Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Christine Schlonski  [0:02] "]

Hi Gorgeous. This is Episode One. Our amazing guest today is John Lee Dumas, the host of entrepreneurs on fire.

John Lee Dumas  [0:12] "]

Hey, this is JLD of Entrepreneurs on Fire and you are listening to Heart Sells! with Christine Schlonski,  enjoy.

Christine Schlonski  [0:21] 

Wow. I am so excited to have Mr. Fire-Nation here today. John Lee Dumas the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire in an award-winning podcast where he interviews inspiring entrepreneurs every Monday and drops value bombs every Thursday. With over 2000 episodes and 1.3 million listeners each and every month, he has a seven-figure business. JLD is just getting started. So let’s see what kind of value bombs he’s gonna drop today with us and I’m sure we will have a lot of fun and get really, really great insights and I don’t know about you but I am all fired up so let’s get started

Christine Schlonski  [1:13] "]

Thank you so much JLD for being here today I’m super excited and welcome to Heart Sells!

John Lee Dumas  [1:22] "]

Well, I’m fired up to be here Christine. It was cool hanging out with you in Berlin and now we get to hang out on this great video call.

Christine Schlonski  [1:31]  "]

It’s so much fun. So you know the listeners might know you’re amazing an inspirational podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire So guys if you have not yet heard of Entrepreneurs on Fire, you need to check that out. Go to eofire.com and have a look, it’s amazing.  And we know that you are a master in podcasting but there is more. So can you share something we don’t know about your area of expertise yet?

John Lee Dumas  [2:08] "]

Well, I would say that, you know, besides podcasting, which I’ve been blessed to be doing now for over six years, and published over 2000 episodes to date, I’ve learned a lot. And I’ve learned that yes, like a podcast is something you can build a business off of. But if you want a really successful business, you need to have a sales funnel in place. And so for me, I could create 10,000 podcast episodes, but if I don’t really have a goal or a focus or a call to action for my listeners, that I’m not going to be able to generate the kind of revenue that I would need as a podcast host and just as a human being to continue to be able to produce this free content for everybody. So I became a master over the years in creating sales funnels. I like to call them funnels on fire to stay on brand a little bit, but I think it’s really important people to realize that when you have great value to share your podcast, you’re going to have a certain percentage of your listeners who need more who want more who have big problems they want you to solve on a more intimate level. And so that’s where a great funnel can come in. Where you can create a great free product or a service or a community that you’re able to lead people into from your podcast. And then from that point, you can continue to bring them up that sales funnel into a place where they’re getting a premium product or service to really make sure that you are running a successful business which is we know provides a lot of value and generates revenue. Those are two things that are key.

Christine Schlonski [3:36] "]

Yeah, yeah, so so important and I know you have a lot of amazing content on your site. So again, guys, if you have not checked it out, go to eofire.com and really have a look, I loved that funnel course. And so as an entrepreneur and you know that, you know, making offers and selling this confidence is really really key and it might not have been always this way that you were really confident and selling. Do you remember when you started out? Have you always been really really confident? Or have you had some little challenges with getting your sales game up?

John Lee Dumas  [4:22] "]

I was definitely not confident. I haven’t made your challenges and struggles. I’m getting my sales game up. Because, you know, this is not something that comes incredibly naturally to most people. I would say 99% of people have to work at this have to, you know, challenge themselves have to learn from others. And that was one of the biggest benefits of being a podcaster is guess what, I became a podcaster because I really knew that I needed to learn from others, learn from successful businessmen and women learn from successful entrepreneurs in general. And a great way to do that is to listen to podcasts or is to host a podcast or I can actually reach out and have the type of conversations and asked that type of questions that I have in business and in life in general.

John Lee Dumas [5:03] "]

And so I was able to learn from, you know, guest one through 1000, as I was beginning my journey on what worked in business, what didn’t work in business. And the common theme that just kept coming up over and over again, was, listen, if you want to be a success in business, and in life, you’ve got to learn how to sell. And that’s kind of why I love your brand. Because you do need to learn how to sell but you need to learn how to sell from your heart, because people are really going to understand like, is this genuine? Is this authentic? Like, is this person really coming from a place with my best interest at heart? And if a.) you are what you should be in b.) you can really show that through your selling process, you’re going to win at a much higher level. So all this is very important to be realizing is that every entrepreneur as a salesman or saleswoman every human being as a salesman or saleswoman, like you know, if you’re a stay at home dad, and you have a three-year-old or four-year-old, like you’re having to sell him or her to go to bed at night, like you’re having to sell them, like you.

John Lee Dumas  [6:06] "]

Everything we do on some base level is in sales and, and something you can be broken down to that. So it’s incredibly important process that we all need to learn from those who have come before. So I’ve learned from people who have come before me, you know, and, you know, this is why, like I said, your podcast and your business is so important as well because people are able to learn this process from you as well.

Christine Schlonski  [6:26] "]

Yeah, thank you so much. So do you remember the first thing you’ll ever sold in your life?

John Lee Dumas  [6:35] "]

The very first thing that I ever sold? So I definitely remember when I was in sixth grade, baseball cards were very important, very big deal for me and my school and my age group. So I can remember I bought like this big pack of baseball cards. And then I was going through the cars afterwards and I realized that I got one like, really cool, really specially, unique rare baseball card and I like looked it up and that’s called the backed which shows you like what the, what the value of it is. And it was worth, like, you know, $25 where I bought the whole pack for 25 cents. So I was like, oh my god. So I went to the, to the nearest baseball store. And I was able to, like, sell it to the guy that on the on the place, you know, for like $15, you know, because it was worth 25. So he needed to have a markup, of course, but I can remember coming home with like, $15 in my pocket and being like, man, that felt good. I want to do that over and over and over again. Now, of course, I probably spent like $50 next couple months buying baseball cards that never turned out, you know, to give me that special card again, it was like a cool first experience that got me like, excited for the process.

Christine Schlonski  [7:38]  "]

Yeah, awesome. So how did it make you feel when you went to that guy and you ask for the money?

John Lee Dumas  [7:45] "]

You know, I was nervous because I knew that he was like super experienced and he was running a business, he had a store and I kind of thought that I was going to get taken advantage of and I just didn’t really know how I was going to even approach the subject that I had this baseball card and what I was going to do and so it’s just like a very nerve-wracking experience and build up to actually having that conversation.

Christine Schlonski  [8:08] "]

Awesome but then afterwards probably very exciting and rewarding going home with the 15 bucks in your pocket?

John Lee Dumas  [8:15] "]

 I loved it it was great.

Christine Schlonski [8:18] "]

Awesome yeah that’s that’s a feeling you know you can have if you if you sound like natural and if you believe in the product and services right?

John Lee Dumas  [8:27] "]

Yeah and believe me I was able to feel good about because I knew that he was getting you know the great car for a great value and that’s what one thing that I’ve always tried for since then is like when somebody buys one of my products or services or signs up front of my communities I want them to you know really be able to look to their significant other be like this was of value, like I feel like I got my money’s worth and then some.

Christine Schlonski  [8:49] "]

Yeah, and you provide so much value already I know you have so much free stuff on your website for people to check out at eofire.com  and really like, you know, I’ve taken several courses and I sign up with you as well, because I loved the value you already provide in your free stuff. So for people then moving on and making an investment, it just totally makes sense. And it feels it feels natural in the process. +

Christine Schlonski  [9:19] "]

So how you actually deal this rejection? If somebody says no to your offer, how do you handle that?

John Lee Dumas  [9:28] "]

So it’s easier said than done. But I’m a big believer that when somebody rejects you, you need to embrace that rejection because it in a in the big scheme of things, it’s a good thing for a number of reasons. When you get rejected. Number one, you can learn from that rejection. You can see why did that person reject you? What could you have improved what can you do next time so that’s a blessing right there. Number two, you’re always going to get rejected you know, a large majority percentage of the time that’s just reality. You know, and going back to a baseball analogy is you know, an all-star gets out seven out of 10 times they’re striking out there getting out. So only three out of 10 times is that baseball player succeeding and winning, and they’re an all-star, they’re the best of the best. So just you need to think about that. And think about the reality that you know, the majority of the time you’re going to get rejected. So just look at that as another step closer to winning.  You need to get a certain number of rejections every single time before you get that success before you get that win.

John Lee Dumas  [10:29] "]

So I remember when I used to be had to make phone calls in corporate finance is that we know we had to make 100 calls a day I knew without a doubt that 90 to 95 of those were going to be rejections. But if I made 100 calls, I’d get five to 10 wins and successes but if I only made 50 calls I’d only get two or three it was just period is a numbers game and you have to look at it that way. So you need to just get back up off the mat learn from it and drive forward.

Christine Schlonski  [10:57] "]

Awesome yeah, I love I love that. That you have to be successful by keep doing what others are giving up on. And if you believe in your own services and products, and you want to give that to the world, you just have to keep going. It’s pretty, pretty simple.

Christine Schlonski  [11:14] "]

So, um, can you share this as your favorite mantra or inspirational quote that keeps you while maybe balance is not the right word, but that keeps you going and excited?

John Lee Dumas [11:27] "]

Yeah, what keeps me going is a call by Albert Einstein. He somebody that I’ve always looked up to and admired. I love his biography. By the way, it’s really inspiring, a great audiobook too. So you can check that Albert Einstein’s audiobook out, but one of his quotes that just really jumped out at me and really got to me at the right time in my life was: “Try not to be a person of success, but become a person of value.” And that mantra is so important to me because of so many people like myself, for the first three years of my life. I was trying to just become successful. I was chasing success and it was very elusive. But then when I flipped it on its head when I was 32, which is six years ago, and I started providing value, a free podcast, free courses, free information that was just being a person of value than success found me. So that’s a huge key, I think, for people as you have to be a person of value. If you focus on that, first and foremost, and you keep that monitoring near and dear to your heart. You’re going to win.

Christine Schlonski  [12:29] "]

Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so, so much. So again, let us know where people can find you.

John Lee Dumas  [12:36] "]

Yeah, so all the magic for us like you mentioned happens at eofire.com, our podcast is Entrepreneurs on Fire. I love you to check it out. And yeah, we have a lot of free courses and gifts for entrepreneurs. That’s what we do.

Christine Schlonski  [12:49] 

Wow, thank you so much. JLD what an amazing interview. Don’t you think so Gorgeous?JLD dropped value bombs to the left to the right and what I really, really, really loved to hear is that he too thinks that when you sell from your heart, you play at a much higher level and you really, really win that business game. So what an amazing interview and what an amazing advice if you want to know more, check out christineschlonski.com/podcast. I have put all the resources into the show notes so you have easy access. And also I’m inviting you to join the Success Library. The Success Library is my free membership where you find a lot of value. But today I want to point out the sales journaling prompts. These are really the prompts that I used to become stronger in sales to have a better mindset to be more confident to yeah, to go about it with ease and grace and to turn sales conversations into fun conversations. I have put them into a simple PDF that you can download right away as soon as you join the Library and yeah have fun with it, put it into action, use them and also let me know what you think of them. I hope you have subscribed and you send your friends and business partners to subscribe as well. Thank you so much for tuning in and tune in for the next episode. Bye for now.