Essential Changes That Lead to a $30K Month With Scott Barlow

Founder of Happen to Your Career – Scott Barlow

Why knowing your strengths is only the first step and what you should do next. How to figure out what your most profitable strengths are when you are good at ten different things. When public pressure can be a good thing. How to find high-priority bottlenecks when everything seems a priority to you. The one thing that can trigger exponential changes in your business. Why Scott thinks everyone’s “gotta have a Jaime!”

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

Check out HappenToYourCareer.com for more info.

Thanks so much for listening!

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Jamie: Welcome to eventual millionaire.it's better than everyone else's, and then make that front and center above the fold on whatever landing page that you have. I can't tell you how many people don't asked you to come on the show yet. Literally, yesterday or the day before, I was like can you come on the show now?

Scott Barlow: By the way.

Jamie: So thank you. Really appreciate it. And tell us what happenedtoyourcareer.com is so everybody has an idea on what the heck you actually do.

Scott Barlow: Absolutely. Really, what we do is we help people take control of their life. So we're often helping very high performing professionals go from where they're at to where they actually want to be. And we help them make really difficult career changes. So it's like hey, I am a lawyer.

[00:06:00] But I really want to be a museum curator. Or hey, I'm an accountant, but I really want to start this business and get it up and running and get my first customers. So we help people make those types of career changes.

Jamie: Which is insane because I remember how difficult it was for me in that moment of crap, I'm successful. But I don't know what I should move into. So it's funny because we've talked about this a lot. I actually send all of the starter people because you also talk about is it a business. And you help people with business side, too. So I send all of my starters to you because we don't have any really start kind of stuff anymore. So tell us about what you do for people transitioning to business because that's tough.

Scott Barlow: It is tough. It's incredibly difficult. And a lot of the people that we're working with are in their first business, which is even more difficult if you've never run a business before. So we're helping them get incredibly clear on what type of business it is that they want to run in the first place and then going and getting very clear on who they're helping and what problems are they solving. And then, taking it all the way through to getting their first customers. So that's a ton of fun.

[00:07:00] It's not an easy process. And we absolutely love it.

Jamie: And tell us about your win because you posted in the group.

Scott Barlow: Oh, my goodness. Yeah. So a year ago yesterday or the day before, I can't quite remember, was my last official day of my job. So I was an HR director working for a Fortune 500 company. It was a great job. I absolutely loved it. They were incredibly good to me. But it wasn't what I wanted to do forever. So I marked the one year from being in job to entrepreneur. And then, at the same time, we had our largest month ever exact on the same day. Like at 8:00 p.m., the last of the revenue came in and blew it out of the way. So we ended up at about across that $30,000.00 mark for the first time in our business in a month. And that was a huge milestone for us. So we were celebrating.

I know, it's so exciting. And you were a huge part of that, too, because, even before Six Figure Master Mind, I remember when you did the first group of Hustlers.

[00:08:06] And then, I was involved in that. And that was when I had like 300 people on my email list or something like that. And I don't know $500.00 of revenue a month. And that was only like two years ago.

Jamie: Me and Joelle were reminiscing this morning, by the way, because you and Joey who I just had on the show were in Hustlers at the same time making about $500.00 a month, by the way, which is insane to see in two years how much you guys have changed. And you guys are friends now, too, which is awesome.

Scott Barlow: Yeah.

Jamie: So everybody is like great, thanks. Awesome for them. Hustlers isn't even on right now, darn it. So tell me what were your most pivotal moments this year because you were already on a great trajectory. Don't get me wrong. You're a high achiever also. But what were those things that really made all of the difference in the world in the last year?

Scott Barlow: I think the biggest thing because I think, yesterday, about where we were at because we started the year at right around $8,000.00 in revenue.

[00:09:05] So we were like barely at that six figure mark, right? And going from there, we were doing so many different things. Jamie, I remember getting on a short call with you and you saying, okay, great. You maybe can do this. But here's what my perception is. If you focus on one of these things and take it so much further, then, you're going to be able to actually hit your goals versus probably feeling like you're running around like the whole chicken thing. And I didn't want to do the chicken thing anymore. So we actually, even though we were profitable in selling a number of different programs, we made the really, really difficult decision, with your help, to pare back and choose one of them.

And then, not so coincidentally, the timing worked out where I came down to Austin and got to meet a bunch of your friends. And they all had really - well, it was like taking a red pen to our business and crossing out all of the stuff and gave us really, really difficult feedback, which we needed to hear.

[00:10:07] And we decided, hey, let's focus in on this one program. Let's make a really compelling offer. Let's make this the best in the world. And then, that's what happened. And then, we did a $20,000.00 launch immediately after that like less than 30 days after that. We put an entirely new program together or new version. And voila.

Jamie: See, it's so hard when you're an overachiever, and you know how much you can accomplish, especially because you were working a 40 hour plus week job. You have kids. You have a beautiful wife that's in business with you. And you were doing your online side business at the same time. So you're like I can do everything. I'm awesome.
Scott Barlow: Oh, it's no problem. It's no big deal.

Jamie: And that's the thing as a coach. It's like I know you can do anything. It will just be way fast - you could do all three, you totally could. But you'd see little, incremental changes on all three instead of trying to have the exponential side, which is what you did. So how did you take that feedback, not from me, but especially, I remember, after the retreat, you were like my mind hurts.

[00:11:07] Right? Because the decisions that you have to make, that's difficult sometimes. So how did you actually accept that and not just be like I think I know my audience better than you guys. How did you accept that and actually make the changes? Because you're a fast implementer. It's insane.

Scott Barlow: It was incredibly difficult because we had people who wanted to pay us money for the other things. So we literally had to say no to thousands of dollars worth of cash and say I can't. And that was probably one of the biggest and hardest things in the first place. And just turn that down not really on blind faith, but it felt a little bit like that at the time. So then, from there, it cleared up so much time. That was the biggest thing. It went from spreading myself, and then, we were starting to amass a small team of contractors and everything like that that were helping us out.

[00:12:00] And then, of course, Alyssa is a huge part of this business. We haven't even talked about my wife, Alyssa. But she's been here since the beginning both on support side, and she got dragged into it. And now, she's a huge part of every aspect of it. So we made that decision and turned down all of the cash. And then, that freed up our time by threefold because we were spreading ourselves among three different programs. So all of a sudden, we had all of this time to do something amazing and support our people in a different way, do a launch in a completely different way that we'd never done before.

And we saw the results. We sold $20,000.00 at that particular time. And that was the first time I had ever done anything like that before.

Jamie: So you were listening to people going you guys do know what you're talking about, right? All right, I'll trust you.

Scott Barlow: And the hard part is, too, even more, I needed you and everybody else to tell me that because, even though that's what I've done, I used to help people start businesses as a job, at one point, I worked for a franchise company way back when.

[00:13:06] I helped like 100 plus people start businesses before and make them profitable. But, for some reason, I couldn't see that in myself, even though I would get done with a coaching conversation and say, hey, you need to free up your time. You need to focus on this one thing, so absolutely needed that from you.

Jamie: You're like I've read those books. Like I know this stuff.

Scott Barlow: Yeah, I know that.

Jamie: I talked to a coach yesterday that I might hire, and he said the exact same thing. And I'm like I know; I do this so much for other people. If I could just clone myself and have a look at my business because I feel like, when you're in it, you just can't see the forest for the trees, unfortunately.

Scott Barlow: Oh, yeah.

Jamie: Thankfully, you have your beautiful wife, Alyssa, also. And this is why I love Scott and Alyssa. So Scott gave me permission to tell Alyssa when he needs to be slapped. I don't think that ever actually happened. But I love the fact that you guys were -

Scott Barlow: She was ready to.

Jamie: Oh, yes, right. But that's, I think, so important because it's really difficult to find people that are open to as much feedback as you are.

[00:14:00] So let's talk really quickly though about your fast implementation because I feel like this is a huge reason why you are successful in anything that you do. I see your brain. You're like and it's done, Jamie. So tell me how to cultivate that.

Scott Barlow: Honestly, for me, and it works a little bit different for everybody, but, for me, the way that it works is I respond really well to public pressure. So that's one of the reasons why it's like, Jamie, okay, send me an email if I'm not doing my stuff, if I'm not going through my action items, and tell Alyssa to slap me. That type of stuff works for me because I know that if I put myself out there in the public and tell people that I am going to do something, then, I feel like I have to do it. And so that can be either good or bad, I suppose. But in this case, I really wanted to be able to leverage that.

So having you commit me to different action items every step of the way was phenomenal. I don't think it would have happened without it because I know myself well enough to realize that that was a major portion of it.

[00:15:03]

Jamie: So it's so important to know yourself. And this is what you're talking about. This is what you have a new guide all about it. Knowing your strengths and leveling up those pieces, whether you're finding a new career or starting a business 1,000 times huge. So how did you guys figure out what your strengths are? Because I remember some of the coaching calls going, "Scott, I know you're good at five things, but we really need to pare that down and have other people for different pieces," because you have coaches working for you now. You're not the only coach anymore.

Scott Barlow: Yes. Yeah.

Jamie: So how did you figure out the sweet spot of what your strengths are?

Scott Barlow: For me, it's been like a 10 year process. But the short version of it is -

Jamie: No, give us, you know -

Scott Barlow: Yeah. The really short version of it is that gone through and paid attention to everything that I love doing. So I literally have grids where it's like I've got a grid of hey, here's what I'm good at. And here's also what I absolutely love doing in the top, right corner.

[00:16:00] And then, also, at the same time, there's what I'm good at, and then, also what I love. And I try and spend as much of my time as possible in those things where it overlaps that I both absolutely love and happen to be great at at the same time. And there are lots of things that I'm good at in my business and that I enjoy a little bit. But it doesn't necessarily energize me as I am going on and moving on to the next thing. It's more draining. So those types of things can be done by other people that do get energy from that.

Jamie: How do you figure that out though? Because that's the thing, people are like that's awesome that you created the list. But when I am sitting down with a piece of paper, how the heck do I figure out those pieces?

Scott Barlow: You have to suspend judgment at the beginning. So Step 1, you have to be able to take what you know about yourself. One of the really easy ways is be able to go back over in a quantifiable method. So you go, and you go back to all of your past jobs, businesses, whatever, projects, anything else along those lines.

[00:17:02] And then, you can start to figure out here's what I was good at. Even if I hated the job, here's what I was great at in that particular area. Or here is what I absolutely loved. And then, you start to notice themes along those lines. And then, you can take that and organize it and prioritize it and say, hey, I was great at all of these different things or was at least above average in all of these different things. And I loved some of these different things. But where the crossover is where you have both. And then, even the upper echelon of that. So there's a book back there on the shelf some place, what is it called, the one by I think it's Perry Marshal. Have you read that one?

Jamie: I don't know.

Scott Barlow: It's 80/20 Sales in Marketing.

Jamie: Oh, yes, yes.

Scott Barlow: So the main concept of the entire book, if you haven't read it, which I would recommend reading it, is don't just take the top 20 percent. Take the top 20 percent of the 20 percent. So we do the exact same thing for strengths, whether it's for myself or anybody else that we're working with. And we help them take what is that top 4 percent, essentially, and focus in that area.

[00:18:00] Because it's great that you can knock it out of the park with Excel. It's maybe even great that you kind of enjoy it. But is that the best thing for you to be doing? And is that in that top 4 percent? So things like video editing are there for me. I'm a pretty good video editor. I love doing it. But I should not be spending my time that way.

Jamie: A thousand times now. And it's so funny, when I went on Ryan Moran's Freedom Fast Lane, he asked me to help people how do we go from 1 million to 10. And I interviewed, they didn't go live, but I interviewed a bunch of my friends that are millionaires that I've interviewed. And they said strengths like knowing your strengths. So what I love is you're going, okay, so you need to know your strengths, in general, at first. And then, you refine and refine and refine and refine. And you learn more, and you refine. And you're like oh, that sucks. I really don't like doing that as you start getting to that top sweet spot, which I've just seen you do.

You've let go of so much stuff in the last year also, which I think has really doing so many pieces at the beginning.

[00:19:00] So how do you do that? How can you train somebody else, find the right person, and train somebody else? I know we have like five more minutes left. But still, tell me everything you know about letting go of those certain pieces because that's where a lot of the growth has come also for you.

Scott Barlow: I think the first thing, you have to have somebody like you, Jamie, telling that hey, look, it's okay to let go. In fact, if you don't let go, one of the things you kept saying over and over again was if you don't let go of this, you're not going to be able to get over here. And then, you'd like paint the picture over here. And it's like I want to get over there. So I guess I'd better let go. So you've got to have a Jamie.

Jamie: I love you, Scott. You're awesome.

Scott Barlow: But then, after that, I think it's a case of continual tweaking. It doesn't happen all at once. I would love to be able to say, oh yeah, okay, so we figured out that all of the areas that I could let go was we could hire some coaches. And then, we could have somebody else take care of all of the podcasts. And then, we could hire a blog and content editor. And then, we could go and get somebody to do some of our copyrighting for us and all of those different pieces. And just like, okay, let's start writing the checks.

[00:20:00] Awesome. But it doesn't happen that way. It's a case of which is the biggest priority right now, and which is going to continue to allow us to grow? So we realized, with the coaches, that removed one of the bottle necks in my business, which is only I could sell or only people that came into the funnel could be interacted with for me. So if they could get on a sales call with a coach, and that didn't take any of my time whatsoever, and we were still bringing revenue in the door because of that, then, that removes that bottle neck.

So that becomes a higher priority than maybe, I don't know, somebody who is doing video editing like we were just talking about.

Jamie: So you hit the nail on the head. The priority of what is most important for right now. Even though, as entrepreneurs, we want to do all of it right this second because that's who we are, all of it done because, normally, people, especially when they have a huge plan like that, would literally go I need to hire all of these people. And it's going to be scary, but that's what we're supposed to do. And then, they procrastinate because they're like -

Scott Barlow: How am I going to do that?

Jamie: Exactly. It's way too big.

[00:21:00]

Scott Barlow: I can't afford that, or I can't - yeah. I don't know how to do that. I'm not sure how I'm going to find the people. I'm not sure how I'm going to whatever it is. Yeah.

Jamie: Incremental changes, and nobody wants to hear that. They're like come on, Jamie. So to wrap up, I want to ask you, and I forgot to give you a heads up on this beforehand, but you've listened to the show before. So I asked the question at the end. Now, it's not 1 million yet because we're still in the eventual stages, but what's one action this week to help the listeners move them forward towards knowing themselves better and hitting over six figures?

Scott Barlow: I think the single biggest action is give yourself the time and space to figure some of this stuff out. This is so appropriate because I'm not sure when this is airing, but we're right on the cusp of I'm not sure when this is airing, but we're right on the cusp of the new year like right at the end of November right now. So taking the time and space to figure out both what you want and then, at the same time, what you're great at, and figuring out where that overlap is to be able to create the plan and the priorities because you're the new year like right at the end of November right now. So taking the time and space to figure out both what you want and then, at the same time, what you're great at, and figuring out where that overlap is to be able to create the plan and the priorities because you're not going to be able to do it all just like we just talked about.

[00:22:03] What are the most important things you can do to get to that overlap space?

Jamie: This is what I do with my clients all of the time. I know, Scott. I'm so glad you said that. It's also one of those things where people would be like, I know. Or I have my plan, but it includes 18,000 things. And they're like I'm just going to be good. We're going to figure it out as we go. It's going to be awesome. But you're actually going, taking the time, sit down. Think about the real thing that you want, if you had to choose. I think that's amazing. So make sure everybody sets - continue.

Scott Barlow: To add to that and build on that, the actual action is get that on the calendar right now. Figure out what can come off the calendar in order to make that space. Alyssa and I are going through this right now. We've had a crazy, busy month to be able to hit $30,000.00 plus in that month. And we are doing planning and goal setting and visioning for 2017 and what we want that to look like.

[00:23:00] And we got two sick kids today. I've been sick, whatever else. And we still had to create the time and space in order to make that happen because, otherwise, it won't. And then, we won't ever be able to ' it's just not going to happen, unless we do that. So put it on the calendar right now. Go and have a conversation with your spouse, whatever it takes, whoever the vested partners are. Stop doing whatever you're doing and then make it happen.

Jamie: That's exactly what I was going to say, Scott. You're my brain. I was going to say put a time on your calendar because, if they don't right now, they're not going to do it. We are the exact same person.

Scott Barlow: Exactly.

Jamie: So tell us where we can find more about you because you have a podcast that everybody should listen to. You have an awesome site. Go.

Scott Barlow: You can go over to iTunes, and you can search happen to your career, or HTYC. And then, we pop up right away. We've got a couple of podcasts over there, actually. Some audio courses for individual pieces like finding your strengths or figuring out what's important to you. Or we've got our main podcast, which is just titled Happen to Your Career. And then, you can, of course, go over to happentoyourcareer.com.

[00:24:00] And that will get you to all of the pieces of our team, all of our guides, all of our other things. The last thing, if you're really interested in what we've been talking about, we actually have an eight day course that guides people through this exact thing, finding your strengths, figuring out where that sweet spot is, and it's called the Figure it Out course. And you can just go to figureitout.co, and then, that will take you right to it.

Jamie: That's amazing. And just so everybody knows, too, one of the things that I had to make a decision on probably three years ago that I wasn't focusing on the starter side of things because people were coming to me all the time about starting a business. I even wrote a book that has to do about starting a business. And I realized that my sweet spot is not helping people start, it's helping them grow. So now, I just go, Scott, here, help all of the people that need to start. So if you're in there listening right now, and you're like we don't talk a lot about the beginning stages because that's not my sweet spot.

But it's totally Scott's. So make sure you go listen to his podcast, sign up, subscribe. And then, of course, do the course, too, because I think so many people need to know that.

[00:25:03] Thank you so much for coming on today, Scott. And have an amazing trip to Europe, and send me pictures because I will reminisce with you later.

Scott Barlow: Okay. Pictures will be coming your way. That's a promise.

Jamie: And if you need help with the planning for next year, you know where to find me.

Scott Barlow: Cool. Thank you. I really, really appreciate it, Jamie. You are awesome.

Jamie: Okay. Take care. Have a good day. Bye.

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Tags: business priority, business success, Mastermind, profitable strengths, Scott Barlow, strengths

Categories: All, Mastermind, Strengths

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