How To “Just Do It” With James Swanwick

Australian-American investor and TV & podcast host based in Hollywood, California. Creator of the Swannies blue-light blocking glasses, 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge, and 47-Day Habit Hacker – James Swanwick

How did James uniquely position his product in an overcrowded market with this simple twist. Why you can’t just say “I’m gonna put my product on Amazon” and expect to sell anything. How to ask “Can I be on your show?” WITHOUT asking “Can I be on your show?” How to test if a product can do well on Amazon without spending a fortune in manufacturing costs. The insight about failure James got from Schwarzenegger while hanging out in Arnold’s kitchen!

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

• Blue Light Blocking Glasses
• 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge

Check out JamesSwanwick.com?for more info.

Thanks so much for listening!

Transcript: Download

Jaime:	Welcome to Eventual Millionaire. I'm Jaime Masters, and I am so excited to have my friend James Swanwick on the show. You can check him out at JamesSwanwick.com. He also has 30daynoalcoholchallenge.com, and he's debuting - not debuting, but example modeling the beautiful Swannies glasses that he also has produced. Thanks so much for coming on the show today, James.

James:	Thank you. Thank you for having me, Jaime. And your hair color is just divine these days. Beautiful new color you got there.

Jaime:	Thank you, sir. I can see it in the reflection in your glasses. 

We were just talking because James also has an amazing podcast and he's on his fourth interview today, and I'm on my fifth interview today, so we're gonna bring it home because this is - we're giving you all we've got. 

So give us some heads up because you also have an incredible story of being an interviewer, way more than me. So give us the credibility indicators of all the amazing people that you interviewed before. I mean, I know I'm awesome too, but you're really awesome.

James:	Yeah. Well, I'm from Brisbane, Australia, and I've been in the States now for about 12 or 13 years. And when I first moved here, I lived in a hostel in Hermosa Beach, California, and I just cold called movie studies, including Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and said, "I wanna interview your movie stars. How do I do it?" Sony Pictures was the only one that returned my call and said, "Come on in, I'll teach you how to do it." And they showed me how to do it. 

And then a week later, I was interviewing Jack Nicholson in the L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. And then two weeks after that, I was interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger for Terminator 3, I think it was at the time, and then Ben Stiller, and I just kinda - I built a little freelance journalist business from that. 

	And then later on, I achieve a lifelong dream of hosing a TV show. I hosted SportsCenter on ESPN and I got to interview like Kobe Bryant, and David Beckham, and hang out with Magic Johnson in the ESPN cafeteria.

	But I wanna stop talking about it now because it sounds like I'm showing off, which I don't wanna do. I don't wanna do.

Jaime:	Well, we had to give the credibility indicators, and then people will realize how cool you are, and therefore it all comes together. 

So tell us a little bit about - well, actually let's go to the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge first, because I think that's sort of a weird differentiator for you. Most people would assume, no offense, you're like Australian and with celebrities, and you'd be like drinking up a storm, but this is what you normally have. So tell us a little bit about that, then we'll move into the products and the glasses.

James:	Yeah, well, I was always just a social drinker. I mean, I grew up in Australia, where there was a big drinking culture, obviously. And I drank a lot in my 20s, and even through to my early 30s, and I just had fun. But I was never an alcoholic, like I just - I drank a couple beers each night maybe, and on the weekends. If I was watching sports, I might, you know, get drunk a little bit. But it was nothing too crazy.

	And then in 2010, I just got tired of having hangovers all the time, so I just bet myself that I could go 30 days without drinking alcohol. And after 30 days, I'd lost 13 pounds of fat, my skin was better, I was more productive, I attracted greater relationships into my life. And so I just kept on going. And I haven't drunk since 2010.

	And then a couple years ago, I thought to myself, you know what, maybe I should just build a program, like an online business, that teaches people how to quit alcohol for 30 days. And that's how I created the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge.

Jaime:	See, and I love it too because your Snapchat and your social are like, "Look at me with all these sexy, amazing people, drinking water," which I think is awesome because it's so contrary to what we normally see, you know?

James:	Yeah, people are always amazed like that. They always say, "How the hell do you socialize without drinking?" because it's just so second nature, isn't it? But it's actually really, really easy. I mean, I find that drinking water with ice and a piece of lime, or some soda water, I've got more energy, I've got more clarity, I've got more focus, I party, like I dance, and I do crazy things - you and I have danced before, Jaime. I remember we were in Austin or Dallas, I think we were, we went out and we -

Jaime:	Yeah, yeah, that was awesome. After Tony Robbins, yeah.

James:	Yeah, after a Tony Robbins event. And so I was like, "Yeah, I'm the life of the party!" and I don't drink. And the beautiful thing is, is that it's cheap. It doesn't cost you any money because you're not ordering drinks. And then the next morning, you're waking up feeling refreshed and energized and with clarity. There's no hangover, which enables you to then focus on your business and make more money.

	So you're saving money not drinking, and then you're making money not drinking the next day because you've got the focus and energy to get things done.

Jaime:	Okay. So is it mostly because of the benefits that you do it? Because I'm surprised because I didn't start drinking until I was 28, like anything, and everybody tried to convince me to drink. They're like, "No, you can just have one." I'm like, "No, no, no, I just don't drink." But literally everybody made it their job to convince me that now was the time. Do people do that to you?

James:	I mean, they try to, but I just like - I'm like, "Yeah, okay." I mean, a lot of people who do my 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge, they're always asking me like, "Oh, I feel like I'm gonna be left out of the group or people are gonna be judging me." And I'm like, "Who cares?" Back in the caveman days, if you were ostracized from a tribe of like 120 people then it was certain death, right? You'd get eaten by a bear or an opposing tribe.

	But today, you can just find a new tribe anywhere. It's called meetup.com, or it's called Facebook, or it's called Instagram, or whatever. You can just go and join another tribe. So people overestimate that people are really thinking or really caring that you don't drink. And what I've found is that when people challenge me, like, "You wanna have a drink?" If I just smile and I'm just like, "No, I'm too strong in mine. No, I'm too clever, I'm too clever," then they kinda laugh along with you and the whole big deal is just diminished.

Jaime:	So you're just smooth. You have to be smooth in order to make it okay, right?

James:	You just like make joke of it. Where people go wrong is they're like, "Oh, I'm not drinking at the moment," and they think that they're gonna be dull and boring and cower in the corner. I say, "You're not drinking at the moment! Get up and dance and jump and have a great time and introduce people and be engaging and do it all while sipping on a beautiful soda water with a piece of lime."

Jaime:	And then you wake up the next morning, and you crush it with all the business stuff and you're like, "Hahaha, you guys suck."

James:	Yes, yes.

Jaime:	Okay, so tell me - we were just talking about the Swannies glasses. So tell everybody why you're wearing them, what they do, and all that stuff.

James:	Yeah, so these are a pair of blue light blocking glasses that I created in 2015. I always used to sleep pretty well, like I slept seven or eight hours a night, but I was finding that I was waking up feeling tired and lethargic, and I didn't know why. Because I didn't drink, right? I was supposedly supposed to be super healthy. And I kept reading these articles online that said that excessive computer use or cell phone use and staring at digital screens suppresses your body's creation of melatonin, which is the hormone that makes you sleep.

	So I thought about it and I was like, hang on. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm working late into the night, but I'm starting in the computer screen and I'm looking at my cell phone, checking Instagram and doing Snapchats and all this kinda stuff. And I realized that was what was hurting my sleep.

	And so what I did was I put on these ugly pair of ski goggles that had these tinted lenses, they're kinda like yellow, because all the articles said if you block the blue light from the electronic displays with tinted glasses, then you can create the melatonin. And guess what; it worked. But unfortunately, I had to walk around the place wearing a pair of ski goggles, which isn't a good look, Jaime.

Jaime:	People were like, "Oh, he's that kinda guy. Great."

James:	Yeah. And listen, I live in Hollywood. I live in Hollywood, California. And image is pretty important here, so I didn't wanna be walking around along Melrose Avenue or Santa Monica Boulevard wearing a pair of ski goggles at night.

	So I decided to reach out to some manufacturers in China and say, "Listen, I wanna put an orange lens into a stylish frame. Send me so me prototypes." And after about a year - it didn't have to take a year, Jaime. I could have actually done it in three months, but it just took that long. I dragged it out a little bit. I ended up with this stylish pair of blue light blocking glasses.

	So it's a stylish frame. The orange lens blocks out almost 100 percent of the blue light. You wear it while you're working on your computer screen. You wear it before you go to sleep at night, and you're able to sleep well.

	So that was how it came about, really. And now my sleep is amazing, and people who've been buying them on Amazon and on my Shopify account, I mean, I get amazing testimonials all the time. People's sleep has been transformed. They've reduced digital eye strain. And it's fun. It's a passion project. I love it.  

Jaime:	It's a passion project that makes a lot of money, which we're gonna talk about in just a second. But it's funny because Abel James Bascom, I don't know if you know him, but I remember -

[Crosstalk]

James:	Yeah, I know Abel, yeah.

Jaime:	- for him first and he got these crazy custom nutso special fitted. And then you started telling me that you were gonna come out with these, too. I thought that there were quite a few things on the market, but are there a lot of competitors in this niche, or no?

James:	There are, but nobody is focusing on the sleep benefits. And the glasses that are on the market are really ugly and unsightly, in my opinion. Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But here?s the thing: The other classes are designed to be sunglasses, okay? And you can wear them out in the sun. My glasses are designed to be night glasses, which means you wear them an hour before you go to sleep so your body can start producing melatonin, you can get sleepy, and you can have a great night's sleep.

	So the reason why these work and why people are buying these is because you can wear them at nighttime. See, nobody wants to wear sunglasses at nighttime because everyone's going, "Why is that guy wearing sunglasses at night? He thinks he's so cool, doesn't he?"

Jaime:	Yeah, exactly.

James:	And you kinda look douchey, right? Like you're wearing - you walk into a bar or restaurant, sit down with friends, and you've got glasses on, and you're like - you're secretly thinking, "You're a douche."

Jaime:	Yes, exactly.

James:	But when you wear these glasses at night, 9 times out of 10, people will say, "Oh, they're interesting. Tell me about those." And then they'll say, "Can I try them on?" And then they'll try them on. So you can wear them out in a social setting with people, and people will just talk to you as if nothing's amiss, you know? And more than that, they're like, "They're cool. I like those. I wanna wear those."

	So that's the main difference. So yes, there are competitors on the market, but they're promoting blocking UV rays. My glasses promote the sleep benefits and the fact that you can wear them at nighttime, whereas the other ones, you can't. Or you can, but you just look silly wearing them.

Jaime:	Okay, so I have questions on the marketing side of the - the sleep side. But can't you just - I mean, I know I have one for my laptop that sort of changes the screen to be orange -

James:	F.lux, yeah, there's an app called f.lux.

Jaime:	Yeah, I have f.lux. Is there apps - I don't even know if there's apps for phones. I think I looked.

James:	Yeah, there is. I have an iPhone; they put out a new feature about three months ago called Night Shift and on the latest operating software of iPhone, you can click on that. It reduces the brightness level and takes all of the blue light out of there as well. So that is effective. So is downloading f.lux on your computer.

	But it doesn't stop you from looking at blue light from overhead kitchen lights, or from your bathroom light, or from your bedside table. All that light is emitting a dangerous blue light, which is keeping you alert, keeping you awake, and disrupting your sleep.

	So yes, you should totally download Night Shift. You should totally download f.lux. But if you're going out and about and you want to socialize at night and have dinner, or you're sitting at home in your bed late at night, starting into your cell phone, you  need to be wearing a pair of blue light blocking glasses from just the overhead light that we've got everywhere.

Jaime:	Yeah, okay, that makes a lot more sense. Because I mean, I went to bed at like midnight, 1:00 a.m. last night, and I could not sleep forever. But I was out with friends, not drinking, but out with friends and hanging out, and I kinda forget that regular light actually makes an issue. Because I kept thinking that it was just the LEDs for laptops and cell phones and stuff like that.

James:	There is too much light at night, Jaime. There really is. Think about when you're driving a car, the light that's coming up from your speedometer, the light from the cars coming in the other direction, the streetlights, the marketing lights from billboards, for example, like a McDonalds or a Burger King. You're driving along and there's light that's lighting up the golden arches. 

	All of that light is too much for our Stone Age bodies and minds to handle. Because back in the day, before we had the lightbulb, our circadian rhythm was such we'd just go to sleep when the sun went down. But now, we don't go to sleep when the sun goes down; we are in this artificial light for like hours on end. And too much light, now, is disrupting our sleep; it's been linked to diabetes, obesity. It's a real problem and it's gonna be even more of a problem in the coming years.

Jaime:	Okay. So tell me about the marketing side. So you created this for yourself because you're like, "I wanna look cool and sleep," what a surprise, and now I'm gonna be really, really super healthy. Great. But then, how did you actually decide that this was gonna be a business and then start figuring out the marketing, and the branding, and that sort of thing? 

James:	So initially, I had a Chinese manufacturer, and I wanted to just get the minimum order that I possibly could because I didn?t wanna order $10,000.00, $20,000.00 worth of product, have it sent over to the U.S., put it on Amazon, and nobody wants to buy them. So how can you tell that people wanna buy them, right?

	So what I did was, I figured out what the minimum order was. It was 300 units, okay? So I paid for 300 units and that was what I called an MVP, which is a minimum viable product, right? So I'm like, okay, I've got the prototype, I've got the manufacturer. Send over only 300 units, I'm gonna put it up on an Amazon page, and I'm gonna launch it, and I'm just gonna see.

	Now, at that point, I would've been - I wouldn't have been happy, but I was prepared that if nobody bought it, to just walk away from that project and focus on other things. But I did a very small test to begin with, and what do you know? People bought it. 

I actually launched it on Black Friday, which is the big shopping day on Amazon. And on the first day, I sold four pairs. And I was like, alright, that's alright. Four pairs? That's okay. That's fine. And then the next day it was six pairs. And then the next day it was eight. And then it dropped down to seven. And then it kinda hovered around seven or eight. And I was like, okay, this is pretty cool. And then for whatever reason, maybe we updated our Amazon page; it wasn't anything I could put my finger on. On one day, it jumped to 20 sales in a day, and I'm like, alright, I think we're on to something here. So from there, that was enough for me to then, okay, let's put in a second order. 

Now, I did make a mistake, Jaime. It wasn't really a mistake, but I - there's a six week lag time from when you put in an order to get the glasses from China to send them over. So I kinda wanted to sell out of the 300 to prove that I had a market before ordering, and that's what I did. I sold out of the 300 and then I put in the second order. I had to wait six weeks, so for six weeks, I couldn't sell anything. I couldn't sell anything because I was out of stock. So I was all like, yes! We sold 300 units! That's great! We've proven it. But then for six weeks, it was like, okay, I can't it that -

[Crosstalk]

James:	All the momentum I've built up has been lost. 

Jaime:	Yeah. Okay, so tell me this: Did you do any marketing, or was it just putting it on Amazon and people were already looking up blue blocking glasses?

James:	No, I did a lot of promotion on my social media channels. Look, I have a modest following; it's not huge, it's not small, it's just modest. And so I got onto Facebook and I said, "Hey, I've created these glasses. Check them out." I got onto Snapchat; I got onto Instagram. I mean, I begged - the phrase is beg, borrow, and steal, but I begged people to basically try to tell their followers to come to my Amazon page to check out the product. I wore them, just like I'm talking to you now, being interviewed by you, I'm wearing the product. So I wore the product when I was doing interviews with people for my podcast.

	I did my own kinda like promotion, promotion, promotion. And then a lot of it, selling it on Amazon, was getting really savvy about key words and putting the right words in the title of Amazon. It's one thing to just say, oh, yeah, I'm gonna sell my glasses on Amazon. But you actually - there's a real science behind putting in like, where you put the title, and how you write the benefits that you get, and where you put certain keywords, and where you don't put certain keywords.

	So what we really did well was I got expert guidance from that, from someone who'd already done it. And so that really cut down the learning process.

Jaime:	What sort of tips did they - did they just copy write it for you, or did they give you specific tips to do it yourself, or -

James:	No, it was just specific tips. I mean, I listen to a lot of free stuff. I listened to Ryan Moran. You know Ryan; he's based out in Austin. And I remember running in Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, and I listened to a podcast episode which was From Zero to a Million Dollars in a Year on an Amazon Business. And I listened to it three times on this run, just to get it into my brain. That was a really great free tool.

	And then later on, I got to hang out with people who were making lots of money in Amazon, selling physical products. And I would just ask them, like, "Hey, can you take a look at my page?" And they'd go, "Oh, yeah, you need to change that." And I'm like, "Sweet. I'll go ahead and change it."

	Picasso said good artists copy, and great artists steal. So I just decided to steal what was working from other people.

	So I wouldn't say it was overnight. Like, overnight it didn't just blow up because I changed the keywords in my title. But listening to Ryan, listening to some other people - there's another program called OMG, listening to - it was called Amazing Selling Machine at the time. I went to one of their conferences, I think it was in Las Vegas, around 2015, I think, but just after we'd launched, or maybe it was just before we launched, and just got some other tips on how to market. All those things combined started this kinda like, in comparison, a tsunami of sales that kinda came in about four months ago.

Jaime:	So it's been a steady trend upward, and you getting better at marketing, and better - is it all Amazon still, right now?

James:	No, we started a Shopify page. So if you go to swanniesglasses.com, you can see that's the Shopify page. So one of the things that I learned when I was at the Amazon conference was, yes, sell on Amazon, but sell off Amazon as well. So we set up a Shopify account, which is like a storefront page. We put photos and images and testimonials. We got all the processing there. 

And so on Amazon, we focused on trying to get that keywords down to get organic traffic. And then on Shopify, obviously I tried to drive traffic from elsewhere, you know, from my podcast or Facebook or whatever, and then I hired an SEO guy, search engine optimization, and he took me from - if you type in "blue light blocking glasses" - when I hired him, we were on the sixth page, and now we're on the first page, about five or six down. So that was really cool and that really sped up the process as well.

	So yeah, I'll tell you where we had our big breakthrough. I got interviewed by Dave Asprey on Bulletproof Radio, and his audience is very much into this kinda thing. And in like three days, we went to like 50 sales, 60 sales, 70 sales in a day, which was huge for us. And admittedly, after that initial sort of push had happened, the sales did drop back a little bit, but they've stayed steady now, around 60 grand a month or so, and we're only just getting started. We're just scratching the surface.

Jaime:	That's insane. How did you meet Dave to begin with, and how did you actually get - because everybody asks, like, you wanna get on a huge podcast, right? But you have to either know them - it's really hard to get on something like that, and I know you're a master networker, so how'd you actually get on his show.

James:	Yeah, well, I had met him a couple times over the years. I just started by going to his Bulletproof conference and being introduced to him through someone. I mean, it was just as simple as that. And being memorable in the sense that I was able to offer value to him. So I said, "Hey, Dave. I have a podcast. I'd love to promote your stuff to my audience. Would you like to be on it? And I'll push your products or whatever - your message." And he goes, "Yeah, I'd love that." So then I interviewed them, and then the relationship was born. 

	And then I went out, I was a speaker at his Bulletproof conference in Pasadena in 2015. I only saw him for five minutes, but it was just, "Hey, how you doing, Dave? Good to see you. Yep, yep, yep. Okay." And then I ran into him at a party. You know, we move in kinda like the same - it was actually at Jim Quick's house. You know Jim Quick?

Jaime:	Oh, I haven't met him in person, but I love him. Yeah, he's awesome.

James:	So just through a process of, you know, just like getting to know you, yeah, just little touches here and there, how you doing, yep. And then finally, I'll tell you how I got on. I was like, "What's the best show I could get on to promote these glasses?" And I went, "Bulletproof Radio!"

	So what I did was I sent him a video text message. Not a text; not an email; but a video text. And I put out my phone, and I went, "Hey Dave! How you doing, mate? I loved your last podcast on such and such, blah blah blah. I know you're a huge fan of blocking blue light, and as you might know, I've got these blue light blocking glasses. I'd love to come on and educate your listeners about the dangers of blue light. I know this is like a passion thing for you. So I'm happy to make myself available, if you like. And if not, perfectly okay. It's all good. Continued success, mate. See ya." And then I hung up.

	Well, I stopped it, and I texted it to him. And I got a video text message back from him about an hour later, saying, "James, I love your video text. Mate, I'd love to have you on the show. I've put it on to my assistant and they're gonna schedule it."

Jaime:	Amazing. Now, you already had a relationship, which is amazing, but if you never actually texted him that, then you never would've gotten on his show.

James:	I just found a video text, and then his response. Shall we play, just to show - a little bit. We'll play a little.

Jaime:	Yeah, please.

[Video playing]

James:	Dave Asprey, the great man. James Swanwick here. How you doing' Congratulations again on your conference. Great work on the cookbook, as well, and FATwater. Continued success, mate. Killing it. Wanted to see '

[Video ends]

James:	So I won't play the whole thing, but you get the idea, right?

Jaime:	So it's actually a couple minutes, so it's not you like -

James:	Yeah.

Jaime:	Okay, that's awesome.

James:	But it's just to illustrated, you know, like a video text is so much more powerful than an email, and that's so much more powerful than anything. And then I'll just play the first five seconds of Dave's [inaudible] 

[Video playing]

Dave:	- absolutely. I would love to do a podcast spot -

[Video ends]

James:	So there you go. So that's all it is. I mean -

Jaime:	It's so easy! Don't get me wrong; it's a ridiculous amount of seeding over the years too, but still, the fact that you actually went out and asked, because there was really no downside. But a lot of people won't even do that ask. So what can you give for advice for people so they actually will make a video text message to somebody that is in their circle, possibly, but they don't like to ask?

James:	Well, I'm gonna do a name drop here, again, okay? Name drop alert! Name drop alert! I was hanging out with Arnold Schwarzenegger six weeks ago in his kitchen for 45 minutes, me, Arnold, and about three other people. And I won't go into details -

Jaime:	So annoying, James.

James:	I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And I asked him that same question. I was like, "What made you become seven time Mr. Olympia, become a movie start. What was it? What's the secret to success?" And he said, "I wasn?t afraid to fail." 

And as he said this, he was sitting on like one of those three quarter length stools in his kitchen, and he said to me, "Look, if I stand up and I fall from here to here, it's like pretty much the same as if I'm sitting down and I fall off the chair, right?" It's probably gonna hurt the same amount, if at all, right? Maybe I'll just fall off the chair, it's not gonna hurt me. So it's like who cares? If you go out and ask someone for someone, and they say no, who cares? What is the worst possibly scenario when someone says no? 

Well, I'll tell you what it is: your pride's hurt, you feel bad, you feel like a failure. Who cares? Just do it! Like, I know this is a total cliche, Jaime, but it's so true. If you wanna double your rate of success, you have to double your rate of failure.

	So why did I get a huge, big marketing promotion push of my Swannies? Because I wasn't afraid to send Dave Asprey a video text and say, "Can I be on your show?" But I didn't say, "Can I be on your show?" I said, "Would you like me to add value to your listeners?" So I went there offering value, rather than asking for something. That's a very key point to make.

Jaime:	Heck yes, because otherwise you're just asking and self-serving, "instead of delivering."

James:	Yes.

Jaime:	Okay. So I have a lot of questions about that, but I wanna ask you, why did you name them Swannies? Because it is your - I'm assuming it's your last name, but when you go through and you're like, okay, I have to come up with the name of this amazing, awesome, cool glasses, how the heck do you come up with Swannies?

James:	Yeah, well, I'll tell you. This is the name of the company. It's my last name, Swanwick, okay? It's spelled Swanwick. And in school, my nickname in Australia was Swanno, and so "Hey, Swanno. Hey, Swanno." But over here in America, it's funny, Swanno never caught on. There's something about Americans that don't wanna put an O at the end of a name. It's like they don't wanna say, "Hey Jimbo," or "Hey Robbo." They wanna put an E at the end, like Swannie, or Robbie, or Christy, or Timmy. So all Americans -

Jaime:	Over here, it's fine. That's normal. 

James:	So I remember I was gonna call them like Swanwick - Swanwicks, like my last name. But then Ben Greenfield, who's like a health guy. He's got the podcast, the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast. He's become a great friend of mine. I gave him a pair of glasses. I said, "Hey, try out my Swanwicks." And he was like, "Swannies! I like that. So Swannies. Swannies?" And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant. Swannies." And he goes, "What, so you call them Swannies?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I call them Swannies." So I was like pretending like I always come up with it. 

	And I was like, you know what? If one of the world's top health coaches, as Ben Greenfield is, wants to go with Swannies, and he likes that, I'm just gonna launch it as Swannies.

	Now, I'm not - bear in mind, also, Jaime, I'm not so married to the name that I refuse to change the name later. I might change it to Sleep Glasses, and that's okay. But to launch, I wasn't gonna get stuck going, "What should I call it? Should I call it this? Should I call it that? Should I call it that?" No, I was just - just launch. Just get some feedback. If you have to change it later, you can change it later.

Jaime:	I so appreciate you saying that, because everybody gets stuck on the names and it's so annoying. So I'm assuming people - the reason why I asked you the question is, it's like, oh, was it a big huge decision?

James:	No.

Jaime:	Sounds like it wasn't, which is so impressive.

James:	People overestimate the importance of a name. Forget it. People overestimate the importance of the website domain and the URL that they get. If you have an amazing product and you're able to educate people on that, it doesn't matter. Like what does Nike mean? It means nothing. What does Adidas mean? What does it mean? It doesn't mean anything. It's just - they're just sounds, made up sound, right? So Swannies, what's wrong with Swannies? You know what I mean?

	When you start thinking like that, and you start thinking about some of the massive billion dollar brands out there, and what their names are, what does it mean? What does Nike mean? It's not a word. What does Adidas mean? It's not a word. 

	So just remember that when you're like, "What should I call it? Should it be this? Should I call it that?" Who cares. Just launch something. Take action now. Get feedback and you can always change later.

Jaime:	Okay, so perfect segue, because what I wanted to talk about was the whole failure piece. Because I think what we were talking about before - how do you deal with failure, though? Yes, it makes sense, like, oh, what's the worst that could happen. But you feel like crap. So how do you get yourself out of that crappy feeling, best way possible?

James:	Well, look, I don't think it's possible not to feel crap. And I - look, I'm putting my hands up. I feel like crap when I get a rejection. I do. Like it's not like I'm so amazing because I don't fear failure, and I'm gonna go out there and embrace it, and go celebrate when I fail or get a rejection. No, I hurt like the next person. I'm like, oh, man, now I feel awkward. I shouldn't have asked. Ugh.

	But then I just snap out of it and I've just trained my body to just go, you know what James? This is just part of the process. It's okay. Let's do it again. Let's just go again. In many ways, it's a numbers game, and you just have to become so non-emotional about the no's, even though instinctively, you will get emotional. You just have to logically go, you know what, it's just part of the process. The no is part of the process.

	And here's the thing, Jaime. A no doesn't necessarily, in business, mean no. A lot of times, I can just mean not yet. You know? In business and entrepreneur, people have said no to me before, and then three, four, six months later, it turns into a yes.

	Let me give you a great example. I interviewed Jaime Tardy at the Unleash the Power Within conference in Dallas, Texas, in 2014. I interviewed her on my show. And it's now been, oh, I'd say 19 months until I'm now actually a guest on her show. So hers was kinda like - not that yours was a no, but it was kinda like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're gonna do it." But really it was just a not yet. But 18 -

Jaime:	Well, do you remember what you did also, by the way? So I go - and I love you, James. You already know this. This is why I was so excited to have you on, right? Eighteen months later. No, I'm kidding. 

But he's like, "Well, why don't I have you on the show?" And I was like, "Awesome, I'll get you to the assistant, and blah blah blah, and I'll move you up the waitlist." And you're like, "Tsk, waitlist?" And you started recording, while I was like, "No, no, you're not recording." You're like, "I'm recording right now." I was like, "You suck, you can't record. Argh!" You like, did not take no for an answer, and I was like, "Okay, I guess I'm now on." And I just did it anyway because you were like, right there, which is so impressive. Most people wouldn't do that.  

James:	Well, I've just learned to just do it now. Some of my staffs get irritated by me because I'm like, "Now, now, now." And I think I learned it from when I was a newspaper reporter in my late teens back in Brisbane, Australia. And so every day, I had like a 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. deadline to submit my story so it would appear in the newspaper the next day. So I just got used to that now, now, now mentality.

	So when you and I were hanging out in Dallas, I think it was, at that UPW, and you were like, "Yeah, I'd love to be on your show, James. Yeah, I'll get my assistant to schedule it and we'll find a great time." I was like, "Nah, that's not happening." And that was when I pulled out the phone and went, "James Swanwick joining you here from Dallas at UPW. We're about to interview Jaime Tardy from the Eventual Millionaire," and just put you on the spot.

Jaime:	I was like, oh, crap, oh, crap, because I know as soon as that happens, I have to turn on the mode. Damn you!

James:	But it's the same concept in all areas of business, right? I had an idea for the glasses, and I just went, let's do it. It was like, who cares what the name is; let's just call them Swannies and we'll see. Let's just go. Or, I know, I'm gonna create a 30 day no alcohol challenge program. Maybe I should do that. Yeah, I'm gonna do it. And then within 30 days, I'd had it built and I got my first customer.

	So again, I'm not trying to like say, wow, I'm so amazing, because I'm a complete infant when it comes to being an entrepreneur in the context of where I've got to go. But one thing that I think I do really well, if I'm able to just say that, is I just take action now. Yes, I do get upset when people say no or they turn me down, but I just keep going anyway, and just try other people.

Jaime:	We were talking about this in one of the previous interviews; like, speed of implementation makes a huge difference. But we're also entrepreneurs that have way too many ideas. So how do you know which one is a yes and then I take action now, and which one is a no? Otherwise we'll sort of be all over the place.

James:	Well, I mean, if someone says no, then I would just put it in my calendar and say, follow up three months. And I'd put it in the calendar and I would just go again. If someone says, eh, I'm not sure, and then it drags off, there'll come a time where I'll just cut it off for maybe like two or three months, and then I'll come back and revisit it. But I always make sure that I follow up.

	It's amazing how many entrepreneurs today don't just follow up with their customers or their clients. If you just pick up the phone and have a conversation with them, with the intent of just checking in on them, it's amazing how many programs you can sell them or that they're willing to buy just from following up.

	I read a great book by Keith Ferrazzi called Never Eat Alone, and he talks about the power of the follow up. You know, when you meet someone, follow up quickly so you leave that impression. Just like you got an impression from me when I started recording our interview together right away. That stuck in your head, right? Likewise, if you're listening or watching this right now, if you meet up with someone, you make a contact, follow up with them quickly, and then follow up with them regularly. Not like once a week, hey, you know, and do it for 12 weeks. But just regularly enough that's not antisocial. You know, the person's not going, "This person's annoying me."

Jaime:	See, and I feel like that's what's so interesting. I see you randomly at either different events, or I'll randomly send you a text, or you'll randomly send me a text. Even though we like never have a chance to hang out anymore, I feel like we're like really good friends, even though it's mostly like random texts. So you could ask me anything and I could ask you anything, right? I mean, it's no big deal.

James:	Yeah, I mean, you and I haven't spent a great amount of time together. We've hung out a couple days, maybe an hour, an hour and a half, two hours each time. But you know, the human mind remembers those things, and there's a familiarity, even in very short, small, little meetings.

	And here's the other thing why you and I have stayed friends, and we still are friends, is because I'm not standing there going, "Jaime, put me on your show. Jaime, give me something." And you're not saying to me, "James, give me something. Give me this." It's like we just hang out and we just talk, and then I share with you stuff that I know, and you share stuff with me, and then it just works. Like, you've been kind enough to introduce me to some people via email before. I've done the same in return. It's just easy, you know? It's cool.

Jaime:	Well, it's so funny, too, because I made a point to be like, I have so many friends that I need to have on the show that I just haven't asked. And literally your name had been on the list for 18 months, and I was like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe that I never actually -

[Crosstalk]

James:	I love this. I love how you're - you're like the antithesis of everything that I'm preaching.

Jaime:	I know, I know.

James:	18 months!

Jaime:	So I'm slow and steady - no. But I mean, that's the thing that's so interesting, is that it's when things rise to the top. Like you said, I should've scheduled you as soon as - I mean, we even created videos. I posted them on social. But we never actually posted it on the podcast way back when. Because we did video interviews way back when, too. I mean, I did do it. I took after you. You told me to do it right then. I did it right then. I posted on social. And then it took me 18 months. But I'm working on it, James. I'm working on it.

James:	Well, here's one more thing on that, Jaime. If you're trying to do business with anyone, the most powerful force is likeability. It really is because people do business with people they like. It's just plain and simple.

	So Dave Asprey and I are not great friends, but we're friendly, right? I like him. He likes me. I'm not going over there for Sunday dinner, but when I see him, it's like, "How you doing? Nice to meet you." So that likeability makes it very easy for someone who you?re wanting help from to say yes. 

I like you Jaime. I like you, like I like you. And I like spending time with you, and getting to know you, and I like the value that you give to me and to other people. That's a powerful force. That now inspires me, after we finish this call, to go, "How can I help Jaime? Who can I introduce her to? I'm gonna ask her what her biggest problems are right now; I'm gonna try and help her solve them." That's cool. That's good business in my view.

Jaime:	Heck yeah. Do you think that's innate, though? The likeability factor? Because I think a lot of people listening will be like, "Well, that's fine for you, James. You're Australian. Everybody loves you." Or "That's fine for you, Jaime." But do you think it's something that people can have even if they don't feel like they're instantly likeable?

James:	Yeah, I mean, all you have to do to be likeable is give value, which means going into something thinking how can you help the other person, rather than thinking how can that person help me. And I've been guilty of it before, Jaime. Before I read that book that I was referring to, Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, we're talking up to about 2010, when I read it, I would go into business meetings and new relationships always like eyeing up the person, going, "How can this person help me? What can I -" Not like in a bad, mean way, like I'm gonna try and squeeze this person, but just thinking about myself first, right? And I wasn't that successful. It just didn't seem to work.

	But as soon as I actually consciously said, from here on in, I'm gonna try and help other people first, and think how can I help them, that's when everything opened up to me. Like I helped someone, and two weeks later, he calls me up and says, "Hey, SportsCenter on ESPN is looking for an international anchor. I thought you'd be really good for it." I've had zero TV experience; I go in, I do an audition, and I ended up hosting SportsCenter for two years. You know why? Because I thought, how can I help the other person first.

Jaime:	I thought it was just because you were Australian and had a great accent. I thought that was the only reason. Use the assets that you have, right? 

	I know, we have to start wrapping up. So besides everyone going and buying Swannies "I wish I could say it like you. I have no awesome accent.

James:	Yeah, you have. Go on, give it a go. Give it a go right now.

Jaime:	Swannies. Right, no? Little? No? 

[Crosstalk]

James:	It was an excellent Sri Lankan accent, mate. I wouldn't say it was Australian.

[Crosstalk]

Jaime:	Give me a break. I literally have so many Australian clients. They keep giving me nicknames. I don't even know. I'm not even anywhere near there. I'm going to Australia the first time in October, though, so maybe I'll pick it up while I'm around more cool people, unlike me.

	But besides buying your glasses, what's the one thing, one action listeners can take this week to help move them forward toward their goal of a million?

James:	Yeah, so it's very simple. It's six words; it's two sentences of three words each. And it's: Just do it. So just do it. And then it's: Do it now. So "just do it" really is - it's the Nike symbol, right? It's great marketing. "Just do it." It's like, you wanna start a business? Just do it. You wanna break up with your partner? Just do it. You wanna go and travel to Australia? Just do it. And when's a good time to do it? Now. "Do it now." Not tomorrow, not next week, but now.

	Now, that doesn't mean you can start a - you can have a whole business built in a day by doing it now. It just means you can start right now. Okay, so I know this is a very simplistic answer, but you know what? We humans love to complicate things. We want secret formulas. We want all this kinda stuff. When you break it down, Jaime, just do it. Do it now. Just write it down. Write it on your whiteboard. Put it on your iPhone or your cell phone memory, screen saver, I should say. Put it on your fridge. You know what? If you're a man and you go to the bathroom and urinate five times a day?

Jaime:	Hopefully you do, yeah.

James:	Stick it above your toilet, where it says, "Just do it," and "Do it now," so you cannot miss it, and every single day it will just drive you to start a prototype like Swannies glasses, or build an information product like the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge. But also, do it now, because that's the best time to do it. It's now. 

Jaime:	Because otherwise you wait 18 months and it never "no."

James:	Otherwise you're like Jaime Tardy.

Jaime:	Don't be like me, folks! Be like James.

	Listen, I adore that, and I'm actually creating quotes to put in my workout room. I bought a bunch of canvass, so I was actually gonna be doing that tonight. So that one is now gonna go down and on one of my canvas. So I'll take a picture and send it to you when we have it, because I think that's fantastic.

James:	I love it.

Jaime:	And I need to learn it a little bit more, too. So where can we find out more about you, follow you online, buy your glasses, 30 Day Alcohol - Alcohol Challenge? 30 Day Alcohol Challenge, that was very different. Where can we get all that information from you?

James:	So if you go to JamesSwanwick.com - now, I'm gonna spell my name, because it's a little bit weird. It's S-W-A-N-W-I-C-K. So it's spelled Swanwick, but it's pronounced "Swannick." But if you go to JamesSwanwick.com, you can find out more about me there. If you're interested in reducing alcohol, you can go to 30daynoalcoholchallenge.com. If you wanna check out the Swannies glasses, you can find them on Amazon, just type in "Swannies," or you can go to Swanniesglasses.com. And you can find me on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, @JamesSwanwick, which is just my name.

Jaime:	Awesome. Make sure you follow him on Snapchat, because he's all over the place with those glasses everywhere, and you'll remember that.

James:	I just Snapped you. I just Snapped you just now. You didn't even know. I just Snapped you to my audience.

Jaime:	I saw you go like this, and I was like, uh-oh.

James:	I'm doing it right now. Jaime, you're on my Snapchat. Say hello.

Jaime:	Hi.

James:	I'm being interviewed. I've basically taken over her interview on my Snapchat.

Jaime:	Everyone listen to James; James in amazing. Aww, too late. I'm not -

James:	There you go, there you go. You're on.

[Video plays briefly]

James:	Anyway.

Jaime:	See, this is so meta. It's recordings of recordings of recordings.

	Thank you so much for coming on the show today, James. Finally, after waiting for 18 months, I really, really appreciate you coming on the show.

James:	Well, thank you very much for having me, Jaime. It was a great thrill to be invited to be on your show, if 18 months later. I appreciate that.

Jaime:	Now, you've made it. I mean to see Arnold Schwarzenegger, you've been on my show. You've made it. Good times. Thanks so much, James.

James:	See you later, bye.

Video Transcription provided by GMR Transcription Services

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Categories: All, Business, Business Model, Entrepreneurship, Giving, Marketing, Millionaire Interviews, Relationships, Sales, Starting A Business

Hi I’m Jaime. Each and every week I bring you the top business advice from the people who know best.

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