Starting from Nothing – The Foundation Podcast Guest Name ...

Starting from Nothing ? The Foundation Podcast Guest Name Interview ? Geoff Woods

Introduction: Welcome to Starting from Nothing ? The Foundation Podcast, the place where incredible entrepreneur show you how they built their businesses entirely from scratch before they knew what the heck they were doing.

Dane:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of Starting from Nothing ? The Official Foundation Podcast. I am your hopeful host Dane Maxwell. This is our Friday small wins series where we talk about students who've been to The Foundation, currently going through The Foundation, recently graduated The Foundation, who are getting traction and getting their first few sales. With hopes that by talking about and slowing down the process of how people are starting, that it becomes realistically attainable for you, so that ultimately you get that freedom because that's what it's all about. Geoff, what's up?

Geoff:

What's up?

Dane:

How are you?

Geoff:

Fan-freaking-tastic. You?

Dane:

Fan-freaking-tastic. I really like that picture behind you on that wall. I'm always struck by it. Did you pick that out personally?

Geoff:

I did.

Dane:

What struck you about that picture?

Geoff:

Well, it's printed on this special paper so when you change the light, everything changes on the picture. I don't know. It just spoke to me. I love the greens, I love everything about it.

Dane:

That is cool. What sort of business-y thingy have you started?

Geoff:

Business-y thingy, huh. It's really evolved. I didn't start with a specific business. I started kind of with the field of dreams concept that if you build it, they will come. I started with a podcast called The Mentee where I've just said, "Hey, I'm going to go from employee to entrepreneur. I want to build passive streams of cash. I might as well record the journey because I think that would be cool." The process ended up running with some really insane

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people as mentors, and started recording those specific conversations with major CEO's and built up an audience, and then the audience told me what they wanted and now I'm giving it to them.

How did the audience tell you what they wanted?

I told them I wanted to know. I gave them a way to reach out to me via email. I told them I'd be willing to get on the phone with them, and allow them to access my schedule, and got on the phone with them. Dug into their pain and figured out what they were going through. What about me and my podcast resonated with them. Started to find that they all had the same pain, they all had the same desires, and they all needed the same help in a way. It was something they thought I could give them.

You did some good old idea extracting?

I did some good old idea extraction.

On these folks. How did you get the people listening to your podcast in the first place?

First thing I did before I ever launched the podcast, I had my virtual assistant. I gave her access to my Facebook and for my LinkedIn. For anybody who's launching a podcast or really any business, I recommend you do this. Hire a virtual assistant through oDesk or Elance, pay them $3 an hour, and give them access to your Facebook, your LinkedIn. They can then export all of your contacts into a CSV file which they can then turn to a Google Doc. All of a sudden I had a mailing list of 4,000 people.

I was able to tell everybody two weeks before the podcast went live "Hey, I'm launching this podcast. You don't need to do anything right now, but once it goes live, I'm trying to hit #1 in iTunes. I'll have a small ask." The day it went live, I blasted 4,000 people asking them to rate and review my show and subscribe.

Right off the bat, I had a base, and then I launched a contest to have people share it on their social media and leave reviews. It has just grown and grown and out to the point where it's growing organically and people are reaching out to me who I have no freaking clue who they are. It's making a difference which is unbelievable.

How did you come up with a strategy to launch?

You ever heard the Jim Rohn quote that, "You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with?"

Of course.

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Yeah. So, I heard that and it changed my life. I've applied it to really everything I do now in my life. When I wanted to launch a podcast, I decided to surround myself with some of the best podcasters and I saw a council directly from them. One of the guys I went to is Pat Flynn. That's one of my episodes actually is the hour-long mentoring conversation Pat had with me as he told me how I should launch a podcast and that guidance helped me hit Top 20 in Business on iTunes.

Wow! How did you get Pat's attention?

Simply when people said, "Geoff, what's up?" which you know every conversation you have with a friend it's "What's new? What's going on?" And we all say "Not much." I made a subtle shift. I started telling people what I wanted. So when somebody said, "Hey Jeff, what's up?" I said, "A lot recently. I'm going to start a podcast and I'm looking to meet some successful podcasters." The guy kind of shook his head and said, "You know what? I know a guy and I'll connect you." And it was Pat. Very first time I tried.

Man, it seems so easy.

It is so easy. I have done this with a few big things in the past year. The first time I did it was I wanted to get into real estate investing and the very first time I told somebody that I was looking to meet successful real estate investors, the guy invited me to his house and I ended up meeting my mentor Dave Michael. The guy's done 10,000 real estate transactions and he took me on, eventually, as a partner. Now I'm a partial owner of a big building because one time I opened my mouth and told somebody that I was looking to get into real estate.

This is crazy.

It keeps working, by the way. Anybody who's listening, this is ? get clarity on what you want and just start talking about it in your everyday conversations. Because we, as humans, have an innate desire to help one another. When you share it with people specifically what you're looking for, you'd be amazed at how fast it comes to you.

Yeah. Wow! Well, let's pause this for a second and go ? What have are results been of this ... I want to get into your background too. Who are you? What do you do for work, family life? All that just briefly. Before we get into that, I want to reiterate what's been said. You joined The Foundation ? you didn't say this but it was implied. You joined The Foundation August or November?

November.

You joined the November class. In the meantime, you're documenting your journey as a podcaster. You get a personal assistant to get 4,000 people's ? Was she able to get to all their email addresses?

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Yes, their email addresses are a part of their account.

You say it like I'm supposed to know this.

You are, Dane. You're Dane.

I know it as of five seconds ago. Yeah, that's a great idea.

You have this personal assistant that get these 4,000 addresses, and then you send them a message, "Hey, I'm launching a podcast. It's not ready yet but when it is I'll have a small ask." I'm actually even struck ? I'll get to that in a second. And then you got Top 20, and then on your podcast you were inviting people to reach out to you, to have conversations, to see if you could help them. Then you applied idea extraction to them where you found out what their pains were. You found out they had all similar pain. What was that pain that you found?

They were all following my podcast because they were inspired how I was able to upgrade my personal connections, how I was able to suddenly surround myself with major CEO's, incredibly successful entrepreneurs, and they realize that they needed mentorship. They needed mentors in their life and they realized that the five people they spent the most time with were not where they wanted to be. So they know they need to change their five but they just don't know how. They want somebody to hold their hand and show them how they can upgrade their personal connections.

You say it with a lot of conviction.

I'm so incredibly passionate about this, it's insane.

What are you feeling right now?

I feel my vibration in my body shift entirely. I get into the zone so fast because I start to think about where I've been, and what I've been going through, and what caused me to take these steps. I think about how fast I accelerated as soon as I made one simple shift. I just started hanging around with people who are where I wanted to be. As soon as I did that, it's like somebody poured a can of gasoline on me and lit me on freaking fire. Now that I can show other people how to do the exact same thing, it's more rewarding than I can put into words.

Say that last thing again, as soon as I did what?

Now that I'm showing other people how to do this, it's more rewarding than I can put into words.

More rewarding than you can put into words. You seem softer to me now.

That's because I'm looking at you and I just want to cuddle you.

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No, but really when you say it's more rewarding than I can put into words, what does that experience feel like to be making that kind of contribution to people?

It is a paradigm shift to feel like you are a person of value for the first time. We all wake up and have had the experience of going to a job that we were not passionate about. It wasn't aligned with our unique genius, it was not ...

Can I pause you for a second?

Yes.

Do you mind saying this instead of we with I, as first person.

Yeah, what did I just say?

Well, you're saying, "We all done this. We've done these jobs, we've been up in alignment."

Got it.

In an effort like ... because I'm noticing I just want to feel you more. And so I'm just kind of wanting you to say like, "I woke up at a job, I was out of alignment." Just using with I. I'd loved if you were doing that.

Done.

Thank you.

The shift was that I've woken up for so long going to a job that while I enjoyed it, realized it was not aligned with all my talents. As soon as I stepped into this role of the podcast host and adding value to other people, I felt a connection and a sense of value, a sense of purpose like I've never felt before. A sense of motivation and drive. My mind has been expanded. The possibilities, the way I look at the world, it has all changed.

You seem to have a smile on your face after saying that.

I do because I keep thinking every single day when something happens and I just keep thinking how abundant the world is. I remember hearing you say ? somebody asking you how you view things and you said, "Oh, it's abundant. Truly abundant. It's happened for me to where I look at so many things throughout the day and now I see ways to add value and to make money from doing it. Ways that nobody else is thinking of, and it's so clear to me, and it seems so easy.

Ways to make money that no one else is doing and it's so clear to me and it seems so easy.

Yeah.

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That seems ... it is so easy.

It is.

Do you get the feeling that it's almost like cheating compared to where you were before?

It's like when you're having a dream and the dream seems so real until you wake up and you realize, "Oh, it was just a dream." It's like I've been going through life in a dream and I've finally have woken up and be like, "Oh, here's the real world." I'm just now trying to help everybody else wake up and see the possibility and the abundance that's in front of them.

You woke up and you saw the world. What do you see?

I see incredibly basic principles that are so easy, kind of like you said at the beginning of this. It seems so easy. It's so easy. Just take the action and it will come.

I couldn't relate to not necessarily feeling easy when I'm like, oh gosh, how do I find a mentor or how do I hang out with those people? And then you're like, "Oh. Well, you just tell people that you're looking to do that." Wait, are you serious? Is that all? And you said, "I keep doing it and it keeps working."

Yeah.

I can imagine a little bit of hesitation, or maybe even some shame in myself as I am picturing myself saying, "Oh yeah, I'm into real estate investing. Can you introduce me to anyone? Do you feel nervous or afraid at all when you're saying it for the first time?

No, and that's partially because of my background which I come from a strong sales background. And my day job ... I'm still in sales. That has been easier for me. In a subtle tweak to that, I'm not saying, "I'm looking to get into real estate. Do you know anybody?" I'm saying, "I'm looking to get into real estate and I'm interested in surrounding myself with successful real estate investors." The majority of the time, I just zip my mouth and watch people deliver it to me.

Sometimes, I will point blank say, "I'm looking to surround myself with these people. Do you happen to know anybody?" It just sounds better in my mind. And I say it with confidence because what's the worst they can say? No? And I'm just as well off as I was if I didn't say anything. At the very least, I'm planting a seed. As they continue to go throughout their day, if they happen to come across a successful real estate investor, or podcaster, or contributing writer, and they find one, something will trigger in their mind and they'll consider making that connection.

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It almost seems like what you said, as soon as you get clear on what you want and you're able to communicate that to people, it happens.

Yes.

When I was 21 I read that little strategy in Rich Dad Poor Dad. Kiyosaki said, "Ask your friends and family if they know any successful real estate investors." So I went to my uncle. I said, "Hey uncle, do you know anyone who's a successful real estate investor?" and he said, "Oh, I just so happen to work with the biggest foreclosure guy in Iowa." He has 400 to 500 homes on contract that he gets monthly payments for every single month. I said, "Can I meet him?"

Next week, I was shadowing him, watching him walk through homes with a notebook, marking up things and figuring out if that deal would have enough profit for him to move forward on it. We ended up becoming pretty good friends. I actually ended up designing his website, made money there too. And all I did, as I'm sitting here reflecting, is I just asked one of my family members, "Hey do you know of any successful X, Y, Z's?"

The thing is he was so happy to hang out with me. Because thinking back, it was like, "Man, would he ever want to hang out with me?" Now kind of being on the flip-side of that, on the more extremely successful side, I'm kind of like yearning for people that I could help. I freaking created The Foundation to do that very thing. I'm just thinking how enjoyable that probably was for that guy. I was dressed up, I was sharp, I was watching him, I was asking questions. How is this for you to hear?

This is you're nailing the number one limiting belief. When I say to somebody, "Go find a mentor. Don't just find any mentor; go find the heaviest hitting mentor you can think of. The person you think would never even spend time with you. That's the person you should be approaching." Everybody things why would they spend time with me, but you just nailed it. They want to pay it forward.

Because if you were to point blank ask that person, "Why are you spending time with me?" Which I have done with my mentors, every single one of them has said, "At one point in time, somebody mentored me and the one thing they asked for in return was that one day I would pay this forward."

One of them went as far as to say, "I feel like it is my obligation as an entrepreneur to reach back to the next generation of entrepreneurs, and grab their hand, and help pull them forward, and help them navigate because entrepreneurs will change the world."

We're making a pretty good case for enabling others to see the possibility of reaching out to a mentor.

Yes.

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Did you happen to watch the podcast I released with that woman who was on The Apprentice?

No.

She is a multimillionaire. She owns the rights to some merchandise like World of Warcraft, she's been on The Apprentice, knows Donald Trump. She has a mentor who's a billionaire who can't be named. She had a lot of people hitting her up to be a mentor. "Hey, please, will you mentor me? Please, I need your help. Oh, please ..." like they reeked of desperation. Then she got an email from one guy that said, "Hi, I am ex-NFL player injured, ex-MMA fighter injured, new entrepreneur. I was wondering if you could mentor me. If not, I'll see you at the top." What do you think she said?

She said yes.

Yes, she said yes. You don't have to be an ex-NFL or an ex-MMA player. The point of that email is that there's no desperation in it. It's like, look, I'm going to be there. Would you like to be there with me kind of a thing. How do you feel about that guy's approach being the kind of expert on finding mentors?

It worked for him. Not the approach I would take, frankly, but if it worked it worked. I love the confidence.

The approach that I have used, and that I encourage others to use, is find a way. Do your research ahead of time and find a way to be of value. I never approached somebody saying, "Will you be my mentor?" I approached someone saying ? like this guy, he was on the ... I'll use my closest mentor, his name's Dave. The guy was the CEO of the sports agency the movie Jerry Maguire was based off of. At the time, it was the largest sports agency in the world. The guy's multi, multi, multimillionaire.

I approached him because I heard him speak at an event. His words resonated so deeply with me and I walked up to him and I just said, "I want to thank you because your words touched me. I'm going through this transition in my life and I feel truly lost and for the first time, I feel like I found some clarity. I don't know what I can do to add value to you but if you'd be willing to spend 20 minutes with me, I promise you I will find a way. Where are you and when can I come sit down with you?" It turns out he lives a half mile from my house and now we meet every week.

When you walked up to him to deliver that message, was that thought through or was that just ...

I have been sitting half the time he was talking, wondering what can I say to this guy that would make him interested in me. What could I possibly do that would make this incredibly successful man interested in spending time with me? As I approached him, I didn't know what to say. I just dropped the guard and I was honest and I was vulnerable. It resonated with him. I have done

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