Agency, Analyzing & the Art of Business with Ray Blakney

Agency, Analyzing & the Art of Business with Ray Blakney

Agency, Analyzing & the Art of Business with Ray Blakney

Ray has bootstrapped multiple 6 and 7-figure businesses. For the last 5 years, he has been able to run 3-5 businesses at the same time all while having free time to spend. The "secret" to how he had been efficient enough to do all of this is simply discipline.Ray owns a website called livelingua.com, which is the third-largest online language school in the world.In today’s episode, Ray and Monique are talking about how he flipped his definition of failure: “Failing is not when a business doesn't work or doesn't make money, failure is when you stopped trying. And if you never stopped trying, you will never fail.” which enabled him to make building businesses his art.

HOT TOPICS OF THE EPISODE

[02:04] – Monique introduces her guest, Mr.Ray Blakney.

[02:21] – Explain everyone out there what the sword fighting is.

  • I’ve been practicing the Japanese martial art called kendo for going on dating myself back for about 20 years now. So kendo is the way of the sword and I have been practicing it since I was 22.

 

[04:00] – Tell me when you’re not sword fighting, what else are you doing in your business?

  • I own a website called livelingua.com. It’s the third-largest online language school in the world and I run it with my wife.
  • I own a website called twiducate.com
  • I also owned a chocolate factory in the Philippines before 
  • I am the host of the Anomalous Educator Podcast which helps teachers make money online.

 

[05:26] – Starting businesses and making them successful is a kind of art for you, explain a little bit about that.

  • The creative process is what I like because you get to try things, you get to see what works what doesn’t and you get to go back and fix it.

 

[10:16] – So when you bootstrap a company, how do you approach everything from the get-go? 

  • I’m not creating something that nobody’s ever thought of before, like Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk, or all those people out there.
  • For launching businesses, see a need, check that there’s a need, confirm there’s a need and then just do it.

     

[14:10] – How did you get to the point of having this mindset of “failure is not a total failure, I always get something out of it.”

  • I flipped my definition of failure. Failing is not when a business doesn’t work or doesn’t make money, failures when I stopped trying. And if I never stopped trying, I never failed.

 

[15:32] – How did you approach your new content marketing strategy?

  • I put Comic Sans and made the whole presentation like a comic book.
  • And to my surprise, half the room came up to me with this marketing methodology that we use in my companies and said. “Can you do that for us?”
  • So that planted the seed for the agency

 

[29:40] – So how important do you think is research in the beginning before you even start putting out content, writing content for clients?

  • It’s like any other construction, right? You can put a beautiful house on it. But if the base is bad, it’s going to crumble in a year or two. And we need to do that for your business as well.

 

[31:31] – Do you think that a lot of entrepreneurs that they’re going wrong with the research or not even doing it or don’t know how to do research for their business?

  • I think most advanced entrepreneurs might do that because they’ve learned the value in it. 

 

[33:03] – If you’re starting a new business, do you ask audiences some questions? Do you, like to use the Ask method? Do you use like only the keyword research? What do you use?

  • I generally stick with keyword research because I assume I use a little bit of the Ask method now because I do have a network and audiences I can do it for.

 

[35:59] – After the research how do you think should entrepreneurs use the results?

  •  The research should help you find who your audience is.

 

[38:52] – What actually makes you efficient in a discipline?

  • I developed discipline kind of later in life.
  • Discipline is what gives me freedom.

 

[42:44] – You said you use the discipline to be very self-driven. But you don’t believe in working, what your passion is.

  • I think people confuse passion with their why.
  • If you did a good job and figure out what your why is. That’s enough for you to at least take one step towards it that day.

 

[46:03] – So how important is efficiency to you now that you have multiple businesses?

  • Discipline is key to me be able to do what I’m doing.
  • I use an app called wunderlist.

 

[51:14] – What does efficiency mean to you?

  • Efficiency is just getting as close to that goal as I can today.

 

[52:01] – What are the top three tips for starting a business?

  • The first one is research.
  • Make sure you plan that you have the time to do this business.
  • A final tip would be “just do it.” 

     

    AWESOME RESOURCES WE TALKED ABOUT

    IN THIS EPISODE

     

    [04:55] – The Anomalous Educator Podcast  –  helps teachers make money online: http://anomalouseducator.com/category/podcast/

    [33:13] – The Ask Method – a bulletproof way to market research your audience: https://book.askmethod.com/

    [50:23] – Wunderlist – stay productive with this wonderful app: https://www.wunderlist.com/

    IMPACTFUL QUOTES OF THIS EPISODE

    For launching businesses, see a need, check that there’s a need, confirm there’s a need and then just do it.

    Ray Blakney

    Discipline is what gives me freedom.

    Ray Blakney

    Failing is not when a business doesn’t work, or doesn’t make money, failures when I stopped trying. And if I never stopped trying, I never failed
    Ray Blakney

    Energy, Emotions & Excellence with Jared Bull

    Energy, Emotions & Excellence with Jared Bull

    Energy, Emotions & Excellence with Jared Bull

    A former Marine, Combat Veteran and certified Sherpa Executive Coach. Working with him will change how you view and interact with the world! Today’s episode, Jared tells all about how it feels like having a spirit animal to lead his way and instantly get that blissful feeling and leading to his first client. Let’s hear his journey together with your host, Monique.

    HOT TOPICS OF THE EPISODE

    [01:23] – Monique welcomes her guest Jared Bull.

     

    [02:50] – How did you get to be a transformational coach?

    • It started as I went into the Marine Corps when I was 17 years old.
    • I graduated from college and then I started up a YouTube channel
    • I was producing highly valuable content that the market on YouTube really resonated with and then people are just like, Oh, can I start paying you?

     

    [08:27] – How would you approach being on the front (team leading)?

    • I was interacting on the ground with the people

     

    [11:40] – How would you approach to figure out someone’s values and value system?

    • If you want to be successful as a business and you want to scale, eventually culture building is absolutely integral to maintaining that expansion,

     

    [14:57] –  What would you do with your clients to figure out what’s their core values and their value system. 

    • the first thing that I suggest is “who are you actually being on a daily basis?”
    • hiring by personal values.
    • qualifications and your tech skills

     

    [19:38] –  How are you going to figure out the value system of the person behind the company

    • The first thing that I always do is what I call a values assessment sheet.

     

    [22:58] – So What are your top three core values?

    • Trust
    • Efficiency
    • Fulfillment

    [25:00] – Monique shared her core values.

    • Experience
    • Impact
    • Energy


    [28:14] –  Jared: Are you able to identify what makes you feel that flow with a certain individual?

    • Monique: I get trigeminal nerve pain in my face from people who act in a certain toxic way.

     

    [45:04] – Why did you decide to live with the yogi? And how did you settle into it? 

    • if I wanted to create a new part of myself, I have to remove myself from every influence that I’ve ever had.

     

    [38:18] – when you went back to America, that must have been a reverse culture shock, wasn’t it?

    • flying back in Philadelphia,  the collective energy of everything was just totally, I was like, “this is not it. I’m not gonna stay here.”

     

    [43:20] – what does efficiency actually mean to you?

    • So I think efficiency would just be aligning to the environment. know what environment you’re in, know the field that you’re playing in, know the game, and then build the system.

       

      AWESOME RESOURCES WE TALKED ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE

       

      [43:05] – Inner Engineering by Sadhguru

      IMPACTFUL QUOTES OF THIS EPISODE

      Culture building is absolutely integral to maintaining expansion

      Jared Bull

      How you do one thing is how you do everything so you better do things right

      Monique Lindner

      FIND MORE ABOUT JARED BULL HERE

       

      Website: https://www.transformationalcoaching.co/homepage

      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jared.bull.92

      Three resources you find online:

      1. 26 page PDF to help you increase Client Enrollment by 85%.
      2. Client acquisition class
      3. A free 80 to 90-minute training specifically for coaches and entrepreneurs who want to expand their business