This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Pejmon Ghadimi or PJ for note. PJ is a self-made entrepreneur and bestselling author, with over 10 books to his name. He was born in 1982 in the middle of a revolution in Iran and was raised by a single mom in France for the majority of his childhood, and eventually migrated to the United States in 1997.

PJ has a number of businesses, most notably Secret Entourage and it's affiliate businesses which have grossed over $40 million in revenue annually. He’s been featured everywhere from Forbes to Fox Business and also has interests in real estate and exotic cars – all of which we will touch on today.

But, the big reason I wanted to have PJ on the show is for him to teach you the systems and processes that he has learned and used to grow multi-million dollar businesses from scratch.

www.learnfromPJ.com

PJ says he’s been able to do what he has done with a LOT of hard work. He spent his childhood fleeing from country to country until they could make it to the US. But when they made it, they didn’t have a green card which made the only way to make money being an entrepreneur. But, PJ did find a loophole that allowed him to get a job at the age of 14 as a telemarketer.

He worked his way up from there to become the director of a remodeling company until he was 18. He then became one of the youngest bank managers in the US and had a successful career in banking until age 25 where he “fired himself” and found himself without purpose. He was 25 and had money. He took time to figure out what he really wanted to do.

He started the world’s first alternative asset investment fund called VIP Motoring and that became his largest business. Through that business, he made a number of great connections and was able to retire as CEO in 2011 and put in place a management team to keep running the business.

He then transitioned his focus to legacy and training and educating people to help them succeed including Secret Entourage and other ventures.

You’ve been through an incredible life journey – what is the most important thing you’ve learned at this point?

The biggest enemy to success is entitlement. You should never feel entitled to anything. Earn it.

You wrote “The 3rd Circle Theory,” take us through the 3 circles and what they mean…

• PJ goes through this in detail at the 9 min mark with advice, so make sure to listen
• Every human being goes through 3 different stages or circles as they progress through life
• The first is “Acceptance and Mastery of Circumstance”
• The second is “Acceptance and Mastery of Society”
• The third is “Mastery of Life”
• A high state of self-awareness leads you to true self-actualization

Examples and the lesson of each circle?

• Circle 1 is anyone who finds themselves where they are unhappy with life and don’t have an answer on how to turn it around or are not taking steps to do so. People in this circle do not understand how to take ownership of their circumstances
• Circle 2 are individuals in their careers who understand what they need to do but are still striving to prove their worth in society. They understand that money does play a big factor. People have to learn in this stage how not only to live in society but learn how to impact it.
• Circle 3 are individuals that have found massive success and now understand how the world does not revolve around them, but instead how they can make a true impact on the world.

Don’t look outward for blame, instead look inward for change…Take responsibility and take back control. You are the cause of your own happiness or misery.

The difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur?

• A business owner’s job is to create profit. The goal of an entrepreneur is to create social change.
• A business is a vehicle that an entrepreneur uses to create the chance
• A business’s job is to facilitate transactions. An entrepreneur’s job is to create non-existent transactions.

You should first master the art of business before becoming an entrepreneur

At the 19 min mark, we get into a really fascinating discussion on these topics using the example of Tesla.

What are the steps you teach on how to create your 1st million-dollar business?

• A million dollars in revenue for a business enables processes that allow it to survive and scale and grow from there.
• Reaching a million changes the paradigm from creating a “job” that is a business to really becoming a business that can continue to grow and work for you.
• You must first understand the difference between awareness and self-awareness
• Then you can understand the 5 pillars of entrepreneurship
  • It begins with the idea
  • Ideas transition to products
  • Products transition to businesses
  • Businesses transition to brands
  • Brands transition to empire
• In the early stages, you must be keenly focused on creating transactions. Nothing happens until something gets sold.

Good business is simple, but it is not easy…Good things happen, bad things happen, but you must be consistent in your efforts and adaptive to the market

Talk about the systems that are critical to free an owner from a business so that it can keep running and paying them, but without them.

• You will get to a point where the best use of your time is not in “managing” a business
• Hire those to management it for you
• Create a business that recycles resources and companies – as a result, you never do more work than you have done in the business
• An example is creating new business that current customers in one venture would buy in the another
• Leveraging resources is important across businesses which reduces costs and benefits your profitability.

Are there any critical habits that you think entrepreneurs should practice?

• Waking up early – the more of the day you have, the more damage you can do
• Plan and put your agendas down on paper

How can own exotic and luxury cars for amazing deals or even for free?

• It’s more math than a car thing
• It’s not how much car can you afford, but the formula that allows you to get the car at fraction of the cost, save on tax, insurance, etc.
• It’s cheaper to fix a Lamborghini than a base model c-class
• www.Exoticcarhacks.com gives the different formulas on how to do this

Best Quote: “The biggest enemy to success is entitlement. Don’t look outward for blame, instead look inward for change…Take responsibility and take back control. You are the cause of your own happiness or misery. ”

Misfit 3:

1. Do the work, don’t question the work. Focus on getting it done however you need to.

2. Become a master at everything you do. The better you get at something, the less you chase the money, but the more the money chases you.

3. No one can take away your character. Every victory or failure you have builds this in you. All the choices you make define you and your character.

Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!" In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

This week’s Lesson for Hannah

Hannah, I want to talk to you about some lessons I learned for life and business from completing my first half Ironman Triathlon. First off, I cannot tell you how much you and mommy’s support means to me as I go after goals like this. Seeing you cheering for me is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

As you grow up, you will have more and more opportunities to accomplish big goals or bucket list items and get to experience how it feels. It is a big achievement. And probably like me, you will feel, once you've done it, that you can go to even higher levels or push yourself further. Even more important are the lessons you learn in going through the experience. Now that I have done a Half Ironman, I am already planning my second one as well as preparing to do a full. A Half Ironman is a 1.25 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and a half marathon (13.1 miles) - 70.3 miles in total. A full Ironman is 140.6.

As I reflected on the experience, some great lessons for life and business stood out to me and I wanted to share them with you.

7 Lessons Learned from My First Ironman:

Planning and preparation makes a huge difference

• You have to think through every scenario and know what you will do, as best as you can before getting into the race.
• Once in the race, things will happen that you cannot plan for, but if you are prepared and ready, it is much easier to deal with.
• Life and business are like this as well. They are like an endurance race.You have to plan and prepare, get the direction you want to go right, but understand and be ready for the unknowns and challenges that will come.

Expect the unexpected (good and bad)

• One big lesson I learned was around salt. I was ahead of my planned time after getting off the bike, but halfway through the run, I started to cramp up and my legs starting locking up. I was well hydrated and had plenty of Gatorade, etc. and was really puzzled. It was then that I asked someone about it an aid station and then said I needed salt - even more than what Gatorade was providing. So, I got some pure salt from another racer (who was prepared) and over the next few miles I was able to get back to running and finish things out. If I had planned for salt intake, I probably could have finished at least 20-30 mins earlier. It is amazing how something so small makes a huge difference.
• This translates well to life and business in that things will hardly ever go as planned and you have to be ready for the unexpected, but not get emotionally wrapped up in things and let yourself be derailed. Focus on what you can control and what you need to do to finish/win/reach the desired outcome – and then execute.
• Always be ready and think logically – not emotionally. I could have stopped the race, but instead, I asked what I needed to do and then implemented it allowing me to finish.

Training is not the same as the real thing

• I think we all know this, but a race like the Ironman really shows it.
• Practice is not the same as the real thing. Practice is great, but the best way to learn is to get out there and figure it out, fail, succeed, learn, and keep going.
• You learn best by doing and going through the experience. (see above on my salt lesson)

You can always do better - Perfection is unattainable, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive for it

• Every one of us can succeed at higher levels than we are now. We know it deep down, Hannah, you know it deep down and we feel it. Embrace it and go for it.
• Based on what I learned in the race and properly preparing for salt intake, etc. I know I can shave 30 mins off my time next time.

You find allies and partners in the most unexpected places

• My Apple watch died halfway through the bike course, so I was flying blind in knowing my pace, time, etc.
• I found an ally and it made a huge difference. I was able to find someone who was going the pace I know I needed to ride at and asked for their help in allowing me to pace off them. They would update me every so many miles, so I knew I was hitting the targets for the ride.
• In life and business, there are partners and allies in the most unexpected places - always be open to finding them. And don’t be afraid to ask for help!

You win in your mind before you win anywhere else

• I finished my race around 1pm, got my stuff, went home, and slept for a hour. I got up and realized that I forgot to get my morning clothes bag and went back over at about 4:30 pm to get it.
• Everyone was gone – there were maybe 10-15 people still around, cleaning up and taking everything down.
• That is when I saw it – 3 bikers and a heavyset woman – 250+ lbs. She was running toward me and the finish. She was the last one. It took her 10 hours, but she finished. I watched and couldn’t do anything, but cheer and clap for her. I was one of only a few in an empty stadium – but she finished. She finished because she won first in her mind and that was no match for her physical limitations.
• If you do not fully believe you can accomplish or reach your goal, it will not happen

Having a big goal that you are devoted and so committed to, that there is no option but to reach, it is one of the best drivers for success

• What is your big goal? Are you doing everything possible that you know you can to reach it? It if doesn’t feel almost like an obsession, it’s not big enough.

So there you have it. 7 very important and useful lessons for anyone on their journey to success. They work across all areas of your life, and sweetie, I hope you can put them to use for you!

I love you, Daddy

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Michelle Wienstein. Michelle is “the Pitch Queen.” Michelle is a sales superstar and has done everything from advising CEO’s at billion dollar companies to landing contracts with companies like Costco and pitching her way on to Shark Tank. She is also the host of the Success Unfiltered Podcast and the Saturday morning Facebook Live show Coffee is for Closers.

Michelle’s mission is to help entrepreneurs sell high-value services to their clients without feeling pushy or desperate and to show them how to have empowered sales conversations and skyrocket their top-line revenue.

What I like about Michelle is that she has been through it all. She has been on top of the world in business only to have it all come crashing down on her, but then fought her way back. The lessons she has learned on her journey are priceless and what she can teach you about how to sell yourself and your business will help you grow your business and earn more money.

www.successunfiltered.com

www.thepitchqueen.com

www.sellwithoutsleaze.com

Out of college, Michelle was a financial analyst. She followed the mantra of go to school, get a secure job, and plan for retirement. After a few years, she couldn’t take it. She left and went into sales at Nordstroms. It was there she learned a lot of skills.

She got thinking what she could do with her analyst background and sales, so she got into the real estate and mortgage businesses. She was working a lot and started to have an unhealthy lifestyle – and she was a health enthusiast. She hated to cook, but wanted to find a way to eat healthier. She came up with an idea for healthy prepared meals to sell. She started Fitzee Foods.

She had initial success. She raised over million dollars for the business. She got into Costco and the Vitamin shop and even got to pitch the idea on Shark Tank, but ultimately had to close the business down in 2017.

As she says, “It was a really expensive MBA program…”

The lessons learned with Fitzee were really the stepping stone to becoming the “Pitch Queen.”

What were the most important things you learned going through the experience with Fitzee? Why didn’t it survive? And How did you claw your way back?

• She’s still paying things back over a year later
• One lesson she learned was that although she had a passion for health, she wasn’t a chef, and didn’t have the real experience needed.
• You should have an expertise in the product or service you are selling
• You have to interview your investors as much as they are interviewing you. Interview at least 3 companies that they have invested in. Michelle made the mistake of taking investment money from the wrong group.
• Make sure every single investor is an “accredited investor.”
• Remember, you are getting “married” to those investing in you.

How important is timing?

• It is very important
• Fitzee came before the “boxed meal” craze and was early on the trend
• capitalization is very important – you have to be well-capitalized to whether the storms and get through the startup phase to really make it. If you are underfunded, it makes it even harder.
• Some businesses are more capital intensive to get going than others – you must understand this

At the 24 min mark, Michelle shares why learning to sell is so important for success…

• No matter who you are, you are having sales conversations all of the time.
• Sales is really about how you are helping people
• Sales is the foundation of your business. The first number on your P&L is sales (income)
• Selling does not have to be stressful. We make it stressful.
• The core of sales is building a great relationship and focusing on building a great relationship with your prospect makes it easier to ask them to buy – not “sell” them.

Michelle’s 5 Step PITCH Queen System (www.sellwithoutsleaze.com)

• Problem solve: Figure out what your client’s problem is and make sure to help them solve it in your pitch.
• It’s not about you: It is about what is important to them
• Talk less: Use the 80/20 rule. They talk 80% of the time, you talk 20% of the time.
• Cues: Buying signals. Look for the cues (verbal, non-verbal) that they want to buy
• Hit the ask the button: Ask them for the business

At the 37-min mark, Michelle talks about what it means to be “professionally annoying” and gives examples.

How did you pitch your way on to Shark Tank?

You have to be professionally annoying.

It is a better place to pitch for a product based business or tech business.

Michelle reached out to every producer and followed almost 2 times per week.

They send people home all the time if you are not on point for your pitch at all times – you have to be on your game.

Know which Shark you are pitching to because one of them will be the best fit for your pitch and solution.

Shark Tank is the Olympics for entrepreneurs

Best Quote: “When you are always showing up, you become “professionally annoying” and get business”

Misfit 3:

1. If you stay in the game, success is inevitable.
2. Embrace the selling process with confidence. It’s the only way you are really going to help people.
3. Live every single day with passion and be true to your “why.”

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Matt Schroeder. Matt is just your regular 20 something college student, who started a T-shirt company, Shelly Cove, with no business experience, did $12,000 in sales in its first week and over million in just about year.

Even more impressive is the fact that Matt not only wanted to create a great product, but also wanted to make a difference with it. The company donates 10% of its gross sales to sea turtle rescue.

In talking with Matt, I was blown away by the simple, yet genius ways in which he has grown the business and continues to expand its reach – especially using social media. So, I had to have him on to share his story and these success hacks with you.

www.ShellyCove.com

Matt started Shelly Cove in college with his parents. They were his business partners. Matt has always had an interest in entrepreneurship, but had never started anything. When he came up with the idea for Shelly Cove came up, he decided to “just go for it.”

When the idea came to him, he was in the middle of engineering internship and one day, he was thinking deeply about if he really wanted to do it. He was talking to his parents and decided he wanted to do something on the side. They got to brainstorming together and came up with the idea. They spent the summer coming up with design ideas and getting things up and running…and when they launched, Matt could quickly see that it was not going to be a side business, but more of a full time business almost right away.

At the 7 min mark, Matt talks about the inspiration that really put him on the entrepreneurial path. Hint: It was a failure and his grades tanked – but it was all he needed to get the entrepreneur spirit.

The original idea for Shelly Cove was to create some T-shirts and sell them on Etsy, but changed to the business it is today. How did that all come together?

• Matt and his family would go to Topsail Island a few times a year and there is Sea Turtle hospital there
• His family used to visit and it became part of his childhood memories
• When starting Shelly Cove, it fell into place. They wanted to do apparel and give back to a charity and it made sense since they were close to that group.

You started giving back from the beginning, what made you start out that way?

• It was a combination of things
• Tom’s shoes and others were an inspiration
• Being a business that can be a hugely profitable venture that can give back can do more than an individual from a donations standpoint, but in helping to create awareness.
• A company with a non-profit is a more efficient way to do business. People get great value and give back at the same time.

You chose to focus on women and children for your products and niche. Why did you do that?

• They started out with the logo thinking it could work for both men and women, but when the first colors/patterns were done for the first 5 products, it was very much more focused to women.
• They tried separate designs to market to men, but they didn’t sell very well.
• In the beginning, Matt says they really didn’t know they were doing and things just came to be that way by what sold.
• It is OK to focus on a niche and for them it worked very well.

How did you sell $12,000 in shirts in your first week?

• Matt read a piece on Reddit about the benefits of using “Micro influencers” – people with 10-100,000 followers that could do things in exchange for product.
• He reached out to 50 and got 5-6 to respond and send them shirts to wear and promote.
• The 5-6 had about 500k in followers and they helped post around Shelly Cove’s launch day which did very well for them.
• Initially, the influencers were only on Instagram
• The other thing they did was giveaways for follows, likes, tags, re-shares and comments on social media

At the 24 min mark, Matt talks about the marketing strategies he uses today…

• Still working with Micro Influencers
• Still doing a giveaway every week Limited Facebook advertising 25% of their sales are from email marketing – list building and then nurturing and selling to that list
  • He promotes weekly to the list and has a nurturing sequence for new signups
• Has a popup on the site to collect their information for a chance to win a $500 shopping spree.
• Matt uses www.Klaviyo.com for his email marketing and management
• He uses flows for all types of scenarios from abandoned cart to 30 days after purchase, new sign ups, etc.

Tell us about the “Rep” program you created…

• They have a “Become a Rep” Ambassador program and anyone can apply. It is focused on the US
• They get a unique discount code and tracking number for orders
• They pay a commission on sales
• They have 1200 or so and 400-500 stay active
• It has created a mini-army consistently telling their friends and social media about the company and it’s products.

At the 33 min mark, Matt talks about how important the packaging of the products were.

• They wanted it to be an experience, like opening a present
• They want the package to be so cool that clients post it to social
• They hand wrap every shirt and put a sea turtle special charm on it
• This is a big separator

What advice would you give about making the leap to entrepreneurship?

• You learn the most by doing
• You can sit around and say “what if” all day and that will just let your mind time to give reasons not to do it
• Have a support system to help you
• You must be driven
• If you are truly driven and are “all in” then there is no reason you should fail

At the 37 min mark, Matt talks about the most important thing he has learned about himself from this journey…

He learned to find his confidence

Best Quote: “It doesn’t matter how old you are, it matters how driven you are and how willing you are to learn…”

Matt's Misfit 3:

1. Follow your passion and stop saying “What if?” The worst thing that can happen is that you fail and learn from it.
2. Think long term and not short term…
3. Always be innovating

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Alan MCkenna. Alan is the President and CEO of Business Acceleration Strategies, a firm that has generated over $30 million in additional revenue for clients through implementing funnel optimization, producing 6 and 7 figure evergreen, automated sales and marketing funnels.

Alan has worked with and provided expertise to everyone from John Assaraf, T.Harv Eker, Success Magazine’s Darren Hardy, Lisa Sasevich, and a number of INC 500 companies.

Alan has done the impossible. From adding $600k in additional revenue and shortening a client’s sales cycle by 66% in just 6 months to helping clients go from $0 to over $200k a month in revenue in just 4 months – he is a master at growing a business. So, I wanted to have him on to get his best tips and secrets that you can use to turbocharge your own income.

www.businessaccelerationstrategies.com

www.highprofitsalesfunnels.com

When Alan was 21, he was working for a company making good money, but kept seeing a guy a few years older than him that was doing exponentially better. The guy was the #1 sales guy in the company. Alan approached him and asked him to mentor him. The guy took Alan under his wing and taught him how to sell and get leads. Alan, sold for a few years and then went into marketing.

The owner of the company then purchased another company in New Jersey and Alan moved from the UK and was asked to come open the office to run marketing and build the sales team.

After a few years, Alan went back into selling because it was very lucrative. He did that for a while and had put away a significant amount of money. He then moved to California and started to study internet marketing and immersed himself in it.

His first clients came by word of mouth and things just grew from there. One of Alan’s secrets is the way he looks at a business and where sales and marketing fits in from end to end.

What was the #1 piece of advice you learned from your mentor in sales?

• How to get people to a yes before you get to the money
• How to sell payment plans and structure payments so people can afford the things they want.

What is your best advice for creating a great, consistently producing funnel?

• First, you need to know who your ideal client really is. You have to get laser-focused on who they are.
• Once you have your ideal client, it then becomes easy to go out and get joint ventures with others that have those idea clients and grow.

How do you setup a good joint venture?

• The most important thing is to show the partner how you are going to look after and take care of the client they are introducing to you. It is more important than the revenue share.
• Make sure that the joint venture partner has no work to do other than “copy, paste, and send.” Make it easy for them and give them everything they need so they don’t have to think.
• Revenue share – there is a value exchange, so take care of them.

How do you find a good JV Partner?

• One of the easiest ways is to look in Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups
• Joining the group will give the ability to get an understanding of the members and their needs
• The group owner is always looking for how to give value and good content to the group, and in a lot of cases, monetize it if possible.

Brian Tracy taught you a great way to double revenues and you created a system for it, what is it?

If you want to double your sales, you have to increase the face-time you have with people.

• What this means is that you are either meeting with someone in person, on the phone, on a web- meeting. The more times you can have a conversation and look into someone’s eyes, the more you will sell.
• So, you have to constantly look at your database and the clients that have spent money with and look for new ways for them to engage with you and continue to help them.
  • In short, create more solutions to sell to your clients that you already and to take future clients on the journey with you not just once, but in multiple ways.

At the 20-min mark, Alan talks about his 9 simple sales conversion strategies and gives us some of his top ones with examples on how they are implemented.

• You must have a good script with the correct language and verbiage for people to take prospects through a process to a decision point.
• Make it obvious that if they have questions, they can call or email and get answers. Make it visible on every web page, communication, etc.
• Email them that you are available for questions as many times, people are just a few questions away from buying.
• There is so much gold in anyone’s database and there is so much opportunity to harvest it. Don’t neglect what is already there.

Alan gives a FREE 1-page infographic on the 9 Strategies

Best methods for generating more leads

• Paid traffic works (Facebook, Google, etc.)
• Joint Ventures are the easiest, simplest, and least up-front cost way to drive traffic
  • Being endorsed by people who have a trust with an audience greatly enhances your credibility.

List size thoughts?

• It depends on the relationship people have with their list
• A list that is nurtured through giving great value is much more engaged and does not have to be big to drive great revenue.
• It doesn’t need to be big, but it must be solid with your “ideal clients.”
• Building the trust and connection is most important

What are the biggest mistakes that are made when it comes to funnels?

• It is one thing to know who your ideal client is, it is another to really understand their pain points and the things they really want to move towards.
• You need to fully understand the needs, wants, worries, and pain points that your ideal client is looking to have solved.
• Make sure you are going and marketing to where your ideal client is hanging out.
• You must have a very solid process to capture, nurture, and convert leads – most fall short. You have to build the relationship and educate first. Earn the right to make an offer.
• One of the biggest things that people miss is the gold in their existing database. Don’t get hung up and chasing the “new.”

At the 38-min mark, Alan talks about how people can create a virtually unlimited marketing budget and how do it… (You’ll want to listen to this a couple times!)

Best tips for maximizing marketing and sales on the following:

• Facebook: If you are going to do paid ads, the most important thing to have in place is retargeting from your website.
• Google: With paid Google ads, people searching have “buying intent.” They want to resolve a pain
• Instagram: Any business that people can engage with beautiful photos needs to use Instagram. If you can evoke an emotion with a picture, then you should be using it.

Best Quote: "One key thing every business must have in their marketing to find the best way to consistently communicate with their perfect audience. You must spend the bulk of your time there."

Alan's Misfit 3:

• There is absolute gold in your database. Do not neglect it.
• Build a complete strategy to capture, nurture, and then make offers to the marketplace. Think this through and do the work ahead of time.
• Have a strategy to pre-qualify and sell with a specific script that still ads value whether they choose to buy or not.