usually in the title of the book. Let’s take for example the book The 4-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss. This book has such a compelling message and value that it sold more than 2.1 million copies worldwide in 40 languages.

As for Tim Ferriss’s book, the main goal his audience is after is working 4 hours a week. This is why this is such a successful book.

Similarly, if you want to write a book that will sell, you want your title to be as compelling. Determine the purpose of the book as discussed in step 1. Then, identify the keywords that will relate most to your audience as discussed in step 2. Use these to create your title.

B. Sell Your Chapters

The same way you create a hook for the title of your book, you want to create a hook for each chapter. Having compelling titles for each chapter will keep the reader wanting more.

Here are a few examples of chapter titles used in another bestselling book, How to Win Friends And Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

– “The Big Secret of Dealing with People”

– “Do This and You’ll Be Welcome Anywhere”

– “A Simple Way to Make A Good First Impression”

– “If You Don’t Do This, You Are Headed for Trouble”

As you can see, these titles are all offering very compelling promises. Many of them are digging into people’s desire to learn “a secret” or giving them “a simple way” to achieve something they need.

Even though you don’t know what is in these chapters, you want to read them. Wouldn’t you agree? This is the same feeling you want your readers to experience when going through your table of contents.

C. Sell With Stories

Even if you’re not writing novels, you should always have compelling stories in your book. The fact that you write about something technical or business oriented doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be relatable and memorable. Quite to the contrary actually.

One thing that Dan Lok always teaches his students is that stories sell. Why? Because they are memorable and pull people in. This is especially true for well-crafted stories. The guiding principle behind copywriting is to establish an emotional connection because people act on their emotions.

So whatever your book focus might be, make sure you include memorable stories. Stories are filled with emotions. Using a story, you can explain your concepts and ideas and make them relatable and interesting to the reader too.

Why are stories so important?

It is rather simple. From the start of time, humans have always loved a good story. Even in ancient times, people assembled around a fire to tell stories to entertain each other. Stories are also great ways to share wisdom or to teach a concept while keeping the audience engaged.

Simply including some stories in your book will bring life to your ideas and concepts. Stories are also key to allow the reader to feel present and part of the journey you share through your book.

Stories also help the reader experience some of the concepts and ideas that may seem vague or abstract. They allow the reader to visualize the scene and feel the emotions. A story can inspire a new decision that can be life-changing.

5. How to Publish?

So you wrote a book – what now? You finally accomplished your life long dream of becoming an author and finished your manuscript. But where do you go next?

A few years ago, the most popular way to publish a book was through a publishing company. That has changed

Traditional Publishing

For this to happen, the aspiring author had to call as many publishing companies as possible. And their chance of being published was minimal. For example, the original Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times by publishing companies.

Apart from the fact that it might take weeks to a year before you get an accepted offer, there is a lot more that happens after a publishing company accepts to publish your book. From drafting and negotiating contracts, to royalty conversations, there is a lot more behind publishing a book than meets the eye.

Fortunately, things have dramatically changed. Amazon has given the ability to anyone to write and publish their own books.

Self-publishing

Self-publishing means publishing one’s work independently and at one’s own expense.

The cost of publishing your own book varies greatly from $100 to $2,500. The potential costs you might want to incur include editing, cover design, formatting, marketing, and more. One of the most popular self-publishing companies for authors is Kindle Direct Publishing.

By following the steps on the platform, you could publish your book within days. This includes providing you with the right book template to use based on the purpose of your book. Kindle Direct Publishing also gives you ideas of cover design you might want to use.

Most importantly, Kindle Direct Publishing shows you the step-by-step process to have your book listed on Amazon so you can start selling your book online.

6. Promote Your Work

Listing your book on Amazon will increase your chances of having your book read by more people. However, just having your book out there is not enough. You still need to sell your book.

Most authors who self-publish think that their book will sell just by being available. Unfortunately, it does not take long for them to realize that no one is interested in paying to read their book unless they are convinced this is a good investment.

What these authors are doing wrong is this – they are not proactive. It is true that they have done a great job to finish their book and get it published. However, the work does not end there. They have to sell the book. This is why it’s important to have a copywriting mindset and a sales strategy.

There are 2 main ways to effectively sell your book at a minimum cost.

Become An Amazon Best Seller

This method involves good planning. Usually you start the book launch 14 days before the date of the actual launch. At this point, you want to start building the intrigue about this new book that you have written, and it’s the launch date.

Over the 2 weeks period, prepare a series of content about your book, ready to go out to your social media audience. Make sure you use all the networks you have at your disposition from email lists, customers, business partners and even friends and family. You want to make sure as many people as possible are aware of your great book launch.

It is relatively easy to become a bestseller on Amazon. The bestseller award is given based on a 2-hour window. If your book is sold more than other books in the same category within the first 2 hours after launching, your ranking improves and could be ranked #1.

Testimonials and Endorsements

Another great strategy is to perform interviews with various influencers where you get the chance to promote your new book. Throughout the 2 weeks process, you want to spread out content about your book. You want to keep the intrigue around the content, while also selling the benefits the book will bring to your audience’s lives.

Grow Your Book Sales

Now, another very important step to take to make sure you have a successful book launch is to create a highly converting sales page.

What does “sales page” mean?

The sales page of your book is the description of your book. The reason some books do not sell as well as others is that authors of successful books use all possible ways to promote.

As you can see in The 4-Hour Work Week book example, Tim Ferriss successfully used the description of his book as the sales page.

To create a highly converting sales page you want to use all the strategies we shared in this article and those that Dan Lok shares in his High Income Copywriter® Program.

Write Your Way To Success

As you can see, the process of writing your first book and getting it published is rather simple. What is hard is to make sure as many people as possible get their hands on your book and benefit from your work. This process involves a lot of selling in print. Unfortunately, this highly valuable skill is not taught at school or at university. Still, it is the most important skill for every writer and entrepreneur.

Knowing how to “read” your audience, persuade your reader, and promote your writing is the key to a successful book. If you want to discover all the secrets of influencing and selling in print, then you might want to check out Dan Lok’s High Income Copywriter® Program.

As the author of 13 bestselling books, Dan Lok decided to put together this webinar that teaches you how to take your writing skills to the next level and generate reliable income with any writing project you chose. Register to the webinar for this free webinar by clicking here now.

How To Start A Successful Consulting Business

August 5, 2020 by Dan Lok

Thinking about how to start a successful consulting business? You’re not alone. The consulting business industry has been growing for the past several years. In 2017, the global consulting market was forecasted at around 262 billion U.S. dollars. The number of management consultants in the U.S. reached 709,750 in 2019. But how do you start a successful consulting business that stands out from the crowd?

There’s a secret to going from zero to $100,000 to making a million dollars a year. Dan Lok shares these strategies with his students in the High Ticket Closer® Certification Program. In this program, Dan shares all of his lessons learned over the past twenty years. To help you start off in the right direction, we will share one of the most important secrets with you in this article.

Watch this video about successful coaching and consulting secrets.

Relationships, Not Transactions

When thinking about how to start a successful consulting business, you first have to be clear about what it actually takes. What do you think consulting is? You see, consulting is not about transactions and your sales of services. One thing far more important than selling a service is relationship management. Your relationship with the client and how you make them feel is as important as what you sell.

Dan Lok always tells his students – people buy because of what you sell, but they stay with you because of who you are. This means that you need to nurture and strengthen your relationships with clients. This is what distinguishes you from your competition. It’s all about how you made them feel. Often it has way less to do with the quality of your work and much more with the quality of the relationship you built.

If you base your relationship with the clients on the transaction only, you will have a hard time generating consistent income. Money exchanged for service should not be the only thing connecting you with your client. You have to make your clients feel good to make sure they return and recommend you to others. If you only exchange your service for money, how will they get to know you? How will they connect with you?

How to Connect

If you want to know how to start a successful consulting business, you must cultivate transformative relationships. What does that mean? It means that you’re not being seen as a commodity where the client leaves the money and you do the work. Having a transformative relationship means enhancing the business in some meaningful way.

People buy because of what you sell, and they stay because of who you are. -Dan Lok Click To Tweet

But what if you provide technical support and your relationship is mostly transactional? Well, let’s imagine that you help people set up their automated webinars in their funnels. You provide the service and help them with the webinars. All of your interactions are business-related and online or over the phone. But how do you know if the relationship is transactional or transformational?

The tricky part is that you can’t communicate this difference. You can’t ask your client if they experienced a transactional or a transformational relationship. But let’s say you do a good job, and they pay you because they’re satisfied with the service. It’s a pretty good transactional relationship. But what would make this relationship transformational?

Well, as we already said, it’s how you make the client feel that changes the relationship. And how do you affect your client’s feelings? Create an important positive change in their business. If you transform their business in some significant way, you will transform their life and make them feel good.

Transforming A Man Using A Suit

A transformational relationship starts from day one. The first step is figuring out how you view what you do. What does this mean? Well, let’s take a look at a custom suit business.

Let’s imagine a customer comes into your store to get a custom made suit. You take measurements, choose the fabric, and make a suit. This is a very transactional process. However, you could do the same amount of work and get a different result.

Observe your client. Does your client show confidence? Or is there a strong sense of low self-esteem? If a man comes in with low self-confidence and low self-esteem, imagine what a good suit could do for him. You measure him, understand his personality, find out what he does and who he really is. If you do this, you can help bring out his best qualities through your suit.

If you know your client, you can choose the right shade of colors that match his skin tone to give him confidence. You could find the best fit for his form that makes him look confident. Ask him what occasion is the suit for. Is it for a meeting? Paint a picture of a successful meeting for him, and help him see himself differently. Use your experience and expertise to show him an image of his success and confidence in a new suit.

Now, think about what a good suit that makes him feel good could do. Maybe it will help him get promoted in his company? His confidence changes his performance. Your suit could change that man’s life in many other ways, too.

Attract People You Resonate With

It’s the same suit as the one you just measured and made, but this time, you changed someone’s life. You did not just give him a suit – you gave him an opportunity.

Do you see the difference? You don’t want to just make a suit and take the money. What you want to do is change your client’s life or business in some way. If you do this, you will also get a very different type of client. You will attract the people with whom you can resonate.

When thinking about how to start a successful consulting business, think about how you position yourself: are you a commodity or someone who can change a life and transform a business?

Changing Your Mindset

Let’s go back to setting up a webinar for a moment. If you’re setting it up for your client, it is likely transactional. But say that you don’t just set up a webinar. By making it automated, you are saving the client’s time. By saving time and helping the client to make more money, you also give them more time to spend with family or doing something else. This is likely life-changing.

It’s the same if you’re a realtor. You could sell a client a two-bedroom condo near parks and a school and hand over the keys to the new owner. Or you can sell a home – a place where the new owner can watch their kids grow up. It’s a different kind of responsibility to your client.

You see, you don’t even have to do anything different to create a transformational relationship. Your service can stay the same. But your attitude is different. You change your mindset and your belief about your own work.

When you’re still figuring out how to start a successful consulting business, your mindset is the key. In his High Ticket Closer® Certification Program Dan Lok dedicates the first few classes exclusively to mindset. This is because he knows that a person without the right mindset always stays a salesperson and never evolves into a powerful closer. If you don’t have the right mindset, you will not create the success you desire.

How Do You View What You Do?

So what you really need to do is to take a closer look at how you view your own work. How do you feel about what you do? Are you bored with making one suit after the other because it doesn’t make a difference? You might be tired of showing houses to endless potential customers. You could also just be bored with your daily routine and the type of client you work with.

If you feel uninspired, you are most likely forming exclusively transactional relationships. But when you have a different mindset, your client will sense the difference. As a service-based business, you want a long-term relationship, and your clients will sense that. They will feel that you care, and it will shift their attitude towards your business as well.

If you are a lawyer, for example, you’re aware that you don’t just offer trademarking services while filling out a bunch of paperwork. You’re actually protecting the client’s brand. As a realtor, you’re not just helping a client buy a house, you’re helping them find a future for their family. This is the mindset we talk about.

Painting The Picture

So as a transformational consultant, you demonstrate to your client that you care about them more than about money. Your focus is not profit alone. You’re interested in a lifelong relationship. You are interested in positive transformation and making a difference.

As a transformational consultant, you want to impart knowledge to your client, so they get the results they desire. This demonstrates that you care while being unattached to the transactional outcome of your relationship. This will also allow you to set healthy boundaries and not to take it personally if the client doesn’t respond as you imagined.

But how do you actually do this? One simple way that Dan teaches his closers to do this is by painting a picture. This would be the picture of improvements in their business and life after a certain solution is implemented. To figure out what picture to paint, you have to talk less and listen more. Listen to their needs and pain points. Help them imagine what their business will be like if you do something for them.

As you do this, make sure you distinguish between caring about your client’s progress and being attached to the outcome. There are many factors that contribute to their success or failure, and you cannot control that.

Many people can learn from the same mentor, yet each person will have different results. Everyone progresses at different speeds and different levels even if they are learning the same lessons from the same person.

Final Thoughts On How To Start a Successful Consulting Business

It’s easy to charge money for a product or service. That’s what most people do. But to make a high income from consulting, you need to build relationships and offer transformations.

Your client won’t have a transformation if you measure him and then bill him for the custom suit you just made. But if you take the time to make a suit that changes his confidence and changes his life, then you’ve opened the door to a lifelong relationship. You didn’t just create a suit, you created a feeling.

Start by changing your mindset. Show that you care about your client more than the product or service you are selling. When you can offer a transformation, the ripple effect will go beyond your service – it will impact your client’s personal and professional life.

To learn more about starting a successful consulting business, you should consider Dan Lok’s High Ticket Closer® Certification Program. This program is for people interested in evolving into transformational closers and leaders in their field. If you’re serious about creating change in your client’s lives and starting a successful business of your own, click here now.

How To Negotiate Profit Sharing Once The Deal Is Closed

August 4, 2020 by Dan Lok Leave a Comment

How can you approach profit sharing after having closed a deal?

Maybe you made a deal with a business partner, individual contractor, or another professional – you agreed to work together and share the profit. Or maybe you hired employees and want to motivate them to work harder by offering them a profit share.

But now you might be wondering: how exactly should you negotiate profit sharing? How big of a share is considered fair and ethical? Which structure should you choose?

One thing to keep in mind is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to profit sharing. What works best completely depends on your business’s specific situation.

Profit sharing depends on your business model, current income, and many other factors.

The thing is, every deal is a deal and therefore, can be negotiated. Which system you choose for profit sharing will depend on many factors.

That’s why, in this article, we’ll go over how and why you want to do profit sharing as well as how you could do it and which system might fit best for your situation.

What Is Profit Sharing?

Profit sharing can take on a variety of forms. Usually, we’re talking about an allocated share of the profit of a business before taxes.

Some businesses choose to use a part of annual profits and pay out the profit share once a year. But there are also models where the profit share takes place twice a year, quarterly, or monthly.

There are different ways to parcel out the share accordingly. We’ll go deeper into those strategies below.

What’s important to note is that profit sharing is usually determined and negotiated after the business estimates their annual profits. If the business fails to make accurate predictions, the profit share could be affected.

This system has many advantages, but it’s only for successful businesses who can estimate how much money they’ll make. If you are currently in the red, profit sharing might not be your best option.

However, sharing the profit is also a great way to motivate employees. If the business’s profit has an immediate impact on how much money employees make, then they feel motivated to bring in more money.

If your business is in the red but close to making profit, offering a profit share to your employees might be exactly what you need. Their increased efforts will help you make more money.

What Profit Sharing Is Not

Some companies and businesses pay out a section of their annual profit in addition to regular salaries and bonuses. They do so without tying the profit share to profitability.

They treat it more like an extra bonus for employees and pay it out to motivate their workforce.

There is nothing wrong with being generous and sharing profit with your employees, contractors, or business partners: just be aware this is not actually profit sharing.

Things To Consider

There are a few things to consider when estimating profit sharing. You want everyone to get paid in proportion to their efforts and according to the results they bring in.

One thing to definitely think about is how fast the money will come in. Do you already have a marketing campaign that generates leads and sales regularly, or are you building everything from scratch? If you have accounts receivable, how fast do they pay?

The reason you want to consider how long it will take for money to flow in is that profit share implies that everyone will get paid only after you make some money. Use your estimate to set the right expectation from the beginning.

If you promise your business partners or contractors that they will get paid within one week when, in reality, your marketing requires three weeks to produce results, they will get impatient. Morale shrinks if you nourish the wrong expectations with regards to the profit share.

So be honest about the situation from the get-go. How soon can the other person expect to make money? Is your shared profit their only source of income? Address possible concerns early, and avoid disappointment later.

You also want to have a backup plan in mind in case the numbers used to calculate the profit share turn out wrong. Maybe you predicted a certain profit, but unforeseen developments in the economy undermined your plan. What will you do if you can’t meet the expectations of employees, contractors, or business partners?

Worth

One more thing to consider is if the matter is worth a negotiation at all. There can be instances where profit sharing isn’t the best approach. Sometimes, it’s better to offer business partners or contractors a fixed payment. Then there are also circumstances where it’s best to just name your rate and don’t negotiate at all.

Timing

The timing of the negotiation is also something you want to consider. In many cases, you’ll actually estimate the rate before a deal is closed.

But your business partners or contractors might also want to re-negotiate later. If they keep bringing great results, there is no harm in offering them a better rate for their efforts.

In fact, if they have proven to work hard and get you consistent results, it’s great if you can pay them a bit more than the industry standard. They will love you for it, stay on your team, and continue to put in their best efforts.

So when it comes to profit sharing, set the stage before you make a deal. Set expectations and be fair. If someone turns out to be good, don’t be afraid to re-negotiate with them.

Now, how can you actually approach profit sharing?

Approach 1: Commission Structures

A very popular way is to pay commission. The person you are partnering up with or taking on as a contractor gets paid a certain percentage for certain results.

For example, if you hire a closer to close deals for you, you can pay them based on how many sales they make. A common way is to pay the closer 10-20% of the sale.

If you work with a business partner who is putting in equally as much time, effort, and investments as you do, then you likely will split the profit in half. Half of the money goes to your business partner, half goes to you.

In the case that your business partner is doing less, then you can also do 40% and 60% or 30% and 70% profit share.

You want to use commissions when you have a team that is focused on results. Your employees have incredible skills that help you make money. If it fits their personality type, reward them with a profit sharing system.

The great thing about paying for money-making services on commission is bringing in more revenue without extra cost for your business. If you pay a closer to close deals for you and they don’t, they don’t get any money. Meaning, you only pay them if they make you money.

A possible downside of commissions is that your competition might try to hire your people by offering them a bigger commission. Definitely make sure that your commission structure is fair, and you should have nothing to worry about.

Approach 2: Monthly Retainer

Some business owners approach profit sharing this way: the person gets a monthly fixed payment but can earn more if they reach a certain quota.

Depending on your business model, the retainer can be high or low. The advantage of offering a fixed rate is that everyone’s income is secured. No one has to worry about getting their basic income, and everyone can fully focus on the work.

This works well for people who need security but who are also motivated by the opportunity to earn more if they achieve certain results.

Approach 3: Contribution Levels

Creating a profit sharing plan based on contribution levels means that not all employees or contractors get the same amount. Instead, you base the percentage they get on their role. An account executive or manager might get more than an assistant.

This means you have to determine the amount each position gets paid. Usually, the employees who perform tasks that help you generate more money should get paid more.

Pay attention to the sales and marketing teams who are responsible for generating revenue. Also, consider managers and team leaders who might not do sales directly themselves but lead their teams in doing so.

When you choose to do profit sharing based on contribution levels, be careful not to accidentally de-motivate some of your employees. No one likes feeling like their work is worth less compared to others.

If you choose to discuss openly how much of the share goes to whom, make sure everyone understands why they get what they get. Keep a great business culture that doesn’t emphasize unhealthy competition or foster envy among employees.

Make Your Profit Sharing Easy To Understand

There are all kinds of formulas to calculate profit sharing. You can adjust them to your situation or come up with a completely new way to do it.

No matter what you choose to do, make sure your employees, partners, or contractors understand HOW they get their share. If they have no clue how their pay is put together and how they can increase it, morale will go down.

In the book Extreme Ownership, the authors Jocko Willink and Leif Barbin talk about earning bonuses, but the lesson may be applied here.

Willink and Barbin headed out to help a business that had recently introduced a new way for employees to earn bonuses. The problem was, hardly any of the employees ended up taking this new opportunity to earn more money. After inspecting it, Willink and Barbin found out why: the system was so complicated, the employees had no idea what to do to get their bonuses.

So, make sure you use a way that your employees, partners, or contractors understand; they will be more effective if they know how to potentially earn more.

How To Negotiate Profit Sharing?

The amount of the share is usually determined towards the end of a compensation negotiation. In the first part of the negotiation, you want to see if the person is the right fit for the position you had in mind.

You investigate their strengths and weaknesses and how invested they are in working with you. What results can you expect from them based on their past experiences?

There is no point in talking about money and payments if these points aren’t ticked off. So save the profit negotiation for the end of the conversation.

Now, how do you determine how much of the profit you want to share with an individual employee or contractor? If you do profit sharing often, you might want to have fixed rates.

Let’s assume that, for example, you are working with a team of closers. Some of them are doing outbound calls, dealing with cold prospects, and therefore usually have the harder job. The others are inbound closers, dealing with warm prospects and having an easier time closing.

The outbound closers have a harder job, and they bring in new customers, so you’d normally want to pay them a bit more than the inbound closers. Your outbound closers might get a 12% commission, while the inbound closers get 8%.

If a person thinks that they have an outstanding performance and should get paid more, they can always approach you for a re-negotiation.

According to Jim Schleckser, CEO of Inc.com, a profit share of 8% is enough to motivate someone to perform better. So that’s a great place to start.

A profit share of 8% increases employee motivation. Click To Tweet

If you can do more than 8%, however, it’s a good idea to do so to get ahead of competition and to increase the loyalty of your employees or contractors.

Advantages of Profit Sharing

Using profit sharing and commissions instead of regular salaries or bonuses has some advantages.

As we mentioned before, one of the biggest reasons to go for profit sharing is to motivate your employees or contractors.

If your workforce benefits from making you more money, then they will find efficient ways to do so. They are more invested in the success of the whole business.

In a company where everyone gets a salary, it’s easy for employees to do just the minimum – they are getting paid anyway. Paying them based on results prevents that.

So profit sharing improves the culture of the whole business. Employees are happier, they are actively looking for solutions to bring in more money, and they are motivated to perform at their best.

What’s more, if you are in a niche where profit sharing is less common, this can really make you stand out. Any time you are the only one who can offer something, you should. It will give you and your business an edge.

Implementing a profit sharing plan can also strengthen your team as everybody is working on the same goal: to generate more profit.

Possible Pitfalls

Advantages of profit sharing aside, there are some things to watch out for. The first thing, as we’ve already mentioned, is that your workforce has to understand how they get the share. What’s the system and how does their effort impact their pay?

The second thing we briefly touched on is to ensure your profit sharing system remains fair. If some employees or contractors feel undervalued, they will be less motivated to perform at their best. In the worst case, they might even leave your team.

If you choose a system where only parts of the profit are eligible for profit sharing, you want to be able to explain how you calculated it. For example, if you make 2 million dollars in profits a year, you might want to share 10% with your employees.

You, then, determine which person gets how much. And while you do so, you want the breakdown to be simple enough for your team to understand.

Profit sharing should also be measurable. If every team member at any time can calculate how much their efforts benefit them, then you did well. They are aware of their impact and their results.

Want More Next-Level Business Advice?

On the Dragon 100 advisory board, Dan Lok coaches and mentors top-level entrepreneurs on how to scale their businesses.

Every stage of your business comes with unique challenges. In Dragon 100, you profit from Dan Lok’s 20+ years in business experience and from being in a high-level business environment.

Profit sharing plans are only one of countless examples of what you can learn from Dan Lok. Business models profiting from Dragon 100 are as diverse as their owners.

If you think that you and your business would profit from Dragon 100 and be of value to other Dragon 100 members, learn more about the Dragon 100 advisory board here.

How To Connect With Your Audience In A Meaningful and Unforgettable Way In The Age of Digital Platforms

July 26, 2020 by Dan Lok

Are you looking for ways to connect with your audience on a more meaningful level?

Whether you are a business owner or an influencer, you open up a door of opportunities the moment you build a presence on social media. One of those opportunities is the possibility to connect with your followers.

Connecting with your audience is powerful. When you see your follower count, it’s easy to forget that your fans are real people. But they are; when you start connecting with them, you can get them to be more invested in you.

Imagine this: your audience is so invested in you that checking your social media becomes part of their daily routines.

Becoming part of your audience’s routines allows you to build social capital. Your social capital encompasses all your relationships and is often more valuable than money. You can turn social into financial capital anytime you need to.

In other words – when you have followers who feel connected and invested, you have an easier time selling your products and services.

So forming a meaningful and authentic connection with your audience is worth your time and effort. Not only will you enjoy meaningful relationships, but you can also leverage them to generate income.

Further below, we’ll show you how to connect with your audience in a meaningful way. We’ll also go over how to raise interest in your personal story, and how to stand out in the age of digital platforms.

You’ll discover that this works – whether your personal brand already has a huge following, or yours is a local business starting out in the digital world.

The “Reality TV Factor”

How can we claim that building connections and leveraging social capital works for anyone?

All you need is to know one thing – the thing that will give you an edge in understanding human psychology.

It’s not about the tools. Whether you use Instagram Stories, YouTube lives or Facebook groups is less important; what really matters is understanding human psychology. If you understand how people think and why they feel connected to you, the platform you use doesn’t matter.

The one thing you have to master is what we call the Reality TV Factor. Simply put, it’s the reason why reality TV is successful, and why people remain basically glued to their seats while their favorite reality TV show is aired.

The same approach also works on social media. So what’s the success recipe of reality TV and how can you emulate it? The answer: authenticity and emotional stories.

The people we see on reality TV appear authentic and real to us. Hollywood stars we see in blockbuster movies, however, often seem superhuman: we think we can never achieve what they achieved.

But the stars of reality TV shows are humans – like us. Sometimes it’s just the girl next door, who has an unfortunate backstory but still tries to audition for a singing career.

It is the people with relatable struggles who inspire us to keep going. Reality TV always seems to showcase the backstories of the participants. Usually, the person with the most dramatic backstory is the audience’s favorite.

Share Your Story And They Want To See You Succeed

So how to connect with your audience in a meaningful way? Share your backstory. Tell your audience why you are doing what you are doing.

Which obstacles did you have to overcome? How did you get to where you are today?

If you are an influencer building a personal brand, your backstory is your personal story. If you are using social media for your business, a great backstory to tell us how you got your business idea.

A great story showcases your Why. It explains to your audience why you do what you do.

A perfect example is Dan Lok himself. He often talks about his story – how we wanted to make money to support his mum but failed at 13 businesses and how he finally met his mentor and things started to go uphill for him.

His backstory shows us that he is a human being. He is not a superhuman multi-millionaire who never struggled. He faced obstacles, but he kept overcoming them.

If you tell your personal story, your audience becomes invested in you. They keep coming back for more and want to see you succeed.

If you tell your personal story, your audience becomes invested in you.

Sociology professor Beverley Skeggs said the following about reality TV, which also holds true for social media:

[…] people connect to other people who have the same values, who behave in the same way. We do get swept up in it, wanting to be behind somebody, wanting them to do well.

As long as you are authentic in sharing your story, your audience will become invested in you. When it comes to connecting with your audience, you want to be real and authentic.

Don’t Be A Superhuman

To connect with your audience in a meaningful way, show them that you are a human being – just like them. In fact, having flaws and hardships in your life will make you more authentic. If you are too perfect, you become less relatable.

Most people on social media get it the wrong way around. They think they have to show how amazing their life is, the great vacations they go on and so on. While this may attract attention, it does not remain relevant for long.

If you put up a facade, your audience will realize it and draw away from you. So, don’t feel like you have to be perfect to build up a following on social media. You might do much better if you aren’t.

The thing is, many people don’t have a particularly exciting life. To some degree, you are representing the ideal life they would want for themselves. But this ideal life isn’t about having fancy cars and living in a penthouse.

What people are interested in is who you are as a person and how you overcome hardships in your life. By sharing your story and being yourself, you give them the dramatic aspect that is missing in their lives.

What’s more, your digital platforms become addictive – like a TV show. Your audience keeps coming back to see how you are doing.

Now you know that building meaningful connections on social media is possible. Let’s get into actual strategies. What steps can you take to share your story with your audience?

Build A Community

Besides authenticity, there is another thing people on social media crave: a sense of community. They might feel disconnected in real life, and social media makes it much easier to feel like a part of a community.

Facebook groups are currently one of the best tools to connect with your audience and to build a strong community. Facebook groups are great because your audience comes up with the content.

So it’s not just you alone putting out content. Other members of the group can post too. It also allows your followers to engage on multiple levels: they get a chance to interact with you as well as with other like-minded people.

Many influencers and business owners invite their customers to join a Facebook group. But you can still turn to Facebook groups if you are just starting out and have no paying customers.

You can invite existing followers to join by telling them that you’ll publish exclusive content in your group.

Create A Dialogue

To connect with your audience, you want to create a space for dialogue.

It’s easy to post something, then leave the platform and never reply to any comments or messages. But that doesn’t help you connect with your audience meaningfully.

What you want to do instead is reply to comments and messages often. Be responsive and engaged. This is especially important in the beginning when you rise to your first thousand followers.

Nearly all digital platforms want lots of engagement on their platform. If you put out content that people want to engage with, you will be rewarded by the platform. For example, you’ll show up in other people’s feeds more often.

When you create a dialogue, you help the social platform to create a positive experience. Now only will the platform love you – your followers will, too.

Engaging with your audience shows that you appreciate them. It makes them feel validated and appreciated. So don’t be afraid to chat.

Once you have several thousand followers, it might get harder to follow up with every comment. It’s okay not to reply to everyone but make an effort to answer the most pressing questions.

If your audience grows bigger and it’s hard to keep up with comments, shares, and messages – here is what you can do.

Timed Engagement

Tell your audience when you will release new content. Then, let them know that you will be active in the comments for 30 minutes after you posted. This strategy is great for two reasons.

First, it gives your audience a reason to subscribe to your platform. If you are a YouTuber, make sure to tell your followers to activate the bell icon. If you are on Instagram, your followers can turn on notifications.

This way, they will be notified after you post and will be able to hang out with you.

This strategy also allows you to generate engagement right after posting. On most platforms, the first hour after you post will determine how successful your post is.

So if there isn’t much engagement within the first 30 minutes, you probably posted something your audience is less interested in. You can evaluate it and try something different next time.

Get Personal

Especially if you are a business owner, you might be thinking to make your social media only about your business. You showcase your products or services and give professional advice.

While some fans appreciate this, connecting with your audience means getting personal.

If you talk only about business and sales, you lose the Reality TV Factor. There is nothing for your fans to get invested in, nothing that entertains them and nothing to keep them coming back for more.

You can keep it professional and still get personal. A great example of this is Tuft and Needle Mattresses. They talk about their story, explain how and why they started their business; their audience feels connected to them as they emphasize care for mattresses.

They don’t talk about their tragic personal backstory – but they are telling an inspiring story and connecting with their audience in a meaningful way.

Go Behind The Scenes

Do you know what Russell Brunson says about connecting with your audience? What your fans enjoy most is seeing your journey.

They want to see what you do on a daily basis to achieve your goals. So if you wonder how to connect with your audience, remember: you don’t have to be creative. All you need to do is document your daily life.

Talk about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what your next steps are. Show them your life in the trenches of your daily business. You’ll instantly be more authentic and form meaningful connections.

Sense of Belonging

Another powerful way to connect with your audience is by creating a sense of belonging. All influencers who connect with their followers in an unforgettable way do this.

1. Sense of Community

When you look at famous YouTubers with a strong fan base, they often share jokes with their audience. Outsiders don’t understand these jokes at all.

It’s likely that these inside jokes came to be during a video or live stream. Their audience remembers and keeps referencing them; over time, this creates a strong bond and a sense of community.

2. User-Generated Content

User-generated content is a fancy way of saying that you let your followers come up with ideas and share them on your social media.

When you look at Dan Lok’s YouTube channel, for example, he has a video format called Boss In The Bentley: his followers ask questions, and he answers while sitting in his Bentley.

3. Giveaways, Competitions, and Challenges

Connect with your audience by hosting special events with prices.

Ideally, the price is something unique to you, something they can only have if they join your event. Giveaways and competitions are also great for connecting with new followers.

Go Live

Going on a video live stream on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram is one of the best ways to form a connection with your audience. Live streams are what comes closest to face-to-face conversations just like you would have with a friend.

If it’s your first live stream, you want to prepare some topics in advance. Your fans will likely ask questions, but it’s great to have something prepared for when the chat goes quiet.

Live streams are usually even more authentic than reality TV. All you do is record yourself talking. You likely don’t have a producer or manager who tells you what you are allowed to say – you can just be yourself and talk to your fans.

Reality TV is popular, but most of us know that at least some aspects of it are likely staged. But we suspend our belief in order to enjoy the show.

This simply means that you can be more authentic on social media than on TV and form even stronger bonds with your fans.

How To Be Authentic?

Now, some people think they have to fake their life in order to be popular on digital platforms. They only show their finest holidays, rides in expensive cars, and fanciest outfits. While this will attract some followers, most of the population has seen enough in-authenticity.

They see through the smoke and realize it’s fake. What your audience likely wants is for you to remain genuine and real.

They don’t care about your expensive watch or handbag. They want to know how you got there, what you had to overcome, and ideas on how they can do the same.

Being fully authentic in public isn’t that easy. You might worry that you aren’t enough. But some people might need to hear exactly your story to get motivated – so don’t let anything stop you.

Be Yourself, Build An Audience And Make Money From It

Have you ever wondered how influencers make money on digital platforms? How did Dan Lok build his YouTube and go from local business owner to an international 8-figure entrepreneur?

He achieved all that and more by building his personal media platform, which allowed him to connect with his dream customers faster than ever before.

If you want to build a business on your personality, be yourself, and share your vision with the world, our High Ticket Influencer (HTI) Program is for you. In HTI, Dan Lok collected all his high-level advice for creating your platform, building your tribe, and monetizing it.

If that sounds like the life you are after, check out HTI here.

What The Top 1% Of Highest-Paid Coaches Are Doing That You Aren’t

July 24, 2020 by Dan Lok

A lot of people think most highest-paid coaches are so-called fake “gurus.”

Why is that?

It could be because some of them seem to have success almost overnight. Or it could be because there isn’t enough proof online for the audience to believe.

Either way, there must be something they’re doing right that most people aren’t to become the top 1%.

And the only way for people to believe in that type of success is if coaches can generate trust.

You see, trust is the ultimate asset, but it takes a long time to develop.

If unheard-of coaches disrupt the online world, most people are going to think they’re a scam. That’s because there hasn’t been enough trust for people to believe in them.

People want to know who you are and how you got your success. The best way to do that is to add value over time. You can share your wisdom, and if that changes at least one person’s life, people will start to develop more trust.

So if you’re a rising coach who’d like to become one of the highest-paid coaches, you’ll need to follow what they’re doing now.

When you start to act more like the 1%, you’ll become them. All it takes is for you to keep adding value to attract more clients. And the more trust you build with clients, the more revenue you’ll have.

The Old You Must Die

Before you can start becoming the person you hope to be, the old you must die first.

If you can’t accept that, then it’ll be harder for you to move forward. This might not be something that’s easy to do, but it’s necessary.

Successful people are willing to do what makes them uncomfortable in the interest of growth. - Bob Proctor Click To Tweet

It’s possible for anyone to achieve the top 1%. If you ask any of the highest-paid coaches, most of them will tell you they did not come from a fortunate background.

If you ask the young Dan Lok, he’s going to tell you that he’s far from being rich. But because he left his old identity, he was able to create a new one.

So for you to bridge that gap and become the next addition to the top 1%, you’ll need to see how those before you succeeded.

The fastest way to wealth is to learn from the wealth. Wouldn’t you agree? They can show you what they’ve done, so you can follow their footsteps.

And until you can master in skills, then you’ll start to see results. So if you still don’t have clarity in what those skills are yet, you’ll need to find a mentor to help you.

Getting Started With Coaching

If you want to earn like the highest-paid coaches, you’ll have to cut out all the distractions in your life.

That means if you still plan to work for someone else, it’s going to slow down your path to being the top 1%. So your goal should be to branch out on your own and to start a business if you haven’t already.

But don’t ditch your steady paycheck if you can’t survive to pay the bills. You’ll need to work on your business on the side first, and when that picks up, you can then fire your boss.

When you have your own business, you’ll have full ownership and more earning potential. That’ll be a great source of wealth to have when you own the assets.

And if you don’t know what business to start, it all comes down to your skills. What is that one thing you’re good at?

Once you become a master of your craft, a lot of people will look up to you as an industry leader. But first, you need to be able to show it in your skills.

Being a coach isn’t going to be easy. You can expect to take a lot of risks, go against the norm, and make tons of mistakes. But once you get past through these challenges, your success will reward you.

Become A Bookworm

If you weren’t a reader before, now is the best time to get into the habit of reading.

Author James Altucher once said, “Only read books you enjoy, that makes you happy to be human.”

And believe it or not, reading books is life-changing. It can teach you a lot more than what you get out of school.

That’s how Dan Lok was able to go from being a broke kid to finding his first mentor. He started reading thousands of self-help books, and it opened his mind to a whole new world of marketing.

And even reading ads too. He kept all the ads he received in the mail to study copywriting. That led him to his first high-income skill and 6-figure income.

You can think of it like this – each book contains someone’s lifetime of secrets. The more you read, the more money you’ll make.

It’s true. According to Inc.com, reading taught Elon Musk how to build a rocket ship. It also showed Tony Robbins how to build a better life. And now he’s teaching others how to do it as well.

So if you’d like to know what the highest-paid coaches are doing to earn more, they read every single day.

Imagine for every page you read, you get a raise. How many pages would you read every day?

When you read a lot, you’ll start to find it easier to come up with ideas and innovate. You’ll begin to feel more knowledgeable and see things from a different perspective. It’s a powerful feeling when you know something that few people won’t understand.

You will also attract more success when you learn a lot. That’s because it’ll be easy for you to share things people have never noticed before. They will start to see how valuable you are.

Make Money Work In Your Favor

The top 1% knows how money works.

That’s why it’s easy for the rich to become richer. And to crack the code on how to be like the highest-paid coaches, you’ll need to learn how money works too.

Money may seem complicated to understand. In fact, 33% of American adults have $0 saved for retirement. Most people will spend their whole lives working hard and never knowing how money works.

So if you take the time to learn about money-making strategies now, the payoff in the future will thank you.

This all goes back to reading. When you read more about money, you’ll attract more of it.

And what most people are doing wrong right now is being scared of learning how money works. They either spend it all or save it all – both of these are neither the solutions to a good way of living.

What the top 1% is doing is they’re careful with how they manage money. They have to balance cash flow early on to avoid being broke.

Self-made millionaire Grant Cardone said, “I didn’t buy my first luxury watch or car until my businesses and investments were producing multiple secure flows of income.”

Even when they start to see success, they won’t blow up all that money. That wouldn’t be a smart choice for anyone to make.

When you gain a dollar, you have to think to yourself: “How can I use this to make more?”

Only that mindset will take you closer to your goals.

Smart People Don’t Work Hard – They Leverage Instead

Leveraging could be the smartest decision you’ll ever make for your business.

Think about it.

There’s only one of you. Everyone has the same 24 hours each day. It would be impossible for you to run everything in your business. And it wouldn’t be the best idea either.

You see, your time is valuable. Since you’re the business owner, you should focus on innovation and moving the needle.

If there are tasks that someone else can help you do – hire them to do it. And if there’s something you don’t know how to do, find someone else to do it instead of learning it from scratch.

For example, Dan Lok hires people to help him create his YouTube videos. That is because Dan, himself, doesn’t have the time to edit his own videos. Also, he’s not a video editor, so hiring professionals would be a better choice if he wants to create results.

You can also leverage money.

Don’t be afraid to use other people’s money when you need it. If your great ideas need funding to help turn them into reality, leverage other people’s money to make it happen.

It’s better to take action now than to wait until you’re ready. Because when you wait, the opportunity might not be the same anymore.

But to get someone else to fund your ideas, you’ll have to be confident that your ideas will work in the marketplace. It has to sound promising.

Creating More Wealth With Wealth

Once you’ve made some success, you can then move on to creating many income streams.

But keep in mind, you can only do this after you’ve mastered your skill first. Otherwise, you could get into financial risks.

You do not want to create a new income stream if you’re still broke, in debt, or have too many bills to keep up with.

The majority of highest-paid coaches have many income streams to create more wealth.

Tom Corley, the author of Rich Habits, says 65% of self-made millionaires had 3 streams of income.

If you’re like any of these millionaires, you would know to keep learning. Once you focus on building that knowledge, your wealth will follow.

This includes not spending your money on whatever you want. You have to develop financial intelligence.

For example, every dollar you own has the potential to develop more. You can multiply your money by investing, not by saving nor spending. That’s how you can make money work for you.

Work Hard Now So You Won’t Later

Here’s the sad reality – most people are waiting until they’re 65 to retire and rely on government funds.

They work hard all their lives, and by the time they get older, they’re too old to travel. They can’t do the things they could’ve done at a younger age.

But what if you can start working harder now to enjoy life sooner?

These people might not have been aware of other paths to take other than the traditional route. You graduate school, get a good job, pay bills, and then retire.

This route is fine, but it doesn’t always end up well. You could still be years in debt because of student loans. And when you’re in debt, it makes it a lot harder for you to enjoy your hard-earned money.

So, what do you do?

Highest-paid coaches had to sacrifice something to get to where they’re at today. Instead of partying on the weekends, they build their network. And instead of watching TV, they read books.

This is what Dan Lok did in his early life. He did not focus on hanging out with friends, but he focused on sharpening his skills instead. And with that, he was able to retire at an early age of 27.

Now everything he does is easier to achieve. Since he’s a master of his skills, he can always rely on them to make money.

Let’s say he loses everything he has today. He can make it all back in a short amount of time. But if he hadn’t mastered his skill set yet, he’d still struggle to make success.

The main point is, the 1% do what’s different from most people. And when you’re a business owner, you’re going to get a lot of people discouraging you from your dreams. This is a normal part of the process.

Do The Complete Opposite

You don’t have to follow what your circle of friends is doing.

In fact, you’ll find more success if you do the complete opposite. So don’t let peer pressure or anything else stop you from your tracks to success.

Only you know what’s right for you. Not even your parents or the people closest to you know. And it would be a sad life to listen to what everyone else does instead of what you want.

With that said, you’ll need to train yourself to keep making sacrifices. This could mean giving up all the things you want right now to have a better tomorrow.

It’s going to take a lot of discipline. If you give in to everything you want today, you’ll have to end up working harder for the things you want in the future.

For example, if you spend all your savings on your dream car now, you’ll continue to work hard longer. Why not work hard now and enjoy the reward later?

It will get easier along the way. Because once you start making sacrifices, you’ll start to see results. Then you’ll want to keep doing whatever it takes to move forward to bigger goals.

So the more you can resist now, the sooner your life will be easier. Wouldn’t you want to retire earlier too? Until then, you’ll have the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you like. But first, you have to earn it.

Your Shortcut To Becoming One Of The Highest-Paid Coaches

Becoming the top 1% isn’t as hard as you might think.

Once you find out what the highest-paid coaches are doing, you’ll want to follow in their footsteps. And when you do, you’ll see how easy it can be to get closer to your goals and build the coaching business of your dreams.

Over the last 2 decades, Dan Lok has worked with thousands of Coaches and Consultants. Some of them had lead generation problems, some had sales issues, and some had offer problems. We don’t know exactly what issues you’re facing in your business.

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Download “The $100 Million High Ticket Coaching and Consulting CheatSheet” for free today and take the first step towards becoming one of the highest-paid coaches in the industry.

How To Manage Professionals In Ways That Unlock Their Full Potential

July 7, 2020 by Dan Lok Leave a Comment

We hate to break it to you, but if your business is falling apart, it’s probably not your team’s fault. It’s probably yours. That’s why you need to be sure of one thing – how to manage professionals better.

As a leader, you’re responsible for the talent you bring in. They might have the skills, but they could still lack training when it comes to scaling the business.

Most professionals know how to do their job. They do what they’re supposed to and then call it a day.

Yet few of them are thinking about going the extra mile. When a team works hard together to help each other grow, everyone will get to reach their full potential.

You could scale your business faster, and your professionals will get recognized easier. That’s what a dream team is all about.

A lot of business owners are missing this big picture. They find ways to become less involved in team projects instead.

If you don’t put enough work into your team, your team isn’t going to do the same with your business.

Without further ado, here are some ways you can learn how to manage professionals:

It All Starts With You

Your business is a reflection of you. Click To Tweet

Before you think about hiring more people, you have to be transparent with yourself first.

Can you be a role model for them? Is there something you still need to develop so that you can share what you know?

The chances are you don’t know everything yet. Nothing can be more powerful than a leader who is always learning. With that, others are likely to look up to you for guidance.

What makes a good leader is someone who can give support to their team. For that to be possible, you’ll need confidence and skills. Once you’re able to motivate others to do the same, their performance will speak for itself.

A good question to always ask yourself is, “How can I make this better?”

It’s rare for businesses to have a perfect anything in place. To optimize your operations and systems, you have to keep in mind there is room for improvement. Don’t settle for anything less.

When you’re learning how to manage professionals, they need to think the same way. It will challenge them to become better versions of themselves. This will get them to invest time in maximizing efforts.

Understanding Their “Why”

You have a “why” and other people have their own “why.” Do you know everyone’s “why” though?

Why do they do what they do? Why do they want to work with you? Or, why do they make certain decisions?

When you understand everyone’s “why,” you will learn how to manage professionals better. You will know their goals and what they’re trying to achieve when working with you.

If they want to work with you because they look up to you, then you should lead them to the path of success. If they want to grow within their skills, then you should challenge them. Give them new opportunities to level up faster. Everybody will win.

All it takes is for you to listen to their personal goals. Then you guide them in the right direction while they help you. That’s the bridge you need to build for them to close the gap.

Some business owners don’t challenge their team enough. They leave them with repetitive tasks and don’t end up feeling fulfilled in their position. This is why it could take years for employees to receive a promotion.

People have asked Dan Lok many times how he was able to become successful at a young age. His answer? His “why” was big enough. What that means is that he had no choice to give up and was that hungry for his success.

When your “why” is big enough, you’ll go out of your way and do whatever you can to get what you want. That’s what Dan did, and it works for him.

It’s no different for anyone else. Most people have a strong “why” but haven’t discovered how to achieve it. That’s why it’s your role to understand them and lead the right way.

Mind & Body Over Everything Else

This is what the Global Wellness Institute found in a survey:

When workers feel mentally unwell, it affects their work performance.

62% of workers say it affects their ability to get work done
63% of workers say it affects their engagement in work
62% of workers say it affects their motivation to do the job well

This includes your team’s emotional well-being. When your mind and body aren’t in the right place, everything else won’t be either.

The main cause of this can be because of stress, pressure, or the work environment itself. It’s important to keep the energy high within your team.

You can relate this situation to batteries. Every new battery is packed with a lot of power until you start using it. Sometimes it can be overused for a short period of time. This will make the battery weak and not work anymore.

In your case, your team is your power source for your business. Their performance will determine the short and long-term impacts.

Once you get how to manage professionals at a high-level all the time, you’ll have a powerhouse team. The result of this will transform into a lot of accomplishments.

To get your team to operate with good mental wellbeing all the time, they need to have the right mindset first.

What differentiates entrepreneurs from each other is their mindset. A typical mindset is different from a millionaire mindset. If you or your team want to get to the next level faster, they need to be thinking at that level first.

One way to adapt the right mindset is by visualizing what you want to happen. Your team needs to do this too. You can remind everyone of their goals and what’s going to happen once they achieve it.

Be authentic, genuine, and interesting. It doesn’t have to always be about seriousness in the workplace. Also, encouragement is not a hard thing to do, and it will work in ways you can’t imagine.

Mindset can give anyone the motivation to succeed. Once you have it, not even a rainy day will bring you down.

The Training Never Stops

Once you learn something once, it doesn’t mean you’re done learning forever.

The world keeps changing and people keep innovating. There’s no real stop to learning because you will fall behind in the market if you’re not up to date.

You have to expect the same from your team. If they are open to keep learning and honing in on their skill set, it’ll give them more motivation.

In fact, the training part of every new job is likely the most motivating. That’s because you’ll be eager to learn something new and get good at it. Once you gain a new skill, you’ll feel the job is worth it because you see improvement in yourself.

American Author Dr. Seuss said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

When you figure how to manage professionals and their attitudes, achievements are endless.

Training doesn’t have to come from you all the time. It can come from your top performers in your team. You can offer them a promotion when you feel they deserve it. Also, provide them with the necessary leadership skills to train someone else.

The goal is to always keep everyone learning. Then, celebrate the outcomes together.

Avoid The Lone Wolf Mentality

The way you build your team environment is going to determine how you will build your success.

With that said, it’s not always better when individuals are too independent. When they’re used to working alone, they can fall into a lone-wolf mentality.

Being a lone wolf will keep you from building strong connections. You can gain so much more valuable insights from other people. It makes a huge difference when everyone in the work environment is helping each other grow.

When you make time for the people you work with, they can inspire you to do better. You would be able to count on your team’s support when it comes to feedback.

Feedback is crucial for everyone’s performance. Without it, you wouldn’t know how to manage professionals and their weaknesses. It helps you understand where you and everyone else are at as well as what still needs improvement.

For example, there might be a skill you could improve on and learn from someone else on your team. If you’re a lone wolf, you might never have asked for feedback. You wouldn’t know whether you need to improve or not.

If you’re open about sharing your progress and ideas, you could receive value back. People on your team could provide you with better resources or teach you how to do things in a better way.

Even making simple conversations would still move the needle. So if you notice that someone hasn’t reached their full potential, first ask them if they tried to work in a team yet. Have they put the effort in collaborating to get the help they need from others?

Working together is always better than working alone. A team is when everyone combines all their unique talents together to make a strong outcome.

John J. Murphy, CEO of Venture Management Consultants, said: “When we bring them to the table and share them for a common purpose, it can give companies a real competitive advantage.”

If you want the best for your business, you can do so by making sure the environment is suitable for everyone. Make it as easy as possible for them to collaborate and connect with each other. When everyone is helping each other, there will be fewer mistakes in the long-run.

Every Person is Part of The Bigger Picture

Does every member of your team know what success looks and feels like?

If so, they should be able to act the part in their role. If not, you’ll have to create expectations for them to do what they need.

As a leader, it’s important for you to be clear on your expectations in everyone’s role. You might even need to show or to explain how they can become more successful. Once they know what it looks like, they’ll know how to deliver excellence.

When people can predict what the outcome is going to be, they’ll develop the will to achieve it. That’s also when they’ll unlock their self-motivation and build on the confidence to succeed.

For instance, Dan Lok has always envisioned his success when he was a teenager. Even though he hadn’t felt success at that point, he knew what it should look like because of the people he looked up to.

It was possible for Dan to follow the right path to success because he had mentors leading him the way. This isn’t an easy thing to do, but it sure is a faster way to get there when you can avoid mistakes.

What does success mean to you? What motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing every day? Or what are you doing to work towards it?

When you create a vision for your company, your team can follow it. It’s a powerful thing when you all share a vision together.

Your vision will give everyone a sense of purpose and meaning in the role they’re in. As everyone’s role is as important, it’s fulfilling to know you’re responsible for the bigger picture.

No one should have to feel they’re less than someone else. Even if they’re in a lower position, they can still bring value to the table in other ways.

You can encourage your team to work smarter and challenge them to do better than the previous time. That’s how everyone will stay invested in a greater impact.

It’ll be your part to provide them with the right tools they need to execute. If they’re working with incompetent resources, then you can’t expect spectacular results.

You can think of it like this: the quality you put into your team will be the quality of work they put out. It’s worth any price you pay to have quality. The results could bring in the highest ROI for you.

Failure Equals Success

8 out of 10 businesses fail, and most of them don’t even know why they fail.

What some businesses don’t understand is that failure is all part of the learning process. The same goes for people too. No matter how smart or skillful someone is, failures will still happen.

That’s because we humans make mistakes and have higher expectations. Not every experience will be perfect.

It doesn’t mean you or your business are a complete failure. It means you’ll have to learn from the failures to find greater success. Those who accept more failures will succeed faster.

When you’re the leader, it’s crucial to not criticize your team for any of their mistakes. Great leaders will help build them back up as soon as possible.

Instead, you can leverage failures as more opportunities. To do this, you must see all failures as part of growth to strengthen innovation.

Without feeling like mistakes will set you back, you can think from a better mindset. In reality, mistakes will only hold you back if you allow it to. But if you decide to take it as a lesson, you’ll be less likely to ever make the same mistake again. You might even find greater opportunities along the way.

Like Dan Lok, he failed 13 businesses before he got to his first success. If he gave up the 13th time, do you think he’d get to where he’s at today? No.

You see, failure is necessary. If you don’t have enough of it, then you might not have reached your fullest potential yet. That’s why you have to stick with your vision.

When you keep your end goals in mind, you’ll find ways to get there. It might not work the first way, but you’ll perfect it more as you go. Even if you get things right the first time, there’s always room for optimization.

Discover How To Manage Professionals The Smarter Way

If you want your team to help you scale your business with fewer mistakes along the way, you’ll need to get this right.

Learning how to manage professionals is easy when you can show your support to them. Only then will they feel you care for their continuous success.

The best way to do this is to think of your team as your backbone. Each role in your business is critical for your success. You have to treat everyone as if they bring in the same value as others.

That way, nobody feels their role is too small. With your leadership skills, you can help your team achieve more for themselves.

When you invest your effort in giving them feedback, your team will start to see potential and growth. After all, every person wants to feel fulfilled in what they do and become part of a bigger mission.

At Dragon 100™, that’s what Dan Lok can teach you. In this exclusive advisory board, you’ll surround yourself with the world’s best leaders.

There’s no better place to be than a room full of successful A-level players. These industry leaders are on their way to scaling to an extra 6-7 figures in their business.

You too can be a part of this private group and connect with some business insiders. You will be able to manage your professionals the smarter way to reach high-level success. But don’t wait until you’re ready because Dragon 100™ only accepts 100 members.

Click here to apply to become a member of Dragon 100™ today.