Davey Gets Rich: a Business Startup Tale

Commitment vs Measurement. I've decided that I only have so much bandwidth at the moment and something had to go. Also, I can see the future.

Of this podcast at least. I have a much better idea of where I want this to go and what I'm creating, so I'm killing DGR for now. Sometimes you have to gut the rehab down to the frame, and this feels like the right time.
I'll be back with something new - hopefully before Summer.

If you stay subscribed, I'll post the new project here.

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas, questions and encouragement - that's been important to me. 

I'll see you on the other side...

-Davey

Umm...ok...I'm embarassed. I forgot to say this is vacation week. I did not die or get attacked by bears.

See you on Sunday.

For us solo acts, it's often hard to think of ourselves as followers. We're used to -- even expected to -- be in charge of everything, all the time.

Today is about how to be both a leader and a follower at the same time and why you must follow your own leadership.

Learn to treat your calendar like its the law, and just do the things you indended to.

Plus, making less decisions throughout the week is something you'll learn to love.

Gotta run, my calendar says it's time to work out...

After getting into it with my hosting provider - a smaller independent with delusions - I got to thinking, "What if my hosting disappeared tomorrow?" What hellish deluge would find me, clients losing email and sites? Uggh, I don't even want to go there, but I know I have to.

That led me to play what-if with everything else I take for granted in my business. "What if I lost my.." Internet, electricity, Google accounts, and so on. 

Guess what I'll be thining about this weekend.

I also realized that the time I spend fixing some tech things might be wasted when I can just buy new stuff. 

And my 2013 Chromeboook really needs to just go away.

It's a little rough, working on the weekly format, but I'm re-tooling into an audit-based foot-in-the-door service this week, and I'm connecting all the parts. So far I have to:

• Work on the new joint project
• develop email and social media campaigns
• send at least reachouts
• Limite my external client work or plan to manage ti better (or charge more)
• Prepare to onboard my shiny new intern.

There. That's a good plan for week one.

YEAH! Season 2! Party time.

Kicking off a new season today with a new format and a new level of energy.

Why? I feel like I was coasting. There was no challenge or groowth for me from how I showed up in Season 1.

While there were some great takeaways and insights from doing the podcast, I got a little bored with the process.

---

In Season 2, I want to bring more energy and better content. I also want to explore more topics that have less to do with the day-to-day of the new business.

Let's kick this pig!

What are you thinking? Leave me a messge: https://anchor.fm/davey-gets-rich/message

Wrapping up the first "season" (whatever that means) today.

Yesterday's episode was weird, I know, but it also reminded me that this is becoming more than a podcast about some guy building a business, trying to get rich -- I'm just not that simple.

I'm taking a holiday break to redefine this ever-evolving podcast, re-envision some parts of the business, and do my yearly review of my plans and goals.

I'll also be adding a website and blog and changing up the format a bit. It's gonna be freakin' cool.......

Season 2 kicks off on Jan 2, 2022 -- see you there.

This week's big rocks:

• Learning a new tool I'm excited about. 
• Work on partner project with someone I've wanted to work with for a while now. 
• Evaluate whether I want to be involved in the web hosting business. I've said 'no' in the past but I'm starting to see a need.
• Develop new scripts for a different intro offer that I'm more aligned with than the old one.

and getting ready for the Xmas break... that's just work as usual but I get to wear a Santa hat while I do it.

This week I

• Dug into my morning routine, making it more useful and stringent and growth-focused.
• Got excited about a new tool in the tookbox for pushing out reputation
• Had an interesting opportunity show up - because I was ready
• Thought about the difference between activity goals and results goals ang how to set one loa and the other high
• Deal with some internal negativity and doubt and got the hell over it.

Hope your week was awesome!

New campaign sent, not happy with responses. I think cold email needs scale. It's possible my emails just suck. New tool released yesterday - excited. Paid Mailgun to stop throttling me. Started organizing scripts but no go. Low energy week -- again -- but looking forward to next week.

My neighbors are cutting down all my favorite trees today... I'm a little sad. I picked a bad day to give up coffee.

The process of handling email bounces, dead accounts and the like is tedious. As I have 10k cold leads to work through, I'm not spending any time trying to research better emails or anything - just deleting them from the CRM is the best use of my time.

Gonna miss those trees...

I said that the podcast has morphed (great word) into something different than I intended, and that I'm ok with that. I'm gonna spend more time on mindset than metrics here - mostly because I think that has more value to you all.

"The business is not the goal, it's the vehicle" (dm)

I added 15 or so minutes to the morning routine. I like to chip away at books, especially modern mass-market non-fiction, which publishers have turned into 80% fluff anyway. I could rant about that but I won't) I have to scan rather than read most of these to get to the ideas quickly, so if it seems like I can read a book a day, that's just an illusion. Good fiction takes me ages...

Another quote: "You can't be a good example by living below your potential." (Ben Hardy and me)

I'm trying to be a good example here ya know...

I'm getting better control of my personal habits and systems to help me build this business. Realizing that everything that isn't going well on the business side of things is a result of my personal stuff.

Today I'm reworking my roughly 3 year old morning routine. I'm glad for the morning time I've developed, but now I need to go harder. Give it more structure. Journal more and better, add in exercise regularly, not just when I feel like it, set up my day more functionally. Davey's growing up.

I even made my bed.

Also, I'm aware how this startup podcast is morphing into a mindset show - I'll go deeper into that tomorrow.

And if you have any thoughts about this show, send me a message at daveygetsrich@daveymars.com

Changed up the Monday format - now I'm setting up the weekly must-do goals and we can track that on Friday.

For this week the main goals are:

1. Get another full campaign sent (~500 new businesses)
2. Spend an hour of two on the Webinar outline script
3. Have 20 actual sales conversations
4. Organize my scripts where they belong
5. Commit to Mailgun as sender and fix the MG headers

You'd better have an awesome week!

Friend called with "terrible news", "it's bad!". Davey's all geared up for cancer or some other imminent death thing... turns out she had to dump her boyfriend and needed to talk. We're closer to 60 than 16 but whatever...be the friend you want to have or something like that.

SIX HOURS with THREE companies and NINE support people for the weirdest bug I've seen in 20 years, but I'v got my main product tool working again. Ugh. The used up my "Deal w/Crap" budget for an entire week.

And I just caught myself whining... OK, over it. All in all a good week, avoiding distractions, making contacts in unexpected places and tightening up my systems. Progress Always! 

Hey, it's our 25th episode! Who said I never follow through on anyth.... SQUIRREL!

(I just noticed this description reads like a Dr. Bronner's bottle. I don't know what that's all about.)

In the first successful use of what I'm calling "Deal w/crap" time - a 45 minute, catch-all slot on my weekly schedule - I see the power in having a set-aside time for taking care of reandom stuff. Also, in an unplanned yet astounding bit of task-bundling, I'm headed up the the Chamber of Commerce this afternoon to :

• Hit a networking lunch
• Drop off some flyers for my volunteer org.
• Sort out a billing issue with Membership and 
• get my daily walk in

That would have felt like 4 things on my schedule, now they all get sorted at once.

Sometimes, it's ok to just get the thing done and not wait until it's right. For example, today's podcast. I usually like to put more thought into the daily pod but today, I was running waay behind. I chose to hit the 10am publish goal, rather than polish it up more. I still had something to say today, I just packed it in faster and tigheter than usual. That's OK, now I'm on the the next thing... see you next time.

So bad song and silly kid's story aside, today feels like the opposite of yesterday. Yesterday my calendar was over-filled, today's is nearly blank. Trying to get the balance right... also noticed that, even though I have a 4-month work plan available to me, none of that made it into my daily process, so it "looks like" I have nothing to do, even though I have it all pretty well defined. That's just a failure of tools, and I'm fixing that this week. I'm also adding a time block called "Deal with Crap time", where I can spend a half-hour on minor tasks and emails for other people who I need to service once in a while. If anyone needs me, I'll be dealing with crap at 10:30 M-F.

On the fun side, I'm starting to see progress in my back-office as I feed the top of my cold outreach funnel and see KPIs moving a bit. Needs tweaking but now its starting to feel like the machine I need it to be.

So that thing I was griping about last week? That external project for someone else that I didn't want to do but felt Ineeded to step up to save? I found a way to make it useful. Turned it into a presentation on exactly whet I'm doing in my new business. That gave me 1) more clarity on what I'm doing, as I have to boild everything down to a 1-page slide presentation, and 2) I can repurpose that slie into some kind of marketing piece for the new biz. Feels like a win.
Then I looked at the solid block of color in my calendar (busy time) and realized I'm not getting lungh today. Need to be more careful about scheduling the days. It's ok once in a while, but if I do it more than once a week, I may get a little crazy.

For almost anything you want to do in life, there is a map - already made - for you to follow. It's extremely rare for any human to do anything that, at it's core, hasn't already been done. Since you have the map, wouldn't if be almost difficult to fail?  Having a map also means I'm more focused on "what I'm doing next" rather than asking "what should I do next?" My goals are that much closer.  Also, knowing that I'm one of those poeple who tries to out-think everyone and do stuff my own way, I'm aware that I need to be vigilant when I find myself trying to find "shortcuts" in the map. 

I made a choice to not work with a client. This guy has a history of canceling meetings and he's always in the middle of some sh*tstorm of his own creation. I also realize that I seem to be thinking about his business more than he is. For all my big ideas, I don't see him as enthusiastic as I am about his business. As I think about the kind of business I want - along with the lifestyle that goes with it - I'm making a choice to only work with people with the right mindset.

In the physical/mental doldrums last two days. Getting personal cycles right. Sometimes the answer is just going back to bed as long as it's not your anwser to overwhelm.

Saying NO to other people's stuff, even when you kinda, sorta want to do it. External projects are a time-suck. Guard your time well and schedule enough buffer time so that, if something comes up that you really want to do, there will be a space for that. 

And don't forget to play with the dogs. 

In the physical doldrums last two days. Finding the wins in not doing enough. Good time for planning and revising but I'm a little behing on the action steps. As I feared, external projects are a time-suck.
For the week, I built my sales page for Auto Repair; am within hours of launching my first cold email outreach campaign; have a lead magnet done; have a second offer ready in the main niche. Also started building lists for second niche and will most like build that sales page tomorrow. Thank god for weekends - it's when I get to play catch up and get back on plan. And still play with the dogs. 

New tool FlowTrack instead of BlueCamroo. Low energy day yesterday. Getting cycles right - 8pm webinars are like drinking a 6-pack before bed. Saying NO to other people's stuff, even when you kinda, sorta want to do it. Guard your time like Mama cat and her cubs.

First day of a new month. Feels like a trap. Supposed to get all organized and motivated and stuff, clean-slate the hell out of December! Then again, it's December. Snooze time. Vacaytion/holiday time. Try-not-to-give-a-damn-about-work time. For my clients anyway. But it's really just another day and, if any of that stuff is true about December, then that's more time for me to drill into my systems, tke chances, mess things up and learn from them and all that good stuff. Besides, I've already got my next 120 days mapped out. Davey wins!

Now I have a weekly and daily plan for the next 4 months done. KPIs, actions, learing steps, everything. It's super awesome, even though I'm going to fight it every step of the way. I'm one of those poeple who tries to out-think everyone and do stuff my own way however, since I'm not happy with the results of that, I'm just gonna shut up and row. It's a good thing. It is. Still gonna grumble though....
Also, I made a choice to not work with the client I mentioned yesterday. Yes, I fired my first client even before I prresented to him. *facepalm* But as I think about the kind of buisiness I want - along with the lifestyle that goes with it - I know I'm not the guy who let's other people run his show. It's hard to be hard....

THERE IS NO REASON TO FAIL. I'm shouting again.... I have 5 hours/week scheduled - for the next 4 months - to get any help I need with my tools and sales system. It would be almost hard to fail. (This episode's title is a punchline) My goals are that much closer. There's something liberating in seeing a full calendar of focused activity. Knowing what I need to spend time on and when is the only thing I miss from the bad old days working a traditional job... structure.

Today's goal is to have my first offer and upsell clarified, including pricing and deliverables. Then start cold outreach tomorrow.

I let the holiday week give me excuses not to be here, which was sad, sad, sad. I got over it of course, but it was a reminder that Resistanace is resilient and I have to remain on-guard.
First sales appointmen penciled in for Tuesday! Yeehaw...progress! Ahead of schedule.

I was thinking how making a decision to keep a promise is exactly the same - mechanically at least - as making the desicion not to. Almost found a reason *not to do today's show, until I found a reason to just go ahead and do the damn thing. I channeled the brain power I would have used for making an excuse into helping me clarify the reasons why I should.

Do you know your hourly rate? I know thinking hourly is for slaves, but still, do you know when paying someone to do that thing you can handle is a smart decision? I lost an hour or so tracking down some weirdness in my email servers, MX, SPF and all the geeky crap I love. But I am sure that the 'Me' I want to become in this business isn't the IT guy. Something to think about for the next 6 months.

*Today's working backgound music will be "The Clash" all day. Old punks never die (unless they do).

What do you do when you've blown up your day and it's only 9am? I started my daily planning like usual but tripped over an unfinished scrap of a song I'd started over a year ago. 2 hours later, I have no daily plan, 15 minutes to do a podcast episode, a forgotten meeting in a half hour and a major case of the "yikes!". But because of the flex time built into my scheduling, I'm pretty sure I can save the day and hit my acton goals by about 5pm. And still sneak a nap in. But missing the morning setup can be scary if there's too much pressure to succeed. Luckily, I'm not there yet.
Look at me: I have 10 free minutes.... yay!

Drop and give me 20. Push-ups. Right now. Look in the mirror. Do your clothes fit better? Have you lost weight? Of course not, but that's often how we treat ourselves when we're starting a business... "where are my results?. I can't over stress the importance of short-term action-based goals for keeping you feeling like you are moving forward. At the end of the day, did you do what you planned? Then you won the day.

Even though I intentionally set the bar kinda low yesterday, I also managed to shut off the computer around 4pm (a rarity for me). That felt like a win. And if I don't fee like a "achieved" enough yesterday, I'm not disappointed in myself, i just have to get better at estimating tasks and time. That's something I can control

To start a new week, you should know your next actions. Today I list this weeks's goals and explain why they don't seem crazy big. How will I know I've won the week? When it's Saturday and everything I said I'd do got done. Open-ended goals will destroy your soul - I'd rather win.

And I didn't mention this but what I'm talking about now are activity-goals, not results-goals. In the building phase, it's pretty much all activity, and the same on a weekly level. Results-goals -- income- or client-based -- are, at least for me, best thought about in a monthly/quarterly/yearly context.

Don't worry, they're coming...

It occurred to me that every day doesn't have to mean every. Single. Day.
I decided that not doing the podcast on Sundays is actually part of the process. There's more to business than just thinking about work - you have to plan your free time as well. So this will be the one and only Sunday podcast and I'm good with that.

Besides, all work and no play makes Davey... crazy. 

On the business side of things, I got pretty much nothing done, then again, I had no specific goals for the week (ooh... big flash of insight there).

But that's ok right now as I did get a lot of mental stuff out of the way. Clarity was the main big win, both on the delivrables of the business, as well as  some things outside of it.

Next week starts with goals and time blocking. I'll layout goals on Monday and then you can laugh at me next Saturday if I miss any.

Daily episodes drop at 10am and the weekend editions will hit at 2pm.

Building an agency in the review getting/promoting space. Yes it's been done before, now it's my turn.

Set a goal to hit 20k/month this year and talked about the breakdown. At $240k in sales, I have to this mostly alone.
Feels like a good goal but the number of clients and price points are still a bit unclear. 100x$200 seems like a lot to manage and 2x$10k is unrealistic as I don't have a 10k offer yet, so I'm seeking the sweet spot.

If you're sending your pics of Imaginary Me, I'm at DaveyGetsRich@luminagency.com 

Running 2 businesses, a podcast, a new workshop series and some kind of personal stuff, I'd be dead without my BFF, Google Calendar.

Today I talked about managing time with Todoist, my calendar and a Getting Things Done (GTD) framework. I don't go super deep into GTD ( I don't think anyone actually does) but just using the stuff from the first few chapters is enough to make sense out of chaos. Capture everything, sort it, schedule it, repeat.

Also, personal integrity - better term, self-integrity - is it's own reward. Developing the habit of keeping promises to yourself, will make you better at keeping your other promises, and the alternative is pretty bad.

Tomorrow, I'm revealing the main business and breaking down the basics of what I'm trying to do.

Dealing with prior commitments, I'm knocking out 3 existing projects - or at least throwing them over the wall to the next responsible person. Thinking about unfinished tasks sucks away attention from the One Thing.

Trying out another new "master" tool, Blue Camroo. I just kinda like it. (So far...). I may have said the same thing about Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Pipedrive.... uh oh, I've been here before.

Also noticing how money just kind of "finds" me on occasion and it's often just in time to move me forward on some other project. Yay, money.

Time got away from me. Existing client work shoed up and - BOOM! - half the day gone. Controlling your day is the only way to win. Davey is running multiple projects and they all fight for the same 24 hours. Also, Mister Resistance popped in for a visit.
#systems #timeblocking #resistance

Why I'm keeping the podcast super simple. How I'm doing what's important, not what's pretty. No bells or whistles, just content. Todays goal is to not waste energy on polishing the podcast, so I can spend more on the One Thing - the business.
Then I go over why I'm spending some money upfront to handle my marketing stack, rather than doing it all myself.