Episode 37: Achieving an Unshakable Mindset with Brian Elam – Transcript
Rennie Gabriel 00:09
Hi, folks, welcome to the Wealth On Any Income Podcast. This is where we talk about money, tips, techniques, attitudes, information, and provide inspiration. I'm your host, Rennie Gabriel. Today, we're going to be talking with Brian Elam. And he's been an entrepreneur since starting his first business in 2012. After learning the hard knock lessons of business, he shut it down three years later. The next step was to invest thousands of dollars and thousands of hours with successful mentors to learn how they did it, so we can help first time entrepreneurs avoid the pitfalls, and live an incredible life. Welcome, Brian.
Brian Elam 00:54
Thank you so much for having me, Rennie. It's a pleasure to talk with you again.
Rennie Gabriel 00:58
Thank you. Tell me why you do what you do?
Brian Elam 01:03
Well, why I do what I do? It really all boils down to freedom. You see, I believe that what people are really looking for is freedom - to live their life on their terms. And it's my belief that entrepreneurship, if you have the desire to go down that road, entrepreneurship is absolutely the key to unlock that freedom.
Rennie Gabriel 01:33
Thank you. Yeah, you know, it's so funny too, because I hear so often that is the reason that people decide to go into business for themselves, and what they find out is that they're spending far more time than when they were an employee. And the point is, they wanted that freedom and that seems to be the last thing that shows up. Well, we're going to talk a little bit more about that, because I donate 100% of the profits from the work I do to a charity, the people I like to interview are also charity-minded, or philanthropic. And is there a particular charity that you support? And tell me, if so what they do?
Brian Elam 02:14
Yes, there is. I personally support the Phoenix Rescue Mission. And what they do is they help the homeless population here in Phoenix, Arizona. They help them find hope, recovery from substances and reenter society with job skills, and they do that all through a Christian-based program. So, I feel very good and very proud to be able to support them monthly.
Rennie Gabriel 02:42
Terrific, thank you. So, you're the kind of person that I want to have on the show and be connected to. Tell me your target market. Who are you trying to reach and who are you trying to support?
Brian Elam 02:54
Well, who I help is, I help first-time service-based entrepreneurs. And basically, if this is your first year, or maybe even less amount of time in business, or you're just thinking about getting started, you know, you really do fall into the category of who I help. Provided that you're doing a service - like coaching, consulting, mentorships, you're selling your expertise, your design skills. Basically, as long as you're not selling a physical product, because that is, again, not my level of expertise. And what you'll find working with me is I'm all about authenticity. So I'm not going to advise someone. I'm not going to work with someone that I can't say, I've been down that road as well.
Rennie Gabriel 03:46
Got it. Well, you know, tell me about having been down that road, what would you say was your biggest failure in setting up your own business?
Brian Elam 03:57
Well, I mean, I would like to tell you, honestly, that I hit every single shot out of the park that I ever took, but you know, that's just not, that's not reality, you know, it's not real life. So, and in the vein of being authentic, I'm not going to sit up here and tell you that. But my biggest failure in business, was actually having to shut down my business. You know, I had this grand idea that I was going to start the Angie's List of natural health care providers. And I thought that it was just going to be an amazing experience. All I needed was a really awesome website and some ads and I would be in business, right? The money would just roll in. Yeah, well, that didn't happen. So after three years of financing my company from my personal banking accounts, I got tired of doing that and I had to shut it down.
Rennie Gabriel 04:54
That makes sense. It doesn't... Yeah, the business is supposed to support your lifestyle, not your lifestyle having to support the business.
Brian Elam 05:02
Yeah, that's the ideal situation.
Rennie Gabriel 05:05
Well, so what would you say was your biggest insight from that experience?
Brian Elam 05:11
My biggest insight was that as smart and capable as I am, there was still a lot that I did not know about how to have a successful business. So I sought out mentorships to fill in the blanks, and just really - really just take their experience and bring it into my life, into my world and what I wanted to create. So, I spent, like you said, in the intro, I spent thousands of dollars and thousands of hours learning from people that were more successful than me that were ahead of me in business, and just really took everything in that I possibly could. And throughout that knowledge, and that time, after implementing it, I was able to enroll my first high-ticket coaching client, and I spent $0 on ads.
Rennie Gabriel 06:07
How were you, how did you get that client, if you spent nothing on ads?
Brian Elam 06:12
It's all about messaging. You have to be able to put yourself out there, and you've got to put yourself out there in a way that connects with what your ideal client needs or what they think they need. And if you're able to communicate that effectively, it can lead to a conversation, which can lead to a client.
Rennie Gabriel 06:37
And how did this first client come across your messaging? I mean, where were you or what did you do that, that your ideal client saw this messaging?
Brian Elam 06:50
Well, my first client came to me from LinkedIn, as a matter of fact. And what I was doing at the time, was really concentrating on networking. So I would go into these posts that people were putting out in order to connect with other people on LinkedIn. They would tag a bunch of people and say, you know, just comment or like that you're okay, receiving connection requests. Because the thing is, you never know who is going to be your next client, or who is going to know your next client. So as long as you're comfortable with accepting a connection request on LinkedIn, from that person, that business, whatever, do it because again, you never know. So I was concentrating on the networking, number one. And number two, I was putting out fairly regular content, basically just testing my hypothesis of forming this messaging and seeing that it would resonate.
Rennie Gabriel 07:52
Okay, so yeah, so your content was going out on LinkedIn, and the person that it resonated with, I guess, connected with you and that, and it took off from there.
Brian Elam 08:04
That's exactly how it happened.
Rennie Gabriel 08:06
Got it. Okay. So, what are the typical feelings your prospects experience?
Brian Elam 08:13
Well, my prospects, they typically feel - experience the feelings of being an imposter. Right? That was something that my first client struggled with, even though she had been in her certain industry for over 20 years, and who I looked at as an expert in the field of nonprofits, you know, in the nonprofit world of building up a company and getting donations. She went off onto her own to start her own firm. But still, after over 20 years, she felt like an imposter still. And so it's just, it's pervasive. So there's the imposter syndrome, they feel overwhelmed by the amount of things that they have to do or think that they have to do in order to start a business. Maybe they're frustrated, feeling stuck, because again, they don't know what to do so they end up doing nothing and feel stuck. And one of the big ones, and this goes deep, most people don't even realize that this is in there until you really start digging into your subconscious and your feelings, but they fear that they're never going to live up to their potential.
Rennie Gabriel 09:30
Oh, that just makes so much sense. And getting back to this client you were talking about who worked in the nonprofit arena for 20 years. What I mean, was her ideal client nonprofits or was it, didn't turn out to be something different?
Brian Elam 09:48
Well, you know what, ultimately her ideal client did end up being a smaller, you know, smaller to midsize nonprofit, but at the beginning, she thought that her ideal client was basically going to be businesses that needed to scale up or wanted to scale up - right? But, you know, through our coaching and through working together, I was able to help her see that the nonprofit was really where her heart lies, and that is who she wanted to serve. And so eventually, the helping every single business kind of went by the wayside and we got back to her, where she wanted to go in her heart of hearts, which was helping small to midsize nonprofits be more successful.
Rennie Gabriel 10:41
Got it. Yeah, well, that's the advantage of having a coach or a mentor that, the role you're fulfilling just like they fulfilled for you. And one of the expressions I say over and over again, is that wealth creation, it doesn't matter if it's wealth creation, or business growth, or family relationships, it's a team sport, not a solo sport. Let me ask you this. Is there some free resources, free resource, something valuable that our listeners can log on to or find that will support them in what they're doing in business?
Brian Elam 11:20
Absolutely. So, today, and going forward - there will be a link included here - and what I'm doing is I'm giving away my ideal clients blueprint, your ideal client, just like for my first coaching client, just like for me, refining my messaging, your ideal client is your key to your business. And if you're just guessing about who they are, where they hang out, and all these things, and then you try to go run ads, you're basically just throwing your money down the toilet.
Rennie Gabriel 11:56
Yeah.
Brian Elam 11:56
So don't do that. Go to brianelam.com/idealclientblueprint. This is the same blueprint that I use for my high-ticket coaching clients, and you're going to get that today for free.
Rennie Gabriel 12:12
Terrific. I will be sure that that is in the show notes. So that people will be sure everything is spelled correctly as well. Yeah, Brian, there's more than one way to spell Brian and, and Elam is . . . anyway.
Brian Elam 12:27
Yeah, we know we know. Elam is . . . Elam is one of the ways that I filter out telemarketers. If they can't pronounce it, right, probably just better to hang up.
Rennie Gabriel 12:35
Yeah. It's obvious they don't know you.
Brian Elam 12:38
Exactly.
Rennie Gabriel 12:40
Well, let me ask you, what's the one question I should have asked you that would give great value to my listeners?
Brian Elam 12:49
Well, what can give great value and what I believe can also give great encouragement to your listeners, especially if it's their first time thinking about starting a business or if they're still in that startup phase. The question is - what's wrong with what your market is telling people they need? See, currently, the entrepreneurship market gurus are telling you that all you need is a funnel, you know, you're one funnel away. Or you need a certain strategy, like affiliate marketing or joint ventures, or you need a certain piece of tech, like artificial intelligence, or you need a certain bot for your Facebook page. Basically, they're selling you the business version of a magic pill that takes little to no effort. And I don't believe in magic pills. I believe that your mindset is 70% of the game of business. And the amount of tech needed to win as a service-based entrepreneur is much less and much simpler than what you're being told/sold.
Rennie Gabriel 14:02
Yes, that makes so much sense. And actually, I think the mindset portion I missed, my own belief is higher than 70%. Because you know, what we believe we can do, we're willing to take the actions on and where we have our fears is where we have our blocks. Brian, I want to thank you for spending time on the Wealth On Any Income show. I believe this is going to be a great episode for our listeners. And again, the show notes are going to be available. Please listen to this podcast on whatever platform you enjoy most. Brian, thank you for being on the show.
Brian Elam 14:41
Oh, it was an absolute pleasure, Rennie. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
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